one-page layouts

Discus queen

March 24, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

This layout is based on sketch challenge #33 at the My Mind's Eye blog.

Matt’s younger sister, Thyia, competed in the discus and shot put events on her high school track team. Matt tells me that she was so good at these events that she went to nationals and came up against girls in her age range that were 100 pounds heavier than she was…and won! This photo of her is from 1993.

I created this layout for the My Mind’s Eye blog challenge #33, using all patterned papers from various lines of theirs and their sketch .

So special

March 21, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

These photos were taken during my father's 70th birthday weekend in 2003.

From the time we were little I can remember Aunt Mary Lou making a huge fuss over us. She loved to laugh at our sassy comments and make us feel brilliant. When Earl joined the family he spoke to us as adults, which every “brilliant” teenager craves. It takes special people to make others feel so special. These photos were taken during our weekend-long celebration of Dad’s 70th birthday in October 2003.

I created this layout using My Mind’s Eye patterned papers and a sketch from their blog.

My Mind's Eye sketch

I still get butterflies

March 19, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

A few selfies taken on our 12th anniversary in 2009

These are photos of us on our 12th anniversary in 2009, after we had returned from our celebratory dinner. I actually finished this simple layout months ago but forgot to photograph and post it. What I notice the most when looking at these pictures is how much less Matt weighs now than he did then! This was when he was at his highest weight, and he is now 23 pounds lighter. I’m very proud of him because he is working on losing this weight the slow, steady, healthy way. He’s exercising every day and has changed his diet drastically. No fads or get-thin-quick schemes here; just wise nutritional choices and lots of sweaty exercise. He says he wants to lose 20 more pounds, and I’m absolutely sure he will.

For this layout I used some older patterned papers from My Mind’s Eye, a few Martha Stewart punches and a Silhouette cut file for the title.

BFFs from the start

March 3, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

These two random photos of me and my baby brother prove how long we've been BFFs.

I continue to scan, organize and scrap photos from our childhood, and when I was looking through my vintage photos yesterday these two unrelated shots from 1969 lept out at me. They make me SO happy and grateful that Phil and I are so close in age (13.5 months). Look at what good friends we were, even then.

The top photo was taken in our living room in September, and the bottom one was taken on Mom and Dad’s bed in December. Here we are, not quite two and three years old, forming our bond—our lifelong friendship. My relationship with my brother is truly one of my greatest blessings.

I created this layout based on the following fabulous PageMaps sketch and am entering it in their Webster’s Pages sketch contest.

Tickling the ivories

March 1, 2012 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 5 Comments

The March Sketches with a Twist sketch and design team sample layouts are now live on their site. I am very proud to have created the sketch and really in love with all the design team’s samples based on it!

Sketches With a Twist is a new sketch challenge site where each comes with an extra requirement (for example, this month’s twist is to use 3 identical embellishments somewhere on your layout or card.

Here’s a little peek at my new sketch:
A peek of the new sketch

And below is my design team layout based on the sketch. Please head to their blog to get the printable version of the sketch and play along (there are two prizes available each month).

In this first photo I was 6 years old, and in the second I was not quite 10.

I was very fortunate that as a child I took piano lessons. My mother had always wanted to know how to play, and I think her enthusiasm for the idea must have made me want to do it, too. When I was really little my parents would walk into a room and find me sitting sideways in an overstuffed chair “playing” the arm. I think they must have told Santa Claus about this because in 1972 he left an electric organ (that’s what they were called then, instead of keyboards) under the tree! Boy howdy, was that a great gift.

The whole family played the organ, but perhaps I played it the most because when, in 1976, my parents finally fulfilled my mom’s dream of owning a piano, I was the first one to get lessons. Eventually Phil and Mom also took piano lessons from my teacher, Alice Shimmels, but I took lessons the longest (until I was 18, I think). Unfortunately, at that point in my life I didn’t think I had time in my busy teenager schedule to continue with lessons and practice, so I let them go.

It’s a lovely thing to have had music lessons in my past; it’s such a great skill to have and is a practice rich with opportunities for developing personal discipline. I now have that piano in my home, and I love to play carols in the winter on a cold evening when I’m full of Christmas spirit. So, another debt of gratitude is owed to my wonderful parents for filling my life with the ability to make my own music.

« Previous Page