Laura Vegas

Kerri Bradford Studio: Family Thanksgiving

November 16, 2012

I had my layout go up over at Kerri Bradford Studio yesterday, and am finally finding some time to get it posted and shared here.

Back in 2009, we were having all of the family together for Thanksgiving, which hadn't happend in a long time. So I posted HERE about this fabulous plan for a family mini album that was all about what we're thankful for. I took a nice photo of each family member, and had each person write down what they were thankful for on some journaling pages.

Then, a full year later in 2010, I came back and posted HERE about how I hadn't done anything with the album all year, and how I was going to try and get it done by Thanksgiving (which was the next day). It's now two full years after that, and I never did finish the album. It's been sitting in a bag under my desk all this time. I can be pathetic, I know.

So when Kerri asked us to create some Thanksgiving or Christmas themed projects this month, I decided to take the general idea that I had started with for that album … a photo of each person and their handwritten page … and incorporate them into a two page spread. While the idea of putting out a mini album at Thanksgiving for everyone to look back on sounds lovely, the realistic side of me knew that I would be better off just getting it done and in my album, otherwise it would never get done.

I started by printing out all of the photos 2"x3", and trimmed them all up, leaving a small white border around the edges. I adhered them in three rows, tucking the bottom edges slightly under the patterned paper strip below. Then I machine stitched across the rows, below the photos.

I am IN LOVE with all of the handwritten words that Kerri is working into her new kits! I used a few words from her Giving Thanks kit on my layout. I cut all of my words from white cardstock, and then either the brown or blue cardstock. I thought just a tiny amount of white showing from behind the words would tie in with the white borders around my photos.

I never seem to keep track of the dots to any i's in my cuts. I have gotten to where I don't even attempt to keep the dots anymore, as I will just dot them with a brad or something. I just now, as I'm typing this post and looking at this photo, realizing that I never went back to dot any of my i's. And I highly doubt that I will remember to do it after I finish this post 😉

The leaves are from the This & That: Autumn [Just Shapes] kit. My patterned papers are mostly from Little Yellow Bicycle, with a little bit of Fancy Pants and Bo Bunny mixed in (I just didn't have time to link up products for this layout, but if there's something you want to know about, just ask me and I'll help you out finding it). I made three sets of these three different leaf designs, sizing each leaf in varying sizes. I just eyeballed them, since I didn't have a set plan for them when I did my cutting. I cut them from three different patterned papers, and also from white cardstock for layering.

I knew that I wanted to include the journaling pages, where each family member wrote what they were thankful for that year. I figured an envelope was the most logical way to include those on the page. The nice think about tucking them away in the envelope was that I didn't have to worry about the journaling pages clashing with the papers I chose for my layout.

I chose an envelope from the Signed.Sealed.Delivered kit, and sized it to fit the journaling pages. I was a bit limited in the size I could cut the envelope, since I have the Silhouette SD, and can only cut about eight inches wide. Luckily, when I went as big as would fit on my cutting mat, it was just large enough to hold my pages inside. It's times like this when I really, really, really wish the Cameo was in my budget.

I had all of the handwritten journaling pages adhered within the mini album that I had started. So I had to go through and tear them off. Luckily, the adhesive wasn't super, so they came off very easily. Unfortunately, there is still adhesive on the back of these pages that can be removed, if I had the desire to spend a TON of time doing it. I will probably just put them back to back to make my life easier, even if they do sort of stick to each other.

I had planned on machine stitching down the centers of each leaf. However, I was finishing up this layout while the daycare kids napped, and the machine was making way too much noise (I was doing it in the kitchen). So I just adhered them all with pop dots and added some matching threaded buttons to a few of the leaves.

In fact, as I'm typing this and looking at the above photo, I can even see a stray piece of scrap string. Geez. What's even funnier to me, is that I'm sitting on the couch in the family room typing this blog post, and on the couch opposite me, there is a piece of string stuck to the arm of the couch that looks exactly that same size. I'm not even sure why I haven't picked it off. It's just there for me to keep noticing. Lol.

Don't forget about Kerri's sale going on right now. Place an order over $20, and you can get 25% off by using the code above. This sale goes through Sunday.
Bella Blvd: Thankful Project Sheet

November 14, 2012

Yesterday, we put up our new step-by-step project sheet for November on the Bella Blvd blog, featuring the Thankful collection.

Each month, I try to work a fun technique into the layout design. This month, I thought it would be fun to create a little pocket that could be filled with punched shapes.

The confetti trend is so popular right now in paper crafting. Instead of doing small punched circles, I went with some punched leaves. This is a great way to include lots of different patterned papers.

I created the pocket using a piece of transparency on the front, a piece of vellum on the back, and I secured all four sides closed using designer tape and mini staples.

I layered quite a few stickers together, along with a few layered buttons and some cut out leaves, to add to the top corner of the page next to my journaling block.

You can view and download our step-by-step project sheet, with full instructions and supply list, RIGHT HERE.
Drawbacks To A Small Scrap Space

November 12, 2012

A few weeks ago, my scrap space was featured on the Create: Blog. The photos were actually pretty old, but in all honestly, my room hasn't changed much over the last few years. For those of you that remember, I had moved my scrap space from the upstairs loft (which is big) to the downstairs bedroom (which is small). It totally makes sense for me to have my work area downstairs, since scrapbooking is more of a job now then a hobby, which it was when I was upstairs.

The biggest downfall to being in a smaller space, for me anyways, is not having as much counter/table space to work on. I love my desk, and it's actually quite large. But once you start dragging stuff out, it starts to feel smaller and smaller. It's especially hard when I want to use my Silhouette or my sewing machine. Obviously, I need the laptop in order to use the Silhouette.

When not in use, I keep my Silhouette on the floor, behind the desk, and I toss the cords in a bucket on a shelf. To fit the Silhouette on the desk, I have to then move my adhesive bucket on the floor to the side of the desk. Something is always getting moved to the floor. And yes, those are Dr Seuss books. A friend once told me to stack some books behind and in front of the machine, so that the cutting mat wouldn't bend as it went back and forth while cutting. No idea if I really need to do this, but I still drag those books out every time. Lol.

I usually end up with just enough space to put 2 pages side by side. However, if I need to cut papers, I have to lay my trimmer over my projects, which I hate to do. I don't like to pile things up as I work, and am kind of a neat freak, cleaning up as I go.

The lovely backside of my desk. I hate cords. They always make things look so messy. You can see that I also keep my sewing machine on the floor, under my desk. It doesn't get in the way of my feet, since I always sit with at least one foot tucked under me, or even criss cross applesauce sometimes. If I need to use my sewing machine, I take either the laptop or the Silhouette off the desk to make room for it, and drag my chair around to the backside of the table.

And then, five days a week, I add a pack-n-play to the mix. Lol. I have to use my room for naptime for the little one (I use my girls rooms too, depending who I have here). There is just enough space to put the pack-n-play, since the closet is right to the right of this photo. Once the little ones can start reaching things, then I know it's time to move them to a new napping area.

I once came in to find that a 2 yr old had reached under the desk and grabbed that red bucket that was full of mists. He had taken every single bottle of mist out, taken the lids off, and lined up the bottles and the lids in a long row across the desk. It was kind of funny, to be honest. But it would not have been funny if he had actually pushed those nozzles down. Lol. He got moved to a new area really fast 😉
Hello Funniness: A Digital Layout

November 7, 2012

I was wracking my brain tonight, trying to think of something quick that I could blog about. I couldn't come up with anything, and didn't have any projects laying around to share. So on a whim, I decided to toss together a digital layout.

Which is exactly what this is. A layout that I threw together in less than 30 minutes. Most of the pieces, with the exeption of two of the "laugh lots" and "hello funniess" pieces, came from one kit (Dear Diary, by Studio Basic). That helps speed up the process, since my collection of digital supplies is HUGE and takes me forever to dig through.

I should have added a little bit of journaling, even just a sentence or two, but that would have ended up taking me an additional 30 minutes. Lol.
Yes, I Really Am That Adorable

November 1, 2012

I managed to get another layout created on Tuesday, as the adorable little dude in these photos stayed home for his first birthday! They grow up so stinkin fast!

When Kerri Bradford first sent me her new Here Kitty Kitty kit, I wasn't in a huge rush to open it. After all, I don't have a cat, and if I'm being totally honest, I'm not even a cat person (sorry if you are one!). However, I knew that there would be pieces in the kit that I could still put to good use.

Like this title. It was the first thing that caught my eye in the kit. And I knew right away what I would use it for. A layout about one of my adorable little daycare babies. Mateo is one of the most adorable little boys you'll ever meet. And we tell him that over and over, all day long. Every two minutes, you can hear us saying "you are soooooooooooo adorable"!

I chose my colors based off of the colors of Mateo's shirts in a few of the photos. My patterned papers are older papers from Basic Grey, in red, blue, and yellow. I actually went looking for a ledger paper for my background, but then I came across this gorgeous embossed cardstock and had to use it. I love the texture and interest it adds to the background.

I have this assortment of products and tools laying around that have been so generously sent to me, and I've been meaning to play with them. One of them was this fun star border metal die from Die-namics. It's six inches long, so I ran it through my Cuttlebug twice, so I could make a full border across the page.

I also used a few stamps from Technique Tuesday. I honestly can't remember the last time I have stamped on any projects. I have some great stamps, and TONS of fabulous ink pads. I have no clue why I don't use them more. Usually, I will test out several shades or kinds of ink pads before stamping on a project, so that I get just the right one. I grabbed one ink pad and stamped right onto my layout. If I had taken a bit more time, I would have chosen a little bit darker shade of brown.

I also used a metal burst die from Die-namics, designed by Laina Lamb (who I was on the Jillibean Soup DT with a few years ago), to create a few accents on the page. I folded a few in half, and stapled them over the top edge of my layout, and then I layered a few together to fill in an empty space on the page.

I also dug out some older star rubons and some newer tiny wooden stars, both from Studio Calico. I went with the brown woodgrain stars, so they were very subtle on the background cardstock.
Click: A Layout Share

October 30, 2012

I made a layout the other day. Not for an assignment, not for design team work. A layout, just for fun. And it took me FOREVER! I have become very assignment driven over the years, and I go into most of my projects with a specific theme, specific manufacturer, specific technique, etc that I'm supposed to focus on. So some of the choices have been made for me, and I go from there.

Without that direction, it's really up to me to decide what photos to scrap about, what product to scrap with, and what to do with the products that I pick out. It can be very overwhelming, and I tend to do a lot more sitting and staring at everything in my scraproom, then actual scrapping. I find this so strange, and I feel like such a wingnut as I sit there and say "I forgot how to scrap". But that's how it feels sometimes.

This layout did not come together easily. And it's nothing like I intended it to be. I actually started with some brand new papers, stickers, and washi tape from KI Memories (so glad that they're back with new stuff!). In the end, I used 2 of the tapes, 1 sticker, and one small strip of the patterned paper. In the process, I pulled out a lot of older product. Not what my plan was. Just how it happened.

I also started with these photos of Sarah that I borrowed off her iPod Touch. She had the photos individually, but she had also created this collage of four photos for Instagram. I decided to just use that, since the work was done for me. I printed it out as a 5"x5" photo.

I've really been into using grid patterns or ruled line patterns for my background paper on a lot of layouts. It's just a really neutral piece to built the page on, but not as plain as a solid piece of cardstock. I dug out this grid paper (it already had "October" printed in the upper left corner) from a My Mind's Eye Halloween collection. That's also where I found the black and white star patterned paper.

I started the page by adhereing the days of the week glitter border sticker (from KI Memories) along the top of the page, and a few strips of patterned paper along the bottom of the page. Then I picked out some yellow and red patterned papers, to go along with the black and white star paper, and added in a text paper as well. I choose my colors to go with Sarah's pajama pants in the photos. They are Mickey Mouse, so lots of red, with some black, white, and yellow.

I cut my patterned papers into strips of varying widths, and cut a little notch at the bottom of each piece to resemble banner pieces. I layered them all side by side, in the middle of the page, and towards the right side of the page. I was originally going to adhere my photos right on top of those papers. But I changed my mind at the last minute, and moved the photos to the left side of the page.

I knew I wanted some large red letters for my title. Since the days of the week sticker was glittery, I decided to use these super old red glittered chipboard letters from Making Memories. I added in some fun little tabs from Ormolu, and the red washi tape is from KI Memories. I'm in love with that tape!

What's that camera? A rub-on? I can't even remember the last time I have used a rub-on. Lol. The little camera badge fit perfectly in the center! And check it out. I even wrote out my journaling by hand. I'm not a fan of it, even though I know it's important to get our handwriting onto some of our layouts for future generations. I won't lie. The main reason I wrote it by hand is that I was in a rush. I actually started taking pictures of this layout, when I realized that I hadn't journaled on it. I grabbed a pen and scribbled something out, without even moving from where I was taking pictures.

While this layout didn't exactly come easily, I think it's kind of a fun one. I pulled out some more product, and printed more photos, so I'm hoping to work on some more layouts. Just for fun. I've been missing doing that, and really want to make an effort to do more of it.
Our Weekend

October 29, 2012

I feel so bad that I just disappeared for the last week. I kind of, sort of, decided to take a break from a lot of things. I've been feeling very overwhelmed with work and life lately. I managed to get the important things done and in place, and then stepped back a bit from everything else. Including this little blog of mine.

There was no slowing down this weekend though. Friday night was the last home football game for the high school, which meant the last football game for the marching band as well. I absolutely LOVE watching the band play at the games, and perform their half-time shows. LOVE IT! They have such fun, and show soooooo much school spirit.

I only got to watch one of the games this year, which meant I only got to see one of their half-time shows. But for good reason, as I was working the band's snack bar the rest of the games. I actually like doing it, as long as I can work one of the windows. I can't bring myself to work the chili and nachos, for some reason. Lol.

{Older photo that I might have shared already}

Saturday morning, we were on the soccer field bright and early for Sarah's first game. 7:00am, to warm up for the 8:00am game. To be totally honest, I didn't show up until 7:50. It's nice to get to sleep in a bit, since we live just a few blocks away from the field, so it's not a big deal if we take two cars. Lol.

Sarah's team had a double header, with a short break in between games. Not quite long enough to do anything, so we usually just hang around the field and watch the other games. They won their first game, 3-1, with Sarah scoring 1 of the goals. They won their second game, 6-1, with Sarah scoring 4 of the goals. She's definitely a scorer! She was counting up how their team has done this season. The team as a whole has scored 44 goals (in 10 games), and Sarah has scored 25 of those goals. Nice!

{Older, blurry photo that I might have shared before}

Alyssa's game was after Sarah's second game. It's nice when they play one after the other, instead of having a huge gap in between. And when they're on the same field. It makes for a very long day though. Especially when it's hot out. Which it was this weekend. It's the end of October, and we were dying being in the sun for 8 hours straight. Alyssa's team won their game, 4-3, and Alyssa scored 1 goal. She played such an excellent game. Alyssa has amazing footwork, and a great left foot on her (even though she's a righty).

After the game, we went back to the house, where Alyssa got ready to go to a Halloween party with some friends. She debated not even going, because she was so tired, but finally got up the energy to go. Or maybe I should say that she finally was able to wake me up from my nap, so I could drive her there. Lol.

Joe always says "I live for Saturdays", because he truely LOVES coaching soccer. But then we both say "I hate Saturday night" later in the day, because we are soooooo tired and drained from being out there on the field all day. Lol. I just tell the girls that it's exhausing watching them be awesome out there all day 😉

Oh, and Sarah had a volleyball tournament on Saturday too. After her second game, and before Alyssa's game, we ran her over to the high school, where the Jr High volleyball teams were having an all day tournament. Volleyball is a new sport to us, as this is the first time Sarah has played.

We had no idea how the tournament worked, and kept trying to text her to see what was going on. We dropped her off at 1:00, and only heard from her once, a few hours later. By 8:00pm, I was really wondering what was going on. Was it bad that I hadn't gone to the school earlier? Maybe. Lol. But I knew that there were other parents that weren't there either, so that made me feel less quilty. I ended up running down to the school, and when I walked in they were just getting ready to start the championship game. Yep, our school had made it all the way to the championships.

It was intense watching the games. The other school won the first game, and then our school won the second game. So we went into a third game to decide the winning team. And at about 9:30pm, our team ended up winning, taking the championship for the second year in a row!!! The girls were so excited and they all got tshirts, and a trophy to display at school. Sarah was so funny too. She told me, in a very proud voice, that her and a few of the other girls made "the best bench warmers ever"! Turns out, she didn't get to play that much. But I'm glad she was OK with it, still managed to have lots of fun.

Needless to say, we all slept very well Saturday night.

And then Sunday, we woke up and did all of those fun things that responsible people do on their days off. Things like laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, errands, etc. You'd think that there would be a little time to rest and relax on the weekend, right? Not so much at this house. Lol.
How I Edit My Project Images: A Video Tutorial

October 23, 2012

What seems like just a while ago, but was really over a year and a half ago, I shared a tutorial of sorts on how I photograph my projects. You can see it HERE. I knew that I didn't have much to share on my blog going into this week, so I thought I would do a quick little video about how I edit those images of my projects.

Just like there are many, many different ways that people photograph their projects … there are just as many different ways that people edit those photos. So my way isn't the "right" way and it's not for everyone. This is just me, showing how I personally edit my images.

A few things that I feel the need to mention:

I appologize if the video looks small and isn't all that clear. The program I'm using to record what I'm doing on my computer is cool, and the videos look good on my end. But trying to figure out what format to save them in (there's TONS of options), and getting them to upload to YouTube and looking good? It hasn't been the easiest thing. You can also watch this on YouTube, where there's an option to make it a tad bit bigger.

These few steps work perfectly on almost all of my photos. I usually start out with some pretty decent photos though. You really do need to start with a good image, to get good results. You can correct wonky colors, bad color temps, bad exposures, and more. But it's just a lot more work, and you're better off taking the time to learn some tips and tricks to getting solid photos to start out with.

Like I have mentioned before, I like to leave a bit of a border (background) around my projects. This is personal preference. I know a lot of designers like to crop all the way to the edges of their layouts/cards. I do actually do this for certain projects, but I find that it's just easier and quicker for me to leave a bit of a border. Also, since I do have a lot of layouts with a white cardstock background, I think it helps show off my layout better. But like I said, it's personal preference.

I hope at least a few of you might find this useful in some way. I get asked about how I photograph projects quite a bit, and I'm always more than willing to share whatever info I can. I was taught by some very patient scrapping friends years and years ago, and I like to be able to share what I know, in hopes that it might help someone else. Let me know if you have any questions at all!
Bella Blvd: Kiss Me Collection – Do U Really

October 19, 2012

I have another layout up today on the Bella Blvd blog, as we share projects made with our new mid release collection, Kiss Me.

Before the girls left for Disneyland, I asked if I could take a few picture of each of them, since I knew I needed to work on some layouts with the new Kiss Me collection. So there's really no particular story behind this photo of Sarah. Just me forcing her to take a photo. Lol. I was pulling out some of the papers and pieces that I thought would work well with her photo, not having any idea what the layout was going to be about.

Then I thought about what she says to me every time I tell her I love her. She replies with "Do you really?", in her best sarcastic, teenager way. To which I will usually say "Hmmmm. Let me think about it". Followed by a few seconds of thinking, and then a "You know what? I really DO love you". It's our routine, it's what we do. And I thought it was the perfect little story to get down on a layout.

I was originally only going to use Sarah's photo on the page. In fact, I had some navy blue chipboard letters out to spell "I love you". But when I noticed the "I love you" thought bubble sticker, I knew I had to add a photo of myself as well.

For a minute, I thought about making my own larger handmade thought bubble to hold Sarah's "Do you really", but using this journaling sticker seemed a whole lot easier. Lol.

I adore this little cloud! It's so stinkin cute, and ended up being the perfect spot to add the year with some white number stickers. If you were to look really closely at this photo (or clicked on it to see it larger), you might notice some small tears on my grid background paper. I was going go adhere the photo of myself, on which I have to use glue dots because of the texture on the back of my photo paper, and I dropped the photo. That stuff happens to me more than I care to admit 😉

Head on over to the Bella blog again, as we have a TON of projects that we're sharing today. Five layouts and six cards to be exact. Lots of good stuff!
Bella Blvd: Love Her

October 18, 2012

Did you catch the Kiss Me collection reveal yesterday on the Bella Blvd blog? I hope you love it as much as we do! For the rest of the week, we're sharing lots and lots of layouts and cards using the Kiss Me collection, so that you can see it in action.

One of the things that I love about Bella Blvd's collections, is that while they may be themed at first glace, but they are also very versitle and can work with so many everyday photos. While Kiss Me is a Valentine's collection, it's got so many great patterns and pieces that can be used for anything. I've had these photos of Alyssa and Haley for years, and never got around to scrapping them. Until now.

I have been wanting to use this Background Lace Circle cut from my Silhouette library for ages. I love circles, and the idea of filling the circles up with patterned paper, cardstock, or embellishments seemed like fun.

I used the navy blue patterned paper to cut the background piece from, and I intented to then cut circles from all of the other patterned papers to fill in the empty spaces.

However, when I was pulling off my die cut background piece, and all of the circles from the negative space, I realized that those circles would work just fine if I flipped them over. The backside of the blue patterned paper is a fabulous grid pattern with lots and lots of large patterned circles all over. I liked the way my pieces looked when flipped over, and they were already cut to size, which was a big time-saver, instead of cutting all new circles. So I just went with it.

I didn't originally plan on using this sticker on my page. But when I was trimming my photos after printing, they ended up being just shy of 6" tall for some reason, so they didn't quite reach the length of my page. I just covered the tiny gap between the photos with this sticker, adhered with pop dots.

I love that all three of the Sienna chipboard alphabet sets that were a part of Bella's summer release match perfectly with the Kiss Me collection.

I also added some buttons into my circle design, just so my layout wasn't all paper and stickers. A few simple threaded buttons, along with a few stickers adhered with pop dots, add the perfect finishing touch to embellish the page.

I loved the little ice cream cone on the Cute Cuts sheet of patterned paper, and knew it was perfect for the front of a card. I cut the card on my Silhouette as well, using the 3×3 Circle Pattern Card design, but I cut mine as a 4×4" card.

I cut the actual card base from this fabulous chevron paper. It cut out all of the circles as well, and then you cut out the top piece seperately. I cut this piece from the navy blue patterned paper, and adhered it to the front of the card using pop dots.

The backside of the chevron paper is a great pink text paper with tone-on-tone hearts on it. I was going to leave it like that, so that you would see that pink text paper through the holes in the front of the card. But in the end, I felt like it needed a touch of white, so I adhered a scrap of white cardstock inside the card.

Head on over to the Bella Blvd blog, and check out what some of the other designers have created with the Kiss Me collection! There are a ton of layouts and cards featured today, and it really shows the collection in action, and the different ways it can be used!

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