American Crafts

Feeding the budgies

May 11, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

In April Matt and I went to the Poteet Strawberry Festival, which advertises itself as one of the oldest, most popular events in Texas. It was a real surprise to us how big this event was! Honestly, it was a little too big (and hot and sweaty) for me to tell you it was awesome. Oh well. But one thing we did enjoy was feeding the budgies. You buy a Popsicle stick covered in birdseed and enter their cage, where they descend upon you to eat. It was great to see them up so close.

We took turns feeding the birds so we could each take photos of the other. The bright colors made me want to break out the American Crafts Amy Tangerine Sketchbook papers and die cuts and make a page.

Got Sketch is celebrating its 5th anniversary and is holding an anniversary challenge that includes using: their 5-photo sketch (#142), 5 patterned papers and 5 clustered embellishments. Here’s what I’ve done with it:

Happy 5th anniversary Got Sketch!

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.

Leap

February 29, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Twisted Sketches has revealed sketch #141, and the twist is “leap.” Be sure to head over to the site to grab the sketch and see all the other design team members’ beautiful examples. Then create something of your own and link it up!

Here is what I created using this great new sketch:

These are photos of me (and friends) during college that illustrate the quote I used as my title.

I just love using short quotes as titles for layouts, so when I saw that the twist on this sketch was “leap,” I went in search of a good quote I could sink my teeth into. I found several that inspired me, but I chose to use this one by David Herbert Lawrence (English writer, 1885-1930) because it also made me think of some old photos I had.
“Life is a travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken.”

The photos this quote put me in mind of were from my college days. When else in our lives do we so often travel to the edge of knowledge and have to take a leap into our own unknown? The first photo is of my brother, Phil, me and my mom from freshman year. Mom was visiting us for Mother’s Weekend, and we had loads of fun. The second photo is of me with the three roommates I had during a wonderful summer internship program in New York City (lots of learning and leaping!). And the third photo is of me with some friends at the end of our junior year in college.

These are certainly not good photos; in fact they’re pretty terrible. But really, how many photos of you from the 1980s do you love? What’s important to me is that they represent memorable times of growth in my life and help me remember to travel to the edge as often as possible. The edge is uncomfortable and exciting. Sign me up for that!

So, this is my last layout as a design team member for Twisted Sketches. I have been enjoying the challenge of using Anam’s sketches and twists for a little over a year (you can see my very first DT layout here), and the time has just flown. I want to thank Anam for taking a chance on me. She was the first person to make me part of a design team, which means that she and her sketch site will always hold a special place for me. I thank her for believing in my design skills and adding to my confidence.

My Take Twelve February layout

February 23, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Back in December when Ella Publishing was promoting their Take Twelve project, I decided to participate. I don’t do a Project Life album, so I thought this might be a good alternative. You take photos on the 12th of each month in 2012, and then do a layout with the 12 best.

There’s a Take Twelve layout challenge hosted by Ella Publishing each month, but I didn’t get mine done in time for the deadline. I seem to be taking baby steps on this project. I completely missed taking the photos on January 12th, so the fact that I took my photos on February 12th and created a layout is a big improvement. Maybe in March I’ll be able to finish my layout in time to enter the contest!

I'm a little late getting into the Take Twelve challenge with Ella Publishing, but I only missed January, so no worries.

Here is the journaling that explains my 12 photos:
Sunday, February 12, 2012:
We went to 11:30 Mass and then stayed to have breakfast tacos made by the Men’s Club. When we left church we were met with an icy rain, which always makes us giddy because it’s so rare in Texas. We took a photo of the progress that’s being made on construction of our new church before heading to the gym for a vigorous workout. Then we ran some errands—to HEB for a few groceries and to Redbox to return our movie from the night before (Conan—not too good). By the time we returned home, it was snowing lightly! I had to grab a shot of the snow in Matt’s hair. We spent the rest of the day doing housework and laundry before making a simple dinner and settling in front of the fire (with Oliver in his favorite spot) to watch the next installment of Downton Abbey (so good). Our nightly feral visitor, Wilson, showed up for a healthy meal before heading off to find a warm place to hole up for the night. It was just a normal, lovely Sunday spent together.

I used some older American Crafts papers that have a Valentine’s Day theme to them and followed two-page sketch #20 from the Sketch Support site.

Shades of green

January 31, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

The February Sketches with a Twist sketch and design team sample layouts are now live on their site. I am very proud to have created the sketch and really in love with all the design team’s samples based on it!

Sketches With a Twist is a new blog that debuted just last month—a sketch challenge site where each comes with an extra requirement (for example, this month’s twist is to include something green on your layout or card).

Here is my design team layout based on the sketch. Please head to their blog to get the sketch and play along (there are two prizes available each month).

Matt and I have been making a concerted effort to be more green in our daily lives.

When I read that the twist was to use something green on our layout, I decided to dedicate a page to the efforts Matt and I have been making toward being “greener” in our daily lives. We have always been passionate about living in a way that is good to the environment—recycling, consuming responsibly, rescuing animals in need/danger. However, in 2011 we recommitted to doing more. We are now recycling everything that our city allows, we have become vegetarians (it’s hard to love and rescue animals and then be completely comfortable eating meat) and we finally bought a hybrid car. We had been planning to go hybrid once it was time to replace our older car (it’s funny, I was still driving the first car we bought together when we got married in 1997!), and we were fortunate to need a new one just as the Prius V (the larger version of the Prius) was being released. Happy timing for us because we love it.

Because I was going for an earthy/environmental feel on this one, I turned to the American Crafts City Park and Hello Sunshine lines. I like the result because it’s bright and earthy at the same time.

« Previous Page