October Afternoon

CHA Booth Video!!!

Here is the booth! Enjoy! Thank you Lexi for taking the video for us.

Tuesday Tutorial :: SprINKlers = Custom-Colored Embellishments

Hi everyone! It's Amy here today with your Tuesday Tutorial this week! I thought that I would do a couple things for this week's tutorial. 

1) Feature some of our BRAND NEW collection papers intermixed with some of our current collections to show you just how seemlessly they work into your current stash, 

2) Create some Valentine's cards for the upcoming holiday - which is now just 2 weeks away

and

3) Show you some new, fun ideas for using our absolutely fabulous product line, SprINKlers.

I love the look of misting. I ADORE the look of paint droplets and splashes. However, I have yet to master either of these wonderful techniques. BUT there are some things that I have experimented with and LOVE using my SprINKlers for. Today I'm going to show you 7 different materials that you could use your SprINKlers on, that you may not have thought of before. So let's get started!

Above, I've gathered all the different materials that I have used my SprINKlers, and without fail, they have been successful!!

1) The obvious - patterned paper, or cardstock - but have you thought of using them on our Flour Sack pieces?

2) Canvas embellishments - all the rage

3) Paper doilies - inexpensive and plentiful for mass producing those fun Valentines

4) Crocheted doilies - I purchased mine at a local big box craft store for 50¢ ea.

5) Wood - Here I have clothes pins, but it works on ANY of the various wood embellishments out there on the market - LOVE that!

6) Bare Chipboard - SUPER way to spruce up those pieces of chip in our Miscellany packs!

7) Cotton Ribbon - such as the one in our Farmhouse Collection

When applying your SprINKlers to ANY of these materials, there is no real technique involved, simply spray until you achieve your desired look. All of these materials take and hold the ink perfectly and dry relatively quickly. Let's take a look at what these pieces look like after being inked.

I chose a Valentine's palette to make my samples and went straight into spraying (inside a corrugate box, so as not to get any ink where I didn't want it). Once I acheived the color I wanted, I removed my pieces from my box, and let them dry, probably for about 10-20 minutes depending on the material.

Below I have written out all of the colors that I used for my materials.

1) Large Clothespin - Hopscotch (Sidewalks), Small Clothespins - Buttermilk (Art Box)
2) Flour Sack Piece LG - Santa's Hat (Holiday Style), Flour Sack Pieces Small- Ice Box (Farmhouse)
3) Canvas Flag, Left - Brown Bag (Art Box), Canvas Flag, Right - Screen Door (Farmhouse) 
4) Chipboard Frame - Santa's Hat (Holiday Style), Chipboard Ampersand - Tin Type (Art Box), Chipboard Cameo - Tinsel (Holiday Style)
5) Paper Doily - Hopscotch (Sidewalks) 
6) Cotton Eyelet Ribbon - Strawberry Cream (5 & Dime)
7) Cotton Crochet Doily - Frequent Flyer (Boarding Pass) 

Really neat, right!? I just LOVE using my SprINKlers on these other types of materials to help them match my papers and other OA embellishments perfectly!

So, here's what I created from these fun custom- colored embellishements! A full array of Valentine's cards using papers from the BRAND NEW collection, Cakewalk, and current collections, Farmhouse and Sidewalks. 

SprINKler'd Pieces (Paper Doily, Small Clothespin, Canvas Tag, Chipboard Frame, Chipboad Cameo)

SprINKler'd Pieces (Large Clothespin, Flour Sack piece-masked)

SprINKler'd Pieces (Small Clothespin, Cotton Crochet Doily) 

SprINKler'd Pieces (Cotton Eyelet Ribbon, Canvas Tag, Chipboard Ampersand)

I hope you've enjoyed learning about some new ways you can use your SprINKlers! I've had fun getting them out and playing with all these materials all at once! Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful Tuesday!

Monday Challenge: Happy Birthday!

Hi everyone, Vivian here with today's challenge. About a month ago, when I started to plan for my January challenge blog post, I realized I'd been assigned my son's 10th birthday. Immediately, I knew that the challenge would have to be a happy birthday challenge! Little did I know then that one of the new lines released at the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) trade show this week would be Cakewalk!

Today's happy birthday challenge can be interpreted any way you want as long as you create something birthday-related.

You could, as Stacey did, create a layout about a birthday:

I love how Stacey combined so many of the fun and colorful Cakewalk patterns and products on this layout documenting her Grandma Ruby's 87th birthday! I especially love the fun banners at the top, which Stacey handcut from one of the patterned papers and further embellished with staples, baker's twine, and some of the new Cakewalk brads:

Another take on this challenge could be to build up your stash of birthday cards and tags so that you're ready at a moment's notice. I made this quick tag with the Cakewalk line:

(If you missed yesterday's blog post here, be sure to check it out for more ideas using Cakewalk.)

A third way to take on this challenge is to create birthday party decorations. I am usually terrible about birthday party decorations. I'm so busy planning for the party itself that decorations usually consist of a bouquet of helium balloons picked up at the last minute from my local grocery store. I decided this year to get ahead and do something a little more unique for my son's birthday party. I had never thought of the new 9 to 5 line as birthday-ish, but my now-10-year-old was really drawn to the colors and patterns and wanted me to use 9 to 5 for his party decorations. I made pinwheels and a banner with some of the more basic patterns from 9 to 5:

So, get out there and create something birthday-ish! We'd love to see your birthday creations, so be sure to share anything you create in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery.

Happy (birthday) creating!

 

OA + CHA = More Sneaks for You!

Now that the CHA excitement is officially in full swing, we are pleased to share with you some of the projects that our design team has created using the new lines, 9 to 5, Cakewalk, and Woodland Park.  

As the team worked with the 9 to 5 line, they quickly discovered just how versatile it could be.  It certainly does the job on work-related pages...

Layout by Vivian Masket

Layout by Jill Sprott 

...but this collection has a multitude of uses outside of the workplace, too!

Layout by Lexi Bridges

Layout and Tag by Becky Novacek

Layout and Card by Wilna Furstenberg

Layout, Card, and Tag by Roree Rumph

Layout by Stacey Kingman

Layout and Tag by Marcy Penner

Card and Tag by Jill Sprott

 

Layout and Tag by Amy Heller

Layout by Danni Reid

The design team is also raving about the Cakewalk line, which is perfect for birthday pages, cards, and projects: 

Card by Becky Novacek

Card and Favor Jars by Danni Reid

Card by Vivian Masket

Layout by Amy Heller

Tag by Lexi Bridges

Layout by Jill Sprott

Tag by Stacey Kingman

Layout and Tag by Wilna Furstenberg

Card by Marcy Penner

The Cakewalk collection works beautifully with other themes, too! 

Layout by Roree Rumph

Layout by Becky Novacek

Layout by Marcy Penner (and yes, she's aware of the spelling error; we love this anyway!)

Last but certainly not least is the Woodland Park collection, which, the team agrees, is blooming awesome. 

Layout by Amy Heller

Layouts by Stacey Kingman

Card and Layout by Vivian Masket

Tag and Layout by Lexi Bridges

Layout by Danni Reid

We hope that you are as excited about these lines as we are! 

You can see even more projects on the design team's individual blogs this week (see the blog roll to the right), as well as right here on the October Afternoon blog in the weeks ahead.  Thanks for stopping by, and for all of the wonderful comments about the new lines!  

Thursday Sketch Challenge

Hey everyone!  Roree here, and I have today's sketch challenge for you.

I had so much fun a couple of weeks ago with the inspiration photo that I used to create my January 12th sketch, that I decided to find another photo to use for today's sketch.

Here it is:

(image found on Pinterest)

With this inspiration photo, I created this sketch:

I loved the rows of circles, so I focused on that element.  I added in the frame, title, and journaling to make it a little more scrapbook friendly.

I have been having so much fun making cards with the sketches lately, that I stuck with it for this sketch too.

Here is the card I created:

I used the Sidewalks collection to create a banner in place of the circles.  I added little details like layering and stitching the banner shapes together to add more texture and dimension.

I then cut a sticker strip into three pieces and put it in place of the title and journaling. 

Becky played along with my sketch this week, and here is the beautiful layout she created:

She really loved the inspiration photo and went with a more literal interpretation of it.  She made it her own by adding her photo in place of the 'O' in the title.  Such a fun take on the sketch, don't you think?!  :)

I hope you enjoyed today's sketch.  If you get a chance to play along with this week's sketch, don't forget to post it in the OA Flickr group.  We love to see what you all are creating with OA products!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

~Roree

Here's what you've been waiting for

The last sneak peek!

We'd like to introduce Woodland Park!

Tuesday Tutorial: Misting, Masking, & Stamping Oh My!

Hey everyone! Kinsey here with a quick and fun tutorial on masking with a combo of stamps and sprINKlers. Here's what I used for this fun spin on masking:

First, I used a paper punch to create the resist and the mask (a die cut machine would do the trick as well) and then used the punched shape and misted over it...

Next, using the opposite piece of the mask (the excess or outer part of the punched shape) to cover the misted area, and stamped inside the masked shape using a doily stamp from the Farmhouse stamp set...(tip: using a thin piece of paper for this step allows the stamped images to appear seamless)

Check it out!

Last but not least, I added a few extra touches to snazz it up a bit :) I outlined the scalloped shape (this technique looks really cute with a stitched border too), added one of the Farmhouse little flyers, and the 'Hello' stamp is from Studio Calico. Here's the finished tag:

Thanks so much for stopping by today and hanging out! 

Kinsey

Monday Challenge-Scraplift yourself....

Scraplifting yourself is just the beginning of this challenge. Becky here today, with a multi-faceted challenge. Every year in January, I challenge myself to create a layout and then duplicate it for each of our grandchildren. You can interpret this as you wish...I would suggest a couple of ideas. Maybe you could recreate layouts for each of your children, or perhaps you have a great photo (or more than one) of a group of friends or family members who you could create a page for. This year we added two new grandsons, so last year I made 8 layouts based on one design and this year, I made ten! 

The second aspect of this challenge is to convey something across the board. Something that is important to you. Something you can communicate in a page. 

And the third aspect is to use past collections and scraps. I still adore many of the past October Afternoon collections and wanted to use them and not just hoard them : ) 

Take any part of this challenge and make it your own. Spin it, turn it, interpret it as you like! It's just a starting point. I've enjoyed challenging myself to do this for the past several years and there is something extremely gratifying and freeing to me about it year after year. 

This year, I assembled all of my photos and had a design in mind before I started. Once I began, it went very quickly. This is not my usual creative process. I normally have a mindset of doing something very fresh and of masterpiece quality! But for this challenge, I allow myself freedom. No pressure to create something completely fresh or new, no pressure to make it just right. It's more an exercise in creating and conveying a sentiment. 

On a sidenote, I make a lot of pages for my grandchildren. My goal is not to make albums that document their lives. They have parents who can document their lives if they choose. My reason for creating pages about them is to document my feelings for them and my memories about them from my perspective. I keep a book (or more) for each child that they will be able to take someday if they want. Right now, it's fun for me to do. A creative outlet.

So here are the ten layouts based on one design:

I don't know if I've ever made ten layouts in a day and a half before! But using this process really did work. If I were going to a crop, I think this would be a fun approach. 

Wilna joined me in this challenge and I asked her to interpret it as she liked...and I like how she chose to do it! She went back and found a layout she had made in 2005-

From this layout, she created this beauty-

I think it's great! kind...smart...important. LOVE. 

So please take up this challenge, any part or all of it and share with us what you make! Please post your take on the OA Flickr group! 

Thanks!

Probable (Sasparilla) Dreams...

Hello!
It's Michelle here with another Guest page for you, this month. :)

When I saw the super-cute cowboy-inspired 'Sasparilla' line, it immediatly made me think of all the ways I could use it for mister husband's side of the family - all of them being really manly men with loves of outlaw movies and such.

I saw this photo of my little nephew and wondered what little minds would be dreaming of...and then guessed that it might be similar to what his older relatives dream of...cowboys!

It's definitely probable. :)

I added a cluster of cowboys on the top of the page, and stitched little lines coming from the photo up to them to make them look like thought bubbles. And the rub-ons were so fun to work with! They go on like a dream, and look great all bunched together...

Stand in a circle on your numbered square, start the music...

STOP the music. Someone reaches into a bucket to pull out a number. You are looking at the table full of homemade cakes. Would you choose chocolate or carrot or the one with sprinkles? Waiting in anticipatation, is it going to be your number?!?

Name that game!

You are right CAKEWALK!

That is the name of our second line we are realasing at Winter CHA.

Oh my goodness wait until you see what the Creative Team came up with!!!

Such talent.

We are so happy for those procastinators out there who still have to scrap their birthday parties (like me from 10 years ago, oops). And for those who have parties coming up!

So get ready for some super adorable prints...

 

 

 

The Alphabet paper

 

The Stars

 

The Elephant

 

Oh My!

 

And that is just a teaser, can you imagine what the WHOLE line looks like?!?!?!