Confession: I Want A New View with Pinterest

 

Lately I have been spending so much time deleting random Pinterest boards that I somehow have found myself to be following.  I assume many of these random boards are related to a “Follow All to enter this giveaway.”  I can’t stand those, why do I have to follow them all?  I’m still considered a follower if I just pick the ones I might actually enjoy.

You’ve all heard my thoughts on Twitter follows in a previous Confession post, but if you didn’t see it/can’t remember, read about it here.  I’m beginning to think similarily with my Pinterest.  I have never been one to “follow back” just because someone started following me.  I love Pinterest and want to look at quality content, so sorry if I don’t want to see images from your “Glamping” album because I have no interest there.

When I first started Pinterest I wasn’t gluten free, so I followed tons of recipe boards.  Now I find I have no use for “breads”, “pasta”, etc boards.  So a quick unfollow and I feel so much better!  While I am on said person’s board, I see I’m also following a myriad of boards I have no interest in, let alone ever even popup in my feed.  I am following too many boards, I never see everything!  So I am condensing.

I feel kinda guilty about it, but I unfollowed an Etsy board.  As someone who is hoping to sell their items and would love the joy of seeing a bracelet (find some here at my Etsy store!) pinned and repinned on Pinterest, I feel bad to unfollow a board that shares any awesome Etsy items.  However, thats all I see sometimes!  I wish those Etsy Handmade boards were more specific, but thats also so hard to regulate when you have like 50+ (or worse, like 500+) people posting to a board about whatever they want.  How does someone moderate a thing like that?  I suppose I could have my own boards, and share specific items like that, but I also hate having a million boards that people and/or myself aren’t even interested in.

After stopping following a few of the Etsy Handmade boards, I see so much more content!  But one thing I can’t decide, which DIY / Crafts boards should I keep following?  I must be following like 20 of those boards, but I only ever see a few of the same boards posting content, and some of it isn’t even all that “new”, even though most of it claims to be “genius!”  But thats another Confession altogether!  The big multi-contributor boards are the places that are constantly getting posted to, but I really don’t know how relevant some of these ideas are to DIY.  For instance, “Cleaning with Vinegar” is not what I would consider DIY or Crafts, and yet its in that board.  And while recipes are a type of craft, they belong under Recipes.  Know what I’m sayin?

Enlisting your help!  What do you think of these boards?  Keep?  Or unfollow??

DIY & Crafts – 5,000+ contributors!  96,000+ pins.  yowza   (basically takes over my feed)

Do It Yourself Today – 700+ contributors, 14,000+ pins

Budget Friendly DIY – 14 contributors, 176 pins.  must be fairly new

Getting Crafty – 30+ contributors, 3,900+ pins

Create – Just decided to unfollow but am so shocked by one of these pins.  I am sharing because I cannot be the only one who thinks someone’s political agenda was swept up into her mostly DIY board.

Getting Crafty & DIY – 30+ contributors, 3,900+ pins

Share Your Crafts – almost 800 contributors, 2,900+ pins

Mod Podge Rocks! – 125+ contributors, 2,500+ pins

Etsy Handmade Favorites- Group Gallery of Art & Jewelry  – I am also a contributor + 1,800 other people that rarely stick on topic, I’ve also only shared 1 time, and it was on accident. 28,500+ pins    (after looking at this, seriously considering making my own board and only inviting people who will stick to the topic)

 

After searching through my feed at 2 very different times (morning and night), the majority of pins comes from the 1st link: DIY & Crafts and the Etsy Handmade Faves boards.  They might have to go…at least for a time!

PS. I’ve added a few new items to my Facebook page’s photo albums, some of which are NOT on Etsy yet still for sale!

Related articles

• Pinterest Inspiration (thehandmadeswap.com)
• Why I (finally) took an interest in Pinterest (popcorntheblog.com)
• Pinterest: 6 Reasons I’m Not Following You (business2community.com)

So many DIYs, only one week to do them!

If you don’t want to read all this, (and I’m not insulted), skip to the bottom for some real info about upcoming projects and a refashion question or 2 for you!

Hello everyone! It has been SO LONG!  I do apologize for being MIA for so long, I have finally finished my first quarter of PTA school.  I think I did really well, I do not know all my grades yet, but they would have contacted me if I failed anything 🙂  I was taking 3 classes, Introduction to Physical Therapy, Medical Terminology, and Anatomy + Physiology 1.  Intro was not the funnest class ever, in fact it was rather dull for most of the quarter, good thing I had a fun teacher.  Medical Terminology was even more intense then the class I took for Massage Therapy, I wasn’t expecting so much extra info.  Plus all the abbreviations!  Hundreds of them I need to know, I’ll have to keep studying those all year round.  And A+P, not done yet!  It continues for round 2 next quarter, along with Rehab 1.  Finally we can start learning about what PTAs really do in the field.  I’m pretty excited!

Source: http://sportsmedicinesalary.org/physical-therapy-assistant-cat/

So not only is my first quarter finished (yay!), I have a week off (double yay!), for me to have fun finishing up some projects!  Trust me, I have a massive list!
On this list is a few tutorials I promised you guys, but near the end there I had to study for finals, so not much time, plus a few extra projects I was finishing up!  So I’ll share with you a few things to expect from me in the coming month, as well as any changes that have happened so you can stop “waiting” to hear anything.

Who remembers my Year of Something New?  Well, my sister had her babies back on May 4th (i’m an auntie!), and now this is really a year of something new, except its mainly all baby related haha!  Its ok, I don’t mind it, I am enjoying all the days and hours I am spending with my new niece and nephew.  Sorry no photos, their rule, not mine.  So while things are certainly new, they aren’t the crafty things I had originally planned, and I am not able to share as much with you all as I had hoped.  I will hopefully someday share some of the items I have made for them, as well as other gifts down the rode.  But this blog will not turn into all babies all the time, so thats good!

I have finally started a long overdue wedding gift, it took me a long time to really pick what I wanted to give this bride.  Some people are just easy, but I love to handmake gifts and I think those are the nicest gifts because I make them personalized.  So anyways, I have officially made the decision for a wedding I was in a few months ago, and have already started it.  When I finish and gift it, I will share it with you, its a 2 piece gift!  Then I have another gift that’s more extensive, I want to start and finish as well.  I at least hope to finish half of it, though according to the “directions” it should only take about 2 hours.

I am also in the process of making a Blurb photobook and a Shutterfly photo book.  If you are not signed up for either email list, do it now!  I will share those with you when I finish, I’ve been hoping to do a comparison one I finish my Blurb book, but again I couldn’t decide on a subject, and I tend to add too many things to my plate and that was one of them!  So this week that is also on the list!

PS.  Through 6/30 Blurb is offering 15% off a book!  Follow the link below to order your book now!  This is my affiliate link and I will earn a small percentage if you buy through my link, and I thoroughly appreciate when you do.

15% off through 6/30 with code BOOKSFORSUMMER

Too long, didn’t read, starts HERE:

Oh, I also have a massive selection of refashions I want to work on!  I even made a list of everything involving clothes that I want to paint or sew in some way.  I still have a sweatershirt I want to trim down so its more fitted, its like an XL but its from University of Dayton (where I graduated) so it’d be nice to wear it and it fit, you know?  I also trimmed down another hoodie that I have wanted to paint but couldn’t pick a design, I wanted to paint the front pocket black and added a toilet paper stencil, but instead I think I have picked a wrap-around design with no black included!  Maybe some glitter though!

I also would like to know, what are your thoughts on cutting sleeves off jean jackets?  I have this jean jacket I bought a few years ago at a garage sale for a few bucks, never worn it!  I have no idea how to wear jean jackets, is the jean color supposed to match?  Anyway, this jacket fits ok, but I was thinking of cutting off the sleeves or maybe making it short sleeved because it fits awkward at the shoulders.  You just check this out, I love the pockets so I don’t want to crop it.  Oh and the color is a dark bluish yellowy greeny, know what color I’m talking about?  Neither photo I could enhance to get the right color, the left is much too blue, and the right I didn’t get any change.  If you can see in the photo, by the shoulders it looks tight just laying flat, thats kinda how it feels.  I was hoping cutting off the sleeves, maybe adding lace sleeves?  Would solve the tightness problem.  Thoughts anyone?

source: me

I have just been inspired to lengthen a skirt, so I’m off to do that now!  If you haven’t taken my gluten free poll please do, if you have, thanks 🙂

Coming up:

Lace Earring and Necklace Tutorial
Make-up fixer tutorial and ideas
How to Fix a Fabric Paint Mistake
Fabric Stencil Painting
Making a Hoodie Fitted
Lengthening a Skirt
DIY Shoe Makeover
Gluten Free Pizza recipe and review
Zucchini Pizza/Pasta recipe and review
Wedding Gift #1
Wedding Jewelry Photos – just to show it off
Shutterfly Photobook review (not sponsored)
Blurb Photobook review (affiliate link)
Baby DIY photos – just going to show off what I made
New jewelry to show for my Etsy shop

Looking forward to sharing with everyone soon!

Daily Prompt: Switcheroo

Daily Prompt: If you could switch blogs with any blogger for a week, with whom would you switch and why?

 

via memegenerator.net

 

Talk about an easy question!  I would switch places with

True Blue Me & You: Doable Unique DIYs

 

If you are unfamiliar with this blog, it is SO FUN!  I am addicted to DIYs, and I don’t do that many yet, but I LOVE to read about them and find more.  My Pinterest boards are FULL of so many types of DIYs.  I have often thought about having a blog that only shares super awesome DIYs and tutorials.  But there are already a lot of blogs that do just that.

Besides, I am so inconsistent and unorganized.  I would really need to up my game to have a blog like she does.  Though I might someday open a Tumblr blog, maybe when I have time to take more photos of things.

So there you go!

Stealing is Stealing and its NOT OK!

I’ve only been blogging for less than a year, and certainly not consistently.  That being said, its been brought to my attention these past few months about the INSANE amounts of intellectual property that is being stolen on a regular basis by various websites, many of which are claiming to “find” tutorials or do “roundups” of which are un-sourced.  Now we all know when you say “found” you really mean “stole” and manipulated it to be whatever you wanted.

How many people are aware of some of the many sites that are doing this?  I’ll admit I was in the dark about how important watermarking and logo placement was until this whole thing just became glaringly obvious.  That said, I am reluctant to share some of my projects or tutorials with the world here, if they might just end up in the hands of thieves.  In fact I’m trying to think up a way to keep certain sites from being able to access my page at all.  I think thats possible.

http://guang.taobao.com/   Chinese website that steals your tutorials and its almost impossible to find a way to contact them to take it down.
http://www.saifou.com/   “Inspiring Images” that don’t link back to their sources.
http://www.repiny.com/   Images are there and ready for you to pin to Pinterest, again with no links to the original source.
http://www.usefuldiy.com/diy-nautical-necklace/   This website is blatantly stealing, the images are watermarked and yet there is no link back to the source.  THIS is why its important not to put all the steps into one image!!
http://handmadera.blogspot.com/2012/04/braid-necklace-diy.html   Oh hey, where did this come from?  Because I know its not yours!!

And last but not least, there are plenty more stealing tutorials out there, Handimania, I don’t even WANT to link to their site!  But I want you ALL to know, stealing someone else’s tutorial, images, content, words, photos, and ideas is STEALING!  And it is wrong!  And we shouldn’t stand for it!!

PS.  Are you a handmade artist?  Do you think you’re safe?  Because you’re not!

Watermarking with your logo, your website, etc is incredibly important!  Learn how to do it!  There are a bazillion tutorials online to help you!  Here are some of my favorites: Add automatic group watermarks by Craftionary, Add a Copyright Watermark by PhotshopEssentials, Video on Youtube by Jen Swedhin, Create in Photoshop by PhotographyBlog, How to Watermark without Photoshop by ArtsyFartsyMama.  Figures, I can’t find the one I used, regardless, these all give great instructions and videos really help, plus if you don’t have Photoshop, no excuse!  Don’t make it easier for someone to steal from you.  Also, there is no shame in pasting your watermark right over your image subject!

And to go along with how insanely cranky and frustrated this whole talk makes me, I posted a comment to the Handimania Facebook page today for their “Ask us Anything! Monday” of which there are absolutely no answers, but like 20 questions.  Someone said “where do you find the instructions for things you find on pinterest? I always see awesome pics of the finished products, but I can never find the instructions.”  So naturally, I thought I would help out and give an answer: “The instruction are with the actual tutorial on the site they stole the content from.”  As of 10:20pm EST that answer has been on the site for 9 hours.  Soon after this, another brave soul made a similar comment.

I really think if we all spread the word, maybe more people, and maybe the people who don’t understand copyright infringement, will start to understand that its not ok to encourage this type of behavior.  That stealing is stealing regardless of where or how its done.  Just because you can’t hold it in your hand, doesn’t mean it wasn’t taken from somewhere without permission or without giving credit where it is due!

To make it easy for those of you who would like to share this message, I have made 2 screenshots of the above mentioned Q&A and already pinned them to some of my Pinterest boards.  I would LOVE if you would repin them: http://pinterest.com/pin/212443307395164061/  (currently located in my Digital Scrapbooking board and includes both mentioned comments)   &   http://pinterest.com/pin/212443307395164142/   (which only includes my answer and is located in my DIY Projects board).  I WILL be spreading these pins along my other boards, on my Twitter account, and to any other blogger I can.  You don’t have to be a blogger or DIY-er or Handmade-maker to support this and say no to stealing.  Every share could make a difference!

I don’t believe in STEALING content from other DIY-ers and bloggers. Do you? If you agree that stealing is stealing and we should give credit to ALL the amazing people who take the time to show us how to make amazing things, SHARE THIS PIN! Tell sites like #Handimania that its NOT OK to take what doesn’t belong to them!!! #stealing #intellectual_property #stolen #content #diy #blogging #handmade #crafts #facebook

The website #Handimania STEALS other bloggers tutorials and steals photos without giving proper credit to the creator. Help me tell them, STEALING IS STEALING, we are NOT ok with you taking whats not yours! REPIN THIS and lets make sure they know we won’t accept this!!! #stealing_content #intellectual #property #stolen #thief #handmade #diy #crafts #blogging #bloggers

I’ve been Nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award!

Its so awesome when another blogger notices your talents or loves the content you share on your blog, enough to let their own followers know!  I’ve been nominated by Evarel’s Creations a handmade jewelry blog.  She makes lovely jewelry collections that I encourage you to check out here: Collections.

The rules of this award are as follows:

Display said award logo on blog.
Thank and link back to the person who nominated you
State seven things about yourself
Nominate 15 bloggers
Notify these mentioned bloggers

7 Things About Me:
1.  I have a twin sister, who is having twins!
2.  I’m scared of butterflies and ladybugs (Confession post in the future)
3.  I (still) hate burlap
4.  I’m going back to school to be a Physical Therapist Assistant
5.  I’m obsessed with pinning DIY stuff
6.  I still have a QWERTY keyboard non-smartphone
7.  I’m addicted to chapstick (Confession post in the future)

I now nominate:
Deliciously Organic: yummy recipes and kitchen help, including Gluten Free ideas
DiscoverCreateLive: a new fave site, gluten free, printables, and tutorials
For the Love Of... : a fashion and style website
Flat Broke Bride: planning a wedding on a budget
M&J Blog: diys and diy round-ups
Runway DIY: runway looks to diy looks
Grow Creative: diys, tutorials, watercolor and photography inspiration
Say Yes to Happy: inspirational photos
Stuff Steph Does: Make, Eat, See …stuff!
Stripes & Sequins: DIY and tutorials, fashion and beauty
Thought Catalog: funny editorials that you are sure to relate to
DIY Dreamer: crafty tutorials
Live Simply by Annie: professional organizer gives awesome tips
Free Kindle Books and Tips: free Kindle books, I never miss a post
My Crafty Crazy Life: don’t miss her Feline Fridays!
After Nine to Five: she inspires you to be better, at everything including blogging

Refashion Fridays: Lace Appliques

Is anyone else obsessed with appliques?  They can completely alter a piece of clothing or other piece of fabric with just a few stitches or the heat of an iron!

A reverse applique Lace Inset that I can’t wait to try! by DIY & Craft Tutorials

Lace appliques to any shirt take it to a new classy level! by The How-To Gal

Lacey/Doily Sweatshirt Appliques by A Beautiful Mess

A clutch with some added lace by Ricochet & Away

Crochet Applique by Dixie DIY

Didn’t really mean to make this all about lace appliques, but they are pretty, aren’t they?

See these and more refashions on my Pinterest boards.

Enjoy your weekend!!!

Burlap Giveaway!

 

Remember my Confession: I Don’t Like Burlap post?

“Saved By Love Creations has teamed up with BurlapFabric.com to bring you a chance to win $25 in store credit. You can spend this however you want at BurlapFabric.com.”

To enter all you need to do is visit BurlapFabric.com and pick what item you would buy, then comment on this post!  (do not comment on MY blog, I am not part of the giveaway)

I won’t be entering, but since lots of people saw my burlap post, I thought I would pass this along.

And if you’ve never visited Saved By Love Creations I highly suggest you check out her tutorials and maybe sign up for her RSS feed or emails.  I get her emails and she always has tutorial round-ups or really fun (but not too hard) tutorials to try.