October Afternoon

Travel Mini Album with Jenni Hufford

Hello!  It's Jenni Hufford here with my final post as the September Guest Designer.  Is it just me or did this month fly by!?  

Today I want to share with you a travel mini album I created for an upcoming trip this fall to New Orleans.  I used mostly Boarding Pass, Sidewalks, and bits and pieces of Road Map.

When I create a travel mini album, I have found that making the base of the album BEFORE the trip is extremely helpful.  This way, the album can go with you on the trip, and is available to record the memories as you experience them.   

Keeping the pages fairly simple is the key as you are making your album base.  You can take extra embellishments with you and add them as you build your album.

When I pack for a trip (and by packing, I mean scrapbook supplies:), I include the following items: letter stickers, extra journaling labels/cards, scissors/small paper trimmer, pens, adhesive, a few extra embellishments, pre-cut cardstock and scraps of pattern paper for "extra pages", decorative tape/washi tape, one or two stamps/ink, a hole punch, and my camera and instax polaroid camera.

On previous trips I would take a little time each day to include a few photos, journaling, and found items into my album.  I was honestly amazed how quickly I completed past travel albums-- I am sure it's because the memories were fresh and my supplies were somewhat limited!

Thank you again October Afternoon for having me Guest Design this month!!  I had a wonderful time and so enjoyed working with all of your beautiful products!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Flickr Feature

I was just looking throught the Flicker images that tagged October Afternoon and I came across this SUPER CUTE project from Jean (Stripey Fish).

So darn cute!

Here is her recipe for it:

Framed Monogram - Simple Scrapper
Simple Scrapper October 2011 Simple Project Instructions
October Afternoon Rocket Age papers
October Afternoon Rocket Age chipboard shape
October Afternoon Rocket Age miscellany
3-in-1 Craft Glue
Recollections foam adhesive circles
Scrapbook Adhesives E-Z Runner
Acrylic paint (craft supply)
4-Way Adjustable Depth Project Frame
Large chipboard letter

Thnaks for an insipration project Jean!

Thursday Sketch on Wednesday

We are switching things around a little this week, so you're getting the Thursday sketch today!

Good Morning Everyone! Becky here today with a sketch for you. This is a simple sketch based on a sort of staggered grid, using 4 small photos. The vertical images are 2x2.5 inches and the horizontal images are 1.75x3 inches. 

It was easy to use the same sketch for my beloved 8.5x11 version-

The beauty of this design for me, is that there is plenty of room for the adorable bits and pieces available in the Sidewalks collection. The packet of Flour Sack bits is so much fun and easy to layer up. 

Here's Stacey's take on the sketch-

It looks totally different and I love it! That's why sketches are so much fun, right? Everyone puts their own spin on it and makes it unique. I like the flag tucked into the butterfly detail.

We would love to see your creations on  the October Afternoon Flickr Pool!

Tuesday Tutorial: Fabric Embellishments

Happy Tuesday again! It's Stacey here, getting crafty with the new October Afternoon fabric, making machine-stitched, layered shapes for cards (or layouts!). I'll share the steps of this simple process here with some tips on how to make these slightly shabby, just-about-foolproof embellishments.

You'll need your printed fabric (I used the October Afternoon Farm Fresh fabric), plain unbleached muslin (I just used scraps), your sewing machine, thread in a few colors, and an iron (the following is a large, close-up photo of my iron...not sure why it's so big!).

First, just smooth out your fabrics with the hot iron. Layer the printed fabric under two layers of muslin. You can cut rectangles or use scraps, depending on the sizes of your shapes. Since I knew I'd be making smaller embellishments, I just used scraps of muslin.

After ironing, cut a piece a little larger than the shape you plan to make - this is an "eyeballing" situation. Just look at it. If your card is 4"X6", then the shape needs to be smaller than that! It's not a precise science. :)

Now for the stitching. Notice that I do not have a design drawn on my fabric. You could lightly pencil some lines on there to follow if you really want to, but "freehand" stitching the design is easy and makes the process that much more creative! And, besides, you are going for a shabby, intentionally imperfect look, right?

Here's my heart after the first time around.

I ended up going around three times on this one.

Leaving some space between the cut and the stitches, cut out the shape and run your finger around the edges.

I layered the heart onto a kraft card with a journaling card, die cuts, stickers, buttons, twine, and lace from the Sidewalks collection. I love the texture and dimension that the fabric embellishment adds!

 

Another way to make interesting fabric embellishments is to layer the fabric with two layers of muslin again, but this time machine stitch all over the piece, curving randomly, crossing over, almost "scribbling" on the fabric with the thread. It should end up up similar to this:

Then cut out (again, no pattern, just eyeball it) a couple of leaves and a stem. Do the same with some other fabrics to make flower petals (I did a messy swirl stitching pattern on the flower pieces), and cut those out as well. Adhere to the card, add a button, you have a lovely, layered, stringy, stitchy, one-of-a-kind design!

Here's the card again:

I used the October Afternoon Farm Fresh fabric on this card, too, with paper from Boarding Pass and Thrift Shop. The Sprinkler I used is the new Hopscotch from the Sidewalks collection.

I hope you'll try making some layered fabric embellishments - it's a great way to make a handmade project even more special!

 

We have a winner of the Farmhouse post

Carol please email jen.s@octoberafternoon.com and I will get you out a sampling of the Farmhouse line.

Monday Challenge: Un-banner

Happy last Monday in September! Vivian here with this week's challenge. Today I'm going to push you to think a little bit outside the box; I hope you'll have fun as much fun with this challenge as Roree and I did!

Okay, let's get started! Please go back and reread today's blog post title. Yes, it says "un-banner." I am sure you are thinking, "Un-banner? What is she talking about?" Today we're going to take the ever-popular banner embellishment, undo it, and turn it into something entirely different.

Roree and I both started with the Sidewalks Chip 'n Stick set, which features two different banners, each with mix-and-match patterns and shapes:

I used just the triangle-shaped banner elements and lined them up to create a multicolored design element - kind of like a textured piece of patterned paper - on a layout created using both the Sidewalks and Boarding Pass lines:

Here's a detail shot of the un-banner portion of the layout:

Roree used those same triangle-shaped banner elements to create a ridiculously cute gift bag, again using Sidewalks and Boarding Pass:

Here's a close-up of those un-banner monster teeth:

Okay, now it's your turn! Grab a banner embellishment and un-banner it! Once you're done, we'd love to see your creations in our October Afternoon Flickr Pool!

Happy creating!

Reminder: Warehouse sale is not until OCTOBER

Using a Grid with Jenni Hufford

Happy Friday!  It's Jenni Hufford, the September Guest Designer, blogging today with a new layout to share with you.

Whenever I am needing design inspiration, I will start my layout with a basic grid.  Whether it be a grid of pattern paper, photos, or embellishments, a grid is a wonderful foundation for any page.

That is exactly what I did here!  I didn't have a design in mind for this layout, so I started punching squares of the Sidewalks pattern paper.   I knew I wanted to use the Ferris Wheel photo, so I began arranging the squares in a grid around the photo.  When the design began to form, I was inspired to find smaller photos of our evening at the fair and incorporate them into the grid.

Once the grid was in place, I was able to begin layering more details to my layout.   I made a tag out of kraft paper and popped it up over the grid.

Once the tag was in place, i wanted to add something over the "white space" of my photo, so I added colorful twine to symbolize the fun flying colors of the fair rides.  I then added my embellishments- the October Afternoon flags, label stickers, and some paper clips as layered detail to my grid.

Next time you are "stuck" on a layout, try using a grid as your base and build upon your foundation! 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

New Fabric in the Spotlight! Plus who'd like a give-away?!

Now annoucing our new fabric!!! Now we have something for all those quilters and sewers. As well as those scrapbookers and cardmakers who love to make their own embellishments. We will not be selling it ourselves but you can purchase it at FatQuarterShop

Here's a sneak...... of the first release is from Farm Fresh

It is available in Cotton and Flannel.

Next line to be released is Fly a Kite.

 

Here are some great projects from our Design Team...

 

From Roree

From Danni

From Me (Jennifer)...

 

 

From Amy

By Vivian

From Lexi

Arn't those super cute projects?!

We hope you're as excited about the fabric as we are. We'll be randomly picking a winner on Monday, Ocotber 3th. The winner will receive a Fat Quarter of all the Farm Fresh patterns!

Chevron Background tutorial

Hi everyone.  It's Marcy here. Today I'd like to show you how I made my chevron background on a recent layout of mine.  

I've wanted to do a layout with a large chevron pattern on it for a long time and I thought it might make a great tutorial.

So, here we go.

1.  Start with first selecting the patterned papers that you'd like to use.

I knew, because I wanted my background to be a chevron, I would loose the "white space" that I love. With this in mind I chose similar colored papers.... so that they felt almost monochromatic and flat.  If my zig zags were a variety of colors the pattern would've popped even more!

Trim a bunch of pieces into 1"x3" strips.  (Here's three.  I ended up added a cream cardstock to the mix after I took this photo.)

2.  Take two of the same pieces and overlap them so they form an "L".

3.  Now trim from the "mountain" to the "valley"...

... so that you snip off two little triangles.

4.  Arrange your pieces into the first "zig" of your "zag" and grab another piece.  Place this piece off the end of one of the pieces and overlap just like you did earlier.

5. Trim from the "mountain" to the "valley" of these pieces as well.  Keep repeating till your pattern is the width you want.

Take a few pieces of another pattern and do all this over again.  Keep going with all your patterned pieces. 

6.  I chose to adhere my pattern to a smaller piece of cardstock... mostly so I could reposition it on my page until it was where I wanted it and because I wanted to sew the strips and felt that it would be easier to maneuver.  So, adhere your pieces down.

At this point I sewed the chevron down, curled up the edges and assembled my layout.  Here's a closeup of some of the stitching.

And that's it.  If you're going to give this tutorial a try I'd love to see how it turns out!  Link up in the comment section and post your layout in our gallery so we can check it out!