Laura Vegas

Scrapbooking And A Little Bit Of Everyday Life

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  • 2011-2012 bella artista design team

    we had a huge announcement go up on the bella blvd blog today 😉

    BellaDT_Announcement1 
    BellaDT_Announcement2 

    i wrote more about the design team call and the announcement, on the bella blog. so be sure to check it out. especially for those of you that submitted for the call. i recognized a lot of you in my inbox, and loved seeing your work!

    and with that, i'm off on a jet plane again. actually, it's some sort of plane, but i'm not sure what kind exactly. lol! i'm heading to CKC san marcos, first thing in the morning. i have three LONG days of teaching ahead of me, and i love it! although, i think i'm the most excited that i finally get to meet some of my good internet friends, who i have known forever. maggie, who will also be teaching with me. and erin, who i convinced to pick me up at the airport, take me to dinner, let me stay at her house, and entertain me on my last day, before i fly home! love it 🙂

  • music makes us happy – a kerri bradford studio layout

    i have a kerri bradford studio layout to share today, that just went up on her blog. kerri has a birthday this week, and decided that it was only fitting to have a celebration on her blog as well. as her design team, it was our fun job to help out with the party and make some pretty things to share. decorations, you could say. lol! we were asked to focus on happiness. create projects, based on something that makes us happy.

    MusicMakesMeTotallyHappy 

    there are a lot of things that make me happy in life, like my family and friends. since i scrapbook about them all the time, i thought i would do a fun layout about something else that makes me really happy. music. i L-O-V-E music. whether i have it playing on the radio in the car, on my IPod while i'm scrapping, on ITunes when i'm working on the computer, or when my girls have it playing in their rooms. if there is music playing, i can guarantee you that you will find me singing along, boppin' in my chair, or dancing around the house.

    Music_collage_blog 

    i love all kinds of music, but i wanted to focus on my love of country music for this layout. i did google searches, to find photos of some of my favorite artists and groups, and printed them out in one of kerri's fabulous digital templates, from her storyboard #1 kit. the trick to finding great photos, is to look for larger sized images. if you are wanting to print them, you want a good quality photo. i had quite a few that just didn't work out, since they got super blurry when i made them big enough for the collage. 

    i left one of the spots in the template empty, since i knew i was going to add my title there. I always leave the grey there (or whatever color the templates show), so that i can measure how big i need to cut my papers, to fit over the spot.

    MusicMakesMeTotallyHappy_detail1 

    i trimmed up some pattern paper to fit the space. and then i used my silhouette, to cut out the "totally happy", from kerri's say what #1 kit, from both brown and red cardstock. i love to point out my "oops" moments. see that second "P"? i lost the little inside piece, cut from the brown cardstock. i was being so careful, and i lost it. so i just used a brown pen to color the red cardstock.

    MusicMakesMeTotallyHappy_detail4 

    i made sure to choose photos that coordinated nicely with each other, and with the color scheme i was going for. it started with the photo of lady antebellum. i loved the rich, deep colors in the photo. so i made sure to find photos of the other artists/groups, in simliar, darker colors. this layout is a quick glance at the faces behind the music, that makes me happy!

    MusicMakesMeTotallyHappy_detail2 

    isn't this fancy scroll border so gorgeous? honestly, this isn't something i would normally pick out on my own. i knew i wanted to add a fun border design on each side of my photo collage. this is from kerri's borderlines #2 kit, and when i saw it, i knew it was the perfect style to go with my layout. and check out the detail in this little 7 inch border (you can make it whatever length you want. mine happened to be 7 inches). amazing detail, and it cut out like butter on the silhouette. i cut all four of these at once, and ran them through my "X" xyron sticker-maker, to adhere them.

    MusicMakesMeTotallyHappy_detail3 

    this layout is really layered, and i love it. my pattern papers were both from bella blvd, and i choose some coordinating cardstock colors from american crafts. what you can't see, is that i cut out the inside pieces from the blue, white, and green cardstock. just a paper saving trick. if i only need a small border of the blue cardstock to show, why use an entire sheet? same with the white. and the green. i cut my papers to size, and then i cut out a square from the inside, leaving 1-2 inches all the way around. no one will ever know. except all of you 😉

    make sure and keep your eye on kerri's blog this week, for all the other good stuff going on. just yesterday, she put up some really fun new templates. i think i'll have to use a few of them on my next layout, for later this month 😉

  • bella blvd: project sheets

    i wanted to let you know about something new going on at bella blvd. we are starting a new monthly feature to help you get inspired. i will be designing a fresh, never-featured-before project along with step-by-step directions for you to use. every month! it will be complete with a list of tools, supplies and the bella products needed. here's a peek at the one for this month. 

    Projectsheetpeek 

    head on over to the bella blvd blog, and you'll find the link to download the full project sheet. you can save it on your computer, or print it out to have on hand. i hope you enjoy!

  • CK keepsakes kits: party time kit *WINNER*

    i'm back this morning, super quick, to announce the winner of the party time kit, by creating keepsakes. thanks for all of your sweet comments on the kit design and contents. i had a lot of fun working on that and putting it all together. i wish i could send you all a kit, but i only have one extra to share.

    Kitgiveawaywinner 

    congratulations janet! email me with your mailing info, and i'll get that kit mailed out to you, before i leave this week 🙂

  • CK keepsake kits: party time kit

    i got something fun in the mail a few days ago, and it came with a little something extra to share with one of you! creating keepsakes has a lot of new keepsake kits in their store right now. there are some really fun mini album kits, lots of card kits, and then some layout kits. one of them looks a little something like this:

    CKK0711 

    this is the party time kit, which came out just a few weeks ago. back at the beginning of the year, i was asked to put together a birthday kit. from start to finish. i had a few quidelines, as far as how many papers, and what types of embellishments to include. but then i got to just run with it, and see what i came up with. 

    CK_BirthdayKit_choice3 

    and this is what i came up with. this is the photo that i took of my "kit", when i sent it in to get approval. i didn't have the buttons on hand that i wanted to use, so that's the one thing that's different in the actual kit. i loved the fun, brightly colored papers. i wanted this to be able to work for girl or boy themed pages.

    CK_BirthdayKit_PartyTime_layout 

    here's a full shot of one of my sample layouts. in the kit, you get the full instructions, to re-create my three sample layouts. all completed with just the contents of the kit, and no special tools or supplies. or take the kit, and run with your own ideas, to create fun party layouts. OR. you could get even crazier and use this kit for something entirely different, and not have a party theme at all.

    creating keepsakes was generous enough to send me an extra kit, to give away to one of my lucky blog readers. just leave me a comment, and you'll be entered in the random drawing. i'll leave the comment open until saturday night, and will announce a winner on sunday.

  • her schedule – a bella blvd layout

    i had a layout up over on the bella blvd blog yesterday.

    LauraVegas_HerSchedule 

    to read more about my layout, and see extra detail shots, go HERE.

    did i ever mention that 2 weeks ago, i left to go to north carolina, to teach at CKC? 5 days later, i came home, and have been recovering since. and in exactly one week, i'm leaving for texas, to teach at CKC again. and 5 days later i'll come home. and then i'm staying home and never traveling again. lol! at least not again this year. anyways. busy with recovering and preparing for my next trip, and learning new classes.

    i'm also knee deep in bella blvd stuff. fun stuff. exciting stuff. can't wait to reveal our new design team next week!

    and on the home front, i have the daycare kids keeping me busy. fun to have a baby in the house again. and i really do think that one and a half year olds are the funniest and most entertaining mini people's to spend time with. the girls are busy with school and soccer. and i'm headed to back to school night this evening at the high school. we had sarah's last week. and just all the other normal stuff that goes on around here. busy, busy. that's what life is all about, right 🙂

  • 2peas design school: guest designer

    have  you see the newest class event going on at two peas in a bucket? for three weeks, starting august 22nd, design school will be in session at 2peas. each week, they will focus on two principles and elements of design. i was thrilled when jamie sorenson emailed me, asking if i wanted to be a guest designer for this fun event!

    i was asked to focus on "proportion/scale". to me, proportion and scale relate to the size of the elements on my layouts. for instance, if i have a small tree accent, i would not want to add a giant flower accent next to it. the items should relate in size, and be proportional to each other. in real life, flowers are quite smaller then trees. so i would want to keep them to scale on my layouts, just like in real life.

    MyLittleBigGirl

    on the majority of my layouts, the one thing that i always try to make pretty large is my titles. i like them to stand out. and i usually work with standard sized photos, or even smaller ones. the largest photo size i use is a 5×7. so i thought it would be fun to use larger photos on my layout, along with smaller titles. so i decided to print two of my favorite photos of the girls, 8×12 inches. you can order these right through costco, and they're only $1.49. i love that you can really highlight a favorite photo this way.

    for my title piece, i found this fun scalloped circle paper from little yellow bicycle. it was the perfect size for the side of my layout, and the shape fit so nicely with the curve of the tree in the photo. the inside part of the paper was this darker grey color. So i took a grid pattern paper from bella blvd, and cut out a large circle that fit perfectly over the grey. i thought it added a bit of interest, to spell out the word "little" with larger letter stickers, and the word "big" with smaller letter stickers. kind of a play on words type of thing.

    i also came across this scroll die cut border, from little yellow bicycle, and thought it would add the perfect touch of yellow on the left side of my layout. i carefully cut in in half, lengthwise, and adhered it right up against the ribbon.

    i also wanted to work the propotional/scale lesson into my journaling. just like my title says, alyssa truely is my "little big girl". this is where things are NOT proportional. at least, not in my eyes. alyssa might be on the more petite/small side, physically. but who she is, what she believes in, and what she is about, is HUGE.

    i was trying to find a few embellishments to add to the upper left corner, and came across these flair buttons from american crafts. the tree fits perfectly.

    HowAndWhenDidMyBabyGrowUp 

    i couldn't decide which photo or which daughter to scrap, so i went all crazy and did two layouts! this is a favorite photo of sarah, from last year. when looking at this photo, it dawned on me how fast she's growing up these days. i went with some smaller letter stickers, from sassafrass. i love these little letters, and just happen to have ordered more this weekend.

    HowAndWhenDidMyBabyGrowUp_detail2 

    i wanted to add a few little banner pieces in the upper corner of my layout. just a fun way to add something to an empty space in a large photo. i had some cute tags from studio calico, but they weren't quite the colors or look i was going for. so i traced the shapes onto some pattern paper from little yellow bicycle, and cut these pieces out.

    HowAndWhenDidMyBabyGrowUp_detail1 

    i added some machine stitching below each row of letter stickers. not too noticeable, but adds a subtle touch.

    HowAndWhenDidMyBabyGrowUp_detail4 

    i belive the brown chunky ribbon is from bobunny. i liked that it added a bulky touch to the page. and the fun tulle flower, with the rhinestone center, is from making memories.

    HowAndWhenDidMyBabyGrowUp_detail3 

    i added these little clouds to the banner pieces, using my two different sized cloud punches from fiskars. the ledger paper is crate paper, the tiny alpha stickers are from making memories, and the rhinestones are teresa collins.

    i want to thank 2peas for the opportunity to join in on their design school session this week. i have never enjoying going to "school" this much. lol! make sure and head over to 2peas, to check out everything they have going on. you can still go back to the previous lessons. and then check out what their other designers did for the "proportion/scale" lesson today, and see their takes on the idea.

  • CK budget friendly scrapbooking: giveaway WINNER

    my appologies for announcing this late. yesterday got away from me, and i'm playing catch up today. the randomly chosen winner of creating keepsakes new special issue, budget-friendly scrapbooking, is:

    Giveawaywinner 

    congrats felicia! email me your mailing address, and the fine folks at CK will get it mailed out to you right away 🙂

  • hawaii – a creating keepsakes layout

    i have a layout to share today, from CK's scrapbooking tips & tricks: summer fun & travel issue.

    Alyssa_Hawaii_spread 

    as seen in the Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks: Summer Fun & Travel issue, from Creating Keepsakes magazine. copyright creative crafts group. posted with prior permission from the publisher.

    i was given the assignment to create a summer/travel themed, using the colors red, orange, and yellow. a "fire" color scheme. and i also was to incorporate glitter paper. i admit, i stressed over this assignment quite a bit. lol! i tend to stress when i think i don't have photos that will work with what i need to do. it wasn't until the day before this layout was due, that i realized i had photos of alyssa from her trip to hawaii with her dad and grandparents four years ago.

    Alyssa_Hawaii_page1 

    i knew i would be using my glittered cardstock, by american crafts. i choose not to use the orange, only because the shade was all wrong, when matched up with my patterned papers. i also knew that i wanted to make a sunset, with my papers, across the top of the layout. i used some scrap paper, to sketch out the sunset design. i made a mark, where i wanted the center of the rays to hit. and then i drew lines to the edge of the paper, to create my rays. i cut each one out, and traced it onto my cardstock, and then cut those out.  

    Alyssa_Hawaii_page1_detail 

    then i re-assembled all the pieces, and adhered them all down to the base of my pages. then i machine stitched along each ray. if this sounds confusing and time consuming, you'd be right to think that. lol! it did seem to take me forever to get that part of the layout done. my pattern papers are from fancy pants and making memories. the fun "summertime" circle accent was hand cut from a sheet of the fancy pants paper, and placed on a sun that i diecut with my slice machine.

    Alyssa_Hawaii_page2 

    the majority of my embellishments are all from little yellow bicycle. the canvas border, the canvas stickers, journaling blocks, puffy sticker. the flowers are from making memories, and the buttons are from fancy pants.

    Alyssa_Hawaii_page2_detail 

    i just noticed i must have taken this photo before i journaled my layout. lol! i wanted to add some more color to the edge of the second page, so i cut some circles from the red, orange, and yellow papers. it's an easy way to add splashes of color, and also gives you a nice spot to cluster embellishments.

  • CK budget-friendly scrapbooking + GIVEAWAY

    creating keepsakes has a brand new special issue hitting stands this week, called budget-friendly scrapbooking.

    CRKP-1046-CV-comp 

    "Prepare to make your stickers, papers, die cuts, and more go further than you ever imagined possible. With the tips and tricks in this special issue from Creating Keepsakes, you'll learn how to create beautiful scrapbook layouts using your scrapbooking leftovers and minimal supplies. Whether you're a new scrapbooker or have been creating for years, we'll show you how to stretch your scrapbooking budget to its fullest."

    Laura 

    here's a sneak peek at one of my layouts featured in this special issue. the idea was to use a themed collection, to create a non-themed layout.

    and here's another insider look into the issue, which you can purchase HERE.

    i have a free copy to give away to one of my lucky blog readers! just leave me a comment, to be entered in the random drawing. i will leave comments open until thursday night, and announce a winner on friday.