October Afternoon

Thursday Sketch: Simple Cards

Hey guys!  This is Laura here with today's sketch, and this time I made a rather simple card sketch, but it would work great as a simple layout sketch too if you feel creative! :)

 

The first card I made with the sketch is a perfect boy card.  Which makes sense since I used the Daily Flash mini line All Boy.  I think the anchor & star paper is just the cutest ever!  While I love using the products in the Daily Flash lines for pocket scrapbooking, they are also the perfect size for cardmaking, especially for the great sentiments!

Then I made this cheery card with the Daily Flash mini line Summertime.  I paired it with some beautiful buttons from Travel Girl, and a label sticker I cut in half to use both sides from Farm Girl.  I swapped the sides that the label stickers were on, but kept the senitment on the same side.  The great thing about sketches is that they are starting points and once you get going it's totally okay to run with your imagination.

 

And today Mou played along and made this super cute card! 

Here is what she had to say :)

"I loved the simplicity of Laura's sketch and that it could be interpreted in so many ways. I did a back-to-school card to wish good luck to my son who starts a new grade in a new school this week. I used Story Time paper from the Public Library collection along with the Librarian red chevron paper as his school color is red. I cut up sections from the Back to School paper to dress up the card a bit and added my handwritten sentiment. Then of course, I had to splatter  bits of October Afternoon Sprinklers to finish. 

Well that's it for today, I hope you guys feel inspired to use my sketch and if you do please share your creations in the October Afternoon Flickr Gallery!  I'd love to see them :)

Thanks for stopping by!

-Laura :)

Tuesday Tutorial: Jewelry

Hey y'all, Mandy here today with this weeks tutorial. 

Today we are jumping outside the box with this fun tutorial on how to create custom jewelry with your favorite October Afternoon papers.

My girls turned into bookworms this summer. As I started flipping thru the Public Library papers it inspired me to create a custom jewelry piece for each of my girls to wear as they head back to school in a couple weeks. I thought wearing these would make them smile and remember the fun adventures they had with the characters in their favorite books.  

First I gathered the supplies I used: leftover papers from the Public Library collection, beads, Epiphany Crafts shape studio, charms, & epoxy, necklace, bracelet pieces, adhesive, jump rings, and tools. 

***There are other ways to get this look without purchasing the tools I used but they save me time and are really easy to use. 

I thought I was going to use the large circle and squares to make the jewelry but ended up adding the small circle too as you'll see below.

 

BEADED BRACELET

After deciding which size and shape you want to use insert the paper into the shape studio, put the epoxy bubble in the slot, close top, push down.  Repeat 

***I realized after I had everything done that I only took the photo of this step using the square punch. oops

Once you have all you epoxy pieces created it's time to adhere them to the charms.I use glue dots but you can use your favorite adhesive. 

attach your charms to the bracelet with jump rings. 

Sometimes I will buy cheap beaded bracelets for the $ store and add these custom epoxy shapes and charms to give a personalized touch, plus it saves me time if I don't feel like stringing beads and adding extra steps. 

 

NECKLACE

Again insert the paper into the shape studio, close top, push down.

Adhere paper to charm to give a backdrop for your tin pin.

Adhere an OA tin pin to the paper on the charm

To add a bead to your charm insert a jewelry wire in the bead then loop both ends. attach to the necklace chain and charm with jump rings.

 

BRACELET

The chain for this bracelet is actually a necklace doubles up. You can find these at your local craft store. 

After deciding which size and shape you want to use insert the paper into the shape studio, put the epoxy bubble in the slot, close top, push down.  Repeat 

You'll get something like this. 

 Once you have all you epoxy pieces created it's time to adhere them to the charms.

Again insert the paper into the circle shape studio, close top, push down.

Adhere paper to charm to give a backdrop for your tin pin.

Adhere tin pin to the charm.

attach your charms to the bracelet with jump rings. 

 

Fun, simple, and easy to create with your favorite October Afternoon papers. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you decide to give this technique a try, upload your projects to our OA Flickr Gallery. We would love to see you projects using collages. Thanks for visiting with us today!

 

Monday Challenge | Scrapping Your Social Media

Good Monday morning everyone! It's Amy here today with a fun challenge that I've been wanting to do for some time; documenting your social media usage!

Most of us these days uses one, if not many avenues of social media, to keep in touch with friends, family, blog followers, colleagues and the such. So why not document what you are active using right now, since as we all know, technology advances so quickly that tomorrow one or more of these avenues may be obsolete! Won't it be fun to look back on these and say "Oh, my goodness, do you remember using THAT?!"
For my page I used the new collection, Daily Flash, Snapshots, to document, my most used social media. I loved using the "seriously?" tin pin on my title, since in real life I'm pretty introverted when it comes to socializing, so having that bit of sarcasm in there made me smile! :)

For my social media icons, I created a cut file for my silhouette using readily available free social media icons that I found online. If you'd like the cut file I created, I am giving it away on my blog today here.

I asked Vivian to join me in today's challenge. Here's a look at her awesome page:

Here's what Vivian had to say about her project:

I loved Amy's idea for today's challenge! Facebook is my go-to social media platform but I had never documented my use of it on a layout before. I pulled up the Facebook app on my iPhone and, as I scrolled through some recent posts, took screenshots of a variety of status updates and wall posts. (If you don't know how to take a screenshot on an iPhone, push the power and home buttons simultaneously. The image will then appear in your camera roll.) I printed the screenshots out and trimmed them, arranging them in a layered collage across my page, embellishing across the top with Daily Flash paper and embellishments. I printed my journaling on more Daily Flash paper and then ran it through my Silhouette, cutting my title with this free font: http://www.fonts2u.com/facebookletterfaces.font. One more tin pin and...social media, documented!

Thank you so much, Vivian! This is a fantastic page and a brilliant way to document your activity on Facebook!

If you'd like to play along with this week's challenge,  we hope you'll share your projects in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery for us all to see! We hope you enjoyed it!

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

'A Day in the Sun' with Heather Leopard

Hi everyone! Heather Leopard <http://thespottedleopard.blogspot.com/> here and I'm so excited to be spending the entire month of August working with October Afternoon. They've always been an absolute favorite of mine so designing for them is a DREAM!

I received an incredible package of Daily Flash goodies to create with and immediately got to work planning out projects. Everything from layouts to Project Life-style pages to an altered item or two - I was ready to go! I thought I'd kick this off by showing how versatile the Daily Flash
collection can be by creating a 12x12 layout.

A Day in the Sun


Something kept pulling me back to the Summertime collection, specifically the Sunshine paper.  I started with that as my initial inspiration and everything fell into place to create this layout about my youngest daughter posing by the art on the Galveston Seawall after a day at the beach.




Machine stitching makes it's appearance in oh, probably 90% of my projects and this one was no exception. I just couldn't resist accentuating the gorgeous sun rays with a few stitches here and there. I purposely trimmed the Sunshine paper down and adhered it to the white background. I then chose white stitching so that I could extend the rays subtlely onto the
white background.



After placing my photo on the page, the Memory Cards and Flash Blurbs were calling out to be used. I shuffled them around a bit and quickly realized that the photo and the cards just weren't popping off the rays. So, I used a strip from the B side of the paper, added in the Blue Skies paper and then added the cards back in until they fell into just the right places. I
added a bit of layering, a splash of embellishments and voila!, the layout really started coming together.



I made a little pocket for the "Summertime" Snap Caps card to peek out and added some hidden journaling. I purposely didn't add a title because I think the various cards do an excellent job on their own. It could be anything from Best Summer Ever, Dog Days of Summer, A Day In The Sun or any other fantastic summertime sentiments you see on the page.

I hope you enjoy this layout as much as I loved creating it! I'll be back again next Friday with more Daily Flash goodness. In the meantime, post any questions or comments below or visit my
blog<http://thespottedleopard.blogspot.com/> for more inspiration.

Supplies: Daily Flash Summertime collection: PP-1169 - Sunshine 12x12 paper, PP-1167 - Blue Skies 12x12 paper, DC-1172 - Memory Cards, PP-1165 - 6x8 Paper Pack, DC-1170 - Snap Caps, DC-1171 - Flash Blurbs, EM-1133 - Tin Pins

 

♥ Sketchy Thursday--Can you hear the music? ♥

Good morning everyone! 

Danni and Alex here with you today to share this week's sketch and our layout interpretations of the sketch.  This week, I wanted to create a sketch that would allow me to get creative with these pictures of my daughter and her Ipod.  She has spent a lot of time listening to her music this summer and I thought I would ask her some of her faves to go along with these pics.  Here is the sketch I came up with to help create my layout of her and her music.

 

 

And here is my layout interpretation of the sketch. 

 

Music, Music, Music layout by Danni Reid

 

 

 

 

And here is Alex's gorgeous interpretation of the sketch

That's My Boy layout by Alex Gadji  

 

 

And here's what Alex had to say in her own words:

"I've been a fan of Danni's work for so many years now. I was so excited to work with her and her awesome sketch. The second I saw it, I knew what I wanted to do. This picture of my son discovering and playing with his hands, has been lying around for months waiting for the right papers. The perfect papers turned out to be from the Daily Flash All Boy line. I love all the bits and pieces that come with every Daily Flash mini collection. They are so fun to work with! And do I need to tell you how much I love all the new tin pins? They are my favorites! 

I hope that you can see the sketch in my layout. I used only one photo and replaced the other one with one of the memory cards. I also replaced the music symbols with stars which I drew using sketch pens and my Cameo. I had a blast making this one! Thank you Danni for this fun sketch!"

We'd love to see your interpretation of this week's sketch too. We hope you'll share your projects in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery! 

Thank you for joining us today!

Happy Creating♥

Danni and Alex

 

Introducing August Guest Designer Heather Leopard

Please join us in welcoming our guest designer for August: Heather Leopard! Below you can learn a bit about Heather and see her first project!

Heather has been scrapbooking since kindergarten if you consider cutting shapes out of construction paper and gluing them together. Kidding aside, she has enjoyed capturing and documenting memories as far back as she can remember but it was the birth of her children that really reignited her passion for scrapbooking. Her strong desire to capture her family's everyday stories is what drives her creativity.

Heather considers her style to be eclectic a.k.a random, going where the pictures, paper and embellishments take her but you will no doubtedly see lots of patterns, layering and color in her designs.

Heather is currently the design team leader for Lily Bee Design and designs for American Crafts, Little Yellow Bicycle and Gossamer Blue kit club.

Heather’s work has been published in Scrapbook Trends, Creating Keepsakes magazines and Creating Keepsakes Special Edition publications.

She lives in Cypress, TX with her amazing husband, two beautiful daughters (9 and 4 years) and her bonus son (16 years).

You can see more of Heather’s work online at http://thespottedleopard.blogspot.com/

Social:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/heatherleopard#

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/heatherleopard/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/heatherleopard

Are you a layout person, a card person ... or both? I have to admit, I’m mainly a layout gal. I love how much space I have on a page to re-create my family’s story about a particular moment in time.  That said, I’ve been known to create a few cards for the special people in my life and/or when the inspiration strikes.

What is on your scrap desk right now? I answer that by asking, what’s not on my scrap desk?  I have my favorite set of tried and true tools and supplies (like mists, tiny stapler, punches, foam dots and the like) and I like to keep them right at my fingertips so, it fills up my scrap desk.  And of course, there’s a fantastic assortment of October Afternoon goodies right beside me that are ready to jump onto a page. I also usually have a sweet tea or Big Red drink too!

What is your favorite October Afternoon line or product ... and why? I’ve always been a sucker for the Mini Market Stickers but I’m also loving the label stickers, Doo-dads and tidbit from the latest collections. They are so great for layering. The new Daily Flash products are a ton of fun too.

What can you NOT scrapbook without? My TV or iPad, sketchbook, sewing machine, bit and pieces for layering and my jumbo 13x18”paper.  I assemble my projects on it and test things out prior to adding it on my layouts so it’s full of all my journaling, stamping, mist/paint colors, doodling and more.

What is your favorite source of inspiration? The photos and collections I am working with provide most of my inspiration but I see inspiration everywhere, every day, from store displays to something I visualize while reading a book with my girls to a commercial/magazine ad, and even music.  I also turn to Pinterest quite a bit to create mood boards and get a dose of creativity.

What is your favorite movie, TV show or book? Movies: It seems the only movies I see these days are animated but I love the typical 80’s classics and modern comedies/action flicks. TV: I love reality TV, from cooking shows to music and dating shows but my must see TV would be Criminal Minds, Mad Men, Dexter and now Homeland. Books: I love a good mystery but lately I’ve been reading a lot of chick lit from authors like Sophie Kinsella and Emily Giffin.

What is your favorite food? DefinitelyTex-Mex and in particular, Puffy Tacos. Yummy!

Besides scrapbooking and papercrafts, what do you do for hobbies or enjoying during your "free" time? Of course, anything that involves my kids – the park, zoo, reading, dancing, local festivities, whatever we’re in the mood for. I love watching them experience new things in life. My hubby and I are also avid scuba divers. It’s so peaceful when you’re underwater when all you have are your thoughts and the sea life around you. I’ve seen many an exciting creature below sea level including beautiful coral and fish, turtles, rays, eels, sharks and more.

If you were a superhero, what power would you possess and why? Aside from trying to be Super Mom every day, I’d probably want to be able to go back and forth in time and freeze it. There are so many moments, big and small, that I’d love to experience and savor all over again. Plus, imagine how much scrapping (and other things) I could get done if I could freeze time for everyone but me. J

If you could have dinner with anyone, living or deceased, who would it be and why? My grandparents and uncle, who are deceased, along with my hubby, kiddos and the rest of my family, so they could meet, share stories and bond. I talk to my kids about these special people in my life but it would be so amazing for them to all experience their awesomeness.

---

We are so excited Heather is joining us. Look for Heather's work on each Friday this month. Here is a taste of what she will be sharing:

Don't you love what she did with Travel Girl. Give a shout if you are looking forward to more from Heather!

 

Monday Challenge: What's Your Number?

Each Monday, we all look forward to a challenge here on the October Afternoon blog. Today's challenge is a bit of a mixed bag. There are nine possible challenges! 

Start by finding the number that corresponds with the first letter in your first name. 

If your number is ten or higher, then add the two numerals together until you arrive at a single digit.  For instance:  Jill --> 10 --> 1 + 0 --> 1.  

Based on the single-digit number, locate your challenge below, and have at it! 

Since my number is one, I created a layout that includes a bold streak of bright yellow mist across the page as well as some busy triangle patterned paper. 

I am crazy about the bright colors and fun patterns in the Daily Flash line, including those in the Girl Talk and All Boy collections. I also worked in a few tin pins from the "Good to Go" tin pin pack and the upcoming back-to-school line, as well as some Travel Girl tape. 

Roree joined me for this week's challenge.  Her number was nine (R --> 18 --> 1+8 --> 9), which means that she was tasked with incorporating a 3 x 3 grid on a project. I am amazed at how she worked the grid into this card! 

Here's what Roree had to say about her innovative take on the challenge: 

What a fun challenge! The number that corresponded with the first letter of my name totaled up to 9, so my challenge was to use a 3 x 3 grid with a total of nine items. I just love the new Girl Talk mini collection, so I knew I wanted to use it for my project. To start, I cut a piece of white cardstock and added nine gray polka dot patterned paper squares to it. I stitched along each row and column. I then adhered an owl die cut over0 the grid and trimmed off the excess (which I added behind the ears of the die cut). I added more die cut layers, some Travel Girl buttons and heart sticker, a Daily Flash "Good to Go" tin pin, and a bow to finish. The grid isn't really the focus of my project, but it makes a beautiful accent for my shaped card.

Beautifully done, Roree! 

So are you ready to try your hand at this week's "wild card" challenge?  I'd love to see them! Be sure to share your projects in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery! 

Thursday Sketch: Shapes in a Grid

Lately, I (Vivian), have tended to create layouts with smaller photos and lots of embellishments. With those tendencies in mind, I created a sketch that combines smaller circles, squares and rectangles in a grid-like pattern:

 

The idea here is that you can interpret the shapes any way you want. A rectangle or a square might be a patterned paper block or a photo or a space for journaling. A circle might be a Tin Pin or another type of circular embellishment or could be a punched photo or a sticker with journaling. You get the idea. The sky's the limit here!

Here's my take on the sketch, using a lot of Daily Flash (mostly Snapshots with a little bit of the general Daily Flash and Summertime thrown in):

Although I stayed fairly true to the sketch, I did adapt it a bit as I created my layout. The rectangle at the lower right became longer and took over both its own space and the space intended for one of the circles. I shifted the top rectangle one row to the right to create symmetry and to make space for one of the two words in my two-part title. I added a rectangle of black cardstock behind the grid to make the elements pop. There was a little bit of space below my top journaling block so I stuck the "snap" Flash Blurb to fill in there. I interpreted some of the circles as Tin Pins and others as hearts punched from patterned paper and adhered with foam dots for added dimension.

Mandy joined me in creating from today's sketch. Here's what she had to say: "When I first saw Vivian's sketch I loved it! The straight lines and circles yep totally up my alley. I did go with 8.5x11 layout this time.  At first I thought I would use pattern paper and photos for the circles and squares but took it a different direction when I saw the Travel Girl Tidbits laying on my desk. I shrunk the sketch down to fit my layout and added layers, vellum, and embossing. In the end my layout turned out sort of like I planned but also a little outside my box too."

I love how Mandy adapted the sketch for her layout, including using the shapes in the grid as the background behind her photos...on top of another grid. Let's take a closer look:

So...what will you do with this sketch? We'd love to see your work, so be sure to post it to our October Afternoon Flickr gallery!

Happy creating!

Tuesday Tutorial: Design Your Own Patterned Paper with Stamps

Hi everyone, Mou here with today's tutorial!

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I love the stamp sets that come with each October Afternoon collection. Not only do they give me the perfect embellishments for a layout, but they also help me design my very own patterned paper backgrounds very easily.Take a look at this layout, for example

Let me show you what I did in steps.

First of all, I marked off the area where I am going to add a patterned paper block.

I used watercolors to add some colors to my white cardstock working in small sections.

For this layout, I chose Travel Girl See The World rubber stamp set and Travel Girl Clear Stamp set.

When I stamp to create backgrounds like this, I'm not worried about getting the images absolutely perfectly.

Next, I added splatters using my October Afternoon Sprinklers. Take the cap off and gently flick the colors onto the page.

After this, I added a piece of Travel Girl Guide Book paper on the page and stitched it in place.

Now for this layout, the pattern seemed too busy so I muted it down with white paint.

Once the paint dried, I added my photo, journaling, and embellishments. Here's a close-up shot.

Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and will use your October Afternoon stamps to create some patterned papers of your own. Please do share your creation on the October Afternoon Flickr Gallery.

Public Library Projects

We are back with more Public Library projects to get you excited!

Danni Reid - Public Library bookmark

Danni Reid - Friends card

 

Danni Reid - Hello Friend card

 

Danni Reid - Hello There card

 

Danni Reid - Oh The Places You'll Go layout

 

Jill Sprott - Read This card

 

Alex Gadji - Counting Days card