25 Tips to Rock Your December Daily

25 Tips to Rock Your December Daily:

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1. Add holiday confetti to a clear envelope or divided page protector
2. Add a calendar for the week or the month to show an overview of important events 
3. Create a collage photo page when you have too many pictures to just pick one! 
4. Don't worry about sticking to your prepared page. If you just aren't feeling it, change it up!
5. Add a pop of color. Pick a bright color or some glittery glitz and use it to brighten up your book.

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A Week in Instagram: August 25th

Instagram is my favorite social media platform. I love getting to know people through pictures. Each Saturday I share some of my favorite instagram photos from the past week. My instagram username is rukristin. If you don't have instagram, you can follow along at ink361 (a web-based instagram browser).

I ordered new glasses!


The silly boy trying on very silly sunglasses.


The majority of my week was spent writing a ten-page paper on the under-representation of women in American Politics.


My treat for finishing the paper (it really does look like a wiener, doesn't it?)

- Kristin

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A Week in Instagram: August 18th

Week of August 18th

designing and cutting new journaling cards for the shop

amazing grapes (which I keep calling blueberries)

instax pic of jeffrey & my old school ipod next to my side of the bed
until next week!

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A Week In Instagram: August 11

Instagram is my favorite social media platform. I love getting to know people through pictures. Each Saturday I share some of my favorite instagram photos from the past week. My instagram username is rukristin. If you don't have instagram, you can follow along at statigr.am.

Hi Everyone and Happy Weekend! Last week I decided to expand 'a week in instagram' and I'm hoping you will join me. 

I use 'a week in instagram' as a snapshot of my week, it helps when I'm creating my project life pages and I would love to see a snapshot of everyone's week. Please join me on your own blog as well, I've included the html code to the 'a week in instagram' button in the sidebar, and a Mr. Linky at the bottom for easy sharing. This Mr. Linky will be open through the enf of the month.  Don't limit yourself to 'a week in instagram'; feel free to share 'a day in instagram', 'a weekend in instagram', etc. 

This week is pretty sparse in pictures. Jeff and I went up to the cabin in the Catskills and had a lot of relaxing down-time. 

working on #30lists
packing for relaxy cabin-time
express best-buy at the rest stop (a credit-card thief's dream)
Thanks for stopping by this week, and please play along with me -- grab the badge in the sidebar and leave your link in the link widget here. 

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Quick Tips to Better Pictures

This is the first in a series of articles about using the camera in your mobile phone for memory-keeping. These tips were written with a camera-phone in mind; but most of the principals apply to all photography. 

• Composition -- framing your photograph. The easiest way to improve your composition is to understand the rule of thirds. Imagine a tic-tac-toe board or a hashtag (#). The lines and the intersections are the main focal points. Try to place important objects on those lines & intersections. 

I laid a grid over this picture of Navy Pier to indicate the lines and intersections of the rule of thirds. The top left intersection lies directly over the ferris wheel, and the rest of the photo tapers off throughout the middle third. 

• Lines -- lines are your friends. The eye will naturally look at the lines in a photo, so make sure to play them up. Vertical lines, horizontal lines, diagonal lines, they will all draw you in. 

The ferris wheel has these spoke-like lines radiating outward. The varying sizes and the crisscrossing of the lines results in lots of cool shapes. 

• Focus -- Crisp, clear pictures. Make sure your subject is in focus. Too many potentially great photos are ruined because the subject is blurry and not in focus. Play around with both the auto-focus as well as physically moving the camera lens around. Learning to focus on your subject is a key to improving your photography. 
• Zoom -- Just Don't Do It. EVER. Never use the digital zoom function. If your camera does not have a lens that moves, do not use the zoom function. Digital zoom is actually the camera cropping your photograph before you take the picture. You will get the exact same quality photo if you crop it afterwards & this way you still have the whole photo to work with. 

• Lighting -- Be aware of your surroundings. I'm not going to say always do this, or never do that -- because you can't always get the perfect lighting conditions But here are a couple general tips: 
• Don't use your flash. The light doesn't make anyone or anything look better. It gives off a very harsh glare and you're better off just steering clear of the flash totally. 
• Its okay to take pictures in the dark. Play around with the dark photos in an editing app -- increase the fill light, or throw on a cool filter.
• If the light is behind your subject you will get a shadow on your subject. This isn't always a bad thing, you can get great silhouette portraits this way. But if you want your subject to be well-lit, then the lighting source should be behind you. 

This two photos of Jeff & Jill illustrate the difference between the location of your light source (in this case the sun). In the photo on the left, the sun is up in the air and behind them; in the photo on the right, I rotated around and started taking pictures with the sun to my back. 

Quick tips to better pictures is the first in a series of articles about better using the camera in your mobile phone for memory-keeping. Future topics include: using your phone as your primary camera, printing/scrapbooking mobile phone pictures, and more. 

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A Week in Instagram: July 28th

Instagram is my favorite social media platform. Each Saturday I share some of my favorite instagram photos from the past week. My instagram username is rukristin. Please feel free to follow along and leave your username in the comments for me to follow back!

Have a great week!

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A Week in Instagram: July 21st

Instagram is my favorite social media platform. Each Saturday I share some of my favorite instagram photos from the past week. My instagram username is rukristin. Please feel free to follow along and leave your username in the comments for me to follow back!

This week I'm in Chicago for the CHA (craft & hobby association) trade show as well as a little bit of sightseeing.



On my way to La Guardia airport in NYC to head out to O'Hare in Chicago.



A big cup of my Starbucks drink -- passion iced tea shaken lemonade, lightly sweetened.



My CHA badge. Many thanks to Cheryl Bogliolo for all her help and kindness (she's also a kick ass scrapper and teacher).



Downtown Chicago -- view from the hotel room.



The Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. Loved my ride on it. Incredible views.



Out on the ledge at the Skydeck at the Willis (Sears) tower. It was definitely an experience.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll have a more in-depth Chicago post next week with my plans for a (not-so-mini) mini-album.

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A Week In Instagram: July 14th

Instagram is my favorite social media platform. Each Saturday I share some of my favorite instagram photos from the past week. My instagram username is rukristin. Please feel free to follow along and leave your username in the comments for me to follow back!

We went to a rockin Fourth of July party at my cousins' pool 

I LOVE my new business cards! moo.com definitely the best. 

Sliced strawberries for an awesome cookies and cream desert 

A self-pic with the 3-D glasses from Prometheus

Driving home from the drive-in theater on the infamous Clinton Rd

My washi collection sorted by color 

Have a great weekend!

--K

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A Week in Instagram: July 7th

Instagram is my favorite social media platform. Each Saturday I share some of my favorite instagram photos from the past week. My instagram username is rukristin. Please feel free to follow along and leave your username in the comments for me to follow back!

Have a great weekend!

-- K

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This Week in Instagram

Hi Hi. Here are some of my favorite instagram photos from this week. Follow along on instagram (I'm rukristin), drop me a line and let me know your IG name too!

Amazing goodies from Freckled Fawn
Jeff's Milkshake @ Smashburger

Amazing Sunset while driving (passengering) around town. 

Red Pepper Flakes @ Spuntino with mom. 

Tuesday's outfit. 

Extra naps for a week of extra headaches :/


Thanks for stopping by! K

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