Laura Vegas

just an update … still taking questions if you have any others. i have most of them answered … but will post them all wednesday night. still thinking on a few! lol!

since i had an entire sheet of white cardstock with the messed up (otherwise known in my world as "not perfect"!) bubble-wrap smushed paint on it … figured i’d cut it up and make some cards!

and love the yellow on there … wishing i had done the stamped circles on my challenge layout in yellow instead of the kraft. but it’s all good, right? lol! and those pink circles … those are from the cuttlebug that nichol and jennifer have unknowingly convinced me i HAVE to have. lol! luckily, my scrappin friend marissa (who needs to blog so that i can link her) has one … and offered to trade me for a while in exchange for my cricut. kind of nice to be able to trade big tools like that and try them out. i really want to emboss with it … so we have some embossing folders on their way to us.

i think i’ve been "off" a little on my blogging. i mean … how long has it been since i’ve done a "random post"?!?!? and yet, i don’t know where i left off … or what i’ve shared and what i havn’t. i don’t know what i want to blog about. plus, i have a lot going on right now … so part of it is that i’m being lazy about blogging. so instead of me typing up some random post about stuff you may or may not want to hear about … i’m asking you. leave me a question … anything … and then i’ll do a question and answer thing in a day or two. sound good?

last weekend heather ruwe emailed me … asking if i wanted to do a creative challenge just for fun. she had seen the fun challenge that robyn and nichol did the previous week … and loved the idea. i was totally up for it. sometimes it’s just nice to play. and when you narrow down your choices to just what the challenge calls for … things are easier somehow.

so we decided on a few quidelines. first off, we were going to do a layout about ourselves … something about our daily routine. next up, color choices … the main colors we decided on were red, pink, and green. also decided to both use the stitched circle stamp from hero arts (thanks sara for the link!). and lastly … we were both to use bubble wrap! fun, right!

here is heather’s layout:

i love heather’s layout … and the fun take on what she "needs" on a daily basis. love how she used the heidi swapp daily stickers to frame her journaling. love the way she used the bubble wrap painted strip down the side and accented it with buttons and brads. and love that she used the stitched circle stamp to hold her title letters.

and here is my layout:

i did my layout on my daily routine … on a typical day. there are exceptions of course … but this is pretty typical. for the record, the striped kraft paper doesn’t look quite so crazy in real life. i think the way it photographed made it look a little more bold than it really is … it’s really more subtle stripes. i cut a huge chunk of bubble wrap and brushed red paint all over it … and then smushed it down on my white cardstock. i’ve actually done this a few years ago for a card class i taught … really an easy way to add some texture to your page. although don’t let you kids pop all the bubbles before you do it … i had to re-do this because there were too many popped bubbles. lol!

i stamped the stitched circle stamp on the striped kraft pattern paper and then cut them out. then i just typed up my times of the day that i wanted and adhered them to each circle … and then handwrote what i’m doing at that time of the day. and yes, i should really make a little more time for sleep. lol! i very rarely go to bed before 12:30am … and i have to be dragged out of bed at 7:00am when the daycare kids start coming.

this was such a fun challenge. and i thought it was kind of neat when i saw heather’s layout tonight. we did pick out the colors ahead of time … but there really are a lot of shades and varieties of any given color. so i thought it was funny that we have the same shades of green, pink, and red. and we both went for the KI memories "color theory" green pattern paper. and we both used kraft cardstock. and we both used red paint on the bubble wrap … on white cardstock. little things … and yet so cool that our minds were working in such similar ways without even knowing it! lol!

thanks so much heather for asking me to play along!!! and if anyone else wants to play … make sure and share it with us!

supplies:
cardstock – bazzill
pattern paper – making memories (kraft); ki memories (pink and green)
chipboard – lil davis
stamp – hero arts
buttons – buttons galore

figured this card was appropiate. wanted to say "thanks" for all the nice comments on my last layout i shared. i really do appreciate them!

 

from the scraps out of my last layout … and a few more embellishments … i have 6 cards going. 2 of them in this style … and 4 of a different style. i'm always amazed at how much you can get out of a few sheets of paper. i'm not big on storing little scraps of pattern paper. if it's a large chunk, or a really good paper … sure, i save it. but random scraps from random manufacturers … i don't like to store them. so i try and use what i can … and then i toss the rest. shocker, right? lol!

so much stuff going on right now … crazy busy! but it's all good stuff … so i don't mind! hoping to get some more cards finished this weekend. and i also have a challenge layout coming up with someone just for fun … and we should have it ready to share on monday.

supplies:
pattern paper: DCWV and creative imaginations
cork: karen foster designs
clear button: autumn leaves
chipboard buttons, brads, rubon: making memories
other: thread 

i'm not usually one to say this outloud (in my mind, yes … outloud, no) … but just how gorgeous is this? i was actually shocked at how good this layout turned out. i just love it. and it all just kind of fell together … there was no plan with this when i started … the right pieces just seemed to appear before me.

  

from the polka-dot paper that i picked up the other day at a new lss … because i didn't want to walk out without buying something. the orange cardstock … which was in a pile from a recent goodie box. more cork … because it was sitting on the desk. the clear buttons … that i HAD to have and yet have NEVER used. the chipboard buttons … which seemed to match perfectly. the metal rims … which i love to use over and over. and the title … which i wasn't really looking for … and yet i found it and it seemed perfect.

cardstock – SEI
pattern paper – creative imaginations (scalloped ruled); DCWV nana's kids (embossed dots)
cork – karen foster designs
clear buttons – autumn leaves
clear title – heidi swapp
ribbon, metal rims, chipboard buttons, brads – making memories

so this is the layout that i started using the star-diecut paper. the scraps that came from this went into the card i posted yesterday … with some scraps from another layout that is still needing to be finished.

 

i wanted to use the star die-cut paper as part of a challenge that nichol did on the ki memories blog last week. i had the red star paper … and i’m loving the red/pink/green color combo lately. with touches of black and white to really make the colors "pop"! the decorative scalloped notecard is from the april KOTM. the ribbons, shimmer chipboard letters, mini button brads, and shimmer star brads are all from making memories. and the jumbo brads are heidi swapp.

i just love this die-cut paper … but i won’t even tell you how long it took me to get up the nerve to cut it. lol! huge decision … and you just can’t rush cutting paper like that.

back to work i suppose. my girls are back in school this week … after a month off. so we’re adjusting to getting back on schedule. and i’m adjusting to spending my days with little ones that just don’t give me much conversation … nothing i understand at least. lol! haley is learning to talk … saying so many new words every day. she doesn’t always want to say "laura" … so i’m trying to get her to call me "dude". nikolas is so close to learning how to walk. he’s 10 months. he cruises around this place like no one’s business … flying from furniture to furniture without even a second thought. he lets go of things … and has that look on his face like he really does believe that he can make it to where he wants to go. so cute! and today he managed to somehow take his pants off twice … pretty good i thought since they have a good elastic waist. lol! ariana is ariana … full of funny stories and tons of questions.

and with that … the babies are both awake! back later!

so i'm going to do this a little backwards. after i complete a layout … i love to make up a quick card or two using the scraps i have leftover. i figure it's all out and coordinated … so why not use bit and pieces to make something else while it's all out.

  

this is actually the scraps from 2 layouts that i'm finishing up. so you'll be seeing some of this same stuff on the next few layouts i share. lol! i still have to finish up my journaling … so i'll probably share tomorrow. this card was made using a decorative scalloped envelope and journaling card from the april KOTM … which i'm so glad i got because it has some super fun stuff in it! the journaling card is just that … a one-sided card. so i just added a piece of cardstock to the back to cover up my brads and staples … and i figured i can write on that.

the die-cut star paper is ki memories. and i cannot tell you how sad i was to use that little piece of pink polka-dot ribbon … it was the last little bit i had left and i must get more of it! lol! ribbon, shimmer star brads, and rubon are making memories. although after seeing this picture … i think i'll switch out one or two green brads for the pink ones. not sure why i didn't think of that before. lol!and the cork is karen foster … ever since using it last week on that school layout i can't stop using it. there is more of it to come this week … trust me! 

so one of the things we decided to do on my day off last week was to go golfing. not miniature golfing … but real golfing.

my dad actually gave me the idea … i just wasn’t coming up with anything that the girls were interested in. he told me about this 9-hole golf course that wasn’t too far from here … and it was supposed to be fairly easy and family friendly. joe is a big golfer … so i figured he’d be all for it. and my brother and sister-in-law had gotten the girls some real golf clubs for christmas a few years ago … and they’ve never really used them. and just a disclaimer for joe … that bag he is carrying is the girls golf clubs. lol! he just tossed a few of his clubs in there … he didn’t want to be lugging his bag around too. just don’t want you thinking he has some teeny, tiny bag. lol!

the girls did really good. they got really frustrated in the beginning … definatley harder than miniature golfing. lol! joe kept saying "you think it’s so easy to hit that little ball that isn’t even moving"! here’s probably way too many pictures from the day. believe me, i narrowed it down … they just all seem to go nicely together! click on any to see them bigger … and excuse the harsh, overhead sun (it was right at noon).

and this next one? yeah, the hole was across this water area. not sure what you call it … a stream? anyways, it seemed so far away. we figured we’d let the girls each have one try at it … with an old ball. and i was very surprised that both of them made it across. in fact, on sarah’s swing seen in this next picture … she actually landed her ball all the way past the hole and in those trees in the back. lol!

 

for the record … i hit one hole. we didn’t pay for me to golf … just joe and the girls. so i didn’t want to get in trouble. lol! but i snuck in one hole … and i was NOT good at it. and there was one photo of me doing it … but apparently my family still does not understand the importance of "filling the frame" and using the zoom that was on my lens. lol! so needless to say … no photo of me participating. but i was there … photographer and caddy!

just a quick layout that i did the other day. i had this photo of alyssa and haley from a few weeks ago and thought it was so cute.

this is some really old product. the dot pattern paper, the transparency butterfly, and the chipboard circle die-cuts (title and quote) are all from my mind’s eye. i’m not even sure how i came across them … but they were all together, so i just used them. the chipboard buttons are making memories … love those things! and i adhered the butterfly with a glue line right down the middle part … and then bent the wings out a little to add some fun dimension. i know it’ll flatten out once i stick it in the album … but for now, it looks cute!

trying to sort through photos today from our golfing adventure … hope to share some of those tomorrow! have a great weekend!

the incredibly talented nichol posted a challenge on her blog last week. the challenge was to use white ink and raw chipboard on a layout. i’m still learning about stamping … so i didn’t get too crazy. this is actually the first time i’ve ever used white ink.

i have wanted to scrap these photos since we went to the aly and aj concert … a year and a half ago. i was so excited that i got such great photos … i have tons of them that were so good. and i just love their music … listen to it all the time. in fact, when the girls were in disneyland … that’s just about all i listened too that week. their first cd is my favorite … but the second one has some great songs too.

and i actually sketched this design out … i very rarely sketch any ideas. but i didn’t start this until last night … being as i’m so last minute and all. so we were driving to our golfing adventure yesterday since i had the day off (more on that later) … and i’m sitting in the car sketching my idea. then after golfing, we went to grab a late lunch … and one of my favorite aly & aj songs came on in the restaurant. and of course, i start singing and talking about aly & aj … and then pull my sketch out of my purse to talk about the layout i’m going to make that night. yes, the girls said i was dorky and embarrasing! lol! go figure!

so, back to the challenge. lol! like i said … i’m still trying to learn this whole stamping thing. but nichol has me seriously wanting to learn more! for this layout, i took the raw chipboard frame and stamped it with the white ink using a polka-dot foam stamp. simple enough, right? i also cut a strip of chipboad to use down the side of the layout … and did the same stamping on that.

pattern papers, shimmer brads, chipboard frame, clear frame, and staples are all making memories. chipboard star is scenic route. polka-dot foam stamp is heidi swapp. white ink is tsukineko brilliance ink (which i know nothing about ink, it’s just the one i picked up).

ok, so she got her new room almost a year ago (her 8th birthday present) … but i am just now creating a layout about it. lol!

i love the way this layout turned out … so colorful even with the black. and that’s just how her bedroom is. i love how colors just seem to "pop" when paired with black … and that’s one reason i fell in love with her comforter set and curtains. and i love polka-dots of any kind. i had taken these photos on her birthday … right after re-doing her room. i posted about it all HERE.

i just pulled up some photos … and created this collage in photoshop. when i do these, it does require some math … and i think i had the middle part figured out wrong … because i thought the pics would go all the way across. lol! but i just worked with it … and then added some decorative tape to it after i printed it. and the title? why do i never think to add text to my photos/collages before i print them out? lol! it made it super easy … and i used my favorite-font-of-all-time too. i had it placed a little too far down … so i simply added a thin ribbon above it. embrace your mistakes my friends … embrace them!

i used ki memories pattern paper. heidi swapp decorative tape (the black polka dot). and making memories brads and ribbons. super easy and quick. need to do more collages like this when i have a bunch of photos!