Laura Vegas

slice – hands free GIVEAWAY

May 2, 2011

you all know i love my hands free kit, for my slice. i have mentioned quite a few times, that i really do think this is a must-have item if you own a slice. if you are a slice owner, and don't have one of these yet, today may be your lucky day.

the generous folks at Making Memories had the fabulous idea to let me host a giveaway for a hands free kit. one lucky blog reader of mine will have one of these delivered to their doorstep. all you need to do, to be included in the drawing, is leave me a comment.

just for fun, tell me what your weather is looking like this week. here, in my part of california, we're expecting mid to high 80's all week long. love it.

comments will be left open until late tuesday night, and i will announce a winner on wednesday morning.

and don't forget. if you are on Facebook, be sure to become a FAN of our SLICE FACEBOOK FAN PAGE so you can be the first to know about new products, project ideas, tips & tricks, and giveaways too!
2peas – scrapbook stamping class

May 1, 2011

i was thrilled and honored, when nichol magouirk asked me to contribute to her scrapbook stamping class for may, over at two peas in a bucket. i've been a huge fan of nichol's for years now, and always look forward to seeing what she creates for her classes each month. this months theme is incorporating border stamps into our layouts.

i have to admit, i have gotten away from stamping lately. i have tons of great stamps. even tons of brand new stamps, that i really do want to use. i have a big collection of inks and embossing powders. but for some reason, i just don't think to pull them out all that often. so working on this layout was really fun for me, because it reminded me how fun and easy stamping can be. and i'm proud to say, i have stamped on a few other projects since then.

i soon realized that i don't own that many border stamps. lol! but i found two in my stash that i thought would work on my layout. the first one is a scalloped edged stamp from stampin up. it's an older stamp, and i can't seem to find a link to it. i thought it would be fun to create a frame for my photo of alyssa.

i decided to heat emboss the border, to add some extra texture. i stamped the border 4 times onto white cardstock, using versamark ink. then i poured american crafts zing embossing powder, in mustard, over my stamped images and heat set them. you end up with a nice shiny image, with a light texture to it.

i printed my photo as a 5×7, and my borders were each 6 inches long. i adhered my photo to a piece of red pattern paper, using pop dots. then i adhered two of the 6 inch borders along the two sides of the photo, centering them. on the other two 6 inch borders, i cut a little bit off of all the ends, and then adhered those to the top and bottom of the photo. i took all four of the end scallop pieces that i had cut off, and used one in each corner. just a creative way to make a full frame, by piecing it all together.

i also used this fun circle border stamp from hero arts. i heat embossed it with black zing, on a scrap piece of the word search paper, and then hand cut around the circles. btw, ALL the papers are from crate paper. i cut that "jane goes to school" paper from THIS sheet of pattern paper. the paper had this "book spines" all across the page. if you cut them up, they make fun borders. i wanted a red one, and this went with the school theme. i adhered my stamped border directly below that piece, using mini pop dots.

i love this set of friendly flag stamps from hero arts. the flags are not a border stamp. but by lining up all the individual pieces, side by side, it gives the illusion of them being a border. just because a stamp isn't meant to be a border stamp, doesn't mean you can't get creative and make it into a border "stamp". i picked out a few of my favorite flags, and stamped them using a mix of ink and embossing powders. i cut each flag out, leaving a very small border, and then adhered them all side by side across the page.

for my title, i used some american crafts glitter foam thickers in turquoise, and some jenni bowlin alphabet stickers that i added to a studio calico sticker. the two blocks of paper there are from THIS sheet of pattern paper, that has lots of journaling blocks and title pieces. i thought the fill-in-the-blanks piece would be fun to use, and went with what my layout was about. without that, i probably would have journaled more about this photo and what it meant to me. but this was a fun way to journal as well. i used my tiny alphas from making memories, to add the words. and yes, it took me forever. lol! some of those words, i had to cut each sticker shorter, so that it wouldn't cover up anything above it. but it was worth it. a few veneer stars from studio calico finished off the layout.

i want to thank nichol for inviting me to play along with her class this month. you can check out her classroom HERE, and find all the previous months as well. you can see her project, PDF handout, and video HERE.
fun fruit cards – a pebbles project

April 28, 2011

this week is theme week over on the pebbles blog, and it's all about layered embellishments. pebbles recently came out with 24 different sets of layered felt embellishments, in a wide variety of themes.

i chose the fruit set to work with. right away, i knew i wanted to use these on cards.

i knew i was going to use the banana, the orange, and the lemon. so i dug through my pebbles papers, and found tone-on-tone patterns in both yellow and orange. the felt pieces had a touch of green on them, so i used the green backside of one of the pattern papers, for my stamping. some brown ribbon, and a few candy dots finished them off.

i used the polaroid stamp from the "say cheese" stamp set from lawn fawn. i stamped the image with brown ink, onto the green cardstock, and then trimmed around the edges. I cut a small piece of white cardstock, and adhered it to center of the polaroid frame, and then stitched around the edges. these made cute little frames for the fruit, and gave them a fun little spot to hang out on the card.

i adhered the frame with pop dots, to give it a little lift on the front of the card. i added a small piece of brown ribbon along the bottom of each card. and some yellow or orange candy dots to each card as well.

then i tried to come up with some fun sentiments, based on the fruits. the banana was pretty easy. the orange was super easy. obviously, when i see lemons, i think of "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". but that's the expected. i googled lemon sentiments (the wonders of the world wide web ;)), and found this one.

wouldn't this be so much more fun to receive in your mailbox 😉
smile tag – a creating keepsakes project

April 27, 2011

remember the easter layout i shared last week? i was working with ribbon scraps for the accent on that layout, and was asked to make a fun little tag as well.

i don't remember seeing this in the march/april issue, so i'm not sure if it landed somewhere else. lol! i used lots of scraps from my layout for this tag. the papers were all out, and i had my slice out for my title. so i incorporated those things onto this tag. along with the same scrap ribbon pieces from the easter basket accent.

i pieced together some of the paper scraps, onto a plain white shipping tag. i used my favorite scallop border punch on the striped paper, and layered 2 strips on top of each other. i sliced my "smile" sentiment on some brown woodgrain pattern paper, and added a felt flower brad to dot the "i". i added the green ribbon to form the stem of my flower, pleating as i went.

for the flower, i cut small pieces of different ribbons. i think they were about 2 inches in length. i would add a mini glue dot to hold the ends together, to form a little loop. then i glue dotted them one by one, into a circle. i added the flair button to the center, using a large pop dot, to cover the ends of all the ribbons.

back to work. i have 4 little ones running all over the house right now. a 1 yr old, a 2 yr old, a 3 yr old, and a 4 yr old. it's been quiet here the last few months, so it's nice to have all this energy in the house for a change. although i might re-think that at the end of the day, considering how many toys they've taken out already, that i'll have to put away later. lol!
hello – a jillibean soup card

April 26, 2011

just stopping by for a quick share of a card i had up on the jillibean soup blog yesterday.

i used papers from the dutch mustard soup collection, along with the label die cut. some fun new printed chipboad letters, and my favorite polka dot ribbon.

that's all i have for now. yesterday was a busy day, with the girls home from school. lots of little ones around this week as well. so i'm using the few free minutes i have here and there, to catch up on stuff around here. will be back tomorrow with something. not sure what yet. but something 🙂
slice – hands free mat tips

April 25, 2011

i wanted to share a few simple tips using the hands free mat, for the slice. the hands free kit is a MUST, for any slice owner. and not just because it's magnetic, and you don't have to hold the slice while it's cutting. although that's cool. i think the biggest thing i have noticed with the hands free kit, is that you get cleaner and more accurate cuts.

for adhesive, i find that the repositionable spray adhesive works the best and gives the most even coverage. and it will last you a long time, on your mat. i know some think that you have to put a fresh coat of adhesive on, every time you go to use your slice. but did you know that it's ok to leave the adhesive on, in between uses? i simply place a 12×12 sheet of cardstock on my mat. it will cover most of the glass, especially the areas that you actually do the cutting on. the tackiness from the adhesive holds the paper there, until you're ready to use the mat again. i just tuck my mat away, or on my expedit shelf.

when i'm ready to slice again, i just remove the cardstock, putting it to the side to use again when i'm done. i have left the adhesive on my mat for up to three weeks or more. and the mat is still tacky and useable, even after that much time has passed since it's last use. occasionally, i might want a little more stickiness on the mat. if the mat it still looking pretty clean, i will just spray another coat of the spray adhesive right over the previous coat. it works just fine.

obviously, if you have too much build up or gunk on your mat, you will need to clean it and start fresh with your adhesive. but if it's looking pretty good, don't be so quick to think you need to start from the beginning. sometimes, i might only slice a few shapes. and then it will be a week or two, before i slice anything else. these are really the times where this comes in handy, since you havn't done enough to really wear out your adhesive yet. if you've been slicing like crazy, and doing a TON of cutting, then it might be time to clean up and start fresh.

as for cleaning the mat. with my original glass mat, i used to just toss it in the sink and scrub all the adhesive off. but with the hands free mat, you cannot submerge the mat in water. it's magnetic, and has the cushy side on the back for embossing. you don't want to get the mat really wet. i know there's so many ways that people go about cleaning their mat. i'm just sharing my way with you. take it or leave it. i use a mr clean magic eraser. it doesn't have to be the "extra power" one, that's just what i had handy.

i cut one of the sponges into small pieces. usually, just one square will work for each cleaning. i get it wet, and squeeze out the excess water. and then i rub it around the mat, in a circular motion. it gets all the adhesive up and loose, so that i can just wipe it off the mat. i do tend to get bits of adhesive in the grooves along the edge of the mat, and that does drive me crazy. so every once in a while, i get in there with a toothpick, and flick it all out.

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how i missed my flight

April 22, 2011

as promised. the rest of my story on how i got home from st louis CKC. first the layout.

this layout wasn't planned. it just sort of happened. i'm taking kelly purkey's sketchbook 3 class. and i also have some studio calico kits laying around, that i havn't used yet. i thought it would be fun to use the two things together. i was building this layout, without any idea of what i would do with it, or what photos would go on it. sort of like backwards scrapping. lol! the basic grey pattern paper with the buildings is so cool, but i had no clue what i would put on it. it sort of reminded me of a big city feel, and then i thought of st louis, which felt "big city" to me. then it came to me. i would make a photo-less layout about how i missed my flight home.

onto the story. a long story. sorry, but i'm a lengthly story-teller 😉

as soon as i was done teaching, i was going to head to the airport, to catch my 7:25pm flight home to sacramento. carla was going to be driving home to chicago, after she dropped me off at the airport. we left the convention center almost two hours early, knowing the airport was only about 20 minutes away.

but as soon as we got onto the highway, we hit stop and go traffic. we were inching along, not knowing what was going on up ahead of us. after a while, we realized we were going from three lanes, down to two lanes. then a while later, we went from two lanes, down to one lane. turns out, a semi truck was stalled on the highway, putting traffic at a standstill. even after passing the semi, traffic was still stop and go.

so carla got off the highway at the next exit, and started following her GPS to get us going on the backstreets. honestly, i was not very confident that we were going anywhere near the right way. then again, i had no clue where we were, so i kept quiet, and let her drive. we knew we were going towards the famous arch landmark, and we knew we had to cross the bridge over the mississippi river. we finally came to a street that headed towards a bridge. but it was stop and go. one lane, over the bridge. there must have been other bridges, because this one was moving slower than a snail.

we were watching the time, and i knew we would be cutting it super close, to get to the airport in time. i knew it was a smaller airport, so i thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to get there closer to take off time. but i was still feeling really nervous cutting it so close. the rest of our drive was pretty quiet. carla was making some nervous chatter, and was apologizing over and over. and i was just quiet, because inside i was worried about what would happen to me. i knew there were no later flights out. i am not a big travel person, and had no idea what they do with people when they miss their flights. i was tired and wanted to be on my way home. but i didn’t get upset, since i knew it was out of our hands. traffic is traffic, and there’s no way around it.

we finally got over the bridge, and onto a real highway, that was moving at normal speed limits. we still had about 10 miles to go. and about 35 minutes to spare. i had my papers out, my drivers license out, and was all ready to make a dash for it. we pulled up to the terminal, and it was 7:05. i had 20 minutes, and i was convinced i could make it. i was all disoriented when i ran inside. trying to figure out what gate i was at, what my flight number was, trying to check the board. the airport was deserted too. no one around, except workers closing up and a few stragglers. that might have been my first clue, looking back at it now. lol!

i found out that i had to go downstairs, to get to my gate. so i got on the escalator. but i was trying to rush. so i decided i didn't have time to casually go down the escalator, and that i should walk down it in a rushed manner. i was carrying my laptop bag, a hoodie, and i went to pick up my carry on suitcase. which was super heavy. and i had on my big boots. add all those things up, and a moving escalator, and you know what happened next, right? if you guessed that i ate it on the escalator, you'd be right. lol! yep, i fell. and not gracefully, considering everything i had in my hands. lol! and even though the airport was deserted, there did just happen to be an older couple sitting on a bench at the end of the escalator. honestly, it had to be the funniest thing to watch. the lady kept saying "are you ok, dear? are you ok?". and i jumped right back up, and picked up all my stuff, and kept saying "i'm fine. i'm fine. i'm so late". they must have thought i was crazy.

i get downstairs, and end up at security. not a single person around. yet there were about 12 security workers. that's not intimidating, right? lol! i was so frazzled at this point, that i had no clue what i was even doing. and i guess because there wasn't anyone around, i actually believed that the security guy would let me thru without all the normal hassles. but no. i had to take off my shoes, unpack my laptop, take off my belt, unpack my cell phone, ipod, take out my quart sized bag of toiletries. and then wait, as 12 security guards watched my stuff go thru. i got everything gathered up and started running.

i headed to my gate, which of course, was ALL the way at the end of the terminal. figures. everything was shutting down around me. workers were leaving. there wasn't another passenger in sight. i kept doing the half walk, half sprint, to my gate. remember, i had just been on my feet, teaching classes for 7 hours. i was already tired. i get to the gate, and my plane is right there. i can see it. but there's no representative at the gate. no one around. i start walking back, thinking i could find someone to help. finally, the lady came out from behind the door. and the first thing she said to me was "you missed it". ugh. i honestly believe that if i had been there 5 minutes earlier, i would have made it.

right away, she goes to book me a new flight. i was so worried about what would happen to me, and it was actually really simple to take care of. i didn't even have to pay anything extra. i said i needed to go to sacramento. so she asks if i can fly to LAX. "ummm. NO". i don't live anywhere close to los angeles. she asked if someone could pick me up at LAX. "ummm. NO". that's no where near me, i tell her. soooo. she gets me on a flight out the next morning, at 8:00am. a flight from st louis to chicago. and then a flight from chicago, back home. i'm doing some quick thinking in my head. i'd need a hotel room, which costs money. i would need a way back to the airport. which costs money. BUT. carla was driving back to chicago that evening. the same place my first flight would take me in the morning. so i made a quick decision, and asked the lady it i found my way to chicago, could i just fly home from there. then i called carla, and told her to get her tush back to the airport to pick me back up.

i actually thought it was pretty funny. that i was making a 4 hour drive with carla, to chicago, just to save myself a plane ride to the same place. i also thought it was funny, because when i originally made my travel plans to go to CKC, carla had asked me if i would stay until sunday. but i didn't want to spend my entire day traveling, and would rather fly home in the evening. which is why i was going home saturday night. she also asked me at one point, if i would consider flying into chicago, so that i could meet her family. and then driving to CKC with her. but the thought of a 4 hour drive made no sense to me.

and yet, this is exactly what ended up happening. lol! i wasn't even upset at that point. i thought it was funny. i told her my entire airport story, about the running and the falling, and all that crazy stuff. i told her a few times that "this is going to make a great blog post". i even talked about how it would be funnier, if i did it in a video. i should have. but i write a long enough story. imagine how long it would be if i talked about it. i know carla enjoyed having me along for the ride. a 4 hour drive by yourself, isn't as fun as it sounds. we chatted the entire way, and pulled into chicago at about 1:00am.

we went in her house, and her dog went crazy. she's huge, and was all over me. i'm a dog person, but she's huge. it was a little overwhelming for 1:00am. her barking woke up carla's daughter, kendall. so i got to meet her. i have talked to her on the phone a few times, and she's super sweet. we peeked in on her son aiden, and he gave me the biggest smile, even though he was half asleep. she showed me around the house, and i got to see her scraproom in person. which was pretty cool. i've seen pictures of it, but it was totally different then i expected, seeing it in person. and it's kind of cool now, because when she talks about things in her room, i know exactly what she's talking about. then her hubby woke up, and i got to meet him. they set me up on the couch in the living room, and i think we went to bed around 2:30am. i was awake at 7:15am, since we had to be out the door at 8:00am. the dog was waiting for me when i got up. i think she might have missed me most of all, after i left. lol!

i was flying out of ohare airport, which i found out is HUGE. bigger than denver. so we made sure to get me there two hours early. it was 45 minutes from carla's house too. i ended up doing a lot more car time then i planned on. i made it thru security in about 10 minutes, picked up some starbucks, and found my gate. found out my plane was delayed 30 minutes. so i sat down and settled in for a long wait. i called a friend, and we chatted for about an hour to pass the time. and then i people watched. finally got on my plane.

when the lady had re-booked me for this flight, she asked if i could do the emergency door. i didn't care, as long as i made it home. i was right smack next to that door, and i made sure to read the directions for how to open the door if needed. i figured my luck wasn't going that great at this point, so i better be sure. i had the window seat (a must for me), and no one ended up sitting in the middle seat. we had TONS of leg room. i joked to the other dude that having a little responsibility (the exit door), was a small price to pay for the extra leg room. i had a 4.5 hour flight home. which actually went by pretty fast. luckily, i was on united, which plays shows and movies without charging you. "the big bang theory" and "hawaii 5-0" must be big on these planes, since that's the second flight i've been on that i've watched those shows. and i watched half of "tron", before i was totally lost on what was going on. my ipod kept me busy the rest of the time, along with a magazine i read front to back, and a few snoozes here and there.

i arrived safely back on home turf, 30 minutes early. so i got there on time, with our 30 minute delay. found my car with no problems, and was on the road for my hour drive back home. i spent 9 hours that day traveling and in airports. but with the 2 hour difference, i actually got home at 3:00pm. not too bad. i totally zoned out the rest of the day, i was so tired.
easter egg hunt – a creating keepsakes layout

April 21, 2011

since easter is this coming weekend, i thought it would be a good time to share this layout from a recent issue of creating keepsakes.

as seen in the March/April 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. copyright creative crafts group. posted with prior permission from the publisher.

i created this easter layout for the march/april issue. when i got asked to do an easter layout, i wasn't sure what photos i even had to work with. it's gotten harder with the girls getting older. they're not always into things like easter egg hunts. so i dug deep, and found these photos from 2002.

i used some american crafts pattern papers, and lots of making memories die cuts. i used my slice to create the title, and i pop dotted the "egg hunt" piece. i cut my journaling block from a piece of lined pattern paper. i'm pretty sure i had to make that about 4 times, since i kept messing my what i was writing. lol!

i can tell that these photos were from our first easter, after we moved to where we are now. this was actually at my parents house, who live like two blocks away from us. and we moved within a few months of each other. in a few of the pics (that i didn't use), i could see the houses next to them in different stages of the building process. anyways. that was totally random. lol!

i created this fun easter basket, using scraps of ribbon. i started out by sketching out a basket shape on cardstock, to fit the space i had on my layout. i covered the paper with adhesive, and adhered my first ribbon across the bottom of the basket. then i just did one ribbon at a time, weaving them together. i'm not even sure how to explain how exactly i did that, since i made this layout back in october of last year. lol! i want to say i did one across the bottom, and then one down the side. then the next one up on the bottom, and the next one along the side. the adhesive will help hold the ribbon in place. but then i also added mini glue dots at each end of the ribbon as well, to really secure it.

once i had all the ribbons on the basket, i trimmed off any excess hanging off the sides. i adhered it to my layout using pop dots, so that i could still tuck my easter eggs in. i added the last piece of ribbon, for the handle of the basket.

for my "eggs", i used an assortment of embellishments. i basically went thru my stash, looking for anything oval shaped. i had some large rhinestones, a few super old printed foam charms, and some pearls and gems. to fill in the spaces, and to add in the colors that were missing, i hand cut a few extra ovals from pattern paper. i just glue dotted them all together, layering them up and tucking them in the "basket". once my basket was filled to my liking, i was done 🙂
a few favorite songs

April 20, 2011

i'm short on words tonight. i do have an easter layout that i'm going to share on thursday. since i heard a rumor that easter is this weekend. lol! and i still have the rest of my story about how i made it home from CKC, which i think i'll share on friday. just been super busy here with assignments. so i thought i would toss some music on the blog today.

just noticed that half these video's won't play unless you go to youtube first. my bad. wasn't that way before. lol! you can still click on them and it will take you right there, if you want to check them out.

when it comes to music, i've always been a country girl. i love country music. but i have to admit, that lately, i seem to be listening to more pop. or whatever you call the music the girls listen too. lol! so there are times when i'm clicking thru the stations while driving, and i don't recognize a lot of the country music nowdays. i still listen to country, but i'm just not as in-the-know about what's out right now. here's a few favorites that have been playing on my ipod a lot lately.

i had to toss this one up here. this is from one of the recent awards shows. and i thought this performance was fantastic. i'm a huge fan of carrie underwood (she's great in concert too). and i know steven tyler's stuff from back in the day (meaning, in my youth years ;)). mix these together, and i just loved it.
she is lovely – a pebbles layout

April 19, 2011

yesterday, on the pebbles blog, it was "mix match monday". it's when the a few of the design team girls create a project, and pull elements from more than one collection together. it's a great way to show how these collections can all work together. here is my take on the theme.

i decided to use pieces from all three of the newest collections. i pulled elements from the happy go lucky collection, the ever after collection, and the mr & mrs collection for my layout. i used three pattern papers, one from each collection.

that border sticker up top is from the mr & mrs collection. after adding it to my layout, i machine stitched across the top of it. i cut a piece of yellow scrap cardstock into a tag shape, for my title piece. the silver alphas are from the mr & mrs collection, and the black alphas are from the happy go lucky collection.

i did a little ribbon pleating at the bottom of the layout. some of my favorite dotted ribbon, with a mix of epoxy brads and a fun flower brad, both from the happy go lucky collection.

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