October Afternoon

Booth sneak peaks

Monday Challenge: Happy Birthday!

Hi everyone, Vivian here with today's challenge. About a month ago, when I started to plan for my January challenge blog post, I realized I'd been assigned my son's 10th birthday. Immediately, I knew that the challenge would have to be a happy birthday challenge! Little did I know then that one of the new lines released at the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) trade show this week would be Cakewalk!

Today's happy birthday challenge can be interpreted any way you want as long as you create something birthday-related.

You could, as Stacey did, create a layout about a birthday:

I love how Stacey combined so many of the fun and colorful Cakewalk patterns and products on this layout documenting her Grandma Ruby's 87th birthday! I especially love the fun banners at the top, which Stacey handcut from one of the patterned papers and further embellished with staples, baker's twine, and some of the new Cakewalk brads:

Another take on this challenge could be to build up your stash of birthday cards and tags so that you're ready at a moment's notice. I made this quick tag with the Cakewalk line:

(If you missed yesterday's blog post here, be sure to check it out for more ideas using Cakewalk.)

A third way to take on this challenge is to create birthday party decorations. I am usually terrible about birthday party decorations. I'm so busy planning for the party itself that decorations usually consist of a bouquet of helium balloons picked up at the last minute from my local grocery store. I decided this year to get ahead and do something a little more unique for my son's birthday party. I had never thought of the new 9 to 5 line as birthday-ish, but my now-10-year-old was really drawn to the colors and patterns and wanted me to use 9 to 5 for his party decorations. I made pinwheels and a banner with some of the more basic patterns from 9 to 5:

So, get out there and create something birthday-ish! We'd love to see your birthday creations, so be sure to share anything you create in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery.

Happy (birthday) creating!

 

OA + CHA = More Sneaks for You!

Now that the CHA excitement is officially in full swing, we are pleased to share with you some of the projects that our design team has created using the new lines, 9 to 5, Cakewalk, and Woodland Park.  

As the team worked with the 9 to 5 line, they quickly discovered just how versatile it could be.  It certainly does the job on work-related pages...

Layout by Vivian Masket

Layout by Jill Sprott 

...but this collection has a multitude of uses outside of the workplace, too!

Layout by Lexi Bridges

Layout and Tag by Becky Novacek

Layout and Card by Wilna Furstenberg

Layout, Card, and Tag by Roree Rumph

Layout by Stacey Kingman

Layout and Tag by Marcy Penner

Card and Tag by Jill Sprott

 

Layout and Tag by Amy Heller

Layout by Danni Reid

The design team is also raving about the Cakewalk line, which is perfect for birthday pages, cards, and projects: 

Card by Becky Novacek

Card and Favor Jars by Danni Reid

Card by Vivian Masket

Layout by Amy Heller

Tag by Lexi Bridges

Layout by Jill Sprott

Tag by Stacey Kingman

Layout and Tag by Wilna Furstenberg

Card by Marcy Penner

The Cakewalk collection works beautifully with other themes, too! 

Layout by Roree Rumph

Layout by Becky Novacek

Layout by Marcy Penner (and yes, she's aware of the spelling error; we love this anyway!)

Last but certainly not least is the Woodland Park collection, which, the team agrees, is blooming awesome. 

Layout by Amy Heller

Layouts by Stacey Kingman

Card and Layout by Vivian Masket

Tag and Layout by Lexi Bridges

Layout by Danni Reid

We hope that you are as excited about these lines as we are! 

You can see even more projects on the design team's individual blogs this week (see the blog roll to the right), as well as right here on the October Afternoon blog in the weeks ahead.  Thanks for stopping by, and for all of the wonderful comments about the new lines!  

Thursday Sketch Challenge

Hey everyone!  Roree here, and I have today's sketch challenge for you.

I had so much fun a couple of weeks ago with the inspiration photo that I used to create my January 12th sketch, that I decided to find another photo to use for today's sketch.

Here it is:

(image found on Pinterest)

With this inspiration photo, I created this sketch:

I loved the rows of circles, so I focused on that element.  I added in the frame, title, and journaling to make it a little more scrapbook friendly.

I have been having so much fun making cards with the sketches lately, that I stuck with it for this sketch too.

Here is the card I created:

I used the Sidewalks collection to create a banner in place of the circles.  I added little details like layering and stitching the banner shapes together to add more texture and dimension.

I then cut a sticker strip into three pieces and put it in place of the title and journaling. 

Becky played along with my sketch this week, and here is the beautiful layout she created:

She really loved the inspiration photo and went with a more literal interpretation of it.  She made it her own by adding her photo in place of the 'O' in the title.  Such a fun take on the sketch, don't you think?!  :)

I hope you enjoyed today's sketch.  If you get a chance to play along with this week's sketch, don't forget to post it in the OA Flickr group.  We love to see what you all are creating with OA products!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

~Roree

Here's what you've been waiting for

The last sneak peek!

We'd like to introduce Woodland Park!

Tuesday Tutorial: Misting, Masking, & Stamping Oh My!

Hey everyone! Kinsey here with a quick and fun tutorial on masking with a combo of stamps and sprINKlers. Here's what I used for this fun spin on masking:

First, I used a paper punch to create the resist and the mask (a die cut machine would do the trick as well) and then used the punched shape and misted over it...

Next, using the opposite piece of the mask (the excess or outer part of the punched shape) to cover the misted area, and stamped inside the masked shape using a doily stamp from the Farmhouse stamp set...(tip: using a thin piece of paper for this step allows the stamped images to appear seamless)

Check it out!

Last but not least, I added a few extra touches to snazz it up a bit :) I outlined the scalloped shape (this technique looks really cute with a stitched border too), added one of the Farmhouse little flyers, and the 'Hello' stamp is from Studio Calico. Here's the finished tag:

Thanks so much for stopping by today and hanging out! 

Kinsey

Monday Challenge-Scraplift yourself....

Scraplifting yourself is just the beginning of this challenge. Becky here today, with a multi-faceted challenge. Every year in January, I challenge myself to create a layout and then duplicate it for each of our grandchildren. You can interpret this as you wish...I would suggest a couple of ideas. Maybe you could recreate layouts for each of your children, or perhaps you have a great photo (or more than one) of a group of friends or family members who you could create a page for. This year we added two new grandsons, so last year I made 8 layouts based on one design and this year, I made ten! 

The second aspect of this challenge is to convey something across the board. Something that is important to you. Something you can communicate in a page. 

And the third aspect is to use past collections and scraps. I still adore many of the past October Afternoon collections and wanted to use them and not just hoard them : ) 

Take any part of this challenge and make it your own. Spin it, turn it, interpret it as you like! It's just a starting point. I've enjoyed challenging myself to do this for the past several years and there is something extremely gratifying and freeing to me about it year after year. 

This year, I assembled all of my photos and had a design in mind before I started. Once I began, it went very quickly. This is not my usual creative process. I normally have a mindset of doing something very fresh and of masterpiece quality! But for this challenge, I allow myself freedom. No pressure to create something completely fresh or new, no pressure to make it just right. It's more an exercise in creating and conveying a sentiment. 

On a sidenote, I make a lot of pages for my grandchildren. My goal is not to make albums that document their lives. They have parents who can document their lives if they choose. My reason for creating pages about them is to document my feelings for them and my memories about them from my perspective. I keep a book (or more) for each child that they will be able to take someday if they want. Right now, it's fun for me to do. A creative outlet.

So here are the ten layouts based on one design:

I don't know if I've ever made ten layouts in a day and a half before! But using this process really did work. If I were going to a crop, I think this would be a fun approach. 

Wilna joined me in this challenge and I asked her to interpret it as she liked...and I like how she chose to do it! She went back and found a layout she had made in 2005-

From this layout, she created this beauty-

I think it's great! kind...smart...important. LOVE. 

So please take up this challenge, any part or all of it and share with us what you make! Please post your take on the OA Flickr group! 

Thanks!

Probable (Sasparilla) Dreams...

Hello!
It's Michelle here with another Guest page for you, this month. :)

When I saw the super-cute cowboy-inspired 'Sasparilla' line, it immediatly made me think of all the ways I could use it for mister husband's side of the family - all of them being really manly men with loves of outlaw movies and such.

I saw this photo of my little nephew and wondered what little minds would be dreaming of...and then guessed that it might be similar to what his older relatives dream of...cowboys!

It's definitely probable. :)

I added a cluster of cowboys on the top of the page, and stitched little lines coming from the photo up to them to make them look like thought bubbles. And the rub-ons were so fun to work with! They go on like a dream, and look great all bunched together...

Stand in a circle on your numbered square, start the music...

STOP the music. Someone reaches into a bucket to pull out a number. You are looking at the table full of homemade cakes. Would you choose chocolate or carrot or the one with sprinkles? Waiting in anticipatation, is it going to be your number?!?

Name that game!

You are right CAKEWALK!

That is the name of our second line we are realasing at Winter CHA.

Oh my goodness wait until you see what the Creative Team came up with!!!

Such talent.

We are so happy for those procastinators out there who still have to scrap their birthday parties (like me from 10 years ago, oops). And for those who have parties coming up!

So get ready for some super adorable prints...

 

 

 

The Alphabet paper

 

The Stars

 

The Elephant

 

Oh My!

 

And that is just a teaser, can you imagine what the WHOLE line looks like?!?!?!

Sketchy Thursday

good morning everyone.  danni here with this week's sketch.  today i decided to switch it up a little and create a lo sketch but it could easily translate into a card sketch or mini album sketch. 

 

 

with all the cute banners in the Farmhouse and Sidewalks lines, fun chipboard stickers, Miscellany packs and Little Flyers, i wanted to create a sketch that would include a banner as one of the focals.

 

 

here's the sketch   

 

 

 

 

 

 joining me today is marcy who created this amazing lo.  i love her splatters, her notebook, her titlework, her banner, it's all...well, "rad"

 

rad by marcy

 

 

here's what marcy had to say about the sketch creating process

 

"I made a few tweaks to the sketch. I kept the little notebook element in the middle, moved the title down and extended the banner. In my little notebook I included additional photo and some journaling as well as layered some labels from the Farmhouse collection. To make my banner I trimmed triangles from the patterned papers and also trimmed some of the flags in half." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and here is my interpretation

 

tea by danni

 

 

i created my banner, cutting one of the lace banners from the Farmhouse  pp here:Clothesline, die-cut a scalloped circle which i folded in half and stitched onto the banner, cut an additional block banner from the same sheet of pp, layered on top of the lace banner, layered with some buttons and tin pins and even a paper strip from one of the pp titles.

 

 

 

 i decided to move my title down so as to allow the butterfly to remain the focal on the left side.

 

 

 
 

    the layered notebook element inspired me to layer my picture several times and create a layered large butterfly focal. to create the butterfly, i printed the large butterfly image on the backside of my pp, decreased it in size, printed it on the backside of additional pp. i then layered the butterflies and stitched them together.

 

 

 love all the chipboard pieces in the Miscellany packs, they are so much fun to create with and layer

 

 

 

we hope you enjoyed today's sketch. if you can play along with us this week, please share how this sketch inspired you in our OA Flickr group.

happy creating♥

danni