Oh man can I lose hours of my life on Instagram!

Scrolling through scrapbooking inspiration, finding amazing quotes that somehow I am sure as I read them they make me a nicer and happier person, or watching cute and funny animal videos seems to be my go to down time.

Ok the animal video confession is not so relevant to this blog post, and you all don’t need to know that the second I start giggling on the couch with my phone in my hand my husband knows I am in the cute animal video twilight zone and he has to intervene fast or I may never come back. But the Instagram vortex of all things scrapbooking is real struggle so I decided to change my approach …

Now instead of just double-tap “hearting” all those I love, I am now carefully curating the ones I really really love most into Instagram collections. I have one for sketches, sketch challenges, product I have and someone has used the same stuff in an awesome way, layouts I love and must try, and more. I have also decided to limit myself to just 20mins in the Instagram Scrapbooking Vortex before I need to pick something I saved and use it as inspiration to create. Like actually create, not just scroll through other people’s creations.

So far “Project Use the Instagram Scrapbooking Vortex for Good” (not extended couch time) is working! I have already knocked out not 1 but 2 layouts thanks to the awesome inspiration from @orangegearle and this amazing layout:

You can find info on how Orange Gearle created this layout in her blog post Wonderful First Lesson. Be sure to poke around at all of her other awesome designs and inspiration too. Her blog Orange Gearle and her Instagram @orangegearle are loaded with awesome!

My first layout inspired by Orange Gearle is of  a selfie of me in Victoria Falls Park in Zimbabwe a couple of years ago. I was visiting the park on my own. I had my travelling hat on, big DSLR camera, and comfy walking boots and I don’t think I have ever felt more like a “traveller” than in that moment. This layout and the embellishments from Prima Marketing really let me showcase this feeling.

Shortly after finishing the first layout it hit me that this design from Orange Gearle may help me solve the problems I was having scrapping pictures from one of the Air B&Bs my sister and I stayed at in Scotland a few years back. We loved this place but the pictures are not that great. Orange Gearle’s layout gave me a design that shows off fun we had even with less pictures that what I think we wanted to take. (Having too much fun to think of taking photos, is not a bad thing!).

This Orange Gearle layout has been added to my “go-to” sketches list in a Smashbook that sits on my scrap table in the ole Bee Hive (where I create). I have no doubt I will pull this one out again and again in the future. Thanks Orange Gearle!

Brande

The supplies that played along with the Me layout include:

Prima Marketing Inc Chipboard and More – Wild and Free, Bazzill Cardstock (Avalanche), Tim Holtz Idea-ology Film Strip, Heidi Swapp Vintage Chic Collection (Texture Pattern Paper), Jillibean Soup Bowl of Dreams (Dream Big Pattern Paper), Lily Bee Design, Stationery Collection Linen, Bo Bunny Vintage Dot (Shadow Dot), Prima Marketing Engraver Collection (Black Leaf Pattern Paper), Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Almost Black), Tomboy Mono Multi Liquid Glue, and string from my stash

 The supplies that enjoying being part of the Home layout include:

Bazzill Cardstock (Admiral), Simple Stories Domestic Bliss Collection (pattern paper, enamel dots), Elle’s Studio Puffy Heart Stickers, Simple Stories DIY Alphabet Stickers, and Tomboy Mono Multi Liquid Glue