Laura Vegas

today was a busy day. i was working … but only had one daycare kid here. and an old one drop by to hang out for part of the day. i decided that christmas was over … and packed up the tree and all the decorations. feels good to have the house back to normal. and i edited every single photo from christmas day … even uploaded and ordered them all. so i thought i'd share some photos from the rest of our day on christmas … i'm narrowing them down to a large handful. after doing our family thing here with the girls … we headed over to my parents house.

   

first up … some family photos. my sister came out to visit from colorado … and we knew we needed a more current photo. the one that is hanging up on everyone's wall is from 4 years ago. we decided we'd just do a quick one in my parent's backyard. problem was … it was so incredibly windy that day and super cold. that morning i had curled my hair and had it all prefect. and within minutes of being outside to pick up the girls … it was all ruined. seriously … i had to come home and try and salvage it. my sister-in-law, kathy, did not want to go out … she was thinking the same thing with the wind. i actually did photoshop some of her hair in this picture … it was blowing quite a bit. lol! we were all freezing in this photo … so we only spent about 3 minutes actually trying to get a decent photo. and kathy's mom did a great job with the camera … i told her where to stand and she snapped away. so this is the one we came up with. no planned, coordinated outfits … just a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants family photo! and it does look semi-blurry here … but looks fine when i pull it up.

 

while we were out there … i took a few quick ones of my brother and my sister-in-law.

 

and my sister.

 

kind of like the lights in this one … even if alyssa is a bit blurry. it's one of two pictures that i took INSIDE the house with NO flash. i wish i didn't have to use my external flash indoors … but i havn't learned how to NOT use it yet. lol!

 

this was the other one without a flash. mainly because i was waiting for everyone to come outside for pics … and had my other lens on and no flash. and i loved that there were other camera's out taking pictures too. takes some of the pressure off me to do all the picture taking.

 

even my aunt sandy … with her disposable camera. she had a reason for having one of these. but we still gave her some teasing about it. "check the back and see if that last shot was good … oh wait, you CAN'T". "take another just in case … oh wait, you only have 27 on the roll". "can you email us a copy of that … oh wait, you have to drop off the camera, and wait for the prints, and then see if they turned out, and then get us the negative, and then we'll have to order reprints". rofl!!! totally kidding sandy!

and i have no pictures of dinner. but trust me … there was a big dinner right about this time. yummy stuff … everything a christmas dinner should be. not sure why i never take pictures of that … probably because i'm too busy eating my mashed potatoes and gravy!

 

then it was present time. our little santa helper came out and was ready to go. she loves putting on the hat and passing out the gifts.

 

alyssa helped pass them out too. but no hat for her. lol! and can you tell how thrilled she was to have her picture taken?

 

that is my mom holding one of the completed mini albums i was working on. kind of completed, i should say. i had some technical difficulties along the way (not fitting in the albums) … so i had to simplify them in the end. i guess i should share the end result with you … since i showed you all the in-the-works stuff. lol! later this week.

 

my grandparents … and my aunt vicky.

 

sarah. not even sure how she ended up back in jammies. lol!

 

alyssa and her new converse shoes.

   

sarah and joe. when everyone sat down to do gifts … i commented that he was in "his chair" again. i've been realizing that everyone sits in the same spots … every christmas. lol! and this is his spot … the chair. of coure, i'm in MY spot … in a folding chair, in front of the TV. mainly because it's the one spot from which i can take pictures of everyone. lol!

 

wendy … all decked out in some warm stuff for her cold weather back home.

 

alyssa and my dad. which i'm bummed that this came out blurry … but glad i kept it anyways.

 

my brother and sister-in-law got the girls some tickets to go to a show. can't remember which one exactly … and they took the tickets back so they wouldn't get lost. lol! but they're taking them out to dinner and then the show. i'm sure they'll have fun.

 

and after all the presents … alyssa played us some songs on her clarinet. quite a difference from last year. lol! then we had dessert … and chatted. and cleaned up. and then alyssa's allergies started to get really bad … so we packed up and headed home. all of 2 blocks away … at which point, we unpacked again. lol! and that pretty much sums up our christmas!

i want to thank everyone for their sweet comments and emails to me on christmas eve. it was kind of a sad night for me not having my girls here … and something that i've already decided must change for next year. i did end up getting a bunch of assignments done that night … which i guess is good. lol! when i woke up christmas morning … it was quiet. no girls waking me up or dragging me downstairs to open presents. joe had gotten home from work and headed off to sleep for a bit. i took my time getting ready and making sure everything at the house was done … and then headed out to get the girls. 

 

alyssa wore her jammies home … even though it was noon when they came home. sarah was all decked out in some of her clothes she got … but i talked her into putting some jammies back on for the pics. for the last 2 years … i havn't taken ANY photos on christmas morning. NONE. i tried to just relax and enjoy the moment more. but i miss having those photos … so i'm back with the camera this year.

 

sarah … trying to be so patient while waiting to open gifts. she LOVES christmas … loves gifts. so this wasn't easy for her. lol!

 

alyssa … re-checking her stocking loot from her dad's house. see the chapstick/lipsmackers? i think that's a standard girl stocking stuffer, right? i'm pretty sure we racked up about 20 more of them this year. lol!

 

sarah and her new webkinz … some sort of dog (can't remember which one). she LOVES webkinz!

 

alyssa and her new webkinz … a chipmunk, which she thought was the most adorable thing ever. they kind of look alike, don't they?!?! lol!

 

sarah picked this out for joe. we walked all over target and she just couldn't come up with anything. then we saw this football piggy bank … and thought it was a cute idea. because he loves football. and he also throws all his loose change in the kitchen drawer after work each morning. which bugs me. so now he has a spot to put it all!

 

do you think sarah likes her diary? lol! she has been begging me for a diary with a lock for months now. i made her give me a spare key too … because i know that she'll lose hers within the next week. lol!

alyssa got some new clarinet music … so she can play something other than what she plays in class everyday. i actually went in to buy her some sheet music for the piano … and found out that they don't carry individual songs nowdays … since you can download them off the internet. which i did … we got "love song" by sara bareilles for the piano. we both LOVE that song … and it sounds so good on the piano. so we're both determined to learn it. the entire house can vouch for that. lol!

 

speaking of music … here i am with my gift. a speaker/docking station … just a simple one. and i know you're wondering what's up with that look, right? apparently, no one could actually take a decent picture of me with my gift … i even had the zoom lens on. and yet, there i was … really small in the corner of the photo. so i finally yelled at them to give me my camera back … and i would take my own picture. so that should explain the stressed out smile. imagine me saying "omg, i'll just do this myself". lol!

 

this should be a new favorite game! the girls love "scene it" … and this one is all about disney channel. which we all know EVERYTHING about. lol! i know just about as much as the girls … and joe can even hold his own at it.

 

 

i think this may have been their favorite gift. they each got their own key to the house. lol! i know … alyssa is 12 and didn't even have her own key. and sarah? she's been begging me for one for months … but has a tendency to lose things. so i'm hoping she does ok with this. although sarah was totally bummed that they body of her kitty cat keychain broke off within seconds of her opening it. lol!

there was lots of other stuff. games, clothes, scarves and gloves, DVD's, books, and more. and they came home with tons of stuff from alyssa's dad and grandparents. they got the big gift there … a Wii .. with rockband and all the accesories. her dad has all the games they could want … so he figured he'd get them their own console to use here. there was also a dancing game, a drum type thing (different from rockband), lots more clothes, more backpacks, and all that good stuff. i'm still unpacking things … even 3 days later. lol!

so that was our christmas morning. and i'll be back tomorrow with the rest of christmas day!

 

wishing you all a very merry christmas … from our home to yours!

so, it's christmas eve. i remember posting last christmas eve … and it's pretty much the same this year. feels like just another day. kind of drab … kind of sad. except last year alyssa was at her dad's celebrating … and this year both the girls are there. joe's sleeping just like last year … because he worked last night, just like last year. i'm doing laundry and some cleaning up … just like last year. still have some "lifetime" christmas movies recorded … just like last year. lol!

just not the same here without the girls. but i know they're having a great day. sarah went with alyssa … i know she has lots of presents under their tree, so she's going to be loving it! i will miss them tonight though. noone here to hang up the stockings … put out milk and cookies for santa … and just enjoy the excitement that is "christmas eve". and then christmas morning … no one to wake me up wanting to rush to open gifts and see what came in their stockings. i'm sure they'll be back around 10am or so … but not the same.

funny … i copied this post word for word from last christmas eve. it all fits for this year too … every part of it. the girls just left … and haley is just about set to leave for the day too … and joe is sleeping. it's 12:30 in the afternoon on christmas eve … and i'm here alone. and it's raining and drab out. so looks like my christmas eve will be spent working on some assignments. and waiting patiently for tomorrow morning … when the girls are back and joe's awake after working all night again … and our christmas will begin.

this is one of my favorite things at christmas time … cards from friends and family filling up my mantle!

 

i love going to the mailbox … and coming back with envelopes addressed in familiar handwriting. and opening each one up and seeing what they designed as their christmas card this year. and love the photos … love seeing how everyone has grown since last years photo. although i need a better way to display these next year … i feel like some get hidden in the back. and they're all covering up the lighted greenery … so it's not as glowy. and i really want to get new stockings one of these years … these are so old.

 

 

i ended up with the day off today … my daycare kiddos were both home. so the girls and i did tons of stuff … running around all day. we baked a ton of cookies … and have eaten a ton of them too! we ran errands … did the bank, the post office, blockbuster for new movies, the grocery store, alyssa over to her youth meeting. did a few loads of laundry and some cleaning. we had my sister come over for a yummy dinner … she's in town for the week from colorado. and then we played lots of games … blackjack, spoons, deal or no deal, are you smarter than a 5th grader, and mancala.

and now we're tired. lol! i'm working tomorrow … i think just a half day though. i have 2 more small gifts to get … but they're at the hardware store … which shouldn't be that busy, right? and i have to finish up my gift albums … havn't touched them in a few days. so typical of me … gotta save some things for the last minute!

thought i'd share a few projects that have been up on the making memories blog this past week. you can find instructions and more info over on their blog.

 first up is my cocoa tin. i have done something simliar to this years ago … put all the fixings for cocoa in a fun tin. a nice, simple gift for friends or neighbors.

 

 

and i might have shared these before … but here are some houses i decorated with the falala collection. very similar to these halloween houses i did a while back. and since i know someone might ask … i got these paper mahce houses in the clearance aisle at michaels ages ago. and as of last week … my store still has them.

 

we're back with our challenge … decided to give ourselves an extra week on this since we were all a little busy. this week mary and i invited wendy sue anderson to join us in our challenge. and what do we have going this time?

1. basic grey paper – something mary and i both seem to collect, but rarely use
2. rick rack – i use lots of ribbon, but not always my rick rack
3. metal – it's crazy how much metal i have laying aound
4. stiching - i'm not a sewer on my layouts … i secretly want to be, but i'm not … so i love my rubon stiches

make sure and check out mary's blog for her layout … and wendy's blog for her layout. we've decided to just post our own layouts on our blogs … and then you can go check out the other's on their blogs. makes less typing for all of us!

 

here is my layout. i actually started this as a lift of this layout by sarah klemish … which i then realized was a lift of a layout by lisa truesdell. knew there was a reason it kept catching my eye! i had just gotten back from utah … and needed something to use as inspriation … to jumpstart my creative mojo again. so i give them both credit for getting the basic parts of my page started!

 

i started by printing out a few pics from last christmas. i wanted to do a simple layout about the simple way we decorate the house for the holidays. i matted them on white cardstock … and then pop-dotted the entire thing on my layout. the papers are all from basic grey … i think it was last years christmas collections.

 

for the metal … i choose some older bookplates from making memories. i actually attached them with a needle and thread … more work that you'll usually see me do. lol! i backed each with a scrap of white cardstock … and used some tiny alpha stickers to add a few descriptive words.

 

then i added my rick rack … along with some ribbon. i used chipboard letters for my title. and then added some other fun embellishments … foam glitter tree, paper snowflakes, shimmer brads, metal star brad, rub on stitching.

supplies:
pattern paper – basic grey
chipboard letters – heidi swapp
ribbon – american crafts
rickrack, foam tree, bookplates, metal brad, shimmer brads, snowflakes, stickers – making memories

warning to grammie again: do not look if you want this to be a total surprise. even though you did walk in my kitchen yesterday … and saw this entire thing spread all over the island. lol!

it's always amazing how long some things can take me. these next two steps took me 3 days to finish. i work on things here and there … when i get a few spare minutes … or in between working and regular life stuff. i'm home all day … but i am working. and sometimes i can get lots of little things done … and sometimes i can't. go figure.

 

so after i had my photos all trimmed … and my white cardstock cut to size … the next step was simply adhering the photos. i'm doing these in sets for each page. so i basically do all four sets at a time … for each 2-page spread in the album. i'll seperate and organize the pages in order later. this is one of those steps that can be done without much thought. i did these during lunchtime. i get the kids sitting down and food on their trays. and then i stand at the kitchen counter and start adhering … all the while talking to them and explaining what i'm doing. yes, they're my audience … they should be great scrappers by the time i'm done with them. lol! and honestly … they have no way to get away from me .. they're strapped in their booster seats!

 

   

these are how most of the pages are with the photos. all of the right side pages have the strip of 3 photos. but the left pages vary a little. some have another strip of 3 photos … and some have just one photo. i actually like the double 3 strip the most … i should have done that on all the pages.

 

and here they all are … photos adhered. i then layed them all out … sort of stacked, but using the least amount of space on the island that i could. i did this so that i could pick out my colored cardstock colors. but somehow, i never got to it. and this pile sat there for hours. and there were drinks on the counter after the girls got home from school … and sippy cups being filled right next to this. it worried me. i finally gave up … and stacked them all in one big pile to take upstairs to the studio. where it all sat … and got no attention last night. so then this morning … i brought them all BACK downstairs … and laid them all out like this again. waste of time … but yet, this is how i roll. lol! the biggest disadvantage to having my studio upstairs … but having to work downstairs all day.

 

but today … i finally got some more done during naptime. so here they are with all the colored cardstock strips matched up to each page. i choose to just use the solid side of some american crafts cardstock. i had bought this HUGE pack of pattern paper at the warehouse sale … and wanted to use some of it up. if i had been upstairs and surrounded by the rest of my paper collection … i probably would have choosen different colors for some of these. but these work … so it's all good. for each set of pages (4 albums = 8 pages for each set), i used half a sheet of paper. i cut the strips to 1.25 x 6 inches. then i adhered them all during lunchtime … gotta love lunchtime for doing mundane tasks such as adhering stuff!

    

 

and just a sample of how the strips look with the photos. i was actually going to emboss these with my cuttlebug … and i had the idea to use my scallop punch along the edge too. but in the end … that would have been a ton of work. so i passed on that. but there will likely be string involved … still tedious, but gotta have my string! as for my next step??? i'm not actually sure. lol! i totally wing these sort of projects … never plan them too much. i'll be looking around my stash … and finding some stuff to add. some titles or text of some sort … and probably buttons or flowers. we'll see!

 

and i have to show this off … because it took me FOREVER! lol! and this isn't the best photo … but it's super hard to get a shot of this because of the 3 large windows in this room (so this is at an angle). i have had this photo wall in the playroom for about 2 years i think … right above the couch. the frames started out all vertical … and lined up in 3 straight rows. then i changed them some … and mixed in horizontal pics too. the way i had them up always bothered me a little. the whole arrangement ended up too high on the wall … and just wan't balanced quite right. and i had OLD photos up here. most of them were almost a year old. i had a lot of kids that weren't here any longer. i finally got around to ordering some new pics (a few older ones stay though) … they're all 8×10's. love seeing my favorites up there! anyways .. i moved all the frames. it's a ripple effect … once you move one, the others have to be adjusted too. like a puzzle. and some of them … i moved 2 and 3 times. the entire arrangement got moved down about 6 inches … which made room for that fun vinyl wall decor from stampin up. i have had that thing for months … but i wanted the frames to be in the right spots before putting in on the wall. and it took me forever to put up with the textured walls. but i love how it turned out … makes me realize how just updating your framed photos can give the house a totally updated look! and yes … i'm totally blessed to spent my day with the cutest kids ever!!!

ok … that was a super long post. i had no intention of rambling that long. lol! and stay tuned tomorrow … it's challenge day!

had a few things i wanted to pass along while i'm thinking about them.  

project 365 – a preview on becky higgins blog. this is the january KOTM that deneen and i got a sneek peek at on our trip to CK. as soon as i saw this, i knew it was something i wanted to do. the kit looks absolutely amazing … i will vouch for it right now. and the idea behind it … so cool. i have big plans to re-focus some of my scrapping next year … and this is going to be a step in that direction.

"get creative with type" idea book from CK, written by brian tippetts. this is still a pre-order book … but we got a copy of this book while at CK. and it's an awesome book .. with so many great ideas. lots of layouts by some of my favorite designers in there.  

dreamkuts by zutter. how did i NOT know about this tool?!?! thanks to dana for mentioning it in my last post. this machine would have come in very handy a few weeks ago … when i cut over 300 sheets of paper (into 4×6 pieces) for the class i taught. lol! and to think i did all those with my dinky trimmer. there is a video on this link too … you can see it in action. very cool.

photosaver, seen in a jcpenney's ad this week. first off, i'm sure this is available other places … maybe even different brands or prices. i havn't checked into it yet too much … just saw it in the ad and thought it was cool. another thing that i didn't realize was out there. not that i would want to scan in ALL my negatives … but i have a lot that i would love to do. i have 3 huge 3-inch binders full of negatives … all organized by date. and there are so many projects that i really have been wanting to work on … like the girls baby photos. but that was in my film days … and it's not as easy to get re-prints or to work with the poorly cropped photos from back in the day. so to have the ability to pull up old photos … and crop them and print them whatever size you want? that is a beautiful idea! this is on my list. 

warning to grammie … do not read this if you want your christmas gift to be a total surprise. lol! i know the other grandma's don't read here … so i don't have to worry about them.

this year i decided on my annual mini album idea at the last minute … less than a week ago, actually. i usually go through and pick a handful of my favorite photos from the past year … and work them into some sort of album. last year, i did 4×4 albums … you can see a little bit of them HERE. and the year before, i did 6×6 albums … you can see a little bit of those HERE. this year i figured i'd do a 6×6 again … i like that size for gift albums. and this year, i wanted to include a lot more photos. and when it comes to these albums … i always make a point to use the things i have on hand. it's a great chance to use up things you have that just havn't found their way onto your projects yet.

 

i started by plugging in my external hard drive … and finding all the photos i wanted to use. i made a folder on my laptop … and just started copying the photos into there. i went month by month … picking out my favorites. then once i had gone through the entire year … i started organizing the ones i choose (and un-choosing some too). in my folder on the laptop … i started making more folders. a folder for every 2 pages in the album. not in any special order … i'll work that out later. but that way i could keep track of how many pages i was doing and narrow things down. i would simply group the photos (4-6 photos for every 2 pages) and move them into the folders. i ended up with 16 folders … so 32 pages.

 

then i would pull up a folder at a time in photoshop. i knew i wanted to print most of the photos at 2×3 inches. that way, i could fit 3 photos across the page. side by side, 3 photos would be 6 inches wide. i just cropped the photos to 2×3 .. and then lined them up on a 4×6 canvas. it helped working with each folder one at a time … that way i wasn't looking through so many photos at once and trying to remember which photos i had done already. i did print some photos at 3×4 … you can fit 2 of those side by side on a 4×6 canvas. as i did each one … i saved them in a totally seperate folder. when i was done with all of them … i uploaded that entire folder to costco and ordered them as 4×6 photos. i'm doing 4 albums total … we have 3 grandma's and then i figured i might as well make one for myself too. so i ordered 4 of each. and the next morning … they were all ready.

 

once i trimmed off the top and bottom … they looked like this. a 3×6 strip of three photos. is it not the most beautiful thing ever?!?! i love my 2×3's … i use them all the time. but i usually print them out myself. loved the idea of creating these myself on a blank canvas and then just ordering them for 13 cents each. we just recently got a costco about 3 minutes from us (before, the closest one was about 15 minutes from us) … and i'm loving how my pics turn out. that photo department lady … she's my newest BFF! 

  

so now i have all my photos trimmed and ready to go. i decided on white cardstock for the base of my pages. i had a 60 sheet pack of american crafts cardstock that i got last weekend for only $6 … i so wish i had bought more packs. i use white on everything! my only complaint??? you would think that if you had a 12×12 sheet of paper … and you cut it into 6×6 pieces … that they'd all be the same size. right?!?! not the case … and it's something i'll never understand. lol! i'm very anal and careful about my trimming … i use rulers on everything i do. and i put that paper on the exact same spot to cut each time. and yet, all my squares are different sizes. it kills the perfectionist in me. anyways … i have 32 sheets of white cardstock all cut up and ready to adhere the photos. then i'll pick out a small amount of pattern paper or embossed cardstock … not sure yet.

so that's my process so far. i do these assembly-line style … since i'm making several at once. tomorrow, i'll adhere all the photos to the cardstock. i keep these albums super simple … since i'm making a few of them. i'm sure you can tell that from the previous albums i've done! and i'll share more of my steps once i get them done!

and just a note … i've been having some problems with typepad with comments and stuff. and i've noticed it when i try and comment on other people's blogs too … so i know it's not just me. so if i havn't responded to you … or answered any questions … it could be because i havn't seen your comment. i'm trying to remember to check my blog for those that i've missed … but my memory fails me at times too. so please feel free to email me if i've missed anything!