4.6.11

Pinterest

For those of you who like looking for inspiration on the internet - decor, gardening, fashion, photography, cooking, and so on - I would recommend giving the site Pinterest a try. Years ago I used to like collecting images from magazines and newspapers and making collages based on a theme. As I got older (and lazier) I would usually just stockpile the magazines themselves with no real organization. Then along came the internet and it gradually replaced the print media I loved. I would scour websites for hours looking for the best ideas how to decorate my apartment or for fashions and shoes that might be fun for a big night out. Much faster and easier, not to mention cheaper, than buying magazines. However, I was always kind of dissatisfied with collecting a bunch of links to online catalogs and photos.

I first heard about Pinterest from No Apathy Allowed's blog back in March and wrote her to ask for an invite to use the site.

I've been giving it a try for the last month or so and, well, I love it. Once you have an account you can create 'Boards', which are virtual idea boards where you can capture and post photos from anywhere on the internet to (with credit given back to the site where the photo came from). The first board I made was to brainstorm ideas for Pea's nursery. I could send it to my mom and sis and the Saffa to show off what I had in mind and see what they thought. Much easier than trying to explain in words!

I have started a few more boards to brainstorm some ideas around a photo shoot a friend has offered to do for me and the Saffa - a maternity shoot. I don't think it will be long before I also start with some food photography inspiration boards as that has become one of my favorite hobbies.

Like all things internet based, there is always the option to share ideas and I have found that various people have 'borrowed' my internet finds and I have started doing likewise.

If you want to have an idea of what a 'board' looks like, here is an example of a board 'Food for the Soul'. I'm not sure if the site still requires an existing member to send an invite but if you are interested send me an email with your email address and I will invite you. It's fun!

Posted from Munich

3 comments:

Jul said...

Sounds useful. The site let me sign up for a "waiting list". We'll see if I remember what it is by the time they actually let me join.

Mandi said...

Yay, glad you're finding it inspiring! Somehow I find it totally gratifying to be able to "shop" and collect stuff I like without actually spending any money. Plus, like you said, it's been great to collect ideas I have for the apartment and show them to D to see what he thinks. Such a cool idea for a website!

Unknown said...

I can see how you can get sucked into that site, very dangerous! But so beautiful...