Finger Pointing – September 5th

Today was a day of single-photo and even no-photo appeal in the galleries for me! I was pleasantly surprised by the wealth of different styles on view: straightforward and graphic, edgy photo treatment, pretty embellishment, word art focus and great brushwork. I hope you will agree that today’s picks are a nice mix of styles. Come take a look and be inspired!

This is Liz, and these are my picks:

school happy by kaphelps (aka KerriAnne Phelps)

The photo on this page tells a great story, and I love a great story. We are starting off today’s picks with a wonderful start-of-school page. Can’t you just picture the children rolling these backpacks onto the school bus, and around the halls of their school? I really like the grey/yellow/black&white tones KerriAnne used. The patterned paper running horizontally below the photo has way cool shadow work, and so does the little banner at the top. I love the faded repeat words sliding into the globe. This page made me smile.

Joy by wombat146

This artist had a few pages that were pretty darn spectacular in the galleries today, and this one was my favorite. I love the colors, wow! And that is an awesome photo, with very edgy, effective photo treatment. But, it’s the simple sentiment expressed in the word art that got my attention: “I can make a difference.” I like pages that give me hope for the future, and this page shines with optimism. I believed immediately that she would make a difference in that child’s world. Terrific use of elements: loved the stars, flowers, stamped stitches and the edge overlay.

Album by AnnaMaria323

I am a big fan of well-made hybrid projects. This little album has beautiful touches. If you scroll through the pages she posted (she provides a link to the full post on her blog), you’ll see how functional and interactive this album is with pockets, envelopes and lots of spots for journaling or adding memorabilia or photos. The mesh accent and dainty scrollwork behind the lovely flowers really make the cover pop. This makes me want to break out my glue gun and some chipboard and get started making a mini album.

Business goals by chloe

What a great idea for a page, writing down your business goals! And, Chloé lists her goals in such a fun format. Great job on the very real looking elements. The pencil is a cute touch. I like the washi tape borders, and the use of the word art strips and cut-out title letters as accents.

this is motherhood by bcnatty

“Nap when the baby naps” is probably the most-often heard advice spoken to new mothers, so why don’t any of us listen? I loved the honest reaction on this page, both to what her expectation had been, and the reality. I enjoyed the photo perspective (with two sizes of babies!). This is a very real-life page, and I appreciate the humor in the telling. The well-shadowed journaling strips lead us nicely through the page, and the brush work, tags, flowers and small tape accents offset the bold stripe paper in a great split page design. I like how the bold stripe paper lifts off the paper underneath, very nice effect!

Live the Life of Your Dreams by earlofoxford

Some photos don’t have a particular story, but still deserve to be scrapbooked. This is one of those photos. I love the sentiment of the word art. The beautiful vintage-feel elements look terrific against the wood grain paper. There are some very nice design elements on this, as it pulls our attention horizontally from the large cluster on the left to the repeating text art and brush work to the tucked-in ephemera on the right. What a beautiful page!

I hope you enjoyed today’s picks! If any or all of the projects really called to you, please click on the link in the project’s title and leave the artist some love. It’s so nice to appreciate one another’s creativity! Have a great weekend!