One year later

Last February Pinspiration was born. Click here if you want to read that story. On February 21, 2012 I actually started sharing it with people, after completing and blogging 10 pins. You can read that story here.

I've spent the last few weeks thinking about which direction to take this project now. If you've ever really analyzed it, there are many weeks that I did not complete the full five pins for the week. Maybe I was really busy at work, sick, my kids were sick, running a marathon, or just feeling lazy. The bottom line here is that I achieved my original goal. That was to get out of mindless activity and get back into creating. To actually use the pins on my pinboards. Gone are the days of whittling away the time playing little video games or only pinning on Pinterest. I now use my evenings more productively.

I plan to go forward, keeping the pace--aiming for five a week, but not beating myself up if I don't get it. Some of the pins I really want to do, or am in the process of doing, require a lot of hours! I have a few half-finished projects going on that I would like to wrap up--weather and finances permitting!

Someone once complimented my blog, which I appreciate, but also made another comment that stuck with me. I don't remember the exact wording, but it was something along the lines of, "doing pins, that almost always work." I want you to know I am totally honest with you about my pinning experiences--the good and the bad. However, I agree with her that they usually work. That is probably because I am drawn to pins with familiar materials, techniques, or flavors. I pin things that I think I COULD actually do! Here comes the twist . . . I am ready to challenge myself, and for you to challenge me. I have started a pinboard on my Pinterest called The Challenge. I am going to pin things that I think look interesting but would not usually take on. I also would love to hear from you! Send me your requests. It could be a pin you did that worked awesome, or didn't work at all. Maybe a pin you are interested in but not quite sure how to make it happen. I would like to stretch myself to try new things. What are you interested in? What are your favorite things to pin? You can send me your ideas, requests, share pins you find by emailing me at lizspinspiration@gmail.com and I will stick them on my challenge board.Year two of Pinspiration will include some of these suggestions and challenges. Don't be fooled by the title "The Challenge" because it doesn't have to be a challenging pin. The challenge is for me to try something I wouldn't normally be immediately drawn to. It just isn't as exciting or motivating to call it "The Suggestion."

Also, on a much more depressing note, I will be taking a teensy break. I need to complete a certification test for my real job and it requires hours and hours of studying. That means after the kids go to bed I need to hunker down with my books and get that over with. My goal is to have it completed around spring break time, mid-March. My posting may slow down a bit until then.

So, in case your wondering, I now have 1,552 pins and have completed and posted on 187 of them. That's not even including the 20 or so I did before Pinspiration was born. That's still only 12% of my pin total!

Thanks for joining me on this journey. All of you inspire me and encourage me to keep going. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.