Instagram in Winter

So I used to share my top photos from Instagram at the end of each month. However since a few months back, I haven’t been as active on Instagram. Since then, I kind of stopped the series. I still like the series though, so I thought I’d bring it back seasonally. I only really go on Instagram a few times a week instead of everyday, and I post even less. Life gets busy sometimes though you know.

Anyway, here’s my top photos from the past few months.

Hanging out at Ghibli Museum

I shared a lot of Japan photos on Instagram over the past few months. Obviously, Japan was amazing and we saw so much amazing stuff. One of the highlights was definitely stopping by Ghibli museum. Totoro even greeted us at the front.

Looking Down on Tokyo

Seeing Tokyo from 350 floors up was insane. The city is huge and stretches on forever. It was awesome being able to be that high up and just look all around at the city.

Hot Balloon Cross Stitch

 

I bought this little kit around at the beginning of the year and never started it until June. It has reminded me of how much I love doing cross stitch, and since this one I’ve started working on another one.

Sakura Sunrise Canvas Painting

Rory and I have talked about hanging something above the bed for a while. Rory found this on Amazon, we ordered it, and there we go. It’s really pretty, and kinda fits the Japan theme.

Warmer Days

This was taken back in March, when the weather was still really warm. I miss being able to wear dresses and not having to wrap up so much. That being said, the weather has slowly been getting nicer here, and the sun is staying out later.

I haven’t been as active on Instagram lately. There just hasn’t been much photos I want to share since Japan. Maybe as the weather gets nicer and we head out more, I might go on it more. Who knows?

What have you guys been posting on Instagram lately?

Angela.

Recreating Bloggers Instagram Photos #2

If you want to know what this is all about, then check out the first part! During my absence on the internet the past week, I realized that what I missed the most was all my blogging friends. I missed reading your posts, commenting on what’s going on, and just interacting with you guys basically.

This ramble led me to wanting to do a second part of this series. Recreating bloggers instagram photos! This time, I focused on detail photos. They’re a lot of fun to do and I love seeing the creativity everyone has with them. That being said, here’s my recreations!

Siyana Online

I’ve been following Siyana since forever, both on her blog and Instagram. Her feed is so beautiful to look at, from all the places she’s been lucky enough to visit, to detail pictures like this. I saw her Feline Fine shirt, and remembered that I recently bought a kitty inspired shirt of my own.

All my three objects are different colours, but I think it still works. The main thing that I realized when getting the bits ready for  this photo is that I don’t have a traditional lipstick. I mostly have liquid lipsticks. This Clinique Pop lipstick is the only one I have lol.

Vintage Tea Rose

Sarah has been a blogging bestie for ages now. If you read this Sarah, you were one of the ones who I was feeling nosy about during my week of absence. Anyway, I was scrolling through her feed when I came across this photo. I love mugs and all the things they can say. That being said, I would love to be in a hot tub right now, it’s freezing.

I had to swap the hands around for this photo as I can use my right hand better. My nails weren’t painted pretty, but they’re neat so that’s good. Look how grey it is outside. Ugh. I’m over winter. But anyway, I love how this photo looks!

Ugh Mango

Jasmin has an amazing eye for details! All her photos on her feed are just stunning, whether it’s details, food or outfit, it’s always so aesthetically pleasing. I liked this one with the minimalistic colours, just black and gold. I wasn’t sure if I could recreate this exactly, but I wanted to try!

So I apparently don’t own a purse. I do have a long brown wallet, but I liked the look better with black. I’m using my kindle lol. Also, I don’t own a white sheet of any kind. Anyways, I feel like I caught the spirit of the photo fairly close, maybe just off the mark a little.

I had a lot of fun putting these together as always.

Recreation One

Recreation Two

Recreation Three

Angela.

Recreating Bloggers Instagram Photos

Anni recently did a post where she recreated bloggers Instagram photos, and it was awesome! I was inspired to try do my own recreations of fellow bloggers’ photos.

Don’t Give a Jam

If you guys don’t know Jamie, she’s an amazing blogger! I always look forward to reading her posts and seeing what she gets up to. I am a fan of her selfies, and decided to try recreate one of her older ones. I had fun trying to match up the clothes and makeup, but my hair would not co-operate in the same way.

Jamie, if you read this, your selfie game is on another level! All in all though, I feel like I captured the essence of the photo, so I’m still happy with this recreation!

Earth of Maria (In Accordance)

Maria‘s Instagram feed is just so aesthetically pleasing, as is her whole blog really. If you guys don’t know Maria, you should really check her out! I knew I couldn’t recreate any of her amazing food photos, so I decided on another selfie-esque shot. I didn’t have any fresh flowers, but I do have lots of fake flowers that I could use as a prop.

I had fun trying to match up the clothes and gestures. I’m pretty happy with how this recreation looked in the end! I wish I had more colourful flowers, but I made do with what I have.

Gluecksgeist

Finally, I had to try copy one of Anni’s photos! She is so creative with her photography and I always love to see what she’ll share with us next. There were so many photos I wanted to try recreate, but I realized that I have almost no graphic print tees while Anni has heaps!  I landed on this one as I also had lots of polaroids. I don’t have anything yellow however, so I grabbed my pastel pink sweater.

This was a lot harder to co-ordinate as I just use my tripod, but I think it came out alright! This was definitely a lot of fun to do though, so thanks for the inspiration Anni! I’d be keen to try some more down the line!

Let me know which recreation was your favourite!

Recreation 1

Recreation 2

Recreation 3

Angela.

Instagram in April

As always, I like to share my favourite photos from Instagram over the past month. Here are my top photos from April!

Easter Selfie

This was posted on April 1. I don’t actually think I took this selfie during easter, but it’s when I shared it. I have a habit of walking around the house trying to find good lighting to take a selfie after I’ve done my makeup. My camera feed is filled with selfies, food, nature and clouds!

Letterman Jacket

This was posted on April 9. In connection with the Letterman OOTD, I had to share at least one of the pictures of me in the jacket on Insta. It’s so adorable and comfy! The colours are bright and playful, and it just looks good!

Carrot Cake Balls

This was posted on April 10. My only new baking creation I’ve tried this month! I saw the Carrot Cake Balls Ro made on Nerdy Nummies and knew I had to try it.  They were so cute, and were the perfect snack!

Tarte Lip Paint in Epic

This was posted on April 12. This was my favourite Tarte Lip paint that I tried. It’s in the colour Epic, and I think it’s just that. For me, this was quite an adventurous colour, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the outcome!

Wanderlust Zine Page

This was posted on April 18. After making my little zine, I had fun trying to take themed photos of each page. Rory has a little pencil sharpener that’s shaped like an old fashioned plane, so I wanted to include it. It’s actually my favourite bit in this photo really!

That’s all for this post! What was your favourite photos from Instagram this month?

Angela.

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Instagram in March

Now that we are entering April (crazy!), it’s time to look back at my top pictures from Instagram in March.

Before & After

This was uploaded on March 1. This was my first sneak peek into my final boudoir photos, and I was blown away! These photos have definitely given me a boost of confidence and self-love. I still very much recommend the experience!

Autumn Flatlay

This was uploaded on March 4. My favourite flat lay I’ve done lately. This was inspired by one of the many flat lays on Pinterest, and I love how it came out! There isn’t much in it in terms of objects, but I really think it’s effective and pretty!

Blogiversary

This was uploaded on March 6. The day of my blogiversary for obvious reasons! It was quite nice to share this on Insta as I have a mixture of online friends and people I know in real life who I don’t really talk about my blog with. Since the post, I’ve had a friend reach out and talk to me about my blog which is really nice!

Boudoir Shoot

This was uploaded on March 16. Surprise, another boudoir photo! I can’t help it, each photo I see makes me so proud and happy. The photographer, Victoria, likes to say that how she does these shoots is to show the subject the best version of themselves. I have to agree with that. I’m so thrilled with how I look in these photos (even the more risque ones hehe), and I love that I now have these forever. It started as a gift for Rory, but it’s also wound up as a gift for myself!

Anniversary

This was uploaded on March 25. Our anniversary! A big highlight for me this month. I went through a lot of our wedding photos trying to decide which to share. I landed on this as it showcased all the wedding traditions we did.

What are your favourite photos from Instagram this past month?

Angela.

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Instagram in February

Time to share my top photos from Instagram this month!

Makeup Selfie

This was uploaded on February 1. I share a lot of selfies lately on Instagram, especially when I’m super proud of how I did my makeup that day. This day, I came up with a bronze/gold look. I will say though, my skin was going through some crazy issues that week.

Makeup Selfie with Glasses

This was uploaded on February 4. This is also another selfie! My phone is seriously filled with these. I did keep my glasses on this time though. This time, I played around with a maroon/purple look. My two favourite combos are either dark pink/purple, or brown/gold. They’re just my go-to.

Tongariro Crossing

This was uploaded on February 9. This time last year, Rory and I did the Great Walk over Tongariro Crossing. It took almost 6 hours, and we went through so much changing scenery at that time. My personal favourite of the spot was Emerald Lakes, pictured above. If you want to see more pictures from this walk, I wrote a post about it here!

Chocolate Heart Cupcakes

This was uploaded on February 12. With Valentine’s around the corner, I wanted to do some baking. As always, I turned to my Nerdy Nummies cookbook, and used the chocolate cake recipe, turning it into cupcakes. They were so delicous, and actually were all gone by Valentine’s rolled around haha! I did a post about it here.

Hanging Out 

This was uploaded on February 13. This was a throwback to last September, when Rory and I went to a walk down by the river. I really like this one, it was a candid one Rory got of me laughing. Whenever I ask him to take a shot of me somewhere, he always takes a million, normally while saying something dumb to crack me up. He’s gotten some pretty cool shots of me like that haha! Plus, the scenery was really pretty.

I haven’t been posting on Instagram as much this month, I normally like to post everyday, but sometimes I just don’t know what to post. Or I forget, if it’s been a crazy busy day at work. I still love using it though! It’s a fun and visual way to see what you guys get up to!

What’s one of your favourite photos from Instagram lately?

Angela.

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Instagram in January

As January ends, here come all the monthly wrap-up posts. I’ve been really loving Instagram this month! As always, I want to share my top 5 posts from Instagram in January and talk a little about each photo.

Pink/Purple Eyeshadow

This was uploaded on January 3.Playing with eyeshadows has been really fun! This was one of my earliest ‘looks’ I made up from my ColourPop palette. I normally stick with nude and neutral colours, but it was fun going a little out of my comfort zone. I decided to share it on my Insta, and you guys were really nice and supportive!

Flower

This was uploaded on January 9. I shared a post this month about the photos I took of flowers in the Botanic Gardens. Taking nature pictures is always so much fun for me. They’re always so unique, and I love getting as close as I can. This one is my personal favourite. I love the layers of the flowers and the colour. Everything about is is just perfect.

Car Selfie

This was uploaded on January 14. I take a lot of selfies in general, but this is definitely one of my latest favourites. I was pretty proud of my makeup that day, and I was just having a really good day. We were going out for a picnic, and it was the middle of a summery day, so why wouldn’t I be happy!

Smart Cookies

This was uploaded on January 15. You guys may recognize these cookies! They’re the latest (and most impressive) recipe I’ve tried from the Nerdy Nummies book. They came out so adorable, and I had to share them with you guys on Instagram as well as one the blog!

Cape Palliser

This was uploaded on January 21. Just recently, I shared heaps of pictures on the blog about our recent trip up to Cape Palliser to see the lighthouse. The day after we visited, I uploaded the pictures to Instagram. It was such a beautiful day, and I always love being able to share a quick sneek peek of what we got up to and where we went before sharing it on the blog!

That’s my best photos from Instagram this month!

Also, just a reminder to feel free to leave me any questions which I’ll answer in my Q’n’A when I reach my next milestone! 🙂

Angela.

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Instagram Thoughts

I love Instagram. It’s the only other social media platform I’m on everyday, besides WordPress. I’ve been wanting to write a post about Instagram for a while. I kept trying, but I couldn’t ever get all my thoughts down in a coherent way. But, I recently read Ella’s latest post which was about whether Instagram may be toxic for us (which you should all ready by the way). So here I am, trying again to write coherently how I feel about Instagram. Bear with me as I try ramble out my thoughts and also share some of my favourite photos to break up all the words.

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I have a lot of car selfies in my phone's gallery. I have a lot of selfies in general 😂 . . . . . . . . . . . #selfie #me #girl #summer #summervibes #carselfie #makeup #motd #eyeshadow #lipstick #beauty #instablogger #likeforlike #followforfollow

A post shared by Angela Jenkins (@angwooly) on Jan 13, 2018 at 3:45pm PST

When I first heard of Instagram, I thought it sounded neat. A visual platform where people can share photos, play with filters, and connect all over the world. Obviously, I heard about the negative parts of Instagram too. How it can influence people, and make them anxious or envious because of the photos they were seeing. Beautiful, skinny people in amazing far-off places, creating amazing dishes and just having that perfect aesthetic. Sure, I get bouts of jealousy, but then my thoughts turn to planning a holiday, where hopefully one day I can go somewhere like that. Or I look at my own photos of my of past trips. My mindset is able to often turn things around and turn negative thoughts into positive. But not everyone thinks like that. So if someone’s posts are continually making you feel bad, it may be time to unfollow, or maybe step away from the app for a bit.

View this post on Instagram

Just daydreaming about our holiday to Sydney last year. The beach is calling me 😄🏝 . . . . . . . . . #throwback #summer #holiday #travel #travelphoto #beach #blue #love #instagood #instatravel #view #Australia #Sydney #bondi

A post shared by Angela Jenkins (@angwooly) on Nov 6, 2017 at 4:55pm PST

Another thought I have about Instagram, is the whole mess of following and unfollowing. For the first few months I had my account on private and didn’t really upload anything. After I started getting more into blogging, I moved my account to public and began following fellow bloggers. Since then, my account has grown fairly steadily. I have over 400 followers currently, but it was a confusing time to get there. Sometimes when I publish a post, new accounts will just randomly follow. Then an hour later they vanish. Then there’s all the bot accounts that say they can increase your followers by thousands. It gets a little messy. But sometimes, you get a follow from someone whose feed you like, and a mutual bond is made which is cool!

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Last time we went to the botanic garden, I got carried away taking photos of all the flowers! So many different arrangements and colours! 🌺 I've shared quite a few of the photos I took on my blog today 😄 . . . . . . . . . . #nature #gardens #flower #beautiful #love #photo #Nikon #macro #closeup #instaphoto #instablogger #wellington #travel #linkinbio #discoverunder5k #likeforlike #followforfollow

A post shared by Angela Jenkins (@angwooly) on Jan 8, 2018 at 3:13pm PST

Instagram also changed it’s feed algorithm, so that the photos you see aren’t in chronological order but rather what has the most likes. So now I have to scroll for ages, or go to direct pages to find photos from the people I really want to see from. It’s weird, but I think I’ve figured out a way that works for me.

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I did my best attempt at recreating the Smart Cookies from Ro's @nerdynummies recipe book yesterday. It was definitely a challenge, and I've realized that piping is not my forte. For my first attempt, I'm so thrilled with how they came out though! . . . . . . . . . . #baking #food #instafood #dessert #sweet #cookies #chocolatechip #nerd #nerdynummies @rosannapansino #cute #instablogger #homemade #likeforlike #followforfollow

A post shared by Angela Jenkins (@angwooly) on Jan 14, 2018 at 4:53pm PST

All these strange thoughts about Instagram aside, it really is such a fun platform. I love seeing what pictures everyone will post, whatever it is. It’s a fun addition to blogging, seeing bits and pieces of everyone’s life when they’re not on here. I also have gotten addicted to trying think of as many hashtags as possible. I try to limit myself at 10..most of the time ?

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It got up to 30 degrees yesterday. That was a bit much. Still, gotta soak up lots of sun while it's here. . . . . . . . . . . #summer #sun #gardens #nature #instaphoto #instablogger #travel #view #Wellington #zmsummer #newzealand #wanderlust #ootd #discoverunder5k #likeforlike #followforfollow

A post shared by Angela Jenkins (@angwooly) on Jan 3, 2018 at 3:43pm PST

What are your general thoughts on Instagram? Do you agree that it’s a fun, photo sharing app but could probably benefit from being a little less confusing?

Angela.

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Instagram Top Nine

Instead of looking at my top photos from December, I decided to find out what my top nine photos from 2017 were! I’ve always seen these around, and I’m happy that I get to do it! I haven’t started using Instagram since creating my blog, and it’s become another favourite social media.

Here’s my top nine from 2017.

A lot of scenery photos which makes me happy, as they’re some of my favourites to take and share!

Hanging Out in the Chinese Garden of Friendship

Uploaded on August 3. Received 99 likes.

This was taken during our Sydney holiday back in September 2016. We visited the garden on our first day, and spent so much time there. It was so beautiful, and this is one of hundreds of photos.  I really like this photo of me looking lost and bewildered, cause that’s how I felt. It was such a stunning place and I hope to be able to see it again one day!

Bondi Beach

Uploaded on November 7. Received 98 likes.

Another photo from our Sydney holiday. Bondi Beach is iconic in Sydney, it’s their most popular beach. We visited on a Tuesday morning so we had it to ourselves almost. The sand was white, the sky and water were a lovely blue, there was never ending photo opportunities. A must-see beach that’s for sure.

Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk

Uploaded on July 19. Received 98 likes.

Also from Sydney, but I couldn’t help sharing lots of photos from this trip! Especially around Bondi, it’s such a beautiful place! On our long walk, we passed by lots of other beaches, hills, greenery and blue skies. I still love all of these photos!

Engagement Photo

Uploaded on November 24. Received 97 likes.

I’m glad one of these made it in my top nine! Our engagement and wedding photos were both taken by the same photographer, Kent Yu. We’re so happy with the pictures we received from both events, and for future milestone events, we’d be keen to work with him again. This picture is one of the top ones though. We went out at ‘magic hour’, and while coming back down from Breaker Bay, we came across this little natural ‘tunnel’, which was a photo opportunity we didn’t pass up!

Pollard Park

Uploaded on July 11. Received 97 likes.

A throwback to 2009 I think? Or 2007. Either way, it was a while back when this was taken. Pollard Park was a frequent haunt for us when we went down to the South Island to celebrate Christmas with my grandparents. I get very nostalgic thinking about this park. It was always so beautiful, with all the luscious trees, rivers and ponds, the big playground, and of course feeding the ducks.

Crazy Clouds

Uploaded on October 28. Received 95 likes.

This was just sheer luck and timing. One evening at home, I looked outside and saw these crazy clouds. I’m sure this formation has a name, but I have no idea what it could be. So I did the normal thing, and ran outside and took lots of photos. I’m glad everyone likes this photo as much as I do!

River Photo

Uploaded on October 4. Received 95 likes.

This was on the first excursion taken with my new camera. It wasn’t taken by me, but by Rory. I wanted a photo of me by the river, so after taking lots of my own photos, we’d swap and he’d be the photographer. He took lots of lovely photos, and this one was well-timed with a little breeze.

Machu Picchu

Uploaded on August 10. Received 94 likes.

If you’ve been following me for long, you may know that I went to Peru a few years back. It’s the biggest trip I ever went on, and I like to talk a lot about the fact that I got to do a trek up to Machu Picchu. It’s a huge accomplishment, and experiencing those ruins first hand is definitely bucket list worthy!

Makara Beach

Uploaded on September 2. Received 93 likes.

Another beach, but this time in my hometown! I had no idea about Makara Beach, but Rory did. He’d been to it quite a few times growing up, so back in 2015, we decided to go walk up the little trail next to the beach. It was around an hour walk up hill, and the sights were amazing! We really need to go back sometime.

That’s my top nine from Instagram this year! It’s interesting to see out of all the photos I posted this year, which ones are the most popular!

Angela.

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