Laura Vegas

Scrapbooking And A Little Bit Of Everyday Life

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  • the finished collage

    yesterday i showed you the basic sketch i was using for my framed photo collages, and today i'm sharing one of the finished ones with you. and i'm sort of crossing my fingers that haley's mom doesn't see this on my blog. i know she reads it, but i'm not sure how often. it's all for the sake of the blog readers 😉 lol!

    Haley_framed_collage 

    i love how this turned out (click on it to see it a little bigger). i went through all the photos i've taken of haley over the last 3 years, and choose some of my favorites. i love that it shows her over the years, starting when she was just about 3 months old. shows how much she's changed, and yet how much she's stayed the same. i'm so grateful that we've been a part of it all 🙂

    now, for how i got this result. 

    Step1

    the first thing i did was create my canvas at 10.5 x 13.5 inches. this is everything that will show in the opening of my frame. and then when i was totally done, i placed this on an 11×14 canvas to have printed. if you're going to try this, make sure and double check your frame opening. just in case it's different then mine. then i simply pulled up 16 of my favorite photos. a few of these were horizontal, but i was able to crop what i wanted just fine. but most of them were vertical shots. i cropped each one to 2.1 x 2.7 inches, and then copy and pasted them onto my blank canvas. i used the "move" tool to move them around, into a pattern i liked. those four extra spots are going to be for pattern paper, but could easily be filled with more photos. or you could add in some vertical photos that are 4.2 x 2.7 inches (taking up two spots). HERE is a post i did about making photo collages in photoshop.

    Step2

    i knew i wanted to do the photos in black and white. i love color photos, and i'm totally ok with all the color going on in the above collage. but i wanted to keep this simple and clean, since it's going to be hanging on a wall. i could have changed each photo to black and white individually, but i'm all about taking short cuts when i can. i've learned that i can arrange all the photos, flatten the layers, and then turn the entire collage to black and white in one step. genious, i know! i use an action in photoshop cs2 that i got ages ago for all my black and white photos. so i really can't explain how to do that. i simply press my one action button and it's magically done for me. sorry, that was sort of like sticking my tonque out at you, wasn't it? lol!

    Haley_collage

    this shows the digital papers and brush that i added. the black line around the edge is just there to make it stand out on the blog, so that doesn't actually print on the actual photo. keep in mind, i'm not a digital scrapper. so this is super basic. and i'm ok with that. the papers are from jen allyson (who is the digital spotlight artist right now and her stuff is 25% off), the digikit – urban chic boutique solid papers. i'm not very knowledgable about digital products or digital scrapbooking. i think i just happen to see this paper kit on a 2peas newsletter or something. it caught my eye, so i got it. the "looking through the lens" is from the photography hand drawn brushes from ali edwards.

    that is the final collage. i flattened all my layers and saved it. then i copied and pasted it onto an 11×14 canvas, placing it right in the middle. i uploaded that to costco to order, and picked it up an hour later.

    IMG_2838

    then i took that printed collage, and added a few real life embellishments to it.

    IMG_2842

    a few flowers (making memories and hero arts). a few rhinestones and pearl accents (michaels, and hero arts). a foam letter sticker (american crafts). a sticker (making memories). some ribbon (adornit). wasn't thought out, but just whatever caught my eye first.

    IMG_2849

    and now that i've made this one for haley, i better get to work on one for nikolas 😉

  • photo collage sketch

    i've mentioned to a few friends, that i was planning on making some framed photo collages this year, for christmas gifts. i have one all put together and finished for some of my family. but i don't want to share that one just yet. don't want to ruin the surprise. i created a new one today, that i can share. first though, i want to show you the basic plan.

    Collage_sketch

    here's the sketch that i came up with for this project. this is an 11×14 framed project. i thought 8×10 was just too small for this. and i wanted to fit a lot of photos. 11×14 was the next choice, and you can get frames that size fairly cheap (about $10-12 on sale at michaels). i came up with the 4 rows, of 5 photos each. but then decided to take out 3-4 spots to add some pattern paper and embellishing. so i have 16-17 photos, depending on who i'm doing this for. but it could easily hold 20 photos. or more, if you wanted.

    now the actual collage is 10.5 x 13.5 inches. when i took out my 11×14 frames, i realized that the opening for the actual photo is 10.5 x 13.5 inches. it cuts off a little on each side, to hold the photo in the frame. so i created the collage as 10.5 x 13.5, and once i was done, i simply copied and pasted that onto an 11×14 canvas. seemed like the easiest way to do it for me. i did the math, and came up with 2.1 x 2.7 inches for each photo. i wanted enough room at the bottom to add a title of some sort.

    the spots on the sketch that have a flower? that's a spot for embellishing. i always put a flower when i sketch things. just my symbol for "embellishment". lol! but it could be anything. you could do this digitally. just like adding a digital pattern paper. or print the photo collage, and then add "real" pattern paper and embellishments on top of the collage. like hybrid scrapbooking. i used both real stuff and digital stuff, depending on the collage.

    IMG_2830_edit_resize

    here are some of my frames all waiting to be filled up. i'm going with oak frames, black frames, and white frames. i choose each, based around how that person decorates their home and what i think they'd like. i'm having my new collage printed, and will pick it up later tonight. so i'll show you the finished collage and the finished framed project tomorrow :)  

  • chance to win some of my favorite products

    the making memories blog is giving away some of the designer's favorite products this month. today, you can check out my favorite products HERE. make sure and leave a comment over there (not here, but there), for your chance to win some for yourself. they will draw the winner on friday.

    Vanesa_sweetness

    this is a really old layout. but it does have my two favorite products on there. actually, it has a lot of my favorites. but i'm thinking of two in particular. lol! this was a photo i had taken of nikolas's sister, vanesa. wanted to use these making memories papers, and it matched 🙂

  • how i print my photos

    i'm blogging this morning from a hotel room. we've been here for 2 nights and 2 days, for sarah's soccer tournament. played her 2 games yesterday in the pouring rain. and this mornings games have all been pushed back, because the fields are flooded. so we're just sitting around, waiting. figured i could use a few minutes to update this blog with something of interest. how about how i print my photos? i get asked about that a lot. and sorry about the blurry pics (remember, i'm in a hotel room ;)).

    Hp_phot_printer2 

    when i print at home, i use my HP photo printer. i got this printer about 3 years ago, and i LOVE it. it prints the most awesome photos, and the colors are exactly what i see on my computer screen when i edit. i have never had any issues with my printer. and the ink is pretty good. it's one of those printers with 6 different color ink cartridges. so you just replace the color that you need. they're about $10 for each ink cartridge. but i recycle my empty cartridges at staples, and i get $3 back. so they work out to $7 each. the printer in this photo is the HP photosmart D7560 printer. i actually have an older version, the HP photosmart D7360. but this one looks like it's the newer version of what i have. has the same look and same features. so i guess i can't really, honestly vouch for this model. but if it's anything like mine, it should be a good one.  

    Hp_photo_paper

    HP premium plus photo paper, soft gloss (8.5×11, 50 sheets). i love this paper. i prefer the matte finish on my photos. and this soft gloss paper is the exact same thing, but better. it's super thick paper. i will tell you that it has a textured backing to it. so i find that i actually have to use glue dots to get my photos to stick to my layouts. a lot of the regular adhesives don't hold with the texture. and just an FYI, amazon has some great deals on HP photo papers right now. through january 2nd, they're buy one get one free. i made sure to stock up :) 

    i love to print at home for a lot of my projects. i can choose my sizes, and arrange them all onto one sheet to print. i love doing the 2×3's and 3×4's, so that is easiest to do at home. but sometimes, i need a lot of photos or want a lot of 4×6 prints. that's when i order copies. 

    Costco_photo 

    costco is my place of choice to order my photos. our store is about 2 miles away, so it's super convienent. i order everything online, and then just run down there an hour or two later and they're ready. i've been very happy with the quality. i get the lustre finish, which is like the matte finish. once i upload my photos into my account, i can then go in and pick the prints i want. and i even do my cropping right there. if i wanted a 4×6, a 5×7, and an 8×10 of the same exact photo, i can crop for each size right in one spot. now i will admit that on occasion, my photos seems a little dark. not a lot, but slightly darker than what i see on my screen. but usually, that's on the regular, everyday, indoor photos that aren't great to begin with. whenever i have the great shots, that really are perfect-to-me shots, they turn out awesome. the colors are dead on to what i see on my computer. their poster prints are great too. i've ordered a few of those. i think it also helps to get to know the photo people behind the counter. my photo girls know me, they know my name, they know my orders, they know my pictures. 

    so, there you go. those are the 2 ways i print my photos. and what i use to print them. any questions, just ask 🙂

  • a christmas card

    so, the rumor going around is that it's christmas time. here it is the 10th of december, and i've barely thought about christmas yet. the one thing i had done right away, was my christmas cards. although that was accidental. i was at costco, picking up some photos. and they mentioned that if i ordered my photo cards by the next day, i'd get $5 off. it wasn't even something i had been planning on, but the $5 made me do it. lol! just happen to have a decent family photo from thanksgiving, and used that for our card. easy peasy. although, back in the day, i would have actually made my own cards.

    Joy_to_the_world_card

    this card is actually in the december issue of cards magazine. pretty simple card using the mistletoe collection from making memories. if i'm making cards to mail out, i keep the embellishing to a minimum. i've learned to keep them pretty flat, since the postage can get crazy if your card is too bulky. lol

  • a family adornit layout and some SNOW

    i recently received a few of the new collections from adornit, and got a chance to play with them. they are doing an online product release, so check out the adornit blog for more inspiration. here is what i created with the family heritage collection.

    Family_where_the_heart_is

    love the colors of these papers. i knew i wanted to us our recent family photos on here. so i changed it to black and white, so that i didn't have to worry about any colors clashing.

    IMG_2788

    i really like their cardstock stickers. i usually like to adhere them to white cardstock, cut them out, and adhere them with pop dots. and that ribbon? it's embossed. super cute!

    IMG_2761_edit_resize

    also had to get this down on the blog, so that i don't forget. our weather here has been super cold this week. we actually had snow on monday. yes, you read that right. i'm not even making that up. the last time i can remember snow out our way, was back when i was 5 years old. do the math, and that was 34 years ago. it just doesn't happen out in this part of california. but monday morning, it snowed. a little off and on in the earlier morning. and then for about a half hour straight, around 7:00. none of it stuck to the ground. but it was snow! that was super cool for the girls to see. this is my really lame attempt at getting a photo of the snow. taken out my front window, at 7:00 in the morning. when i was barely even awake. see, nothing sticking the ground. but i was pretty impressed with the amount of snow coming down. although, being that we don't have snow here, i guess i'm easily impressed 😉

    IMG_2796_edit_resize

    the outside actually looked more like snow on tuesday morning. all the lawns and the rooftops were white. but it was just the frost from the extremely cold temperatures we had the night before. i think it was 27 degrees when we woke up. i can't say without a doubt that these temps aren't normal for us. because honestly, i'm not sure what is average for this time of year. but that does seem super low for us. it was unbelievably cold out there.

    IMG_2792_edit_resize

    our puddles of water out on the patio in the backyard were frozen. our birds that usually hang out there weren't happy about that when they stopped by. lol! 

  • jillibean soup christmas layouts

    have had some projects up on the jillibean soup blog last week, that i didn't get around to sharing. i decided to stick with all christmas projects for my projects this month. since it's christmas time and all 😉

    Christmas_cards_2008

    i have saved all the christmas cards that we receive from family and friends for the last few years. always wanted to do something cool with them, ever since seeing nichol turn her's into layouts for her albums (she just posted her newest one, and you might see my girls on there!). i decided to use one of these 12×12 file folders that came in a KOTM from last year (sorry, it's not available anymore). on the front of the file folder, i scrapped our christmas card from last year. it's a 5×7 photo card that i had created myself. i remember being so frustrated, because i had no clue how to change the color of the tree from black to a pretty color. lol! kept this fairly simple.

    Christmas_cards_2008_inside

    this is the inside of the file folder, when you open it up. some of these were photos that were just inside the christmas cards. most of them were photo cards. so i trimmed the photos straight from the photo cards, and just kept trimming until they fit into a decent collage. added a few pieces of pattern paper, just to fill the empty spaces. i still want to go back and make notes of who all these kids are, and who they belong too. i know now, but i might forget down the road. lol! sorry, that sounded all wrong. like i'd forget about my friends. but i'm sure you know what i meant. lol! anyways, will probably put that info along the top, or down in that bottom corner.

    Christmas_morning_2008

    and a christmas layout. i'll be honest. i'm not a huge christmas scrapper. no idea why not. i have so much fun christmas product that i really want to use. i think it's because there are always SO many photos. or maybe i'm just lazy. lol! i knew these papers would go with our christmas morning photos from last year, since the girls had some pink going on in their jammies. i can't remember how big these photos are (and am too lazy to go dig it out of the album to check), but i think they're 3×3 in size. i printed them all out, and then arranged them on a sheet of white cardstock to make my collage. i cut some circles from different papers, and added two of them to some metal rimmed glitter tags. i keep feeling like i should journal this. but it's pretty self explanitory. christmas morning and gifts 🙂

  • two giveaway winners

    thanks to all of you who played along with the giveaways. i wish i could send you all something. but since i can only pick one of you for each giveaway, i went to the random number generator thing-a-ma-giger to be as fair as i could.

    first up, the giveaway for elizabeth's "52 more challenges" idea book.

    Ck_giveaway 

    awesome – thanks for the chance to win!!

    Posted by: cassie| December 03, 2009 at 03:39 PM

    second up, is the giveaway for the package of making memories goodies from me.

    Mm_giveaway 
    Love your style – never disappoints! You make it look so easy!
    Posted by: NancyC |     December 04, 2009 at 06:04 PM

    congrats girls! email me with your address info, and i'll get those out to you this week 🙂

  • scrapbook trends *slice* giveaway

    can you take another giveaway? today's is brought to you by scrapbook trends magazine. head over to their BLOG, where you can leave a comment for a change to win a pink slice! and speaking of the slice, i wanted to share this layout i created yesterday.

    Alyssa_sarah_silly

    this was a really quick layout. a smaller one, 9×9 in size. just pulled out a recent 4×6 photo, and built around it with a few products. and i didn't have to dig around for letter stickers or chipboard alphas in the perfect color. i just pulled out my slice and made a simple title. these words and phrases are by far my favorite thing to slice. and this font is my favorite too! 

    then, if you happen to have a slice or are getting one soon, you might want to check out my good friend wendy bretz's blog. she's doing a giveaway for the big kids slice design card. i just got this one, and it's super cute!

    and since you're in a comment-leaving kind of mood, why not leave one on my blog too. i don't have a slice or a design card to give away. but i will put together a little package of making memories goodies to send to one lucky blog reader. i will randomly draw a winner on sunday afternoon, along with the winner of yesterday's giveaway 🙂

    edited to add: comments now closed. thanks to everyone for playing along.

  • “52 more scrapbooking challenges” giveaway

    have you seen this book yet?

    52 More Scrapbooking Challenges

    "52 more scrapbooking challenges" is the newest idea book from creating keepsakes. and elizabeth kartchner is the creative genious behind this book. and check out her list of contributors that worked with her challenges. cindy tobey, amanda johnson, keisha campbell, sheri reguly, kelly purkey, sasha farina, mou saha, shelly aldrich, and beth opel. some of my favorites are on that list. elizabeth has put together 52 challenges, one for every week of the year. all the challengs are broken down into chapters like design and color, photo fun, around the house, journaling, techniques, inspired by, take a number, and use your stash. how fun do those sound? i've already picked out the first one that i want to try out. it's #44, getting yourself inked. as soon as i find that bottle of spray mist ink stuff that i've been dying to use. no idea where i put it, but i'll find it. lol!

    i have an extra copy of this fun book to give away to one of my lucky blog readers. just leave me a comment. anything, just a "hey you" will work. lol! i will randomly draw a winner on sunday afternoon. and my apologies in advance, but this is only open to US residents (unless you're willing to pay the extra shipping). also make sure and go over to the creating keepsakes blog and leave a comment, for another chance to win. 

    and that's not all. for more chances to win a copy of elizabeth’s book, you can also check out the blogs from these dream team members and CK contributing writers:

    * Wendy Sue Anderson

    * Maggie Holmes

    * Elizabeth Kartchner

    * Mou Saha

    * Cindy Tobey

    * Susan Weinroth

    * Suzy Plantamura

    edited to add: comments now closed. thanks to everyone for playing along!