Laura Vegas

in awe – a pebbles layout

February 18, 2011

i wanted to share a layout i had up on the pebbles blog yesterday.

we were given this sketch from becky fleck, and asked to create a layout from it. i've mentioned before how much i enjoy working from sketches. i created this layout right after getting back from CHA. i was a little drained, creatively, from all the projects i did leading up to CHA. so having a sketch to work from, was perfect timing. the page design was all done for me. it was just a matter of plugging in all the photos and products.

i was digging around for photos to use with the sketch, and came across these pictures of alyssa from a few years ago. i have scrapped a few of her photos from that day. probably even the ones that are on here. but i wanted to scrap them again, because i love them so much. i pulled my pattern papers from a few of pebbles older collections.

i really wanted to use that darker grey dot paper as my background, but i only had half a sheet of it. not a problem. i simple cut four strips, about 1.5 inches wide. i trimmed the edges at an angle, so that i could butt them up against each other. i adhered them all along the edges of a white piece of cardstock. then i trimmed down the yellow pattern paper, and adhered it in the center. it totally looks like the grey paper is my background paper, even though i only had a few strips of it.

i really kept to the sketch for most of my layout. the background, the papers, the photos, the circle with the title. i even used a punch along the edge of the green cardstock, to mimic the border in the sketch. i did mix up the embellishments a bit. a few chipboard hearts, and some candy dots.

i printed out my journaling on a piece of vellum, and adhered it over a piece of blueish cardstock. you can't really tell in the picture, but it's the same blue that's in some of the flowers on the floral pattern paper. i just use mini glue dots to adhere my vellum, so you can see the glue dots on the top. i'm sure there's better adhesive for that, and i'm sure i even have some. but i don't stress over those things.

make sure and check out the pebbles blog to see two more takes on this sketch from other pebbles designers.
one lollipop – a jillibean soup layout

February 17, 2011

i have a layout up on the jillibean soup blog today.

check out that photo of sarah. shows so much of her crazy personality. lol! these photos are from 5 years ago. can't believe i had never scrapped them.

i knew i wanted to pull my colors from the photos. sarah had on a purple shirt, and had red ribbons in her pigtails. and the huge lollipop was pink, purple, and red. so i pulled out a few of jillibean's new pattern papers in pink and green, and some red embossed cardstock.

i know i have mentioned about 83 times, how much i love the corrugated alphas. but i'm going to say it again. i LOVE them! i adhered about half of my letters with mini pop dots. adds some interest to the title, to have the two levels of dimension going on. and i find that i almost always use my O's sideways, to make my titles fit. i dotted my "i" with a purple polka dot brad from making memories.

i also really, really LOVE the core'dinations embossed cardstock, that was created for jillibean soup. it has some of their best designs on it, and adds a huge amount of texture, in such a simple way. i'm finding that i use a little bit of this cardstock on almost every jillibean soup project i make. i added the little purple rhinestones at the bottom, to tie in some extra purple.
CHA recap

February 16, 2011

i've been back from CHA for over 2 weeks now, and am just now getting around to sharing a little about the trip. this is partly because i didn't take any photos. shocking, i know. so many of the other girls had cameras, that i left it to them. since we've been back, i have been watching everyone else's blogs and facebook pages, looking for photos that i can "borrow" to share with you. hopefully, no one minds me borrowing them for a bit :)

being at the show with creating keepsakes had to be the highlight of the trip for me. it's such an honor for me to get to work with them so closely, and be a part of so much that they do. CK had a 15 year anniversary party at their booth on the second day. it was really cool that 7 of the 10 dream team girls were able to be at CHA this show. here's the 7 of us, along with 4 of CK's brilliant editors.

this show was so different for me than last year. it wasn't as overwhelming, since i knew what it was about this time around. it felt very familiar, and there were faces i knew everywhere i turned. i spent a lot of time hanging out with the CK dream team girls, walking the floor and checking out all the new products. we also got a chance to thank so many of our sponsers in person, which was really nice.

me, kim watson, linda barber, suzy plantamura, and kelly goree at the basic grey booth.

linda, me, piradee talvanna, kim watson, and stacy cohen at the my cute stamps booth. so many of the booths had these fun props for taking photos. mustaches were a big thing at this show. who'd have thought it. lol!

we took this photo at the EK success booth. they were launching their new smash book, which i think might have been one of the biggest hits of the show. everyone was talking about it. they were taking photos of people (with props of course), and then "smashing" them onto the wall behind us and then signing the wall. lots of fun.

me, piradee, amy tangerine, teresa collins, and kim, at teresa's booth.

we had an awesome and hilarious dinner with the CK bunch. all the dream team girls, and the editors. they knew that both suzy and nichol harper were having birthday's that week, and got them cupcakes to celebrate. i happen to be sitting to suzy's right, and i have never laughed so hard at a dinner. she's absolutely hilarious. but i think she met her match with linda barber. lol! we have so many inside jokes from that dinner. they will follow us to our grave, i'm sure ;)

i got to help out in the pink paislee booth for a few hours, on the first two days. by BFF, lynn, designs for them, and knew they were looking for some extra help. this was my first time working in a booth, and it was such a pretty booth to work in. they have some some really gorgeous collections coming out. i think the daily junque collection was my favorite. you can see lots more photos from their booth HERE.

me and caroline ikeji, who happens to live about an hour from me and we didn't even know it. i met caroline last year at CHA, and i think she's the cutest thing. she's very petite (and i'm slouching way down for this pic, even though i'm pretty short too). my 14 yr old is very petite, and i think she's going to stay that way. i told caroline that i could see my daughter being just like her.

suzanne sergi, lynn ghahary, ashley nguyen newell, and me. lynn is one of my closest BFF's. i have known suzanne for quite a while now. and the three of us are on the pebbles design team together. we had a lot of fun hanging out at the pebbles booth, and checking out the new product since we hadn't seen it in person yet.

the jillibean soup girls. their booth was super cute, as always. and packed all the time. i have no clue why i didn't get a picture with everyone. but i did go out to dinner with all these fabulous ladies one night, and they were a ton of fun. you can see more pics of their booth HERE.

i'm so bummed i didn't get a photo with stephanie at the bella blvd booth. so i borrowed this one from their blog, of linda, suzy, stephanie hunt, and kim. i make no secret of the fact that i'm in some serious LOVE with bella blvd's products. it's almost as if stephanie designs the products just for me and my style. they just fit me. and i was so excited to have quite a few samples in her super cute booth. you can see a layout of sarah, right behind stephanie's head. and my layout of lynn's puppy landed a spot in their catalog 🙂

i got to stop by and see the making memories booth. this is the only photo that i took with my camera. no idea why i took just one picture. lol! their booth focused a lot on the new bravissimo products, with a few new collections and slice cards as well.

the one photo i did actually take (not with my camera), and i cut their heads off. lol! actually, i was doing my "hold the camera up in the air and hope for the best" type of shooting, since we were in a crowded restaurant. my aim was a little off.

now you can see them! on our last night together, suzy, kim, linda, and i all went out for one last dinner together. i loved watching kim at dinners. she's from south africa, and was so in awe, and so intriqued by our foods. it was like seeing things in a whole new light, through her.

i had to laugh at this photo of linda and i, that suzy took. she said the flash had made us look super washed out. so she used some program to "fix" us. i'm not exactly sure what she did to linda. but turns out, she did a whole makeover on me. she put some lip color on me, added some blush, whitened my teeth and my eyes. i'm terrible at putting makeup on. so i told suzy that she'll need to come and move in with me, to edit me every morning. lol!

i'm sure there are a million other stories i could tell you about CHA. and there's so many important things that i'm sure i left out. i sort of told this recap, based on the photos i was able to collect. it was a great show. there's a TON of new products coming out, that i think are going to be so much fun to work with. there are a ton of gorgeous samples and projects out there, made with these new collections, that will be full of inspiration. i loved seeing so many friends, fellow scrappers, and manufacturers. many of which i only read about online, or only chat with online. i just realized that this was the second time i have met jennifer mcquire, and i still don't have a picture with her. geez.

and at the end of the 4 days, my feet have never been so tired of walking in their life. seriously. it's my own fault, for wearing boots with a big heel on them. but i had too, otherwise, my jeans would all be too long. i made the 5 hour drive back home, getting back to my house at 1:30am. slept until the girls went to school. and then sat on the couch for the next few days.
a few more quick and easy layouts

February 14, 2011

remember the quick and easy camping and beach layouts i shared a few weeks back? here's a few more simple layouts i had created at the same time as those.

just like the camping and beach layouts, these layouts have super old photos on them. i had started layouts with all these photos, but never got around to finishing the layouts. so i really had no problem pulling off the photos and starting over.

these 6 larger photos that go across the two page spread, were already trimmed to this size and matted together. i did switch them onto some yellow cardstock, instead of the white i had them on. the page design is very similiar to what i had started on the old layout. just switched up the papers and products. these pattern papers are all by fancy pants.

i handcut the banner from one of the pattern papers, and added some hand drawn stitching and a few threaded buttons. super easy.

i combined some white thickers and my favorite doodlebug loopy alphabet stickers to make my title. "at the park". i know, it's not the most original title. but we actually were "at the park". lol!

i matted two of the smaller photos on white cardstock, and tucked them behind the striped pattern paper. this layout is so quick and simple. love it.

finally got out my echo park "summertime" papers and put them to use. i actually created this layout to submit for a 15-minute page call. which is why it's so extremely simple.

tucked a few journaling blocks behind the photos. added a cloud stickers up at the top, with a few clear buttons glue-dotted on top.

the tree is also a sticker, and some clear buttons glue-dotted on top. i added the year with little number stickers. easy peasy 🙂
happy valentine’s day

February 14, 2011

since i didn't get around to making any valentine's day projects this year, i'll show you this one again. because i think it's cute. and because it's the one valentine decor item that i happen to put out this year.

hope you all have a happy valentine's day, filled with lots of love!
pardon the dust

February 13, 2011

i took a few days off blogging. life got busy. and now, i have it in my head that i need to freshen up the blog. need a change. a new look. if only it were that simple to make all the changes at once, without everyone watching my changes as i work on it. lol! it's a lot of back and forth, and changing my mind on things and colors. so, if things look different, keep in mind these changes may or may not be there to stay. as i'm typing this, i have changed all of one thing. the background. not sure i'll use that color. have to see what else i do with the banner and such. at some point, it should all tie together. cross your fingers for me. hopefully, i'll have it all figured out my monday 🙂
what keeps us busy

February 9, 2011

i fully admit, i am behind on my photo-a-day project. but i'm not that worried. maybe it's because i don't really think of my project life album as exactly one photo every day. as long as i end up with seven photos a week, i'm good. and sometimes, i take 14 photos in one week, to make up for days i missed the week before. it all works out in the end. yesterday, i took all the following photos. gives a good look at what is keeping us busy these days.

scrapbooking. and with scrapbooking, comes writing up assignments, typing instructions, blogging, submitting, invoicing, supply lists, and so much more. things are actually quite slow right now, coming off all the CHA craziness. but there is a new layout on my desk for next week 😉

i can't avoid it. tax preperation. i started sorting out receipts, so that i can go through and itemize them all. we actually have 3 small businesses set up between joe and i, so it's a lot of paperwork on my end. never joe. just me.

texting. that's what keeps sarah busy. alyssa's not really into the texting that much. but sarah could text all day. she got her cell phone taken away for too much texting, which ended up costing us one too many times. so now she uses her ipod touch to text for free.

alyssa's schedule for high school soccer, for february. they've been conditioning since january, and this week they're having the actual tryouts. they should be finding out who made the team either today or tomorrow.

joe's coaching gear for sarah's all-star team. the one soccer bag in the house, that doesn't reak of soccer stink. lol!

my stack of magazines and idea books is getting pretty big. this is when i know i need to weed through them. this is almost all scrapbook magazines and idea books. but there are a few rachael ray magazines, and gossip mags in there too. i'm pretty sure the gossip is old gossip by now, but i'll read it.

homework. the girls LOVE homework. NOT. lol! alyssa actually doesn't have that much homework, for being a freshman. or maybe it's that she just gets all her homework done in classes, after finishing her classwork. sarah's fallen a little behind on classwork for some reason. but she's worked her tush off this week, to get back on track.

sarah's schedule for january. which is still up on her white board. she even wrote down band and music, even though that's something she does at school. and ignore the "soccer game" on sundays. she didn't realize games were only on satudays.

the top shelf of alyssa's bookshelf. she has TONS of books, and she reads them all. some of them, she reads a few times through. she's a huge reader, and is keeping a running list of what she's read all year.

this is alyssa's music stand in her room. she was always balancing her music on her bed or the couch. so for 8th grade graduation, we got her a really nice music stand, and she loves it.

alyssa's schedule for dinner theater at church. the youth group puts on this huge performance each year. you go and have sit down dinner, they serve you, and put on a show for you while you eat. they've been working hard on it, and have tons of rehearsals. it's really hard to work some of them in with everything else she has going on. but she really enjoys doing it.

eleven photos, taken in one day, all at the same time. but in the grand scheme of the album, no one will ever know. the general idea of capturing our day to day life is totally there 🙂
we love you – a creating keepsakes layout

February 7, 2011

remember THIS BOOK that i made for haley, back when she left for preschool? i had created a few last minute layouts to add to the book, before having it printed. and this is the final layout, that was at the end of the book.

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

i originally created this layout for one of my jillibean soup monthly assignments. then it got picked up by creating keepsakes so quickly, that it was never shown on their blog. and i had to hold off sharing it, when i shared her book.

for the photos, i went through my files and found sixteen of my favorite photos of haley that spanned her three and a half years with us. they are all in order by age, left to right, top to bottom. so fun to see her growing up through these photos. because i had so many colors going on in these photos, i changed them all to black and white, to simplify things.

i printed each photo as a 3×3 inch square. sometimes, when i print at home, they actually come out a little smaller. no idea why. i print as a borderless 8.5×11, but it still shrinks everything just a teeny tiny bit. this makes a difference, when i'm lining up my photos from one side of the page to the other. so i was left with a little gap on one side. just worked it into my design. but i had wanted the photos to go all the way across, just like the filmstrip patterned paper.

i printed out the dates when haley started coming to us and when she left, along with her ages. i was going to hand journal it onto the journaling sprout. but everytime i use my own handwriting, i feel like i ruin my layouts. lol! i know that's not the case, but it's how i see it. yes, i'm my worse critic.

i kept this layout pretty simple. it's mainly photos and paper. one of my "flatter" layouts, if you will. with the exception of some pop dots behind a few of the journaling sprouts.

i loved having this as the ending to her book.
altered “love” box: a making memories project

February 7, 2011

i have a project up on the making memories blog today. a valentine's project. which just made me realize it's only a week until valentine's day.

i used the new jet' adore collection to alter this paper mache box. i thought it would be a fun little box, that you could tuck little candies, lovenotes, or trinkets into. or you could even use it to store valentines cards from over the years. you can find these paper mache boxes at any craft store. don't quote me on this, but i'm 83% sure this box was about 8 inches x 8 inches, and about 3 inches tall.

i started out by painting all the edges and corners of the box and lid, with white acrylic paint. i cut all my paper pieces to size, to fit the sides of the box, the sides of the lid, and the top of the lid. i inked all the edges of the papers, and then decoupaged them onto the box. after they dried, i brushed on an additional coat of mod podge over the papers. this helps secure them even more to the box, helps them hold up to the wear and tear of being an altered project that people like to touch, and gives the papers a nice shiny look to them. you can watch a little video on the making memories blog, that shows you the basics of decoupaging the paper onto the box.

then i added some fun embellishments to the lid of the box. i love the little ticket stubs. i picked out four of them, and stapled them together in a row, adhering them to the lid with pop dots. that sheer polka dot ribbon is so cute, and i tied it all the way around the lid. the heart frame is made of a ceramic sort of material, and i adhered it with mini pop dots. then i simply added a heart die cut in the center, and the gold glittered "LOVE" to the die cut. and it's all ready to give to that special someone.
giveaway winner

February 5, 2011

saturday morning. saturday night. it's all the same, right? i shouldn't have said i would pick a winner this morning, when i knew we would be at soccer games all day. anyways. i used the random number generator thingie, and the winner of the scrapbooking tips & tricks: texture issue is #43:

Your pages are ALWAYS full of amazing texture!!! Thanks so much for the chance- I can always use the inspiration!!! 😀 Posted by: jen shears

congrats jen! email me your mailing address and i'll pass it along to CK, so they can mail out your copy 🙂

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