Finger Pointing – February 13

Good afternoon, everyone, and greetings from sunny Florida!  This is Deborrah, otherwise known as DivaMom96 in most galleries around the web, in my first ever GSO blog post.  What fun it has been, surfing around the scrapbook galleries and looking at all the gorgeous layouts and cards.  Choosing only six layouts was difficult to say the least!

For me, scrapbooking is about memories.  I have digital frames sitting on my desks at home and work, and all of my layouts and favorite photos are on those frames so that I can revisit memories again and again. So when I browse the galleries, I look for memories along with artistry.  I enjoy watching how people choose to remember special moments in their lives.  After viewing so many moments today, here are my picks for today’s standouts!

Earn your Cocoa by musicmom3 truly captures the thrill of snowboarding!  I love how she merged so many photos to capture the movement of her son.   AND, she leaves a great tutorial in her comments about how to use low resolution photos – something I always appreciate when I admire techniques.  The blending and textures really capture the feel and movement of the snow.

Your greatest message by donnagoar really stopped me in the gallery.  I was originally drawn to the dreamy colors.  However, the more you look at this page, the more there is to see.  The blending and painting flow seamlessly in and out of each little rectangle.  Each section seems to express a different feeling, each little element a different commentary on life. The message of this layout is extremely powerful and the artist has woven the meaning into each stroke.  What a powerful artistic message!

Next we have Dream, by GlazeFamily3.  What fabulous colors!  I really admire the balance of this layout.  The little squares of color are so perfectly placed and the yellow draws our eyes across the page and then down to the message at the bottom.  The tea elements and paper are lovely without being overdone.  It just says, “Happy times.”  Very well done!

I love travel layouts and this one, Ancona by Meryl, captured my attention immediately.  I was drawn to the sketchy blending of the landscape on the page, but really like the smaller photo clipped at the bottom.  I love how the artist added little bits of information around the page so that the memory is documented, but doesn’t take away from the artistry.  Two different perspectives of the visit, capturing not only the beauty of the landscape, but also the thrill of visiting on a ship. A perfect balance!

Fearless by seahorsefan caught my eye immediately. I am in awe of white space design – it looks so simple, but (at least for me) is so very hard to do well.  I am a huge admirer of artists who can produce this style.  I love how this artist balanced the horizontal title with the vertical stitching.  And the photo tells a great story!

Last, but certainly not least, we have So Authentic by tracermajig, one of my favorite scrapbook artists.  What a fun page!!!  I love the colors and how she used the colors of the flowers for the letters of her title, pulling it all together.  The stitching around the edges gives it a warm, loving feel.  She managed to capture the fun-loving nature of her daughter in both photo and design.

That’s it for today.  I hope you like my picks – head over to the galleries and find your own gallery stand outs and leave some well-deserved loving on this day before Valentines Day!