Finger Pointing – January 21st-

Hello everyone! I’m here again, reminding me of the times when we were just a very few pouring love here at the blog, each of us posting 3, sometimes 4 times a week!  It is 04:39 am of Saturday in London, a very, very cold English winter, trying to find a bit of beauty and warmth after the devastating news of my sister in law passing away Thursday night, a young (very early 40s) mother of 2 teenager boys and a young adult girl, the life companion of my younger brother, a devoted Christian who did nothing but dedicate her life to others….. and what better than coming to find solace in the art of our scrappers sisters, who always shine a light all over the world. I found so much, so amazing, that my browser crashed with gazillion tabs open, here are some of those wonderful sisters’s creations 🙂

Story of My Life [MOC 10 January 14th : Mosaic Photo Effect] by gonewiththewind.

All her pages are a standout, actually, she IS a standout herself. Her galleries are full of gems, if you don’t know her as a scrapper, you may as the creative talent behind Fiddle Dee Dee Designs. I’m sure her templates have given many of us foundation to some of our most amazing pages. I found so much joy in finding this, as Cheryl is like my sister in law was, a giver, a warm soul that, even fighting life herself, always has a way to heal ours…I’m sure many, many of us in the industry have experienced the power of her creations AND the marvellous soul she is… I had made myself a promise that this year I would try not to write about the artist beyond the page, but today, and with these lady?  I find it almost impossible, the page itself gives way to my pouring my heart. This is not just a beautiful visual marvel, but a truthful portrait of someone so talented, so creative and inspiring, words feel short.  Here is her beautiful self, in a photo using a mosaic overlay done with all the layouts she made in 2011 (I think it is, unless my sight tricks me, I’m reading 2011). To make her even more beautiful, a mixture of textures and colors co-habit in perfect harmony. There is dynamic in the composition, the perfection of those shadows, the attention to detail all over the page…. absolutely amazing, as she is.

This next page is simply called Love, by breeoxd,

Another amazing artist with so much talent that every one of her creations could be featured every day. As a matter of fact, she has posted during the day a couple of pages that are both breathtaking, you can find the other one HERE. I went for this one because to me, the power of memory keeping is – especially when people do, as in her case here, give us a bit of background in the page description- the heart and soul of scrapbooking. Here everything honours the title : super big word, the child’s artistic expression, the delicate embellishing that makes it all beyond beautiful, the layering with tucked in details, gorgeous shadows, all along giving focus to the drawings, the soul of the page…  love indeed!!!!

2016 Camera Joy by bestcee.

Now this next one makes my heart sing loud, very loud! I’m a bit element obsessed (yeah, ok, a lot! LOL) but maybe because of that I know that making a page that is not chaotic and confusing using lots of them is extremely difficult, and in this case, treble kudos to Courtney whose usual style does not involve many of them…. showing that her talent knows no style frontiers! I already loved the page from the thumbnail, looking closer love it more, then reading the description I’m joyful all the way : 111 cameras!!! If I’m not mistaken, every camera is an original, there are not repetitions. The thought of placing them all bordering the page is one I had not thought of, nor think anyone else playing the challenge did. The image giving front row to the camera and herself a bit behind makes it a perfect sync, the beautiful word art & alpha combined title  with deep shadows is another fabulous addition, all over Love & JOY!!! Gorgeous!!!! Edit to Add: forgot to mention her AWESOME credits’ list!!!! Oh LOVE love LOVE and LOVE MORE!!!!!!!!

2021 In Review by Kimberley27.  

I “met” Kimberley when I was playing some challenges during the first lock down, Her pages were appealing back then, and since I have seen her grow so much, seeing new ideas and gorgeous compositions, never loosing the focus on her memory keeping. Here she combines a wonderful photo blend with the great idea of the numbers made of the year’s photos, which comes to a super playful result, there is beauty and fun in the whole thing, and maybe (to those of us who love driving) the wish to jump into the page, enjoying the road! Brilliant take on the year review!

No Diagnosis by joelsgirl

Once again, the power of our art/craft, our hobby that is (for most of us) much more than a hobby, shines here. The power to create beautiful pieces out of not so beautiful, sometimes, like in this case, straightforward ugly and frustrating subjects, is done here with perfection. The base being dark blues and blacks sets the tone for the journaling, then the yellows, the beautiful clusters, the journal card, all bringing a bit of light and humour that transforms the whole thing. I know in my own skin the frustration of no diagnosis, it really affects all your life deeply, and don’t even get me started about the kind of doctor who react like this… also experienced in my own skin. The page translates it all beautifully, also great title work, awesome shadows and the stitching holding it on is a fitting detail. An ugly subject transformed into a beautiful piece of art!

Frightful Weather by LynnZant

Following the line of memory keeping is this wonderfully journaled page. A great composition with photo placement that gives movement, still, the muted tons give the base for the journaling, setting the mood. The word art for the title is equally playful, the layering details give volume and fantastic addition with the clusters and elements choice in general, love the shadows, especially on that curly ribbon inviting the touch, so real it feels! and then…. the journaling! So great to find scrappers that keep the heart and soul of scrapbooking with pages like this! It is a bit of a reminder for me, I used to journal in each page, always thought that was the difference that set scrapping aside from just having photo albums with dates…. and this one most wonderfully makes it! Pure awesome!

Snow by chigirl

So, there is my love for journaled pages and then there is my love for big photo pages, the kind that makes one’s heart sing (again!) We go way back with Judy, she was inspirational some 10+ years ago, and keeps shining in the galleries with every page. I have learned to recognise her family, some happy moments, see the children grow, here she translates the joy of it all so well! The template is perfection for the chosen theme, love the combination of subtle patterns, those fabulous clusters with the super cute cartoonish element, beautiful shadows keeping the feeling of the whole page, and, to wrap it up, the big word title that seems to almost shine!

Last but absolutely not least, 2022 – New beginnings by cinna 

Starting and closing down the post with two wonderful women, both who love to scrap about  themselves, which I keep insisting, is so important we do… Carina has talent  in any kind of style, but I particularly love it when she goes heavy on layering and combining different kind of elements, still producing super elegant results, as it shows here! I love purple in clothes, sometimes in decor stuff, but find it a bit more difficult to make it work in my pages…therefore so much admire this incredibly beautiful talent to make it shine. Starting with her photo giving light to the whole page, the amazing amount of elements of all kinds, the great choice of background pattern and gorgeous combination of the pieces that are the base…all together absolutely awesome!!!!!

It is now 07:47am Saturday, it was great spending a few hours with all the talent and heart…so this is all from me today, hope you find inspiration here as much as we do!

REMEMBER : you can get to the original galleries by clicking on the name of the page and author ( not the actual image) Please do spare a minute or two to leave some love, we all know how much of a difference it can make, always, even more so in these crazy times we are living! Have a great weekend!!!