Author: Barbara Unzen

Happy Father’s Day all! It’s a rainy, stormy Sunday here where I live. It’s a good day … I get to hang out with my family for Father’s Day, snuggle my dog to comfort her because she’s terrified of thunderstorms (it’s fun to be able to help her but sad that she’s scared) and take a break for a while to peruse the galleries for the beauties I’m going to share with you today. Life is good!

Happy Hearts by caapmun | How incredibly gorgeous. The lighting of the photo is simply amazing. The yellows and blacks are absolutely perfect compliments to the lighting. What a great mix of dimensional elements with the lovely brushwork behind the photo. The photo and captured moment really shine!

Photographs by Trish Lowe | How very fun! The photos really take center stage on this page. I love the “photography” theme with the paper and doodled cameras, and the other photography themed elements. (I recognize this kit (because I have it and have used it before because it seems like any time a kit has a photography theme I simply MUST have it. Ha!) I really like the way she layered the black and white strips of papers behind the photos and last … but never least … great shadow work!

Prague by Ozegirl | OK … I too miss traveling so very much. But for me it’s just missing seeing and experiencing new places … it’s got to be so much more challenging when your family is far away and out of reach. This page popped out at me right away with the Prague title and the great sketched Charles Bridge. It’s absolutely beautiful. I like the way she layered the papers and title and journaling to the angle of the bridge. I really like the colors she chose and the mix of elements. It’s a really pretty page!

Cool Grad by wendymck | What a great grad page! I love the grungy feel with the background paper and the sketchy doodles and grungy heart with the school definition. It’s got a great mix of elements with the flair and dimensional title and the layered string ties. I just like this page so much!

Emilia by pkfotografie | Wow. What an incredible – striking – page. First off … great extraction! I love the way she’s got her arm linked into the popped frame. I love the mix of popped and flat papers and the dimensional leaves. It’s just such a fun page!

SSL-6-19 by digi371 | What a gorgeous layout. It popped out at me first because of the great crop of the photo then, as I looked more closely at it, I absolutely love the beautiful brushwork behind the photo with the soft blues and yellows and the bold black. I really like the way she’s got the black lines leading to the black flair with the heart. It’s such a lovely page!

I hope you enjoyed my picks for you today. Happy Father’s Day, happy scrapping and happy Sunday!

Barbara

Happy Sunday all! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and got to spend some time expressing your creativity during National Scrapbooking Day yesterday. (From the looks of the galleries you certainly did!) I have not been on my computer all weekend so haven’t been able to scrap one little bit. Sad! Seeing all the beautiful layouts in the galleries now is motivating me to simply find the time so we’re all good. So, on to the important stuff … a few highlights from the galleries!

Elliot in a Tree by bluedraft52 | Whoa! That photo is absolutely stunning. It’s a perfect photo to be front and center on the page and it really doesn’t need anything else. I love the way the title is blended onto the tree trunk. The falling little leaf elements are simply genius. I also like the simple journaling on the trunk and the beautiful color of the journaling to match the colors in the leaves. Simply put … this is a STUNNING page!

You Deserve It by Jenn McCabe | I’m always a fan of Jenn’s pages when I come across them in the galleries. The first thing that caught my eye was that sketchy girl element and her title work. The “You owe it to yourself” tag completely pulled me in and made me want to read her story and hopefully get pulled into her motivation. (Pre-Covid I was super motivated … since Covid … lets just say Covid 15 is sadly a real thing. Ugh!!!) I love the way she highlighted the important words in her journaling and her AMAZING shadow work. I also like the grungy brushwork in the background. Great page … and very motivational too! 🙂

Be Inspired11_04_Dunia by Dunia | What a clean, simple and beautiful page! I love the scattering of photos and the acrylic title … and her photos are awesome! I also really like the black border around the page pulling your eyes into the story.

Doors by Hclappy | I simply HAD to highlight this page. I LOVE doors so much. I always include door pages in my vacation albums and European doors are the best. There’s always so much history and beauty. I really like the berries and leaves and and plants framing the page; they’re like vines on a house and are the perfect touch and I love that adorable bike on the text paper road. What a lovely page!

2006 Joy on the Beach by Stacia | I love pages with full page photos and this photo is absolutely adorable and completely NEEDS to be front, center and HUGE! What a little cutie! I love the clusters of elements and stickers and beach themed doo dads along the left side and the way she used the messy stitched borders. The sand and the sky were perfect for the titling and journaling. What a happy happy page!

Make Today Amazing by Tiffany Scraps | What a beautiful photo. It’s just a lovely, peaceful scene. I love her inspirational title and the beautiful flower and clock element cluster and the sun cluster peaking onto the page. This page is really quite lovely!

I hope you enjoyed the layouts I chose for you today. Always remember that there are so very many amazing layouts in the galleries to feast your eyes on. If you’re ever looking for some inspiration, visit us here at GSO or any of the galleries. Just beware … it’s easy to get lost in the creativity and before you know it hours have passed and you’ll feel you simply HAVE to scrap! 🙂 If you’ve got a moment, if you see a layout that really speaks to you, leave the artist some love in the comments. Speaking from experience … it is always a day brightener!

Happy Scrapping!

Barbara

Happy Sunday all. It was a lovely weekend here where I live. The weather was cool but nice and I got to take my sweet pup for a few walks and it was my birthday Saturday so my husband and son got a takeout dinner and we ordered a Door Dash dinner to be delivered to my daughter at college so we could celebrate together via Facetime. Ahhhh … you’ve got to love technology! 🙂 Oh, and let’s not forget … I got in a bit of scrapping. What more could a person ask for in a weekend? Now on to my picks for you…

Almost 5 by Blackkathy | I’ve got to tell you this layout caught my eye IMMEDIATELY … I love the envelope with that beautiful black and white photo tucked inside with the flowers and tickets. I love all the attention to every little detail on this page … the different colored papers in the notebook, the large “5” attached in the notebook, the curly string. Every little detail on this page has been perfectly shadowed and laid out. This is most definitely a page I’d like to lift!

Life is Great if You Have a Dog by Ann-Sofie | OMG. What a sweet pup. I love all those adorable black and white photos scattered on the page with the playful design of the title. I love those fun elements scattered about … and the little puppy stickers make this such an incredibly fun, happy page!

Hello Spring by Margje | This page is stunning. I love the photo effect and the beautiful brushwork behind and the wonderful soft dimensional elements on that wonderful textured paper. This is really a gorgeous piece of art. Looking at the page a little further I also want to mention how much I like the way she wrote “Hello” and “Welcome Spring vertically along the stem of the flower. It’s all so lovely!

Mum at 79 by Carolee | What wonderful journaling. I read every word and it makes me want to do a similar page about my mom. I love that beautiful black and white photo … I can only hope I look that good when I’m 79! The floral element cluster is lovely as is the stitchwork around the edge. I bet her Mum really likes this page and can feel the love from the journaling! 🙂

Jaileen-8th-13 Left by Mrivas | What a beautiful graphic, project-life style page. What beautiful photos of her daughter (who I enjoy seeing grow up over the years in all the lovely scrapbook pages). For those long term digi scrappers like me … I bet you can recognize kids and families in the galleries too. It’s one of the things I really love about our hobby. 🙂 I digress. She’s got some really lovely photos and I love the type set love note on one of the photos and the matching yellow butterfly on the card. Just a lovely, lovely, page!

Carefree by Roxana | What is there NOT to love about this. I love the blending and the birds and the brushwork above the photo and the text. This is simply a striking gorgeous piece of art. And isn’t that a beautiful, peaceful scene?

I hope you enjoyed the layouts I chose for you today. If you’ve got a moment, I’ve linked each layout. I’m sure each artist would love it if you’d leave them some love. Have a great week and happy scrapping!

Barbara

Happy Saturday everyone. It was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Minnesota and we had a particularly enjoyable day. We took advantage of the nice weather and drove “up north” for a couple hour outdoor visit on the deck with my inlaws who have happily been vaccinated. We have not seen them for months and months. It felt good seeing them – even from a distance – knowing they’re vaccinated and that we were safe visiting outdoors. The vaccine news has been so promising lately … it feels like in time we will eventually be able to get back to a new normal. I can’t wait! Until then we’ll just remain patient. So … another fun thing for me today … choosing gallery standouts for you! 🙂

Inner Ballerina by Grasshopper | This page popped out at me immediately.It is so very striking with the black background and the gold brushwork butterflies and the lovely title. The page is sheer perfection!

March Knitting – Numbered List Challenge by Laura O’Donnell | What a fun page and fun hobby! i love the bright colors and the notebook paper. Laura’s photos are great and so colorful! I like the way the days of the week paper in the background pairs with the calendar and the numbered list. Fun!

Trust Yourself by caapmun | WOW! How very striking. I love the blending of the large photo. It’s like she’s looking into your soul. I love her brushwork over the photo and the way the colors in the papers on the left blend with the colors in her skin tone and the blues in the flower clusters pop but don’t overwhelm the page. What an incredible page!

Marais de Poitevin by Mielz | I love love love this page. The photos are so very peaceful and look beautiful masked to the painted shapes. I like the stitching she placed beneath the photos and the way she’s got the heart brads placed on the stitching. I also love the boat element that pairs with the boat in the top photo. What a lovely, lovely, peaceful page!

Edith by Stacey Jewell Stahl | Another absolutely WOW page. The photo is gorgeous and oh so dreamy. I love the watercolor flowers painted atop and the way the paper is angled and the words brushed onto the photo. I also like the little dimensional cluster off to the side. This is absolutely a beautiful piece of art!

In Their Hands by Karina H | Awww … how lovely. Look at those little baby feet. I miss babies … with the whole world in front of them. So much love! I love the way she’s got the words along the circle and the way they blend into the tan paper beneath. I love the muted colors of the entire. What a beautiful page!

I hope you enjoyed the pages I selected for you today and that they’ve inspired you to go out and scrap your memories! Enjoy your day!

Barbara

Happy chilly Saturday all! Where I live it has warmed up to a balmy -5 degrees with a windchill making it feel like -20 degrees. Did I mention that it has warmed up? Yeah. Needless to say, I’m staying inside by the fire today (which is making me happy but my dog a bit unhappy)! I’ve gotten to scrap two pages today already and now I’m perusing the galleries for beautiful layouts to share with you so, while life is very chilly, it is good!

Traveling Light by lizziet5 | This page speaks to me. I love the crop of the photo. The journaling is wonderful. You’ve gotta love a travel themed page. I love that she’s writing in the third person. I love the titling on the right and her word strips. Simply everything on this page is absolute perfection!

Dream by Renate | I love the bright colors and the paintwork on this page. I like the journaling in the thought balloon and curved atop the paint within the doodled circles. What a wonderful rainbow photo framed atop the rainbow. this is just a really happy, inspirational page.

Life is Sweet by Alinalove | This is another cheery page. I love the bright colored hearts and the painted clouds. I like the photo effect/coloring she used on the photo. That metal cupid charm was a perfect addition to this page. Oh … and of course that painted title work is gorgeous!!

LOD 2021 – Feb 13th – Kristin Aagard by CharlotteM | At first I was drawn to the framing of that beautiful winter scene then, as I looked at the page further, I enjoyed the muted blues with the little pop of green. I really like the way the artist tucked in the snowflakes and the element cluster with the white painted fence. It’s such a pretty winter scene/page!

Begin with Gratitude by OKate | This page is absolutely, positively STUNNING. Everything about it just makes me smile. I love that wood frame and the way she’s got the patterned paper and the bird and butterfly tucked behind it. I love the way she used the flowers and leaves to make a bouquet of flowers tied up with string to top the pretty framed flower photo. The pinks and the greens on this page are absolutely lovely. Perfection!

Me by navaja77 | And last but most definitely not least is another bright, happy art journaling styled page. The colors are great and I like that the artist used a black and white photo with all those colors. I love the different textures of the elements and the dimension of the paints and elements. I like the way she’s surrounded the page with colorful paints and the way she used the elements to draw your eye to the photo. Wonderful!

That’s it for me today. I hope you enjoyed the layouts I chose to share. It’s tough to keep a post to only 6 pages. If you’ve got a moment and feel so inclined, the layouts are all linked in this post, so you can leave the artists a little love. Happy Saturday and wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow.

Happy scrapping!

Barbara

Hello! I hope you’re all doing well. This is my first post of the new year and I say and feel with cautious optimism that 2021 will EVENTUALLY be a better year than 2020. (It’d be tough to be worse than 2020.) I know we still have a long way to go before life is “normal” again but’s it bound to get better, right?! We all just need to stick together and take care of each other. That’s alway a good way to live though, isn’t it?

My hope is that if all goes well maybe someday I’ll even get to travel somewhere (other than around the neighborhood to walk my sweet dog) and I’ll have some interesting photos to scrap and stories to tell. I can hope, right?!

Duluth Lake Walk by Stephanie_E | What a beautiful winter scene. I love the blending of the photo and the grungy doodles, along with the grungy font the artist chose. Framing the photo in a window frame is such a great idea! As for the photo … I love the colors of the buildings popping out in the photo! The Duluth lake walk is only a 2 hour drive from me so I’m sure I’ve walked this area at some point. 🙂

Together by cyranoscrap | What a fun selfie with the happy faces and the blue sky peeking through the smiles! What a great composition with the beautiful painted flowers and leaves in the background in the colors of the title and elements. The pops of color along with the smiling faces makes for such a happy page!

Nostalgic by Angel Scrap | What great dimension and shadow work in this page! Her great use of white space really draws your eye and makes the photo pop. I love all the details in the title cluster with the buttons and sequins and paint. the alpha she used for the title is so fun!

Fly by Quilty Mom | Ahhh … this photo capture the joy of traveling and seeing the world. (I miss travel so very much!) I love the colors of the sunrise (or sunset?) and I really love the way the letter Y in the title turns into an airplane and then she’s set a dimensional airplane atop it. It’s so fun! It’s just all in all a lovely page!

SSL: All In A Row – Literally by smcloone | Absolutely gorgeous! I love a page created with a full sized photo! I love the texture you can see coming through the photo and the way she laid out her title. I like the dimension on the outside of the page and the brushwork set atop it. Did you notice the brushwork and date set at an angle on the rail? Love that!

Make Your Own Music Banner by shannonc | What a happy page! I love the bright pops of colors, particularly the way she perfectly matched the reds/oranges to the colors in the background of the photo. I really like the angled blue patterned paper with the arrows directing your eye to the photo. I like the strips of black and the doodled orange lines along the edge. It’s just such a cheery page!

I hope you enjoyed the photos I chose for you today. I’ve linked the pages so if any of these beautiful pages speak to you, I’m sure the artists would appreciate any love you care to share with them.

Happy scrapping and please stay safe all!

Barbara

Happy Saturday everyone. It was a beautiful day here in Minnesota and I got to enjoy a nice walk outdoors with my sweet pup. Refreshing! We’re all sticking really close to home but I appreciate the little things we are still able to do. I hope you’re all managing to stay safe and well!

Favourite Holiday Movies by rubygirl | The first layout I chose for you is super fun. Don’t you just love the little TVs?! I love the simple white background and the graphic feel of the page with mainly text and words and again … awesome little TVs. I really like the font she used for her title work as well. What great documentation. And fyi … those are some of our favorite Christmas movies as well!

120520 SSL December Memories by tammielsmith | What a striking page. First off … the photo is beautiful. The bright reds with the green/blues are so striking on the white background. I love the font she used for the December title. I love the beautiful brushwork she added in the background with the dimensional elements. Beautiful!

Share the Joy by Tiffany Scraps | Reading her journaling … what a fun tradition to go out together each year to pick out a new ornament to proudly display on the tree. Great memories! Most importantly … what a cutie pie! She looks so happy and proud! 🙂 I love the inset patterned papers in the tree and the beautiful dimensional flowers and the backdrop of the triangle papers in a darker tone of tan. What an absolutely lovely page!

Twinkle and Shine by BlackKathy | Can I just say … WOW! What a fantastic page! I love the photos of the beautiful ornaments paired with the pretty patterned papers and the sparkly words and brushwork all set in that gorgeous book. Simply … FANTASTIC! I’m thinking I’m going to go snap some ornament photos and do a lift … it’s just so pretty!

Look Deep Into Nature by KarenB | How very pretty. I love that background paper with the constellations. It’s the perfect backdrop for that photo. I love how she framed the photo with the overlaid round frame and the little element cluster with the stars. So very pretty!

2020-12-4–covid-positives by bjc | It’s so important to document these crazy, awful Covid times. I really like that she chose to document the positives. You know .. I think I need to do something like this as well. It’d be good for the mental health! I really like her pink heart and the pretty painted brushwork along with the dimensional grocery bag arrow and the sticks. Again … awesome documentation!

I hope you enjoyed the pages I chose for you today. If you’ve got a moment, please click on the links and leave the artists some love. That’s always greatly appreciated! Have a great rest of your Saturday and please be safe all!

Barbara