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Cherry Blossom
Cherry Blossom
See my Instagram Feed

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Samarkand – inspiration for our Treasures special offer

We know you love a deal and we’re offering a 15% discount on this set of six Samarkand mugs.  Created by Dunoon, these geometric designs are enhanced with 22ct gold leaf.

Use the code Treasures at checkout to claim your mugs to save £15.75 on the price of this lovely set.  This price includes delivery in the UK.  Overseas orders still carry postage charges, I’m afraid.

set of six samarkand mugs
Samarkand Mugs by Dunoon

The ancient city of Samarkand seems to have been a crucible of cultures and religions. An archaeological reserve in the north-east of Samarkand, known as Afrasiab, the site of the ancient city, contains numerous indications of a diverse medieval society. Excavations have revealed brilliant murals, whose fragments seem to illustrate a number of exotic scenes: a wedding procession, ambassadors bearing gifts, a diplomatic ceremony, and scenes from the royal hunt. Another shows a Chinese princess being conveyed across a river in a boat.

https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/samarkand

 

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How do you use Instagram?

MacGillivray’s

I was slow to the Instagram party – and so, I’m now struggling to keep up before the millions of users switch to the next hot platform.  (Don’t know if there is one yet – but if you know of one, please pass on the info!)

It turns out that using each new social media platform has a learning curve – and then, of course, someone like Facebook will step in and buy the company so that they can plunder the best bits and sell advertising to a new tribe.  (Personal gripe!)

I wonder if I did anything right on my own IG account?  Someone mentioned that I should look at Sheila Flores – she’s got about 22K followers.  So, I wandered over to look at what I can see on her feed.

  • Well, on Sheila’s IG feed, the overall impression is that she’s using blue as the main theme colour.  Not all the time, of course, but in a significant number of images.
  • Sheila often stars in the images; thankfully, though, she’s a small figure in a much bigger landscape.  She doesn’t do the pouty, pert images that I see on a lot of other feeds and I feel that she really is more interested in the places than in being the centre of attention.  Sheila mostly is fully clothed – a plus!  Sometimes she’s not in the photo at all.
  • There are lots of comments on her photos.  While Sheila obviously doesn’t answer everyone, it’s impressive how often you see that she takes the time to respond to comments.
  • Descriptions of the places which Sheila features are written in Spanish and also in English.  That’s also clever.  Others may do the same but I haven’t encountered them yet.
  • I think that there’s a lot of humour in Sheila’s photos – and many make me smile.  Great idea.
  • Sheila’s Instagram is all about places she’s visited.  She seems to find something really quirky for several of her photos – and things which a lot of people will have seen but not everyone has taken the time to feature.  We all walk past places of interest every day – but I know I forget to really look and see what’s there ….  hmm.

So, that’s one Instagram account which has given me food for thought.   I will try and review another account tomorrow – I have spotted something else which I like and which might be equally inspirational.

 

 

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Instagram or bust?

I could spend my whole life viewing photos on instagram – and, to be honest, I do probably spend more time than is healthy, sitting at my pc, surfing the web.  (I’ve just been doing it right now!

Margaret MacGillivray
Grumpy old woman

I’ll just bet there are millions of youngsters out there, right this minute, busily snapping away, taking selfies, exposing themselves in all sorts of ways, with a view to garnering some attention and maybe some money for sponsored posts.

Well, good luck to them is what I say to that.  If you’ve got the brass neck to expose yourself so blatantly, maybe you do deserve a reward.  But, from the perspective of someone who lived a life before Instagram, the same pouty, pert, photogenic photos become extremely boring after about … thirty seconds!  I’m obviously not your target audience.  On the other hand, if you had managed to be interesting I might just have stuck around for a few minutes more to see what you’re promoting.

For goodness sake – do you always have to be centre stage??  Do I always have to look at your breasts hanging out of a bikini?  Or your ripped muscles about an inch away from the camera lens.  Get a life – go show me something else; for instance you walking to work, catching the subway, flying a Lear jet, standing at Monument Valley or the Tour Eiffel.

Aaaargh!

 

 

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How about my own Instagram?

Well, the answer to the question about my own Instagram feed is that results vary – and quite significantly!  Partly this is due to my testing out the benefits of “pods” or “engagement groups” and partly, I suspect, it is to do with the hashtags I am using.  Life is a learning curve and, when you’re late to the party, it’s not always easy to edge in to a crowded room from the front door.  I wonder if sharp elbows would help??

This is my most recent image on Instagram – I just love this brooch with it’s Art Nouveau inspiration but with it’s interlacing design too.

When you see this brooch in real life – it’s an amazing piece of workmanship.  The 3-d design brings the Mackintosh style to life.  You can easily visualise sitting in a rose garden, looking at roses climbing up a trellis.

I’d love it if you would follow me on Instagram – my instagram name is @scottish_celtic_jewellery – looking forward to seeing you there 🙂

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Do you Instagram?

For several years, I ignored Instagram (silly me!) and, now that I’ve started to play there, I have a feeling that the real buzz is over.  Typical!  However, many millions of people still visit the site every day, so there is still interesting content out there.

So, what kind of things do I like to see on Instagram?  Well, sometimes it’s nice to follow a real person and see what they’re like in real life.

Happy Valentine’s Day, @MichelleObama. You make every day and every place better.

A post shared by Barack Obama (@barackobama) on

OK, I haven’t followed Barack Obama or Michelle – but, who knows!

Then, of course, there are the cute dog or cat photos (and, believe me there are millions of them!) so I’m always looking to see something different –

I loved watching the Queen walking through her gardens with David Attenborough, talking about the Commonwealth Canopy – what a project!

Travel photos are another rich area to explore – by jove, there are some amazing photographers out there.

Photo by @lochgmarcp #wigwamtravels

A post shared by Wigwam Digital (@wigwam.digital) on

Just wow – the view is spectacular – and some of us won’t have the oomph to find views like this. :O

So, finally, a little bit of self-interest here – there are also products to be found on instagram – and, on some of them, it’s possible to click through to the website and buy then and there!  So, as you would expect, I have been testing this out in the last few days so I include one of my own images, to see what reaction there will be to it – purely in the interest of self-satisfaction, you understand.

Believe me, this selection is just the tip of the iceberg – and some of the photos are things you probably don’t want to see or hear or read about.  But if you don’t tip your toe in the water, you’re never going to learn.  Enjoy!