October Afternoon

Guest Designer Lowri McNabb adds some dimension to her crafty cards!

Hi Everyone - Lowri here and welcome to my third guest post for the month of May.

This week I have three “dimensional” cards to share using the Farm Girl Collection. One of the things I love about the October Afternoon Collections is the versatility of their papers. The patterns and prints are always varied, sophisticated and offer opportunities for everyone, no matter what their style. I hope these cards demonstrate the versatility of this lovely collection.

“My Favorite” Side-Step Card

I have used my Cameo to create the base for this card using this file here – but there are several free templates on-line you can use to handcut very quickly. Once you have the base created, it is easy to add the decorative elements. I used dimensional dots to mount some pieces as this really gives the card a lift without adding too much bulk. Layer the pieces you want to build up some color and if you want the card to fit into a standard envelope – do not make any element stand higher than the tallest panel.

I love these little chickens and the strip of words from the Miscellany Pack adds a splash of color along the bottom.

“Just for You” Centre Step Card

Once again I have cut the base using my Cameo and this file – but again, great templates are available online. The key to making this style of clean and simple card is to try and get perfectly aligned layers. They don’t work well unless everything is perfectly lined up with even margins, and it’s simple to do. Just take your time and use a repositionable adhesive, so if it’s not quite right the first time – you get a second crack!

This type of all-purpose card is great to have on hand for when you need a card on short notice. The Farm Girl collection lends itself to making projects for those who appreciate hand-made items, cards and gifts.

“For my Friend” Swing Card

This is one of my absolute favorite style of cards – and it really impresses non-crafty people too! The cutting file for the base can be found here. This is more of a masculine style card which I made to showcase the versatility of the collection – which at first glance might not seem suitable to more grown-up projects – but the papers really are truly beautiful.

This little piece from the Chip ‘n Stick pack was my favorite – I just love the vintage style imagery of the tomatoes and they match the gorgeous stained woodgrain print so well.

All of these cards fold completely flat for easy mailing. They also will fit in a standard size envelope – and let’s face it – no-one like paying more for postage than they have to!

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

A mini-album and something for Dad from the Midway collection!

Hi everyone - Lowri here and welcome to my second Guest Post for the month of May.

This week I have been busy using the Midway Collection. This fun and bright collection was perfect for creating this mini-album and I have used some very informal cell phone pictures taken on a day-trip to the carnival!

Midway Mini Album

I have created this album from scratch using my Cameo and two die-cutting files from Lori Whitlock (found here and here). The album can be created by hand (search online for accordion fold binding) but using a digital cutter makes light work of a lot of the measuring and all of the cutting!

I have chosen to make all of the inserts out of envelopes and tags – but the cutting files offer a number of options which are all included with the download. I also scaled down all the cutting files by 65% before I started as I wanted my album to be smaller. Just remember to scale all elements in the same proportion – otherwise they will not fit together.

The picture above shows a couple of details from the album cover. I cut a slit in the hat and slotted a couple of stickers into the cut. One of my favorite tips is to use talc to remove the stickiness from the back of stickers – which basically turns them into die cuts and lets you play around with placement without fearing you will stick them in the wrong place! The little camera button is my favorite embellishment of all – I could have used 10 of them in this project alone!

This album has a simple construction and is held together by the accordion fold spine. There is a detailed instructional video on YouTube which guides you through the process and each set of two fold is held together with eyelets (see Pictures 1 & 2 above). I chose to reinforce the covers with chipboard but you do not need this step. Each “page” is slotted into the spine and you can choose to glue them in. I found they were a tight fit without gluing and I like being able to pull the envelopes out to look at too, so mine were not glued in (see Pictures 3 & 4 above).

The picture above shows the envelopes and tag inserts in more detail.

The tags and envelopes are simply decorated with several elements from the collection including the Word Stickers, Brads and Tid Bits.

There are so many fabulous design details in these collections – I know that I am going to use every scrap of this one over a few years to come as my kids grow up!

Dad’s Treat Boxes

To demonstrate how versatile this collection is – I have used a couple of bits and pieces to make these fun Father’s Day treat boxes. They both contain a gift voucher to a wine boutique for my husband and Father-in-Law (hope they don’t read this blog!)

I have cut the boxes using my cuttlebug and this great Sizzix die and then used some of the Sew Fun Banners and Tin Pins to decorate. Fun, simple and a great way to use up some of your leftovers too.

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

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!)

Put some Spring in your walk with Woodland Park!

Melanie Fink, Guest Designer

I LOVE October Afternoon's Woodland Park collection! The cute little fox, turtle, mice and bunnies are what first made me fall in love with the collection.  Taking a closer look, I noticed how versatile this collection really is and how inspiring it is.  I was thumbing through the miscellany and I smiled at every single piece of it!

I was very inspired by the yellow strip of paper in the miscellany pack that says "laugh, enjoy the sunshine, play, go for a walk, feed the ducks, lay in the grass."  Who doesn't love going for a walk on a beautiful day, laying in the grass and having a picnic with someone you love? So, I decided to make a tote with treat holders (milk cartons in this case) that can be brought along on a walk. When you want to take a break from your walk and lay in the grass, you can enjoy the treats inside!

As I mentioned in my guest designer introduction post a couple of weeks ago, I love making things for others. This could be a fun gift for newlyweds or couples that have been together for years. It just makes a special day even more special or an ordinary day memorable.

The  tote and milk cartons are SVGs by Lori Whitlock. There is a video tutorial on how to assemble these SVGs at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdtQLToNyVE . The video tutorial is very easy to follow.

I first assembled the tote. I chose a solid green color for the tote so the Woodland Park paper and embellishments would really stand out.

Next, I cut out the cartons and assembled them. I used gray twine from the OA's Farmhouse collection to close each carton on top (just untie to enjoy the treats inside!).

The final step is embellishing the tote. There are so many gorgeous embellishments in the Woodland Park collection, I had a hard time picking out what I was going to use!

To give my tote a whimsical feel, I added flying butterflies. The butterfly die-cuts are from the Woodland Park Flower Sack and Chip-N-Stick sticker pack. To make the butterflies fly, I cut three 4-inch long pieces of craft wire. I curled the wire by wrapping it around a pen. Next, I hot-glued the butterflies to one end of each piece of wire. Then, I hot-glued the opposite ends of each wire to the tote.

The last step was decorating the front of the tote. I added the yellow strip of miscellany that inspired me in the first place, as well as coordinating Shape and Chip-N-Stick stickers, and die-cuts from the Flower Sack. Overall, I achieved the whimsical, romantic feel I was going for.

Now if I could only make the weather here in Minnesota feel and look like spring! More snow is in our forecast! I can't wait for that first walk in beautiful spring weather!

If you missed my post last week, I mentioned I had a surprise on my blog! I am giving away a bunch of goodies from the Midway collection (12x12 collection kit, 8x8 paper pad, brads, stickey keys, flair and more). Stop by my blog at http://thepaperretreat.blogspot.com  to enter! The giveaway ends next Friday, April 26th!

Melanie

A Monday Challenge inspired by Pinterest

If you're anything like me, you find it easy to get lost in Pinterest. I save/'pin' tons of images that catch my eye, never knowing when they may get used...but with lots of good intentions. Here is a recent image I fell in love with:

http://pinterest.com/pin/16677461092500755/ ]

Maybe it was the colors, or the banners, or the alphabet letters (I'm a sucker for fun alphabet/font images)...who knows?! But I invited Danni to join me in using this Pinterest image as a jump start to our Monday challenge and fell in love with the card she made!

The layered flower she made from the Farm Girl Patchwork paper is darling...and the green seam binding mimics the banner feel in the original image. We both drew inspiration from the many colors in the original image!!

I LOVED the way the banners in the image fell loosely and draped every which way, so I decided to try to achieve that feel with some seam binding from a Miscellany kit and punched scraps of various papers. I stapled a few directly to the seam binding, I attached some with a brad...I even added buttons to simple strands of jute twine and let them fall where they may.

After adding a quick stitch all the way around the border of the pink polka dot paper (making sure to catch the seam binding and jute twine), all that was left was the sentiment!!

Admittedly, I"m typically a more 'disciplined' scrapbooker...so I was worried about letting things dangle about on their own, lol. But i the end, I LOVE how it turned out!

When the fair isn't in town, Guest Designer Melanie Fink makes her own!

I am so very excited to be the Guest Designer on the October Afternoon (OA) blog this month and playing with their AWESOME products!  Like all of you, I am a huge OA fan!  Their products are so versatile and they have a wonderful throwback feel that just makes you feel warm inside. 

I came to love OA products even more when I went to the OA Warehouse Sale last fall and met some of their employees.  They are wonderful people and they live in Minnesota, which makes them even more awesome!  Yes, I am a fellow Minnesotan, which you may have guessed already or read in my introduction on the blog last Friday.

I am a big die-cutting fan too, so you can expect to see me incorporating die-cuts (particularly SVGs) in my projects.  Die-cuts create so many possibilities with paper, as you will see with my project today.  With the exception of wooden dowels used for support, it is entirely constructed of paper!

I primarily used OA’s Midway collection to create the Ferris wheel (SVGs from the Summer Street Carnival collection at SVG Cuts) and the base it is standing on.  I used bits of other collections as well – Witch Hazel (wheel), Cakewalk (twine), and Sidewalks (buttons).  You can fill the carts on the Ferris wheel with treats and/or plastic toys, and you can embellish it so many different ways.  It is a great center piece for a carnival themed birthday party!  Disclaimer – the Ferris wheel does take patience to assemble.  The great news is that there is a video tutorial here that shows you how to put it together.

When I am tackling a big project like this, I start by cutting out all of the SVGs that need to be assembled.

Tip:  Use lightweight cardboard for the base of the Ferris wheel.  This creates a sturdier base.

Tip:  Cut each of the carts out twice – once with the Midway paper and once with a solid-color coordinating cardstock.  Then glue them together prior to assembly. This will allow you to put heavier treats in the carts and it makes the patterned papers really stand out.

Next is assembly time!

Tip:  Use Spray Adhesive to glue the wheel together – it is faster and easier to reposition before it dries.

And more assembly!

Now for the embellishments!

I created a fun star embellishment on the face of the wheel!   To create this embellishment, you will need the Midway brads, Sew Fun Banners, and Label Stickers, a 1-1/8” circle punch, foam dimensional stickers and decorative star pins.  Start by taking one of the circle banners and poke a hole in the center of it. 

Then put a Midway brad in the center (I liked the red star one) and apply one layer of foam stickers to the back of the banner circle.

Next, add the 1-1/8” circle punch to the back of the banner circle.  Apply two layers of foam stickers to the back of the circle punch.  To finish the layered circle, add the label sticker to the back (I liked the gray star-like one).

To finish off the embellishment, add star pins by pushing them into the foam stickers inside the layered circle.  I added a rhinestone circle-shaped sticker that I had lying around too.

I used buttons from the Sidewalks collection on the ends of each wooden dowel on the wheel.  I added rhinestones to the center of each button for some bling (adds to the glitzy feel many Ferris wheels have).

I chose to embellish the right side of the wheel base with stickers from the 12” x 12” sticker sheet in the Midway collection and I added a star pin too.

Who wants some cotton candy!  I do!  I put mini cotton candy bags into the carts.  I used 4” x 3” bags, cotton candy, and twine from the Cakewalk collection to assemble these.  Yes, I ate some of the cotton candy during assembly!

Lastly, I created a base for the Ferris wheel using a corrugated box (It is the one I got from OA filled with goodies and it is the standard scrapbooking paper box size).  The first thing I did was take extra tape off the box and cut off the 4 top pieces of the box using a utility knife.

Next, I cut 4 sheets of the Midway paper so they were 11x11 and would fit perfectly together on my box.  Then I started at the center of the box and taped down the sheets of paper as shown below.  Don’t worry about the tape showing, you can always cover it up, as I will show you.  To make it look like a wrapped gift box, I folded the paper in the corners as shown below.  Don’t worry about the tape showing, you can always cover it up if you don’t like it showing. 

When done adding the 4 sheets of paper, the box looks like this.  

Next, I cut two strips of the Midway patterned paper to cover up one of the taped areas on top.  You can use any paper you like. 

Then I added some ribbon and a bow to cover up the tape line running horizontally. 

There are so many different ways to embellish this paper Ferris Wheel.  You could add your own unique take - use flair, Midway miscellany, and/or goodies from other collections!

 To share in my excitement as the Guest Designer this month, I have a surprise for you!  The box I made for the base of the Ferris Wheel has some goodies inside!  Stop by my blog http://www.thepaperretreat.blogspot.com, to see what is inside and to enter to win the goodies inside!  I hope you stop by my blog and celebrate with me!

Melanie

(For more from Guest Designer Melanie Fink, check out the OA blog every Friday during the month of April!)

Guest Designer Shay Tibbs: Midway Photo Booth Mini-Book

I know all of you out there are huge picture takers, and jump at the chance to get a cute photo with your little ones. Mine may think I’m trying out as the paparazzi, but he also likes goofing off for the camera, which makes my iphone my best friend.  It is amazing to me how many camera, filter, font & collage apps there are!

I may not be the only one who takes almost TOO many photos and don’t have enough time to turn them ALL into projects.
 
Today, I am bringing you a small, quick solution in the form of a mini book! October Afternoon Here & Now books are the perfect base for this type of album, although I did cut my chipboard down to 5x5. I decided on the Midway collection because of the fun, playful photo booth feel it has to it, and picked out which papers I would use. Then, I just started embellishing!

I do leave some of my pages blank, to add white space, and focus more on the photos. It’s quite simple because I don’t have a specific event in mind ... just photos of me & my little guy, full of instagrams & photo booth strips!

I hope you enjoyed my mini book and all my projects this month as October Afternoon’s guest designer. Thank you for having me!

- Shay

Tuesday Sketch: On the Diagonal

Recently, I (Vivian) have noticed a trend in billboard and sign design: a long rectangular element divided in two on the diagonal. That trend inspired this week's sketch. I decided to keep the sketch simple, adding just a title, journaling, and one other element:

Michelle and I both worked with this sketch and came up with very different interpretations.

I stuck pretty closely to the sketch, creating a layout combining wood-print patterned paper from Farm Girl and Midway with more Midway, Make It Merry, and some Modern Homemaker (using up that stash!):

I die cut my title from the Midway Main Gate patterned paper and then backed the negative space with a piece of the Farm Girl Wooden Crate patterned paper. I die cut a geotag from the same piece of Farm Girl Wooden Crate and filled the center with a label sticker from the Make It Merry line. I added strips of patterned paper and stars punched from patterned paper to finish my layout.

Michelle came up with a fun project using the sketch. Here's what she had to say: "When working with sketches, I like to see how I can incorporate them into projects that are on my to do list. Today we are taking 5 teenage girls to the big city for a little Spring Break shopping. It's a long drive so I wanted to make some fun treat sacks for the girls.  I used Vivian's sketch to create some whimsical treat sack toppers. All my products used today are from the Midway collection.  I simply trimmed my paper then stitched and stapled everything together. I used the sticker letters to identify each girl's sack."

"Each treat sack has a photo from the zany Photo Booth patterned paper. I picked out a photo for each girl and created a tag that I attached to the sacks with embellished clothespins. The girls will be given the fun challenge of having photos taken of themselves that resemble a pose in their chosen photo. I just 'had' to use the dorky guy photo for my daughter Jordan. She makes faces like that all the time so it was very fitting. When she saw her sack, she immediately commented, 'Why do I get the dorky guy?'. Ha!  We're heading to the mall and lots of fun shops so I can't wait to see what the girls come up with."

"The girls are all spending the night so I thought it would be fun for them to create a mini tag scrapbook of their photos. I'll have the girls email me the photos from their phones and then I'm planning to print them off into mini Instagrams. I have a basket full of Midway products for them to use. I'm sure we'll hear lots of laughter from the girls as they assemble their mini tag books. Be sure to check my blog soon for some photos of the finished mini tag books."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't wait to see what the girls come up with!

Michelle and I hope you are inspired to create something with today's sketch. We'd love to see your creations in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery, so please post projects there if you use today's sketch!

 

Any Project Life OA fans?

For today's post, I want to share one of my weekly PL spreads, with a twist and a bit of a challenge for you readers!

What I love most about Project Life is that you get the chance to try something new on a small scale, so if it isn't perfect, or doesn't look quite like you wanted, you can try again!

For a week in February, I decided to challenge myself to use October Afternoon's "Make It Merry" collection - scraps from my other projects or leftovers from holiday projects - along with a bit of October Afternoon's "Midway" collection.

Here it is ... my Week 8:

I know lots of us papercrafters keep our scraps from projects. So why not put them to good use? Grab a traditional theme collection and use it for an everyday project like this one.  I'd love to see what you can make!  These colors were perfect for this week and I loved adding in all the bits and pieces from leftover projects!

As you can see, I like to add extras to my week, and I don't mind cutting into the plastics to make the most of them!

For this 4x6 slot, I used my exacto knife to cut into one side of the pocket so I could hide extra journaling and pictures behind my Elsa's photo.  Sometimes, for busy days, I like to add in extra photos or write journaling that I don't want to be seen on the front as a focus. Pull tabs, pockets and these folded flaps all make great ways to add more to Project Life!

I hope this inspired you to try using a themed collection on an everyday layout, card or Project Life spread. If you make something using this challenge, link us up below or share it on the OA Flickr group ... I'd love to see it!

(Watch for more from Guest Designer Shay Tibbs on the blog next Friday)

Monday Challenge...using mason jars

Hey there, it's Michelle Wooderson here today with a challenge and joining in is the very talented Marcy Penner.  It's no secret that I have a love for mason jars.  I use them for actually canning my homegrown veggies and jellies but I also love to use them for all kinds of home decor and storage solutions too.  My challenge for Marcy was to use a mason jar image from the Farm Girl collection on any kind of project.  For my project, I chose to work with the Farm Girl 12 x 12 Mason Jar patterned paper & the 8 x8 Paper Pad that I just love and some tags.  

I also love this 12 x 12 Patchwork patterned paper from the Farm Girl line.  I cut thin strips and stitched those to the bottom of my manila tags.  

Next I cut out the mason jars that have tomatoes on them from the 8 x 8 Paper Pad and the 12 x 12 patterned paper.  I used a small "b" side grid paper from the 8 x 8 Paper Pad and typed "fresh salsa".  I cut out the words and adhered them to my small white tags with pop dots.  I also attached the jars to the larger tags with pop dots.  

Now I have a nice head start on some handmade tags that I'll add to fresh jars of salsa that I make this summer.  We always have the "salsa" section of the garden that has tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeno peppers and onions so there is always a batch of fresh salsa being made.  I love to bake up my own tortilla chips & give a jar of the salsa and a bag of the chips to neighbors and family.  

Here's a sampling of some simple packaging that I like to do.  I use a waxed paper bag and twine to create a simple jar topper, then add my tag before tying a knot.  I think I need a whole sheet of that 12 x 12 paper with just the tomatoes, don't you think?  Note: you can visit my blog to find out more about how I create the jar toppers.  

I was excited to see what Marcy would create with the mason jars and she did not disappoint.  She created a cute tag using a fun, confetti window.  

Here's what Marcy had to say about her tag:

"I cut the center of the mason jar and punched out some confetti. I sandwiched it in between two pieces of vellum and sewed the mason jar over top of it. I used a combination of Cakewalk, Farm Girl, and Witch Hazel on this project. They all work so well together!"

Such a sweet little tag Marcy created, don't you think?  I love that we both used manila tags, did some fancy cutting on the jars and typed out little sentiments.  I think this tag would be adorable on a mason jar full of candies or gum balls...or how about jelly beans for Easter?

Thanks for playing along with me today Marcy!  I hope you all give the mason jars a try.  Thanks for stopping by.