My scrapbook layouts

Spanning a score of years

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

I really appreciate the layouts I see that compare people at different times in their life. So I pulled out two photos of Matt’s nephew, Aaron, at the ages of 4 and 24 and got to work on a layout to compare them.

The hardest part about this layout for me was finding products that would work well for both times in a boy’s life. But once I did, the sketch I found on shimelle.com helped it all come together. Following is the resulting layout as well as the sketch.

Aaron at 4 & 24: A boy grows into a man

The sketch calls for one large or two smaller photos and lots of attention on the border.

My Fortress of Scraptitude

April 12, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

I was scrapping this weekend and decided to take a photo of the project/mess on my craft table and turn it into a layout. I’ll admit that I was nudged into doing this because of Kristina Werner’s cute post a while back, 90% of real crafters make real messes, where she challenged crafters to “own” the messes we make. (My layout is based on one of Shimelle’s recent sketches.)

Welcome to my Fortress of Scraptitude. 🙂

I make a pretty big mess when I scrap, as do most of us I think. But I’ve realized that I don’t have much of a pattern about clean-up. When I read others’ blogs about this subject they seem to fall into one or the other category:

The crafter who makes a mess and then cleans everything up before starting on the next project OR
The crafter who makes a mess and keeps on working until there are so many scraps and tossed aside tools in the way that she can’t see her layout or card any more

I’m a little different (big news, I know). I certainly don’t clean after each project. Sounds nice but takes too much time away from my creative flow. I also never let things get so bad (on my desk) that I clean only because I can’t work any more. No, I spread out…a lot. Matt calls me a “stacker.” I have little stacks everywhere. My craft desk came with a chair, but I hardly ever use it; it’s too convenient a place to stash the things I want out of the way but within reach. My craft room doubles as our guest bedroom, which is awesome because the bed is just to the right of my desk and a perfect place to stack more crap. It’s the perfect setup…for a while.

I eventually get overwhelmed by this stack-heavy environment and realize that it’s affecting my creative mojo. That’s the perfect time to clean! It means I’m motivated, which is the best we can ever ask for when it comes to cleaning, right?

Here are a few more photos of my creative space, in the interest of full disclosure. 😉 Why don’t you tell me a little about how/when you clean your scrap dominion?

Here is a shot of command central in my Fortress of Scraptitude.

Stacks surround me, along with a glass of red wine for inspiration.

My craft closet is sort of organized. Aren't you proud of me?

This is the only photo I have of my paternal grandfather

March 30, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

"Pater familias" is Latin for "father of the family"

Today the Twisted Sketches site launches its 94th sketch, and it’s a good one! The sketch as well as the design team’s interpretations are all waiting to inspire you.

This is my rendition of the sketch. It highlights the only photo I have of my father’s childhood that also includes his father. I never met my grandfather, as he passed away in my dad’s teenage years, so I adore this photo. This portrait was taken in 1944, making my dad 11 years old.

I chose the Latin “pater familias” as my title because it means “father of the family.” In fact, the term pater familias had specific legal meaning in Roman times, when the head of the family was expected to be a good citizen to his own familia as well as to the broader community. In theory at least, he held powers of life and death over every member of his extended familia through ancient right.

It’s quite interesting to read about, but honestly the first time I ever heard the term was in the 2000 film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Such a good movie. Here’s the clip:

I don’t know about you, but I really love creating a layout where just about every product used is from a different company. It feels like a little more of an accomplishment to me than creating a page using all products from the same line. In this design the patterned papers are from Crate Paper, Webster’s Pages, My Mind’s Eye and Making Memories. The trims are from Making Memories and Hobby Lobby, and the rub on is from K&Company. Now that’s just good, clean scrapping fun!

May the road rise up to meet you…

March 16, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Sketch #92 on the Twisted Sketches site is available today! The sketch is for one vertical photo, and the twist this time is “brads.” Following is my contribution to the design team layouts that go up for inspiration:

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

The sketch included a place for a long-ish title, and because this week we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day I thought of using part of an Irish blessing for mine. This is a photo of my baby bro in Central Park when he took a Christmas trip to NYC this past December. I liked the effect of combining this Irish blessing for him with the idea of the road and travel.

To create the patterned paper highlight area behind the photo I cut small strips of travel-themed paper (Wander by BasicGrey) and punched some of them with a postage stamp border punch (Fiskars) and then layered them randomly. The last line of the Irish blessing is written on the ticket to the left of the picture.

I hope the design team’s interpretations of sketch #92 inspire you to use it for one of your photos.

Want a free Silhouette cut file I designed?

March 15, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

I really like the homemade paper-pieced look when I see other scrappers do it, but I don’t usually try that style myself. But this photo and title just screamed to me to give it a try.

I saw a poster a while back that said, “Wherever we are together that is home,” and I bookmarked it in my brain to use when the right photo came along. And then this past weekend I was flipping through a package of my photos and saw this one of my family. It was 1994, and my parents had decided to move from their home of 30 years in Ohio to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Family friends held a going-away party for us, and this photo was taken at the end of it. I thought the story behind this photo fit that poster’s message perfectly.

So I created the title art in the Silhouette Studio software before cutting it twice to use here. If you have a Silhouette (this file will only work on this machine) and would like to use it on a layout of your own, please leave me a comment on this post telling me you’d like it, and I will email it to you. How’s that for a slice of fried gold?

Wherever we are together that is home

I’m really pleased with how this simple design turned out, so I’m sure I’ll find ways to do more with this homey, handmade look in the future.

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