Janice Daquila-Pardo

First gift

October 30, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

What could be a more romantic first gift from a boyfriend than a copy of Army of Darkness?

When I was growing up we didn’t really get into fantasy, sci fi or horror movies and books. My husband, on the other hand, grew up in a family that was immersed in them. It’s funny because it took Matt quite a while to get used to the idea that I didn’t know all the same stories he did. But this all started while we were dating back in 1996, and I horrified Matt for the first of many times when I admitted that I hadn’t seen the movie “Army of Darkness.” You’d have thought I told him I had never learned how to tie my shoes for as put out as Matt was to learn of my incomplete education.

So the next time we got together for a date Matt had a gift for me: the VHS of “Army of Darkness.” And he made me stick it in the VCR and watch it that very night. It makes me giggle to realize that this was the first gift Matt was ever to give me. When I mentioned this to him the other night while preparing to create this page about it he said, “Geez, what a lame first gift!” Oh, I don’t know. It’s kitschy; it’s bloody; it has some great quotable lines. That seems like a pretty memorable beginning to our relationship.

Product/technique notes

Using the My Mind’s Eye sketch below as inspiration and all MME products, I created this non-Halloween project using almost all Halloween supplies. I designed and cut the title with my Cameo.

Scare me

October 25, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

This photo of us in 2010 was taken right after we had completed the Scare for a Cure haunted adventure. So fun!

I’m not really one for scary movies. I just don’t like the tension of waiting for the next startling moment so I can jump back in my seat and shriek. And I really don’t like the movies that are about the truly horrifying things that humans can do to each other. (Shiver)

So when I won two free tickets to an interactive haunted house back in 2010, I felt dubious about my “prize.” But I couldn’t help myself from winning that contest. Matt and I were attending a “Sean of the Dead” quote-along event at the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater, and the night started with a little contest. The first person to raise his/her hand once the question was asked would have the first chance to answer the question. And the question was about “Sean of the Dead,” which I happen to know quite well, having seen it several times . As soon as the guy up on stage started asking the question, I knew the answer, and my arm shot into the air unbidden by my conscious brain.

Emcee: What nickname (my hand shoots up) does Sean’s mother call him?
Me: Pickle
Emcee: You’ve won two red-level tickets (the scarier version) to the Scare for a Cure interactive multimedia haunted adventure!
Me: Yay?

But we had such a blast! We got chased and spooked and covered in blood and gore. And we laughed the entire time. So we’ve purchased tickets each year since (they put on a completely new adventure each year). In fact, we’re going with some friends tomorrow night, and I can’t wait.

Product/technique notes

I cut several pieces from the Carta Bella “All Hallow’s Eve” collection and layered them to create the subtle feel of a mummy’s wraps. Then I cut a mummy (Design ID #33022 from the Silhouette store) in three layers on the Silhouette Cameo and spritzed each with different shades of mist to create depth and difference.

You don’t know you’re beautiful

October 22, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

We just love when Jake's lip gets caught on his gums and it gives him this crooked smile look.

The 13th sketch challenge has been posted at the SCRAP & MUSIC challenge blog! Head over to the site to grab the sketch, which I’m proud to have designed, and play along. This 13th sketch came with the song “What makes you beautiful” by One Direction.

My layout

When we rescued Jake several years back he was injured and living as part of a feral cat colony a few miles from our house. His left arm had been injured badly, and the vet said it appeared he had been living with it that way for several months. So to save his life his arm had to be amputated. I know it’s sad to see anyone living without a limb, but the truth is that Jake has done really well adjusting to balancing on three legs instead of four. In fact he’s a speed demon on his way to the kitchen at feeding time, he’s a really good “hockey” player (he just rears up on his legs and uses his good arm) and he has the most delightful, loving personality. He just seems thrilled to be alive.

Jake has also had to have his front teeth removed, so he sports this adorable little crooked “smile” when his lip gets hung up on his gums. Despite all that (or perhaps because of it), our Jake is so beautiful, inside and out. This is why I used the “You don’t know you’re beautiful” line from the assigned song for this challenge.

Product/technique notes

The majority of the patterned papers on this page are from American Crafts’ “Ready, set, go” collection. The flag and flair are from BasicGrey. I designed the title in Silhouette Studio and cut it on my Cameo.

The challenge

The challenges on this blog involve following the sketch and using a title on your layout with a line from the provided music. Below I’ve included the video as well as the lyrics for this song:

“What makes you beautiful” by One Direction
You’re insecure, don’t know what for
You’re turning heads when you walk through the door
Don’t need make-up, to cover up
Being the way that you are is enough

Everyone else in the room can see it
Everyone else but you

Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell
You don’t know oh oh
You don’t know you’re beautiful

If only you saw what I can see
You’ll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe
You don’t know oh oh
You don’t know you’re beautiful oh oh
But that’s what makes you beautiful

So come on, you got it wrong
To prove I’m right I put it in the song
I don’t know why, you’re being shy
And turn away when I look into your eyes

Everyone else in the room can see it
Everyone else but you

Na-na-na-na-na-naaa-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na-naaa-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na

If only you saw what I can see
You’ll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe
You don’t know oh oh
You don’t know you’re beautiful oh oh
You don’t know oh oh
That’s what makes you beautiful

Fork in the road

October 19, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Sometimes it's the quickest decisions that make us the happiest. Like when I met Matt while working in this building and blurted out an invitation for a date!

Some jobs in life are just a means to a paycheck. But not this one!

I was recently visiting my family in North Carolina, and while we were walking UNC’s campus I asked my bro to take a few photos of me in front of the building in which I used to work. Manning Hall houses, among a few other smaller programs, the School of Information and Library Science. I was the Director of Communication there in 1995-97. It was my first professional position after finishing grad school, so it was quite exciting and important to me when I took it on. I gained a lot of experience and worked with rich, interesting people.

But what ends up being the most notable part of my time there is that it’s where I met Matt.

Matt was a graduate student (same age as me) in the info science program, and he was assigned to work with me on a web project. We hit it off right away, as you might imagine. And after about a week of meetings with him to talk and work on all things web, I did the unthinkable. Without knowing I was going to say it, I asked him out!

I’m not going to lie; there were bumps in the road to our dating. Like the fact that Matt had a girlfriend whom he hadn’t mentioned. Gulp. But the short version of the story is that everything worked out nicely. He broke things off with the girlfriend, we dated, he proposed (no, I didn’t have to do that!) and we married. And have been married for 16 years this month.

So Manning Hall holds a special place on my résumé and in my heart!

Product/technique notes

I used papers from the new Fancy Pants “Happy-go-lucky!” collection. Just look how well they go with my photos! I stamped the heart at the top and the leaves that serve as embellishment at the bottom. And I designed the title in Silhouette Studio and cut it with the Cameo.

There’s always room for ice cream

October 9, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

I know it's hard to believe, but I actually do love these two more than ice cream.

I thought I would share a Silhouette technique today. I had a lot of fun concocting this layout in my head, then in my Silhouette Studio software and finally in physical form.

I completed this look by building the page as much from the back as from the front. Here’s how:

I was looking for a novel way of highlighting my main photo, so I started surfing my Silhouette library for ideas. When I saw this “Folded Sunburst Card” shape, the light bulb went on. Why not cut the sunburst aperture from my background paper and put the photo behind it?
the Silhouette shape I used to highlight my main photo

So I opened the file and deleted all the card bits, leaving only the sunburst. I re-sized the shape to be a little smaller than a 4 x 4 photo and dragged it to the top third of a full 12 x 12 page in Silhouette Studio.

To add to the building from beneath theme, I set up my title to cut from the background paper as well. So that I would be sure to leave enough room between the sunburst and the title for the other photos I planned to use, I added those to the design in Silhouette Studio but I set them to “no cut.” Like this:
How my file looked before cutting

So that’s it. I laid down my patterned paper (from My Mind’s Eye “Cut and Paste: Flair” collection), cut this out all at once, backed it with white card stock and then built my page on top of it. And now I have a layout that has lots of depth and texture without lots of bulk.

Oh, and the photos are from a stop we made at a neat little ice cream place in North Carolina while I was home visiting Mom and Phil this August.

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