October Afternoon

GlueArts Rocks!

As you have heard by now, we have teamed up with GlueArts this week and we couldn't be more excited!  The GlueArts Glue Girls have been showing off some amazing projects featuring Modern Homemaker on their blog.  Be sure to check those out here.

Our design team has been busy as well, and the decision is unanimous, we love GlueArts products!

Kinsey made this expandable file to wrangle all of her old report cards, school papers and memorabilia using manilla file folders and October Afternoon Schoolhouse and Report Card papers and embellies. 
 
She used the Glue Glider Pro to construct it by glueing the file folders together, cover to cover, and then the edges to create pockets. She also used the dimensional glue squares to 'pop' some of the stickers out on the front of the file.
 
What an awesome project to keep all your school-related memorabilia all together!

Danni used her GlueArts adhesive to make some adorable graduation cards.  
 
 
 
 
 
 

Stacey Kingman put this sweet card together with the Glue Glider Pro as well.
 
 

How would you like to win some GlueArts adhesive for your stash?  We have 2 ways to win!  The first way is to leave a comment on this blog post letting us know what projects you are working on right now.  The second way is to "like" the GlueArts Facebook page here and tell them that OA sent you.  You have until Sunday to leave a comment in both places and we will post the winners on Monday!
 
 

Blog Hop Winners!

Our first Blog Hop was a HUGE success!  Thank-you all for playing along and showing your excitement for our rubber charms.

The winners of the Rubber Charms prize packs are:

October Afternoon Blog - Jennifer Sanborn

Amy Heller - Monica who posted May 11 at 4:25pm

Wilna Furstenberg- Leah who posted May 11 at 7:17am

Kinsey Wilson- Patricia Moussatche

Lexi Bridges- Teresa who commented on May 12 at 1:42pm

Marcy Penner - Kelly McGarry

Roree Rumph - Ashley Horton

Vivian Masket- Laura Cushman

Becky Novacek- Christy A.

Jill Sprott- Jennifer Chapin

Stacey Kingman - Cassie who commented on May 11 at 2:17pm

Jaime Warren - Christie Wildes

Congratulations ladies!  Please e-mail the design team member or [email protected] with your address!

Tutorial: Hand Stitching

Hi Everyone! Becky here with a tutorial for you. I am a big fan of stitching on projects. I like to use my sewing machine, but I also really like to use hand-stitching with floss for a more pronounced, thick stitch. It’s a great way to emphasize an embellishment or title, add contrast and texture.
 
Whenever I decide to use hand-stitching and particularly an outline or backstitch, I pre-poke the stitching holes. It makes such a difference when stitching on paper.
 
To backstitch, simply pull your thread from the back of the paper through to the front. Rather than knot the thread, I usually leave a tail on the backside and tack it down with a small piece of tape. Then go down through the next hole. Stitching in paper is slightly different than fabric, since it’s not possible to do a full stitch. It’s a process of up and down again, rather than being able to pull the thread from back to front.
 
It’s also fun to include french knots as a little detail. I created a french knot on the small flower sticker at the bottom of the page. To make a french knot, simply bring the needle up through the paper from the back to the front, keeping it taut. I would secure the thread with a small piece of tape. Then wrap the thread around the needle three or four times, continuing to hold the thread taut. Push the needle with the thread wrapped around back down through the paper right next to the hole where the thread came up. Then secure the thread to the back with another small piece of tape.
 
Another fun little embellishment on this layout, are the little ribbon flowers. They are simple twist and roll flowers that I made using the Glue Arts Extreme Adhesive Squares. To make them, I just cut a square of the adhesive off the roll and then made a ribbon knot that I stuck on the center of the adhesive and then twisted and rolled to fill the rest of the adhesive. They’re tiny, but sweet.
 
I hope if you haven’t tried hand-stitching or twist and roll flowers, that you will give it a try! I would love to see what you make, so please post your projects on the OA Flickr Pool.

Challenge: Scrapbook A List

Hi everyone.  Marcy here to start your week off with a challenge.

Before I get to the challenge I wanted to let you all know that we've teamed up with Glue Arts this week.  They will be sharing some fun layouts featuring Modern Homemaker all week on their blog here. All of us here have had a great time trying out their adhesives this last little while.
 
I've been using this big guy a lot!  I find it quite nice for larger items on my pages... like photos and mats.  So, stay tuned this week for more projects featuring Glue Arts adhesive.

Okay.... onto the challenge for the week.

I challenge you to scrapbook a list.  I'm a HUGE listmaker.  I have a planner on me at all times.  At first I thought I'd scrapbook a photo of my planner.  But I've done that in the past.... so I decided to scrapbook a list of my boys' favorite things about school.  The great thing about this topic was that I could use two of my favorite October Afternoon lines...Schoolhouse and Rocket Age!
 
(For all you eagle eyes out there you may notice that this layout is not exactly the same as the bit you can see in the first photo I posted.  I wasn't happy with everything on it so I changed a few things).  I typed my boys' lists out so many times it not even funny.  In fact... the lists shown are actually adhered over individually cut strips... the Glue Arts adhesive took that challenge on like a champ!  :)

I love how well different October Afternoon lines work together!  I had no problem mixing in Schoolhouse with Rocket Age (and I threw in some Road Map title work on top of that too).
 
 
A couple of my favorite things... ink splatters and buttons.
 
I sent this challenge off to Lexi to see what she'd do with it.  And funny enough, she chose to scrapbook a school related list as well!

I love how Lexi also mixed Rocket Age with previous lines.
 
 
Those red and blue ledger stitches are totally brilliant!
 
 
So, now you've seen what we've done with the challenge...we'd love to see what you do with it!  Link us up in the comment section and share your work in our Flickr gallery!

Also, because of all the issues with Blogger last week, we have decided to extend the blog hop contest for one more day.  We will choose the winners this evening and will post them tomorrow!

Rocket Age Card Set by Lynn Ghahary

Hi everyone!  Lynn Ghahary here again to share another project with you this week.  For today’s project I created a set of cards using more goodies from the adorable “Rocket Age” collection.  I LOVE to create cards just as much (sometimes even more so) than layouts.  I find if I’m ever feeling in a creative rut putting together a card or two helps to get the mojo flowing again.  And of course it doesn’t hurt that the products are just so darn cute!  LOL!

 
For my first card I cut the Return Voyage paper to size for my card front.  I used the “adventure” card from the Miscellany package as the base for my design and then added a portion of the ticket strip from the Miscellany package as well making sure that the “Trip to the Moon” ticket could be read from behind the rocket ship.  Speaking of the rocket ship, I used my die cut machine to cut this retro rocket ship and adhered it to my card front with dimensional adhesive.  Some additional stickers here and there along with a rub on sentiment placed on one of the label stickers and this card is good to go!


 
 
For my next card I used the Blast Off paper as my base.  I cut a strip of the Captain’s Log paper and placed this along the bottom edge of my card front and topped it off with a strip of the Incoming Transmission striped paper.  I place the “Rocket Age” card from the Miscellany package partly behind the Captain’s Log paper and topped it off with a tab stitched with embroidery floss.  Another die cut shape (this time a planet) was adhered to my card front with dimensional adhesive and embellished with one of the rubber charms.  I used my computer and printer to add my sentiment to one of the label stickers and adhered it to the bottom of my card front along with a few additional stickers.

 
Here’s a tip: If you want to print on a sticker or other bit of paper using your computer simply print your sentiment on plain computer paper first and then use temporary adhesive to place your sticker over the printed sentiment and run your paper through your printer again.  I use baby powder to get rid of the “stick” on my stickers so I can use that bit of temporary adhesive.  It’s a really fun and easy way to add custom sentiments to your labels!  

Thanks so much for stopping by the October Afternoon blog today and I’ll be back next week with more “Rocket Age” projects to share.  :)

Thursday Sketch w/ Roree Rumph

Hi everyone, Roree here, and today I have a sketch challenge for you!  This is the first time for me to actually make a sketch and share it, so you will have to forgive me if it isn't the most wonderfully, innovative thing you have ever seen.  LOL  ;)  

Here is the sketch:
 
I kept it pretty simple.  It is a 12 x 12 single page layout for two smaller photos, a title underneath the photos, and space to add lots of embellishments.  I am not a huge fan of journaling (not because I don’t like it…I’m just not that good at it.), so I did not add space for it specifically. 

And here is my take on the sketch:
 
My family and I recently went on a cruise to Mexico, and while in Cozumel, we chose to take a rock wall tower/zip line excursion.  This is the first time we had ever really done anything like this, and we had a great time.
 
I had a lot of fun with the lines behind the photos in the sketch.  I mixed strips of patterned paper along with hand stitching to add color and texture to the neutral background. 
 
In place of the butterflies in sketch, I chose to add button embellishments to mimic the rock wall stepping stones.  Again, this added a lot of color and texture to my layout.

Danni played along with my sketch this week, and she had such a wonderful take on it.

Here is her layout:
 
So many wonderful details… where do I begin???  Danni left her background neutral to focus on the important things… her photos and journaling.  She used paper and embellishments from the Rocket Age collection, and even though her layout wasn’t space-themed, the products work really well for a layout about her son.
 
 
Danni thought outside of the box and replaced the strips behind the photo with her journaling.  She added lots of details about the fun time she and her son had (well, maybe more fun for her son) on his first big roller coaster ride.  And isn’t that stitched roller coaster AMAZING!!!!!!   
 
She stayed with idea of side by side photos, but chose a larger photo for the one on the left and a collage of layered photos for the one on the right.  All of the photos are of the same image with a nice contrast of color against black & white, which really emphasizes how happy her son was at that moment.  

I just LOVE her take on the sketch, don’t you?!

I hope you all get a chance to play along with the sketch.  If you do, please post it to the OA Flicker Gallery, so we can all see your take on it.  And who knows, uploading to the gallery may just get you featured on the OA blog.  *wink wink* 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

OA Blog Hop!!

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today we are having our first ever October Afternoon Blog Hop.  Are you ready to have some fun, get some inspiration and maybe even be a lucky winner of a rubber charms prize pack?  All you have to do is visit our design team member's blogs for a chance to win.  The theme of this blog hop is rubber charms and the DT has hit it out of the park with their super fun projects you are sure to love.

First up are some very clever cards from Danni Reid.
 
 
 
Danni is so great at making the inside of her cards look just as good as the outside.  Also, the way she used both 5 and Dime and Rocket Age together on this card is just genius!
 
 
I love the look of the polka dot paper with the star paper!  That ice cream sundae rubber charm is just the perfect touch.
 
 
 
I can always use more ideas for masculine cards.  This one would be perfect for the boy in your life!

Thank-you to Danni for sharing these cute cards with us.  All you need to do now is leave a comment here for your chance to win a rubber charms prize pack and then head over to Marcy Penner's blog for more rubber charm inspiration and another chance to win!

Here are all the blog hop participants:
Marcy Penner

Amy Heller

Becky Novacek

Stacey Kingman

Lexi Bridges

Roree Rumph

Kinsey Wilson

Jill Sprott

Wilna Furstenberg

Vivian Masket

Jaime Warren

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you are feeling inspired today!

Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?

Hi everyone! Vivian here with this week's tutorial.  I know that when I first started using buttons on layouts I thought of them as a great way to add a pop of color and some dimension. Recently, I’ve realized that there’s a lot more to a button than meets the eye. Instead of seeing buttons as pre-made embellishments, I’m seeing them as possibilities. I’m going to share with you today a quick and easy technique for “embellishing your embellishments” when it comes to buttons.

For this layout, I combined buttons and rub-ons from the 5 & Dime collection. I cut stems and flowers from the Image Rub-On sheet and applied them to two buttons. 
 
This technique is not rocket science (nor Rocket Age, for that matter J), but look at the oomph it gives to my layout (imagine it with just plain pink buttons, not the same, is it?!):
 
So…go forth and embellish your buttons! Create something with your embellished buttons and post them to the October Afternoon Flickr gallery for all to see!

Challenge: Use Your Scraps

Hi there! This is Wilna and I bring you today's challenge with compliments of Spring in Canada! As I was contemplating this challenge I was organizing my scrapbook room (again! it feels like I am forever doing this) and I was amazed how much little pieces of scrapbook paper I always seem to have everywhere. So my challenge to you today is this: make a page with left over pieces of paper. : )

Even the background paper had a hole in the middle where i did a die cut from it.

And here is Amy Heller's take on the challenge:

Amy says: "I used the left-over circle punches I had and cut them in half, then placed them back to back (on the right) and used several pieces of leftover strips of paper and also the negative space from a sunburst punch. I used the OA SprINKlers "Buttermilk" for my droplets - I LOVE the subtlety of the the tone on tone - I'm so excited about these inks!!"

Amy's color scheme and beautiful details are just perfect!

Are you up for this challenge?  For bonus points you can add the following:
1. Make it about you and the state of your heart right now...
2. Use the lovely OA SprINKlers as both Amy and I did.

We also wanted to announce the winner of our April 24th Scavenger Hunt Challenge.  Congratulations Paige Lumpkin!  Paige included 22 of the 25 items on the list and her layout turned out quite lovely!

E-mail amanda.s@octoberafternoon with your address and she will get your prize pack out to you! 

Thank you all for playing along and don't forget to upload your OA projects to our Flickr page.

love and a kiss
wilna

May Guest Designer: Lynn Ghahary

We are so thrilled to announce that our May guest designer is the sweet and talented Lynn Ghahary!!  She will be featuring Rocket Age and you don't want to miss a single project because she is really rockin' it!
 
1) Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Lynn Ghahary and I live in New Jersey with my husband and high school sweetheart Salar and our two wild and crazy boys, Darian and Brandon. I am also the proud mommy to one adorable Puggle puppy named Buddy and two (not so amused with the puppy) Bengal cats named Sasha and Sebastian.  I have been scrapbooking for several years now and I am lucky enough to have had my work published in several magazines including Creating Keepsakes, CARDS, Scrapbooks ETC, Paper Crafts, Scrapbook Trends, and Scrapbook & Cards Today.  I am also the Design Team Coordinator for Pebbles Inc and a member of the creative teams for Pink Paislee and the Provo Craft Cricut Cricle blog.  In addition to scrapbooking I am also an avid gardener, bookworm, and wannabe photographer.  I am also a self-professed reality TV show junkie, McDonald’s fountain Coke addict, and organizing diva.  ;)

2) Tell us about your scrapbook style and how long you have been scrapbooking?

My first introduction to scrapbooking was way back in 2000 by my sister.  I worked a crazy demanding full time job at the time that didn’t really leave me much opportunity to play, and I think I collected supplies more than I actually scrapbooked.  I completely gave it up in 2004 when my first son was born (went so far as to sell all of my supplies on ebay!), but of course the appeal of all that pretty paper brought me back and I have been a scrapping fool ever since 2008.

I always get a bit stumped when people ask me to describe my style.  I guess I consider myself a “clean” scrapper – I love lots of straight lines when I scrap.  I am a bit of a color junkie so I love to really play with colors on my layouts to help tell my story or convey a certain emotion or mood.  And details.  I love, love, love adding little bits of unexpected details here and there.  It’s just fun for me! 

3) Are you a layout person or a card person...or both?   

I am definitely an equal opportunity paper crafter!  LOL  I love to create both layouts and cards.  And I will create a 12x12 or 8.5 x 11, single or double page layout, based on whatever fits my fancy at the time.  For me it’s not about sticking to one size or shape but whatever works best with my design.

4) What is on your scrap desk right now?

Lots and lots of Rocket Age (I’m currently working on projects for this month on the OA blog), several different border and circle punches (I’m a paper punch addict!), my trusty craft knife and ruler (can’t scrap without them!), and my sweet little girl kitty Sasha keeping an eye on everything for me. 

5) What is your very favorite October Afternoon line of paper?

Do I really have to pick just one?!?  LOL  Seriously I love them all and have every single one of them starting with Weathervane but if I had to pick one I think it might be Seaside or Road Map.  The colors in both of those collections just speak to me. 

6) What can you NOT scrapbook without?

My craft knife and ruler.  I am a wee bit neurotic when it comes to straight lines and would much rather cut with my ruler than a paper cutter any day. 

7) What is your favorite source for inspiration?

Anywhere.  Everywhere.  As I mentioned I am a color junkie so I’m always inspired by the colors I see whether it’s in magazines, online, or just out and about my daily life.

8) Favorite TV show? 

I am a self-proclaimed reality TV junkie and I probably watch the Bravo channel way more than I should admit.  I love the Housewives series and since I am a Jersey girl I’d have to say that the New Jersey housewives are my favs!  (Actually the infamous Danielle from last season lives just a few house down the street from my mom!  LOL)

9) Favorite 7th grade memory?

Is it sad that the only things I can remember from 7^th grade are playing the Ouija board lots with my girlfriends during sleepovers and collecting pictures of my favorite teen stars (HELLO Johnny Depp from 21 Jump Street!) from magazines like Tiger Beat?  I think I’ve just dated myself (and possibly embarrassed myself as well! LOL) so I’ll stop there.  ;)

10) If you could have dinner with anyone living or dead who would it be and why? 

Definitely my Dad.  He passed away 7 years ago while I was pregnant with my oldest son.  I would love to sit down with him and tell him all about my two little boys – I know he would get such a kick out of them!

Let's hear from Lynn about this week's project:

It goes without saying that I am absolutely thrilled to be the guest designer this month on the October Afternoon blog.  When I was asked which collection I wanted to work with this month I don’t think I could type the words “Rocket Age” fast enough!  As a mama of two boys this collection had me at “hello” and I was over the moon (pun intended! LOL) to get to play with it all month long!  

For my first project I created this 8.5 x 11 double page layout featuring photos of my little guy Brandon.  We just celebrated Brandon’s fifth birthday two weeks ago and I snapped these photos of him in our backyard on his special day.  Isn’t he a cutie?  
 
I like to call myself an equal opportunity scrapper – single or double, 8.5 x 11 or 12x12 – I create it all depending on my photos and design.  On this layout I created a visual triangle across the two pages of my layout with the yellow stars.  That’s something I try to do on most of the projects I create as it helps to lead the viewers eye around the page - from photos to title to journaling and back to more photos.  You’ll also notice that I placed part of my title right on top of the photo with Brandon’s hand showing me his age.  This is also something I like to do a lot as I think it helps not only ground the title, but helps tie it into the rest of my layout.  The letter stickers I used for my title are actually from the Very Merry collection – I loved their size and the red color ties in with other elements on my page and really gives my title some visual pop! By the way that “I” was actually an “L” but I simply snipped off the lower part to create the letter I needed.  This is a great tip if you should ever find yourself without a particular letter sticker.  
 
The embellishments in the Rocket Age collection are just so stinkin’ cute!  I love the different word stickers with their fun phrases and space icons.  And the rubber charms – oh how I love these!  I used a rocket ship rubber charm along with several stickers to create a little embellishment cluster on the right side of my layout.  And instead of using the light blue mini market stickers from this collection I chose to use the red & cream ones (from the Farm Fresh collection) to give another pop of color and coordinate with my title.  
 
Thanks so much for stopping by the October Afternoon blog today and I’ll be back next week with more “Rocket Age” projects to share. :)