our year in Instagram...#MakePrettyStuff

OK. I admit it. I am an Instagram addict.

So, when I heard that our next Heidi Swapp Media Team project was centered around this awesome socia media outlet, I was so excited! Let's face it, in this day and age we are all tied to our phones...(please tell me I'm not the only one)...and I take photos all. day. long. I love documenting just regular, ordinary life...because those regular, ordinary moments are what define our lives, aren't they?

We didn't really have any set rules for this project...we were just asked to create something Instagram-y. Well, challenge accepted.

First I downloaded all of my Instagram photos onto my computer. This is a really really easy thing to do with Instaport. You just sign in with your Instagram information, click a few buttons and pow! your photos are downloaded. No hooking up your phone, no craziness, no nothing. Easy peasy. From here you can play with them in Photoshop, resize them, print them or send them to your local printer. I like to bring the .jpgs into my Silhouette program, resize them to about 3x3, print them and have my Silhouette cut them for me.

For this project I decided to create a mini-album.  I had a bunch of photos I wanted to use, so I thought this was a great way to showcase them all.

I grabbed some chipboard covers I had lying around, designed a front and back cover in Photoshop using Heidi's digital papers & stamps (awesome!), printed them out and attached them to the chipboard.

I recently bought an old photo album at an estate sale (only .25!), and the pages that were included in it were exactly what I needed. I took each insert (they were the ones that come with room for three 3 1/2 x 5 photos down and one photo across) and cut them so that I had 3 separate little clear plastic pockets, each with a hole punched in one side. Then I set out to document our "year in Instagram."

On the inside front cover I included a clear pocket (actually the packaging from some of my stash...held closed with a little Velcro disc) to hold not-yet-scrapped photos. Because I plan to add to this album all year, this will be a great way to keep photos I haven't had time to get to yet.

I closed the sides of each of the "pockets" a number of different ways...with my sewing machine, with staples, with washi tape, whatever worked.

I used a mix of both traditional and hybrid scrapbooking for this album. Heidi's new digitals are so awesome...and are completely customizable so you can really create just about anything you can think of, no matter your style.

All of the different lines (Sugar Chic, Vintage Chic & No Limits) fit together so easily, I was able to use elements from each and still have the album look cohesive. I love to add a little vintage filter to my photos before I post them to Instagram, so , hello, even more perfect! Love that.

Scraps and cut-offs are absolutely perfect for this kind of album...each of my little "layouts" were only 3 1/2 x 5, so the smaller and scrappier the paper, the better.

The Sugar Chic digital notecards were the perfect size for my little pockets...

Another thing I love about this kind of project is that there are no rules...you wanna include a photo of a pizza? Do it. (This, by the way, was the best pizza ever...handmade and cooked on the grill...yum).

This project was really so fun for me. I'm really looking forward to adding more photos to my album. And I'm always looking forward to adding more photos to Instagram...;)

Why not come follow me on Instagram? You can find me here...