12x12 layouts using 6x6 paper

A beautiful mess

April 30, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

When new collections come out by my favorite scrap companies I am always tempted to buy. But I rarely get the whole collection because no matter how much I like (even love) it, I just can’t imagine wanting to create that many layouts out of the same look. Add to that the fact that collections have become so expensive. So I have been for some time buying the 6×6 paper pads that many companies are issuing. They have long been favored by card makers because of their smaller-sized patterns, and I quite like the lower price tag as well.

So I am always on the hunt for ways to use pieces of patterned paper that are 6×6 or smaller on my 12×12 layouts. When I find good ways to do this I will share them here in case you, like me, have several 6×6 paper pads or a bin full of scraps waiting to make it into your designs.

I really love the bright, happy feeling I achieved on this baby-themed layout without using any baby-themed papers.

Yup, another layout of me as an adorable baby. 😉 I have a few photos from Mom of me in my high chair, but this one really makes me laugh. How great is life when the likelihood that you’re wearing more food than you ate makes you this happy?

I based this layout on sketch #205 from the Creative Scrappers blog, and I’m entering it into their challenge. I really enjoyed working with this sketch; it’s right up my design alley.

Product/technique notes: I had fun blending companies’ products here, with background paper from American Crafts’ new Amy Tangerine Sketchbook line, accent papers from My Mind’s Eye’s Lime Twist line and shapes from the Silhouette store.

All tucked in

April 22, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

I was about 6 months old in this photo, and Daddy had just put me in bed with Mom.

The simple story behind this photo is that Daddy had arisen when he heard me stir in the other room, and rather than put me back in my crib, he tucked me in bed with my still-sleeping Mommy. Whenever we looked through family photos together over the years, Dad would always say how much he loved that photo.

I created this layout with two online challenges in mind.

Product/technique notes: I just love how the patterns in the MME Six by Six Honey Cake pad matched the colors in my photo. All the stamps and bits and bobs (except the buttons) are also MME.

Easter together

April 8, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

This is a special photo because all 12 cousins were together for it.

My dad was the middle of three children in his family, who always told him he was the thorn between two roses because he was flanked by sisters. This 1969 photo includes all 12 of Dad and his siblings’ children (Nana and Papa’s grandchildren). All of us together (mostly) posing for a photo on Easter morning. Phil and I, the youngest in the clan, are in the lower left corner. It actually looks like our older cousins are having to tether us to keep us in the photo!

I created this layout based on a scraplifting challenge at BasicGrey’s blog. In place of the hearts punched out of several patterns, I decided to create my background with a Martha Stewart All Over Punch. I punched several rows of designs out of brown cardstock before backing them with six different patterned papers from the BG Sweet Threads 6×6 pad. It creates a lovely quilt-like effect.

I’ll be honest: I wouldn’t recommend trying this technique on a layout about just any photo because it took so long to complete. But for this special photo I’m happy to have taken the time. In fact, keep a lookout for a post coming soon, where I’ll do a review of the Martha Stewart All Over Punch tool and offer some tips for using it.

For the love of the game

April 4, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 5 Comments

These photos of me in my softball uniform are from 1977 and 1978.

As a kid I was always very athletic…in my head. In my mind’s eye I made dazzling shoe-top catches and hit long shots over the fence, but in reality I was pretty awkward. I tried really hard, don’t mistake me, but my efforts usually produced boringly average results.

Even so, most of the time (except for the occasional bouts of ennui I experienced at softball practices) I loved being involved in the Willoughby Baseball League. For one thing, my brother was on a boys’ team during that same time, and I liked that we both had WBL uniforms, practices and games down at Todd Fields. I also loved having my family come to my games. If I close my eyes and really put myself back…in my uniform and mitt, hands on my knees in the outfield, sun on my back and feeling silly chanting “Hey, batter batter!”…I can still feel a little of that nervous aliveness that comes from performing in front of loved ones. That feeling that, even though you know they will tell you how well you did no matter what happens, you yearn to do something spectacular for them to see.

I don’t remember how many years I played in the league (these photos are from 1977 and 1978), but I do know that I gained a lot by being part of it. I learned to get along with a different group of girls than those I went to school with, to practice even when I didn’t feel like it, to care about contributing to the team’s success and to overcome my nervousness enough to play my part in that success. Yup, team sports can do all that!

I based this layout on the following PageMaps sketch from February and used papers from the BasicGrey “Oliver” 6×6 pad:

The PageMaps sketch I referenced while making this layout.

It’s a marshmallow world in the winter

December 15, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

Sketchabilities has revealed its latest sketch, #61! Be sure to head over to the site to grab the sketch, then create something and link it up!

Here’s my Design Team layout inspired by the sketch. This shot of my little brother, Phil, and me is in January 1977 when we took our sleds out into the front yard and played in the new-fallen snow. It was great growing up in the snow belt!

January in Ohio meant an opportunity to use our new Christmas sleds!

I used embossed cardstock by Bazzill for the background to give the feel of falling snow. Then I used all patterned papers from Cosmo Cricket. The silhouette of the children sledding is a Silhouette cut file, and the title is a cut file I created.

You know, I had a little trouble with that title. I had the layout all finished and photographed, and I was writing the email to send to Karan, who runs the Sketchabilities site. When I typed in the word “marshmellow,” as I have always spelled it (although, how many of us has to spell that word often?), Outlook told me I had it wrong. NOOOOO! I never knew it was supposed to be “marshmallow!” That meant I had to tear the title off my layout, create a new cut file, cut it out in two colors, add the title back to my layout and photograph it again. Ugh! So, please learn from my mistake. Check all the spellings in your titles before you finish your layout to save yourself lots of time and frustration.

And if anyone would like the Silhouette cut file I created for the title (with the corrected spelling!), please leave me a comment about that and I’ll email it to you. 🙂

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