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Another turning point

September 8, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

My family kidnapped me on my 21st birthday and took me out for a wonderful celebration at the Firestone Inn.

The tenth sketch challenge, which I’m proud to have designed, has been posted at the SCRAP & MUSIC challenge blog! Head over to the site to grab the sketch and play along. This tenth sketch came with the song “Time of your life” by Green Day.

My layout

When considering this song as inspiration for a layout, I found my title in the very first line, “Another turning point.” To go along with the idea of turning points I pulled out a photo of my family helping me celebrate my 21st birthday on November 24, 1987.

That was a good day! Fortunately, although Phil and I were attending college at Ohio University four hours away, we were able to be home for my birthday because of the Thanksgiving holiday (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love having a Thanksgiving birth date.). Knowing how much I love surprises, my parents had the evening all planned out and wouldn’t tell me a thing about it. Mom had even put together a special outfit for me to wear for our celebration—from the blouse, to the skirt that she had sewn without my knowing (and fit perfectly), to the shoes!

Everyone dressed up and got in the car, and Dad drove us to the neatest place for a special dinner. It was called the Firestone Inn. I don’t know whether it’s still in business because I haven’t found any mention of it online, but it was so lovely. We had a great dinner, and Dad allowed me to order wine with mine for the first time. 🙂

Product/technique notes

I had a great time combining a variety of new and old products from a number of manufacturers on this layout. The background paper is from the current BasicGrey “Carte Postale” collection, and it sets the color palette for the whole thing. The other patterns are from older American Crafts, Crate Paper, Fancy Pants, K&Company, My Mind’s Eye and Simple Stories collections. I designed and cut the title using the Silhouette Cameo.

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 this song:

“Time of your life” by Green Day
Another turning point
a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist
directs you where to go
So make the best of this test
and don’t ask why
It’s not a question
but a lesson learned in time

It’s something unpredictable
but in the end it’s right
I hope you had the time of your life

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf
of good health and good time
Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial
For what it’s worth
it was worth all the while

It’s something unpredictable
but in the end it’s right
I hope you had the time of your life [X3]

Dotted swiss

July 31, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Little me posing in one of the many beautiful dresses Mom sewed for me, September 1971

I just loved wearing the beautiful dresses Mom made for me over the years. She sewed me a new dress for the first day of just about every year I was in grade school. She made my gorgeous First Communion and Confirmation dresses. She even made me dresses to wear in my piano recitals. It was such a caring thing to do and always made me feel quite special.

When I found this photo of myself from September 1971 the first words that popped into my mind were “dotted swiss.” That’s because I remember loving this aqua dress that Mom made me not only because it was pretty but also because I loved the name of the material. When Mom told me it was called dotted swiss fabric because of the raised dots, I just loved the name. Dotted swiss. Dotted swiss. I think I rolled those words over on my tongue a good number of times, as I still do when I like a word or phrase.

Product/technique notes

I created my page using a combination of products from Little Yellow Bicycle’s “Poppy” and “Just Because” collections. I designed and cut my title on the Silhouette Cameo and then embossed it to make it resemble dotted swiss fabric.

Little Miss Firecracker

July 4, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

From my July 4th, 1969, self I wish you a happy July 4th, 2013!

Obviously I already knew how to celebrate Independence Day as far back as 1969 because here I am dancing to the beat of my own drum at our church picnic. And I don’t seem to care a bit that I have no dance partner!

I hope all of my American friends enjoy a lovely July 4th, rich with patriotic feelings, good food and fun with friends and family.

Product/technique notes

I created this layout with patterned papers from the Pebbles “Family Ties” collection. I also designed the cut files for the title and the two-layer star/circle border and cut them on my Silhouette Cameo.

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.

Labor Day 1974

April 28, 2013 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Phil and me in our backyard on Labor Day in 1974

On this layout is a photo of a very rare occurrence: both sets of my grandparents are visiting us at the same time. We lived in Ohio; Nana and Papa, Dad’s parents (on the left), lived in Pennsylvania; and Grandma and Grandpa, Mom’s parents (on the right) lived in California. So there were not a lot of opportunities to be together.

I’m assuming that Grandma and Grandpa were in town for a few weeks to visit, and then Nana and Papa drove in the two hours from PA to visit for Labor Day. Very cool. I love this photo.

Do I even have to point out the 1974 fashions Phil and I are sporting?

Product/technique notes:
I created this layout with patterned papers from Little Yellow Bicycle’s beautiful “Elizabeth Park” collection. I did a good bit of fussy cutting around the perimeter of my center area so that I could pop up the profusion of flowers over it around the edges. And in the bottom right quadrant I debossed the cardstock to add texture without adding a patterned paper that would compete with the flowers from the background paper.

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