The Constant Scrapper

If I'm not scrapbooking I'm thinking about scrapbooking!

Copic coloring

Congratulations card: Grab life by the beans

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GrabLife_Daquila-Pardo

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.

Valentine rose

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ValentineRose_Daquila-Pardo

I really enjoyed making this Valentine's card for my mommy!

When it came time to make a Valentine’s Day card for my mommy, I pulled out this big rose stamp and started coloring with my Copic markers. As a beginner with Copics, I found this image very fun and satisfying to color. The shading marks provided in the design of the stamp really helped me with making my color-shading decisions, something I continue to struggle with because I lack true art training. But I’m quite happy with how the shading came out on this one, and it was fun!

Now, cutting out this image was another story. Oi! Note to self: Next time you want to use this stamp, do yourself a favor and plan to leave the background intact.

I then created a matching background with Distress Inks and watercolor paper. A lace clear stamp by My Mind’s Eye completed the look.

Just because card

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First things first, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US!

I decided to participate in the challenge at A Blog Named Hero to use one of your old cards to inspire you to make a new one, with a different style.

I wanted to create a card with a detailed fall scene in the foreground and a swirl of fall colors in the background. So I clear embossed the background stamp on white cardstock and then swirled distress inks in fall colors over it. I colored and cut out the little scene with the kitty beside the house to imitate my brother’s home and furkid, and I will send this little “just because” card to them!

HouseTreesCat_Daquila-Pardo

I wanted to create a fall scene with an abstract background, so I clear embossed the background stamp and then swirled distress inks in fall colors over it.

Here is the card I made back in April that I used for inspiration on my new one. As you can see, I used the same background stamp for a similar embossed resist look on my new card, but the two results are quite different!

SendingWarmFuzzies_Daquila-Pardo

I wanted to let the background on this card get most of the focus, so I kept the other elements understated.

Product/technique notes:
All the stamps are by Hero Arts; I colored the detail images with Copic markers; and I did the embossed resist technique in the background with Tim Holtz distress inks.

Did we ever love that swing

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Swing2_Daquila-Pardo

A photo like this one from 1971 really takes me right back to that place and time.

Phil and I (and many times our mom) spent hours upon hours on our swing in the back yard. We talked, told secrets, sang songs and made plans together. They are wonderful memories for me.

It appears from the clothes we’re wearing in it that this sweet photo from September 1971 could have been snapped right after we had returned home from church. I am wearing a dress Mom sewed for me out of aqua dotted swiss fabric; I remember really loving this dress. And Phil looks spiffy in his striped jeans and hair so carefully combed.

Normally I liked to swing pointing the other direction—into the neighbors’ yards you see in the background here. It gave me a longer view, which somehow inspired me to swing higher!

Product/technique notes:
I used the PageMaps sketch below for this layout; as you see I followed it pretty closely because I thought it was so suited to my photo. I also used papers from My Mind’s Eye The Sweetest Thing collection and stamps (with Copic coloring) from Hero Arts.

PageMaps sketch I followed

Flowers mean I love you

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Today my mom is flying back from a 10-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This is a trip she has always dreamed of taking, so when she found out that one of her favorite priests in town was going to lead a small group of people there, she didn’t even really have to think about it. She made her reservation and packed her bags.

This means that she just spent 10 days visiting those significant places all Christian children learn about: Nazareth, Cana, the Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives, Gethsemane…you get the idea. Yeah, this was a BIG trip.

Now, I’d like to be at the airport to welcome her home with a fistful of hand-cut flowers. But because I live 2000+ miles away I made her a card with hand-cut flowers instead! I can’t wait to hear all the stories, Mom!

ILoveYou_Daquila-Pardo

Welcome home, Mom!

I am also entering this card in this month’s Young Crafters Unite challenge to make a card/project using a flower or a floral image.

Young Crafters Unite! Challenge #10