Normal looks like...

I actually finished a scrapbook layout during the Great Scrapbook Carnival this year, and have it posted within the same week! I hope you're impressed because this is a vast improvement over last year.

The photos in this layout were taken during April 2011, which is the last time my family were all under the same roof. Bo Bunny's Family Is... collection was used throughout this layout, from the papers to the chipboard and pearls. 

I began by physically distressing the edges of a 10 inch square piece of paper, then cut a notch at both ends of the 2 inch wide strip of the same paper. I cut a striped piece of paper slightly wider than 2 inches and cut matching notches at both ends. Tim Holtz's Distress Marker in Chipped Sapphire edges both strips. The bottom photo mat was cut and the edges rounded before being affixed on top of the banner strips.

I hand-cut around the people on the more 'normal' of the two photos, then used a Spellbinders die to cut both the photo and the dark blue matting. I stuck the "Hey, it could be worse" sticker to a frame cut from the reverse of the dark blue paper (left side), and the letters stickers to another yellow frame (bottom right), and placed them around the matting. Some aqua chevron ribbon from my stash and three Bo Bunny pearls wrapped up the front of the photo matting.

On the inside of the matting, I affixed a "laughter" banner sticker to the bottom left corner, layered the photo, and topped it with the "Another awkward family photo" sticker. I thought the addition the photo frame was most appropriate given the expressions in the photo. For the top of the flap, I added some journalling on a tag cut from the same collection and washi tape from my stash. 

I used my Cameo to cut the title and matting. Using stamps from the same collection and Tim Holtz's Distress inks, various coordinating images were stamped onto the matting, and a Copic marker and Spica pen coloured the letters. 

For final touches, I added the layered chipboard, some journalling directly on the paper, and a date stamp. It's a pretty busy layout but I think it accurately portrays the nuts in my family tree -  me included.