My Insta-Moments Album

Oh, my friends . . . I love creating something new. And now that I have finally finished organizing my studio space in our home, I was eager to get in there and get my hands on a new project. This one . . . is AWESOME (if I do say so myself), and I can't wait to share it with you.

Have I told you how much I love Instagram? If you are a Facebook friend of mine, you already have a pretty good idea how much I love it based on the photos I share. If you aren't familiar with it, Instagram "is an online photo-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take a picture, apply a digital filter to it, and share it on a variety of social networking services, including its own and other leading sites such as Facebook or Twitter." (source: Wikipedia)

Aside from all of that (and please know I am not affiliated with Instagram) I absolutely love how the program conforms your photo to a square shape, and offers a variety of different camera filters and frames to enhance your photo image. And since the program is compatible with my iPhone (and most mobile phones), it makes taking pictures on the go so convenient and easy.

After taking a little bit of time looking through my photos on Instagram, I realized that I captured some awesome moments in our lives - quick little moments of our days that make me so happy to see and remember. I wondered what would ever happen if Instagram just went away one day? Where would these photos and memories be?

So, I decided to put together a special little book for us . . . and decided to do it all with supplies I had on hand (didn't cost a thing . . . except for the printing of the photos).

I started the project by googling "printing Instagram photos", and after researching a few online companies that offer the service (determining cost, reading customer testimonials, etc.), I decided to have them printed through Kanvess.com. Once I registered and ordered the prints, it took just a few days before the photos arrived at my doorstep. Yes, I am sure I could have printed them myself. But with the ink costs, the photo paper costs, and the time it would have taken to print and cut them myself - I decided it was worth having them printed by Kanvess. I am really happy with the quality of the photos, and will definitely use them again.

I then gathered a few more supplies to begin . . .

I had an unused sketchbook in my stash, just waiting for a project, that I decided would be the perfect place to hold our photos. I also went on Pinterest and typed out a number of inspiration quotes about "life" and "moments" and "happiness" that I have collected for months, just in case I might want to use them somewhere in the album. I'm so glad I did . . . as you'll see. I think they make a lovely addition to the project.

 

Next, I did the cover. I decided to call the book "Our Insta-Moments with Instagram" and included the Instagram logo on the cover. With the addition of a little Washi Craft Tape, I am really happy with how the cover came out. (Don't you love washi tape? I NEED some more in my supplies!)  

 

Once inside, I simply glued the photos to the pages. I kept three or four basic layouts going through the whole book. The idea was to do a pretty simple style and quick project. I didn't want to spend too much time on elaborate pages. "Just glue it down!" as my scrapbook friends and I say.

 

 

The cover really needed something else, so I added a quote that really summed up the whole album for me. . .

 

Once all the pictures were down, I date stamped each one. This part was a little more challenging to figure out, as Instagram doesn't have the exact date on each picture taken. It does give you "how many days ago" the photo was taken, but my math wasn't working that well to calculate it for over 100 photos. So with the help of Facebook (and comments left on the photos on Facebook), I was able to determine the actual date each from was from.

 

With a few more quotes . . .

 

 

and just a little bit of journaling for each photo . . .

 . . . and the project is done!

I have lots of room left to add photos to, and I am so glad for that. I'm thrilled with the final album, and know it's going to be something we'll be picking up and looking through for a long time.

Thanks for letting me share my "Insta-Moment" album with you. If you decide to make one of your own, please come back and share it with me. I'd love to see what you come up with!

As always, wishing you peace!