Taheerah Atchia

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! And welcome to the next in the series of  #FollowFriday!

Those of you who are avid Twitter users may be familiar with the term ‘Follow Friday’ or #FF. In a nutshell, people take to Twitter with the hashtag #FF to promote other users they suggest you follow. It’s a great little way to give people a shout-out and for a while now I’ve wanted to introduce a similar idea in blog form! It’s going to be an awesome way for me to give a shout-out to other designers I think *you* should be following if you don’t already do so!

I’ll be bringing you this feature every Friday and highlighting around 5 designers worthy of a special mention! It’s going to be so awesome!

So without further ado, may I present this week’s #FF designers:

Anabelle O’Malley – Bits And Pieces…

The best analogy I can come up with to describe this lady’s work is to say that it’s like an explosion of pretty all over the shop. Anabelle’s flawlessly executed, pretty designs evokes feelings of stepping into the chalk pavement drawing world in Mary Poppins. Her creations are filled with gorgeous layers and colours, her eye is an expert in composition and embellishing. She recently posted a spread of pocket scrapbooking layouts which caused me to promptly buy the collection she used – and I don’t even do pocket scrapbooking. I guess I was hoping some of that magic glitter dust she sprinkles on her projects would rub off on me. Good designers possess the innate ability to make their work look effortless, as if everything just naturally fell into place with no other possible alternative. By that definition alone she is a great designer.

Gayatri Murali – Handmade By G3

Big, bright, bold! Here is one talent who is not afraid of colour! Gayatri’s work is far from garish though. She combines colours with the finesse of an artist mixing their paint palette. She is definitely a lover of trends, with gold, sequins, watercolour and many others gracing her creations on a regular basis. And there is variation too. There is always something different to look at on her cards, even on the second or third glance her work will keep delighting you. Oh, and she does all of that whilst being a complete powerhouse of output all the time, winning challenges, appearing in publications and gracing the books of several Design Teams. The fact that she maintains a consistently high standard whilst creating so much is a testament to just how talented she is.

Cristina ‘Yainea’ Nuñez  – My Paper Journey

You know lolcats? Those adorably cute, sweet kitty memes that dominate the internet? Yainea’s work is like the lolcat of the crafting world. It is just sunshine and rainbows and unicorns cute. In fact, if ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’ loved each other very much and had lots of little cute-adorable babies… those would be Yainea’s designs. Her composition is perfect, her colouring outstanding. Her techniques are honed and regularly exercised. I just cannot get over how perfect every one of her cards is. Feel free to call it Puppy Love – but I know it’s the real thing. I am smitten.

Lindsay Armheim – Note To Self:

Oh my – talk about trend-tastic! Lindsay’s work is a masterclass in all the latest and greatest in the papercrafting world. Her cards are fun, fresh, fabulous. This girl knows how to capitalise on a technique and make it work with her style. And what a style is it! Filled with clever details, wonderful colour, perfect composition, flawless finishing touches – it’s nigh impossible to fault her. She knows exactly how to alter her design to work to the brief too – which explains her constant stream of recognitions and challenge wins. I’d say she is one to watch this year, but truth be told it will be impossible *not* to spot her – she will be popping up everywhere.

Melissa Phillips – Lilybean’s Paperie

Oh gosh. How do I even do her justice? My final selection this week is someone whom I’m not afraid to admit is an idol of mine. Melissa’s work is the epitome of vintage, shabby chic beauty. I feel I should recite a sonnet or compose an overture in honour of her designs. Even then it wouldn’t come close to describing the immense love I feel for the shining beacon of talent that she is. Her designs would not be at all out of place in a museum or gallery. They have the timeless quality and appeal of a treasured heirloom, whilst somehow still remaining faithful to present day techniques and cleverness. She can take even the most modern components and evoke the feel of a bygone era. She is a pure techniques girl, with many her stunning embellishments created from scratch by her own hands. I could go on endlessly at all the things she does that make me gasp out loud and fall in love with her cards. Melissa is a unique talent in our industry – and her work is the perfect representation of her nature and outlook on life: filled with beauty, and poetry, and joy.

So there we are folks – your Follow Fridays for this week!! Give them a cheer!! Please do stop by their blogs and follow them, give them some love, stare in awe, then come away inspired to try a million new things! I’ve also set up a special Pinterest Board to keep track of all my #FollowFriday featured designers!

I hope you love this new feature of mine – I would love some feedback on it! Thanks so much for stopping by – I would love it if you left some love for these ladies as you head on your way!