October Afternoon

Monday Challenge: Travel Tags Inspiration

Hey everyone! Roree here. For today's challenge, I went searching through my Pinterest boards for a fun inspiration piece and I found this:

I thought this travel tags image would work perfectly!

I was inspired by the tag shapes, the travel theme, and the font used for the airport codes, and with that in mind, I created this tag-shaped card:

I used paper, a sticker, and a tin pin from the new Travel Girl collection, the Daily Flash Summer Catch Phrase roller stamp, letter stickers from the Sasparilla collection, and a sticker from the Boarding Pass collection.

I just love the way the colors and the mix of products came together. These new collections are going to be fast favorites—I can already tell!

Vivian played along with my challenge and created a travel-themed layout. Here is what she had to say about it:

"I took inspiration from three different aspects of Roree’s inspiration piece: theme, shape, and technique. I decided to create a travel-themed layout using the new Travel Girl line (with a bit of Daily Flash thrown in). The tags in the inspiration piece included multiple city airport codes and I pulled inspiration from that in two different ways: 1) I used the B side of the Plane Ticket paper as my background, and 2) I die cut letters from black cardstock and used them as my title. I loved the look of all the different-colored tags with the open holes allowing the background to peek through.

I die-cut three tags from Travel Girl papers and used them as the main color and design elements on my layout. I loved the painted tone-on-tone look on several of the the tags in the inspiration piece and interpreted that differently on each of my three tags, using Sprinklers from the Art Box, Woodland Park, and Witch Hazel lines. I used an even coat of color on the tag on the left, adding the gray Tin Type Art Box Sprinkler over the cream-colored map. For the center tag, I used a piece of cardstock as a mask with the aqua Woodland Park Springs Sprinkler, creating a strong diagonal line. For my third tag, I sprayed the ink from further away, creating a misted look with the orange Jack-o’-Lantern Witch Hazel Sprinkler.

I cut 1.5” off the bottom of each tag and layered those pieces underneath the bottom of my photos, stamping on the orange tag with the Daily Flash Travel Catch Phrase roller stamp. I finished the layout with a Shape Sticker, two Tin Pins, a Doo-dad, and a Tidbit from the Travel Girl collection, plus a Snap Cap and a Flash Blurb from the Daily Flash Snapshots mini-collection."

Isn't is just amazing!? I absolutely love each and every detail!

I hope you enjoyed today's inspiration. If you get inspired to create a project using this inspiration piece, make sure to post it in the OA Flickr group so we can all see. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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.

I dare you....

to create a page using only 4 products! Becky and Amy here today with a challenge for you. Here are the "rules":

We're giving you a few freebies: scissors, writing pen and adhesive. You pick 4 additional products to make a page. 

From Amy: Becky’s challenge was just that for me - a challenge!! I never knew I relied so heavily on so many different types of product/mediums when creating a page. I didn’t even sew on this page (gasp!) and for me that’s a big deal. I didn’t thread my buttons or anything. 

The four “things” I chose to work with were patterned paper, ribbon from the Miscellany packs, buttons and alpha stickers. I found myself really struggling to make my page flow in a way that I thought it needed to. Finally after lots of experimentation, I was able to get a design I am happy with. I’m especially happy with the how the colors work together. Both the ribbon and the buttons became integral elements in the design, both in creating attention and in toning down attention (as in the yellow ribbon over the plaid paper in the bottom left corner) which is something I’m really happy with. I didn’t need to sew on it after all. :)

Here's her awesome page!

I adore the color mix! 

So pretty! 

My 4 items were: 

sewing machine

pattern paper

paper distresser

alpha stickers

I hope this challenge pushes you to try something new! We'd love to see your projects on the OA Flickr gallery.  Thanks for participating!

Thursday Sketch: Collaged Elements

Looking for a fun way to use lots of embellishments? If so, today's sketch is for you! Brought to you by Vivian, with added genius from Danni, today's sketch features collaged clustered elements topping a photo and journaling/title block:

I used this sketch to create a layout with the Boarding Pass line, collaging pieces from the Miscellany pack with chipboard embellishments, a sticker from the 12 X 12 sticker sheet, and a bit of patterned paper:

Danni used today's sketch to create this fun card featuring the Sasparilla line:

I love how she scaled the collage to work on a card by using label stickers and word stickers along with three-dimensional embellishments. Here's a close-up of that portion of the card:

Adding a rub-on in place of the title in the sketch is also a fun way to interpret the sketch for a card:

So...get out all of those embellishments you've been hoarding and create a collage! We'd love to see your interpretations of this sketch, so please post your work to our October Afternoon Flickr gallery if you create something!

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!

Tuesday Tutorial: Need a Boost?

Happy Tuesday!  Today's tutorial is all about giving your layouts a little boost -- literally -- and then making the most of the extra space.  

I began by using my circle cutter to trim a series of circles on a sheet of Boarding Pass Tokyo paper.   

I trimmed an extra circle in the middle of a sheet of scrap paper, so that I could place it over the circles on my layout and stamp images easily.  

After adding stamped images from the Boarding Pass and Road Map lines to the layout, I created homes for accents within the negative spaces, using Boarding Pass Word Stickers, Label Stickers, Rubber Charms, Tin Pins, Rub-Ons, Chip Shapes, and more.  

Then I added a heckuva lot of adhesive dots to the back of the patterned paper. The most important places are those where sagging might occur, so I added extra dots near the edges of the circles.  

This photo was taken early in the process.  A few minutes later, there were adhesive dots all over the back of the paper.  I then flipped over the paper and placed it carefully over the cardstock beneath. 

Once the whole page had been given a boost, there was now room for an extra layer of accents, so I added a few more: 

I love adding a bit of dimension to my layouts, and this is an approach I will most definitely be trying again!  If you happen to be working on any projects that give a little "boost" to your October Afternoon products, be sure to share them in the OA Flickr gallery.  We'd love to see them!  

Thanks for stopping by the October Afternoon blog!  

-- Jill 

Monday Challenge - A Mix of Photos.

Are you all counting down?  It's the last full week before Christmas.  I don't know about you, but I'll be wrapping gifts and paying close attention to my to-do list this week!

Over here at October Afternoon we've teamed up with Glue Arts this week.  So, be sure to take some time for yourself this busy holiday season... grab a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy what we have for you here on the blog.  :)

I'm (Marcy) up first and I have a challenge for you.  Earlier Amy issued a black and white photo challenge.  I wanted to see if we could take it a step farther and mix black and white photos with color photos.

I dug out Holiday Style and got to work.  

I decided to work with photos of my oldest boy building a snowman with the muddy, leafy snow from a first snowfall.

 

Clearly I'm still enjoying banners!  ;)  I'm madly in love with the chipboard buttons.  Also, when I want to use stickers on a banner I stick them to my jeans and pull them off a few times to get rid of the stickiness.

I tossed this challenge over to Jill and this is what she came up with.

I just adore all the handwriting samples!  Here's what Jill had to say.

"Looking at these photos of myself at sixteen prompted me to go back through the journals I kept as a teenager.  They are stuffed with memorabilia, including letters and old calendar pages. I incorporated a few of those items here on the page.  To enhance the page's theme, I worked in bits and pieces from the Farmhouse line Miscellany, journaling cards, and letter and label stickers. The page itself uses Farmhouse along with some Boarding Pass and Sidewalks -- they actually coordinate really well!  I also used some OA fabric behind the photos."

So there you have it.  I can't remember the last time I mixed color photos with black and whites! If you're up for the challenge please post your layout in our gallery and link to it in the comment section!  We'd love to see what you do.  :)

 

Glue Arts is offering up a wonderful prize package if you go and visit their blog...

We'd like to give you a bit of Holiday Style too! Along with our GlueArts products! Just post a comment today...we really do enjoy hearing from you...and we'll enter you to win a collection kit from October Afternoon's NEW Holiday Style along with a GlueArts Embellishment Kit!!! ( Includes (1) Roll Ribbon Adhesive, (1) Roll Extreme Adhesive Squares, (10) Sheets Vellum Adhesive, (1) Sheet U CUT IT Foam, (16) Squares Raisen's, and (300) Micro Adhesive Squares.) We'll select one random winner and post their name on Christmas Eve!!

Pie Chart Tutorial

Hi there everyone.  Marcy here with a simple tutorial for you today.

I keep a mental list of things I want to try on future layouts.  They may not be very complicated but they're outside my box a bit anyway.

For a while now I've wanted to try making a patterned paper pie chart.  Now, not every layout will cry out for a pie chart so it took a little thought on my part to find the right topic.  Plus, I always think what I'm attempting will be a lot harder than it is.  I overthink stuff.  After a while I came up with a simple plan and dove in.

I decided that I could represent the way we divide our time on our trips to Florida with a chart quite well.  So I printed off my photos and gathered a handful of papers that went well together. From there I decided on the approximate size that I wanted my pie chart to end up.  

I borrowed my kids' compass and drew out a short piece of the chart.

Then, using a rular, I connected the tip to each of the ends of the curve I drew.  This gave me a shape that looked like the piece of the pie.

I repeated random sized pieces on all my papers and trimmed them out.

Now... I am NOT a measurer... so I didn't worry about the sizes of my pie pieces... just that they varied.  I decided that I was okay just overlapping them where necessary when I put everything together.

I like to move things around on my page, so I decided to assemble my pie chart on a smaller sized circle cut from scrap paper.

I adjusted my last piece to fit, trimmed any pieces that stuck over, sewed it all down and was left with this result...

And here's a little closeup of my pie chart. 

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  Has anyone else tried a pie chart on their page?  How did you go about it?

Thursday Sketch

It's Stacey here...bringing you a sketch that is designed to help you use lots of photos - even if they aren't your favorites!

For me, the winter holidays are a source of wonderful memories but busy, indoor (so kind of dark!) photos. The inspiration for this week's sketch came from my large (digital) pile of not-so-great pictures of past Thanksgivings and Christmases. I would like to use so many of the holiday photos I've taken, but a lot of them are poorly lit and have pretty cluttered backgrounds. So I shrank them down, put them in strips, and added the story - lots of photos on a page with plenty of space for journaling. I really need to do this more often - using several of photos on a page is easy if the photos are smaller, and I can tell the whole story on one layout.

Here's my layout:

 

And here is the sketch:

I sent Wilna the sketch, and of course, she came up with something fabulous! Here's what she said about the sketch and her take on it:

I love the Sketch this week! Stacey's idea of using rows of little pictures are genius and super fun to work with! I used tags to adhere my pictures to and my square punch came in handy to make little square pictures.

Thank you for looking!

Wilna

If you create a layout with this sketch, we'd love to see it! Make sure to upload your finished layout to the OA Flicker Gallery.  We love to see what you all create using OA products!

Thursday Sketch

Hi everyone.  Marcy here with this week's sketch for you.  This week I left you room for 3 photos and some circular embellishments.

I gave the sketch to Becky and she created this.

I adore the little bits of paper that turn up on Becky's pages!  So adorable!  I also love that she kept the sketch mostly in tact and adjusted it for an 8.5x11 page.

My turn.

I decided to change the first spot from a photo to patterned paper.  Other than that I kept most everything the same.  I used a combination of Boarding Pass and Sidewalks for this page about mini golfing in Florida.

I love that the spinning wheel in the Sidewalks Miscellany pack makes the perfect large circle accent.  That, and some buttons, and I have all the little accents in the sketch covered.

I also cut out the word "Florence" from the New York paper and tucked it under so it could pass for "Florida".  

I hope you enjoy this sketch as much as we did.  If you're playing along please link up in the comment section and post your page in our Flickr gallery.  We'd love to see!