Layouts based on sketches

Don’t stop me now ’cause I’m having such a good time!

May 25, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 6 Comments

Today sketch #103 has gone up at the Twisted Sketches site. The twist for this one is “stop.”

Twisted Sketch #103

Here’s what I put together based on that sketch (click the image for a larger view):

Sing my title to the tune "Don't stop me now" by Queen

When I thought of the twist for this sketch I immediately heard Queen’s “Don’t stop me now.” It’s one of those songs that always makes me smile. I love the racing pace and fun feeling of it.

So I used that as my title for this layout, which features me and my younger bro, Phil, back in 1992. We’re out front of our home in Willoughby, Ohio, with Spenser (who was just a little over a year old), ready to head out on a bike ride. It’s a simple memory—for I don’t remember our route or how long we rode or what we talked about on the ride—but I love that I can capture evidence of our family home, our precious dog, a healthy hobby and our close sibling relationship all in one shot.

Sketches for Scraps: First overalls

May 19, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Today’s sketch for using scraps or 6×6 paper pads follows a well-established grid structure: nine of any shape. In the sketch (and my example) I’ve used three-inch circles. I filled one of my circles with a photo and the rest with patterned paper. Of course, the beautiful thing about a sketch like this is that you could use more than one photo in the grid.

The really fun part comes in sprinkling little embellishments strategically abound the page to amplify your theme. I hope you enjoy this sketch, and please link up any pages you make using it.

I created this sketch, which you can use with one or more photos.

I followed this sketch to complete a layout of a photo of me in my first pair of overalls. 🙂

I used this sketch to do a page about me in my first overalls.

Cats make Sleeping Beauty look like an amateur

May 18, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Our beautiful Lucy is a Maine Coon, and she adds joy to our lives each day she is with us.

She shares many characteristics attributed to her breed:

friendly and playful temperament
affectionate nature and clown-like personality
seeks out the company of people (loyally follows people from room to room)
lifelong kittenish disposition
very talkative

And she’s a cat, so you know, she really likes to sleep.

We love to catch her napping on her back, with belly exposed and legs splayed. So cute. That’s when we call her Loosey Goosey. Get it? Loosey Goosey Lucy!

My layout captures a more modest shot of her sleeping this way. 😉 She deserves a bit of privacy, I think! I have also tried to capture what I presume she may be dreaming about. I based my design on a sketch on the My Mind’s Eye blog.

This layout is based on My Mind's Eye sketch challenge #23.

This is the My Mind's Eye sketch

Gosh, now I really feel a nap coming on…

Sketches for Scraps Thursday: Easter duds

May 12, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

I found a sketch by Shimelle that I just love for using up some of our patterned paper scraps. It’s for one photo, and I like its versatility for embellishing.

Find this sketch at http://www.shimelle.com/paper/949/scrapbooking-sketch-of-the-week/

Here is the layout I completed with it, all from scraps 6×6 or smaller.

My mom is an excellent seamstress and made many an outfit for me, including this tulip dress for Easter 1990

It’s a photo of my family (sans Dad, the photographer) right after Easter Mass in 1990.

It’s one of those photos that was taken from too far away and includes distracting background details. But I love it because it reminds me of important things. Like that my Mom, who is an excellent seamstress and has made me many, many special outfits over the years, made the dress I’m wearing in this photo. The fabric featured bright-colored tulips scattered across a black background. I wore that thing to death because I really felt good in it and loved that it was homemade.

I also like that Phil, having fun being a bit uncooperative, insisted on eating his after-church snack even though I’m sure my mom moaned at him to get rid of it. And don’t you love to be reminded of the cars your family drove at certain periods?

Yeah, this photo isn’t good; it’s great. Because technically good photos just cannot trump great memories.

Celebrating mother, maman, mommy, amma, mama

May 8, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day!

The Twisted Sketches blog is celebrating the achievement of its 100th sketch today, and so the whole design team has done layouts about the concept of “celebration.” I could think of nothing more deserving of celebration today than my mother.

This layout is dedicated to all those little idiosyncrasies that make a loved one even more dear to us. Just a few (I don’t want to make her too uncomfortable when she reads this!) of my mom’s quirks include:

very animated story telling (see the photos below)
acting as if she didn’t hear what you said so she can repeat your words back to you, twisted into something funny
believing it’s wasteful of time to be early to anything
loving when family members poke fun at her and urging them to do it more

I love you Mom! And I wish we could be together today.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Here is sketch #100, on which my layout was based. But I urge you to go to the Twisted Sketches site to play along this week because there’s a $25 prize up for grabs!

6a00d83451d2c069e20154322dbd0c970c-800wi

This is sketch #100 from www.twistedsketches.com

And now are you game for a tiny bit of education about the word “mama?” I found a short article that explains why sounds close to “mama” appear in so many languages (link removed due to site having been hacked) and thought you might enjoy it.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

« Previous Page