My Mind's Eye

You’re a grand old flag

July 6, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

July 4, 1971: I was 4-1/2 and Phil was 3-1/2 when we sang You're a Grand Old Flag for everyone at the family picnic.

“You’re a Grand Old Flag” was written by George M. Cohan for his 1906 stage musical “George Washington, Jr.” The song was introduced to the public in the play’s first act on opening night, February 6, 1906, in New York’s Herald Square Theater. It was the first song from a musical to sell over a million copies of sheet music.

Mom taught Phil and me to sing this song in the summer of 1971, and when the whole family gathered at my Aunt and Uncle Duffy’s house for our July 4th picnic I remember being hoisted up on a table to sing it for everyone. I still love singing this one!

You’re a grand old flag
You’re a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave!

You’re the emblem of
The land I love
The home of the free and the brave!

Every heart beats true
Under red, white and blue
Where there’s never a boast or brag.

But should auld acquaintance be forgot
Keep your eye on the grand old flag!

Product/technique notes

I followed the sketch provided by PageMaps for the Back Porch Memories August guest designer contest, and all the products except the sequins are from the My Minds’ Eye “American Made” collection (for their Let Freedom Ring challenge).
Back Porch Memories PageMaps sketch

Note: I’m submitting this to the Paper Issues “Hooray for the red, white and blue” link party.

Sunset concert

June 30, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

We are fortunate to live in a place that has so many opportunities to take in the arts. What a lovely way to spend a summer evening—people watching and enjoying great music!

One of the joys of summer is sitting out under the evening sky and being carried away by the gift of free music. Concerts in the park are such a sweet summer tradition! On a Sunday last June Matt and I packed up our lawn chairs and something to drink and headed to downtown Austin for The Hartman Foundation “Concerts in the Park,” which are presented by the Austin Symphony Orchestra. It was so nice just to be out experiencing the sunset and watching the other concert goers with their elaborate picnic dinners while we waited for the concert to start. And then the music was just beautiful!

Product/technique notes

I used the sketch below, provided by My Mind’s Eye for their June challenge. The papers are from the MME “Miss Caroline” collection plus various little scraps from other collections of theirs. I created the title on the Silhouette and with American Crafts Thickers.

The measure of a man

June 15, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

My layout won the grand prize in the PageMaps 8th anniversary celebration!

I created this layout about my dad back in May because I wanted to submit it to a sketch contest. But I decided that I would wait to share it here on Father’s Day because it’s meant to symbolize what a great man I think my father was.

My dad taught me by example what men ought to strive to be: intelligent, humble, kind, funny, loving, respectful, helpful and always learning. He was a wonderful and involved father to Phil and me, a gentle and loving husband to Mom, a kind boss at work and very involved in our church. I’m quite sure that without knowing it I have always measured other men against his example.

Because of the topic, creating this page was a joy for me. And then I WON the contest with it!

Becky Fleck spent May celebrating the 8th anniversary of her popular sketch blog, PageMaps. The month of giveaways and special content ended with a sketch contest. The rules were just to choose any of her sketches from 2013-14 and submit a new layout based on it, and you were only allowed to submit one entry.

Knowing how popular Becky’s sketches are, I thought it likely that this contest would have many entries. Add to that the fact that the prize was a $150 gift card to A Cherry On Top! So I spent a few days on this layout because I knew the competition would be stiff. But we all know you cannot win if you do not play.

Product/technique notes

I chose to use the sketch below from PageMaps’ May 2014 release. My background paper is from We R Memory Keepers’ “Happy Campers,” and the rest of the patterns are from the My Mind’s Eye “Lime Twist” 6×6 pad. I added lots of hand stitching and a title designed and cut on my Silhouette Cameo.

Greenfield Village

May 20, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

I did a little reading about Greenfield Village while I was creating this layout, and it made me want to go back as an adult!

I’m so grateful that Mom and Dad always put in such effort to plan fun and educational summer vacations for us, like this one in August 1978 that included a day at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. In the left photo Phil and I are posing with a statue of President James A. Garfield, and in the right photo we’re being dramatic in a gazebo that was used for musical performances.

Product/technique notes

I used the following sketch from Creative Scrappers’ Birthday Bash and papers from the My Mind’s Eye “Miss Caroline” collection. I created the title on the Silhouette and added a bit of Studio G washi tape and a Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

Bobcat mom squared

May 18, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Mom came to OU for Mom's Weekend all four years that Phil and I attended there, and we had a fabulous time each year.

Going to Ohio University at the same time as Phil was perfect for me, but it made things awfully nice for Mom and Dad, too. They knew we were there for each other, and they could visit us at the same time. Here Mom is attending her first of four OU Mom’s Weekends in May 1986.

Product/technique notes

I followed this sketch from the Creative Scrappers Birthday Bash and used papers from My Mind’s Eye’s 6×6 “Quilting Bee” paper pad along with some punches. Then I topped it with a title created on my Cameo, hand stitched a zig-zag up near the photo and added a few tiny staples.

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