Silhouette

Three of my many blessings

November 16, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

My Mind’s Eye has issued a challenge to create a page about gratitude, and I am certainly grateful for these three women.

Friends are such a blessing.

I met these women when I became an officer in the Ladies’ Club at church last year. Luanne, Debbie and Janet are just the nicest, most loving people, and I’m happy to count them as friends.

Product/technique notes

I created this page using products from the My Mind’s Eye “Indie Chic,” “Quite Contrary,” “Now and Then: Dorothy,” “Follow Your Heart” and “Vintage Nostalgia” collections. I created the title work on my Silhouette and followed this sketch from Paper Issues.

You may have the universe if I may have Italy

November 13, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

I am proud to be guest designing this month for Back Porch Memories, and this layout features part of their November kit and photos of my grandparents from 1967.

My paternal grandmother was a first-generation American born to Italian parents, and my grandfather (her second husband) was born in Italy. So it was a very big deal when, in August 1967, they took a long-awaited trip to Italy together. They saw Italy, but more importantly they reconnected with family they hadn’t seen in many years. Papa was separated from his brother when they were young boys—one sent to America and the other to France—and this was to be their only reunion.

I took my title from a quote attributed to Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, who was responsible for many of the greatest operas of the 19th century, including Il trovatore, La traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Don Carlos, Aida and Otello.

Product/technique notes

The November Back Porch Memories kit includes papers from Imaginisce’s “Perfect Vacation” line, which worked so well with these vintage 1960s photos of my grandparents leaving on their big adventure. Every part of this layout is from the BPM kit, plus I cut the title on my Silhouette.

Thanks to Back Porch Memories for having me as a guest designer!

Student of the month

October 24, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

This is a story from first grade that holds great significance for me. And it starts with a special announcement over the loudspeaker from the school principal.

Mom says I arrived home from first grade on this day in 1974, and with a gleeful smile demanded, “Guess who you’re talking to.” She played along and asked. So I flung open my coat to reveal the badge pinned to my dress and proudly stated, “The Student of the Month, that’s who!” I wore that pin to school on my uniform every day that month.

So that was a big day for me. It still is, obviously. I learned early to enjoy doing my work well and that when and if I am complimented for it, it makes me feel spectacular. It doesn’t take much to make a kid feel special…and clearly some words of praise can last a lifetime.

Product/technique notes

I created this layout based on the following sketch from Stuck?! Sketches and am entering it in their October contest. I had such a difficult time finding papers that went well with this vintage photo. I mean, the couch was brown and light blue, the framed art had browns and oranges in it and my dress was either deep navy or purple. Ugh! I finally came upon these papers from quite deep in my stash, an old collection by TPC Studio called “School Days.” I think they’re just perfect. The banner is from BasicGrey, the ribbon is by American Crafts and I designed the title on my Silhouette Cameo.

I also added some crochet stitches along the edge of the circle because the collar of my dress in this photo is crocheted. If you didn’t see it before, here’s a tutorial on how to add crochet to the edge of page elements.

Silhouette tutorial: How to add crochet to the edge of page elements

October 19, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

To add the lovely crocheted detail around the circles on this page about our 17th anniversary, I turned to my Sihouette Cameo.

I wanted to create a really special look for this photo of us on our 17th anniversary, so I decided to crochet around the edges of all the circles. Crazy, I know! But it’s really not that hard, and I just love the soft, feminine look. I thought a tutorial would be helpful to any of you who want to try this on your own layout.

The tutorial

For me, it almost always starts with a sketch. In this case I chose to use this circle-filled Paper Camellia sketch. If you want to base the shapes you will crochet upon a sketch then you need to start by placing the sketch image in the Silhouette design software:

Step 1: Go to File :: Open :: Folder holding your sketch :: Open sketch. Size the image to fit the 12×12 Cameo mat in the Silhouette software.

Start drawing the shape(s) to be crocheted:

Step 2: Use the ellipse tool to draw a circle and adjust it to match the size of the circle on the sketch.

Copy/paste the first shape and reduce it:

Step 3: Select the circle and CTRL + C to copy then CTRL + F to paste on top of the first circle. Use the scale tool to reduce the top circle by 0.25 inches.

Turn to the rhinestone tool to create holes around the edge of the shape:

Step 4: Step 4: Rhinestone tool settings: Rhinestone Effect = Edge; Rhinestone Size = 6ss; Rhinestone Spacing = 0.112

Cut out the shape(s) and crochet!

Step 5: Follow these steps for each of the shapes you want to crochet around. Cut on your paper of choice and crochet using crochet thread and a size 7/1.65 mm hook.

Product/technique notes

The patterned paper I used is from Crate Paper’s “Close Knit” 6×6 paper pad. I also used my Silhouette to design and cut my title.

I really hope you will try this technique on a page of your own (and that it’s fun for you)! If you do, will you leave a comment with a link to your page because I would LOVE to see it.

On a journey of selfie discovery

September 25, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Taking good selfies is already a challenge, but try doing it in a darkened movie theater!

It’s always so fun to share something you love with someone you love. While visiting Mom and Phil in NC this summer, I took Phil to a matinee showing of “Guardians of the Galaxy” because I knew he was unlikely to go on his own but would really enjoy it. He did! We took these silly selfies to post to Facebook as we waited for the movie to begin. “We are Groot.”

Product/technique notes

I used pattern papers from October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup and Bella Blvd and followed this sketch from PageMaps and A Cherry on Top.
A Cherry on Top sketch

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. 🙂

*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.

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