Layouts based on sketches

You’re a grand old flag

July 6, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

July 4, 1971: I was 4-1/2 and Phil was 3-1/2 when we sang You're a Grand Old Flag for everyone at the family picnic.

“You’re a Grand Old Flag” was written by George M. Cohan for his 1906 stage musical “George Washington, Jr.” The song was introduced to the public in the play’s first act on opening night, February 6, 1906, in New York’s Herald Square Theater. It was the first song from a musical to sell over a million copies of sheet music.

Mom taught Phil and me to sing this song in the summer of 1971, and when the whole family gathered at my Aunt and Uncle Duffy’s house for our July 4th picnic I remember being hoisted up on a table to sing it for everyone. I still love singing this one!

You’re a grand old flag
You’re a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave!

You’re the emblem of
The land I love
The home of the free and the brave!

Every heart beats true
Under red, white and blue
Where there’s never a boast or brag.

But should auld acquaintance be forgot
Keep your eye on the grand old flag!

Product/technique notes

I followed the sketch provided by PageMaps for the Back Porch Memories August guest designer contest, and all the products except the sequins are from the My Minds’ Eye “American Made” collection (for their Let Freedom Ring challenge).
Back Porch Memories PageMaps sketch

Note: I’m submitting this to the Paper Issues “Hooray for the red, white and blue” link party.

Sunset concert

June 30, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

We are fortunate to live in a place that has so many opportunities to take in the arts. What a lovely way to spend a summer evening—people watching and enjoying great music!

One of the joys of summer is sitting out under the evening sky and being carried away by the gift of free music. Concerts in the park are such a sweet summer tradition! On a Sunday last June Matt and I packed up our lawn chairs and something to drink and headed to downtown Austin for The Hartman Foundation “Concerts in the Park,” which are presented by the Austin Symphony Orchestra. It was so nice just to be out experiencing the sunset and watching the other concert goers with their elaborate picnic dinners while we waited for the concert to start. And then the music was just beautiful!

Product/technique notes

I used the sketch below, provided by My Mind’s Eye for their June challenge. The papers are from the MME “Miss Caroline” collection plus various little scraps from other collections of theirs. I created the title on the Silhouette and with American Crafts Thickers.

Anaheim picnic

June 22, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

My baby bro often seemed to be crying at photo time when he was a wee one.

My mom grew up in California, and her family continued to live there when she moved east for college (and then marriage and the rest of her life!). In the summer of 1968, when I would have been about 20 months and Phil 6 months, Mom took us to visit her family. In addition to introducing us to her family, she also made the trip to be in her brother’s wedding and to attend her tenth high school reunion.

On the back of this photo she wrote “Picnic in Anaheim, July 1968” and then the names of the family members. From left to right around the table: my Aunt Barbara, my mom’s Aunt Tilli, her son Loren, me (at the top of the photo in the sun hat), baby Phil being held by Uncle Terry (Mom’s brother, married to Barb) and the knees of Uncle Vic (married to Tilli).

Product/technique notes

I adjusted the size of elements in this 8.5 x 11-inch PageMaps sketch from November 2013 so it would work at 12 x 12. The majority of the patterned papers are from BasicGrey’s “pb&j” 6×6 pad. I created and cut the title on the Silhouette Cameo and sprinkled some buttons and sequins around to form a visual triangle.
November 2013 PageMaps sketch on which I based my layout

The measure of a man

June 15, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

My layout won the grand prize in the PageMaps 8th anniversary celebration!

I created this layout about my dad back in May because I wanted to submit it to a sketch contest. But I decided that I would wait to share it here on Father’s Day because it’s meant to symbolize what a great man I think my father was.

My dad taught me by example what men ought to strive to be: intelligent, humble, kind, funny, loving, respectful, helpful and always learning. He was a wonderful and involved father to Phil and me, a gentle and loving husband to Mom, a kind boss at work and very involved in our church. I’m quite sure that without knowing it I have always measured other men against his example.

Because of the topic, creating this page was a joy for me. And then I WON the contest with it!

Becky Fleck spent May celebrating the 8th anniversary of her popular sketch blog, PageMaps. The month of giveaways and special content ended with a sketch contest. The rules were just to choose any of her sketches from 2013-14 and submit a new layout based on it, and you were only allowed to submit one entry.

Knowing how popular Becky’s sketches are, I thought it likely that this contest would have many entries. Add to that the fact that the prize was a $150 gift card to A Cherry On Top! So I spent a few days on this layout because I knew the competition would be stiff. But we all know you cannot win if you do not play.

Product/technique notes

I chose to use the sketch below from PageMaps’ May 2014 release. My background paper is from We R Memory Keepers’ “Happy Campers,” and the rest of the patterns are from the My Mind’s Eye “Lime Twist” 6×6 pad. I added lots of hand stitching and a title designed and cut on my Silhouette Cameo.

Good help is hard to find

May 31, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Oliver, sensing that the work at hand is both urgent and important, gets right on it.

Oliver, like most cats, loves to curl up on the newest at least semi-horizontal addition to his environment. So when Matt set up our computers on the dining room table one evening to rebuild them, Ollie found one of the keyboards irresistible. Thankfully, Matt called me into the room to see it, and I snapped these photos.

Product/technique notes

I followed this sketch from the Creative Scrappers Birthday Bash and used papers from Simple Stories’ “24/Seven” collection. The embellishments are from BasicGrey, October Afternoon, Panda Eight, and Studio Calico. I created the title on my Silhouette and added some hand stitching on the diagonal seam.

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