Family Reunion layout

I know there are families out there who don't like family reunions but I'm not one of them, especially when it comes to my mother's family. I am lucky enough to have a great family who I love spending time with. My mom's side of the family used to get together every other Thanksgiving but we decided a few years back to switch the reunion to summertime and we have a big picnic in Hastings, Michigan instead. My mother has four sisters and one brother and last week all five sisters were at the reunion. The live all over the United States and it's hard to get everyone together so we took advantage and took a lot of pictures of them. I wanted to make a layout of this rare event. If you've been reading my blog this month you know that I love Back Country paper. Even though I have about 5000 pieces of paper in my collection (yes I do, I'm not making it up) I keep coming back to this paper set. I used 2 pieces of the off white, two pieces of the outdoor denim and then one of the neat patterned paper sheets.

Cut four squares, two outdoor denim and two of the plaid measuring 5 3/4" by 5 3/4.

You'll need a base page which is your off-white 12" by 12". Distress all the pieces.

Now I made my measurements for the mat by going by my photo's meaurements. You should do the same adding 1/4" for the first mat around your photo and 1/2" to 3/4" for the second mat. I used 3/4" for the second so I could have an extra large frame around my fairly small photo.

Distress everything with your outdoor denim ink and attach the three parts together.

Now, leaving a 1/2" border around the edge of your base page, attach your plaid and outdoor denim squares as shown.

I do not use only Close to my Heart products on my pages, I love all scrapbooking supplies and I find ones that fit with the layout I'm working on. In this case it's a vellum title. Because it's vellum you don't want to attach it with any old adhesive, use vellum adhesive, staples, brads (as I've done) or use adhesive but cover it up with an embellishment.

Now put your photo with mats in the middle of your page. Add your title.

I found that once I put down the main elements that the cardstock looked a little empty so I went to my trust Adorning Corners stamp set to decorate them. I can't tell you how many times this particular stamp set has saved me!

Our Close to my Heart Just Blooms flowers are perfect for a layout about sisters, especially one outside on a summery day. Add buttons tied with waxy flax to your flowers using glue dots.

Put your flowers around the upper left side of your picture.

I wanted my aunts' and mother's names on the layout and I needed a little balance in color and in "weight" for the flowers so I wrote them on the off-white cardstock and distressed the edges then added them to the right hand side. I also date every single layout I do so I put that on the left bottom of the mat. I used a pattern in the Reflections book that we sell, it's an invaluable tool. By the way, left to right that's my Aunt Dorothy, Aunt Bev, Aunt Joyce, my mom, Peggy, and Aunt Kay.