much ado about pinterest

there's a lot of chatter going on out there about pinterest. first, it was about the pinterest business model. and then it was about copyright issues.  today, flickr blocked all copyrighted images from being pinned. which is actually kind of a shame, because as i see it, pinterest is flickr faves categorized. if flickr had kept up with what was happening, they would have given us the ability to categorize our faves long ago, without leaving their site (but i digress).

in my view, it's all much ado about nothing. i pin because i want to find images again. because i am inspired or prompted to think or cook or drool. or because i think something's clever or beautiful or shocking. i'm not using a single pin for commercial gain, and i always leave the link to the original pin intact (if i'm originating the pin and not repinning, i don't always have control then). plus, i am flattered to be pinned, even if don't feel the prick itself.

here's the deal, people, if you're putting your work out there, whether it be words or images, someone is undoubtedly appropriating it. if you don't want that, don't do it. in my experience, the rewards are far greater than the drawbacks. my photo would never have appeared in the moosletter, my kitchen never been on apartment therapy and i'd not have been asked by multiple ikea publications if they could feature my house if i hadn't been sharing those things online. so get over it. and get pinning. i am.

color october drab

 

my october photo-a-day project mosaic. it's kind of funny, everyone else's was full of the flaming oranges and golden yellows of autumn, but mine is probably the most drab of all that i've done.   maybe because i had a 4-day flu that left me feeling weak and listless. maybe because most days were cloudy. maybe because the wind was blowing and the leaves didn't stay on the trees. maybe because i dread the encroaching darkness. i really do. or maybe because i feel a bit grey and drab and subdued, held back and held down. well, that's got to change, hasn't it? because it just won't do. maybe the memory of a little color will help my mood...

inspiration from flickr through the haze of a flu

after a very productive monday yesterday, i'm stricken down by the flu that hit sabin and husband at christmas. i had been so smug about escaping it, but apparently i didn't escape it after all. so all i can do is lie in bed surrounded by stitching, books and my laptop and feel a bit sorry for myself. so, rather than depressing all of us, i thought i'd show you what's sparking my creativity at the moment on flickr.

1. pink angel, 2. kitty cat garland, 3. TOTEMS, 4. heart tree, 5. krukje ingrid, 6. pleats or tucks in progress, 7. Pinks and Greens embellisher play, 8. This is Finland postcard, 9. My house collection for Fall & Christmas 09!, 10. Silakka notebook, 11. a few hearts, 12. Work Quilt, 13. five blocks, 14. never flitting, still are sitting, 15. SAORI Weaving, 16. fiber fish, 17. november painted journal, 18. 'Pop Up', 19. flannel.chickies, 20. lots of turquoise beads... now I need greens!!, 21. Some of my Granda's tweed, 22. Untitled, 23. Color Study: Redwedge, 24. have you noticed how colorful the acorns are this year, 25. Quilted Colour Study Art Quilt

flickr is a truly brilliant place to find inspiration, even if i think they have serious usability issues. like why on earth should we have to download greasemonkey scripts to do basic things, like have proper links and be able to reply to comments? shouldn't that stuff be standard in flickr? i guess google is just way better at usability than yahoo is (just my transparent attempt to keep the google gods happy).

* * *

i have 18 posts (17 after this one) to go before i hit 1000. and i keep thinking that #1000 should be something special.  but i can't think for the life of me what that something special should be.  this flu has rendered me listless and unimaginative, so i thought i'd enlist your help. i'm sure that you are all healthy and your imaginations are intact, so i'd love to hear your suggestions for that milestone post.

the shoes have it

i think the blogger gods know that i have been invited to contribute to a wordpress blog and they have intervened to make me completely unable to upload any pictures to wordpress. i don't have the tab or the lefthand menu item when i sign in, so for me, wordpress is photo-free, which kinda defeats the whole purpose, since the blog i've been roped in invited to is in fact, a tumblr-style photo blog, wherein we - wait, you're gonna love this, heidikins -  document the shoes we're wearing every day. it's called shoe per diem and it's by the fabulous stacey of discounderworld fame (speaking of which, have you checked out the vice issue?). much easier for me in light of wordpress hating me is the fact that there's also a flickr group. so if you want to share your shoes, i'm sure stacey would be happy to hook you up (just click that flickr link, ask to be invited and start shooting your shoes).

365 group created

i have created a 365 group for 2010 in flickr. i called it the blog camp 365 group, mostly because there are a zillion 365 groups and that name worked as a unique name. i've made it so you need an invitation to join, but please do request one if you'd like to participate. i just thought we should reasonably know one another. at least at first. maybe i'll change my mind down the line.

i've made it less restrictive than many flickr 365 groups. here are the rules:

1.) do take a picture every day.
2.) post when you have time.

i'd also request that you do leave comments. for me, doing this is about pushing my photography, so i'm really interested in feedback - good or bad. i hope you all feel that way too.

so click on the link and request an invite to play along and then get ready to take some pictures.

earth mosaic 2009

it's earth day and there's a marvelous flickr group--earth mosaic 2009--that's collecting pictures taken on this day from all around the world. i just geotagged and submitted mine. shots taken right here in my little town in denmark on this glorious earth day.

spring colors

i love the flickr toys at big huge labs. i like to occasionally make a mosaic of my favorites, just to see the trends, because as you go along, you don't necessarily realize that there is a kind of harmony to the photos you're favoriting (is that a verb now too?). usually, my mosaics are heavy on the turquoise/teals and there is a little of that in this one, but i was surprised to see more brightness and more variety to the palette at the moment. it must be spring--i'm clearly attracted to orange, yellow, light blue and green. they must be the colors of right now. they're just so cheerful and lively. for the photo credits on all of these, go here. it's also interesting to make these mosaics of your own sets, because you can definitely see trends there as well--here's that teal/turquoise thing i was talking about:

i spotted another trend in my faves and among my own pictures. it seems i have a thing with sticks and stones at the moment. who am i kidding, i've always had this:

you can see that many of these belong to the lovely margie of resurrection fern and speaking of stones, you should go check out her latest stone diary post, because it features the stones i sent her! she's doing such inspiring work combining nature and craft. and i just read her profile and realized she's a family physician as well! i wonder how she finds the time for everything!?! people amaze me sometimes.

and on that note, i'll get to work so that i can earn my time to play.

a new obsession!

took this picture this afternoon of my flea market purchase the other day. the zinc watering can, which looks marvelous, leaked like a sieve, so i planted a hydrangea in it.

then, i went here and i lomo-ized it. i think i'm in love. and you can dump them straight into your flickr! 

how totally cool is that?!?!?!

flickr meme

i've been seeing this meme all over the place and so i finally decided to give it a whirl.

what you do is answer these questions, using the search function in flickr:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. What is your favorite drink?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What is your favorite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. What is one word that describes you?

12. What is your Flickr name?

Then you do as follows:

• Type your answer to each of the questions above into Flickr search.

• Using only the first page of results, pick one image (this didn't prove possible for me, I must admit, I went to page 2 a couple of times)

• Copy and paste URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

1. Nachtigal, 2. i'll take this end of the boat ok?, 3. Driving to Eastern South Dakota - 7, 4. purple colored black butterflies, 5. Bill Clinton 7, 6. Hendrick's Gin, 7. stellenbosch_delheim 240, 8. Delicious Cheese, 9. Underwood, 10. J-P and Sabin in Thessaloniki, 11. From above...12. Diana+ bookshelves

note: i cheated on the first one, as all of the "julie" ones were something i couldn't really identify with. also, it takes much longer than you think. at least for me, who spends little or no time on flickr. i like the mosaic tool tho', it's cool. have a go if you have the time!