October Afternoon

Tuesday Tutorial: A Punched Title

Happy Tuesday!

Today's tutorial begins with a scrap stash excavation: dust off the tools you may have once used to set eyelets (remember those?). If you don't have these, then any kind of paper piercer (such as an awl) or small hole punch will work. I love the boldness of the letters on this sheet of Daily Flash Snapshots "Click!" patterned paper. The words and phrases can easily be substituted for letter stickers to create a title for a layout. I decided to add some whimsical flavor to the letters by punching holes in them. 

I positioned the setting base (a.k.a. the tool thingie with interchangable tips) over the base of the letter, and pounded it once with a hammer.I then kept punching the holes equidistantly, moving the setting base accordingly.

(On a side note, my neighbor has a bird who became entranced by the sound of my hammering, and each time I would pound the hammer, the bird would attempt to replicate the sound, squawking loudly. You can see a few imperfect areas below that were the result of me laughing so hard.) After punching holes in each letter of the word "photograph," I was ready to assemble my layout, with the punched title featured prominently, its colors similar to the those of the black and white photo of my husband. The word "photograph" wasn't just an arbitrary choice. It relates to other elements in the layout, as well, all of which were compiled from the Snapshots and Travel Girl lines. There are so many great photo-themed items in those collections! 

So how are you sprucing up your titles? I'd love to see your ideas!  Be sure to share them in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery. 

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Monday Challenge: Something Old, Something New, Something Stamped and Something Blue

Happy Monday October Afternoon fans! Nicole here to share a fun challenge that our newest design team member Mandy helped me whip up.  There are so many different ways to interpret it that you simply can't go wrong.

We have a wedding to attend this summer, so when Mandy suggested the "something old, something new" theme, I jumped on it! There is a wee twist ... so check out our challenge:

Something Old (prior to the Midway/Farm Girl collections)

Something New

Something Stamped (there's that twist I mentioned)

Something Blue

Check out Mandy's beautiful work ... she has long been a favorite of mine!

Mandy always makes me want to enlarge a favorite photo and let it take center stage. How fun is the angle here? Lots of variations of the blue, the cool stamped pie chart, brads from the Midway collection, and older Boardwalk and Woodland Park papers round out the challenge list. Love this cluster of round embellishments to offset the graphic angle of the photo up top.

I broke out lots of the brand new Daily Flash line for my take ... you can't ask me to choose a favorite piece because it is chock full of AWESOME!

(I know, I know ... another pic of my sweet grandpa, but I just couldn't help myself!)

I cut the titles from the Focus paper from Daily Flash, backing one piece with gold glitter sock card and the other with an older dark polka dot. I tend to think "linear-ly" so I let those pieces lead the way as the starting point.

The red memory card was perfect for a touch of color, as was the blue "Snapshots" square that was cut from the Compose paper.

 I couldn't help but add a few stitched stars and pieces from the Snap Caps and Flash Blurbs.  And, as promised in a previous post, the Everyday Roller Stamp can't help but make an appearance! Don't worry about lining them up perfectly, it adds a touch of fun to have them off-kilter a bit.

I adore all the little die cuts in the Daily Flash Program.  That camera tab and the ledger word bubble could honestly end up on every page I make from here on out! I used a few of the Travel roller stamp phrases as well, but wanted to point out a neat find: each of the Decades roller stamps has an arrow of some sort built in ... like this one:

I used it on the red Memory Card with some gold ink.  Cool discovery, right?

So, let's see if I covered the challenge criteria:

Something Old - Woodland Park papers (black polka dot, green and blue stars) plus Woodland Park Alphabet Stickers.

Something New - All of the Daily Flash items.

Something Stamped - The 2010s Decade Roller Stamp, Travel and Everyday roller stamps.

Something Blue - Lots of blue elements scattered about.

I love that even with the name "recipe", Mandy and I both came up with different ways to interpret the challenge! We can't wait to see your take on this classic!

Win great prizes! Enter our National Scrapbooking Day Giveaway!

Here at October Afternoon we can only think of one thing better than celebrating National Scrapbooking Day by giving away some cool prizes.  That would be WINNING some of those cool prizes!

So, in honor of National Scrapbooking Day on Saturday, May 4th, we're giving away some fabulous prizes from our new Travel Girl collection!

ENTERING IS EASY:  Just leave a blog comment telling us about a trip you have taken, or the location of the "dream vacation" you hope to someday take, and how the Travel Girl collection might fit into your plans to document and preserve the memories of that getaway. It's that easy!

Two lucky winners will receive a Travel Girl Collection Kit containing 24-sheets (2 of each design) of Travel Girl paper plus one sheet each of Shape Stickers, Word Stickers, Alpha Stickers and Label Stickers!

But wait ... there's more!

Six lucky winners will receive a Travel Girl 8x8 Paper Pad containing 24-sheets (2 of each design) of Travel Girl paper on 65-lb. cardstock!

Your deadline for entering is 3 PM CST on Tuesday, May 7th ... we'll post the winners on the blog on Wednesday, May 8th! 

Good luck and Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

 

 

 

Introducing: Lowri McNabb, guest designer for the month of May!

Hi!  I'm Lowri McNabb and I am thrilled to be invited to guest design for October Afternoon this month. I'm really looking forward to showing you what I have created with their gorgeous products!

Despite dabbling in a number of crafts over the years, nothing has ever captured my interest like papercrafting.  Like many, I started out after my first child was born and I have been hooked ever since! My style is probably best described as product-driven with clean lines and lots of color. I love to create mini-albums, stationary, altered projects, dimensional cards and small papercraft pieces.

Since starting my blog, I have created projects for several manufacturers, including Echo Park, Pink Paislee, Making Memories, Teresa Collins and Little Yellow Bicycle. I have also had my work featured by Cosmo Cricket, Kaisercraft and Crate Paper, as well as in several on-line craft and lifestyle publications. I have had several projects published in the Kaisercraft Workshop magazines and newsletters, as well as the Echo Park e-books and digital downloads.

I live on a vineyard in beautiful Marlborough, New Zealand with my husband and three young children. I am originally from South Wales in the UK and also lived in Canada for several years on my way to settling in New Zealand. Before raising my family I spent many years in corporate banking before realizing a lifelong dream and training as a chef.

My blog is called PaperVine (http://www.papervinenz.com/) and it is packed full of papercrafting ideas and tutorials with the odd kids craft and cooking tip thrown in. I also have a really active Facebook page too (https://www.facebook.com/papervine), so please swing by and introduce yourself ... I look forward to meeting you!

Here's how Lowri responded to some questions we asked to help us get to know her better: 

Are you a layout person, a card person ... or both?

Neither really! I make a lot of mini-albums, altered projects, stationary and small papercraft pieces, though I do enjoy making themed cards for spcial occasions and holidays.

What is on your scrap desk right now?

A bit of everything!  I am a horribly messy worker - but when I clean it all up (which I do every month or so) I am going to start on a baby album for my sister. I always have a drink too - tea, Diet Coke or maybe a wine, depending upon the time of day!

What is your favorite October Afternoon line or product ... and why?

Of course this a tough one - but I am VERY excited about the new Travel Girl collection. It's fun and elegant and offers so much potential. I also have a big soft spot for "Thrift Shop" as I used to make my sister's wedding stationary and the Stickey Keys and Mini Market alphas are hands down the best on the market! Oh yes, and ALL the Christmas collections!

What can you NOT scrapbook without?

A very sharp knife - I go through a lot of blades! I always keep an adhesive eraser and some fine grit sandpaper handy, too ... both of which are essential to getting the perfect finish to many of my projects.

What is your favorite source of inspiration?

I like to browse online blogs, galleries and, of course, Pinterest. There are so many talented people out there. I also like to look at gift ideas in stores and figure out if I could re-create the gift with my own twist. I also browse through antique and thrift stores to see if there is anything old and unused that I can put to a new purpose!  

What is your favorite movie, TV show or book?

I often scrap with favorite movies or TV shows playing in the background on my computer. I love my old favorites, especially Seinfeld, action/adventure movies and anything that doesn't require too much thought at the end of a long day!

What is your favorite food?

I am a bit of a foodie and love to cook, but since moving from downtown Toronto to rural New Zealand - I really miss hot fresh pizza delivered to my door.

Besides scrapbooking and papercrafts, what do you do for hobbies or enjoyment during your "free" time?

I used to be an avid squash player, and when the last of my kids attends full-time school next year I am determined to start playing again. I love to cook, spend time with my family and I am determined to start a couple of home decorating projects this year as well.

If you were a superhero, what power would you possess and why?

That's easy ... my superpower would be to create more hours in the day! Like so many people, I am always busy and finding time to relax is hard. If only there were a few hours a week where everyone else stopped, I could grab a coffee, sit down for 10 minutes - and maybe grab a little nap!

If you could have dinner with anyone, living or deceased, who would it be and why?

I would love to be able to bring all my family members, past and present, together for a big dinner. My grandparents would have a chance to meet my children, I would ask my ancestors about their lives and it would be fascinating to see what traits had survived the generations. There would be a lot of laughter, wine and a few wild tales for sure.

 

 

Sketchy Thursday : Angular Movement

Hi all! It's Amy here, and I'm thrilled to be back and sharing ideas with you once again her at October Afternoon. It's been several months since I've scrapped at all, so I'm really just starting to get my feet wet again, so I hope that you will bear with me as I get back into the groove again! :)

Today I've brought some inspriation that I found on Pinterest in the form of this super fun and movement-filled illustration. I really love how the triangular angles in the poster really move your eye to all the small vingettes throughout the entire piece, so I decided to use it as a jumping off point for my sketch today.

For my sketch, I figured, I'de leave it pretty open-ended. I can see it being used in so many ways. Perhaps with photos in the triangular areas. 

For my interpretation, I used the super cute new colleciton, Travel Girl, to create a page about my daughter. I love how she is walking so unassumingly, so I used the angles from the sketch as well as from the tilt of the frame of my page, to reiterate that motion. It also is very symbolic to a theme in our lives right now of moving forward and the next adventures that behold us in her (and our) lives.

I moved my journaling from underneath my triangular area to underneath my title, giving more space for my larger formatted photo with lots of negative space.
I really love the colors in this new collection. The sweet oranges, pinks and turquoises are just lovely and so soft, and yet still so striking and vibrant. They were the perfect colors for this soft and sweet photo.

Joining me today with her inagural October Afternoon post, is Aleksandra! Her page and interpretation is simply sensational!

Let's take a look and learn a little more about her process! 

"When I saw Amy's sketch, I instantly got inspired. Now, you may look at my layout and wonder how in the world did Amy's sketch turn into that. Well, take a closer look to the right of my photo. There, see? There is the pattern from the sketch. That's how it all started.

When I use a sketch, I take a good look at it and then I put it away. A good sketch for me, is the one that gives you a push in the right direction and then leaves the rest to your own creativity; a sketch like this one by Amy. I loved the pattern on the sketch so I created the same with these lovely Woodland Park papers. I started from there, added my photo to the left and then all the little details started to come in place. I also liked the idea of a journaling stripe in the bottom. I only made mine a little bit larger :-)" 

 

Just gorgeous, Alex, thank you!

We'd love to see your interpretation of this sketch! When you create your beautiful project, please make sure to upload it to our FLICKR GALLERY. We can't wait to see it!

Thanks so much for joining us today! I hope you have a super day! ~Amy 

♥ Sketchy Tuesday: Oh the Possibilities! ♥

Hi everyone, Danni here with you today with a new sketch, the new, fun Travel Girl line and several interpretations.  (I hope you'll look closely as I have shared almost every piece of the patterned papers from this new amazing line)

As I have shared with you, I love to create as many cards as I can with one sketch in a sitting. I love that it stretches my creativity and is a fun challenge.  So let me begin by sharing my sketch with you.

 

                                                     card sketch by danni reid.

 

As you can see in the sketch, I really wanted to be able to play with a lot of patterned papers and the "tilt design" that is so popular everywhere, giving a slightly different feel to cards and layouts.

  The Travel Girl line is absolutely ADORABLE and I love it for all it's travel-themed possibilities, but what to do with those scraps after a layout or PL page?  So, hopefully this sketch will inspire you not to stash, throw out or store those scraps.......

just waitin'

and waitin'

and waitin'

for the perfect time to pull them out again (if you're anything like me...smile)

 

So, let me share my variations of the sketch with you and YES, a whole lot of the patterned papers from the Travel Girl line.

 

 

smile card

 

 

hello card

 

 

 

hello sunshine card

 

 

 

 

you are a peach card

 

 

 

 

 

AND maybe, just maybe you have the perfect paper without adhering strips to your cardstock as i saw with this fun paper in the Travel Girl line

 

 

 

happy father's day card set

(fun notecards to send to loved ones for father's day)

 

 

I hope you will save the sketch for your scraps and give it a try.  If you do, please upload your creations to our FLICKR GALLERY

 

Thank you so much for joining me today!

Happy creating♥

danni

Monday Challenge: Embellish with Phrase Stamps

Hi everyone, Mou here with today's challenge: cook up some roller stamp fun with a Phrase Stamp! 

Once, I started playing, I wanted to use every single phrase in the same layout. That works great because each set is themed. I picked travel. Then kept rolling and stamping along the left edge of the layout to create a fun border.

Here's a closer look at that border 

and some detail shots

Other than the phrase stamp, I used the following October Afternoon goodies on my layout:

Daily Flash 12x12 paper Focus

Travel Girl 12x12 paper Postcard

Travel Girl 12x12 paper Subway Token

Travel Girl 12x12 paper Stampbook

Travel Girl 12x12 paper Directions

Travel Girl 12x12 paper Plane Ticket

Travel Girl 12x12 paper Passport

Travel Girl Tin Pin

Travel Girl Tidbits

Hope you'll take on today's challenge and share your creations with us at the October Afternoon Flickr Gallery!

Crafty goodness grows in Melanie Fink's October Afternoon garden!

This is my last post as the October Afternoon Guest Designer this month. I have enjoyed sharing projects with you and seeing all of your lovely comments - and, seeing my projects pop up on Pinterest too! Also, I want to extend a special thank you to those that have started following my blog (http://www.thepaperretreat.blogspot.com) and/or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ThePaperRetreat). I love October Afternoon and will continue to share projects on my blog using their AWESOME products!

Since this is my last post, I wanted to make my last project a special one! I have so many fond  memories of my grandparents' garden.  As kids, my sister and I would spend a week during the summer with my grandparents and we would always help pick all of the goodies out of their garden. Picking strawberries was my favorite. To continue the tradition, I made a gift box filled with mini pots with seeds to start a garden. The Farm Girl collection was PERFECT for this project!

The first thing I did was create the box. The box and fence are SVGs by SVG Cuts. As with my other projects, I had to use SVGs! I love SVGs so much and they provide so many possibilities! I modified the sizes of the SVGs so I could fit six mini clay pots inside and so the fence would fit nicely on the back of the box.

First I cut out the SVGs for the box and fence and assembled them.

Tip: Add cardboard or lightweight chipbpard to the bottom of the box. This will make the box sturdier so it can hold all of those pots@

Next, I decorated all four sides of the box using scraps I had from the Farm Girl collection. What a great way to use up those scraps!

The next part of assembly is making the cute little seed packets! The finished packets measure 2.75-inches x 2.25-inches. I created a template (below) that you can use for the packets. (Print on an 8.5-inch x 11-inch sheet of paper.)

Cut on the solid lines and fold on the dotted lines.

Tip: Use your paper trimmer to cut these lines easily and to score the dotted lines for folding. I used by Fiskars 8.5x11 trimmer. Just slide the blade over the cut lines and use a bone folder tool on the dotted lines (the groove in the trimmer acts like a scoreboard).

Once you have assembled the packet, poke a hole in the center of the lid through the middle layer. Then place a brad through the middle layer and the lid so that the back of the brad is used as the closure for the packet. Then ink the edges of the envelope to give it that worn look.

To finish the packets, cut out the desired seed labels from the 8x8 Farm Girl "Wheelbarrow" paper (from the 8x8 paper pad) and glue them to the fronts of the packets. Then add the seeds to the packets! Aren't the finished packets adorable?!

Next, adhere each packet to a wooden stick using a mini clothespin. I used skinny popsicle sticks that I found at a craft store. This is a fun way to display the seed packets in the pots! Later, when the seeds have been planted in the pots, the packets on the sticks can be used as label markers so you know what is planted in each of the pots! Fun idea, huh? I was proud of myself for coming up with this one ... LOL!

Then, we add the sticks to the pots! To do this, I added mini styrofoam balls to the pots. Then I pushed the sticks into the styrofoam balls.

To cover up the styrofoam, I added some Spanish moss to the pots.

Next up - embellishing the pots! First, wrap some burlap around the base of the pots and secure the burlap using twine. I used twine from October Afternoon's Woodland Park Trims Pack. The burlap looks nice and it provides some protection between the pots. A gift of broken pots - not acceptable!

Then add all of the embellished pots to the gift box.

To embellish the box, I decorated the fence with the Farm Girl Sew Fun Banners (my first time using my sewing machine!), Stickey Keys Alpha Stickers, and buttons from the coordinating Miscellany Pack and Flair Pack.

Also, I created a cute chalkboard sign using lightweight chipboard, a die, a stamp, Farm Girl brads, and chalkboard paint. I just love the sentiment on this sign! The sign can be used as a pot embellishment for any indoor plant! I listed the gift box contents on the cute Farm Girl "Garden Favorites" journal card and aded this to the box too!

To finish the box, I added some seam binding ribbon around the base.

A HUGE thank you to October Afternoon for having me on their blog this month! I will be forever grateful to OA for this opportunity!  If you would like to see more of my work and future work, visit me at http://www.thepaperretreat.blogspot.com.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

P.S. - I'm giving away goodies from the October Afternoon Midway collection (12x12 collection kit,  8x8 paper pad, brads, sticky keys, flair and more!)  The giveaway ends today, April 26th, at midnight!  Stop by my blog to enter if you haven't already ... the lucky winner will be announce don my blog on Saturday!

Melanie

 

Leftovers anyone?

Hi October Afternoon fans! Nicole here on Technique Thursday.  If you're like me, you don't do very many "artsy" techniques but you love to play with paper.  I wanted to encourage you to reach for a favorite tool instead, and for me that would be my corner rounder!

Raise your hand if you can't bear to toss away a piece of pretty paper. (Mine is raised, LOL). Instead of hoarding them, grab your corner rounder and go to town! Here's the file I started with:

You can see no piece is safe, even some of the Miscellany ephemera fell victim to my beloved corner rounder.

Next, just start layering them on top of one another ... allow yourself to cover up bits and pieces. I played around with mine for a bit, and once I found a formula I was happy with I just grabbed my tape runner and got to work. Here is the finished result:

I know, I know ... my sweet Grandpa is distracting because he's so dang cute, right?!

After adding the photo of him, plus some journaling about our day trip for ice cream, all I needed was to add some Tidbits and Doo-Dads around the edges to finish things up.

Notice I also rounded the corners of the grey cardstock to kind of tie it all in together.

In addition, I managed to sneak in a few stamped phrases from the Everyday Roller that is part of the new and soon-to-be-released Daily Flash Program ...  that one is most likely going to end up on every project I make for a very long time.

The next time you're stuck with a bunch of "leftovers," make sure you get a'round' to using them by layering them all together!

October Afternoon welcomes two new members to its Design Team

October Afternoon is pleased to announce two new additions to its Design Team! Mandy Koeppen and Aleksandra Gadji will join the OA Design Team beginning in May.

MANDY KOEPPEN

Mandy is a 30-something mother of three who juggles many job titles in her everyday life – from being a chauffering family accountant to a zoo-keeping therapist. She lives a small-town, country girl life in Potterville, Michigan with her husband, Mr. K, and her children, Teagan, Mavrick and Avery.

When she has time, Mandy loves to get creative with paper, browse her local antique shops, raise autism awareness for sweet Mav, and have fun with family and friends.

Mandy’s work has been published in Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbook Trends, Scrapbooks Etc., Create Quick & Easy and Somerset Memories. She currently designs for Cocoa Daisy Kits.

To see some of Mandy’s work or to get to know her better, visit her blog at http://www.mandykoeppen.blogspot.com/ or follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

ALEKSANDRA GADJI

Aleksandra, who also goes by “Alex,” is a mother, a daughter, a big sister and a lousy driver who resides in Stockholm, Sweden.

When she’s not scrapbooking, Alex works as a software engineer within the medical technology industry, writing software for medical devices. She loves to think that a code she has written will someday, somewhere save someone’s life.

Three months ago she gave birth to a baby boy and plans to be a stay-at-home mom for the next year or so. “Saving lives can wait … I have more important things to do now,” she says.

A native of Serbia, Alex has four different nationalities in her blood and none of them is Swedish, yet Swedish is how she feels. She moved to Sweden when she was 14-years-old and says her heart is in what she called the most beautiful city in the world: Stockholm.

Scrapbooking has allowed Alex to combine her creativity with something she feels is very important: preservation of memories. And she says joining the October Afternoon Design Team is “a dream come true.”

To see some of Aleksandra’s work or get to know her better, visit her blog at http://www.colorsofalex.blogspot.com/.

Watch for projects, tips and more from both Mandy and Aleksandra on the October Afternoon blog beginning in May!