vintage photos

Birthday sleepover

November 24, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

We all have certain techniques that especially catch our eye when they’re used on a layout, and for me paper folding is one of them.

I seem unable to pass up a closer look at a page with folds! So to add a little extra dimension and personality to my page I incorporated a faux quilting folding technique into my design. If you want to see more details about creating this look, I have a tutorial in an older post for a layout that uses the same technique.

For my 11th birthday in 1977 Mom and Dad let me have a slumber party with a few friends: Jill Trzaska, Renee Poplik and Margaret Wissman. One of my fun memories from this night is when we performed a song-and-dance routine for my family (bottom photo). We called ourselves “The Oreos” because of the plastic Oreo party favor necklaces we all wore. Pretty clever, eh?

Product/technique notes

The products on this page all came from the November Back Porch Memories kit and are from American Crafts’ “Shimelle” line. I created the title on the Silhouette and designed it to incorporate the record die cut from the kit as the O.

Note: I’m submitting this to the Paper Issues “Let’s Get This Party Star-ted and Par-ty Hear-ty” link party.

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!

Halloween masquerade

October 29, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 1 Comment

My brother and I co-hosted a Halloween party in our junior year (1983) for some of our school friends. I handmade masks for everyone to choose from, and as I look back on that now I have to admit they were good sports for playing along with my idea!

The whole family worked together to deck out the yard and the basement with a spooky motif; we pulled out all the stops. Daddy even climbed up into the maple tree in our front yard so he could scare our guests as they arrived. Thinking of that makes me so happy because it was a little out of the ordinary for my mild-mannered father and means to me that he really wanted it to be fun for us.

And yes, we even bobbed for apples.

Product/technique notes

I followed the October 15th Stuck?! Sketches sketch (with an added photo) for this layout, and I’m entering it their challenge. I also used Teresa Collins’ Halloween collection from last year, “Masquerade Party.”

Note: I’m submitting this to the Paper Issues “Fan-atics” link party.

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.

Halloween 1975: Divvying up the loot

October 13, 2014 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 8 Comments

It was Halloween night in 1975, and my brother and I had just come home from haunting our neighbors for treats.

I remember quite well donning that homemade gypsy costume. I loved getting to wear the huge black hoop earrings (well before I had pierced ears) and head scarf. And what little girl doesn’t yearn for the opportunity to wear gobs of makeup? Unfortunately, I can’t remember where my mom came up with that flowered dress I was wearing, although I know that many of my costumes over the years came straight out of the depths of her closet.

Phil looks like he must have already downed some candy by the time this photo was taken because I’m pretty sure that red blotchy area around his mouth started out as a full set of red clown lips. And who doesn’t love a clown with a practical streak who wears a stocking cap on a cold Ohio Halloween night?

But as I was working on scrapping this memory, one thing that really stood out to me was the packs of candy cigarettes on the table. Can you believe people gave those away to children and that parents didn’t think it was a problem to let their kids “smoke” them? The good old days!

Product/technique notes

I crafted this layout based on this great PageMaps sketch created exclusively for Back Porch Memories and am entering it into their November guest designer contest. My products came from quite a variety of companies: The papers are from KI Memories and Fancy Pants, and the stickers and other embellishments are from American Crafts, Bella Boulevard and Studio G. I really love the added detail provided by that Martha Stewart punch-around-the-page spider web.

Reminder:

Don’t miss out on participating in my Blogtoberfest sketch contest for a great holiday-themed prize package!

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