Finger Pointing – July 16th

Happy Sunday and a big welcome to today’s Gallery Standouts! We attended a family wedding yesterday and it was lovely to join in on the celebration of my dear nephew, Karl and his lovely wife, Nicola. I really felt there was love all around yesterday and taking time out means that I hadn’t much time to spend in the galleries over the last day or so but I’m happy to say that I made up for it today and have a bit of a bumper post for you, given that I couldn’t rule out any of my picks! So let’s take a look at the masterpieces that stood out for me today.

First up is lmf by marnel. I love the carefully orchestrated cut out revealing the printed paper below – cut outs always make for an interesting page and the addition of some strategically placed elements give the page even more depth. The splashes of red on the page add pop to the black and white photo and I can so identify with the message here! A super fun page!

I’ve featured a few journal style picks over my last few posts and this project entitled Music Man by MarieL joins my favourite list today. I particularly like how this layout documents a young mans love for music and records this particular phase of his life. The array of stamps to the right compliment the black and white photo beautifully and support the story perfectly. This really took me back to the journals I kept in high school! Wonderful!

I often find there’s nothing more to soothe my soul than when I create a photoless page. I believe it provides the perfect opportunity to focus on the words and the elements to tell your story. The pretty gold and silver/grey colour combination that mollyscraps decided on for her Dear Babo page is so pretty. I love the linear design here, topped and tailed by the journaling blocks and balanced beautifully by the flower cluster bottom right and the little birds top left. So delightful!

You are a Pineapple by dawnfarias is a fine example of the journaling taking centre stage. Here, the handwritten story block puts the detail of the page, the photo and the embellishments, on a pedestal in the most perfect way and I love minimalist look of this and the mix of the title work. A great design!

Tracermajig has a wonderful way of making her pages beautifully playful and Dress Up Day is no exception. Take a look at the detail here. While the foundation of the page is the arrangement of the stars in a circle, the detail packed into this layout, while not making it over-busy, is extraordinary! Inspired by the colours in the sweet photo, this colour combination is one of my all time favourites and filling the star shapes makes great use of patterned paper. Finishing off with a perfect border comprising the journal path, photo corners and patterned backdrop, makes for a super terrific page!

Perfect Puddle by donnagoar piqued my interest as soon as I saw the thumbnail in the gallery. I love the creative aspect of the photo and the charming colours contained within the watery mask and reiterated in the quote are least expected. Perfectly chosen brushes add contrast and smudges of colour and I love the shadowed and inked border. Beautifully done!

Strips of pretty patterned paper lead the eye to the fabulous detail in all of its glorious layers of VBeata’s Grow Wild page. Using similar, soft colour tones as my previous pick, this makes for a glorious summer layout. I love the mix of layers here, descriptive with words, and how they work together to form an eye catching cluster, how the journaling is split by the sweet photo and a few splatters and confetti here and there  steal a little show from the white space. So sweet!

Ramping up those delicious summer shades is Daughter by Electra. I like how the photo, far right, pops from the colour washes and how the page appears like a canvas, beautifully painted, with the word art getting its point across in no uncertain terms. Again, finer detail like the little stars, the jigsaw pieces, the little word art labels, the epoxy, the little arrow and sequins bottom left and the dotted border have been added so tastefully. A wonderful, feel-good page!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my picks and that they inspire you to take a little time to document your own stories and memories. When you get a chance, please head to the galleries to leave a comment or two for the artists featured here today by clicking on the links above. Till next time, have a good week, take care and I’ll see you in the galleries!