Viva Bailey is another wonderful reader that requested consideration for the Curator series, so I hopped over to Pinterest to see if it would be a good fit and from the looks above I do believe  it is! Her tastes are eclectic as it seems we all tend to be when presented with the ‘all you can see buffet’ of inspiration that is served up at Pinterest.  A good curator knows how to wade through the sea of goodness and present only the most tempting of morsels. I love her black + white board, although I wish there were more photo attributions, because I do love discovering a new to me photographer or two. I also love her very interestingly paired map + stars which has antique maps, constellation charts and a few modern ones thrown in for good measure. Viva updates her pins regularly so you are sure to be oohing and ahhing over her latest discovery as I have been this week!

P.S. If you are interested in being considered for a future Curator feature send me an email with a link to your boards or leave in the comments so we can all visit. I like curators that update often and have over 1,000 pins (the more the merrier). If you have a unique bent like Moira did with her canine curations that’s even better!

I can’t believe how many of you have emailed me to be considered for the Pinterest Curator series, the response has been as enthusiastic as the actual feature and I am so grateful! The best part is that the submitted boards have been extremely well curated, original and have amazing diversity!  I felt so lucky that I have so many creative readers (yes, I absolutely consider Pinterest curation a creative pursuit). Moira had emailed and when I saw her boards I knew I had to work on her feature. The one thing I loved most about the boards is she allowed her passion for Canines to be prevalent throughout her boards in a very interesting and sophisticated manner. I dare say, one of the best collections of dog imagery on the interwebs. Some of the boards that knocked my socks off were–Dogs:Musicians + Muses, Dogs: Artists + Muses, Dogs: Writers + Muses. You don’t need to be a dog (or animal) lover to appreciate these boards (but if you are get ready to swoon). It’s a fine collection of vintage images of dogs and their famous human best friends such as Picasso, Coco Chanel, Charles Dickens and the list goes on. It’s a nostalgic visual treat. Moira is a pretty prolific pinner so be prepared to lose yourself in some rustic, bohemian, vintage goodness. Be ready to explore, I admittedly spent way too much time at Moira’s boards under the guise of ‘research’. And for those that prefer their dog chatter to come with a little cute on the side, Moira has a delightful blog post on arguably the world’s cutest dog (take that Boo), the indomitable Mr. Winkle.

On another note, I suppose I have gone to the dogs this week as I am reading A Small Furry Prayer and quite enjoying it.  It’s one part memoir, a hefty dose of both historical and scientific data plus the inevitable heart string tugging (you can’t discuss animal rescue without it). I bought it on impulse because the author is married to the writer of  a book I really loved called ‘The Tribes of Palos Verdes’, it was $1.99 and had a photo of a cute dog on the cover.  I am obviously very indiscriminate to what I am willing to read and why. Good thing this book has exceeded my expectations and it is far better than it’s $1.99 price would infer. For those that own a Kindle, check out the book deals, there’s always a lot of them and not all the books on the list are half bad, some are even very good, for under $3.99 you can’t go wrong, my husband is currently reading ‘The Unexpected Hero’ about Winston Churchill (one of my personal historical favorites) a $2.99 purchase that he has been quoted as saying, “Sucked me in from the first sentence.”

I felt like I wanted to showcase some soft + dreamy inspiration and knew exactly who would be able to satiate that desire–Pinterest Curator Meg Fish. Meg is a photographer (and one of my favorites).  I think Meg’s description of of herself is so accurate-Minimalist artistic visionary in love with details. Her boards have such an ethereal light going through them, you can tell that it’s a photographers curation. Meg doesn’t have a lot of pins currently but I am hoping with this post that it motivates her to curate more. My absolute favorite board of hers is the ‘Pale & Interesting‘, beautiful soft muted palettes, textures and light–sigh.

On another note, I have been receiving emails from you that have asked to be considered for future Pinterest curator posts, I LOVE that, thank you! I am so thrilled you are enjoying this feature and I am happy to take a peek at your boards.  I do request that you have over 1,000 pins (it’s easier to get there than you think) and that you pin on a regular basis to be considered. So feel free to email me or leave your link to your Pinterest in the comments below. Speaking of comments, if you have a site, blog, instagram, Tumblr or what have you make sure you fill out the space for that in the comments box. I won’t always be able to visit when it gets busier with the shop, etc. but I always try to visit at least a few new links from the comments each week.  I am always so grateful for your visit to my little spot on the web and would love to see what YOU are up to as well!

I am delighted to have Jill Lauck as my Pinterest Curator today. Jill’s style is feminine, festive, classic and utterly sophisticated.  You will never find any garish colors, fading fads or aesthetic mis-steps–just great taste.  I am not exactly sure what Pinterest protocol is but I am pretty sure it’s not following behind your fave Pinner and re-pinning everything they just did, but it’s hard to resist when you visit Jill’s boards.  Jill is dangerously close to 7,000 followers and I am hoping with your help we can take her over the edge, you won’t be sorry.  This blushy pink is just one side of this curator, like me she veers to the neutrals + classics and has a penchant for stars, the celestial kind of course.  I do hope you pay her a visit!

In other news, I have received a slew of emails as of late asking me how to go about becoming more popular on Pinterest.  I am not sure that I am the best person to ask as I don’t feel very popular, but I am flattered that others think I am (I think all closet nerds must feel this way). If the question is about having more people follow you I suggest you start pinning!  Find great pins out in the wild yonder and not just re-pin the same great thing from other boards (although there is nothing wrong with that), but if your goal is to get more people interested in you–be original.  Specialize.  Find one subject/board that you are really, really enthusiastic about and start pinning!  My most popular board is my hand-lettering board, I add to it almost everyday. It is not a chore, but a complete pleasure to uncover new specimens and introduce them to a broader audience. So instead of going nuts with multiple boards find one that makes your heart sing.  This bit of advice is for people that gravitate to Pinterest and want it to be their social networking medium. Don’t pin if you think it’s a bore, nor tweet or what have you, find something that you enjoy and it will come easily to you.  For the life of me I can not get into Facebook, thus I am never there. I have tried, but I am resigned to knowing that it’s just not my thing. So for those of you that want to build your Pinterest following what board do you think you will create that will be your ‘specialty’? Add a link to it in the comments and maybe we can all try to visit!

Today I bring you the New England based The Gilded Lobster.  Of course with a name like that you would expect a little cheek and of course a lot of shine going on.  She describes her style as ‘classic with a pinch of glam’ and I concur. If I were to dare try my hand at a descriptive I would go with Haute Prep. I love that throughout her pins there’s a sense of humor like the photo of the model in the middle bubble, but never ever does she veer to corny.  I wish she pinned more, because every time she does I feel all giddy inside like I have sipped extra fizzy champagne, my nose tickles and my heart flutters. She’s great you need to check her out (if you haven’t already). While you are there you can always visit me too as I am constantly re-pinning The Gilded Lobster thus look like I have much better taste than I do.