hand stitching

Living in a cool city: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

May 15, 2016 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our second challenge of May. Grab the sketch and play along for a $20 gift certificate from Evalicious or a $25 gift certificate from Creative Embellishments.

The story

Austin, where we have lived for going on 15 years, is pretty well known for being cool. For years it has made it somewhere onto many of the myriad “best places to live” lists. In fact, it famously celebrates its odd residents and culture with the unofficial slogan of “Keep Austin Weird.”

We’re well educated, high-tech, entrepreneurial, and fun. Well, at least as a whole we are. And we have tons of things to do for fun on any given day of the week.

You may have heard of a little music/film/interactive festival called South by Southwest (SXSW). Or perhaps you have friends who’ve been to the Austin City Limits music festival. Those are kind of a big deal. And there are so many other big beautiful events throughout the year that it’s impossible to keep up.

Matt was downtown one day during the mid-March interactive week of SXSW and snapped a few photos of the Mr. Robot Ferris wheel that they inserted into our skyline during the festival. And I thought for about the millionth time how cool it is to live in a place that celebrates in so many ways throughout the year. So I designed this page with images of two of the many (SXSW and the Kite Festival) ways.

Product/technique notes

I used patterned paper and stickers from the Echo Park Scoot collection and designed and cut the title and circle grid with my Silhouette Cameo. To mimic the look of the Ferris wheel I laced embroidery thread across the backgound circle like spokes.

My beautiful campus: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

April 15, 2016 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our second challenge of April. Grab the sketch and play along for some great prizes from Lindy’s Stamp Gang and ScrapMatts.

I was fortunate to spend four years earning my undergraduate degree at Ohio University in the 1980s. I don’t think there’s a way to work as hard as you have to when you’re taking a full load and holding down a job without having some difficult days. And I did. But mostly I loved my time there. I learned valuable stuff 😉 from some wonderful professors, made great friends, and matured from my experiences of being away from home.

And there was always one constant, on the good days and the bad: The beautiful campus made things better. On a day when I felt on top of the world and everything was going right, my gorgeous surroundings made me feel higher. And on a day when I hadn’t had enough sleep, was heading to an exam I knew I could never feel ready for, and was down in the dumps, being on that beautiful campus soothed my soul and lifted my spirits.

On this spring day in 1987, I’m posing with the cherry trees on the College Green, where the oldest administrative and classroom buildings are. It’s where the university started, and it’s where I felt at home away from home.

Product/technique notes

I used patterned paper from the Pebbles Garden Party collection. The title is made with Thickers alphas and a die cut from Shimmele. The bicycle sticker is from the Simple Stories Hugs & Kisses collection. The resin flower is from Fancy Pants.

Capture the flag: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

February 15, 2016 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 3 Comments

Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our second challenge of February. Grab the sketch and play along for some great prizes from Lindy’s Stamp Gang and ScrapMuch.

Matt’s study of information security has inevitably led him to participating in Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions. He has put together an international team of players to tackle the complex infosec puzzles together, and they have been steadily improving their ranking. He really loves the weekends he spends “CTFing.”

Product/technique notes

I used patterned paper (6×6 paper pad) and die cuts from BasicGrey’s Capture collection and hand stitched the circles.

Our own dear boy

November 13, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

We lost our wonderful Toby to cancer in June 2014, and I have been wanting to do a tribute page about him ever since. But it’s difficult to scrap some pages until you’re ready. So I waited.

I was recently shuffling through some photos that I had printed to scrap, and when I came across this one of Toby before he was sick I wanted to scrap it. So Toby finally has his tribute page.

He was such a loving, gentle good friend. We miss him every day.

Product/technique notes

I used papers from the BasicGrey Hipster collection and diecuts and other embellishments from Crate Paper, Jillibean Soup, K&Co and The Paper Studio.

Bonnie & Clyde: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

October 1, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

Get a load of this Stuck?! Sketches October 1st sketch challenge. Grab the sketch and play along for some wonderful prizes from Heartfelt Creations and Scrapbook & Cards Today.

When we were growing up we didn’t have pets, but we were very lucky that our neighbors on either side of us had them. Clyde belonged to the Hinkles, who lived to our left. He was an indoor-outdoor tabby cat, and he didn’t seem to like people much when he and I got a little older. But when we were both at the tender age you see here (he looks like a kitten to me in this 1968 photo), it seems we got along famously.

Product/technique notes

The patterned papers are from the Doodlebug Designs Happy Harvest collection, the journaling cards are from Little Yellow Bicycle and the glitter cat-themed stickers are from The Paper Studio. I hand-stitched the circles and designed and cut the title on the Silhouette.

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