October Afternoon

9 to 5 Chapter Sheets--Tuesday Tutorial

Good morning!  Danni here with today's Tuesday tutorial. I have had an idea for the incredible 9 to 5 Chapter Sheets and thought I would share that idea with you today in tutorial format.

The Chapter Sheets are new to the October Afternoon lines and they are fun!

 

My eldest son is graduating from high school this year and I wanted to share the wisdom of Dr. Seuss in my prayer and advice to him. 

 

Thoughts for You Baby On Your Graduation Album

(this album has the story Oh! The Places You'll Go typed on each page, letter from Mom and Dad)

 love, love, love the new washi tapes with the 9 to 5 line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's how I created my cover of the album

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are some of the inside pages (click pics to enlarge and read)

(the note to my son has been blurred, because he hasn't seen it yet and i don't want him to see it before i give him the album)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will share the rest of the album and details on my blog in the next couple of days.  I have to finish editing pics first :)

 

I hope you will try a fun "out-of-the box" approach to this new mini album in the 9 to 5 line.  This line is so much more versatile than a work/office line might suggest.

 

If you create a mini album of your own, we'd absolutely love to see it in our OA FLICKR GALLERY

 

Thank you for joining us here today.

Happy Creating♥

danni

Tuesday Tutorial: Mosaic Flowers

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I (Vivian) thought I'd show you a quick and easy technique today that you can use on your Mother's Day cards. This technique was inspired by a quilt I saw in the Pottery Barn Teen catalog:

I love the black borders around each flower petal; the black makes the colors and patterns pop against the colorful background. The chevron rug next to the bed is a nice touch as well.

I decided to create a project inspired by this look by using elements from the Farmhouse Flower Sack:

In addition to the Flower Sack, I grabbed some black cardstock and patterned paper from both Farmhouse (the B side of Guest Room) and 9 to 5 (the B side of Coffee Break) and created this card, loosely inspired by the quilt:

As you can see, I decided to turn my flowers into trees against a polka dot patterned paper that looks like the night sky lit up with stars. I added a strip of herringbone patterned paper (this element mimics the chevron rug next to the bed in the image above) and a heart from the Flower Sack, which I also bordered with black. A phrase banner from the Flower Sack completes the card.

To re-create this look with Flower Sack elements:

1. Cut a Flower Sack element into "petals," using either scissors or a paper trimmer.
2. Adhere each piece of the cut Flower Sack element onto a scrap of black cardstock, leaving space between the petals.
3. Cut around each flower, leaving a bit of a black border around the outside edge.
4. Adhere black-bordered flowers to a patterned paper background and embellish as desired.

We'd love to see anything you create based on this idea! Please post projects to our October Afternoon Flickr Gallery so that we can take a look!

Tutorial: gift envelope ideas

Good Morning! Becky here today with a simple envelope tutorial. I have gifts on my mind right now, with both Mother's Day and graduation celebrations coming soon. I like to give gift cards and money, but I don't like to give them without some flourish. Creating custom envelopes is SO quick and easy! 

For your template, the easiest idea is to use an envelope you have as a template. Carefully, take it apart.

Forgive the first two not so great images.

After you cut out your envelope, use a bone folder or ruler to crease the folds.

Then put a little adhesive on one flap that overlaps the other two. So easy!

After you have your envelope put together, it's fun to customize it with simple premaid embellishments.

It's not just a girly project. I made a more masculine version for a graduation gift.

I used a larger envelope as a template, so that a little wad of cash would fit.

A simple pattern paper strip made a perfect band to hold the cash together. Office supply tags provided a place to write a few sentiments and sign our names.

I tucked one tag behind the cash and one in front. 

The Mother's Day envies are little more feminine with a few more embellishments.

One of my very favorite October Afternoon papers is this floral. 

The sticker embellishments are perfect for this. As well as a simple little vintage flower bunch with OA ribbon...these little flowers are getting harder to find, so I hope Mom feels special.

You can't go wrong with adding a few buttons, right? 

I hope this simple gift idea tutorial inspires you. I'd love to see what you make, so please share your take on the OA Flickr group! 

Mother's Day Accordian Album

Spring seems to fly by over here.  Maybe it's because we have a big yard to tend to as soon as the weather warms up?  Maybe it's because my kids all seem to get cabin fever as soon as April hits. Whatever the case I find that it's in my best interest to plan ahead and get cards and gifts planned before I forget about them.

 So, today I have a quick and simple little tutorial for you on how to make a quick, little accordian album brag book.  This one's going to my mom.  :)

 Start by determining what size you want to work with.  I knew I wanted to use one of the October Afternoon journaling cards so I determined my length and width from that.  Take your desired width and cut a few pieces of cardstock to size.  Score a line representing the height of each piece and fold.  

 

 Now, unless you only want two to three pages you'll have to glue those cardstock strips together... so do that now.  Trim off any extra pieces if you have any.  Now you'll have one long accordian fold card.

Select your patterned papers and trim so that they're slightly smaller than your pages.   I thought that the spring-y vibe from the Sidewalks line would be perfect for this project. 

Close your accordian book so that you can decide which flaps going to be the cover and the back.  Adhere a patterned paper to the back flap.  

Open your accordian book and adhere papers to ALL the pages on the opposite side. 

Now, back to the cover.  Take a piece of ribbon and position it so that when the book is closed you can tie it evenly along the opening.  Adhere your cover papers over the ribbon.  Sew in place if desired.  

That side should now look like this.  

The other side has patterned paper on every section.

 

NOTE:  Keep in mind, that if you're sewing you may want to do that before the papers on the other side are adhered.  Unless you like messy sewing (like I do).

Decorate your cover and add your photos on the inside.

I'm hoping that my mom either carries it with her or hangs it up in her house from the ribbon at the top.

See... super simple... easy peesy.  But perfect for Mother's Day.

What projects are you tackling for Mother's Day?  If you're making something we'd love to see it!  Share your creations in our Flickr gallery and you may find yourself featured on our blog!

- Marcy

 

 

Tuesday Tutorial: Flowers

Hey everyone!  Roree here, and I have a Tuesday tutorial for you.

If you know me or my work, you know that I LOVE to make flowers.  All kinds, really.  Kim, the owner of October Afternoon, told me that she got some comments at CHA about the flowers I made on this layout, featuring Cakewalk...

Happy Days by Roree Rumph (using October Afternoon's Cakewalk collection)

so I thought I would share with you how I made them.

To make one complete flower, I cut out four individual flowers (cut at 0.25" increments, for example one each at 1.5", 1.75", 2", and 2.25" ) with my Cricut Expression 2 and Sweet Treats cartridge.  (Any kind of die-cut machine or punch will do, as long as you can cut the same flower in multiple sizes.)

I then sanded the edges of my flowers (totally optional), and curled the ends of each petal.

I added foam adhesive to the center of each flower except the top one.  I then layered and adhered the flowers together from smallest to largest. 

I pierced holes at the center of the flower, using the button that I wanted for the center as a guide.

I hand stitched the button onto the flower, and I finished by fluffing the petals back up.  And voila!  My finished flower!  Pretty easy, right?!

I made a couple more, along with some mini ones, cut out a few leaves, and created this card full of flowers.   

My Forever Friend by Roree Rumph (using October Afternoon's Farmhouse, Sidewalks, Campfire collections)

I added cross stitches to the center of the mini flowers instead of trying to find a bunch of tiny buttons. 

If you love flowers, texture, and dimension on your projects, you might need to give this a try.  ;) 

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  If you get a chance to make some flowers of your own, make sure to share them with us in the OA Flickr Gallery.   We would love to see your creations!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy String

Okay, yes, happy spring, too. :) Today's tutorial was inspired by an image I, Vivian, pinned on Pinterest a while back:

(Click on image to see source and directions for making these eggs.)

I love the simple yet bold look of these egg designs and wanted to replicate that look with paper. Today I'm going to show you just how I did that, using string to mask off cardstock prior to spraying ink over it. Let's get started!

 

Step #1: Materials

Grab the "ingredients" needed:

• White cardstock
• String
• Scissors
• Masking tape
• Sprinkler color(s) of your choosing

Step #2: Mask Off the Paper

Cut several different lengths of string that will be used to make your design. Make sure each length is a little longer than either the length or width of your piece of white cardstock. Tape one end of the string to the back of the white cardstock and stretch it across the front of the cardstock, taping the other end under on the back of the cardstock. Repeat with as many pieces of string as desired. Here's what this looks like, front and back:

 

Step #3: Apply Sprinkler

Put your string-covered white cardstock inside an empty box. Spray the ink directly over the top of the string-covered cardstock, let dry, and then remove the string. Here's what this looks like immediately after applying the ink and then after removing the string:

 

Step #4: Use on a Layout (or Card)

I cut three 3.5" squares from the masked/misted piece above and used it to create this layout:

The lines looked a lot like clotheslines to me, so I used mini clothespins to "hang" stickers, Flower Sack elements, and die cuts from the Sidewalks and Cherry Hill collections.

I used this string-masking technique on another layout, creating a mat for my photo and using the string lines to draw attention to the subjects in the photo:

This layout features the new Woodland Park collection and the Cactus Sprinkler from the Sasparilla collection (which coordinates beautifully with Woodland Park). In addition to spraying ink, I also dripped some bigger blobs of ink on the cardstock for a different effect.

If you give this technique a go, please be sure to post your creation(s) to our October Afternoon Flickr Gallery for all to see!

Happy String/Spring!

Sasparilla's For More Than Just Cowboys, Y'all :D

Howdy, OA fans! It's Amy here today with a little tutorial on how to look at Sasparilla for more than just cowboy/cowgirl or farm related projects. Let's get started!

We all know how adorable Sasparilla is for those country-themed projects. It's perfect for rodeos, pony rides, farm visits, and all things non city-slicker. BUT what you may not notice at first glance are the various other themes that can come together perfectly with this eclectic collection. 

WATER THEMEFor my page today, I chose to use the clouds in the Cattle Drive paper as the primary focus of my page. I paired it with the stripes from Pony Express, altering it slightly to cover up the red stripes, to give a rainy effect from below the clouds. The colors of the aquas, yellows, greys, creams and blues lend beautifully for water-themed projects, like this one of my daughter dancing in an early summer downpour. I bet there are some papers in here that would go great with Seaside or Boarding Pass, for example, even.Because many of the embellishments in Sasparilla are more "western" in flavor, I used my beautiful teal buttons, Alpha Stickers, Little Fliers and Wrap Pack to do most of the embellishments on my page along with my papers.

So, since my layout is primarily in the cool range of colors (blues) from Sasparilla, I thought I would go through the collection (minus the overtly "western-themed" pieces) with both of the projects I created and give you a little mix-and-match rundown of some of the ideas and theme's you could easily build upon using the papers I've shown. 

THE BLUES
Now let's talk about the BLUES in this collection. 
Left to Right: Rustler, Gold Rush, Tumbleweeds, Stagecoach, Wide Open Spaces, Cattle Drive, Giddy Up, Big Sky, Dash Dalton, Wagon Train

We have aqua, we have denim, we have sky blue, we have cobalt blue, we have nearly navy blue, we have grey blue and I'm sure there are a few more in there that are hidden so beautifully it all just becomes seamless! This palette right here, is so multi-functional and crosses over so many genres from kids to adults, feminine to masculine, you really can't ask for more!. You name it, the blues have it in this collection!

FISHING, FATHER'S DAY, CABIN THEMES
For example, in this selection we have Gold Rush, Stagecoach and Wide Open Spaces.This to me, looks like it would make an AWESOME fishing related layout, or what about a Father's Day card with a fishing theme? I LOVE it!

PRE-TEEN/TEENAGER THEME
And here, this one, I was excited to discover, Dash Dalton, Stagecoach, Pony Express.I can TOTALLY see this for a pre-teen/teenage boy birthday card, or layout. The jeans? Please! Yes. Totally works!

SUMMER, MEMORIAL DAY, 4th OF JULY, BBQ THEMES
Next up, this is a pretty obvious one, but I threw in the clouds to add a little more whimsy. Here we have Cattle Drive, Giddy Up, Pony Express, Dash Dalton, Pony Express.Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Memorial Day is coming up, sand that means summer! Summer means 4th of July, BBQs and all things Americana here in the states. Perfect! I can totally see an entire mini album created with just these papers, for summer - SO cute!
 

HOME THEMEThroughout this collection there is a warmth in all the pattern and color. But also a cozy warmth that resides in the "western" theme. It's a feeling of  "home". Maybe not your literal home, or mine, but that traditional old flavor, like a great patina. It's worn in and comfortable. This general "feel" lends itself beautifully to the theme of "home". 

For my card I used this theme to create a home related sentiment that could mean welcome home or you are home "here". I decided to stay very neutral with an emphasis on the greys, yellows, creams, and little bit of aqua, green. I used the map image to give the sense of  "here you are" and added the crocheted trim from the wrap pack, to further emphasize that feminine touch of "home" in my card.

THE YELLOWS
Now let's talk about the YELLOWS in this collection.

The blues and the yellows, I felt, were the standout colors from this collection, aside from the decidedly cowboy related papers. So here I've put together a couple swatch groupings using the yellows as the jumping off point for a couple more themes to try out with the Sasparilla collection.

FASHION THEME
To me, this group of papers screams "wear me!" all over it! And believe me, I wish I could! :D 

Dash Dalton, High Noon, and Gold Rush round out this trio of trendy colors that's made it's way beautifully into the Sasparilla collection just to make us all swoon. Ahhhh, yellow, grey, cream, and denim! I love it! I would love to see layouts or cards made with this group all about wearable fashion or even about home decor. Those are great things to scrap about!

EVERYDAY, TRADITIONAL THEME
Gold Rush, HIgh Noon, Gold Rush, and Tumbleweeds is a nice blend of current colors mixed with traditional patterns and textures.  This classic grouping of high, medium and low contrast valued papers would be just splendid for everyday or traditional-themed scrapping. This mix really reminds me of my grandfather's wool jackets, and I really can see this being an ideal mix for a theme related to similar stories.

YOU-NAME-IT THEME
Last up, I thought I would present my favorite mix of all the papers in the Sasparilla collection. Gold Rush, Tumbleweeds, Wide Open Spaces, Stagecoach and High Noon.
I believe you could do just about anything with this group of papers. The reason I feel this, is because its two most dominant colors are neutrals - the grey bandanna pattern and the wood-grain pattern. Then the lighter papers are all in the same color range with yellows, warm and light. The project could go masculine. It could go feminine. It could go young. It could go not so young. It could be about the outdoors, or the indoors. I really see this group of papers very versatile and a grouping that I am anxious to work with in the very near future!

That's going to do it here for me today! I hope that you've seen Sasparilla in a little broader fashion than you may have previously. It's such a fun collection and FULL of possibilities! Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday! :D

Art Masking Fluid Tutorial

Hello! Wilna here today! Anyone in the mood for a little art lesson? Play with paint? Make a bit of a mess? Well, then this tutorial is for you!

For Step 2, I used Ali Edwards' Photo Outline brushes and stamps. I just printed it on my 12x12 white cardstock. There are so many options to use, this is just one.

 

And here is a look at the finished page:

If you want to play along, i would loooove to see your pages! Upload them to our FLICKR gallery.

Smiles

 

Tuesday Tutorial: Creative Space Organization

Happy Tuesday! Stacey here, with a tutorial (using the term "tutorial" very loosely today) about organizing a creative space. I shared some photos of my space a few months ago and received some questions about what I had in all of the different containers, so here's a run-down of what I have going on in my happy little space!

The room that I use for my scrapbooking and other crafty endeavors is the "formal dining" room in our home. I cannot imaging having an entire room devoted to something that we already do at our big table in the other room next to the kitchen (the informal dining area?), but I am sure that there are people who think it's crazy to fill up an entire room that is designed for eating with pretty paper and glue and stickers, etc.

A little history...The first dedicated creative space I ever had was in a tiny hallway where the washer and dryer were supposed to go in the first house we ever owned. I loved having that little place of my own for sewing and scrapbooking, and I rearranged my meager crafty possessions with as much regularity and passion as I do today. I always feel creatively "fresh" after a little session of moving my stuff around...

So. The next creative space I had was much larger because it was part of our finished basement. I set up about six 6-foot-long tables and organized my scrapbooking supplies and some homeschool materials. I think that this is about the time I began to love my labelmaker so much.

But then we moved again. And again. And again. Every time we moved, I had a little better idea about what worked for me and what didn't. I learned that no matter how much space I gave myself to work in, I'd always end up with a little 12" X 12" square cleared on the table and supplies everywhere else. I learned that no matter what I did, a "school room" set up in my house would soon turn into a "resource room," and then it would finally become a "storage room" where rejected curriculum went to die. I finally let go of the guilt associated with having a creative space for myself but no school space for my homeschooled kids. I needed my space and they just did not need a school room. (FYI: I think it took me a solid seven years to figure that out.)

Okay, so here I am. Occupying the very first room in our house - I mean, when you walk in the door, you are immediately knee-deep in scrappiness - it cannnot be ignored. Usually a man will pretend to ignore it (and hope that his wife somehow doesn't notice a ginormous space completely dedicated to craftiness because then he might have to give up the security of his own unused "formal dining" room at home). A woman will usually exclaim over it in some way and proceed to tell me that she loves scrapbooking (or cardmaking, stamping, sewing, etc.) or that she is completely not creative.

Sometimes I wish that my special room could be revealed only to people who I want to share it with - instead of everyone. Even the delivery people (bringing more October Afternoon goodies!) will comment. I did almost put doors on this room back in 2007, but it's a sad story, and I don't really want to share it again today.

Okay, so on to the organization!

I am a fan of plastic drawers. They make life just so compartmentalizable. I think that they can be ugly, though. As much as I like shabby, vintage stuff, shabby, vintage drawers just cannot be cute. So I opted for my second favorite visual approach: ROY G. BIV. Love Roy: Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet. The day that I realized that I could do ROY G. BIV on my drawers, I was on Cloud 9. Cloud. Nine.

But what's in the drawers?? The top drawer in each column holds alpha stickers in that color. The bottom drawer in each column holds solid, whole cardstock in that color. The second-to-bottom drawer in each column holds colored scraps for that color. The rest of the drawers have patterned paper, wooden stamps, hand-stitching supplies, and completed layouts that haven't made it to the albums yet. Some of the drawers are even empty! An empty drawer means that I am not "maxed out" spacewise, and that's a great feeling!

A word about paper storage: I have newer papers, along with the coordinating rub-ons, stickers, journaling cards, and embellishments sorted by manufacturer and then by collection in my drawers. The front piece represents the collection, and because I am quite visual, this really works for me. I keep October Afternoon scraps in a drawer maked "OA Scraps" and all other scraps get thrown together in a drawer or thrown away. The vertical paper storage containers hold older (but still beautiful!) papers, also stored by manufacturer. When papers get moved to vertical storage, their coordinating accessories and embellishments get placed in a drawer for like items.

On the top shelf near the end, there are some accordian files. There store memorabilia for each child in our family. I also have one for my husband and one for myself. The ribbon tied on each handle tells me whose memoribilia is in each container.

The canning jars make me happy, so they stay. They have very small embellishments inside, sorted according to color. If I need something from one of these jars, I just dump it, sift through the contents, and dump it all back into the jar. Simple.

I made a little work space under the shelves - my first like this one. I am still trying to decide if I like it or not.

My sewing spot is just that. There are bobbins, thread, and sewing stuff in the little drawer in the table I have the sewing machine on.If I don't leave the sewing maching completely out and ready to go, I won't use it, so out it stays.

I've been doing some research about painting concrete because I'd like to tear up this carpet and experiment with painting the concrete floor. I am thinking a checkerboard patter. If I do, I will definitely share!

Happy Valentine!

Wilna Furstenberg here! Today's tutorial is all about hearts! It being Valentine and all! So here is the tutorial on how to make some colorful hearts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a look at the complete page:

 

Have a wonderful, heartwarming, cupcake eating Valentine!

love and a kiss