Little Yellow Bicycle

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.

You’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow

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

This song made me think of how traveling at a certain age can really help you find yourself.

The seventh 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 seventh sketch came with the song “Put your records on” by Corinne Bailey Rae.

My layout

In case you can’t read it easily, the journaling on my layout reads:
Traveling as a young adult has well-documented benefits, and the summer I spent in NYC is my evidence. My 1988 American Society of Magazine Editors internship gave me the chance not only to travel unescorted, but also to work in my chosen profession. The friends I made and lessons I learned really did help me “find” myself.

I had to figure out how to get around in, work in and overall survive in the big city. I had to face any fears I had about being alone in huge crowds. I had to figure out how to turn the small stipend we received through the internship into enough for food, subway/cab fare and weekend entertainment (the way I did it was to walk almost everywhere rather than spend it on subways and cabs and to eat very sparingly because weekend entertainment was so important!). The other 50 or so students who were in that internship program with me were also a big part of why it was such a wonderful experience.

That summer truly was instrumental in my development as a young adult. It would be quite difficult to put words to what it meant to me, actually. I am so thankful to my parents for encouraging me in doing it because I know it had to be hard for them not to worry constantly about the dangers that traditionally worry parents about their traveling children. But they knew how good it would be for me, and I’m eternally grateful to them for supporting it.

Product/technique notes

The bulk of the patterned papers I used on this layout are from the Little Yellow Bicycle “The escape” collection, with a little Dear Lizzy “Lucky charm” and an even older Jillibean Soup thrown in,too. I designed and cut my 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:

“Put your records on” by Corinne Bailey Rae
Three little birds, sat on my window
And they told me I don’t need to worry.
Summer came like cinnamon ,so sweet,
Little girls double-dutch on the concrete.

Maybe sometimes,
We’ve got it wrong, but it’s all right.
The more things seem to change,
the more they stay the same.
Oh, don’t you hesitate.

Girl, put your records on,
tell me your favorite song.
You go ahead, let your hair down.
Sapphire and faded jeans,
I hope you get your dreams.
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
You’re gonna find yourself some where,some how.

Blue as the sky,
sunburnt and lonely.
Sipping tea in the bar by the road side.
(just relax, just relax)
Don’t you let those other boys fool you.
Gotta love that afro hairdo.

Maybe sometimes,
we feel afraid, but it’s alright.
The more you stay the same,
the more they seem to change.
Don’t you think it’s strange?

Just more than I could take,
pity for pity’s sake.
Some nights kept me awake,
I thought that I was stronger.
When you gonna realize,
that you don’t even have to try any longer?
Do what you want to.

Girl, put your records on,
tell me your favorite song.
You go ahead, let your hair down.(go let your hair down)
Sapphire and faded jeans,
I hope you get your dreams.(hope get your dreams)
Just go ahead, let your hair down. (Baby, let your hair down)

Oh, You’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow.

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.

Celtic warrior

October 27, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

I don't think Matt is quite right as a redhead. 😉

For Halloween in 2005 Matt wanted to wear his kilt and be a Celtic warrior, so we pulled together this outfit. After doing a little online research for face tattoo designs, I “tattooed” Matt’s face. It was fun to do! Then we sprayed his hair with this outrageous color of orange to finish the look.

Admittedly, it’s a hodgepodge costume, but it’s fun and looks good on my guy. And he got a great reaction when he wore it to his business meetings that day!

Product/technique notes:
On this layout I used products from Echo Park, Little Yellow Bicycle, My Mind’s Eye, Paper Studio and Pink Paisley. I cut the title on my Silhouette using the Stonecross font.

Baby’s first acorn

October 19, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

I created this layout to celebrate this natural beauty.

Our city had a “free tree” program this spring to increase shade in our drought-stricken desert climate, so we signed up to receive one. We planted this tiny oak in an open area of our back yard and watered it faithfully all summer.

The other day I watched a locust catapult itself from the grass into our little oak, so I ran over to check it out. When I got up close to see it, I found this adorable acorn. Just one on the whole tree. The locust is so many times larger than the acorn, and it was just so beautiful. I had to capture this lovely moment with nature and dedicate a layout to it.

Product/technique notes:
The majority of the patterns I used here are from Little Yellow Bicycle’s Acorn Hollow collection.

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