I haven't figured out Pinterest either. I signed up and it forced me to pick a bunch of favorite stuff, so I did, not knowing what I was really doing...so now I have this extremely random pinterest board that I have no clue what to do with. It has all kinds of stuff on there, from quilts to vintage robots to bizarre architecture. Okay...it's all stuff I like, but...now what?? LOL

My daughter signed me up last yr..I too get those random picks from it...I simply delete it! Not interested......too me it is just a lot of ..look what I did or look at the pic I found....I would rather look out a window and see real things.....

Pinterest is a great idea starter.

I've recently entered the Pinterest world myself -- have a blast pinning various ideas I find. Then I realized -- its the equivalent of the "Idea" scrap books I've kept for years. Pictures of model homes, craft ideas, gardening, quilting, etc -- but all on line, and much, much easier. I'm doing lots of pinning, but haven't figured out how to get to my own board to check out everything I've saved! : )

Pinterest reminds me (except it's quicker) of the days I would sit in the middle of the floor, drag all the magazine's I'd saved for the last few months and cut out the things I wanted to do/make/engage in. And instead of organizing them in manilla folders, they're now stored in digital folders, (boards).

I have boards for all types of categories. Some I've gone back into and become more specific with, moved stuff, etc., others not so much.

I find it highly interesting to see what creativity others in the world can create, in a variety of media.
I get a lot of inspiration from art work, clothes, architect, other parts of the world that I've not seen in living color.

Pinterest is my file cabinet!

I thought it was stupid too, before I understood how useful it is. Now I can't do without it.

You are welcome to check out mine, to get a feel for how to organize your interests and how to choose what to pin.
http://www.pinterest.com/bonbonevans/

Oh my, you have an amazing pinterest site, sewbizgirl. You have so many folders for every aspect of quilting.... WoW!! And I should follow you because I think we have similar tastes.

I just started Pinterest recently but I'm learning a lot about myself. I always knew I liked a certain style of quilt but now I KNOW that's what I like because that's mostly what I pin.

And, I noticed that I have more pins for recipes than anything else and I'm not surprised that I have pinned quite a few desserts. Did I really want to know all this about myself?

I love Pinterest - it gives me so many ideas and inspirations on so many different topics and is a record of things I've done and enjoyed. I just pin photos that appeal to me and have a very random collection of boards. Over the months and years it can build up into a collection that really reflects all your different interests, moods and enthusiasms. I learn about myself when I look at my boards. I really would encourage people to get past the initial unfamiliarity and have a go. It's such a useful tool for anyone who's creative. The one thing I'm not doing enough of on there is posting my own pins rather than repinning existing ones. I want to change that.

Sewbizgirl -love your boards and have started following you.

Mine are at http://www.pinterest.com/annesthreads/ and are a very - varied - collection!