October Afternoon

Thursday Sketch

Happy Halloween, everyone!  Roree here with today's Thursday Sketch Challenge.

I created this sketch while playing around in Photoshop:

I started with a square format—perfect for a layout or a card.

Here is what I came up with:

Instead of going with a square card, I went with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card. I covered the Bonfire patterned paper from the Apple Cider collection. I ran strips from 6 x 8" Paper Pack and Hayride along the top, and then I layered Snap Caps in the middle and added a patterned paper heart, a Designer Brad, and a couple of Buttons in place of the photos. I added a scalloped strip of Dictation patterned paper from the 9 to 5 collection and a white twill ribbon bow to the center.

I finished the card with some Snap Cap sentiments and a few pearls in place of the journaling.

Nicole played along with my sketch this week, and she created this amazing layout using the new Silent Night collection:

 

Nicole used the sketch as a guide but added her own unique touches to make the layout work for her. Don't you just love it?!

I hope you enjoyed today's sketch and the samples Nicole and I created using it. If you get a chance to play along, don't forget to post your project in the OA Flickr group.  We can't wait to see how you interpret it.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

♥ Halloween Tutorial--Out of Treats Sign ♥

Good morning.  Danni here with you today to share a quick and easy tutorial to create an "Out of Treats" sign for your front door or stuffed animal this Halloween.  Here's the one we created for our door this year, although, I may just prop teddy out this year...wink

 

So let's get started

 

 

 

 

 

We'd love to see what you come up with.  If you create one for your house this year, please share in our FLICKR gallery

 

happy, spooky creating♥

danni

Monday Challenge: Using Holiday Products on Non-Holiday Projects

Although I am already looking forward to creating Christmas-themed projects this year, it's not time for that just yet. Halloween is still ahead, after all, and there is also Gravy Time -- I mean, Thanksgiving -- to celebrate before the December holidays begin. Still, how can I resist working with the new Silent Night collection from October Afternoon?  Perhaps the better question is, why resist?  

This week's challenge is to use holiday-themed products on a non-holilday project. Alex and I discovered that it really is possible to use the Silent Night collection on layouts and cards that have nothing to do with the holidays! 

For instance, check out the card that Alex made with the line: 

Here's what she had to say about this super cute and colorful creation:

One of the things I love with all October Afternoon collections is how versatile they are. Silent Night is no exception. For Jill's challenge I wanted to make a non-Christmasy card using this gorgeous Christmas collection. The "JOY"'banner from the shape stickers sheet caught my eye and I knew I had to play with it. I removed the "J" and left was "YO!" - the perfect sentiment for a card, don't you think? :-) Besides shape stickers, I have used B-sides from the 8x8 pad, cute journaling card with the owl (I loooove owls!!), a piece of a border sticker, a sew banner, a tidbit and an exclamation mark from the alpha stickers sheet. A lot of bits and pieces, but that's what makes me love this hobby! I am not really a card maker, but every time I make one I wish I was doing it more often. It's so much fun! Thanks, Jill, for this fun challenge!

Alex's card definitely serves as proof of the versatility of the Silent Night collection. So many of the B-sides of the papers can work on projects focusing on a variety of non-holiday themes.  

In fact, I incorporated the papers above (and a few more) on a layout about my recent trip to Voodoo Doughtnut in Portland, Oregon.  

Who knew that papers such as "Let It Snow," "Midnight Clear," and "O Christmas Tree" would be at home on a non-holiday layout? I even worked in accents that are equally at home on this page as they would be on a holiday project. I used some Silent Night Chip 'n Stick stars, stickers, brads, Tidbits, and letters. 

The layout is actually a two-pager. I added the cover from a box of these legendary doughtnuts to the first page, along with some journaling: 

Now it's your turn!  If you're up for a challenge, use holiday products on a non-holiday card or layout, and be sure to share it in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery! Have fun! 

-- Jill 

Guest Designer Linda Barber - Dear Thanksgiving

Hello, October Afternoon friends! It's me, Linda Barber, here for one last time. I've had such a fun month working with the new OA products and hanging out here on the blog. 
Today's project is all about Thanksgiving. And food. Of course. I used Daily Flash Apple Cider and a little bit of Travel Girl.

I started by sizing and printing all my photos in a 8" x 11" sheet of matte photo paper. I love the look of matte photos. I also printed the journaling on the same sheet. What I love about doing this is that it eliminates the step of arranging little square of photos in a grid. Such an awesome time saver!

Then I added the pattern squares cut out of a  sheet from the 6x8 Paper Pack. For the title, I used Daily Flash Snap Peas Flash Alpha. Such a fun font!

I stitched with a bit of pink thread underneath, since there is so much pink in the Apple Cider line, which I love. It's such a fun addition to the usual orange, yellow and brown of Fall paper lines. 

 I made two little banners using another sheet from the 6x8 pack, and topped it off with a button from Travel Girl. The grey arrow and little hearts are also from Travel Girl.

Thanks for visiting me here all month long! Hope you have a great weekend!

Thursday Sketch: Two Squares, Four Circles

This week's sketch is a simple design comprised of two large layered squares with four circular elements added to help create flow:

A strip across the center makes room for four photos, with a title above and to the left and journaling below and to the right.

I (Vivian) used the brand-new Silent Night collection for my layout, with a bit of a twist: I used it to create a Hanukkah layout.

I am always on the lookout for holiday lines that can be used for Hanukkah and everyday projects and Silent Night fits that bill. The two patterned papers I used here provide a muted, wintry backdrop for my black and white photos. I further embellished the smaller square of patterned paper, printing my journaling directly on it and adding Stars of David die cut from black cardstock and some of the smaller brads from the Silent Night brad set. Three Silent Night tin pins combine with a Daily Flash tin pin for the circular elements on the layout.

Here's a closer look at the top of the layout:

Laura joined me for today's sketch challenge and created this beautiful card with Silent Night:

Laura had this to say about the sketch and her card: "I thought Vivian's sketch was awesome and I knew it would translate well to a card too. I pulled out my new Silent Night goodies and put them to work. The new stamps are some of my most favorite ones ever! So I decided to use them, and stamp my card's sentiment. Then I added a little bit of glitter glue to make it stand out even more."

Here's a closer look at Laura's card:

We're looking forward to seeing what you create with this sketch, whether it be with Silent Night or other October Afternoon lines. Be sure to post your projects to our October Afternoon Flickr gallery so that we can see!

  

Halloween Mantel Banner with Witch Hazel

Hi everyone! It's Amy here today with a fun tutorial on how to make a great mantel banner for Halloween using Witch Hazel. To get started you will need:

-Paper Trimmer
-Adhesive, dry and fabric/craft (optional) 
- Ruler
- Exacto Knife
- Scissors
- Ribbon
- Brads 
- Burlap - Ribbon or just cut pieces 
-  October Afternoon Witch Hazel Papers, Buttons, Chipboard, Stickers, Brads, Chip Shapes, and anything else you'd like to use
- Sewing Machine (optional)
- Cutting Maching (optional)
- Carstock 

The first thing we are going to do is decide what our banner will say, if anything at all. I chose mine to say "Halloween" so I knew I needed 9 bases for my banner pieces. When I was creating this project, my Silhouette blade decided to break, so I had to create my bases manually, but you can certainly use your die cutting machine to create the same thing, more quickly.

I decided that my bases would start with a 5x7" rectangle. I cut a variety of patterns in black and white from Witch Hazel and laid them out once I got all 9 pieces trimmed with my trimmer. This way, I new what order I wanted them to hang when completed and I kept them in the same order, stacked during my entire project, so I wouldn't lose my pattern. 

Next up I decided that I wanted a double-pointed flag for each of my banner pieces. I found my center point (2.5") of my base and measured up 2" from that center point. This will now be the center point for the apex of my triangel that we are going to trim out of the bottom of the base.

Using your ruler and exacto knife, carefully cut from the center point that we just measured, and cut down to each of the corner edges of the rectangle. This will create a perfectly centered triangle from your banner base piece.

Continue to cut all of the 8 remaining pieces. Now, go through your papers and match them up with a coordinating, but opposite contrasted paper. For instace here my background paper is lighter in tone, so my next layer of paper is a deeper tone -creating nice contrast between the papers. Once you have decided which papers you want to match up with your background base pieces, trim rectangles that measure 4" x 4.5". It is a rectangle that is just slightly longer, vertically. Match up all of your banner bases with their coordinating second layer. Adhere that piece, centered on your banner background.Next up we are going to layer our burlap. I had this burlap ribbon that was pre-cut to 2.75" wide. If you only have burlap sack material, you can certainly just cut those into strips. I did not measure the length of my burlap, I simply trimmed each piece to slightly over the top of my banner and then slightly longer than the apex of the trimmed out triangle from my base. Then I (once I went out and was able to get a new blade for my silhouette) I used my silhouette to create the letters for my banner using the "Lincoln" font and cardstock.Each letter measures just under 4.5" high. Here is where you would adhere your burlap and letters with fabric glue, if that is the route that you'd like to take. Because I can't create a project without sewing, I stitched on my burlap and letters along with adding a zig zag stitch around the perimeter of my rectangular paper and a straight stitch around the perimeter of each background flag.

The last piece of construction involved punching holes, 1 in each top corner, in the background flag, making sure they are placed far enough from the edge that they won't tear under the strain of holding the weight of much of the rest of the banner. I used another burlap ribbon for this portion, but again, any ribbon will do. 

Once you have punched all of your holes, use your brads to hold your ribbon in place. Using brads stabilizes your banner, still allowing for the movement necessary to create a nuce curve when hanging. 

For my ribbons in between each banner flag, I spaced the ribbons about 2.5"-3" apart. I also cut my ribbon into segments only a bit longer from this spacing, to save ribbon. I taped down the fray of the ribbon on the back to add more security to the piece. Once the whole thing is pieced together with the ribbons and brads, hang it up to see how the whole thing looks and fits.It certainly looks great already! I definitely could have left it just like this and been happy. However, I wanted to add some fun embellishments to add dimension and interest, especially for my kids' entertainment! ;) By hanging up my piece (or setting it out on the floor) it makes it easier to see just where you'd like to begin adding the fun details!I used digital cut files, chipboard that I sprayed with SprINKlers, chip buttons, plastic buttons, brads and more burlap twine.Here's a look at some of the final details for my banner. 

I hope you enjoyed learning how to create a fun banner for Halloween! Witch Hazel is one of my favorite OA lines ever and is just perfect for a banner like this and I know we will enjoy this in our home for years to come!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful day! :) ~Amy

Monday Challenge: Frame It

Hi, OA fans! It's Mandy bringing you this weeks Monday challenge. This week I'm challenging you to frame it. Scrolling below to the examples that Roree and I created to share with you today you'll see that this challenge can be interpreted in many different ways: layouts with frames, altered art, cards etc. 

It's no secret that I love frames I have them scattered throughout my home and I am always incorporating frames into my scrapbook designs. When I sat down to create I knew I would be making a layout with the new Apple Cider collection.

 Don't worry it's not your eyes this layout is a little angled with wonky frames and layers. I thought the memory cards, snap caps, and flash blurbs would be great cut up into frames and they did indeed turn out just how I wanted. I love the fall colors in the Apple Cider line and it worked perfectly with some recently snapped photos. 

The very talented Roree played along with this weeks and made this adorable frame, here is what she had to say.

"When Mandy suggested that we do a frame challenge, I was all for it! Instead of creating a traditional rectangular or square frame though, I thought a shape would be fun. Since I just received my daughter's school picture a few days ago, I thought it would be perfect for a school-theme frame. With a picture and a theme in mind, I got out the Milk Money collection and got to work. I cut out an apple from the Reading and Spelling patterned papers, added a little machine stitching, and then layered a doily, a couple of Memory Cards, my photo, some dotted ribbon, and a Flash Blurb on the apple shape. I added a Button and Designer Brad from the 9 to 5 collection to finish. I plan on adding some magnets to the back of my frame and giving it a prime spot on my refrigerator for everyone to see."

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you feel inspired to create a frame project!  If you do please share them in the October Afternoon Flickr Gallery.

Have a happy Monday, and a great week!

Guest Designer Linda Barber is back with more projects!

Hello, October Afternoon friends! I can't believe another week has gone by. But I'm happy it's Friday, because it means I get to be here with you. My name is Linda Barber, and I'm the guest designer this month.

Today, I created two quick cards to share with you. By using matching items from the October Afternoon lines, you can whip up cards in minutes.

The first one, I created using Daily Flash Milk Money. Love love love this line. For the base of the card, I used the test paper pattern (Social Studies).  Both the lined paper and fox square are from the 6" x 8" Paper Pack. Actually, so is the pencil. I just cut one pencil out of the multiple pencil pattern. 

The A+ is from Snap Caps, and the little ribbon tails were made using, again, a bit of patterned paper from the 6" x 8" pack. 

The alphas are from Daily Flash Orange Soda. I adore that font, and the size is perfect for spelling out longer sentences and titles. I finished it up with a few little staples. Easy peasy!

My second card uses Travel Girl. The background is the Plane Ticket patterned paper. The "Let's Go" card is from Miscellany pack, as well as the button and ribbon. The banners are from the Sew Fun Banners set. I glued those to the back of the card, and then sewed across the top.

The ribbon runs through the middle of the card. I made a little slit using a craft knife, and threaded the ribbon through. I like doing this because the inside looks as neat as the outside. Not tape is necessary to hold the ribbon inside.

I thought this card would be perfect to ask a friend to go on an adventure together! Who wouldn't want to get this invite? 

Thanks for visiting the October Afternoon blog today. I'll be seeing you next Friday for my last guest project. Have a great weekend!

♥Sketchy Thursday♥

Good morning, Danni here with you today to share a new sketch and inspiration from myself and Mou.  I created a card sketch and we had fun with the new Daily Flash Apple Cider line

 

Here is the sketch created for today's post

 

 

And here is the card I created using the sketch

 

 

I love, love, love this line, it makes me happy!  Fall is my favorite time of year and this line could NOT be more perfect for everything/occasion fall-themed.

 

 

Here is Mou's amazing take on the sketch, also using the Apple Cider DF line

 

how gorgeous!

and here's what Mou had to say in her own words:

 "I loved the simplicity of Danni's sketch and that it lets you interpret it your way. I decided to go with the warm autumn colors of the Daily Flash mini collection Apple Cider. The cute Tin Pins worked well for my embellishments and I added handwritten sentiment to the back of an arrow Snap Cap from the Snapshots collection. A little stitching and some pop dots later, my card was ready."

 

We hope we've inspired you to give this week's sketch a try, whether a card, tag or project life insert, we'd love to see your take on it in our OA Flickr Gallery

Thanks for joining us today!

Danni and Mou

Her Freshman Year with Milk Money

Hi OA fans...Nicole here, and I am sharing my love for the Milk Money mini collection from the Daily Flash line. School themed products don't always catch my eye, but there are so many things to love in this line that I had to pair it with pics of my daughter's first day as a freshman in high school. I LOVE that this line has phrases + themes that fit perfectly for folks that have older students...they did an amazing job mixing it up!!

I decided to focus on using the 'mini' elements for this layout: the Tin Pins, Memory Cards, Snap Caps and Flash Bulbs. Other than the red piece of numbered paper I used as the background (how could I resist a sheet of paper that featured her school colors AND the number '9', which I highlighted by doodling around it?!), every element you see here is from one of the items mentioned. These little die cuts and images were made for layering, and came together so easily!

All I needed were a few pop dots to add some dimension + the brand new washi tapes to cluster everything together. I rounded all of my corners throughout the layout, just to make it look a bit more 'finished'.

I mean honestly...word bubbles with the class subjects in them + a 'teacher's pet' flag?! Had to use them, no doubt about it.

The only subject that I couldn't find in my pile of tidbits was a reference to Spanish class...other than that, this layout sums up her start to freshman year perfectly.
:)