Laura Vegas

making memories slice fabrique

October 30, 2010

guess where making memories is this weekend? they are at the international quilt market in houston, texas. they are there to introduce their brand new slice machine that is specifically designed for cutting fabric. the new slice fabrique, and the new slice fabrique design cards, were designed with the fabric appliqué quilters in mind. want to see this new machine? here's a photo, courtesy of making memories.

the first thing i have to tell you, is that i don't sew. i don't stitch. i don't even iron. i actually do own a sewing machine, that i bought years ago, so that i could machine stitch on my layouts. never learned to use it. i LOVE the look of machine stitching. and i do LOVE fabric projects. i have done all of 2 fabric projects in the past, which were for the slice infomercial last year. but i didn't stitch on those.

so when i got asked to work on this assignment with the slice fabrique, i was a little worried as to whether i could actually pull it off. but i'm always up for any challenge that comes my way, and of course, i said "yes". i was excited to learn something new and push myself to try new things. and that's exactly what i did. for hours and hours on end. lol!

i give some major props to anyone that works with fabric. or makes quilts. or hand stitches anything. it takes patience. lots of it. it was also tons of fun. but working with fabric is an involved process. once i got started, i was fully invested in it. for 4 days straight, all day long. every waking moment. ask my family. nothing else mattered for those 4 days. lol! i felt better, knowing that my BFF wendy, was also fully into the same project. we kept each other on track, compared updates and notes, gave each other tips, asked each other opinions, laughed together, and i'm pretty sure we even cried together at one point. lol! seriously, i love when we work on things like this at the same time. we keep each other sane 🙂

ok, enough rambling. on with some projects. i was assigned to create some projects for one of the "rooms" in the making memories booth for the show. and my room was a little girls room.

first up, a lampshade. i'm sure they have a cuter lamp base at the show. this is one i found in my garage, so i could get an idea of the overall look as i worked. i was going to adhered the butterflies randomly around the frame, as if they were fluttering all over. but i'm so glad that i decided to adhered them all in a row, around the frame. i'm going to use this same idea for a lampshade in my family room, except with flowers 😉

how cute are these butterflies! and the fabric is just adorable. it's all from my mind's eye. i'm going to be honest on this one. my mom machine stitched the butterflies for me. i did ALL my own hand stitching, but she did help me out with the machine stitching. but i really do plan on learning how, because i love the look. and because now, i have this weird desire to make fabric stuff again ;)

i adhered each butterfly to the lampshade, using a glue dot in the center of the butterfly. then i used some glue dots on the outer edge of each wing (top and bottom), so that i could curl the wings slightly before adhering them down. this way, they're not totally flat on the lampshade.

next up was a picture frame. this picture of alyssa didn't stay in the frame. they had a little girl in mind for the booth. i just stuck this in there, so that i could take a picture of it 🙂

the new slice fabrique design cards have a fun cutting tool. most of the cards do have the mirroring and shadowing options (MS+). but the fabrique design cards allow you to cut shapes in different pieces. like this pinwheel on the frame. it has 6 pieces to the design. the 4 triangle pieces for the main part, the stem (which i left off of here), and the center of the pinwheel. and because you cut each piece individually, your shapes can end up larger than the typical 4 inch slice size. the largest choice on the pinwheel, will actually give you a 5.6 inch tall shape.

isn't this pinwheel so fun! i cut all the main pieces twice. so i had 8 pieces total. then i ironed 2 pieces back to back, and hand stitched them around the edges. i folded the corners over, just like the design quide showed me, and stitched that down too. i added a few fun buttons to the center, and a pipe cleaner for the stem. there's more pipe cleaners on another project, that i'll share later. so they tied together. i also sliced out the letters to spell "FUN", and hand stitched those as well.

and how about a cute tote bag? giving credit and props to my mom, who machine stitched this for me too 🙂

i have to tell you, that i did fix his button eyes, after taking these photos. i have no idea why i stitched them right there, in the middle of his face. it wasn't until i was looking at some of wendy's project peeks that she shared with me, that i noticed HER frog's eyes were on the top of his head. i had to ask her about it, because i suddenly couldn't remember where a frog's eyes are. this is where the "asking each other for advice and opinions" comes in handy. lol! his button eyes are now nicely stitched where they belong.

another example of the pieced together cuts. the frog is actually made from 6 different cuts on the slice fabrique. his head, his body, each leg cuts seperately, his hands cut together, and his eyes cut together (i didn't use those). so it makes it really easy to cut pieces from different fabrics, and then tie them all together. the kite is made from 4 different cuts. the 3 pieces for the kite, and then the tail piece (which i cut 3 times).

these flowers are one of my very favorite parts out of all my projects. i LOVE these flowers! i used the largest size cut on these, so they are 4 inches wide and 5.8 inches tall. good sized flowers. each one was 4 cuts. the 3 parts of the flower, and the stem. we stitched down the outer flower, and the center of the flower. i left the middle flower as it was, so that the edges lift up and give some extra dimension to the bag. i hand stitched on the buttons to the centers of the flowers.

ok, it's almost 2:00am here. and i have to be up at 7:00am for the girls soccer games. so i'm calling it a night. i'll be back tomorrow (sunday, since it's technically saturday right now) with some more of my slice fabrique projects. and make sure and check out wendy's blog, to see her projects too. her "room" was a baby boy nursery. and she did some super, duper cute stuff. and make sure to leave her some loving comments. we both worked so hard on these, and we really hope that you like them. we both love making memories, and are so grateful to work for them. we hope that they are getting an awesome response to the new machine and the new design cards at the quilt market this weekend, and that our projects helped make their booth a little cooler and prettier 🙂
ice cream – a creating keepsakes layout

October 28, 2010

tonight, i have a layout share from the october issue of creating keepsakes magazine.

as seen in the October 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. copyright creative crafts group. posted with prior permission from the publisher.

when i got this assignment, i was asked to add something fun to stickers on my layout. so when i went to start my layout, the first thing i did was look for some stickers that i could spruce up. i didn't want to go with letter stickers, because that seemed to easy of an idea. when i found these ice cream stickers from doodlebug, i knew they'd be perfect. and i knew just the photos that i could use.

and yes, these are OLD photos. i'm trying to remember if this was before sarah was born, or after. it's from at least 11 years ago. back then, alyssa used to love mint chocolate chip ice cream. she even used a toy ice cream thing to eat it with. lol! she stopped eating ice cream years ago. no idea why. because the rest of us love it. sarah has it every night, at exactly 8:00pm. joe usually only has it on his night's off. hard to have it before bed, when you go to sleep at 9:00am. and i have mine late at night, when the girls are in bed and joe's at work. i digress with the ice cream talk. back to the layout.

i thought all these ice cream and sprinkle stickers would be cute all lined up across the layout, making a fun border. and i added diamond glaze to them, which gives them the look of epoxy stickers. on some of the stickers, i covered the entire thing with diamond glaze. on others, i only put the diamond glaze on the actual ice cream scoop, and not the cone. i added about 3 layers of diamond glaze, to really get the look that i wanted.

i know this shot makes the yellow sticker look a little cloudy. but they really did turn out nice, and i think the look so similiar to epoxy stickers. such a simple way to spiffy up your stickers, and give them a new and fun look.

i will give you one little tip, if you decide to try this. let the diamond glaze dry. let it dry for a while. do NOT attempt to finish other parts of your layout, before letting the diamond glaze dry. i'll be more specific. do NOT attempt to staple your ribbon onto the title part of your layout, and hold the layout up in the air to push the prongs back. because if the diamond glaze is not fully dry, it WILL run and drip down your layout. and then you will have to figure out how to fix it. i can't tell you how i know this. i just do 😉

and with that, i'm off to have my nightly bowl of ice cream. french vanilla, with hershey's chocolate syrup. and i let it sit out for at least 15 minutes, so that it's all super soft and soupy. that's the way i love it 🙂

and just a head's up. do you like fabric? do you like the slice and diecutting? do you want some fun project ideas? make sure and check back in over the weekend. i have some fun stuff to share. and so does THIS girl 😉
halloween photo tip – little light studio

October 27, 2010

want to know my one main tip for taking photos of your kids in their costumes on halloween? head over to the little light studio blog, and check it out 🙂
just arrived – a pebbles layout

October 26, 2010

last week, on the pebbles blog, it was all about the new arrival girl collection. this week is all about the new arrival boy collection. i have a layout up on the blog today, featuring that collection.

recognize this little dude? that's zachary, when he was just one month old. even the girls saw this layout sitting out, and said "is that him?". they were convinced it was some other little baby boy. lol! i've taken some photos of him and his parents a few times, since he was born. and these were from his one-month shoot.

i think my favorite part of this collection is the embossed papers. i used 2 of them on this layout. the blue dot, and the brown with white dots. you really have to see these in person, to truely appreciate them. the raised dots on both of these papers are amazing, and add a TON of texture to your projects. and i love that they're neutral and not just for baby boy layouts. i can see these papers on a lot of projects 🙂

i just love the 3D felt stars embellishments. they're thick and layered and all the work is done for you. just peel and stick to your layout. and the moneky? well, i created him with a new making memories slice design card, that will be out in december. the cool thing about it, is that it will cut your shapes in pieces, that you then assemble together. this will actually allow a lot of the shapes to become larger than the standard 4 inch size that the current design cards will cut. will share more, once it's officially announced. i cut the monkey from a few of the different pattern papers, even using the brown embossed dot paper for his body. i added some stitched buttons for his eyes, and "hung" him from the photo collage. isn't he cute 🙂

supplies:
new arrival boy little angel pattern paper by pebbles, new arrival boy brand new pattern paper by pebbles, new arrival boy expecting you pattern paper by pebbles, new arrival boy congrats pattern paper by pebbles, new arrival boy everything sweet pattern paper by pebbles, new arrival boy felt embellishments by pebbles, new arrival boy words stickers by pebbles, new arrival boy rubons by pebbles, slice design card by making memories, rubon stitches by doodlebug, buttons by basic grey
you made my day – a jillibean soup card

October 25, 2010

it's card day over on the jillibean soup blog, and one of them is mine 🙂

this card is 4.5" x 4.5" in size. the flower is just like the one on the layout i shared on friday. so if you're curious about it, check out friday's post for the details. i did stamp the white card base with a text background stamp, in a light green ink. the brown torn strip is a handmade paper, which adds a great texture to the card.

keeping this short and sweet today. i have a ton of work to get done today, and i'm determined to get it done sooner in the day, rather then later. lol! i'll be back tomorrow, with a baby boy layout share 😉
my 11 year old – a jillibean soup layout

October 22, 2010

here is my other layout that went up on the jillibean soup blog yesterday.

this is one of those layouts, where the photos were one of the last things i decided on. every now and then, i will create entire layouts, without any particular photos in mind. i had this idea for doing a grid of pattern paper squares along the bottom of the layout. so i trimmed an assortment of pasta fagioli pattern papers, into squares. these are all just under 3 inches x 3 inches. i want to say 2.85 x 2.85 or something, if you want to get really specific. lol! then i inked the edges of all the paper with a brown ink pad, and adhered them down. the inked edges really seperate all the patterns from each other.

next, i trimmed off a strip of the filmstrip pattern paper, and adhered it above the squares using pop dots. i used a small hole punch to make a few notches on either end of this filmstrip piece. then i wrapped white string around the layout, about 7-8 times. the notches help keep the string in place, so that it doesn't slip off your finished layout. i added some corrugated flowers to the left side of the layout. for the center of the smaller one, i simply added mini silver brads to the center of a button and glue dotted it down. for the larger flower, i added a journaling sprout and a decorative brad to the flower using a pop dot.

i created this flower using my making memories slice and the basic elements design card. i choose one flower shape, and sliced it from kraft cardstock, pattern paper, and a specialty glimmer paper, all in varying sizes. i inked the edges of each flower, and bent the edges upward just a tad. i layered them all together, using lots of pop dots. then i arranged three of the sugar picks on top of the last flower (with a few glue dots underneath them), and then adhered a journaling sprout over the ends of the pins. this is an easy way to make sure the pins stay in place. a quick threaded button finishes off the flower.

it was at this point, that i figured i should choose some photos and a title. lol! i had created the rest of the layout, without anything in mind. no theme, no story. so i dug around in my photos, looking for some that i wanted to scrap, and that would match my layout, and that had a story i could tell. i decided to go with a few photos of sarah that i took shortly after her 11th birthday. i went with the space i had left for photos, and sized my photos to fit that space. then came up with a title that would fit the space i had left, after adding the photos. it's all so random when i do it. but it comes together in the end 🙂

this looks pretty blurry to me. but if you click on the photo, it should come up larger and you can read the journaling.

supplies: pasta fagioli italian seasoning pattern paper by jillibean soup, pasta fagioli romano cheese pattern paper by jillibean soup, pasta fagioli meatballs pattern paper by jillibean soup, pasta fagioli clove fresh garlic pattern paper by jillibean soup, pasta fagioli shell macaroni pattern paper by jillibean soup, pasta fagioli blended beans pattern paper by jillibean soup, atomic soup minced molecules pattern paper by jillibean soup, pasta fagioli journaling sprouts by jillibean soup, blue corrugated alphas by jillibean soup, red corrugated alphas by jillibean soup, baked beans alphabeans by jillibean soup, red cool beans buttons by jillibean soup, brown cool beans buttons by jillibean soup, flowers corrugated shapes by jillibean soup, orange/turquoise sugar picks by jillibean soup, green/quartz sugar picks by jillibean soup, red/brown sugar picks by jillibean soup, brads by making memories

i also wanted to let you know about a great deal over at two peas in a bucket. i do my best to link all the supplies that i use, in case you want to pick it up for yourself. if you have been stashing anything in your shopping cart, now would be a great time to check out 😉

http://www.avantlink.com/link.php?ml=47699&p=27691&pw=35171

after a rough start this morning, it put a smile on my face to see this on 2peas. i know this changes often, and i just happen to get lucky on being on all three spots at once. but i'll take it and enjoy it. until more gorgeous projects take my place. lol!
last day of jr.high – a jillibean soup layout

October 21, 2010

today is layout day over on the jillibean soup blog. i actually have both of my layouts for the month, that went up today. but i decided to share one of them with you today. and i'll share the other one tomorrow. of course, you can see both of them HERE. but you know i have all the details here on my blog 😉

i knew the new atomic soup collection would be perfect for these photos from alyssa's last day of junior high school. i made sure she took her camera to school, and gave her strict instructions to make sure she took lots of photos. i honestly don't have photos of her and her friends. other than when she has a birthday party. and i wanted her to have something to look back on. and i have to say. she came back with more photos than i was expecting.

when i start a two page layout, i begin with the photos and 2 sheets of cardstock. i will decide on my photo placement first, and then build the rest of the layout around the photos. i do adhere all my photos down, once they're trimmed. then i measure and trim the pattern papers to fit around the rest of the space. it makes good use of my pattern papers too, since i only cut off the pieces i need. the papers here might look like they go all the way across the page. but they're only about 10 inches long, and end where the green cardstock starts.

i went with the blue corrugated alphas for my title. i wanted to make them stand out just a little bit more against the whiter patterned paper, so i lightly inked the edges with brown ink. and i have done this before, but i adhered the "o" sideways. mainly, because it wouldn't have fit the other way. lol! maybe i should start adhering my title, before adhering the embellishments around it. nah. that'd be too easy.

i choose the green embossed cardstock, because i wanted some extra texture. and because the numbers are sort of school related. and because our school color was green, for the mustangs.

alyssa got some great photos with her camera. and was really good about handing the camera over, and getting in some of the photos herself. i printed all her photos as 4×6's, through costco. usually, i like to go in before ordering and do any cropping to all my photos. zoom in and get rid of any excess background that doesn't need to be there. but i left most of her's uncropped, because i knew i was going to trim them up into smaller sizes. i pulled out all the ones that i could crop to 3×3, and then arranged them in two rows. then i took three of the photos that had a lot going on, and just trimmed them a tad bit to make them fit on the pages.

this is actually a photo that i took after school let out. the jr high side of the school, was an emotional mess. everyone was saying their goodbyes, knowing that they wouldn't all be at the same high school. and knowing that some of them wouldn't see each other much during the summer months, off school. there were lots and lots of tears. it was hard to watch, and i felt for each and every one of them. i was waiting with sarah and her friend on the other side of the school, giving alyssa and her friends their space. but i had to stop and capture a little bit of the moment.

alyssa also had a lot of photos with friends, where they simply held the camera out at arm's length and snapped away. there was no way to crop these photos smaller, but i wanted to include them. so i choose to simply slip them into a divided page protector, which is right after this layout in her school album.

supplies: atomic soup bunch of matter pattern paper by jillibean soup, atomic soup cup of equations pattern paper by jillibean soup, jillibean soup embossed cardstock by core'dinations core impressions, atomic soup journaling sprouts by jillibean soup, arrows corrugated shapes by jillibean soup, blue corrugated alphas by jillibean soup, baked bean alphabean letter stickers by jillibean soup, green cool beans buttons by jillibean soup, buttons by making memories
a halloween share and some links

October 19, 2010

first off, i have a little challenge up over on the little light studio site today. i'm sharing a few 15 minute halloween home decor projects that i created last year. and i'm challenging you all to try your hand at making a fun halloween decor project of your own, and share it with us. want an incentive? if you leave a comment and link us to your project, one lucky person will be chosen to have their project featured on the little light studio blog, and to be highlighted in the newsletter. that's cool, right? check it all out HERE.

and while you're there, check out THIS post, about a fast and frugal fall family room makeover. it's simple touches, like tiffani shares, that can really add a lot to your home decor. now if only i had some fun, colorful leaves around these parts of california. or pine cones 😉

since we're talking halloween, i thought i would share a card i created this summer. yes, that's the beauty of working in the scrapbook industry. i was creating halloween cards in june. and now that it's halloween, i'm actually getting ready to work on summer stuff. lol! all product is from the toil and trouble collection by making memories.

i loved the spider web stamp, so i stamped it with versamark ink in the upper corner, and heat embossed it with some black glitter embossing powder. then i "hung" a glitter foam spider sticker from it. and i really love those glitter bling alpha stickers. i like how all the letters are different sizes, and fonts. and how some of the letters have a little bling on them.

supplies: toil and trouble pattern striped pattern paper by making memories, toil and trouble waving skeleton pattern paper by making memories, toil and trouble spider web pattern paper by making memories, toil and trouble clear stamps by making memories, toil and trouble trims by making memories, toil and trouble glitter foam shapes by making memories, toil and trouble epoxy glitter stickers, toil and trouble glitter bling alphas by making memories, zing black glitter embossing powder by american crafts
treat bag tutorial – little light studio

October 18, 2010

i have a new tutorial that went up at little light studio today. i created a fun fabric halloween treat bag, using some fabric i've had laying around for years, my slice, and even my super old foam stamps. here's a small peek for you. head over HERE, to see step-by-step photos and full instructions 🙂
random tidbits #4 – facebook style

October 14, 2010

i think i'm a week late on doing my random facebook status update post. i was trying to do it every other week. but i had a TON to copy and paste. so i selected the best of the bunch. and yes, these really are the best. lol!

sit down and hold on to your chair, people. i just finished up all 5 projects that are due on friday. yes, friday. i'm 4 days early. if you know my procrastinating self, you'd know that i would usually be starting these projects the day before they're due. yay me!

why does blogging take soooooooooooooo long sometimes?!?! and yes, that was me whining 😉

the van is in the repair shop today. we were told the fix would be "pricey", as in "i'm not even going to give you a quote, because it's SO high". i'm dreading that phone call, with the damage.

note to self. always check your electronic tools and software needed for assignments ahead of time. went to start my layout that's due tomorrow, and realized something isn't working. i can't do anything without it.

the boy is all over the place this morning. not technicall crawling. but finally scooting around, rolling around, and just roaming the place in general. can i change my mind now, and ask him to just sit in one spot on the floor 😉

so glad that my kiddo work week is done. now i can get serious about my scrapping work stuff. trying out this new concept about staying organized and ahead of the deadlines 😉

i "borrowed" this photo from my friend deneen, who had a better seat than me 😉

i'm a night owl, and always stay up super late. after the concert last night, it was still technically early for me, and it's not like i missed my bedtime. but i'm sooooo exhausted this morning. luckily, the little ones are playing very nicely together. i owe them a good snack later 🙂

whatever the boy just did in the bedroom, wasn't even long enough to be considered a "nap". i'm only going to let it slide, because now i can line up his next nap with the girlie's naptime 😉

my family is coming over for dinner tonight for alyssa's birthday, and i have NO clue what i'm cooking yet. do you think i could get away with reheating the 3 meals i made today, that the little ones didn't even touch?!?!

‎3 soccer games this morning. alyssa's team played a double header, and won both games. sarah's team played one game, and won. they each scored a goal and had an assist or two. great job today, arsenal and blue thunder!!!

‎5 hours ago, i was good. now i'm sick and down for the count. i would like to thank my lovely daughter, sarah, for sharing her cold with me. love her willingness to share 😉

the boy picked up on this crawling thing, and is now moving full steam. he's also pulling himself up, and cruising around the furniture. even going from table to couch, and couch to table. letting go and trusting that he'll make it. i think i might be in trouble soon. lol!

a huge thanks to the little ones, for such an excellent naptime. i'm feeling 85% over this cold, and that extra quiet time really helped boost me up to 90% 🙂

an older photo of nikolas and haley, from the last time the gate was up. gosh, we miss them.

for the first time in forever, i had to put up the baby gate on the stairs again. i just know that the family is going to be super excited about this. i know how much we have all missed crawling over that gate every time we need to go up or down the stairs (said sarcastically, in case you don't know me well ;)).

a certain someone took it upon herself to open the bedroom door, go inside, and wake up the sleeping boy. another certain someone isn't very happy about that.

the weekend has begun. 2 soccer practices tonight, and alyssa's playing in the band at the varsity football game. 2 early soccer games tomorrow, and then alyssa's 14th birthday party. busy, busy.

took 8 of alyssa's best friends to boomers yesterday for her birthday party. go-kart racing, rock wall climbing, laser tag, arcade games, and bumper boats. they skipped the mini golfing. such a great group of kids, and they had a blast.

just finished a project for Little Light Studio using fabric and my old school foam stamps. completely stressed me out, so i hope everyone likes it 😉

i have done everything today, EXCEPT the stuff that i was originally supposed to do.

amazing how long you can keep a 9 month old entertained, if you just toss a handful of puffs his way every few minutes 😉

can today be any more boring? nope. it can't.

the boy woke up from his nap. so the girl went and dragged out his car seat, found her "animal book", got her barbie keys, and found the boy his cars keys. she must think it's time to go get alyssa from school. too bad we still have 4 hours until we make that trip. lol!

from the sounds of it, my crock pot is going to blow any second. lol!

i have a love/hate relationship with candy corn.

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