Sketches

Look into your heart and you’ll find love, love, love

June 16, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Especially on this father's day I wish I could still feel my dad's arms around me.

The fourth sketch challenge has been posted at the new SCRAP & MUSIC challenge blog! Head over to the site to grab the sketch (which I’m very proud to have designed) and play along. This fourth sketch came with the song “I’m yours” by Jason Mraz.

My layout

I love the song we used this time: it’s airy and bouncy and sounds like love should feel. When I was looking through photos to find the “right” one for this song/sketch combination, I came upon this lovely shot of my family in September 1968. My parents were holding us, standing in front of the family car in our driveway. Perhaps we were dressed the way we were because we had just returned from church. I suspect they recruited our neighbor whose house was in the background to take the photo for them. When I look at this photo I feel that same light, airy, loved feeling that I do when I listen to “I’m yours.” Seeing my parents looking young, happy and healthy and Phil and me looking chubby and cherished makes my heart full. Photos like this remind me of how fortunate I was to grow up right when, where and with whom I did.

Happy father’s day to dads of every kind everywhere. I know my own excellent father is watching over me daily and feels my love for him always but most especially today.

Product/technique notes:

The main background patterned paper I used is “Haven Blue Damask” by Anna Griffin. I also designed and cut the majority of the title on my Silhouette Cameo (October Afternoon letter stickers worked for the balance of the title).

The challenge

The challenges on this blog involve following the sketch and using a title on your layout with a line from the provided music. Below I’ve included the video as well as the lyrics for the song:

“I’m yours” by Jason Mraz
Well you done done me and you bet I felt it
I tried to beat you but you’re so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks, now I’m trying to get back
Before the cool done run out, I’ll be giving it my bestest
And Nothings going to stop me but divine intervention
I reckon it’s again my turn to win some or learn some
But I won’t hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I’m yours
Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you’re free
Look into your heart and you’ll find love, love, love
Listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing
We’re just one big family, and
It’s our god-forsaken right to be loved, love, loved, love, loved
So I won’t hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I’m sure
There’s no need to complicate, our time is short
This is our fate, I’m yours
D-d-do you, but you, d-d-do
But do you want to come on
Scooch on over closer dear
And I will nibble your ear
I’ve been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror
And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer
But my breath fogged up the glass
And so I drew a new face and laughed
I guess what I’m saying is there ain’t no better reason
To rid yourself of vanities and just go with the seasons
It’s what we aim to do, our name is our virtue
But I won’t hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I’m yours
Come on and open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you’re free
Look into your heart and you’ll find that the sky is yours
So please don’t, please don’t, please don’t
There’s no need to complicate
Cause our time is short
This is, this is, this is our fate, I’m yours!

Feel so close

June 2, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

Memorial Day 2013 was a pretty day that we spent in the perfect way...for us. We did some creative writing while sitting outside at a coffee shop overlooking Lake Austin.

The third sketch challenge has been posted at the new SCRAP & MUSIC challenge blog! Head over to the site to grab the sketch and play along.

The challenges on this blog involve following the sketch and using a title on your layout with a line from the provided music. This third sketch came with the song “Feel so close” by Calvin Harris. Below I’ve included the lyrics:

I feel so close to you right now
It’s a force field
I wear my heart upon my sleeve, like a big deal
Your love pours down on me, surrounds me like
A waterfall
And there’s no stopping us right now
I feel so close to you right now

And there’s no stopping us right now
And there’s no stopping us right now
And there’s no stopping us right now
I feel so close to you right now…

Matt and I spent a nice leisurely day together this Memorial Day, sitting outside on the deck of a coffee shop that overlooks Lake Austin and writing. It was really beautiful weather and great for people watching! We took this shot of ourselves at some point during the day, and I thought of it right away to go with this song.

Product/technique notes:

I used patterned papers from the My Minds’ Eye “Kate & Co. Oxford Lane” collection and designed and cut the title on my Silhouette Cameo.

And baby makes three

May 31, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

My about-to-become parents look so cute together on their day at the zoo!

This sweet little photo is of my parents in September 1966. Daddy is about to turn 33, Mom is 26, and they are about to become parents for the first time. Mom is seven months pregnant with me, and they are spending a sunny day together at the Philadelphia Zoo.

I thought that a little pair of love birds in the upper right corner would be a cute way to incorporate animals into my zoo layout as well as to symbolize my parents. As an extra detail I furnished the left bird with brown eyes, like my father and the right bird with green eyes, like my mother.

Product/technique notes:

I used patterned papers from the American Crafts “Dear Lizzy Neapolitan” collection and the following sketch from Paper Bakery. The birds-on-a-branch die cut is from the Silhouette store, and I created the title treatment in the Silhouette software and cut it on my Cameo as well.

La vie en rose

May 19, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

The second sketch challenge has been posted at the new SCRAP & MUSIC challenge blog! Head over to the site to grab the sketch and play along.

The challenges on this blog involve following the sketch and using a title on your layout with a line from the provided music. This second sketch came with the song “La Vie En Rose” by Edith Piaf. Below I’ve included the lyrics in their original French as well as an English version (not a direct translation but one that was stylized for the rhyme and meter of English). I’ve highlighted the line in the English version that I used as my title:

French
Des yeux qui font baisser les miens,
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,
Voilà le portrait sans retouche
De l’homme auquel j’appartiens

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.
Il me dit des mots d’amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.
Il est entré dans mon coeur
Une part de bonheur
Donc je connais la cause.
C’est lui pour moi,
Moi pour lui dans la vie,
Il me l’a dit, l’a juré
Pour la vie. Et dès que je l’aperçois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon coeur qui bat
Des nuits d’amour à plus finir
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place
Des ennuis des chagrins s’effacent
Heureux, heureux à mourir.
Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.
Il me dit des mots d’amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.
Il est entré dans mon coeur
Une part de bonheur
Donc je connais la cause.
C’est toi pour moi,
Moi pour toi dans la vie,
Il me l’a dit, l’a juré
Pour la vie.
Et dès que je l’aperçois
Alors je sens en moi Mon coeur qui bat

English
Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
When you press me to your heart
I’m in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose

I thought that love was just a word
They sang about in songs I’d heard
It took your kisses to reveal
That I was wrong and love is real

Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
When you press me to your heart
I’m in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose

The reason I chose this line of the song is that I decided to use a photo of my brother, Phil, in my layout—a shot of him on a trip to Brussels, Belgium, and Paris, France. Phil works at the Center for European Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, and as an employee at the university he has the option of taking a class each semester. He decided that he really wanted to learn French, so he has now taken four semesters of it and will take his fifth in the fall. The more he studies it, the more he loves it. So I thought the line from the song, “Everyday words seem to turn into love songs” would work perfectly to elicit the feeling Phil has for the words, poeticism and even rules of the language he’s studying.

My baby bro, Phil, enjoying a brew in Brussels in October 2012

Here is the journaling from my layout because it’s quite small and hard to read:
After three years of high school French, all but forgotten, Phil is now heading into his fifth semester of it at UNC. He has always loved words, the sound of spoken French makes him happy and he enjoys the way studying it is like solving a puzzle. “I’m drawn to all things French: movies, music, arts, culture. And the lyricism of the language, the turns of phrase, tickle me. Je l’adore!”

To lead a better life

May 5, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

The first sketch challenge has been posted at the new SCRAP & MUSIC challenge blog! Head over to the site to grab the sketch and play along for fame and prizes. 😉

The challenges on this blog will involve following the sketch and using a title on your layout with a line from the provided music. This first sketch came with the song “Here, there and everywhere” by the Beatles. To remind you, here are the lyrics:

To lead a better life,
I need my love to be here.
Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with a wave of her hand
Nobody can deny that there’s something there.
There, running my hands through her hair
Both of us thinking how good it can be
Someone is speaking but she doesn’t know he’s there.
I want her everywhere
and if she’s beside me I know I need never care.
But to love her is to need her
Everywhere, knowing that love is to share
each one believing that love never dies
watching her eyes and hoping I’m always there.
I want her everywhere
and if she’s beside me I know I need never care.
But to love her is to need her.
Everywhere, knowing that love is to share
each one believing that love never dies
watching her eyes and hoping I’m always there.
I will be there, and everywhere.
Here, there and everywhere.

I chose to focus on the very first line of the lyrics, “To lead a better life,” because it made me think of how Matt and I really do believe that we can and must make our own lives better. So, each December we spend a good deal of time talking about and setting our goals and plans for the coming new year.

In the past two years my brother, Phil, has come to visit us during the week after Christmas and into the new year, and he now looks forward to working on his goals with us! The photos on my layout are of the three of us working on our lists together this past December.

Phil, Matt and I had just finished lunch at a local Indian restaurant that we love and then pulled out our goals notebook to start working on our lists again. You can see that I was acting as scribe for the group!

Product/technique notes:
Of course, I used sketch #1 provided at the Sketch & Music blog to create my page. The patterned papers from the K&Company “Americana” theme seemed to work well with both the colors of our clothes and the theme (stars and freedom). And that cool cut-and-folded border strip in the middle there was made using a cut file from the Silhouette store. Isn’t it cool how it shows off both sides of the patterned paper? I then created the title treatment in the Silhouette software and cut it with my Cameo as well. The “he said” and “she said” stamps are by Studio Calico, and the “Good things take time” sticker is from BasicGrey’s “Clippings” line.

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