October Afternoon

Pinwheels...Halloween Style with Michelle

Hey there, it's Michelle here today and I'm back to share another fun, crafty technique using October Afternoon stamps.  Today I'm pairing the Pinwheel stamp from the Midway collection with lots of products from the Witch Hazel Halloween collection.  

Pinwheels, or pie charts as many crafters call them, are very trendy right now.  I thought I would give it whirl and try creating my own version.  To begin you'll want to turn your big Pinwheel stamp image side up and select an ink color.  I'm using Hero Arts Soft Apricot Shadow Ink, a perfect pumpkin color for Halloween. 

Trim down a handful of your favorite patterned papers from the Witch Hazel collection to about the size of a card front.  I chose ones that have the light, creamy background.  I have to say, these are pretty cool if just used like this....but I have bigger plans.  :)  Isn't that spooky sheet music paper just awesome?  Stamp the pinwheel image right onto the patterned papers.

Next, select one stamped background to use as the base for your pinwheel circle (on the left).  From the other stamped papers, cut out pieces to place over the main sheet (on the right). 

Adhere the cut pieces to the main stamped piece with just a touch of adhesive.  Again, this is pretty darn cool looking and would make a great background piece as is. 

Next up, die cut a large circle out of the pieced together pinwheel paper.  I used my Cuttlebug and a large circle die.  Sew around the pinwheel circle and also stitch over each of the "pie" pieces.  So fun!  By stitching you can hardly tell which piece is the base and which pieces are added on.  Now you're ready to use your pinwheel on any crafty project.

I created 2 pinwheels that I used on some Halloween cards.  I used a cream cardstock for the card base and then added some large images from the Witch Hazel Miscellany pack for a background. 

To finish off the cards with some fun embellishments, I reached for some Witch Hazel Tin Pins, Buttons and Chip 'n Stick pieces.  I used black and white baker's twine on all the button pieces.  Just look at all that fun dimension with the added stitching and fun baubles.  

Hope you enjoy!! Be sure to buzz on over to my blog to see one more project I've made using a Halloween pinwheel.  :)

Thursday Sketch: Room for Whimsy

Happy Thursday! It's Jill here, with a sketch that incorporates some basic and bold elements while also leaving room for you to play with whimsical bits and pieces. 

Lexi and I had a similar reaction to this sketch: we both reached for the October Afternoon Witch Hazel collection and our Halloween photos. The way that Lexi reinterpreted the grid portion of the layout by using patterned triangles is just spooky brilliant: 

Here's what Lexi had to say: "I really loved Jill's sketch. It was totally different and I like totally different ;) I kept pretty close to the sketch, only adding two photos instead of three. I had fun playing with negative and positive word cut outs from my Cameo for the extra long title. I turned the squares on the left side into triangles and used them on a smaller scale."

Lexi also added a playful touch to her layout in the form of Witch Hazel Designer Brads, which keep company with a few ink splatters. These brads also make an appearance on my layout, framing a journaling block. 

I honed in on the center of the layout, using black cardstock as a foundation for the layout so that the colors would really stand out.  I pieced together a grid from Witch Hazel patterned paper, items in the Miscellany pack, a page from a Here and Now Chapter, and postcards, and then ran strips of mesh washi tape (which you may have noticed that Lexi also used) vertically down the columns, leaving some squares off while I added the tape. I substituted a journaling block for the extra photos on the sketch, and framed it with brads, stickers, and chipboard pieces. 

Both Lexi and I drew from certain basic aspects of the sketch, but we also welcomed the chance to adapt the sketch to fit our own styles.  We'd love to see how you do this! Be sure to share your creations in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery.  

Here & Now book of Nature Observations

Hello everyone, Mou here with a Here & Now book tutorial. For today's project, I have chosen a Woodland Park Here & Now Chapter book along with various other products (8x8 Paper pad, Washi Tape, Wrap Pack, Miscellany, 12x12 Shape Stickers, and Sprinklers) from the Woodland Park collection.

Let's start with the cover... here's the naked chipboard cover.

These are some stuff I used to cover the front.

This is what it looks like with all the pieces glued down.

Here's the cover after a coat of white gesso on top.

And then I misted the cover with Sprinklers using a circle stencil.

Added a little bit of watercolor here and there and a flashcard from the Miscellany pack

and a butterfly sticker from the 12x12 Shape Stickers sheet.

I reorganized the papers the and chapters to make the book suit my needs.

I painted around the printed butterfly on the first page with Twinkling H2O, cut up words and phrases from the strip in the Miscellany pack and glued them down toward the right edge of the diecut paper.

In the middle and left, I added some journaling with pen and markers.

I sketched some objects we found during our nature walks and colored them with watercolors and added some journaling. I punched holes along the left edge of a poem card from the Miscellany pack and used it as an additional page insert and journaled on the back of it.

I took a bunny diecut from the Miscellany pack and used it to embellish the facing page.

These Here & Now chapter books are real handy no matter what memories and observations you plan on documenting next. i hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and when you create with your Here & Now books, I hope you'll share in the OA Flickr Gallery.

Witch Hazel Stickers: Words, Labels, Alphabets...

Hi everyone, Mou here playing with a whole lotta stickers today!

I like to plan things visually...place things next to each other to get a clue. So, let's see...I love how the colorful word stickers look next to the cream and black label stickers! I'm thinking that they would add splashes of pretty colors to my layout.

Licorice Label Stickers and Witch Hazel Word Stickers

 

I don't think I want a big bold title on this one... maybe I'll use some of the alpha stickers, which if I place on the label stickers would look like a title block.

Pumpkin Mini Market Stickers and Ghoul Green Sticky Keys

 

I think it would be best to have a simple, light background for my plan to work. Let's use

Star Thistle 12x12 paper.

I'm trimming it down to 8.5"x11" and I want to keep the Haunted House at about the middle, so I'll be trimming some off each side of the paper.

I'm going to use a lot of the label stickers to almost frame my photo. I can go crazy with the labels because that's my main page element... I'll add my title, journaling, date, etc. on them. But I need to figure out how to arrange them. When in doubt, I cut out my stickers with scissors and move them around to see which arrangement I like best.

This is one option, but I think it might overpower my photo. I'll sleep on it and come back tomorrow morning.

I think walking away helped. This morning, it all fell in place. Here's the finished layout.

I used Pumpkin Mini Market Stickers on Licorice Label Stickers to create a title block.

And added the date...

 

Journaled...

 

And cut stickers up to embellish...

Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial! Share your creations with Witch Hazel sticker to the OA Flickr Group so we can all be inspired!

 

Monday Challenge {texture and depth}

Good Monday Morning! It's Becky here today with a very simple and straightforward challenge. Add some texture and depth to a layout. Many of you are already doing this, but I know there are some of you who probably haven't done this yet. Chipboard is the perfect way to add a little depth. Layering is another great way to add depth. I like to add texture by roughing up the edges of my papers, adding ribbon, stitching and sometimes a staple or two. 

The layout I made for today's challenge isn't radical, but you can see some texture and depth-

Danni joined me today for the challenge and I love her approach! She made a sample card without depth (chipboard)-

and with chipboard adding depth and dimension-

It does make a difference! 

We would love to see what you create using this challenge as a starting point, so please share with us on the OA Flickr Board. Thanks!

Stamps & Label Stickers with Michelle

Hi there, it's Michelle and I'm back today to share with you how to use Label Stickers, stamps and other October Afternoon embellishments to create fun accent pieces for cards,  scrapbook pages, and packaging.  I'll be using a Label Stickers sheet from the Midway collection and all of the other stamps and embellishments are from the Woodland Park collection.  

I started out by cutting my Labels Stickers sheet into three separate pieces to create 3 smaller sheets to work with.  I selected small bits and pieces from my collection of buttons, brads and small paper embellishments.  I also selected tiny stamps that would fit perfectly in the label shapes. 

My end result is a set of three label sheets that are stamped, layered with die cuts, tied buttons and brads.  These embellished label sheets can be used to create accents for cards, small journaling blocks for scrapbook pages and Project Life inserts or instant name tags to attach to wrapped gift boxes or bags.  

All you have to do to use a label is peel it off the sheet and stick it to whatever you want.  For the labels that have brads, I punched holes and attached the brads through the entire label sheet.  Simply remove the brad from the sheet, peel off the label and reattach the brad to the finished project.  

You can create flat labels by using stamps only.  If you want a dimensional look, add details like brads, stitching, tied buttons and pop dots to attach embellishments.  

This is a great way to use all the little tidbits and small items from your stash of October Afternoon goodies.  Here's a card and coordinating envelope that I created with one of my embellished labels.  I created my card base using Woodland Papers, a chipboard accent and Washi tape.  The postage stamp piece is stamped with images from the Woodland Park stamps.  I added some small staples to my embellished label and then added it as a finishing touch along with some baker's twine.  I love to create coordinating envelopes so I used Washi tape and more stamps on the front of the envelope.  Washi tape is great for envelopes because it stays adhered and is very flat for mailing.  

Hope you enjoy.  Please visit my blog to see how I created some unique packaging for my embellished labels.  These make perfect little gifts for crafty friends. Enjoy! 

Thursday Sketch: On the Diagonal

Happy Thursday! Vivian here with this week's sketch. Today's sketch adds a bit of fun to a clean-lined design with several strong diagonals.

I shared my sketch with Roree, who had this to say, "When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of sun rays, so that is the direction I went with it."

Roree created her fun card by combining products from all of the following lines: Midway, Woodland Park, Sidewalks, Thrift Shop, and Farm Fresh. I love the combination of all of the different yellow patterns on Roree's card and her gorgeous three-dimensional flower embellishments. Let's get a closer look:

I used the new Witch Hazel line to create a layout using the sketch:

My title combines black letter stickers from the Witch Hazel Mix-Up 12 X 12 Alpha Stickers with letters created by using the "Today" Here & Now Book cover as a stencil with the Swivel Chair Sprinkler from the 9 to 5 line.

If you create anything with this sketch we'd love to see it! Please be sure to post your work in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery.

WINNER! Midway Blog Hop!

Hello OA fans! Today we are announcing the winner from last week's Midway Blog Hop! Thank you so much to everyone who commented with such wonderful reviews of Midway! We're so excited that you love it as much as we do! Without further delay, the winner of our Midway Collection Kit Grand Prize is.....

Congratulations, Donna!! Please send your shipping information to staff (@) octoberafternoon.com within 30 days and we'll get your collection kit out to you soon!

And don't forget to check out the Design Team's blogs as most have announced their winners as well.

Thanks so much everyone! Have a wonderful day!

Tuesday Tutorial: Grids

Hey everyone!  Roree here.  It's Tuesday, so that means tutorial time!

Grids are really popular right now, so I thought I would walk you through putting one together. Since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to play with the new Witch Hazel collection.

If you tend to have a lot of scraps lying around like I do, creating a grid background will help you get them off your scrap table and put them to good use. 

To start, cut out a base for the grid background from white cardstock or a coordinating paper and some of patterned paper squares to fill it in. (Since I was creating a pumpkin card, I chose different orange patterned papers. I cut my paper in 1/2" squares, but any size will work.)

Draw a line down the center of the base to keep everything straight.

Adhere your patterned paper (alternating the patterns) along that line, and then use that first row as a guide for the rest.

Here is what it will look like once you are finished.

Flip the panel over and trim off the excess paper.

Machine sew down each row and column and around the outside edge(s), if desired.

Adhere your grid panel to your card and embellish to finish.

This type of background adds a fun, handcrafted feel to any type of card.

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

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Monday Challenge | Double Take Photos

Hi there OA fans! It's Amy here today with your Monday Challenge.

Have you ever taken photos from an event that turned out really fun, but if you didn't already know what they were about, you'd look at them and say, "What is that?" Or if an image that makes you do a double take? Maybe they are images of abstract art, sculptures, or maybe even of nature that are very alien looking? If so, this challenge is for you. 

This past week I told our kids that we would have a "Glow Party" after a great week of school. So Friday night that is what we did. We had tons of glow sticks and at night went down in our basement and had lots of fun twirling, spinning, and just plain having fun with the glow sticks. Trouble was, none of the photos of the kids really turned out, but all the photos of the glow sticks turned out really neat. So I thought this would be a great idea for a challenge. 

For my page, Witch Hazel was the perfect fit. Because in addition to the traditional Halloween colors, there's the deep midnight blue and fun glowing green I was able to use them for my glow party page. 

I really love how the blacks, green and blues play into my images and help tell the story of the dark.

So, what do you think? Do you have some photos that would fit this challenge? If you do, we'd love to see your take on the challenge! Simply upload your creations to our Flickr gallery for everyone to enjoy.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!