Laura Vegas

mom & dad – a pebbles layout

August 11, 2010

i wanted to share one of the layouts i created for my pebbles design team submission with you today.

i used the may bouquet collection for this layout about my parents. i've never actually scrapbooked about my parents before, and i'm glad i finally took the time. i admit that i'm not great at talking about my feelings or expressing things directly to people. and that also extends to my family. i like to think they know how i feel. but i still think it's nice for them to hear it now and then. and what comes naturally to me is writing. it's how i can best express myself. and i've been like that since i was a kid.

the journaling is short and sweet. we really are so grateful for all that my parents do for us and the girls. we're fortunate that they live just a few blocks away from us. so they're always around to help out. they let the girls go over and go swimming whenever they want. they drive the girls places, when i can't. my mom volunteers with the awana program at the church, and drives the girls to and from every week. they come to all the girls soccer games, school performances, and band concerts. my mom builds me all the furniture pieces that i ask for, and refinishes furniture when i want a new look. my dad makes sure to get joe out golfing every now and then, when he's been working too much. they both put up with our questions and phone calls, when there's something with the house, the yard, or the cars, that we don't know how to handle. i could mention a ton of ways that they are here for us, and help us out. but when you get right down to it, we're just thankful and appreciative. for everything.

i used a mixture of the paper flowers, the pebbles chips, and the epoxy brads to make this fun border. i also added in a few other buttons and brads. i love all the dimension that all the layers add to a layout. i also adhered that chipboard accent in the bottom corner, with large pop dots.
jovaughnna

August 10, 2010

my niece, jovaughnna, is starting her senior year of high school tomorrow. hard to believe how much she's grown up, since i first met her. she asked me if i would take her senior pictures for her, and i was more than happy to help her out. we met up one evening last week, and within two hours, i had taken almost 400 photos. it took me hours to go through them, and to narrow it down to the best of the bunch. i was so worried that i wouldn't get enough perfect shots, and in the end, i gave her 52 of them. lol! now she's going to have to spend hours going through them and choosing. lol! it's really hard for me to pick my favorites. but here's a few that stand out to me the most.
i’m a new bella artista

August 9, 2010

i really love bella blvd. when i went to CHA back in january, their booth was one of my favorites and their collections were on the top of my "have to have" list. and i have used their collections a lot. in fact, the layout peek i showed you here was made with mostly bella blvd products. so i was trilled last week to get the news that i was chosen as one of their new bella artistas, for september thru december of 2010. i'm really looking forward to working with their newest collections over the next few months 🙂

here is one of the layouts i created for my submission. for those of you that are my friend on facebook, you might remember a status update i did last week about sarah. she was in my scraproom and must have seen this layout on my desk and read the journaling. the last sentence says "is the most gorgeous daughter that a mother could ask for". and she got mad at me. lol! so i had to show her the layouts of her that i have done that say similiar things. it's ok to say something like that about each of your kids, i think. i didn't mean it so literally. lol!

the chipboard letters are from my little shoebox, and the buttons are from making memories. but the fun pattern papers, the gorgeous flowers, and the cute letter stickers are all from bella blvd. and i want to send a big "thank you" to stephanie and beth, for giving me this fun new opportunity 🙂
super excited about this

August 6, 2010

i got news yesterday that i would be a part of the 2010-2011 pebbles design team! i'm so excited for this amazing opportunity! i have been a huge fan of pebbles products from the beginning, and they have only gotten funner and cuter over the years. i cannot wait to get started!

and you have to check out the rest of the team, because it's an impressive list. i'm honored to be on that list, and can't wait to get to know all the other girls better. you can see the full design team list over the pebbles blog :)
a winner and a layout

August 6, 2010

first up, thanks for all the sweet comments on my cover layout! appreciate them all. and now, to pick a winner for a free copy of scrapbooking tips & tricks: tools & techniques. i turned to the random number generator. in full disclosure, it choose #29. which was dawn, who mentioned that she already had the issue and not to enter her name. so i tried again, and i got #49. congrats KATEMERI! email me your info and i'll pass it along so that CK can get your copy mailed out to you.

as seen in Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Paper Palooza issue, by Creating Keepsakes magazine. copyright creative crafts group. posted with prior permission from the publisher.

here's another one of my layouts from the previous scrapbooking tips & tricks: paper palooza. geez, could i have taken a more wonky photo of it? lol!

admittedly, this was another layout that i had to make changes too. i had completely different papers for my flowers. but they asked for some bolder patterns. and i love this version more than my original. the idea was to use die cuts to make your own pattern paper. i choose a single flower die, by quickutz. and i choose a few sheets of pattern paper, and went to town die-cutting a ton of flowers.

i actually cut a piece of white cardstock for each area that i wanted to add the flowers. then i adhered the flowers in rows on that piece of cardstock. i was then able to trim off the parts of the flowers that went off the edge of the cardstock, to give it nice and clean edges. it's hard to see in this photo, but i added those pieces to the layout using pop dots for some extra dimension.

i think it gives the look of a piece of pattern paper at first glance. this would even look great with just a single piece of pattern paper used for all the die cut shapes. or you could try it with cardstock. in fact, i just got an idea for using it with cardstock, to give an embossed look. will test it out, and let you know what i come up with 🙂
family – a tips & tricks layout

August 3, 2010

i thought i would share one of my layouts with you today, from the last scrapbooking tips & tricks issue. this was created for the paper palooza issue, which was all about pattern paper. my technique idea was to take small torn pieces of pattern paper, and use them to cover chipboard shapes.

as seen in Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Paper Palooza issue, by Creating Keepsakes magazine. copyright creative crafts group. posted with prior permission from the publisher.

the layout in the magazine looks slightly different than what you see here. i forgot to get a picture of the final version. in the magazine, my layout has all color photos. this shows a few black and white photos. in all honestly, this layout went through three changes, before making final approval. i don't always get it right the first time out. lol!

this was my first attempt. the photos here aren't the best, and a tad bit dark. but i loved this layout, and the colors and papers. but the very smart and all-knowing editors at CK, thought that we needed bolder pattern paper choices. i fought it a little. but in the end, they really do know what they're talking about. i still love my first version, but the third one fits the technique and the article much better.

back to the layout. these are all photos of my family that i took on thanksgiving in 2009. i hardly ever take pictures on thanksgiving. but this past year, i was putting together a "what we're thankful" mini album, and i wanted to be sure and have a photo of everyone that was there. the reason i added some black and white pics on this version, was because i had a lot of color going in people's clothing choices. in the end, they asked for all color photos. yes, i did a lot of photo printing for this assignment. lol! on this page: my brother scott and his wife kathy, my dad john and my mom kathie, and my sister wendy, and of course our family, joe, me, alyssa, and sarah.

for the hearts, i just choose a few different pattern papers and tore a bunch of little pieces off. then i covered my chipboard hearts with adhesive, and started layering the torn pieces onto the heart, overlapping them as i went. i ran short on one of the hearts (since i did two totally different layouts). so i traced the heart onto a piece of cardstock, and used that to layer the torn pieces of pattern paper onto. then i sanded down the edges of all the hearts to finish them off. on this page: my cousin brad and his wife issa (who's carrying baby zachary, born 4 weeks later), my cousin stephanie and her husband dustin, my grandma hildred, my aunt vicky, my grandpa frank, and my aunt sandy.

and the two layouts came in handy in the end. the original layout is tucked in my family album. and the final layout (all color photos) is hanging up on my parents wall 🙂
tips & tricks: tools & techniques – giveaway

August 2, 2010

have you seen the new scrapbooking tips & tricks: tools & techniques issue yet? how can this cover not grab your attention 😉

and yes, i say that because i designed the cover layout. lol! i am kind of a dork. and every time the girls and i see this issue at the stores, i stop and say "wow, that's an amazing cover!". and the girls go with it and say "why yes, it IS". i was thrilled to be asked to work on the cover, and had a lot of fun taking on the challenge.

and here's an extra look at one of my other layouts that's featured inside. this issue has tons of great ideas for using some great new tools. i got to work with the GCD studios chip art tools, by melody ross, for one of my layouts. and the stampin up color coach, for another layout. and then there are all the tips for little techniques you can do, using the supplies you already have. just like what i did on the layout above.

if you'd like to see a little peek inside this issue, click HERE. you can also use the code TT3B3, to get free shipping on orders of $20 or more in the scrap and paper corner store, though august 20th.

or, you can leave me a comment here for a chance to win a free copy. all names will be entered in, and i will randomly choose a winner on friday morning 🙂
a photo and layout book

July 31, 2010

i wanted to put together a special gift for haley's parents, when it was time for her to leave us for preschool. i have created a ton of layouts of her over the years, and taken a ton of photos. someone once asked me if i give the layouts of the daycare kids to their parents. and the answer is "no". i give them all the photos i take, but i keep the layouts. i have 6 albums full of memories from the last 8 years of daycare kids that we have had here. but i have thought over the years, that i should come up with a way that the parents can still enjoy the layouts. that's how this project started.

i put this book together through blurb, which i have used before for making my blog books. i started out designing a 7×7 book, which is a very economical size to have printed. halfway though, i decided that the 12×12 book would make a better gift and have more impact. you can't just change the size of the book though, so i had to start over and design the 12×12 book from scratch. so be sure about the size book you want when you get started. i ordered the 12×12 book for her parents, and got the 7×7 book for myself (since it was already put together).

my title page. i choose "our time together in photos and memories" for the title of my book, and also added this to my title page. it's the only writing in the book.

the intro page. these first few pages are set up automatically. so i just choose a few pictures of me and haley. on that left page, is the copyright info.

i started by taking out all the layouts that i've created of haley over the last three and a half years. i think i had about 25 of them. i have photos of all my layouts on my computer already, but they were all resized for the blog and online stuff. when doing these books, you really want to have the full-sized photos for better quality printing. so i re-took photos of all the layouts, and then cropped them all into a square. they were all in cronological order in my albums, so i took the photos in order. then i re-named each photo as "haley_1", "haley_2", "haley_3", etc. once i started the book, i simply added the layouts to every other page in the correct order.

for the photos, i got out my external hard drives and went through all the photos of her that i've taken. i have all my photos organized by month and year. so i started with the first month she was here with us. i made new folders on my laptop that were set up for "0-6 months", "7-12 months", 13-18 months", etc. i went through 6 months worth of pictures at a time, and just copied all of haley's pictures into these new folders. it helped to break up the amount of pictures and keep them in some sort of order.

i had a good idea of when the layouts were all from. so next to the layout, i would add photos that went with that layout. maybe it was the same photos that were on that layout. or extra photos from that same time, but that didn't make it on the layout. or maybe just photo taken around the same time that matched up. there are tons of page designs to choose from in blurb, when you're arranging your photos. i stuck with a few basic designs. the 9 grid design was a favorite, as well as the 4 grid design. i also liked the one large vertical photo, with the 2 smaller square photos overlapping it.

then there were the extra photos. the ones that i never did scrapbook or use on layouts. i wanted to include those too. so i just added in additional pages, in between the spreads with layouts and photos. still keeping everything in order time-wise. it was really simple to just upload a folder of 6 months worth of pictures into blurb, and work with just those at one time. i would fit the photos in with the layouts, add the extra pages of just photos in, and make it all fit together like a puzzle. any extra photos that didn't work into that time frame got deleted from the book project. and then i would pull up the next 6 months worth of pics.

i made a very concious decision about a year and a half ago, to stop scrapbooking the daycare kids so much. i know that might sound strange. but at that point, i was actually scrapping the daycare kids and my friends kids more than my own family. and that bothered me. i needed to shift gears a bit, and bring the focus back to my own family and our memories. which i have done really well. i still do scrapbook the daycare kids quite often. but as i was working on this project, i realized that i hadn't really done any new layouts of haley in quite some time. and i was finding pics that i wanted to scrapbook. so that is why, a few weekends ago, i made a point to create 5 new layouts of just haley. one of them didn't get finished in time to make the book. but the others did. my favorite is at the end of this book, but i can't share it with you yet. soon though 😉

once i had the books all designed, filled with photos, and cover done, it came to 70 pages. what you see here is just a sample of the book. i love that it was 70 pages long, and filled with tons of memories. i uploaded my books onto blurb, and then placed my order. i choose the hardback covers, but the paperback ones would be a great option if you wanted to save a little money.

and here is the last page. i just had to use this shot for "the end" 😉
we’ll miss you haley

July 30, 2010

three and a half years, and this baby girl has grown into a spunky little girl. and i've been there through it all.

for three and a half years, we have had the pleasure of enjoying this girl 3 days a week. we all love haley and she is honestly just part of our family now. we think of her as one of our own, and treat her like our own. and she returns the favor, by acting just like one of our own. lol! but now it's time for haley to move on to new adventures. preschool, to be exact. it's been the plan for a while now, so this isn't new info to me. i've had plenty of time to get used to the idea, and to get ready for today. it's her last day with us today.

and while we're sad to see her go, and we will miss her like crazy. we also know that it's her time to move on, and the change will be so great for her. haley is ready for a new setting, with new friends to be made, and to learn all sorts of new things in preparation for kindergarten. and i'm not worried about not seeing miss haley again, because i know she'll be around. i already have a list of the weeks that her preschool is closed, and she will always have a spot here when she needs a place to hang out. i think all of that makes it easier for me to see her move on.

i have a special gift for haley's mom and dad that i want to share, because i really think it was a great idea and i'm so proud of how it came out. but i'm going to share that next week, since i havn't given it to them yet and don't want to spoil the surprise. and i have a few more layouts of haley, but i can't share those yet either. so there's definately more haley to come around this blog 😉

so, haley. from all of us. joe, alyssa, sarah, and myself. from the other kids you see around here. and even from grammy, papa, and jenny. we all love you like crazy. we will miss you like crazy. and we are just so thankful for all that you have brought to our lives. you and your spunky attitude will be missed around this house. so make sure and come back real soon 😉
some jillibean soup layouts

July 29, 2010

since it's still CHA time, i feel like i should be showing you some jillibean soup layouts with their brand new products. but those won't go up until next month. these are layouts that i did last month, and finally went up on the jillibean soup blog today.

i knew i wanted to use the summer squash soup collection, and these photos of miranda matched perfectly. i was watering the plants in the backyard, while the kids played. and miranda got a hold of the hose. it's never a good thing, to have a child have a loaded hose in their hands. lol!

i created this flower, using a template from kiwi lane designs, that i picked up at CKC back in june. just added a journaling sprout and a button.

i took these photos of alyssa about a month ago, when she got braces. again. she's already had braces, back when she was 10 years old, i believe. but she had one main tooth grow in funny since then, and somehow it requires her having braces again. we'd already put the time and money into her teeth at this point, so figured we'd better just finish her off. she's not thrilled, but she's still cute as can be with them on.

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