October Afternoon

Working FROM 9 to 5 made more enjoyable by working WITH 9 to 5

Hi everyone - Lowri here and welcome to my first guest post for the month of May!

I have been having great fun with the 9  to 5 Collection! I worked in a corporate office for many years and I have to say there was more than a touch of the Mad Men about it and I just love the imagery of the vintage office theme. I made these pieces just for me, which is a real rarity. Read on to see a little more about how I created them

Craft Tools Box

This box came as a flat packed mdf kit and measures a huge 14.5" x 6". I started by covering the edges with the 9 to 5 washi tape, which makes for a fast and bright alternative to painting, and then I fully lined and covered the box in patterned papers from the collection. I suggest using a solvent-based glue when creating these types of projects as it dries quickly, will not warp the paper and it cleans up very easily with an adhesive eraser if it seeps from the edges. After I covered the entire piece in paper I started on the decoration.

The perfectly coordinating collection embellishments make this super easy and I started by decorating the two ends of the box - this way I get to see the pretty side wherever the box is sitting! It’s easy to layer the die cuts and stickers, and to add dimension I used foam dots to mount the various elements.

I created the “pull handle” for the top of the box by making some decorated glass tiles and mounting them onto the small wooden strip that came with the box. You can see a little tutorial showing how I did this below - these make great custom scrapbook and card embellishments:

1.      Gather up some paper, flat glass beads or tiles, Glossy Accents adhesive and a sharp knife.

2.      Spread a thin even layer of Glossy Accents onto the back of the tile.

3.      Press the tile firmly onto the paper, moving it around in small circles to get rid of any air bubbles and to ensure the thinnest layer remains.

4.      When dry, cut around the tile carefully with a sharp knife.

5.      Ta-daah! These are super quick to make.

6.      Make lots – use what you need, glue a magnet on the back of the extras and you have a great new set of fridge magnets!

 Memo Pad

This started out as another plain mdf piece, and this time I inked the exposed wooden edges with Distress Ink and then used a stylized woodgrain stamp and some brown ink to create a simple woodgrain pattern.

I covered the exposed sides with paper from the collection, picking out elements I wanted to display such as this sentiment (Picture 1). I often work with my window open so I have made this handy cover to stop the tiny memo pages from blowing away (Picture 2) and this sticker was just too cute not to use on the reverse of the cover (Picture 3).

Mug

This mug came ready-made with a template sheet of paper you can use to cut and create your own photo inserts. I really wanted to use this “Shorthand” paper in one of my projects so I cut a strip to size and then added stickers to complete my office set!

I hope you have enjoyed these projects – please post a comment with any questions or be sure to check back next week for some more ideas. – Lowri

(Watch for more posts and projects by Lowri McNabb on the OA blog every Friday during the month of May!)

Technique Thursday: Repetition Stamping

Happy Thursday!  It's time to get some extra mileage out of your October Afternoon stamps while also putting your Sprinklers to use!  In the past, I've shared my love of stamping with Sprinklers, and today, I will walk you through an approach to stamping with Sprinklers that I love: repetition stamping. 
The term "repetition stamping" has multiple meanings. While it can refer to simply repeating a single image multiple times, it may also refer to repeating (and possibly overlapping) an image multiple times without stopping to reink the stamp each time. The effect of that kind of repetition stamping is a series of images with different intensities of color.  

Here is the approach I took to create the layout above:

Preparation.

- Choose a stamp that you can envision repeated multiple times on the background of a layout. I chose the pinwheel stamp from the October Afternoon Midway collection. 

- Select several bottles of Sprinklers in similar colors or analogous colors (that is, colors next to each other on the color wheel), so that when the colors combine, they will blend well. I worked with blues (Carbon Copy and Lagoon) and a neutral gray (Token) on this layout. 

- Consider using a box as you spray the Sprinklers over the stamps; it will help to keep the "blowback" under control.  

- Place a piece of sturdy cardstock (your stamping "target") on a flat surface nearby, and back it with scrap paper (like newspaper, magazine pages, or catalog pages). This way you can stamp off the edge of the paper without making a mess on the surface below. 

Step 1. Place the stamp on an acrylic block and spray the first color of Sprinklers over it. Don't worry about coating the whole stamp. I just sprayed toward the center. Complete, crisp images aren't the goal here -- just go with the flow! 

Step 2. 

Stamp the image multiple times on different areas of the paper, with different areas of the stamp. I was able to stamp three to four times per image without reinking.  

Step 3.

Without cleaning the stamp, spray the second color of Sprinklers over it. Once again, don't feel the need to cover the stamp thoroughly. 

Step 4. 

Stamp the image multiple times, just as you did the first time. Try to stamp the image in open areas. Overlapping edges isn't just okay -- it's preferred.  You'll start to notice that the colors blend in lovely ways. 

Repeat the entire process with additional colors of Sprinklers, until you have covered the entire background. 

Step 5. 

After the background dries (mine took just a few minutes), add some stitching to the images for a bit of extra texture and charm. I machine-stitched the centers of the stamped images, turning the page slowly as I sewed. 

I love the overall effect! 

I completed the page by adding my journaling on October Afternoon label stickers, and used some 9 to 5 letter stickers for the title. 

So what do you think?  Are you ready to try some repetition stamping on your next layout?  I'd love to see it!  Be sure to share it in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery. 

Thanks for stopping by today! 

-- Jill 

Monday Challenge: Get Those Spring Holiday Photos Scrapped!

Happy April! Vivian here with this week's Monday challenge: get those spring holiday photos scrapped! I'm finally in a spring-y mood now that our snow has melted and the daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths are starting to bloom. I find that I often ignore spring holidays in my scrapping, probably because springtime always seems so busy and I file away the photos amidst the mayhem and then forget about them. This week's challenge gave me the jump-start I needed to pull out photos from last year. There are lots of spring holidays (St. Patrick's Day, Passover, Easter, Mother's Day, etc.), so if you're playing along, take your pick!

Nicole joined me for this week's challenge, and created this gorgeous layout with an Easter photo from her childhood:

Here are three quick tips to pull from Nicole's layout:

1. Create your own layered spring embellishments. Nicole die cut two different sizes and designs of butterflies from each of three different patterned papers, then layered and stitched them, creating a quick and easy row of stunning embellishments.

2. Use banner shapes as a shelf. Nicole cut long banner shapes from two different patterned papers and used those elements as a shelf for her main page elements (photo, title, and journaling). Banners are simple to make - just cut a triangle out of the end of a long rectangular strip of paper.

3. Design with corners. Nicole created a fun corner element in the upper left corner of her layout by layering patterned papers. She misted right below that and then echoed the misting in the bottom right corner.

I created a clean-lined layout with photos from last year's backyard egg hunt:

Here are three quick tips to pull from my layout:

1. Sometimes a blurry photo works! The picture of my kids running in opposite directions really captured their excitement and the motion of the morning.

2. Don't be afraid to use non-spring-themed or non-spring-colored products on a spring-themed layout. My kids were wearing orange and aqua so I went with it!

3. Use fun elements to draw attention to a title. After backing die cut patterned paper title with solid cardstock, I added chipboard bunnies (from the Woodland Park collection) facing toward it on either side to draw further attention to it.

So...with two layouts and six tips, hopefully there's something here that you can draw on to help you get your spring holiday photos (past or present) scrapped! We'd love to see your spring holiday layouts in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery.

Tuesday Sketch: Simple Layers

Clean and simple, or lots of layers: who says you have to choose? This week's sketch features a marriage of two approaches that may seem quite different, but that can actually coexist in a single layout. 

Here's the 8.5" x 11" version...

and a 12" x 12" version. 

This sketch incorporates at least ten papers of varying sizes, making this an ideal opportunity to put those long-neglected scraps to good use. Although ten papers may seem to be anything but simple, the approach really is -- just trim the papers, overlap them, add a photo, a title, and some journaling, and that's it!

If mixing and matching so many patterns sounds a little too challenging, just use an already-coordinated favorite October Afternoon line, or choose papers with a similar color scheme, as Becky Novacek did:  

"When I received the sketch from Jill, I knew that I wouldn't change a whole lot...why mess with perfection? I did have a very specific color combo in mind, so that's where my focus was. Sometimes, I think it's a good creative exercise to let some aspect of what you normally focus on (like design) and focus on another. That's the perspective I went with. I mixed Midway, Farm Girl, Woodland Park and Farmhouse." 

I absolutely adore Becky's take on the sketch! The color combination is beautiful, and the mix of vintage book pages with the October Afternoon papers looks incredible. I also love how she added accents here and there, making the sketch truly her own and enhancing the overall theme of the page. 

Like Becky, I selected the papers for my own layout with a specific color scheme in mind. 

My usual style often includes lots of layers, so this sketch allowed me to do my thing in that respect, but I opted not to add any accents beyond a little bit of washi tape and some shading with a yellow-green watercolor pencil to match my kitty's eyes. Using minimal accents is fine -- the combination of different patterns and colors enlivens the page while also enabling me to keep it simple.  

With the exception of the cardstock, every single piece of paper here came from my stash of paper scraps. I pulled together papers from the Midway, Farm Girl, Woodland Park , Cakewalk, and 9 to 5 lines, and there is even some Witch Hazel included here! 

Whether or not you add accents, and regardless of how many different papers or patterns you choose to incorporate, you can most definitely find a way to adapt this week's sketch to your liking. We would love to see your projects, so be sure to share them in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery. 

Happy scrapping! 

-- Jill 

"Business cards" with Michelle...

Hello everyone, today I have some fun "business cards" to share.  Not real business cards, but fun greeting cards to share at the office.  I've been eyeing this Shorthand patterned paper from the 9 to 5 collection but didn't have any ideas come to mind.  

Then it occurred to me that I could cut apart all of the office girl images and create some fun cards using 9 to 5 (8 x 8) papers and the cute stamp set.  

 Here's what I came up with.  I paired the office girl images with manila tags from my stash that are about the same size.  I put them side by side on card fronts to create some whimsical cards for my mother-in-law who works at the local university.  

 I typed on the office girl images with my vintage typewriter then added cute Designer Brads and pearl like sequins from my stash.  I thought they were reminiscent of the pearls the ladies wore back in the day. I also added a strip of the Day Washi Tape. 

 On the manila tags, I stamped the rotary phone image and "urgent" sentiment (on stickers) then ran the tags through my vintage typewriter to type out the rest of my card sentiment.  I tied loopy bows using red & white baker's twine through the tags. A little machine stitching around the layers was a finishing touch.

There ya have it, some cute "business cards"....all in a day's work.  

See the small coffee cup stains on the cards?  Visit my blog right here to see how I created those using Sprinklers.  Thanks for stopping by today....perhaps while on your coffee break?  

Tackling your stash

Hey OA fans ... Nicole here to share a super simple idea with you to tackle your stash!  One of my favorite things that comes with every new OA release is all of the label/shape stickers. They're always basic enough to use with lots of different projects and a great value for your spending dollar...they go a LONG way! Usually a few of the designs on a sheet stand out to me, and I end up coveting the rest but not using them. Here's an easy way to get them off of the sticker sheet and on to your project: layer and cluster them together!

This page was kept simple because I chose to use a 4x6 photo on it, and didn't want it to look 'cluttered'. You can't go wrong with a grid/graph background, so I just added a simple border of patterned paper to the left edge. I'd been holding on to the label/shape stickers from the 9to5 collection mostly because I'm a sucker for office themed products, and they were 'too fun' to use. WHAT KIND OF THINKING IS THAT?! So I dove in...

I selected the yellow starburst sticker first, and layered it over a piece of number paper from the Make it Merry collection (that's right...I dug into my Christmas stash lol). I knew I wanted to use the 'original' label sticker from the 9to5 sheet and layered a red arrow on top of it to point to the globe I altered myself. From there, I grabbed different labels and just layered them together to create the interest along the right edge of the photo.

Easy peasy, yes? Clustered together like that, the labels make a bigger impact than they may have by themselves...don't hesitate to try, and USE those stickers you've been hanging on to!!

♥ gettin' sketchy with scraps ♥

Good Morning!  Danni here with you today to share a sketch that could be interpreted in so many ways and is PERFECT for using up your scrap stash.  I could've created all day with this sketch, literally or liberally, and had lots of different cards. Can you tell I am excited to see what YOU will do with it? 

Here's the sketch I created for today's cards

 

sketch by danni

 

 

As you can see, I really wanted scraps to be the focal for this sketch.  I have lots and lots of scraps that I am in the process of using since we have recently moved and I realized it's not fun moving scraps...giggle.

 

On my first card, I wanted to play with the cuuuute typewriter from the 9 to 5 line.

hello card

I've shared with you that I love to mix the lines and on this card, I used the 9 to 5 line and the Farm Girl line

 

 

I decided to use some of my washi on this card for the bottom strip. 

 

 

On my next card, I wanted to play with the chipboard telephone, love it!

 

hello card

I still can't get over that cute phone, maybe it's because we don't have phones like this anymore, but it just makes me so happy

 

On this card, I chose to add a sticker trim to embellish the "bottom strip" of the sketch, love the flexibility of CAS sketches

 

We hope you'll give this sketch a try and if you do, please link us up in our OA Flickr Gallery.

Thanks for visiting today.

happy creating♥

danni

 

A Sketchy Kind of Love

Yesterday, Mou and Michelle challenged you to use hearts in honor of Valentine's Day, and today, Vivian and I (Jill) are happy to share a sketch that will help you to give those hearts a home! 

The sketch is based two intersecting visual triangles. The first triangle is comprised of three photos (sized at approximately 2" x 3"), and the second triangle includes the title, journaling, and a cluster of accents. There is enough white space on the page to allow you some room to play, or you can embrace the space and keep your layout simple. 

Vivian's layout demonstrates that it is possible to tweak the sketch while maintaining the two visual triangles at the heart of it.  

She reduced the number of photos by one and replaced the third photo with a journaling block. The die-cut hearts and arrows form the second visual triangle.  

Here's what Vivian had to share about her process: 

This was a fun sketch to work with, allowing for the use of multiple photos and patterned blocks. I combined patterned paper from several different lines - Farm Girl, Make It Merry, Midway, and Witch Hazel - to create this layout, backing die-cut cardstock shapes with pops of the different patterned papers. In addition to the patterned papers, I sprayed several different Sprinklers on white cardstock and used bits of that alongside the patterned paper. I love how the different Sprinklers combined in different ways on the cardstock, allowing for a unique look for each of the Sprinkler hearts.

My own layout pushes the sketch slightly left of center in order to incorporate some Sprinkler-splatters and stitched ribbon. I worked with a bright triadic color scheme, pulling together red, yellow, and blue items from the Farm Girl, Make It Merry, and Midway lines.

One of my favorite papers from the Midway collection is Ring Toss, which features a series of pie charts. I positioned a heart punch just above the centers of a few of the pie charts and punched out multi-colored hearts. I mixed those with some solid-colored hearts of various sizes.

I also painted my title using Sprinklers. I dipped a brush into Sprinklers of varying colors (including Carbon Copy, Red Wagon, and Lemon Drop) and painted in and around my half-handwritten, half-die-cut title. 

There you have it -- sketch love. 

Vivian and I are looking forward to seeing your take on this week's sketch.  Be sure to share the love in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery! 

-- Jill 

Monday Challenge: Brads, Brads, and More Brads!

Happy Monday! Vivian here with a use-up-your-brads challenge. The last seven product lines released by October Afternoon have included brads. I don't know about the rest of you, but I still have lots of them left! I find myself using one here or three there, but never a whole bunch at one time. Enter today's challenge: use ten or more brads on one project.

I started with this inspiration piece I found on Pinterest:

With Valentine's Day coming up, I decided to interpret this inspiration piece pretty literally, using brads from the Farm Girl, Make It Merry, Midway, Woodland Park, and 9 to 5 lines, along with patterned paper and stickers from the Farm Girl line. Note: I got two dozen brads on there!

Great minds think alike, as while I had shared the ten-or-more brad challenge with Roree, I did not share my inspiration piece and yet this is what Roree came up with:

I love all of the details on Roree's card, from the chevrons to the two different types of stitching to that amazing cluster of embellishments that form the heart. In fact, let's get a closer look at the heart:

Roree had this to say, "I used a mix of collections: Farm Girl, Witch Hazel, Woodland Park, Cakewalk, and 9 to 5. I love that the pieces from one collection can work so well with pieces of the other collections." I couldn't agree more!

So...now that we've given you a two-for-one today with both a use-up-your-brads challenge and an inspiration piece, what will you do with one or both of these? Please share your creations with us in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery.

 

 

Embellishment Trios

Happy Monday! Vivian here amdist the CHA sneaks to share a quick and easy embellishment technique. If you are struggling with how to embellish, try a cluster of three like elements (or several clusters of three like elements!). On this layout, which features the Farm Girl line, I created four clusters of three:

At the top, I clustered three library cards, one from the Farm Girl line plus two from other lines, using the top two library cards to note the titles of the books my children were reading in this photo. I also included a trio of hearts punched from both 8 x 8 and 12 x 12 Farm Girl patterned papers.

I repeated the trio of punched hearts at the bottom, layering them over three pieces from the Farm Girl Sew Fun Banners set.

If you use this embellishment technique, please post what you create in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery!