Adjective Robot

I was lucky enough to get gift cards to both Amazon and Barnes and Nobel for Christmas, which means that there is an influx of new craft books in my life.

Every time the calendar rolls around to a new year, my mind always rushes toward setting new goals. I didn’t make any resolutions, but I did spend time on new years day thinking about what I want to craft for myself, my friends and family, and my home in this coming new year.

The first four months I imagine will be a frenzy of crafting. My sister is expecting her first child in April, and there is just too much I want to make for my new nephew. I also really want to attempt to create stuff for my home that I love, that will be whimsically stylish, and that will really improve the function of our space. And finally, I want to get a head start on Christmas crafting (really? already?), as there are many people who deserve hand made from me, and some have already requested finished goods.

The other day on the Colette Patterns blog, the Coletterie, Sarai asked her readers if they had any sewing goals for the new year. I realized I did, but not like her list. Hers is a list of goals to improve sewing techniques. Mine is more a list of things I want to make sure I make time to make.

For the rest of the month, in between knitting a baby blanket for my nephew, I’ll be scouring my books and magazines to come up with a master list of must-makes. For now, I’ll probably keep them all together on a google docs spreadsheet, so I can list what it is, where the pattern is, when I need/want it by, who/what it’s for, and any other pertinent information I can come up with.

Then, I’m going to share it all with you, so that you can keep me honest about what I am (or am not) working on.

Now, to be sure, I will want to make everything on the master list. But I’m sure I’ll come across projects that are screaming to be made that I didn’t know about in January. I may make stuff that isn’t on the list, and I may continue to add to the list. But there will be a list, and I’m going to attempt to use it to force myself to not procrastinate.

Do you have a list of stuff you want to make?

This month–okay, the last six months–have just been killer on my crafty endeavors.

I haven’t managed to finish anything I’ve started except for Cecil, the chair covers, and a few other bits and bobs. I’m still working on a summer dress that is now past it’s prime season, and I haven’t started working on my halloween costume at all.

All this to explain why this is a craft-less post. Instead, I want to talk about the site you never knew you needed, Pintrest.

Why do you need Pintrest? Mostly because I bet right now, lurking somewhere on you hard drive is a folder of images saved from the web. My folder is named “Inspiration.” I save photos of rooms, of locations, of beautiful things I want to make. The big problem with this system, though, is sourcing it. If a picture has been in your folder for a year, or even a month, you might be hard-pressed to remember where it came from.

Pintrest, then, is your inspiration folder on steroids. When you “pin” a picture, you get to choose which “board” it goes to, can add a note about what you like, and it gives links back to the source and where you found it (say, if you repinned it from a friend).

Right  now, I’m using it to pin inspiration for my Halloween party, my bedroom redecoration, and fashion that I wish I could incorporate into my daily life.

If you have an inspiration folder, you’ll love Pintrest. And feel free to follow me and/or my boards. I think I do a pretty good job of curating my stuff.