Katie the Scrapbook Lady

Instagramiversary

me with a photobombing daughter in the background

The other day, I realized that I started using Instagram about this time last year. I was not an early adopter when it came to Instagram. I had some major resistance to it and first and wondering why I would want to use a bunch of filters on tiny square photos? It took me awhile to become fully convinced, but I have to admit that I love that little app! The social aspect is really fun and I love to see what my friends are up to. I so enjoy reading comments on my photos and interacting with so many other Instagram users. The biggest draw for me though is how easy it is to document my memories using Instagram. I find that I’m telling little mini-stories when I share photos and it helps me with my scrapbooking, my blogging, and staying connected to the memory keeping process.

Here are some of my recent favorites from my Instagram account:

 

Working on being calm (and medicated - lol) for the flight home. I'm SO excited to see Jeff and the kids! I've had the most wonderful adventure, but I really miss them!

 

Feet on the ground in Utah. So happy!

 

Oh my gosh! Extra bonus points for the best hubby and kids evah! Met me as I came to the luggage pick up. (I was totally surprised!)

 

Drove this cute girl to school today. A big change after 5.5 years of homeschooling through an online academy. She's ready and excited. I'm still panicked over the 2 cars that spun around on the icy roads and nearly crashed into me. Homeschool does have some advantages on a day like today. :)

 

She's home and she had a great first day of school. So proud of her!

 

Saw this sign next to a tip jar. Love it!

 

frosty day

 

So grateful for a college professor who went out of her way and spent an hour with Alex . Nice people rock!

 

Do you follow me on Instagram? It sure is a fun place to hang out!

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Meeting Katrina Kennedy

 

Have you ever finally met someone that you felt like you’ve already known for a long time? I’ve known Katrina Kennedy for several years now, but only from a distance. I’ve taken online photography classes from her, read her blog, followed her on facebook/twitter/pinterest, talked with her on The Digi Show, and worked with her at The Daily Digi. I’ve always adored her and now I’m thrilled that I’ve met her in person!

 

She has such a fun personality and she’s beautiful and kind.

 

Riley was so excited to meet her too, I’ve talked about Katrina a lot and shared a bunch of what I’ve learned from Katrina with her. When we were telling my hubby that we were going to meet her, Riley said “I mean, it’s KATRINA KENNEDY!”

 

So how did this all happen? Well, Katrina came to the Scrapbook Expo to teach a class and invited me and Riley to join her. Is that cool or what?! I had been invited to attend the Scrapbook Expo by Kami and Chelle (both at Scrap Orchard) but my life is so crazy busy right now that I couldn’t imagine fitting it in. When Katrina asked if we could meet, I decided I better find a way to carve out an hour or two. I originally thought her class was on Saturday so I was going to go and then spend a little time at the Expo afterwards. I realized that I had written down the wrong date and her class was really on Friday. Hubby had meetings and I didn’t have a good option for Alex, but we were able to work it out and Riley and I zipped over to join in Katrina’s class. I was embarrassed that we were a few minutes late (due to a misunderstanding at the front desk) because I didn’t want to walk in and interrupt her class. When we entered, Katrina stopped and said that she needed to give me a hug right there because we were finally meeting. So sweet!

I had to fight my Hermione Granger urges during her entire class because I wanted to raise my hand over and over and be her star student. LOL! I have to say that Riley and I were pretty much geeking out the whole time that we were hanging out with Katrina Kennedy! We learned some great tips also. Even though I have taken everyone of her online classes, there is still something different about actually being there in person. I felt like I got the whole visual triangle principle so much better after she showed us some of her photos. I felt very inspired by the whole experience.

My favorite part? Well, it had to be when she pulled out the Lego minifigures for us all to practice shooting with. Are we kindred spirits or what?! She let Riley and I borrow Evel Knievel. I told her that was a minifig I didn’t own and joked that he would be going home with me. Of course, Riley knew just what to do with the little guy since we practice photography on Lego minis all the time around here.

 

 

Riley took this one. I love how she paid such close attention to the composition.

 

I love that Katrina got right down on the floor to take pictures of everyone shooting Legos.

 

I wish we could have stayed longer after class to just visit with her, but she had another class to teach and we needed to get home to Alex. Maybe someday I’ll get to go visit her in California or our paths will cross again. Katrina is just one of those genuinely awesome people and I’m so grateful that both Riley and I got to meet her in real life. Very cool!

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Memories in my pocket

I love that I can carry around hundreds of photos with me all the time in my pocket. I never would have thought this would be possible ten years ago. Now that I have an iPhone, it’s a norm in my life. I always have a ton of pictures saved to my camera roll that I can look at, share, email, blog, or share on social media sites. It’s really kind of amazing when you think about it, but I almost never do because I just take it for granted now. Sometimes I like to just browse through my phone photos to see what I’ve captured.

 

Grilled portabella mushrooms. Yum!

 

Bikes at Gardner Village – so cute!

 

Sunset in the grocery store parking lot. Love beautiful moments like this one.

 

Fruit, bread, honey, and assorted cheeses for dinner with my parents and brother during their visit. So tasty!

 

Shawarma platter at a middle-eastern restaurant. We’ve been wanting to try it every since we saw the Avengers. lol! It was good!

 

A birthday gift for a family friend. I love polka dots and stripes together!

 

My daughter always has such fun ways to wear scarves. She’s a cutie!

 

Do you have any memories in your pocket right now? Be sure to share them with others!

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My worst shots

This photo was actually taken in broad daylight. I must have bumped the settings on my camera to end up with this beauty! The photo is of a big group of teenage girls who were camping out on a New York City street to purchase Justin Bieber tickets the next day.

 

Taken on a stairway at Ellis Island. I’m honestly not sure what I was trying to shoot for here?

 

Another Ellis Island shot. Was I jumping up and down when I took this? lol!

 

A phone photo in a dark room. Brilliant!

 

Just thought I’d share the type of photos that usually get deleted when I upload to my computer. For some reason, I thought these were worth saving…even if just for a good laugh!

 

Do you have any bad photos? Would you ever post them on a blog for the world to see?

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most popular cameras on Flickr

I’m always impressed that I can still find something new about Flickr, even after several years of being a dedicated fan. I’ve heard that the iPhone is now the most popular camera on Flickr so I decided to look it up. Sure enough, all the details are right on this page and there are some handy charts to illustrate the point.

 

These are the top five cameras on Flickr. I use 2 of these (the iPhone 4 and the Nikon D90)

• Apple iPhone 4
•  Canon EOS 5D Mark II
•  Nikon D90
•  Canon EOS REBEL T2i
• Canon EOS 7D

 

There’s a separate graph just for point and shoot cameras. Again, my own camera made the list (Canon PowerShot S95)

• Canon PowerShot S95
• Canon PowerShot G12
• Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
• Canon PowerShot SX30 IS
• Fujifilm FinePix X100

 

As far as Cameraphones go, Apple has 4 of the top 5.

• Apple iPhone 4
• Apple iPhone 4S
• Apple iPhone 3G
• Apple iPhone 3GS
• HTC EVO 4G

I’m not even really sure what the HTC thing is, I just know that I’m a big fan of iPhones. Oh, and I love Flickr as well!

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