Feeding the budgies

by Janice Daquila-Pardo on May 11, 2012

In April Matt and I went to the Poteet Strawberry Festival, which advertises itself as one of the oldest, most popular events in Texas. It was a real surprise to us how big this event was! Honestly, it was a little too big (and hot and sweaty) for me to tell you it was awesome. Oh well. But one thing we did enjoy was feeding the budgies. You buy a Popsicle stick covered in birdseed and enter their cage, where they descend upon you to eat. It was great to see them up so close.

We took turns feeding the birds so we could each take photos of the other. The bright colors made me want to break out the American Crafts Amy Tangerine Sketchbook papers and die cuts and make a page.

Got Sketch is celebrating its 5th anniversary and is holding an anniversary challenge that includes using: their 5-photo sketch (#142), 5 patterned papers and 5 clustered embellishments. Here’s what I’ve done with it:

Budgies_Daquila-Pardo

Happy 5th anniversary Got Sketch!

{ 2 comments }

You know I read it in a magazine

by Janice Daquila-Pardo on May 7, 2012

Magazine_Daquila-Pardo

These photos were taken at Ohio University in 1989.

Not only did my younger brother, Phil, and I start school in the same year, which led to us travelling through grade school and high school together as though we were twins, but also we elected to go to the same university for the same major! Yessir, we both packed up our things and went to Ohio University for journalism degrees. And once we had been there long enough to figure out which kind of journalism we wanted to specialize in, we both chose the magazine track.

So after studying the principles and ethics of journalism for four years, we were thrilled to have a course in our senior year that allowed forced us to craft our own magazines. Each student had to come up with a concept for a magazine that didn’t already exist, write the business plan for it and then create a prototype of the premiere issue. What a dream project for a couple of magazinophiles.

Phil’s magazine for billiards enthusiasts was called “Blue Chalk.” My magazine for comedians was called “Stand-Up.” We had to mock up articles, ads…the whole magazine experience. It was hard work and exhilarating. But we both felt quite proud of our final projects. In fact, Phil’s book won a contest with a cash award from Writer’s Digest and Folio Magazine!

These photos were taken just after the ceremony where Phil received his award. And the bottom photo is of Phil and our friend, Rich, who was listed in “Blue Chalk” as publisher.

Here is the PageMaps sketch I followed for this layout, and I’m entering it into their sketch contest:
The PageMaps sketch I used for this page

Product/technique notes: All the papers and stickers I used on this layout are from Echo Park’s Note To Self collection. I should also give credit where it’s due: Phil suggested the title I used on this page. :-)

{ 0 comments }

Warrior Dash 2012

by Janice Daquila-Pardo on May 6, 2012

WarriorDash_Daquila-Pardo

I created the Warrior Dash title and Viking helmet on my Silhouette.

Back in March Matt participated in his first obstacle/mud run, the Warrior Dash. It was a beautiful day, and we gathered with thousands of others in Splendora, Texas, for a 3.21-mile run peppered with 12 obstacles. While Matt did the hard work, I stood on the sidelines and shot photos of him with a telephoto lens.

I asked Matt to write the journaling for this one, and here’s what he said:
“Warrior Dash started out as a curiosity for me. Jeff, our personal trainer at the time, told us about two obstacle races he planned on running: Warrior Dash and Tough Mudder. It sounded interesting to me. A year later, I decided to fulfill a lifelong desire to be a runner. After training for several months, I decided to sign up for the Tough Mudder but couldn’t participate because of an injury. A few months later I signed up for the Warrior Dash. I started training for it fairly seriously by running a lot more. I felt pretty confident about the running portion of Warrior Dash, and in the end I did OK. My training for my next event, The Spartan Race in May, is much more serious and involves more strength-building exercises. These races are a blast, and I will probably do them all multiple times.”

I was fortunate to have had a beautiful day for capturing photos of the event. Of all the great shots I took, my favorite is the one of muddy, smiling Matt right after the race (in the upper right corner of the layout). Doesn’t he look happy? That’s the sign of a day well spent.

For the title treatment on this page I decided to create a Viking-style helmet (like in the Warrior Dash logo) on my Silhouette. And I’m making this cut file (in .studio format) available to anyone who thinks they could also use it (click on the image below to begin the download). If you download this file, I would love it if you’d leave me a comment to let me know.
A Silhouette cut file for you to download

{ 0 comments }

Together in PJs

by Janice Daquila-Pardo on May 4, 2012

TogetherInPJs_Daquila-Pardo

Journaling: These darling shots of Phil and me are from 1972 (L-May; R-March). I remember that I loved wearing my square dancing nightgown.

TogetherCloseup_Daquila-Pardo

Here's a close-up shot on the pinwheel embellishment and title tag.

If you read the title of my post (and my layout) and heard strains of Neil Diamond’s “Forever in blue jeans,” you’re my kind of person! When I was working on this page about my baby bro and me in these sweet, random 1972 photos of us in our pajamas, that’s what popped into my head…so I went with it.

Sometimes when I get to the titling part of the scrapping process, I falter. It’s not always easy to come up with clever, pithy titles that are understandable without being too obvious/boring. It’s a tall order! So, while I’m talking to myself in my scrap room (oh, please don’t try to tell me you never do that), I start hearing song lyrics, movie quotes and lines from books that I might bend to my purpose.

And that’s how “Forever in blue jeans” became “Together in PJs.”

The hope is, of course, that even without benefit of this type of explanation, people who see this layout will either “hear” my intention on their own when they read the title, or the title will be strong enough to stand on its own even if nobody “hears” the melody with me.

How do you come up with titles for your pages? I would love to have more strategies at hand for this task. Won’t you leave me a comment with your tips?

I created this page with the help of this lovely sketch from PageMaps and am entering it in their sketch challenge.

The PageMaps sketch I used on this layout

Product/technique notes: Did you notice the man-in-the-moon image in these patterned papers from We R Memory Keepers Anthologie line? It made this the perfect choice for vintage photos about children and bedtime.

{ 0 comments }

I’m lucky to have a friend like you

by Janice Daquila-Pardo on May 1, 2012

Happy May Day! The May Sketches With a Twist sketch and design team sample layouts are now live on the blog. I am very proud to have created the sketch and really love all the design team’s samples based on it! Here’s a little peek at my new sketch:

The Sketches With a Twist May sketch

The twist this month is to incorporate hand or machine stitching into your design. So I did a running stitch around the edge of my title treatment, which set it off nicely. You know, I don’t often use word/sentiment stamps on my layouts (like I mean to do when I buy the stamps), but as I was working on this page my glance just happened to fall on the Hello Friend stamp set from Lawn Fawn, and it really was perfect for my subject! So the lesson here, boys and girls, is that there are benefits to having a messy scrap space. ;-)

FriendLikeKathy_Daquila-Pardo

I created sketch #5 for Sketches With a Twist, on which this layout is based.

Kathy was my best friend for several years in grade school. We were in classes together, in the same Girl Scout troop and spent nights over at each other’s houses. She was the kind of friend that I could be my nerdy self with and not feel nerdy. She was fun, kind, studious and athletic.

Out of all the time we spent around each other, it’s little tidbits that leap to mind when I think of her. Like the time we sat under a tree and drew our versions of our future dream homes. Or when we went shopping at the mall together, and even though she was a head taller than me (lucky girl), we insisted on buying the same exact outfit and wearing them on the same day. That had to have been hilarious to our families! Or when she showed me her new Loverboy Get Lucky album, (the one released in 1981 with the red leather pants and the crossed fingers) and that made her even cooler in my eyes.

Well, after grade school Kathy and I attended different high schools and then went off to different universities, so we didn’t see each other for years. We all know how that happens. But after college we reconnected by attending each other’s weddings, which was wonderful, and we send birthday and Christmas cards. But recently I had the opportunity to spend an entire day with Kathy and her family. Her younger sister, Jean, recently moved to San Antonio, which isn’t far from Austin. So when Kathy’s family flew in to spend spring break with Jean’s family, Matt and I made plans to head to San Antonio for a visit.

We had a wonderful day together. We all went to the Poteet Strawberry Festival, which is a huge event in the SA area. It was a hot, sweaty, windy day, which is why we look a bit disheveled in these photos. But it was just so nice to catch up! You know, a lot changes about people and their lives over the years, but a lot stays just as it is in grade school, too. Kathy is the same kind of person she was back when: she’s fun; it’s obvious she’s a kind and generous mother to her two girls and wife to Wray; and she cares passionately about doing her work well. She’s a very good person, and I am lucky to have a friend like her.

I hope you’ll head to the Sketches With a Twist blog to get the printable version of my sketch and play along (there are two prizes available each month).

{ 3 comments }

← Previous Entries