Echo Park

One for each arm: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

June 15, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

Today Stuck?! Sketches is revealing its mid-month sketch challenge and design team layouts. The sketch features three small photos and lots of opportunity to let your patterned papers shine:

Please join us over at the blog and allow the sketch and the design team inspire you to play along and add another beautiful layout to your scrapbook. And don’t forget that we have great sponsor prizes up for grabs as well!

Because it’s so close to Father’s Day, I decided to use this sketch with two photos from 1968 that show my dad as a new father of two. In the photo on the left my brother is just home from the hospital in January, and the right one was taken in the same place four months later. Look how we’ve both changed in that short time!

Product/technique notes

I used patterned papers from the Echo Park “Sisters” mini theme, and the embellishments came from an old Girls’ Paperie collection. I designed the title on the Silhouette.

We are family: Happy Mother’s Day

May 10, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of family and a loving home base in our lives. These two are my home base (since we lost Daddy in 2004). I love them immeasurably.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mommy and all of those who fill a mother role in someone’s life. I hope your day is lovely and love-filled.

The photos are from the summer of 2013, when I visited Mom and Phil in Chapel Hill, NC.

Product/technique notes

This layout was really fun to create! I strung crochet thread across the page in a 2×2-inch grid, then added the photos over the grid and the patterned paper under it. The paper is from Echo Park’s “We Are Family” 6×6 pad. The flair is from Studio Calico.

Hello my name is artsy fartsy

February 22, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

These photos are from my freshman year in college (the 1985-86 school year). On a cold Saturday during winter quarter a little group of friends decided to dig up some fun for ourselves, so we went in search of photo opportunities. We were fortunate and found this building on the edge of campus that had some interesting recyclables and a wall mural. We made the most of it!

In my experience, there’s nothing like the fun you create for yourself.

L-R across the spread: 1) Jim Conlan; 2) my brother, Phil, and Micki McNiece Yackin; and 3) Jim Conlan, me and Micki

Product/technique notes

All the Echo Park “Anything Goes” products I used to create this layout came from the Back Porch Memories February kit (thank you to BPM for allowing me to be a part of their design team through March), and I followed this Rochelle Spears sketch.
Rochelle Spear's Back Porch Memories sketch 3

The Cleveland Flats

February 10, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. And once I was old enough to start enjoying a nightlife with friends, it was the Flats in downtown Cleveland where we headed when we really wanted to party. Wikipedia says, “The Flats is a mixed-use industrial, entertainment, and increasingly residential area of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The name reflects its low-lying topography on the banks of the Cuyahoga River.” It was rich with bars, restaurants and music venues.

When I recently came upon this photo of my mom and friends down in the Flats in the summer of 1990, I conducted a little Google search about the area to find out what it’s like now. I wanted to see how much the Flats had grown since I moved away. Much to my surprise, I read this: “The Flats’ heyday as an entertainment destination was short-lived. Three drowning deaths in one month in 2000, along with a city crackdown on fire and health code violations led to the closing of many bars. Patrons becoming scared off due to safety concerns led to a sharp decrease in business. While this was a boon for the redevelopment for the Warehouse District, the area just up the hill from the East Bank, it sent shock waves through the Flats’ redevelopment from which it has never fully recovered. Most of the East Bank has gone “dark” due to the number of businesses that have closed.”

Whoa. Not at all what I expected to read! I guess that’s what happens when you move away from an area and don’t really look back. Things happen without your knowing.

It’s too bad that things have changed so much in that area, but I still have great memories of time spent there. The peeps in my photo are: Mom, Mark Mathes, Hansel Moore, Phil (my baby bro) and Jenny Schwann.

Product/technique notes

All the Echo Park “Anything Goes” products I used to create this layout came from the Back Porch Memories February kit (thank you to BPM for allowing me to be a part of their design team through March). I followed this Rochelle Spears sketch and used a combination of Silhouette cut file and Thickers for my title.
Back Porch Memories sketch by Rochelle Spears

The key to great holiday decorating: The perfect centerpiece

November 26, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 3 Comments

For a three-legged cat, Jake certainly knows how to get where he wants to go. In this case, I guess he wanted to be in the middle of my fall decorations!

He really is the cutest pumpkin ever, isn’t he?

I decided to scrap this photo during the week of Thanksgiving because it reminds me of how thankful we are for our pets. They love to be with us. They’re such good companions. They make us laugh. And they keep us from focusing too much on ourselves.

They’re our babies, and I’m ever so grateful to have them in our lives.

Product/technique notes

Most of the products I used on this were from Echo Park’s “Reflections: Fall” collection, with the addition of a few pieces of paper from way back in the day. That butter-colored pumpkin paper is an oldie from Paper Salon. I followed the inspiration of this November sketch from Stuck?! Sketches:

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