(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
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Rustic-Romantic Motifs and Tons of Natural Light: Marina Schammler’s Cozy Photos

Discover more stories from the German-speaking community on @instagramde.

(This interview was conducted in German.)

All of Marina Schammler’s (@lightpoem) photos exude coziness. She credits a weekly visit to her local flower market as a source of inspiration — and a welcome a break from everyday stresses. “When I get home, I tie a beautiful bouquet and enjoy having brought something into the house that will keep me in good spirits,” says the industrial management assistant who lives in Siegburg, Germany. Then, she often heads to the kitchen. Marina started baking as a teenager, and today, she cooks up sweet delights like berry flans, crepes and waffles, artistically arranging them with fresh flowers to create a dreamy setting. “Flowers are an indispensable way of putting coziness, atmosphere and beauty into my pictures,” she says.

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A Pocket Full of Happy: Becky Margraf’s Handmade Squares

To see more of Becky’s art, follow @bargraf on Instagram.

Becky Margraf’s (@bargraf) personality-packed squares began as part of the #100DayProject, a movement encouraging people to participate in 100 consecutive days of making. Soon after she started, rain clouds pouted, bowls of cereal grinned and breakfast pastries winked. “Taking weird things and making them cute is a cool way to look at the world,” says Becky, who is the community manager of DIY.org. “Anytime I was out in the wild running around San Francisco, I’d look for an object that I thought would be cool to turn into a creature.” Using 30-cent sheets of felt and 60-cent skeins of floss, she sewed her tiny, happy creations in a couple of hours, often finishing them on her commute. “This year was totally crazy — my relationship ended, I got this crazy job promotion and I moved. The squares are almost little diary entries,” says Becky. “It was cool to have something to do on the bus besides stare at a phone.”

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Seeking ‘Unnoticed Beauty’ with Photographer Benjamin Lee

To see more of Benjamin’s work, check out @itchban on Instagram.

He’s based in one of Australia’s busiest cities, but freelance photographer Benjamin Lee (@itchban) thrives in nature. “There is so much unnoticed beauty in the world and everything that surrounds us — if only you take the time to look for it,” says the 30-year-old Sydney resident who left his office job two years ago to pursue photography full time. Benjamin hopes his work energizes other people to go explore. “It’s easy to get weighed down by your worries and not realize how big the world is and how small your problems actually are,” he says. “Get out there and enjoy what the world has to offer.”

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Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHPimitation

Weekend Hashtag Project is a series featuring designated themes and hashtags. For a chance to be featured, follow @instagram and look for a post every week announcing the latest project.

The goal of #WHPimitation was to find resemblances between people and their surroundings. Each week, we feature some of our favorite submissions from the project, but be sure to check out the rest here.

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Krista Barmer Tells Stories Through Textiles

This feature is part of #MadeToCreate, a series highlighting our community of entrepreneurs, makers and artisans on Instagram.

During the first pocket of “mommy time” she carved out after her son was born, Krista Barmer (@pendrops) started stitching. “It was something I put my hands to,” says Krista, who had previously played guitar and pursued music in Nashville, Tennessee. “After I had my son, I felt drawn to fabric, textiles, fibers and paper, and wanted to express my journey in that way.” Seven years later, Krista has established herself as a textile artist, selling her works from her online shop. “There’s something about the slowness of it, and that it’s my hands creating every stitch,” she says of the process. “Even the stitches that snag or get tangled, I leave them as they are because it means something. It makes it interesting, gives dimension and tells a story, too.”

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Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone with Alex Spurway

Check out more of Alex’s photography at @spurwaya on Instagram.

Self-taught photographer Alex Spurway (@spurwaya) first picked up a camera three years ago. “I am motivated by the people I shoot with, the desire to spend any second of free time I have out creating and never missing any opportunities,” says the 20-year-old from Brisbane, Australia. “Once an idea for a shot comes into my head I won’t stop chasing it.” During his university studies in 2015, Alex co-founded OzShot Magazine (@ozshotmag), an independent photography magazine. “When people see my work, I want them to feel inspired to try something out of the ordinary, travel somewhere new, get out of their comfort zone.”

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Letting it All Go with Gina Rodriguez

Follow @hereisgina to see more of Gina’s adventures on and off set.

When the 2017 Golden Globe nominations were announced, Gina Rodriguez (@hereisgina) had just completed a Muay Thai workout … in Thailand. “We got to the house and still had 30 minutes before the announcement, so I stripped down to my birthday suit, and let go,” says Gina. “I gave the anxiety, pressure and illusions we carry about our worth and threw them out.” This is the third time Gina has been nominated for her Jane the Virgin role — she took home the award for best actress in a TV series musical or comedy in 2015. “I’m humbled to be in a category with women I admire and adore,” says Gina. “Jane is my love child. I love coming to work, and I love playing this woman I wish I was more like in real life.”

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Celebrating Orthodox Christmas with Food Stylist Andrey Tulsky

Discover more stories from the Russian-speaking community on @instagramru.

(This interview was conducted in Russian.)

For food photographer and stylist Andrey Tulsky (@andrrresky), #OrthodoxChristmas is an opportunity to share his passion with friends and family. “I always have edible, beautifully decorated, not expensive gifts, smelling of the Christmas mood,” says Andrey, who is known to bake cookies, construct gingerbread houses or can tasty jams harvested from summer fruits. Andrey also takes the lead preparing Christmas dinner at home in Yekaterinburg, Russia: “My family fully trusts me to serve the table and think about an unusual menu. They want to see how the compositions of my photos come to life in this magical night.”

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Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHPimitation

Weekend Hashtag Project is a series featuring designated themes and hashtags chosen by Instagram’s Community Team. For a chance to be featured on the Instagram blog, follow @instagram and look for a post every week announcing the latest project.

The goal this weekend is to make photos and videos where one of your subjects imitates another. Here’s how to get started:

  • Look out for resemblances between people and their surroundings. Be ready to catch fleeting, serendipitous encounters, like a woman in a yellow dress dashing past a yellow cab.
  • Capture an imitation that provides more information about your subject’s relationship, like a child copying an admired adult or a parrot impersonating their human’s eccentricities.
  • Explore less obvious forms of mimicry like patterns, gestures or, if you’re making a video, sound.

PROJECT RULES: Please add the #WHPimitation hashtag only to photos and videos taken over this weekend and only submit your own visuals to the project. If you include music in your video submissions, please only use music to which you own the rights. Any tagged photo or video taken over the weekend is eligible to be featured next week.