October Afternoon

Warehouse Sale & Day 3 Introductions

Don't forget all you local Minnesota Scrapbookers that our first ever warehouse sale starts tomorrow!  Here are the details:

Hours:  Thursday-Saturday 10am-6pm
            Sunday 12pm-5pm

Location:  5708 Upper 147th Street West #103
               Apple Valley, MN 55124

Please be sure to drive around back to the warehouse side, not the office side.

We will have lots of paper, stickers, mini-albums, mini-market alphas, wild cards, rub-ons and more from almost all of our previous lines.  Be sure to stop by and grab up some great deals. You can get more details and RSVP on the OA Warehouse Sale event page on Facebook to get a free gift at the door.

Now, let's say hello to Amy and Jaime.

 
I've been an artist all my life. Drawing cartoon characters from a very young age, then becoming interested in paper crafting in 7th grade. I remember embellishing a report with all sorts of colorful designs cut from construction paper and glued on with a glue stick - I was mesmerized with paper.
 
Throughout highschool I collected stationary, studied calligraphy, typography and graphic design. I loved boxed note cards and often dreamed of becoming a stationer. I knew with certainty I wanted to pursue design as a career, which I did. I studied art and design in college and worked as a graphic designer soon after graduating. I worked in the industry for 8 years before having my daughter and becoming mostly SAHM and freelance designer.
 
My design and creativity primarily took form on my computer. That was until 2004. We moved cross-country from Washington state to Connecticut for my husband to attend graduate school. At that point I became a fulltime Mom and my freelance work was put on hold. It was at my husband's school that I met a group of women that held a monthly scrapbooking group. I LOVED it instantly. The products were beautiful and this new hobby gave me the ability to document our growing family, while providing me with a much-needed creative outlet. However, it wasn't until 2008, after my son was born, that scrapbooking became my true passion and obsession. Then in 2009 I discovered cardmaking and blogging. At that point it was all over, I was completely hooked and my design "office" officially became my craft room!
 
I live in a small town in Connecticut with my wonderful husband and best friend of 11 years, our daughter, 8, son, 4 and our super dog, Cody, 11. I've been fortunate to be published in many publications both for my cards and my layouts and have loved being on a variety of manufacturer design teams. I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of the October Afternoon Design Team and I cannot wait to share my ideas with you! :)

 
I have always had a love for photography and creating. Being able to combine the two has been a dream come true! My love for photography started at a young age and became a passion of mine as a teenager. I was introduced to scrapbooking by a friend and from that moment I was hooked. Scrapbooking is, for me, a creative outlet. I am able to share my love for my children, husband and photography through my pages. I have been fortunate enough to have been a Memory Makers Master as well as design for several different manufacturers over the years - something I never could have dreamed was possible for me!

"Makes Me Happy" by Jaime Warren
 
 
 

You know the drill, leave a comment for these sweet ladies and you will have a chance to win some 5 and Dime goodies!

Design Team Introductions - Day 2

I am so glad you all are as excited about our new team as we are!  They have already begun to put some pretty amazing projects together that I just know you are going to love.

Today, we will get to know a little more about Jill, Stacey and Vivian.

 
Hi, all!  I was born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii, and I still live here  with my husband Rob and daughter Zoe.  By day, I am an English teacher, working with words, surrounded by students' papers, and by night, you'll find me playing with words (and pictures), surrounded by  patterned paper.  Like teaching, scrapbooking is a creative, challenging, colorful, and rewarding endeavor, and when I immerse myself in it, I am in my element.  I see us all as authors of our own stories, and scrapbooking is instrumental in the documentation of that  story, motivating us "to embrace a way of remembering that which it would impoverish us to forget",  as Robert Frost once claimed about poetry, and which I think perfectly captures what scrapbooking can do for us as well.  I like to think of my personal style in terms of  "convergence," since I love to pull together bits and pieces until  they click for me, until they all say what I want them to say.

"Pretty Nerd Rock" by Jill Sprott
 



 
1 - My name is Stacey Kingman and I live in College Station, Texas. It’s the best town ever.
2 - I am married to Doug, a professor at Sam Houston State University.
3 - I have four homeschooled kids, Darby (15), Jolie (12), Cody (8), and Corey (6).  
4 - I love to make lists.
5 - I’ve been scrapbooking since Darby was six months old, when I had a small, flat tub of supplies that I carried with me to crops...now I have a scrap room that is full of carefully labeled patterned paper, punches, ribbon, and stickers.
6 - I often use several different-sized photos on a page and mix black-and-white and color photos.
7 - My family is used to me always writing the things they say on random bits of paper to use as journaling for my layouts.
8 - I enjoy gardening – in my garden, zinnias are my favorite flower and zucchini is my favorite vegetable.
9 - Reading gets me into time-management trouble all the time. I’m a Jane Austen fan, love Ted DekKer, re-read The Chronicles of Narnia every couple of years, and can’t pass up good historical fiction.
10 - Other things I do - photography, Words With Friends, and looking for the perfect place to put my couch.
11 - If organizing was a sport, I’d want to be the team captain. I get happy over labeling, containerizing, and sorting any kind of stuff into categories.
12 - I must have 8 ½ hours of sleep every night. Every night.
13 - I have adored October Afternoon since the very first release, and I am thrilled to be returning as a member of the design team!

"How They Make Markers" by Stacey Kingman
 
 
 

 
Vivian's roots as a paper crafter date back to her elementary school days, when she and a childhood friend ran their own stationery business. Vivian no longer uses paint pens to create sets of stationery with rainbows, unicorns, and ice cream cones; instead, she applies her love of paper, color, and design to scrapbooking and cardmaking. A 2007 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Famer, Vivian has had her work published in most major industry magazines as well as in several idea books. In addition to designing for October Afternoon, Vivian is a member of the Write.Click.Scrapbook. collective. When not gluing patterned paper and photos to cardstock, Vivian can be found working as a curriculum coordinator for her local school district, hanging out with her husband and two elementary-school-age kids, or creating her next masterpiece in the kitchen.

"Good Role Model" by Vivian Masket 

Don't forget to leave a comment, we will be drawing a few winners for some 5 and Dime goodies on Friday!

The Brand New OA Design Team!!

Today we finally get to reveal what we have been up to! Are you ready??

It is with much excitement that we introduce you to our brand new design team!  This is such a talented group of designers that we know will excite and inspire you every single day.

Say a big, wonderful welcome to:
Amy Heller
Becky Novacek
Danni Reid
Jaime Warren
Jill Sprott
Kinsey Wilson
Lexi Bridges
Roree Rumph
Stacey Kingman
Vivian Masket
Wilna Furstenberg

Along with the new design team, we are also revamping our blog and will be providing weekly challenges, tutorials, behind the scenes looks, sketches and much more!  This new content will be coming to you from our fabulous new team.

Today, let's formally introduce you to Lexi and Kinsey.
 
My name is Lexi Bridges and I am beyond thrilled to be joining the October Afternoon design team! I am a stay at home momma to two precious and crazy boys: Aven (5) and Paxton (3). I am married to my high school sweetheart and live in Missouri where it can be snowing and 75 degrees in the same week. Crazy! I started passionately scrapping about 3 years ago. I have always dabbled in crafty arenas...rug hooking, feather tree making (seriously!) , cross stitching, but once I discovered scrapbooking I haven't looked back. Playing with paper allows me to be creative and preserve memories of my family at the same time and at least to me, there really are no rules, so it is freeing! Besides playing with paper I also enjoy thrift stores, the colors orange and aqua, chocolate and chevron printed anything. I look forward to "meeting" all of you October Afternoon fans and sharing our projects!

"Alien Love" by Lexi Bridges
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hey everyone!  My name is Kinsey (Kins for short) and I'm a stay at home mama to my 9 (going on 16) year old daughter, Brianna.  I've been married to a handsome Air Force fella, Sam, for 11 years.  When we're not packing or unpacking (gotta love the Air Force lifestyle!), we're busy playing nerdy boardgames (a family favorite!), hanging out and enjoying our time together :) 

I started scrapbooking (like many other scrappin' mamas) when I was pregnant with Brianna in 2001.  We got stationed in England when 'Beezy' was 2 and I took a part time job at the base craft store...that was my 'aha' moment.  Shortly after I began working there, I was promoted to a retail purchasing position and attended my first CHA and at that point it was on :)  I began teaching classes there and designing kits and I loved every minute of it!  We got stationed in Northern California 4 years later and I love scrapbooking now just as much- if not more- than ever. 

"Old Fashioned Candy Shoppe"

 
 
 
We will continue to introduce the rest of the designers this week.  Help us welcome these fabulous ladies by leaving them a comment on this post.  To celebrate our big news, we will pick a winner for some 5 and Dime goodies!

Thrift Shop Inspiration

We are so crazy busy here at OA!  We have our warehouse sale and big announcement next week and we are so close to getting 5 and Dime shipping.  It is all very exciting!!

Let's get right to the inspiration for today!  Jen Jockisch created these projects for our CHA booth with the Thrift Shop line.
 
 
 
 
I love how Jen used white and kraft backgrounds for all of these projects.  It really makes the colors and designs from the Thrift Shop line pop. 

Hope everybody is having a great week! :)

Happy Monday!

We are going to wrap-up the CHA booth projects this week and then we have a pretty special announcement next Monday, the 21st.  I can't wait for you all to see what we have been up to! :)

Today I want to share some very cool Schoolhouse projects from Jill Sprott. 
I love every single thing about this page. I love the theme, the misting, the colors, the pictures...everything! It is so great.

 
I love how she cropped her photos and framed them with the paptterned papers and embellishment on this fireworks layout.

 
This is the first time I have ever seen someone trim the mini-market alphas into a little banner like Jill did on the word "science".  Isn't that such a great idea?  I am definitely going to use that one soon!

Thank-you Jill for inspiring us on this crazy Monday morning.  Is anybody else still dragging from Daylight Savings? 

More from our GD Jen Jockisch

Who is ready to see some more inspiration from our March Guest Designer, Jen Jockisch?

Jen made all of these projects with our Schoolhouse and Report Card lines.
 
Jen is an expert on layering and adding all the little details just perfectly.  I love the color combination and patterns that she chose.  So cute!

 
I love how just the "s" is yellow and the placement of the exclamation point.  These fun details are what make Jen's work so interesting. 

 
And a fun little tag with her daughter's handwritten signature.  I love it!

Happy Friday to YOU! :)

Modern Homemaker continued...

We have some more CHA booth projects from the Modern Homemaker collection to share today.  These lovely projects were made by Becky Novacek and Jen Jockisch. 

"Happy Birthday" by Becky Novacek.
 

"Happiness is..." By Becky Novacek
 

"Lex at 12" by becky Novacek
 
I love how that little photo is peeking out at the top of the page!

"2 weeks" by Jen Jockisch
 
This layout inspired lots of fun flower decorations that we made for the booth.  They were so perfect.  I wish you all could see this layout in person - the embellishments give it so much dimension.  It truly is stunning.

"Crying Baby" by Jen Jockisch
 

"Swimming" by Jen Jockisch
 
I love how she used the chipboard cat clock in the corner.

"Happy Home" card by Jen Jockisch
 

I think both of these talented gals showed us just how versatile Modern Homemaker really is, don't you think?

Another Mini and More!

Danielle Flanders made another awesome mini-album with the Modern Homemaker line.
 
 
 
I just love how she placed the chipboard shapes peeking out as tabs for the mini-album pages.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Danielle wrote this on her blog about why she created this mini-album: I had fun reflecting on being a stay-at-home mom and what it means to me. I never thought in a million years I would be a SAHM. Truly. I was always taught to be a career woman, and I actually went to 6 years of college and received 2 degrees. Becoming a mom changed my whole perspective, and now I can't imagine it any other way! So this little mini album is dedicated to how much it means to me to be here for my girls and also my daily routine of being a homemaker!

Danielle also made several other projects for our CHA booth with Modern Homemaker.

"A Happy Heart"
 
 
 
 

"Handmade" card
 
 
 

"February 14" Card
 
 
Don't you love that little heart banner?  All the stitching just really adds the perfect touch.

We will have some more Modern Homemaker inspiration tomorrow!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Ice Cream, Sprinklers and Picnics

This week I would like to finally get all of the CHA projects from our booth posted.  Just looking at these bright and fun projects makes me want to break out my tape runner and get to work!

Let's start with some awesome Fly A Kite inspiration from Danielle Flanders and Roree Rumph.

This flashcard mini-book from Danielle is simply gorgeous!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The flashcard books are such a great size for a mini-album.  Danielle's album has a perfect balance of photos, embellishments and journaling.  What a great way to get down those Summer memories.

Roree put together some amazing layouts and a card.
 
 
 
That green polka-dotted paper is one of my all time favorite OA patterns :)

I love how Roree cut one of the journaling cards in half and used it to anchor her title.
 
 
 
 
 


 
All the layering on this card is just beautiful. 
 
 
Hope everybody has a great week! 

Hello to Jen Jockisch - our March GD!

We are so happy to welcome the sweet and talented Jen Jockisch as our March guest designer.  We were thrilled to have her design some amazing projects for our CHA booth, and now we're thrilled to have her here on our blog to share some more of her beautiful work!
 
First, let's learn a little more about Jen.

1) Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m 33, have a 4 year old daughter named Ayla, and a 6 month old daughter named Nora.  I’ve been married for 7 years; my husband is a junior high principal and so is rarely home. I work as a secretary at our local high school and trying to find time for everything is frequently a struggle. In addition to scrapbooking, I love to read, and most nights can be found curled up with a book after the girls are asleep. I’ve been fortunate to have had my scrapbooking work published in numerous publications, and was a 2010 member of the Creating Keepsakes Dream Team. Currently, I design for studiocalico.com, twopeasinabucket.com, American Crafts and Sassafras.

2) Tell us about your scrapbook style and how long you have been scrapbooking?
I’ve been scrapbooking for close to 7 years, and my style has definitely evolved over time. I love to use lots of layers and patterns and colors to make my layouts. I really like trying to mix different colors and/or patterns that you would never think would match, but when all combined they just work. Or at least I think they work, lol.

3) Are you a layout person or a card person...or both?
Definitely layout. I occasionally make cards for assignments, but it’s not where my heart lies.  

4) What is on your scrap desk right now?
I just spent 2 days cleaning and purging my scraproom, and it was the best feeling ever. So right now there is not a whole lot on my table, it’s all neatly put away, but I’m sure that won’t last long.

5) What is your very favorite October Afternoon line of paper?
I love the new 5 and dime line. I have 2 little girls and I’m always looking for fun and feminine designs. This fits the bill perfectly, and has just enough vintage thrown in to make it perfect for me.

6) What can you NOT scrapbook without?
Foam adhesive, a black pen, chipboard alphas, white or kraft cardstock, and patterned paper.

7) What is your favorite source for inspiration?
I love design blogs, Décor 8 and Creature Comforts are some of my favorites. I
also get a ton of inspiration from the ads on Nick Jr.

8) Favorite TV show?
The Office or Parenthood.

9) Favorite 7th grade memory?
I have the worst memory ever, truly. I can barely remember last week, let alone 7th grade.

10) If you could have dinner with anyone living or dead who would it be and why?
My Mom. She passed away very unexpectedly a few years ago, and I miss her every single day.

 
Don't you love how she cut the hearts out on that pink paper?  You also don't really notice at first glance that this layout was made with our Schoolhouse collection.  I love it.

We are looking forward to seeing what else Jen has to share with us! :)