The Constant Scrapper

If I'm not scrapbooking I'm thinking about scrapbooking!

12x12 layouts using 6x6 paper

The accidental selfie

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AccidentalSelfie_Daquila-Pardo

My mom likes to have photos of people, places and events, but she doesn’t really like to take photos. She has just never learned much over the years about any of the cameras she and Dad owned, so she isn’t comfortable with one in her hand.

And once her film camera started acting up a few years ago, she insisted that she would not replace it with a digital camera. No way. She wouldn’t even consider it. “But Mom, digital cameras are great, and that’s just about all you can find these days.” It didn’t matter what Phil and I said, Mom wasn’t budging.

Until 2011, when she had a trip all planned to Germany, and her old-timey film camera shuddered…and shuttered no more. Then she asked for help in picking out a new camera, and guess what she came home with. You guessed right, I’m sure. She had stepped into the digital age.

Phil and I took a great deal of time to teach her how to use it and take her on outings for practice so that she would be assured of getting some nice shots on her European adventure. And we coached her about taking lots of photos because she and Dad had always taken just a few shots of most occasions because of the price of film and developing. She was nervous about all of it, but she packed up her Canon in its spiffy new case (making sure to take lots of extra batteries) and headed to Deutschland.

Now, being fair to her, she did bring home a number of nice photos from that trip. It really was an all-around good first effort for a new digital photographer. But I think you’ll understand why it’s this shot that is my absolute favorite.

Product/technique notes:
I was inspired by this great PageMaps sketch and used patterned paper from the My Mind’s Eye “My Favorite Things” 6×6 pad. The camera die cut is from American Crafts/Amy Tangerine.
PageMaps sketch

Gossip girls

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GossipGirls_Daquila-Pardo

Sometimes what you need is just a night out with the girls.

I’ve met a really fun group of women just by shopping at my local Archiver’s scrapbook store. Every person in this photo, except me, works or has worked at Archiver’s. We met because of a shared hobby, but when we get together, talking about scrapbooking is not on the agenda!

We all gathered on January 4th to celebrate the new year and to see our friend, Sri, who is pursuing her Master’s at the University of Pennsylvania and was home for the holidays. It was a happy few hours…lots of gabbing and laughing.

Front row: Jacquie, Sri, Jennifer, Deborah
Back row: Heather, Ashley, Virginia, me
Not pictured: Susan

Product/technique notes:
I created this layout to participate in the “Use your stash” challenge at Write. Click. Scrapbook. We have to use at least three older products on a project, and on this layout everything is older. Here’s my list: the background paper is from the English Moss collection by ColorBok; the rest of the patterned paper is from the BasicGrey Hello Luscious 6×6 pad; the paper crimper I used on the larger horizontal strip is ooooold; and the McGill mini file tab punch is also from way back in the day.

I also used this sketch from Creative Scrappers:
Creative Scrappers sketch 243 by Juliana Michaels

Time flies when we’re together

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TimeFlies_Daquila-Pardo

I always hate to see my baby bro go back home after our holiday visits.

This photo of me and my baby bro just reminds me of how much fun we had when he came to visit us right after Christmas and into the new year. We were at the airport saying our goodbyes, and Matt snapped a few shots of us. I chose this one out of the bunch because I loved Phil’s laughing smile.

The title has a double meaning: how time figuratively flies when we’re hanging out together and because Phil was about to get on a plane and fly home.

Product/technique notes:
I cut that white background shape with my Cameo and backed the openings with My Mind’s Eye Lime Twist: Out of the Blue patterned papers. I also used MME’s January sketch and am entering this in their sketch challenge.
MME January sketch challenge

Hey, I have great news: I won the sketch contest at My Mind’s Eye! The winner gets a collection of his/her choice, so I picked Collectable » Unforgettable. Yay!

Knave training

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KnaveTraining_Daquila-Pardo

I am a total newbie to Renaissance festivals. It was such an interesting culture!

We spent a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon immersing ourselves in the sights and sounds of Sherwood Forest Faire, a Renaissance festival in McDade, Texas. We watched a jousting match and a magic show, threw axes and shot with a bow and arrows (my favorite!). Matt grew up attending Ren fests, but I didn’t, so this was all new to me. It was such an interesting culture! Everyone who worked the event was decked out in period wear, which I expected. But many of the attendees had even better costumes! It was a fun day.

Product/technique notes:
I used this fun sketch from Crafty Sketches:
Crafty Sketches March 2012 sketch

The papers I used for the flags are from BasicGrey’s Oxford collection.

The Lord God made them all

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It’s already time for the June Sketches With a Twist challenge—the last design of my term with them. I am very proud to have created this sketch, although I’ll admit that it’s a little harder than usual, which is why I’ve included a tutorial below for making the Cathedral Window quilt pieces! Here’s a little peek at my new sketch:

The Sketches With a Twist June sketch

The twist this month is to incorporate fabric into your design. I’m not a seamstress (yet), so I used felt! Felt is fabric, isn’t it? 😉

Rescues_Daquila-Pardo

Every animal we have rescued stays in my heart.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
~Cecil F. Alexander, Hymns for Little Children, 1848

Matt and I are rescuers. Animals in need find us, and we can’t turn away. It’s added a lot of joy to our lives to open ourselves to this avocation. And of course, with the joy comes a bit of pain because not all our rescues can be saved. As in most things that matter, though, the joy makes the pain worth enduring.

This layout features photos of just three of the animals we’ve helped:

  • The possum we named Head (after a character with a large head in So I Married an Ax Murderer). Sadly, Head was too injured by the car that hit him, and he did not make it.
  • The chicken Matt rescued from Mopac Highway and was promptly named…Mopac…before we found her a home on a little farm in Buda, Texas.
  • And the German short-haired pointer who we named Budro (for the dog in Grosse Pointe Blank) before placing him with the local German short-haired pointer rescue group.

My layout is intended to celebrate all the animals we’ve rescued and to symbolize the way they each add themselves to the quilt of our lives.

The tutorial

So you think this sketch looks intimidating? I’m here to help! After creating my layout with this sketch, I realized that I could probably help others use it if I revealed a few of the measurements and techniques I used.

The three photos on this sketch are 3 inches from corner to corner, not 3 inches square. A square that measures 2⅛ will have a diagonal measurement of 3 inches, so that’s the size to which you should crop your photos.

For the nine Cathedral Window quilt pieces you see on the sketch, you’ll need to punch either nine 3-inch circles of double-sided patterned paper OR nine 3-inch circles of single-sided patterned paper and nine 2-1/16-inch squares of different patterned papers. I wanted all my folded pieces to be the same pattern, so I used the second method for my quilt pieces.

Here's a template for the Cathedral Window quilt pieces you'll need to cut.

Place your 2-1/16-inch squares centered on your circle and score around the outside edges. Once you fold up the four edges you’ll have a 2⅛-inch square quilt piece.

Here is a template I created to help you place your quilt pieces (if you want to follow the sketch exactly). I used these measurements, and everything lined up just right! Click on this smaller image to download the full-sized version.

Here's a template for placing the Cathedral Window quilt pieces on your layout.

I really hope this tutorial is helpful to those of you who want to use my sketch. I am very happy with how my layout looks, so I hope you’ll try it with a few of your photos, too. And don’t forget to link up your page to the Sketches With a Twist challenge.