Making Memories

Blogtoberfest Day 5

October 5, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

Mrs. Daquila

Today is World Teachers’ Day, and I want to celebrate the best teacher I’ve ever had—my mom. 🙂

Mom has been a teacher since 1963—before she and Daddy were married in 1965—so countless students have called her “Mrs. Daquila” over the years. In those years she has taught students from four to 80 years of age (because she ran the GED program in our hometown of Willoughby for a time).

Mom just loves teaching. And her students and their parents really love her back. She has always received high praise and thanks from parents, and when she sees past students years later, they always tell her how much her classes meant to them.

Mrs. Daquila is a layout devoted to my mom's long and successful teaching career.

I feel so fortunate to have such a loving first teacher in my life. Thank you, Mom. I love you.

So, have you thought about doing a layout about a favorite teacher of yours?

All the way from California, August 1969

August 11, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

I was surfing the scrappy blogosphere the other day, and I came upon a site that was new to me called Back Porch Memories. It’s a community built around a monthly kit club, and it looks like a nice group of scrapaholics. 🙂

They posted a sketch challenge, which I find hard to resist, so here is what I posted based on the sketch by Becky Fleck:

These photos from 1969 capture my mother's parents' visit to our home in 1969.

The photos are from August 1969, when my mom’s parents flew in from California to spend a month with us in Ohio. I remember being really excited about having them come “all the way from California,” hence the layout’s title. I was about 2.5 years old, and Phil was about 1.5.

10 Things on the 10th: August

August 10, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 9 Comments

Many of us who took the online class “Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers” are participating in a special event on the 10th of each month. In 10 Things on the 10th each participant will share something totally of their own creation. Some will share 10 photos, 10 crafty ideas, 10 sources of inspiration, 10 recipes, 10 things in a collection…always 10 things and always on the 10th of the month.

In honor of the “dog days of summer” I rounded up 10 inspiring layouts from around the Web that feature DOGS:

Kerry Bea Mahan
Bea Mahan

The Constant Scrapper

Raleigh is such a dolly

August 9, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

In May my mom traveled back to our old hometown in Ohio for the wedding of two of her very good friends. Both of them had lost their spouses to cancer and then, in a development that truly surprised their group of friends, found love together. Both around 70 years old, they are starting a happy new phase of life together!

I think it’s a lovely story that illustrates why we should always be open to new chances at happiness.

* * * * * *
My parents didn’t believe it was fair to leave an animal home alone all day, so because they both worked our family didn’t have pets when we were kids. Then, when Phil and I went away to college and they were feeling the need and the free time to nurture another life, Mom and Dad adopted Spenser. I will tell the tale of Spenser another day, but let me leave you with the phrase “canine angel.” We were completely head over heels for Spenser.

So when after a long and wonderful life with us Spenser passed away a few years ago, we were all devastated. But it was Mom, his caretaker, who had to adjust to daily living without him. She insisted that she didn’t want another dog. “It’s impossible to replace Spenser, so what’s the point?” “It would be a lot of work to get used to a new dog.” “It’s expensive.” “I don’t want to be tied to a schedule of walks and feedings any more.”

But after more than a year of missing Spenser and the companionship of a little life, Mom mentioned to a friend that she thought she may be ready to look for a dog. She had done some research and really liked the idea of a Cairn Terrier. Well, it happened that this friend of Mom’s volunteered at a local animal shelter, so she promised to keep her eyes open for a Cairn (but warned that it was pretty unlikely).

Not long after that conversation Mom was readying herself to go to a friend’s birthday party when she got the call. The shelter had just received a Cairn Terrier that day! Could she come over right away and meet him? Well, it was Saturday evening and she didn’t want to be late to her friend’s celebration, but she decided to go to the shelter first. My, oh my, are we all happy that she did! She fell for the little orphan instantly and went back to take him home that next week.

Now Raleigh and Mom are constant companions, and I rarely have a conversation with her that doesn’t include comments about how amazing he is. “He’s so loving.” “He’s such an adorable little scamp.” “He’s a wonderful snuggler.” “Oh, how did I get so lucky twice?”

New chances for happiness come in so many forms!

This layout is a great way to use your border punches and scraps of paper.

My first try at misting

July 13, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

My dear mother’s birthday was yesterday, and of course I created a card to send with her gifts. But I didn’t want to post it here until she had received it (just in case she peeked in here). I have been plucking up my courage to try misting, and this card is my first attempt. See those clouds in the background? I punched out several clouds with my Fiskars punches and placed them randomly on a white card base. After misting the card with turquoise Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist I peeled away the masks to reveal my sky background. I really like it, don’t you?

I stamped and paper pieced this card for my mom's birthday.

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