Laura Vegas

first up … my layout for the day. mondays are such nice, quiet days around here lately … usually just me and ady until the older girls get out of school. so i can usually get a layout done while she naps.

i’ve had this picture printed for days now … and had some different chipboard letters picked out that i was determined to use. i even spent some time one day trying to find some pattern paper that would go … but i never found anything i liked. then today i was putting away all my stuff from last months poppy ink kit … and i saw this birdie paper from scenic route. for some reason i decided i had to use it with this picture … even though normally it wouldn’t be my first pick. and i have product from 7 different manufacturers on there … love digging through all the baskets and finding a little bit from each manufacturer to play together on my layout! lol!

and hopefully we’ll start seeing more of alyssa and sarah soon on my layouts. lol! i bribed them for more pictures this evening. i always get inspired when i have new, good photos … something i just don’t get much of these days from them. still going through the pictures … so will share some soon!

just wanted to share a few pics we took tonight. it was after 7:00 this evening and the girls were outside … realized it was perfect for some pics.

i was taking some pictures of the girls … and joe decided to come out and actually take a few of me with the girls. he did pretty good, didn’t he? he didn’t quite fill the frame though … that’s always the first thing i tell people when handing off my camera. lol! although i had my 85mm fixed lens on the camera … so it actually had no zoom to mess with. and i am bummed that my aperature was really low on these … so most of my pics are blurry in areas. i need to learn to shoot in aperature priority mode more often … it would help with that. great lens though … didn’t even use the external flash on these. and you know how much i love my flash! lol!

i may just have to re-take some pictures tomorrow. that rose tree of ours looks so good right now for pics. i’m not sure what it’s doing … it never seems to grow at all … and this year it’s hanging all the way to the ground. and i just happen to have on a great polka-dot shirt that really picked up the flowers. may re-stage some pics. although this time we would brush alyssa’s hair and pull part of it up … she has it all crazy here because she had it in pigtail braids all day. we’ll see!

had a great mothers day though. joe, the girls, and my parents all went and got me some rachael ray knives. super nice ones! i have to admit … i’m using the same knives i bought about 11 years ago. and they are like one of those $30 sets you get at target. lol! it’s no wonder i’m so tired after cutting anything … you really have to work with those old ones! and alyssa and her dad sent me a amazon giftcard … so i’m putting that towards some new pots and pans. we’re also using some of those that are just about as old as the knives. i’m eyeing the set of rachael ray pots and pans … one reason being that they’re orange! wouldn’t that make cooking a whole lot more fun!

also took the girls shopping today. they’ve been needing some new clothes. not a whole lot … but they did desperately need some shorts and capris. most of theirs are from about 2 years ago … they just happen to fit in them 2 years in a row. and since i was at jcpenney’s yesterday … i did their online survey and got a coupon for 15% off a purchase. got them some super cute capris for like $12. they also both picked out some cute tshirts … one of them says something about "tator tots rock" and has a graphic design of tator tots playing the guitar. lol! i though it was too funny! also went to target and they both picked out a few things they needed for school … and used their money for those.

other than that … just picking up around the house and doing some odds and ends. made some yummy chicken … even used the food processor which i never seem to use. i was kindof disappointed that i didn’t have anything to chop though … was looking to try out the knives. lol! all my breading mixture got chopped in the processor … and i had chicken cutlets … so no need to cut the chicken. i’ll have to think of something good tomorrow. maybe "cowboy spaghetti" … that requires lots of chopping and cutting! lol!

i just can’t seem to get posting this past week. lol! i feel like i’ve accomplished next to nothing this week … and yet got so much done at the same time. all our extra stuff is starting to wind down … we finish up with choir and softball this coming week. and next weekend is super busy … we have about 10 different things going on.

so i decided to take a day off today. take some time to myself to do whatever i wanted. not be rushed while running errands. i feel like it’s been ages since i could just go out and take my time doing what i needed or wanted to do. and since we have so much going on next weekend … and joe is pretty much gone all day saturday at a golf tournament (not good timing since we have a ton of things saturday) … he was up for giving me a break today. and my parents just got back from being gone for 2 weeks … so my dad ended up giving joe a break by taking sarah out today. alyssa was at her dads today so it’s always nice when sarah gets to do something fun.

so joe took to doing house stuff. he vaccumed and mopped the floors. cleaned the bathrooms. ran the dishwasher and emptied it (i was actually surprised he even knew how to run the thing … which i think he just guessed at because later he asked me where the dishsoap was supposed to go. lol!). he did a quick trip to the grocery store for a few things we needed. he emptied all the trashcans. i think there might have been a few other things … but you get the idea. lol!

and i took off. for 5 hours! it was glorious. lol! and what did i do?

• stopped at michaels … picked up one of the new idea books with my 40% off coupon. also got a couple packs of brads and some chipboard letters.
• went to target. picked out a few pairs of those long shorts … just above the knee. wasn’t sure i liked them. i’m a capri girl … i don’t think i ever wore anything other than capris last summer … and we had high temps of about 115 i think. lol! also got a couple of tank tops … they were polka-dot so how could i not get them? a few things that i needed, but hate to buy … make-up, razors, conditioner, etc.
• stopped at the bookstore … looking for a book, but didn’t find it.
• went to jcpenny’s … where they had some of the cutest tops. i really should look there more often. all under $10 too … can’t get much better than that. found a few pairs of capri pants that i liked better than the ones i got at target … so i will be returning the ones from target later. lol!
• walked the entire mall trying to find the pretzel store because i was starving. finally found it and got some cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks … those things are awesome!
• went to victoria secret. i’m not big on what i wear under my clothes … but i did find some boy shorts (underwear type) that are super cute and comfy to wear. so i stopped to get a few more pairs of those.
• went to beverly’s … a craft and fabric store. found the new idea book from ck on organizing your scrapping stuff … because let’s face it … i love to organize. i know … after my post last weekend i’m sure you think i don’t even need any more ideas. but i do! also found some of the new jars from making memories for their storage center they have coming out. i’m not going to get that … have no need for it with all my shelving. but i saw the smaller jars and though they’d be great to use for some of my embellishments that can get lost in the bigger jars. and they were on sale cheap … so they were a steal!
• stopped and gassed up the car. i had the little car … so it was only $45 to fill the tank. lol! last week i filled the van … $78 people!!! that’s just crazy. good thing i only fill that one up about every other week.
• stopped for starbucks. actually went inside … picked out a new gift card for myself. i have one that i got from being team mom from soccer last year … and occasionly i reload the card. but it had snowflakes on it … wasn’t really pretty anymore with spring here and all.
• went by old navy. we just had one open up in town a while back … but when i went they had no capri pants to choose from at all. this time i found the cargo capris … love those things! and much better than the capris i got at jcpenny’s. lol! also got a few of their graphic tees to wear with my jammi capris … yes, i’m all about the capris!

geez … after typing up all that it sounds like i’m made of money! which i know i’m certainly not. lol! of course … now i have stuff to be returned at like 4 different stores. that’s the kind of shopper i am. i’m all about finding the deals. and i’m all about making final decisions at home … you really have to be looking in your own mirror to really know if you like something, right? i had found a few pairs of capris at 2 other stores a few weeks back … but i like the ones i got at old navy better than any of those. so now i need a whole other afternoon out … just to make returns! lol!

then i came home. joe finished up cleaning. sarah got done swimming. and my parents took us out to dinner … for a mother’s day dinner. alyssa ended up staying at her dad’s an extra night … so i missed having her there with us. but she’s coming home early.  since both joe and her dad work nights (and yes, both at safeway … although at different stores now) … alyssa’s dad will just take her to meet joe at his store after they both get off work in the morning. she’ll have to get up a little early … but it will save us all a little drive time. and some gas money too! lol!

that’s it for now. hope you all have a great mother’s day!

used some of those pictures i took of sarah last week at softball for this layout that i worked on today at naptime:

i feel like sometimes i’m trying to rave about my own work. lol! but really i’m just thinking aloud about what i like on my layouts and what i may not like. i think i’m really getting a firm grasp on "my style" … and i feel good about that.

i think the thing i like the most about this layout … besides the cute pictures of sarah in action … is that i used products from 6 different manufacturers on this one page. i used to be a fan of pulling out some matching papers from the same collection … and then the coordinating stuff that is made to go with them. but not anymore … well, not all the time i mean. granted … all these papers are from the same company. but i tend to mix even the papers most of the time. 

on here i’ve got scenic route pattern paper … lil davis chipboard letters, label sticker, canvas word … making memories letter rubons … heidi swapp decorative tape … autumn leaves chipboard accents … and ki memories rubon number strip. love that i got all that goodness from 6 different companies … and that they all go together so well. and most of this wasn’t planned … i was digging around and found things that went. and yes … i used that "prissy frat boy" font again. lol! i’m addicted to that font!

not much else to share right now. actually i have things to share … just super tired tonight. so much going on lately. but we were actually home tonight by 6:45 … and got to eat a decent dinner. lol! i have a fun interview to answer too … saw the idea over on ruth’s blog and sounded like fun … so she sent me some questions to answer. will get to that tomorrow. too much heavy thinking for tonight. lol!

btw … i did watch my movied last night. "because i said so" with mandy moore and diana keaton. great movie. so cute. and loved the hidden polka-dot theme they had going throughout the movie … i love polka-dots these days. i always check out any extra features on the dvd’s after i watch a movie … and there was actually something about that. it actually became a fun thing to have polka-dots all throughout the movie. fun! tonight we have the jennifer garner movie … "catch and release" i think it’s called. and even though i still have 2 episode of "brothers & sisters", the 2 hour "grey’s anatomy" from last week, this weeks "gilmore girls" (which i’m so sad is going off the air … but i do think this is the right time for it to end), and a few other shows to watch … i will watch the movie tonight. because tomorrow joe will want to go trade in my chick flicks for some action or drama movies … or maybe some stupid guy comedy. lol!

first the winners … i printed out the comments and folded them all up real tiny … then drew 2 names:

katy wins the box of goodies!

deneen wins the scrapbook trends idea book!

i did this layout today during naptime. i’ve had this picture i took of my neighbor ayana … it’s been sitting out because i really wanted to scrap it. finally got to it today. funny how layouts just come together sometimes. i pulled out the chipboard letters and tags because i wanted to use some lil davis stuff. then i started looking for pattern paper and found this half sheet of basic grey that really went with the picture … then i found the matching pack of cardstock and loved how the blue really made the pattern paper "pop" … even though there really isn’t any blue anywhere else. the flowers are new from making memories and i had them sitting on my desk … i found the perfect pinkish-purplish flower that you can also see a hint of in the pattern paper.  added a few fun yellow brads also from making memories for a nice finishing touch.

i’m also realizing that while i’m loving the 9×9 size layouts … ocassionally you have embellishments that are just too big. so many embellishments are really perfect for the smaller size layouts … at times they just look tiny on a 12×12 layout. but these chipboard letters are one of those things that are just a little on the big side. i was trying to think of a short word … like a 3 letter word. lol! and i only had half the alphabet too … it was like a game of scrabble or something … all the letters spread out and me trying to make a word out of them. lol! i had the "a" on there for ayana … and then realized that i liked it that way. so i went with it.

well … going to go watch some tv. can you believe that i didn’t watch any tv at all for 3 days straight?!?! i don’t actually watch much tv … mainly just a couple shows at night. i need to get a few watched tonight. because tomorrow is tuesday … new releases for movies. it’s usually a big day for joe … he’s a movie fanatic. but tomorrow there are 3 chick flicks coming out!!! i’m huge on chick flicks … romantic comedies. of course every time he gets a movie for me … i take forever to watch it! lol! so i gotta clear up my schedule to make room for them.

on the schedule for tomorrow: 5 daycare girlies … alyssa’s orthodontist appointment … alyssa’s 2 hour soccer practice … sarah’s 2 hour softball game. doesn’t that sound like fun!?!? lol!

i have to share this album that i made today! partly because i think it’s hilarious … and partly because i think is the fastest i’ve ever put together any project i’ve ever done. lol!

 

let me start by saying that my sister wendy and her friend cindy came to visit this weekend. wendy lives in new york … where she’s been for quite a few years now. we don’t see her that often. she was actually coming out for wedding … so we only got to see her for a little bit. kind of strange that the rest of the family wasn’t around. you see … my parents, my brother and his wife, and us all live within walking distance of each other. we’re just blocks away … with us being in the middle of them. but my parents are back east … they actually spent some time earlier this week visiting my sister before she came out here. and my brother and his wife are back east … visiting her family. as soon as wendy headed out this way … everyone left. except us … we never go anywhere. lol!

i knew they were coming over for dinner tonight. and i started thinking last night about these pictures that my dad had given me about 2 years ago. my sister had this teddy bear that she named "fudgie". and my dad used to take all sorts of funny pictures of fudgie doing strange things … when my sister wasn’t around. my dad pulled out some of these pictures about 2 years ago and was showing us (she wasn’t there) … and i just knew they had to be in a mini album. so he gave them to me to do something with. only i never did. 2 years later … i still had the pictures. i remember at the time i realized how you could really tell quite the story with the pictures in the right order.

this morning i pulled the pictures out and was determined to make a album with them to give her. this was a project that for once i didn’t think too hard on … i just started pulling some stuff out and went with my first idea … didn’t try and think of other options. i did this entire album in 2 hours … including painting the chipboard edges, cover, and letters. i didn’t even worry if the colors of paint were matching up ok once the album was together … although now that one page is kindof bugging me with the yellow and orange side by side. lol! usually i take days to do projects … especially album type things. i love how this turned out. and the story is just as i imagined it 2 years ago!

click on any picture to see it larger.

title page: a day in the life of fudgie

8 am – fudgie started his day by playing in the yard and doing some gardening.

9:30 am – he soon remember his dentist appt and thought he’d ride his bike.

 

9:30 am – and of course he made sure to put on his helmet

10 am – after realizing that it would take far to long to get there by bike, fudgie decided he would hitch a ride with a passing car

11 am – the dentist appt wasn’t to unbearable. fudgie enjoyed the rinse and spit part the best

noon – after he got back from his appt, fudgie was ready for a quick nap. he curled up with a furry friend for a rest

2 pm – after a refreshing nap, fudgie was in the mood for a game of pool. his little arms worked hard to get the balls in the pockets

3 pm – next up, some fun computer games. nothing beats a good game of pacman (which is what’s on the computer screen if you can’t see it. lol!)

4 pm – fudgie was exhausted from all that gaming. so he decided to go lounge in the pool. the sun felt so good on his fur

5 pm – after doing some laps in the pool, he put on some sunblock and took in some rays

7 pm – after dinner and bathtime, fudgie was up for some hide-n-seek

8 pm – he made sure to go potty and brush his teeth before going to bed.

pics by mom and dad (although i’m thinking it was more my dad. lol!) story and design by your big sis.

when i gave it to her tonight she was laughing so hard … she had never even seen some of those pictures. she couldn’t believe my dad had tied fudgie to the back of her car. and was very curious how he got him propped by the pool table. the girls are curious as to how he took the one of him on the toilet. lol! wendy says she has more pictures like these at home. you mean i could have done an even better story? lol! there could be a sequel! and it’s so fun to look at these super old pics … back in the house we grew up in.

and just so you know. wendy is 33 years old now … and she still has fudgie proudly in her room!

happy national scrapbook day! as promised i’m back with a full post … this one should count for a few posts. lol! and you better read it all and look at every picture … because i spent my entire night on it!

first up … my fun news. i got an email a few weeks ago that i was chosen to be included in a feature on 2peas for NSD. i was thrilled beyond belief! i was asked to send them a never before seen layout that they could use … and it would then link over to my gallery to show the rest of my work. i just came from checking it all out and all the garden girls (and there are about 50 of them) spent some time searching out the gallery for users they wanted to highlight. how cool is that! there is also a ton of stuff going on over there all day … so check out their NSD section for all the details!

so go look here for the user highlights and feast your eyes on a ton of eye candy. there are 186 awesome layouts featured … and when you scroll down to #170 you will find my layout and you can read the nice comments that miley wrote about my work!

next up i told you i had some new pictures of my studio to show you. i’ve been in cleaning mode this past week … and i’ve definately done some purging and cleaning in my studio. last night i got the bright idea to take some new pics and share some of my storage ideas with you. so i started taking some pics. then i uploaded the pics. then i edited the pics. then i resized the pics. then i renamed the pics. then i uploaded the pics to my blog. then i typed up descriptions for the pics. 5 hours later we have a post!!! seriously! (it’s actually 12:40 am saturday right now as i’m typing … this way i can just hit "publish now" and it will be all posted. i’m dying to go to bed … but i have to finish)

so … go check out my studio in detail!

lastly … i promised a giveaway. like i said … i’ve been purging like crazy. i have 2 giveaways for today:

1. a flat-rate priority box filled to the brim with goodies! pattern paper and diecuts, embellishments, an album … and a ton of other odds and ends that i just started dropping in there!
2. the new mini albums II idea book from scrapbook trends. i just got my goodie box yesterday … i have 2 albums featured in there. i have an extra copy of the idea book and it’s filled with all sorts of awesome album ideas.

now the rules for the giveaway. post a comment … and tell me one of the things you liked in my studio. i know … i’m asking for compliments here! lol! but i took a ton of time posting all that … and i want to know that you looked through it. you have to prove yourself to me. lol! i’ll give you until monday afternoon … and then i’ll draw 2 names.

hope you all have a great NSD. i’m actually off to sarah’s softball game this morning … alyssa has a soccer game too, but i have to miss it. hopfully i’ll fit in some scrap time later today! and definately spent some time online with all these great things going on!

just wanted to let you know super quick to check back tomorrow for a real treat of a post! tomorrow is NSD … national scrapbook day. in my post tomorrow you will find:

• some fun news that i’ve been dying to share! and i couldn’t really share anyways … because i actually don’t know all the details. lol! but it’s a fun opportunity for me!
• an in-depth look at my studio. new pics to share … and more detailed pics taken just today with close-ups of all the ways i’ve chosen to organize.
• 2 giveaways! yep … 2 chances at getting some fun goodies!

so meet me back here in the morning … can’t wait!

not much in a chattin mood right now … so i’m just sharing some pics from today super quick. here’s the little girlies just "hangin out" together.

check out ady’s face … she’s got that "what is laura doing to me now" look! lol!

and check out haley … the girls ready to start crawling already. i think she just wants to be able to get away from ady … she loves to try and play with her … but by throwing toys at her head. lol!

that’s if for now. been working tons of my photos … getting them all organized, edited, uploaded. getting all up to date and current. i even have 35 pictures from the softball game this past tuesday all uploaded and ready to order. how quick am i?!?! lol!

back tomorrow. and i have some exciting news on saturday to share. it’s national scrapbook day … have any plans?

just wanted to share a few pics of sarah on the softball field.

decided i should bring my camera out to her game last night. i feel bad … she’s been playing all these weeks and i havn’t taken a single picture of her. lol! i think i got so burnt out on the whole soccer season and all those zillion pictures i took. i got a few cute ones. it was super windy out and there was dirt flying everywhere … so i think i’ll try again at saturday’s game.

plus i didn’t get her swinging the bat. lol! halfway through the season they have the girls start pitching to themselves … instead of the coaches pitching. which i do think is good for them. but imagine if you will … 6 & 7 year old pitching balls to each other. lol! and they give the girls like 5 pitches … and then if the batter doesn’t hit … the coach then comes in and gives her 3 more pitches. you can imagine how drawn out these games can be. lol! you’d think after sitting there poised with my camera for 8 pitches i would have got her swinging … but i did not! and she even batted twice in the game. i have to admit though … i kind of like the pictures i took behind the chain link fence better than the ones i took on the side. sort of a cool look don’t you think?

sarah did awesome last night too. she got to pitch an inning. she loves to pitch … goes through the motions all the time at home. she literally walks around doing her wind-up. but she’s the quiet one at practice and didn’t want to ask to try it out. and then they were’nt going to let her try because she’s only played for 2 years. whatever! but she got to pitch last night … and i could tell she was excited to be out there. you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. but i could tell … she had the look in her eye and kept looking over at me. i love that first picture up there … she’s pitching and looking directly at me at the same time. i’m sure that one didn’t land over the plate! lol!

2 weeks left of softball. looking forward to the end to be honest. it just is so time consuming. just this week she had 3 games and a practice (in addition to alyssa’s 2 practices and 2 games and having to work full-time). we skipped tonights game since it was the last night of awana’s at the church … and the girls had awards night. she’s missed out on so much of awana’s because of games … so i wanted her to at least go and get her awards. it’s always nice when you get to the end of a sports season though. just knowing that we’re in the home stretch … we can do 2 more weeks, right? yeah … i though that with soccer too about 5 months ago! lol! we’ve been doing the soccer thing for like 8-9 months now. but alyssa loves it! i’ll have to post about her next.

have you ever noticed that i tend to promise a "post about this" or a "post about that"?!?! and then i never do. lol! will have to work on that! and total sidenote … but don’t you just love that font i used on the collage? i use that font all the time. i downloaded it off the internet ages ago … it’s called "prissy frat boy". how do they come up with these names! lol!