Pinterest and Folksy

Over the last couple of months I have been creating Pinterest boards for consideration for the folksy front page.  I have really enjoyed making the boards which is just as well, because every board I have made and put forward has been ignored, rejected, overlooked and met with folksy’s disapproval.  I have no idea why, or what I am doing wrong and I am sure I am not alone in this feeling.  One thing I have noticed, and although I know folksy will adamantly deny this, there is a bit of favouritism that goes on.  Certain sellers who create a board always have them chosen for the front page, but I am not going to name names!

For this blog post I thought I would talk about my boards and what has inspired me to create them. To illustrate my blog post I have chosen some of the items from the Pinterest boards I have created.

One of the first boards I created in May was called: "The Guitar Player".  This was directly inspired by watching a DVD of Eric Clapton in action.  Even if you don’t like his music you just have to appreciate his skill and awesome ability with playing the guitar.  Perhaps it was an age thing.  Is it possible the folksy team have never heard of Eric Clapton?  I love browsing folksy and seeing what handmade items are available and sometimes I am always surprised.  When I am creating a board I have four things in mind:

Does the item fit the theme?

Is it a good product?

Is the photograph good enough and does it show the item to its best advantage?

Have I selected items that have a variety of different medium and prices?

Sometimes there are lots of items that meet the above criteria, but when you are working towards creating a board with only 18 items, unfortunately a lot of items need to be rejected.  I have often rejected numerous of my own items too!  One item I was intrigued about was the number of handmade plectrums that were available.  When there are lots of the same item, choosing just the right one can be quite difficult!  In this instance I am afraid I broke my own rules and chose two plectrums!

Moving on, another of the boards I created was called: “A Fine Romance”.  Being a romantic through and through, I associated summer with romance and selected items that went with this theme.  My friend was on holiday in Vietnam in January and she met a lovely man and whilst initially it might have started as a holiday romance, six months later it is still going strong despite the fact he lives in Guernsey!  They commute back and forth to spend time together so this is what inspired this board.

“Beautiful birds” was inspired by fabric that I have come across with birds on.  This type of fabric is very popular and there are so many to choose from.  So whilst I was inspired by fabric, I tried to look and include non fabric items for my board.

Another gripe I have about the folksy selection process is the way most boards that get selected have just one day and night on the front page, but on Friday the board that gets chosen for that day ends up with three days (Saturday and Sunday).  I don’t like this.  What’s the point of changing the board every day during the week but then having the same board on the front page for three days?  It’s just plain daft.  They should choose a board for Friday and then choose another for Saturday and Sunday – surely it is possible to programme the change? Or have boards on the front page for two days each or whatever.  But I get bored with the same board come Sunday and wish they would change it.  Strangely enough they do change it on a three day weekend i.e. a bank holiday!

I am sorry if this blog post has been very critical of folksy, but when you have an itch it is very hard not to scratch it!  I try not to be negative but sometimes you just can't help yourself!

“Colour and Texture” was inspired by the project I was working on at the time.  I had started to make vintage lavender hearts.  I was struck by how textural they were because I was using vintage lace, vintage embroidery and buttons makes these make an interesting texture. There was colour from the embroidery and I thought about how important these two elements are in creating something unique.  “Colour and Texture” is one of my favourite boards and I tried not to include too many textile items, but I think I failed because there are quite a few, but then I am very drawn to these obviously!

Finally, my best boards or my very favourite boards are “Candy Floss” and “Guacamole”.  I felt sure folksy would choose one of these. I was wrong!  Another problem is that they have so many boards to choose from and they don’t appear to choose them in any particularly order or to any particular kind of criteria, but I may be wrong.  I know they like to have boards that take into account special days and events.  So at the beginning of Wimbledon there were a whole range of boards with connecting themes.

I love “Candy Floss”.  I was thinking about holidays again and remembered seeing a board that celebrated ice cream, so I thought why not?  I am not really a “pink” person, but I was delighted to find so many items that had a similar shade of pink or made a good contrast. This is what I wanted rather lots of images of candy floss!

 “Guacamole” is my very favourite board.  This is the last one I created and probably will remain my favourite until I make the next one!  I was inspired by a specific colour of green – apple green.  Not sure exactly why.  When I started creating the board I had not chosen the title.  I was thinking green as in fresh, new, virginal, but once I had finished the board and I looked at it as a whole I saw something different  - guacamole.  Again texture and colour!  The main fault with this board is that it has too many textile items (I can’t help it!)  I have also noted that many of the items have sold that I included on this board.  

I love jewellery and ceramics and always I want to include these items – there are always lots to choose from.  I also love art and art prints, photographs, paintings etc. but these are not things you can hold in your hands and fondle and touch and smell!  And so my leaning is always towards something tactile.

Hope you have enjoyed looking and reading my rant.  Please click on the photographs and have a browse in these shops.  You never know what you might discover.

BFN

Edwina