My Pin It Yourself Board for Artists And Crafters On Pinterest - All You Need To Know!

"Are you an artist/crafter with a special/favourite/new item you'd like others to see? Does your work seem to fit with the themes of my other boards? PIN IT HERE! ONE ITEM PER PERSON PLEASE but feel free to change it for another any time (just remember to remove the old pin!) You can email me at free.spiritdesigns@rocketmail.com about being added or removed from the list of pinners for the board - happy pinning!"

My First Pin On The Board

The Idea

I joined Pinterest in January (2012) and instantly loved it. I've always been greatly moved and inspired by beautiful images, and i also love a treasure hunt so it was a match made in heaven!

I soon noticed that some of the images i was collecting were pictures of the work of talented artists and craftspeople and i came up with the idea of creating a board on my page for artists and crafters to share an item of their work - something that they were particularly proud of and wanted to share with a wider audience (i made it one item so that everyone would have an equal opportunity to showcase their work). I would be a pinner on the board too and so also have the opportunity to begin sharing my makes with more people.

As an arty/crafty person i know that half the battle of selling your work is getting the right people to see it. I feel passionately about encouraging and supporting creative talent so i was pretty excited to be able to give myself and my fellow hand-makers an opportunity 'shine their light'.

The Ups...

Its been a couple of months now since i created the board and the response to it has been fantastic. Over 100 talented artists and craftspeople are now pinners and i've had some wonderful feedback from many of them thanking me for the opportunity to showcase their work which is really lovely. I am very grateful to each and every person who has pinned on the board - thank you all very much for sharing your wonderful creations!


Many of the more active pinners are also very complimentary of each others work and this has created a supportive and celebratory atmosphere on the board which i love.


Some are also getting a significant number of re-pins which is great to see. The highest by far is Rika Blue's wonderful wheel thrown ceramic basin which has been re-pinned over 200 times since she pinned it on the board a couple of weeks ago! ...and several others have 10-20 re-pins which is a very positive endorsement of the quality of their work.

Rika's Wonderful Basin! Watch this space for a feature on Rika's work on this blog coming soon...

I love seeing all the beautiful work that's on the board and its great fun checking it to see what new things have appeared! Here is a treasury on the theme of 'beautiful blues' from the etsy shops of some of the current board pinners (if you haven't been included this time don't worry - i intend to create more board treasuries on different themes in the future, and also features on the work of non etsy pinners!)

...The Downs

There have been some hiccups along the way too - a few people have misunderstood or not respected the 'one pin' rule, but this is hugely less of a problem now that i have contacted them personally, and also made a point of explaining this rule to new pinners myself rather than assuming that they'll read it in the board description... i live and learn! (you might notice that there are still some pins on the board from 'multiple pinners' - i am trying to rectify this but Pinterest are not being forthcoming about how i can delete them - any advice on this would be very gratefully received!)


Most people who are regular users of Pinterest will have encountered the odd technical quirk - pins disappearing or duplicating themselves and the like. My worst experience of this phenomenon so far has been when i woke up one day to find that every pinner apart from myself had been erased from the list of pinners on the 'pin it yourself artists/crafters' board! I spent the whole morning adding everyone who had a pin on the board at the time back on the list (most of which probably wondered why they had been 're-invited' to the board - well now you know!).

The Future - Your Input Please!

This is the part where i ask for your feedback, whether you're a pinner on the board, or someone thinking about becoming a pinner, your input will be much appreciated!


Pinterest is rolling out new features all the time, and one that has recently come in is the the ability to set a cover image for each of your boards. Having your item on the board cover of the pin it yourself artists/crafters board will be a significant advantage when it comes to getting your work seen as it will be the first image viewed by anyone browsing the pinterest page belonging to a board pinner. Since this feature has come in i have been selecting each new item pinned when i see it to spend some time on the board cover - nobody gets left out as if a few have stacked up i still give each some time as the cover shot. How do people feel about this? Would you prefer popular pins to be selected as the board cover therefore possibly attracting a greater number of people to view the rest of the board... let me know!


I am hoping to do some more features involving board pinners here on my blog - how do people feel about that idea? Would you like me to add a link to feature posts in the blog description and/or the comments under pins?


How do people feel about the idea of having a collection of boards that are more genre specific instead of just one board i.e. a jewellery board, a textiles board, a ceramics board etc...  my current thoughts on this are that its better to stick with one board that will provide a higher number of viewers than individual boards but i'm open to suggestions!

Did You Know I Have Other Group Boards on My Page?

I have a board for craft bloggers and craft blog fans to pin their favourite blogging tips and posts. I am a collaborator on Steph C's Best of British board, and i also have a 'love dogs' board. They are each a bit different to my 'pin it yourself artists/crafters' board - follow the links to check them out and let me know at the usual email if you want to join! (free.spiritdesigns@rocketmail.com)