Laura Vegas

a few cards to share

August 20, 2009

wanted to share a handful of cards that i created a while back. these were all published within the last few months, but i had never shared them before.

supplies –
pattern paper – bo bunny (pink dot), american crafts (green dot)
metal rim tag – making memories
flair – american crafts
brads – making memories
embossing – cuttlebug (swiss dot)
digital element – ali edwards
punch – stampin up
other – staples, thread

supplies –
pattern paper – scenic route
scalloped cardstock – bazzill
transparency – hambly
metal rim – making memories
flower – making memories
rhinestone brad – making memories
tiny alpha stickers – making memories
other – staples, thread, gems

supplies –
pattern paper – making memories
ribbon – making memories
foam letter stickers – american crafts
tiny alpha stickers – making memories
other – staples, silver accent

supplies –
cardstock – making memories
die cuts – making memories
dimensional stickers – making memories
ribbon – making memories
butterfly brads – making memories
tiny alpha stickers – making memories
embossing – cuttlebug (swiss dot)

that's it for now. i'm planning on a few posts about my studio, and some of my organizational stuff. but then i started to move a few things around. which meant i had to move a few other things around. and now i have this huge mess up there. it's a vicious cycle, all that organizational stuff. so i will be doing that, just may be another week or two before i get it all together. let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to know more about though, and i'll keep that in mind :)
easy vacation layout

August 18, 2009

thought i'd start sharing some of my projects that i've been hiding away for a while. since the stuff i'm doing now is stuff that can't be shown for a while. i think i'm actually losing track of what i have where, and where i have what 😉

this has got to be one of my easiest layouts ever. and it has 16 photos on it! these were photos from our trip up to my aunt and uncle's cabin last summer. which if you were dying to know more about, you could read it all HERE. so i just took a bunch of the photos, and printed them as 2×3 photos. i did this in photoshop, and put 4 of them together on a 4×6 photo. which was then printed at costco. you can read a little explanation of how i do this HERE.

i could have printed them myself, but just seemed easier to order them through costco. and if you had them all arranged right, or didn't really care what order they were in, you could totally just adhere your 4 4×6 photos to the layout. but i cut up each 2×3 photo and then arranged them and adhered them. a little extra step, mainly because i didn't plan all that when i printed them.

then just added some of the new great escape collection from making memories. a little strip of pattern paper, a journaling notebook page, some wooden letters, and a clip and a brad. so simple.
for today (and also the JB winner)

August 17, 2009

first up is the winner of the jillibean soup "bean chase" prize. the random number generator picked lucky #133, which was:
I am with you…I have this graphing ruler I LOVE!! Also need a nice sharp pencil with it:)
Posted by: J. Kovach | August 14, 2009 at 02:58 PM
congrats! kimber has your info and will be contacting you to get your goodies too you. and thanks for playing along everyone. it was so much fun to hear what everyone consideres their "must have" supply or tool.

i've seen this idea on so many friend's blogs and thought it would be fun. just some things about today. monday, august 17th.

outside my window … my birch trees that really need some more trimming, so that i can actually have a view of what's going on outside.

i am thinking … about so many different things. i don't even know where to start. i have at least 27 things going through my head at any given moment.

i am thankful for … my air conditioning. had the windows open last night, which did nothing to cool down the house. i woke up at 7:00am and the house was already 80 degrees. i am NOT thankful for the huge bill i got last month. but i'm thankful that i have the option of actually keeping cool in this heat.

from the kitchen … comes nothing good anymore. with soccer and everything going on now, there just isn't time to get in there and cook good dinners anymore. we have a lot of "whatever you can find laying around" dinners. lol!

i am wearing … green/blue/purple plaid capri jammie pants, white tank top, and a blue tshirt.

i am creating … a huge mess in my studio, moving all my pattern paper and cardstock from my island to my ikea shelves. which now means the stuff on those shelves needs to be moved. it's a vicious cycle, this organizing stuff.

i am going … somewhere huge in a week and a half ;)

i am reading … scrapbook magazines. do those count as reading?

i am hoping … that my back is going to be ok. went to grab a basket of toys for the little ones this morning, and felt something pull. when my back goes out, it goes out in a big way. lifting the kids up and down isn't helping either. lol!

i am hearing … silence. big ones at school. little ones napping. hubby sleeping. just the hum of my laptop. love it.

around the house … little piles everywhere. amazing how much "stuff" the girls can leave laying around this place. especially socks. i can probably find about 7 pairs of socks in random places on any given day.

one of my favorite things … is late at night. when joe has left for work, and the girls are sleeping. and it's quiet and peacefull, and the house is clean. that is my time, when i can sit and watch whatever i want on tv.

a few plans for the rest of the week … school for the girls, work for me and joe, 5 soccer pratices, 2 soccer games, 1 night of awana at the church for the girls, 2 umpiring games for joe, 2 doctors apppointments (me and alyssa), 2 eye appointments (me and joe), and a family bbq.

a picture to share … a quick photo of my twilight-obsessed girl. i have more photos to go with this, and with all her twilight "stuff". but those will come later 😉
a birthday card blog hop for mary

August 15, 2009

today is my great friend mary macaskill's birthday. if you don't know her, you need to know her. she is the sweetest person ever, and uberly talented to boot. i'm lucky to call her one of my "BFF's". another one of her BFF's (thanks heather!) thought it would be really fun to put together a little birthday card blog hop for mary to enjoy on her special day. if you're just joining, make sure to go stop at heather moll's blog first, so that you can start at the beginning of the hop.

this is actually a duplicate of a card i recently had published. so mary might have already seen this, just with a different sentiment. but mary knows me very well. and we know how crazed we both get somtimes. so i know she'll forgive me for not having something super new and creative. lol! plus, i know she'll like it. especially that purple flower, right mary 😉

supplies:
pattern paper - bo bunny (yellow dot), american crafts (brown dot)
flowers – making memories (purple), american crafts (green and turquoise)
brads – making memories
stamps – hero arts
other – sting

the next stop on the birthday card blog hop for mary is rhonda steed's blog.

and for mary. hope you have an awesome birthday today, my friend!!!
bean chase

August 14, 2009

yay, you found me! i'm your hostess for this round of the jillibean soup "bean chase". yes, i'm the one that has to have at least 3 rulers out to scrap. really. i have rulers in my kitchen drawer, for when i scrap downstairs. a ruler by my laptop/printer area, for measuring how big to make my journling. and a few rulers on my scrap island. i measure everything, multiple times. what can i say? i'm a linear girl 😉

so what do you have to do now? it's super simple. just leave me a comment and tell me the one thing you cannot scrap without. and then a random winner will be chosen monday afternoon to win these awesome new stamps and journaling sprouts! so make sure and check out the jillibean soup blog on monday, to see who the lucky winner is. good luck, and thanks for playing the bean chase with us!
back to school

August 11, 2009

yep, monday was the girls first day of the new school year. after 2 months off, it's back to the books.

and we actually took our official "first day of school" photos. ON the first day of school. amazing. i never do it that morning, since things are hectic already. last year, we got busy after school and just said that we'd do it another day. well, that day never came. i still keep telling the girls that "we have to take last years first day of school photos". lol! i remembered right after dinner. so we just went out on the front porch. they gave me about 2 minutes each.

alyssa is our 8th grader now. how crazy is that?!?! i know, i say that every year. but every year it seems just as crazy. this is her last year in jr high, and at this school. next year she'll be in high school. ok, that is even MORE crazy. she was so glad to go back and see all her friends. she got the same homeroom teacher that she had last year. and a lot of the same kids in her class. i think a lot of the advanced band students are in the same classes, since they need the elective class at the same time. she's not bogged down with books yet. but they'll be here soon.

i've never taken a photo of alyssa with her glasses. she only wears them for reading and in class if she needs them. she looks like a mini-me with them on. except the sides of my glasses are green and her's are grey. and she's tanner and has more freckles 😉

i asked her for her studious look. and this is what i got. and yes, she got her hair cut this past weekend. it's so cute. it was supposed to be a bit longer. the girl got a little carried away. but i love it. it hasn't been this short since she was about a year old. lol!

sarah is our 5th grader this year. how crazy is it that she's in 5th grade?!?! she's my baby. how did she end up here so fast? lol! she wouldn't let me walk her to her classroom. she kept telling me "i'm in 5th grade now, mom". lol! but i did get to meet her teacher already. the day the schedules got posted, she came by the house to introduce herself and give sarah a little welcome bag. i thought that was really cool of her. doesn't have any homework yet. but today she had to run the mile. this is one of those things you have to do once a week once you hit the 5th grade. she was so proud of those little pen marks on her hand today. they give you a mark as you come around each lap, so by the time you run a mile, you have 3 marks. it was a proud moment 🙂

sarah was quick about these photos. she wasn't up for anything other than standing there and giving me her posed smile. that's ok, i'll get her later 😉

looking forward to a good school year for both of them. so proud of them.
i have a few minutes

August 9, 2009

i've been swamped with some huge projects this weekend. and i'll still be swamped with them for a few more days. so no time for blogging that much. but i thought i'd toss a jillibean soup layout up here for you stare at until i get back.

tomorrow is the girls first day of school. the summer went by so fast. but i think they're ready to go back. they've been so great for me this summer. keeping busy and being great helpers to me with the daycare kids. but they're also bored and miss their friends. so i know they're excited in a way to get back to school. and i think we're all ready to be back on a regular schedule around here.
quick collage layouts

August 6, 2009

you remember that little day trip i shared a few weeks ago. when we went to boomers, for miniature golf, water boats, and other fun stuff. within just a few days, i actually had all the photos ready to go on some collages. i love collages for getting lots of photos in one spot. and it makes for really easy and quick layouts.

i cannot get a decent shot of the 2 page together. and i'm having some major focusing issues with my camera. this is the best i got.

i loved this group shot of the girls. i had it printed as an 8×12 photo, and then just trimmed a little bit off the sides to have a border around the page. just added the pattern paper strip, journaling strip, ribbon, and some chipboard letters for my title. quick and easy.

these photos were all arranged onto a 12×12 canvas, and then printed as one large 12×12 photo at costco. then i just used the entire thing as one side of the 2-page spread. it doesn't even need anything added to it. although that would be a fun option too. the photos on here aren't all that sharp, so i was a little disappointed in that. i'm not sure how it would have printed on my own photo printer. although i can't print that large to begin with. but i'll have to test it out some more, and send a few more collages over to costco to compare to ones i print. but for now, it's good enough to put in the album.

supplies –
pattern paper – KI memories
chipboard letters – doodlebug
ribbon – making memories
clip – making memories

this isn't the fanciest layout. but it's done and that's all that matters. lol! i printed the 9 photos into a 7×11 (give or take) photo collage, and had it printed as an 8×12 photo. just trimmed off the excess and plopped it on a page. added some lace paper, and ribbon. i was stuck for a while on the title. finally came across these super old chipboard letters, and the pink matched the pink ribbon i had on there. and in real life, the pink really does match the photos quite nicely. of course, i didn't have a pink "A". never have enough a's. so i'm not totally thrilled with this page, but it's finished and in the album. that's good for something 😉

supplies –
lace paper – KI memories
pattern paper – KI memories
chipboard letters – making memories
rubons – making memories
ribbon – making memories
got sketch #87

August 5, 2009

i was thrilled to be invited back for another got sketch challenge. this is sketch #87, which was designed around 5 photos. i kept thinking about what photos i could use for this, and what i wanted to scrap for it. then really late on saturday night (like 1:00am), i got the idea for this take on the sketch.

i decided to NOT use photos. instead, i used those 5 areas to make little collages of embellishments. and to create a layout all about the products that i "need" to scrapbook. a little collage of buttons. a little collage of flowers. one of ribbons. another one of brads. and then one with letters and numbers. a fun take on the sketch, i think.

i followed the sketch almost exactly. down to the paper strips and placement, and the journaling spot. i like that i still kept with the "needs" theme through out all the other elements on the layout. the glittered chipboard title, the letter stickers, the embossed cardstock, the metal rim tag, the journaling spot. i think these are all things i turn to when i scrap. they're just what i'm comfortable with and have an easy time using.

for the embellishment collages, i created each of them on a piece of white cardstock cut to the appropiate size of what the sketch called for. then i just filled each one up with the chosen embellishment, and squeezed as many as i could on each piece. i chose to go with primary colors. fun, bright colors like red, green, blue, and yellow are my favorites. just another way to get the theme of "scrapbook needs" on the layout. once they were all done, i adhered those pieces of embellished cardstock to my main page.

thanks so much to valerie and lynn for inviting me to play along on this sketch. i had a lot of fun with it. although, for the record, this layout weighs a ton 😉 and make sure to go check out all the other fabulous layouts from the other contributing designers HERE.
some water fun

August 3, 2009

alyssa and sarah always tell me we have such a boring backyard. no big pool to spend their days in and help keep them cool. but honestly, do you need a pool bigger than this?

we have had this pool for about 10 years, and it's still in perfect condition. i've been told they just don't make them like this anymore. and we've been known to fit a LOT of kids in there at once. and the big kids seem to enjoy it just as much as the little kids. when you're really hot, water is water. last week, we had this pool out a few times. alyssa was bummed that she missed the fun though, since she wasn't here those days.

there's only about 6-8 inches of water in there. so sarah was determined to find her own way to get more water on herself.

my neighbors, zeke and ayana, were over last week. they're all a bunch of bucket-heads 😉

my girl. she's like a fish!

we also stole the slip-n-slide from grammie to use. it was actually quite useful. all that extra water ended up helping the dead patches of grass that we had. lol!

nikolas loved the slip-n-slide. heck, he just loves water!

haley loved it too. when i mentioned going outside to play in the water, she said "no". didn't want anything to do with it. she even hates when i "accidentally" spray her with the hose. lol! but after she saw everyone having fun out there, she quietly asked me "do you have a towel for me?". i knew i had her. she wanted in.

at that point, the nozzel had broken off the slip-n-slide. but that didn't stop haley. she would just run and plop down in the puddle of water at the end of it. over and over and over. and she had the biggest smile on her face the entire time.

ayana doesn't look thrilled in this picture. but she WAS having fun. i promise.

yeah, she's brown.

since we didn't have any extra shorts for haley, she went in her underwear. but when it was time to dry off and get dressed before mommy came to pick her up, i had to go find some extra undies from sarah's room for her. she kept saying "oh, i get to wear the BIG underwear". lol!

and nikolas was so content in that pool. he just sat for the longest time, pouring water from bucket to bucket. at this point, i was sitting over on the patio and was actually taking a picture of sarah going something on the side of the yard. and i hear him say "cheeeeeese". i look over and he's sitting there, with his eyes squeezed shut and giving me that big cheesy smile that he always gives me. it was so funny.

there have been a few slip-n-slide events since then. involving big girls. girls that i'm sure were going to get hurt on my watch, by the way they were hauling tush down that slide. lol! but in the end, everyone survived. although i may NOT, once i see my next water bill 😉

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