I Love Florentine and perfect layouts!

I know, I know - this is not a good picture, but I had to share this layout with you. It was done by my friend, Jackie Griswold, using CTMH's Florentine paper pack. The theme is her daughter's birthday. The stamp set used is an older one, but still one of my favorites.

The true star of this layout is the beautifully symetric and layered paper strips at the top. It's really pleasing to the eye, and does not take away from the content or purpose of the pages. The photos are tight together, but it works because the horizontally placed pictures pop out. Right away you see the   simplicity of the layout, even though there are 10 photos! It is everything that a layout "should" be - it tells a story, it has a title, it has journaling, it has delicate and unassuming details, and it is polished. This is a great example of getting10 pictures on a page without making it look like a hot mess!

Sometimes I design my own layouts, like Jackie did here. But this one gets a Blue Ribbon! I am so jealous, I'm going to lift this one ASAP!