October Afternoon

Year in Review | Daily Flash 12", 3x3" Page Protectors

Hi everyone and Happy New Year's Eve! It's Amy here today with a fun  "Year in Review" project using October Afternoon's 12x12" 3x3" Daily Flash divided page protectors. With it's 16 divided squares, this page protector is the perfect vehicle for creating a Year in Review layout.

The way I started my page was deciding how I would approach the "layout". I ultimately decided to use 12 of the 3x3" boxes as months. One thing that I knew I wanted to do, was to create my year, and have the photos be the star of the show. So, I decided on the neutral palette of cream and black for my papers (Black paper from Milk Money, called "Science"), stickers. Since there are an even number of boxes in the page protector it didn't lend itself to having the year/title across the middle, so I opted to have it divide the page diagonally. Then I decided that I wanted my month images surround the numbers in "2013" reading from left to right, as a progression of the year. I used the black and cream mini market stickers from Silent Night to label my photos with their correspsonding months. I kept the spacing consistent with all the months, but varied their placement on the photos, making sure that they didn't imprede on the image itself.

For the title, originally I had blocked out pieces of paper and added a layer of cardstock with the numbers, but then when it came to the back of the page, I then had to do something additionally to the backs of those pieces. Then I decided what if I just used my die cutting maching to make extra larde 3" numbers and leave the area surrounding the numbers, empty. It worked out great and ultimately gives the eye space to "breathe" amongst so much activity in the pictures. 

That brings us to the back of the insert/layout.

 

Again, I wanted the photos to visually tell the story on the front of my page, but I also wanted to tell a written story for each of the months, since of course one images can't entirely tell the story of an entire month. So I used the back of the insterts to tell a mini story about what went on in each month, or specifically the events surrounding the image that I used for the month. For these inserts, I used some paper from last year's Make it Merry mini books and cut the pages into 3" squares. I scanned that image and used it as a template in my printing to create all of my journaling. (For another tutorial on how to create this type of journaling see this blog post here). 

I thought about adding washi tape, buttons or other embellishements for this side of the page, then ultimately opted to simply leave it. The simplicity of the words and how they coordinate with the images on the other side of the insert was enough for me with this layout.

Here are some closer images of what I created.

 I hope you enjoyed learning how to use October Afternoon's 12" 3x3" divided page protectors for creating a Year in review page for your memory keeping today! Thank you so much for joining me today, and all of us at October Afterrnoon, throughout 2013! Have a Happy and safe New Year!

~Amy

 

 

Monday Challenge: Scraps & Labels

Hey OA fans! Mandy here with this week's Monday challenge. 

This week's challenge is pretty simple (I know I say this every time I have a challenge assignment to post but I'm a simple girl) I'm challenging you to use those October Afternoon scraps along with labels on your next layout, pocket page, or card. Simple right? I have tons of scraps in my bin right now including some I've cut with my silhouette and others that are small but still useful. So this week I reached for the scraps instead of cutting up a new 12x12 piece of paper. I'm also a labels collector. I absolutely love the OA labels they're so easy and fun to work but I love that any pen I grab can be used on these labels and it won't smear like others i have.

The labels I used on this layout are from the Silent Night collection. These particular labels had the to. & from. on them and I simply snipped that off with scissors. I used a pen for my journaling but if I would have had my laptop and printer on the same floor of the house I probably would have opted to print on these because the OA labels are great for printing and I love fonts more than my own handwriting. 

There you have it- my take on this week's challenge.I hope I've inspired you to grab those scraps and labels next time you start creating!

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! 

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

Very Merry December Kit Inspiration

 

Here's hoping that you have been having a wonderful December thus far. If you have been keeping up with your holiday album, then you have another reason for being very merry, and you also have the awe and admiration of the entire October Afternoon design team! In the midst of this busy and bustling and festive and family-oriented season, it can be a real challenge to keep the album page momentum going. In today's post, the team will share some of our tips and tricks for how we have been keeping the spirit alive, page by page, with some help from the Very Merry December kit. 

Jill Sprott's Very Merry December Album 

Rather than add a page a day to my album, I usually complete a few pages in one sitting. I try not to overthink them, insisting only upon a few basics per layout -- a focal word, which guides my journaling, a photo or piece of holiday ephemera or memorabilia, and accents, some of which I modify before inserting in the album.

At the beginning of the month, I created a bunch of die-cut Christmas trees of varying sizes, and now and then, I include them in the album spreds, as I did above. I ran a green ink dauber over a series of trees, and lined them up on a page about our as-yet undecorated tree. 

  

The multiple pockets on the album pages never leave me wondering, "Where am I going to put the journaling?"  There is always room. The journaling cards in the kit make for the perfect backdrops for journaling.

For me, the holidays are all about color and energy, and the Very Merry December kit has not let me down in helping me to integrate both in my album. 

Danni Reid's Very Merry December Album 

The following pages from Danni's album place the focus on the photos, with wintery accents complementing them and helping to create a festive feel. 

According to Danni, these pages depict "the annual tree lighting and fireworks display to kick off the holiday season.  It is a gorgeous display with lots of music, hot chocolate, carolers, fireworks, Santa and fun." 

 

"I wanted to share a page about our elf, Buddy. My children, especially the youngest, LOVE him -- another annual tradition and such a fun one in our house."

Laura Craigie's Very Merry December Album

The holidays have been in full swing in the Craigie household, but amidst the craziness, Laura was still able to make some progress in her album. As Laura explains, "Christmas was a busy week for us over here, and house guests meant I didn't get a whole bunch done.  I'm hoping to catch up this weekend like I'm sure a lot of people are! :)  I did get this spread done, and I'm so happy to have it recorded in my album." 

"I'm still keeping things simple, but adding touches of 'me' with machine stitching like I usually do on all my projects.  I also really love the alphabets that come in this kit, and was happy to have three different ones to accentuate the different parts of the nickname on the right side of my page."

Mou Saha's Very Merry December Album 

Mou, like so many of us, has been swept up in the joy and the rush of the season. This doesn't mean that she has been neglecting her album, however. Instead, she's found a practical way to adapt: 

"This week, I only have photos lined up. No journaling on my pages yet... as you can imagine this week was devoted to family and every last-second thing possible. But having the photos in place will help me document the story eventually." 

May you enjoy every moment of the holiday season, and may your album pages reflect this as well! 

Thursday Sketch

Merry Christmas, everyone! Roree here with today's Thursday Sketch Challenge.

I created this sketch while playing around in Photoshop:

I chose an 8 1/2 x 11" format, which will work perfectly for a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card too.

I decided to make a card, and here it is:

I used the Silent Night collection and the Eggnog collection, along with some pieces from the Very Merry December Kit. I replaced the large circle in the background of the sketch with a snowman, the banners/title in place of the photos, and I added a sentiment strip in place of the journaling.

Just a fun holiday or wintertime card. :)

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

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from everyone at October Afternoon!

Collage Frame Tutorial

Merry Christmas Eve to those of you celebrating! Vivian here today with a quick and fun collage frame tutorial, perfect for a quick holiday layout or home decor piece (just pop your finished product into a shadowbox frame!). Let's start with the inspiration piece, a collage picture frame I pinned recently from ModCloth:

I loved the combination of round and square edges, the gaps in between framed elements, and the white borders around every element. I used this insipration piece to create a layout, using products from Silent Night, Daily Flash Eggnog and the Very Merry December kit:

Several elements are raised on foam adhesive, with gold twine and colored paper clips added for extra dimension. Here's a closer look at one of those elements, which uses two Sew Fun Banner elements from Silent Night:

Okay, I know, I know, you want to know how to create a frame like the one I used. The directions below explain how to do this using a Silhouette die cutting machine. I'll give you an idea at the end for how to do this if you don't have a Silhouette or similar machine.

Step #1: Draw Your Shapes

I started my layout by deciding what elements I wanted to use. I knew I wanted to use a 4" x 6" photo I'd edited using the "frost" feature at PicMonkey, a 3" X 4" card, a 2" X 2" embellishment, a 1" circular embellishment, a 3" x 3" square of patterned paper, and a small tag. Next, I drew six elements in Silhouette Studio that roughly mimicked the shapes of these six objects, deciding to feature the 3" x 3" patterned paper square and the tag in circular frames. The screenshot below shows where the drawing tools are located in Silhouette Studio and shows the six shapes I drew:

 

Step #2: Size Your Shapes

Use the scale tool (top arrow in the screenshot below) to open up the scale window. Select a shape and enter the dimensions for it in the scale window (bottom arrow), then click apply. Repeat for each shape until all are sized appropriately. Be sure to size each shape larger than the element it will house so that you get a nice frame around each element. For example, I sized the large rectangle for my 4" X 6" photo 5" X 7" to allow for a half-inch-wide frame all around.

 

Step #3: Collage Your Shapes

This is the fun part! Now that your shapes are all sized appropriately, move them around the screen until you have them overlapping in the arrangement you want them to be in:

 

Step #4: Weld Your Collage

Once you are sure you have each object placed where you want it, select all of the shapes ("select all" under the "edit" menu at the top) and then hit the weld button to join them (see arrow in screenshot below):

 

Step #5: Create Interior Cutouts

I knew that I wanted to place some of my elements on top of the frame, for example, the two journaling cards, the tag, and the "love" circle. I knew, however, that it would be easier to just tuck my photo and the bit of patterned paper behind openings so that I wouldn't have to cut the paper into a perfect circle or round the corners of the photo. My next step, then, involved adding interior cutouts to those two spaces. I did this by repeating steps #1 and #2 above:

 

Step #6: Group Interior and Exterior Cutouts

Select all objects (top arrow in the screenshot below shows all objects selected) and group them using the button shown by the bottom arrow. This step makes the whole element one object. You can then move it as a whole if you need to do so.

 

Step #7: Cut!

Load your cardstock onto the Silhouette mat and into the Silhouette and hit "cut!"

It's that simple! Now you can go and create infinite combinations of shapes for your own multiphoto/multi-element framed collages! Of course, if you want to use the same combination I did, feel free to download the cut file I've created here: Download Multiphoto Frame

If you don't have a Silhouette or similar die cutting machine, you can still create this same look by tracing household objects or shape templates of varying sizes and shapes in an overlapping pattern on the reverse side of a piece of cardstock. Cut out using scissors or a craft knife.

So...if you use the cut file available above, or create your own using either the Silhouette or non-Silhouette methods I've described, please share your work with us in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery!

Thank you!

 

 

Very Merry December Kit Inspiration

Hi everyone! Alex here today with some more Very Merry December kit inspiration. 

I am starting off with my day 11. My 11 months old son has started to walk! He is so proud and full of joy. Especially when he steals Christmas tree decorations and "runs" away. I cut the "joy" 6x4 card with my Cameo and backed it with one of the patterned papers from the kit.

My day 12 is about my daughter's love for nature and wild life. She is so happy when she gets to feed the birds during the winter. Even here, I cut the "love life" card with my Cameo. To personalize it, I added "wild" with the stickers included in the kit.

December 13th was reserverd for St. Lucia Day celebration. I wrote my journaling on the piece of transparency and inserted in a 2x8 pocket that I cut out from one of the sheets.

For a change, day 14 and 15 are not about my kids :-) I got a new look and I had to include it in the album. A kids free date with my husband was definitely worth a page too. 

Finally, a spread about our traditional Christmas crafting. This year we made these cute candy cane mice. And just for the record: I am in love with all the stamps included in the kit!!

I have also the pleasure to share with you these awesome pages by Laura. 

Here is what she had to say about them:

"I've really decided to make my album quite simple for this year, and trying to focus on squeezing in lots of photographs.  That doesn't mean I haven't still been having a lot of fun building these pages and incorporating the pretty embellishments where I can. My favourite thing I did this week was to use the white felt and die cut some letters with it.  I could have glued them down, but to make things easy I just ran it through my sewing machine and it worked great!  Another thing I've been loving doing is using the cute red label stickers and making tabs along the edges of some of the pages.  It makes the album a little more interesting when you look at it closed and see fun inviting tabs sticking out."

I hope you are having fun with your kits! If you are on Instagram, don't forget to share your pages with us! Just tag them with #verymerrydecember so we can find them. We would love to see what everyone else is creating.

Thanks for stopping by today!

♥

 

Guest Designer Malika Kelly - Post 3

Hi there October Afternoon fans!  It's Malika again on the blog.  This Friday I have two more layouts that I have made using the Very Merry Christmas Kit and the Daily Flash Egg Nog collection.

On the first layout I used a couple of the little 2x2 squares from the 6x8 patterned paper pack and a flash blurb to make a little grid beside my photo.  I dressed up the little squares by adding some glossy accents and stickles to the Christmas bulbs, elf and candles, making them more like embellishments rather than just patterned papers.  I found some fun flock from a past project that I sprinkled on Santa's beard to give it some dimension.  Down the left side of my layout there are some layered labels and stickers and my journaling.

I love these little alphabet letters, the perfect size.

Washi tape makes a great border for the bottom of a layout.  I like to layer label and stickers on top, making a little cluster of embellishments.  Of course a little stitching adds to it as well.

And on to my second layout for today...

I've used the little tiny star stamp and some gold embossing powder to stamp a background on this layout.  I also added the same stamp to a shipping tag.  I really like how this delicate stamp gave a light and airy feeling to my layout.  The little Memory Cards and Snap Caps are great for layering on a layout.  I love that they are so versatile… perfect for pocket scrapbooking or on full layouts.

I can't get enough of this whimsical font.  These may be the most amazing alpha stickers yet!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today.  Meet me back here next week for my final project.

Thursday sketch

Hi everyone, Mou here with today's sketch. 


It's simple and linear and open to your interpretation. Here's my take on it.

I used the Silent Night collection from October Afternoon on this layout. The strip at the very top is cut from White Christmas paper. The candy cane strpes below it is from the O' Holy Night paper. Then I used the Sleigh Ride paper below it. I cut out the Happy Holidays label from Winter Wonderland paper and used it as my page title.I added the photo, painted around it with gold acrylic paint. When dry, I journaled and embellished with Silent Night 12 x 12 Shape Stickers. I also added some machine stitching for a bit of texture. Here's a closer look

 

Hope you enjoyed today's sketch and use it in your own scrapbook layouts or cards. 

Happy Holidays!

Very Merry December Kit Inspiration

Good morning, Mandy here with you to share more December Kit inspiration with all of you, using the Very Merry December Kit. It's the middle of the month and this kit has me still going strong. This will be the first year in awhile that I will finally have a finished book on December 31st. How is your album coming along? I hope you're having fun however you are documenting your December and if by chance you are in a rut or feeling stuck I think you'll find some inspiration in today's post as I share more pages from Mou, Jill, and my Very Merry December albums. 

The first pages I'm sharing with you this week are from December 10th. I've included a flyer from Victoria Secret along with my shopping receipt. I used my cameo to cut the glitter paper(not included in the kit). The right side is a one of the 2x2 pocket page protectors which is great for documenting our Elves daily shenanigans. There are 12 pockets on front and back perfect for the 24 days leading up to Christmas when the Elves return to the North Pole. As the month goes on I remove the October Afternoon 2x2 papers and replace with the Elves photos. On the Right I cut down a larger page protector to 4.5x 6 for this photo from Gpa's Birthday lunch date. The back of the photo of Gpa's Birthday lunch has a personal note so I'm skipping pages. I've finally started Christmas shopping this past week so of course it had to be documented. I also had a dinner/shopping date with my lil sis Jessie. We always have to take some goofy photos when together so I made those photos into a photo strip in photoshop. I cut down another page protector just for the photo strip then added the glitter heart cut with the cameo and the tab. The left page in this photo is our Charlie Brown tree with a digital brush added to it. The right is another page protector cut down for a 4x6 photo. The photo has another digi stamp with journaling done in photoshop. I attached one of the cute tabs from the Very Merry Kit with my tiny attacher.To cover up the tiny attacher staples I just adhered another tab on the back of the other tab. Keeping it pretty aimple as you can see. 

 

Next up is Jill. 

Here is what Jill had to say about her pages this week: "This album has been invaluable in helping me to capture "freeze frame" moments as the days of December fly by me. To ensure that I can keep up with the album, I've tried to keep my process fluid and my page design flexible. At times, the layouts are photo-heavy, but at others, the journaling is featured more prominently.  The Very Merry December kit is full of fun bits and pieces that make compiling this album a real treat!"

Last but not least at Mou's pages.

Mou says: "Having fun recording the little details of December. I'm including receipts, cards, gift notes, ribbons, etc. in the pockets too. I used one of the glassine bags from the kit to hold small mementos and attached the bag to the page." 

Thanks so much for joining us today, I hope you are having a merry December too!

~Mandy