Simple Stories

Totally crazy nuts about you: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

November 1, 2016 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our first challenge of November! Grab the sketch and play along for a $25.00 gift certificate to The Kreative Korner store or a $20.00 gift certificate to The ScrapRoom store.

The story

These stick-your-head-and-hands-through-the-holes photo boards aren’t only for children, right? Good, because while we were pumpkin patching this year, Matt and I traded off embarrassing ourselves by popping our body parts through the holes! Now we are officially country folk. And 100% nuts.

Product/technique notes

I used patterned papers from Bella Blvd’s Finally Fall collection and Simple Stories’ Harvest Lane collection. They went together so well!
I was also inspired by this fall hues mood board:

Bloom & grow: DT layout for Stuck?! Sketches

September 15, 2016 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 2 Comments

Today Stuck?! Sketches launches our second challenge of our anniversary month! Grab the sketch and play along for lots of prize opportunities.

The story

My husband’s mom was raising her family of five (aged 3-14) in Detroit in the 1970s. Sick of the poverty and danger surrounding them, she decided that she wanted to give them a better life. So she packed up their belongings and started driving toward Atlanta.

While traveling through the mountains of North Carolina, they stopped at a campground to stay the night. But when they arose the next morning, their car wouldn’t start. Matt clearly remembers living out of their car for a couple of weeks while their mom found a waitressing job so she could make the money to have the car fixed.

While all this was happening, she fell in love with the area and decided not to move on to Georgia after all! Instead, she bought a house in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains and stayed there quite happily for the rest of her life.

In these circa 1979 photos, she and the kids were planting their first round of tomatoes in their new yard.

Product/technique notes

The patterned papers are from the Simple Stories Bloom and Grow collection. I designed and cut the title on my Silhouette.

My favorite things

December 10, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

My favorite things is a two-photo scrapbook page based on the song from The Sound of Music.

One of our family Christmas traditions happened a bit by accident. Over the years we noticed a pattern—on the night that we put up and decorated our Christmas tree, The Sound of Music very often also appeared on television. We all love that movie, so we would be half decorating and half standing with ornaments in our hands while zoned in one the film. Dad was the only one fully focused on the task of getting the tree finished, and did not at all appreciate our halfheartedness.

Nowadays, because you can just pop in the DVD or stream a movie whenever you want, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. But back in the day it was special serendipity to have it showing on our tree-decorating night. And so the accidental tradition was formed.

Based on the song My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music, I created this page of our sweet Lucy under our Christmas tree in 2008. Like most cats, she loves, loves, loves Christmas trees. And presents.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens.
Brown paper packages tied up with strings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Product/technique notes

The background paper is from Simple Stories December Documented collection, the patterns in the frames are from Pink Paislee’s Snow Village 6×6 pad, and the frames cut file is from the Silhouette store. I designed and cut the title on my Silhouette also.

Half ours

June 22, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Barney officially belonged to our next-door neighbors, Tom and Clara Veit. But he spent so much time with us—begging for treats at our door, playing in our yard and walking us to school each morning—that we always said he was half ours. He was so intelligent, loyal and fun! We were quite fortunate to get even half of him. xoxo

In this June 1980 photo Phil is teaching Barney a new trick in his back yard.

Product/technique notes

I used all products from the Simple Stories Say Cheese II line on this page with a title I cut on my Silhouette.

Date night

May 2, 2015 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Sometimes it’s just fun to capture a few selfies while you’re out on a date. Am I right?

Although when I jumped over to Matt’s side of the table for the shot of the two of us, an older man at a nearby table gave me a dirty look. I wanted to yell over, “At least I’m not too old to have fun, you grump!” But you’ll be proud of me; I was good and just smiled at him.

Product/technique notes

Most of the elements on my page are from Simple Stories “Snap Life” collection, and the paper bag is from Jillibean Soup. I decided I wanted an arrow to connect the title to the “good stuff” card, so I doodled a quick guide and stitched away. I like how it brought it all together.

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