I’m pretty sure I’m preaching to the converted with this article, so let me just summarise everything that’s going to follow in four words:

I flipping love Pinterest.

Somehow, Pinterest must have found out how much I love them and decided to let me know that they love me back, because they asked me to take part in the UK Pin It Forward campaign, to help spread the news of their recent launch here in the UK.

Would I like to be involved? Erm, yes please.

Of course, I don’t need to explain what Pinterest is, because I’m sure you all know about it already. And yes, us Britishers over here have been using it for years already without a UK-specific version, but now we’ve got the option of seeing proper English spellings and everything…

The Pin It Forward campaign is a group of 300 bloggers who are linking up and talking about why they use Pinterest and speaking a little bit about one of their boards. The baton was passed to me today by two lovely blogs, Sew Scrumptious and the Start Up Wife.

And without further ado, readers, meet my board, I Could Make That. Pinterest board, meet my lovely readers…

I should warn you, before you shake hands, that my I Could Make That board (ICMT from now on, to save any repetitive strain injury on my typing fingers) is a bit of an unruly beast.

He wants to be all things to all people. All crafty people at least.

He’s the very first board I started when I joined Pinterest, 18 months or so ago when I was living in Hong Kong. I was supposed to be writing a novel (you can find out how that went by reading point 4 of my Five things about me) so was spending quite a lot of time sitting in front of my computer.

But, unlike during my Uni years – the last time I spent quite a lot of time sitting at my computer with only my willpower, rather than any financial incentive, to get something done – this computer was connected to the internet. So, my minesweeper addiction didn’t return. But I got a new addiction. Pinterest.

I was soon hooked on all the inspiration I found for all sorts of crafty things I could be doing. I created my first board, my ICMT board, to store some of the ideas.

At the beginning, like all the other Pinterest fools, I thought that I would just pin something and then make it. Maybe pin one or two things during the week, then make them at the weekend. Ha! Little did I know that my pinning would get woefully out of hand and I’d pin 10, 20, maybe 100 ideas for every single one I would actually get round to making.

My ICMT board became stuffed full with all sorts of craft ideas and I looked on with envy at others’ carefully curated boards dedicated to a specific pursuit (sewing, knitting, paper crafts, stuff you can make with toilet rolls – okay, I just made that last one up, but I have seriously considered creating that board myself on a number of occasions)…

But, wild and unruly as ICMT is, and hard as I find it to easily locate specific pins in amongst the other 428  I have stored, I’m really fond of this board.

The pins I have on here introduced me not only to amazing things I could make, but also to amazing new craft blogs. My Pinterest addiction soon expanded and became something of a craft blog addiction. And if I hadn’t spent so much time reading other peoples’ crafts blog, I probably wouldn’t have started this one of my own.

Really, I’ve got Pinterest to thank for the fact I’m here at all…

So, yes, I flipping love Pinterest. If you’re not on it already, you can use this custom link to register. As a bonus, you’ll automatically follow my ICMT board…

And just in case there’s anyone out there who doesn’t yet know what Pinterest is, I’ll just say that if you’ve ever bookmarked a page online, or torn a picture out of a magazine for inspiration, you’ll want to go and sign up.

That’s my Pinterest story. Tomorrow, Nesha from Flower Child blog will be talking about her Pinterest love, so head over there to have a read of her thoughts. Nesha’s a web designer and her blog is just as beautiful as that would lead you to expect. And if you’re keen on beautiful design, check out her Pinterest board Design: Branding, which is stuffed full of loveliness.

So tell me, are you on Pinterest? What do you most love about it?

Related articles:

All my related articles today are from the three other blogs that are linked with me in the campaign:

• I’m a bit in awe of the beauty of Flower Child Nesha’s blog, photography and sartorial choices! Take a look at this adorable little envelope liner she made to see what I mean. (I’ve just Pinned it, of course…)
• Sew Scrumptious is a really inspiring sewing blog. I’d seen Louise’s amazing pillowcase dress project before, which collects beautiful handmade dresses to send to girls around the world…
• …But I’d somehow missed the Pin addicts Pinterest challenge: make something you see on Pinterest and link up the project. I will definitely be joining in next month.
• The Start Up Wife is another blog that makes me feel a little jealous of its beauty. Emily is a photographer so it’s not a surprise all her photos are so stunning. (How she finds time to photograph, blog and work on other projects with four children is a slight mystery to me, though. I have a hard enough time with one baby…) Take a look at her Little things blog post to see what I mean.