You girls are seriously rockin' it! I think another thing that makes minimalist layouts hard is that there is a giant chasm between plain & simply stunning. It's hard to try for simple yet amazing and not end up with a super uninteresting page. Bringing a few small pieces together to create a masterpiece really takes skill. A skill I don't have, but after four days of dwelling and working and starting over, I've at least created something that I like. Consider me thoroughly challenged.
