one-page layouts

Chunky monkey: two-photo layout

January 30, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Here is another great sketch from PageMaps. I scanned and cleaned up these photos from my childhood so I could enter their contest.

In these photos my beautiful mom was 27 years old; I was under a year old and a chunky monkey. Getting a bath in the kitchen sink; does it get any cuter than that?

By the way, this is a another design that lends itself well to using 6×6 paper pads, as I’ve done here:

Mom giving me a bath in the kitchen sink in the spring of 1967

PageMaps sketch I used for this layout

White water: one-photo layout

January 26, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 5 Comments

There’s a great sketch (#85) over at the Twisted Sketches site, and the twist is “white.” Here is my interpretation. I used layered strips of patterned paper cut with border punches to create an abstract wave effect (which takes the place of the circle in the sketch).

I just love the feeling in this photo of my parents white water rafting. They’re the two at the back of the raft, right in front of the guide, with huge smiles lighting up their faces. I could just stare at their smiles for ages. I love having a photo of them looking like care-free kids.

Mom and Dad on a white water rafting trip in 1998

Came a cavalier: three-photo layout

January 24, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

I got some scrapbooking done this weekend, which makes it more likely that I’ll call it a good one. 🙂 I was inspired to use these photos from last April, when this cute little orange tabby started making regular visits to our backyard. He had obviously been owned before because he was fixed and comfortable with people. After spending time unsuccessfully looking for his family, we decided to adopt him. He’s a handsome boy. And he’s got tons of personality. He’s very affectionate and the funny kind of trouble maker, which is a great combo. He’s a keeper.

The journaling reads: Once it became clear that this darling boy didn’t have a home, we brought him inside to share ours. We named him Tristan, after the hero in a book I read years ago: “Came a Cavalier” by Frances Parkinson Keyes.

Came a cavalier: The story of naming Tristan

Scraplifting is the highest form of flattery

January 21, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

I took school and my school work very seriously (probably a little too seriously!), even at the start. Because of this I believed that copying off another student’s paper was cheating, no matter what. So when in first grade a little girl copied off my artwork, I went home upset and fussed about it to my mother. I didn’t think it was right for her to take my idea, and I wanted my mom to help me figure out how to make her stop. It’s funny how clear this memory is for me—both my feelings about the girl’s behavior and my mother’s response. She said, “Honey, she’s not really cheating off you because it wasn’t a test. She liked your drawing and wanted to make hers like it. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, you know.”

I’ve thought about those words many times over the years. Fast forward a few decades and I realize how much my mother’s lesson sank in. Now I would say my philosophy is that we should all do our own work, but when it comes to creativity I think we should take inspiration wherever we find it.

I was actually quite surprised when I found out that not everyone thinks scraplifting is kosher. I can remember reading a magazine article a few years ago that discussed scraplifting like it was a practice that we no longer need to be embarrassed about. We should even consider doing it occasionally. “Occasionally?” I thought. Don’t most scrappers do this? Don’t art students copy the masters so they can learn the craft?

I hereby officially and proudly proclaim that I am a scraplifter. There are so many wonderful designers sharing their layouts with us in magazines, books and online. Why wouldn’t I copy a layout I really love when I create my own? I can’t think of a good reason. I mean, I don’t go out and buy the exact supplies the other designer used so I can replicate her design to the last detail. I use my own supplies and photos, so it’s naturally going to be different when it’s completed. And I really do believe that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so if I copy your design you know that I am applauding your design skills! 🙂

The layout below is a lift of this Keisha Campell design I saw back in September. I loved every detail of Keisha’s page, so I did everything I could to copy it. I love her original, and now I love my own version as well!

A layout about my husband's maternal grandmother

Wanderlust

January 16, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

The other day I found out that Twisted Sketches was hosting a design team call, and because I really like their sketches and their twist challenges I got very excited and submitted a layout for consideration. Here is my layout and the sketch:

Wanderlust, a layout based on a sketch at www.twistedsketches.com

This is the www.twistedsketches.com sketch on which my layout was based.

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