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Tennis begins with love

July 27, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

My brother took this photo of me and Mom just after we'd finished a morning of tennis in July 1983.

This is a photo that brings back great memories for me of playing tennis with my mom and brother. There was a nice set of courts next to the city pool, and we often rode our bikes over to play. Sometimes just Phil and I went, and sometimes Mom joined us. When we were younger than I was in this photo (high school), Phil and I took lessons for a few summers. They were taught by a very patient man named Bill Ungar; such a nice guy.

Matt and I have tried to play tennis together, but here in Texas it’s just so hot that it’s not quite as fun as I remember from my youth in Ohio!

Product/technique notes

Just about everything on this page comes from the Simple Stories “I heart summer” collection. I designed and cut the title with the Silhouette.

Drinking from the hose & free Silhouette cut file

July 11, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Notice how he has shifted his color to almost perfectly match the hose.

I caught this cool moment on camera the other day in our back yard. I was out doing some watering, and when I walked back over to turn off the hose I saw this little lizard clinging to the side of it guzzling the water that was spilling down the side. This clever boy seems to have been waiting in the tall grass for someone to come along and turn on his water fountain!

Would you like to use this title on a page of your own? I’m making it available as a freebie*; just click on the image below to download the Silhouette file. And if you do use it please come back and leave a comment on this post so I can ooh and ahh over it. 🙂

Product/technique notes

I decided to play along with Paper Camellia’s July sketch challenge, below. The kraft-based papers are from an older collection by DCWV called “Playtime.”

*I will be releasing cut files periodically; they are free for your personal use and governed by this license:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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.

Anaheim picnic

June 22, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

My baby bro often seemed to be crying at photo time when he was a wee one.

My mom grew up in California, and her family continued to live there when she moved east for college (and then marriage and the rest of her life!). In the summer of 1968, when I would have been about 20 months and Phil 6 months, Mom took us to visit her family. In addition to introducing us to her family, she also made the trip to be in her brother’s wedding and to attend her tenth high school reunion.

On the back of this photo she wrote “Picnic in Anaheim, July 1968” and then the names of the family members. From left to right around the table: my Aunt Barbara, my mom’s Aunt Tilli, her son Loren, me (at the top of the photo in the sun hat), baby Phil being held by Uncle Terry (Mom’s brother, married to Barb) and the knees of Uncle Vic (married to Tilli).

Product/technique notes

I adjusted the size of elements in this 8.5 x 11-inch PageMaps sketch from November 2013 so it would work at 12 x 12. The majority of the patterned papers are from BasicGrey’s “pb&j” 6×6 pad. I created and cut the title on the Silhouette Cameo and sprinkled some buttons and sequins around to form a visual triangle.
November 2013 PageMaps sketch on which I based my layout

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.

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