Laura Vegas

last night i was trying to scrap … and just couldn't really decide on anything to scrap about. nothing grabbed my attention. i had no special stories that i was dying to get down on paper. then i wandered around the house taking photos of things (to catch up my project 365 album) … and i happen to take this self-portrait shot in my bathroom mirror. 

 

didn't include my face at all … i had just gotten a haircut and couldn't stand the straight style they gave me. this is my typical look … jeans, a tshirt, and a lightweight sweater hoodie. it's what i wear almost every day. anyways … decided to play around with this photo and create something just for fun.

i love how this turned out. didn't worry about what product i was going to use … or spend forever digging through papers and stuff. just pulled out this sheet of bazzill swiss dot cardstock … and started laying everything down.  added a nice, wide strip of brown polka dot ribbon down one side … with a few mini brads. very simple and easy.

these are all tags that i've been saving from jeans that i've bought over the last 2 years or so. anytime i have an interesting tag … i save it. i have quite a collection of them now. i actually used some on this album page HERE, that i made quite a while back. just a fun way to use them on my scrapbook pages … and have them to look back on. and a nice addition to my "all about me" album.

supplies:
swiss dot cardstock – bazzill
pattern paper – scenic route
ribbon – american crafts
mini brads – making memories
clip – making memories

and yes, i'm working on catching up my project 365 album. i was a little behind. i know i havn't shared photos here for almost a month or so. but i have been working on it still. i had a lot of photos for the last few weeks … but i was also short some photos. so yesterday, i went around and took a bunch of "filler photos" to complete the days that i was lacking. had them all printed today. and was arranging them in the album tonight … getting them all in a nice order. i went to fill out the weekly date cards … and realized that i'm now actually AHEAD by an entire week. lol! i'm not sure where i calculated wrong … but i had an extra week in there. so i'll be moving those around some … since we have quite a few things going on this week that i'll want photos of. i do have 8 weeks of journaling to complete. i had no idea i was that behind on the journaling. but i'll get them done. and then i'll share the completed weekly layouts.

when i started scrapping years and years ago, there was one scrapper that always caught my eye in the magazines and idea books … and that was erin clarkson (terrell). she has always had amazing layouts … with such attention to detail and layers and texture. her style is very linear and fun … and i think i have taken on the same sort of style in many ways. a few years back, i got in touch with her for some advice on some things. and now i don't just call her my "scrapping idol" (although i DO still call her that!) … i get to call her a friend now too.

i love having the chance to swap photos with friends every now and then … and scrap them for each other. i think it's fun to have new faces to scrap … and i love the challenge of creating something for a friend that i think they'll enjoy. erin liked the idea too. so we picked out a few photos to swap.  and here is what i made for her.

  

isn't her daughter daisy so adorable? i thought this was such a cute photo of the two of them. i have to admit … this took me a while to do. i must have started about 4 different layouts … using different products each time. honestly … i think i was just a little nervous. i wanted to make something fabulous that erin would really love … a lot of pressure scrapping for your "scrapping idol/friend". lol! which i know is crazy … because i know she likes my stuff. i finally pulled out these my minds eye paper on monday … and just went for it. the basics of this page (the paper placement and tags) are actually a lift of an older layout i did … but one i always loved.

 

then i just started pulling random embellishments out that matched. found the large flowers and loved that i could bring some orange in there. i was looking for some chipboard for the title … and i came across this chipboard tag that i thought was really cute. i tied it to a journaling spot with some string … and then adhered it to the flower using pop dots for extra dimension. then i just added some buttons with mini brads in the centers. i asked erin for a small bit of journaling … once i had the title on there.

and now you have to go check out the layout that erin made with my photos. you can see it HERE. i seriously love it … so excited that she created something so cool for me!

supplies:
pattern paper – my minds eye
ribbon – american crafts
journaling spot – heidi swapp
buttons – basic grey
brads – making memories, heidi swapp
flowers – heidi swapp
chipboard tag - 
punch – stampin up
other – string, staples, tags 

a few weeks ago, i was invited to be a guest designer for the little shop of sketches. one of their designers, jessica, is one of my loyal blog readers. and she passed along my info to the site's owner, tanya. they provided me with this sketch to base a layout on … and you can see all the design teams creations HERE.

 

and here is my take on the sketch.

i loved the photo placement on the sketch. since i had some of my really old scrapbook albums out … i was flipping through the pages seeing if any of the photos fit this design. i found these photos of alyssa and her dad at a giants game … 9 years ago. i had them on a 2 page layout … but had never actually finished it. so a good reason to start it all over.

one thing about pulling photos off of old layouts? they can be tricky to crop. back in the day … we used to cut our photos into circles and other random shapes. so to trim a circle into a square or rectangle … and not cut off anything important … that can be challenging. but that's exactly what i did on these. i did choose to use 2 smaller photos together, in place of the large focal photo. and instead of the top photo and the title underneath … i choose to put my title on the tag to take up that same photo spot. the idea is still there … just tweaked to fit my photos.

i decided to go with black and orange as my main colors. i felt like i needed another color … so i decided on green. i found these old chipboard frames .. and painted them with some green paint. they fit my smaller photos perfectly. as i was trying to think of something to use for my title … i remembered that i had these old jolee's giants stickers. i HAD to use them … after all, i've held onto them all these years. lol! the little shirt is really cute, right?

thanks to little shop of sketches for asking me to join them this week. make sure and check out their site … some great sketches. and i'll be back over there in 2 weeks with another fun surprise.

supplies:
pattern paper – making memories
3D stickers – jolee's
chipboard frames – deluxe designs
tag – creative cafe
metal rim tags – making memories
baseball brads – accent depot
paint – making memories
other – string

have you been by the jillibean soup blog lately? they have a great schedule set up each week. and one of the features is "soup sketch" every tuesday. this week is soup sketch 2 (SS2), brought to us by summer fullerton. here is the sketch.

 

and here is my take on it.

 

i've been pulling out some older photos lately … these are about 9 years old. they were scrapped on a 2 page layout in a creative memories album. it wasn't good. it involved a hose sticker … and some random flower stickers sneezed onto the pages. sure, it's fun to look back and see how my style has evolved. but it's also fun to take those photos right off that old page … and rescrap them to my style now. these fit the sketch … so i went for it.

supplies –
pattern paper – jillibean soup
journaling sprout – jillibean soup
chipboard letters – heidi swapp
chipboard number – american crafts
chipboard accents – ek success, scenic route
metal rims – making memories
punch – stampin up
other – string

make sure and check out what the other design team girls came up with for this sketch … you can see them all HERE. and you can play along too! if you create a card or layout based on this sketch, using some jillibean soup product … link it up on their blog. you can use either of the sketches posted thus far (SS1 or SS2) and you have until 7am EST on wednesday, may 12th. they will be picking a random winner for $25 worth of jillibean products.

and i have another sketch layout coming later tonight for a guest designer spot i did. it's supposed to go up on wednesday … but since they're 18 hours ahead of us, you actually get to see it early. our tues is actually their wednesday … or something like that. lol! i also have a super cool share on thursday. i know i disappeared for a few days there … but i hope these few posts will make up for that and get me back on track!

challenge time again!  i think it's kind of funny that we always plan these challenges as soon as we finish the previous one. so we give ourselves two weeks. and yet, i think 90% of the time … both mary and i leave it until the night before. lol! love that we're both procrastinators like that … helps us understand each other! this time, we have lynn joining us … a very talented and cool scrapper. and i have to add (after reading her post) … she did actually invite herself to join our challenge this time. but we're glad she did … because we both love her work!

for this challenge, we came up with the following.
1. die cuts – could be regular die cuts or from a die cut machine
2. glitter – love the look, but am a little scared of the mess
3. scallops – oh, how i love scallops
4. the color pink – i was in a pinkish mood when we planned this

 

i didn't start this until last night. like i said, i'm a procrastinator. but i had the idea for the photo already … and for the large glitter chipboard letters. the rest just sort of came together on it's own … in a fairly short amount of time. love when that happens. i love the 12×12 scalloped cardstock from bazzill … i love taking an entire sheet and adhering it to cardstock. and i also grabbed a scalloped border diecut from bazzill to add to the middle of the layout.

 

when i got to the die cuts requirement … i took a little bit of time deciding. i was going to make my own die cuts using my slice … but was being too lazy to get it out (not that it's any work to get out!). i went rummaging through my baskets … and came across these journaling die cuts. and i didn't even notice this until right this very second … but those die cuts have scallops too. how cool of a choice was that? even if i had no idea at the time! i just accented the die cuts with some metal grommets and a few pearl accents.

 

and i did cheat a little on the glitter. i would love to get out my bottles of glitter … and some glue … and have at it. but the neat freak in me just couldn't do it. lol! i want so desperately to be a glitterer … but the mess scares me. so i went with some glitter chipboard letters. best of both worlds, right?

make sure and check out the other amazing layouts the girls have created for this challenge. you can see mary's HERE … and lynn's HERE.

supplies:
pattern paper – basic grey
scalloped cardstock – bazzill
scalloped border die cut – bazzill
journaling die cuts – making memories
glitter chipboard letters – making memories
grommets – making memories
letter stickers – making memories
pearl accents – michaels

here we go … some of my favorite summer layouts from years past. keep in mind … these are all old layouts. most of them done about 3-4 years ago. most of the photos were from 5 years ago. but i'm thinking i scrapped all these at least 3 years ago.

 

i think i did this layout for a class i taught. or maybe just the accent. i remember it was a class on chipboard. that larger photo of sarah has always been a favorite of mine … even if it was a little dark. that was from 5 years ago, when she was just 5 years old … back in my film days.  

 

i actually did this layout as part of my entry for the CK "hall of fame" contest … which obviously, i never did win. lol! it was supposed to be a layout about a special photo that had a lot of meaning. i choose that larger one of joe and sarah. these were taken on a trip to the cabin … from 5 years ago. love that these old photos have the dates printed on them … comes in handy. lol!

 

and here's a close-up of the journaling about these photos.

 

so hard to get a good photo of a 2 page layout. i have a huge glare on that upper left corner … but i'm too lazy to retake it. i was so proud of this layout when i created it. i'm pretty sure this was a becky higgins sketch … i used to do a lot of those. i was big on using foam stamps and paints for my titles. and do you see how i worked some of the label stickers into my journaling? i'm sure that took me forever to figure out. lol! once again … photos are from 5 years ago.

 

 

 

i'm noticing that most of these layouts are mainly of sarah. now i feel bad that i didn't pull more out with alyssa. lol! i'll have to find more of her now. anyways. i used vellum on this layout … the printed kind. i always had a hard time using that, for some reason. and i remember this layout coming together so easily … i wish i could always make it that simple. these are also photos from 5 years ago. is it a coincidence that all of these ended up being from the same year?!?! lol!

 

ok … these  photos were from 4 years ago. this was from a trip to disneyland we took with grammie and papa. i did an 8×8 mini album on this entire trip … one of my favorite mini albums ever. but i also did a few random regular layouts here and there.  i love this one … the colors are so fun. my favorite chipboard letters … i still have gobs of those.

 

back to photos from 5 years ago. lol! these were taken at a tiny little amusement park. another layout that i just loved when i created it. and i noticed that i was big on punching holes and stringing ribbon through the holes. i have a lot of layouts like that.

guess that's enough for one day. i have so much fun looking back through my older layouts. i have so many that still catch my eye … and that i love. there are so many that i want to lift … and make new versions of.

figured since i had shared a few pics of nikolas and ayana … i had better share a few of haley. don't want to play favorites. took these today. had a few more i wanted to share … but my computer is acting super slow. so these three will have to do for now.

 

i wish she had been sitting in a different spot. the plaid couch really doesn't go with the photos. if i could slip cover that couch … i totally would. but i don't know how … so i won't. lol! haley came in the cutest pigtails today. when her mom dropped her off, she happen to see her from the back … and commented on how the pigtails were a little crooked. which i could totally relate too … since anytime i do them on the kids, they're crooked. nothing a little tug and tighten can't fix.

 

i had more cute ones of her playing at the table … will have to edit those later. but i thought these next two were funny. you know i love to just hold up my camera and shoot from above. once again, not looking … and just hoping to actually get them in the picture. sure, i have a lot that don't work … but i get a lot of them that do. and i like how she's off to the side on this … i felt no need to even crop it. would be fun to add something digital to the right side of this photo. if i knew anything about digital. lol!

and just a total side note. see the two tattoos on her arms? her dad put those on last week. they're both sesame street tattoos. i keep asking her "you STILL have those on?". because sarah actually put a tattoo on a few weeks ago … on her face! and this was the first thing i thought of. the tattoos that stay on for weeks and weeks. all i could think of was that she was going to have this huge soccer tattoo on her cheek forever. lol! luckily, it was one that came off very easily.

 

she was trying to reach my camera. she failed. but i succeeded … in getting some cute pics of her. and btw … that's gum in her mouth. she will chomp on that gum all day. when i sit her down for snack or lunch … she takes it out and sticks it to the side of her tray for when she's done.

i still have no new scrapping stuff to share. i have about 12 projects started … and just can't seem to actually finish any of them. but i was cleaning out an old album today. with summer layouts. and i found some that i really love … and i'm thinking that they're ones i've never shared. and since here in california, we've decided to have record breaking temps this week (i think we topped at 95 degrees) … i think it's a perfect time to share some summer stuff. so come naptime tomorrow … i'll take some pics of them and share. better than waiting for me to finish the new stuff, right?!?!

every now and then, i get to watch my neighbor kiddos while their mom is at work. so yesterday, ayana had "crazy hair day" at preschool. her mom asked me if maybe we could put her hair up all crazy. the girls would have been good at that … but they had to get to school. so it fell to me. i admit, i'm not that great at doing crazy hairstyles. but i did have a bag of these plastic barrettes … so i put about 15 of them in her hair. i thought it was pretty funny … and i think she liked it. she wore them all day … so that is a good sign. and she purposely wore her clothes inside out too … must have been another theme for the day.

 

 

and when i was brushing her hair, i asked her if she had just got a haircut. the back of her hair was so cute … layered curls that fell so perfectly. she proudly said "oh, i did that". i do remember her cutting her own hair at one point … but i thought that was a while back. lol!

 

nikolas had to get in on the photos. with his "big smile". he just loves ayana. their families are actually really good friends. he looks up at her photo on the wall all the time … and asks me "where's ayana?". it's so cute.

 

and she is so good with him. she helps him with whatever he needs … will rush to his side. and she's constantly telling me what he's doing … like a mini-mother.

 

i know, i know. the boy is pushing a pink stroller, with a pink purse hanging from it … all filled up with pink and purple stuff. but it's all good … really. we just happen to have a lot of pink around here … but he's definately all boy. and i for one think it's good for boys to do these kinds of things. they'll grow up knowing that they CAN take care of babies and push strollers … that it's not just the mom's job. lol! the purse is actually something haley was playing with on monday … it was just still hanging on there. and the blanket and purple elephant are ayana's. he just pushes the stroller all over, no matter what is in there. although, if it's empty .. he'll usually put some cars in there.

 

do you see the grandma and grandpa sitting on the couch? nikolas had pulled out the grandma … so i dug out the grandpa and we set them over on the couch to watch tv. and they sort of tipped into each other. nikolas said "awwwww, how cute". it was so funny. he's trained to say that. whenever i have photos out … he'll do the standard "awwwww, how cute" to all of them. but i thought it was funny when he said it for the grandparents. and it's totally fine that he's playing with a dollhouse. i know some might think they're just for girls. but i have had many boys that love playing with this. they always find their own way to add some "boyish" stuff to it. like the cow on the top floor … peering over the baby crib. or the mario cart dude hanging out near the grandparents.

 

and see … i told you he walks around making his "big smile" face. i'm surprised he doesn't run into more furniture. lol!

still trying to actually get something finished enough to share. i keep starting more new things. might make more sense to actually finish a few things first. what can i say? lol! anyways, did come across this older layout that i never shared.

 

definately a different type of layout for me. the chipboard owl and branch are from one of the KOTM's from last year. i had wanted to use them … and thought they matched these photos of miranda. i was trying to tie in a little turquoise … to go with the toy she's chewing on. i may have gotten carried away with the buttons … not sure. i think i started with a few … and just kept going. and is that title not genious? such a play on words … i amaze even myself sometimes. lol!

supplies –
pattern paper – WRMK
chipboard – KOTM (september)
foam alpha stickers – american crafts
letter stickers – making memories
other – buttons, googley eyes