Blogtoberfest

Blogtoberfest sketch contest winner

November 2, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

And the winner of the Blogtoberfest sketch contest is…Laurie LaRiviere!

Laurie submitted this beautiful Homecoming page to the contest, and what a winner it is. I will be sending Laurie this bundle of Christmas goodies. 🙂

Laurie will be receiving this sketch contest prize package: 6×6 Hot Cocoa paper pad, glittered dimensional stars, rub-ons, page pockets, fabric labels, ribbon, Christmas phrases stamp, washi tape and a clear stamp set!

Celebrate Blogtoberfest with me all month!

Thank you for joining me for my Blogtoberfest celebration throughout the month of October. With November comes the time for getting busy on holiday projects! More soon.

Halloween masquerade

October 29, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

My brother and I co-hosted a Halloween party in our junior year (1983) for some of our school friends. I handmade masks for everyone to choose from, and as I look back on that now I have to admit they were good sports for playing along with my idea!

The whole family worked together to deck out the yard and the basement with a spooky motif; we pulled out all the stops. Daddy even climbed up into the maple tree in our front yard so he could scare our guests as they arrived. Thinking of that makes me so happy because it was a little out of the ordinary for my mild-mannered father and means to me that he really wanted it to be fun for us.

And yes, we even bobbed for apples.

Product/technique notes

I followed the October 15th Stuck?! Sketches sketch (with an added photo) for this layout, and I’m entering it their challenge. I also used Teresa Collins’ Halloween collection from last year, “Masquerade Party.”

Note: I’m submitting this to the Paper Issues “Fan-atics” link party.

Student of the month

October 24, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

This is a story from first grade that holds great significance for me. And it starts with a special announcement over the loudspeaker from the school principal.

Mom says I arrived home from first grade on this day in 1974, and with a gleeful smile demanded, “Guess who you’re talking to.” She played along and asked. So I flung open my coat to reveal the badge pinned to my dress and proudly stated, “The Student of the Month, that’s who!” I wore that pin to school on my uniform every day that month.

So that was a big day for me. It still is, obviously. I learned early to enjoy doing my work well and that when and if I am complimented for it, it makes me feel spectacular. It doesn’t take much to make a kid feel special…and clearly some words of praise can last a lifetime.

Product/technique notes

I created this layout based on the following sketch from Stuck?! Sketches and am entering it in their October contest. I had such a difficult time finding papers that went well with this vintage photo. I mean, the couch was brown and light blue, the framed art had browns and oranges in it and my dress was either deep navy or purple. Ugh! I finally came upon these papers from quite deep in my stash, an old collection by TPC Studio called “School Days.” I think they’re just perfect. The banner is from BasicGrey, the ribbon is by American Crafts and I designed the title on my Silhouette Cameo.

I also added some crochet stitches along the edge of the circle because the collar of my dress in this photo is crocheted. If you didn’t see it before, here’s a tutorial on how to add crochet to the edge of page elements.

Congratulations card: Grab life by the beans

October 21, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Not every card we send needs to be sweet, right? This one has just a little attitude.

I’ll admit that I don’t make enough cards to send to people I love. I plan to make and mail them, but I usually wait too long and then the moment passes. But not this time!

My brother just went through the frustrating process of searching for a new job. Happily, he was offered and accepted a new position that he started today, and I couldn’t be happier for or prouder of him. New beginnings are so wonderful…

Product/technique notes

I used a few stamps from the “Cyber cafe” set from Paper Smooches, colored the coffee cup with Copic markers and embellished with paper from Little Yellow Bicycle.

Silhouette tutorial: How to add crochet to the edge of page elements

October 19, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

To add the lovely crocheted detail around the circles on this page about our 17th anniversary, I turned to my Sihouette Cameo.

I wanted to create a really special look for this photo of us on our 17th anniversary, so I decided to crochet around the edges of all the circles. Crazy, I know! But it’s really not that hard, and I just love the soft, feminine look. I thought a tutorial would be helpful to any of you who want to try this on your own layout.

The tutorial

For me, it almost always starts with a sketch. In this case I chose to use this circle-filled Paper Camellia sketch. If you want to base the shapes you will crochet upon a sketch then you need to start by placing the sketch image in the Silhouette design software:

Step 1: Go to File :: Open :: Folder holding your sketch :: Open sketch. Size the image to fit the 12×12 Cameo mat in the Silhouette software.

Start drawing the shape(s) to be crocheted:

Step 2: Use the ellipse tool to draw a circle and adjust it to match the size of the circle on the sketch.

Copy/paste the first shape and reduce it:

Step 3: Select the circle and CTRL + C to copy then CTRL + F to paste on top of the first circle. Use the scale tool to reduce the top circle by 0.25 inches.

Turn to the rhinestone tool to create holes around the edge of the shape:

Step 4: Step 4: Rhinestone tool settings: Rhinestone Effect = Edge; Rhinestone Size = 6ss; Rhinestone Spacing = 0.112

Cut out the shape(s) and crochet!

Step 5: Follow these steps for each of the shapes you want to crochet around. Cut on your paper of choice and crochet using crochet thread and a size 7/1.65 mm hook.

Product/technique notes

The patterned paper I used is from Crate Paper’s “Close Knit” 6×6 paper pad. I also used my Silhouette to design and cut my title.

I really hope you will try this technique on a page of your own (and that it’s fun for you)! If you do, will you leave a comment with a link to your page because I would LOVE to see it.