October Afternoon

Tuesday Inspiration: Colors, grid, circles... you choose!

Hi everyone, Mou here with Shanna today sharing with you an inspiration piece I found on Pinterest.

This is the inspiration piece (via Pinterest) and below is my take on it...

In my layout, I picked three things from the inspiration piece: colors (rather loosely), circles (layered them too), and the grid pattern.

I picked various papers and embellishments from the October Afternoon lines, such as, Passport (12 x 12 paper) from Travel Girl, Daily Flash Apple Cider (Harvest, Hayride, and Bake Sale) papers, Daily Flash Girl Talk Memory Cards, Daily Flash Snapshots Double Take stickers, and Daily Flash Inspiration Roller Stamp.

And here's another close-up of my layout.

Now, let me present to you Shanna Noel's take on this inspiration piece. 

Shanna says: "I love the inspiration piece that Mou picked out and I was drawn into the color first and then this graphic, grid design. Let's face it, who can resist a grid design?! I decided I wanted the bottom to be the alphabet stamp and from there used the cards  from the public library (one of the favorite OA lines, EVER!!!). One of my favorite things about the OA lines is that they all work so beautifully together! I can't wait to see what you make with this beautiful inspiration piece!"

Here's a close up of Shanna's adorable layout!

Hope you'll find something in the inspiration piece that triggers your creative imagination. Thanks for stopping by :)

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! OCTOBER AFTERNOON'S WAREHOUSE SALE

It's the news so many of you have been waiting for...

  Click here for a PDF copy of the Warehouse Sale Flyer

October Afternoon's annual Warehouse Sale!! It's back again for four days with extended and weekend hours! Be sure to shop early for the best selection as popular items often sell out fast! ;) Individuals who wish to volunteeer to work the sale or have questions regarding volunteering, can email OA at [email protected]. 

For those of you that aren't local to the sale site, the Santa Sacks will be making a return again this holiday season! More information and details will be posted here regarding the Santa Sacks as time draws nearer both here on the blog as well as on other social media sites; Facebook, Twitter, Instragram.

 

Monday Challenge - Seeing Stars

Melanie here today to share a fun challenge, using stars in multiple different ways on a layout. I love incorporating stars on my projects, regardless the theme or picture, I find that stars are always a good accent for any project. To create this layout I used the Public Library collection, I do have to admit that I have a huge crush on this line, I have so many pictures of my daughters reading, that I know I will be using this collection over and over again. 

On this layout I incorporated stars in various ways. Using a star punch I created a fun mat for my picture, I love how these star peak out from underneath the layers and are also highlighted by the white cardstock. 

I also added throughout my layout chipboard stars and pop drop stars. Of course these are fun and easy way to incorporate this fun accent. I do like to create small clusters of embelishements and the smaller stars from both these collections were the perfect item to add to create a visual triangle.

I hope you are seeing stars and excited to incoporate this versatile accent on your next project Make sure to share your project by uploading your layout to the October Afternoon Flickr gallery, post it on our Facebook page, or connect with us on Instagram via #octoberafternoon. Have a great Tuesday, and happy scrapping!

New Designer Spotlight: Suz Mannecke

 

TGIF!! Today we are wrapping up the New OA Designer Spotlight Series with creative soul Suz Mannecke!

 

Suz joins October Afternoon not only as a member of the design team but also in the role of OA's Social Media Director/Design Team Coordinator. Welcome Suz!

Hello there!

I am so excited to embark on this creative journey here with October Afteroon!! Such an honor and a privilege to work and design for a company whose style in design and original artwork is unmatched in the industry and whose design team is composed of some crazzzzy talented and supportive, lovely ladies!

*I do want to take this opportunity to shout out to the "veteran" design team ladies (Alex, Jill, Mandy, Mou, Laura, and Roree) who not only took on extra responsibilities and assignments over the past several months but who have also been most supportive and helpful to those of us new to the team! So from all of us "newbies," a heartfelt thank you!

And now a little bit about me:

I am a born and raised Cheesehead (translation-from the great state of Wisconsin) and optometric physician turned SAHM/homeschooling teacher. I have been scrapbooking for a crazy long time in some form or another. I am mom to two boys; Ian (16yo - a junior in high school) and Ethan (12yo - an 8th grader-How is that even possible?!) and I have been married to my hubby; Mick, for 19 years. Besides caring for my blue-eyed boys, I care for four furbabies; 3 dogs (Rudy, Lily, and Bella) and one orange tabby; Hugsley. I find creative contentment in documenting with photos + words; documenting the extraordinary in the minutiae of everday life. When creating, I enjoy implementing some of the latest trends and techniques while staying true to my own design aesthetic. You can learn more about me, my life, and my creative endeavors (creations, scrap resume, publications etc) here: http://www.livealifeextraordinary.blogspot.com 

Q: Are you a layout person, a card maker, or both?

A: Both!

Q: What is on your scrap desk right now?

A: Besides my iMac, printers (Canon MG5320, Canon Selphy 910, and Fuji Instax Share SP-1), and Silhouette Cameo, I have lots of bits and pieces from October Afternoon Public Library and Daily Flash Apple Cider collection strewn across it. And that make me ridiculously happy!  

Q: What can you not scrapbook without?

 A: This is such a tough question but I guess--to narrow it down a bit---pretty patterned paper, lovely embellishments, stitching, and quite often, Cameo die cuts, vintage type, and misting. 

Q: What is your favorite October Afternoon line?

A: Seriously?? That question isn’t even fair! ;) {Answer: Anything October Afternoon.}

Q: What is your favorite source of inspiration?

A: My favorite source of inspiration is when I am randomly, unexpectedly inspired by something I see or hear in my surroundings. Oftentimes, I dream up scrappy stuff and rush to try to draw it out in a notebook I keep on my nightstand before I forget it!

Q: What is your favorite movie or book?

A: This is liking picking a favorite child. Can't do it!! But a few faves are: You've Got Mail, What About Bob?, & Rudy

Favorite book: Again! That is like forcing me to pick my favorite child!  I really loved Harry Potter Number 7 and for a classic--To Kill A Mockingbird

 Q: What is your fondest childhood memory? 

 A: Hanging out with my sisters at our family's cabin lake resort. Swamping the canoe, having blueberry pancake eating contests (My sister Karen ate 14!), playing Tripoley with rocks for chips and candy for money, and using the porch screen door to catch minnows in the lake while singing "Crocodile Rock."

Q: If I could have dinner with anyone living or deceased, who would it be and why?

A: My sister, Linda "Linny", because she was taken from this earth all too soon and all too suddenly in March of 2011. I miss her. Every. Single. Day.  

 

 

Suz was a guest designer for October Afternoon in December of 2012. You can see some of her October Afternoon designs and get an idea of her style here: (Click on dates below for links to posts)

December 14, 2014 (Holiday Decor, layout, gift wrap, cards and more)

December 21, 2012 (Holiday Decor Ideas)

December 28, 2012  (December Daily and more)

A warm welcome to Suz! You can keep up with Suz and follow her along via any of these forms of social media:

INSTAGRAM: SuzMannecke (no spaces)

TWITTER: SuzMannecke (no spaces)

PINTEREST: Suz Mannecke

FACEBOOK: Susan Keil Mannecke

GALLERIES: Scrapbook.com, Cocoa Daisy, and Studio Calico -user name: SuzMannecke (no spaces)

PERSONAL BLOG: http://www.livealifeextraordinary.blogspot.com 

Have a wonderful Friday everyone! Hope your weekend has some fun and relaxation within it (and of course a bit of papercrafting!)

Thursday Sketch: Big Triangles

Hi everyone! Alex here bringing you this week's sketch. It's all about big triangles. I love using geometric shapes in my designs. Triangles are no exception. 

I have used the Daily Flash Girl Talk collection for my layout. Instead of putting the text inside one of the triangles, I went big and wrote it across the entire page.

The alphas are from the Travel Girl collection. I think they go perfectly well together with Girl Talk. 

Love this quote by Merilyn Monroe: "If you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure is hell don't deserve me at my best." So true.

I hope you feel inspired to play along! Post your link here or share your project with us on Facebook or OA's Flickr gallery.

 Have a lovely day!

//Alex

Workspace Wednesday: Mandy Koeppen part 2

Hey y'all! Mandy Koeppen back to share part 2 of my workspace. Earlier in the month I shared a glance at where I create and how I organize my scrapbook supplies, today I wanted to focus on how I organize my October Afternoon product. 

For me one thing that I try to keep in mind when I organize or find organizing items is make sure it's easy to see the product and its easy to grab because if you see it most likely you'll use it. Like I said before I love my old stuff so most of the items I use for organizing have been found at junk stores, came from my Gma, or I've grabbed it from another part of the house. 

For my October Afternoon product I knew I wanted supplies to stay together so that when I was working on my monthly assignments I wouldn't be scrambling trying to locate everything. So here are a few pictures to give you an idea of how my OA stuff is organized and stored at the moment. I'm one of those people that like to change things up so this might not be how things are stored 6months from now. 

One of my all time favorite finds has to be this old wire dish rack that I use to organize washi tape, stickers, chipboard, tinpins, clear stamps, and journal cards. This usually sits on a shelve but can easily be brought over to my table when creating. 

The rack has the plate dividers in it which is handy to organize like products together and makes flipping thru to find embellishments easy too. 

I keep my OA roller stamps and mists in this neat metal drawer that looks like it could have been in an old fridge or something. Again it's out in the open so I can easily grab the items while creating. 

Paper storage...everyone is always looking for great paper storage and I think I finally found my favorite paper storage so far. These file folder boxes I purchased at Target last Spring.I love them! I have a  few boxes, one for each of my design team papers and then I have papers sorted by manufacturer. 

 

For my OA papers I keep the paper stored by collection and then I have a hanging file folder with OA scraps. I also store my 8x8 paper pads in here too. 

 

When it comes to my 6x12 embellishments I store them in these fun magazine boxes I found at Target. I have these magazine boxes right in front of my work area on a shelf so they are right there to use. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Come back next Wednesday to see even more workspace ideas.

Also, if you have any exciting ways to store your October Afternoon supplies we'd love to see them, so please share with us over in the Flickr Gallery or on Instagram with the hashtag #oaworkspacewednesday or on our October Afternoon Facebook wall!

Have a great day!

~Mandy 

Tuesday Inspiration: Vertical Lines

Hi everyone! Emily here with today's Tuesday inspiration piece. Every once in awhile something jumps out at me on Pinterest and screams, "HEY!  Look at me!! I would make a good layout!"  This particular piece, a book cover, did just that! Its fun colors, vertical lines, and staggered title would work really well in scrapbook form!

Source: Cover art by Elaine Lustig

First up this week is the fabulous Laura, who used the inspiration to make an adorable card.  Here's what she has to say about her creation, "I loved the inspiration image so very much!  At first I was going to do a very literal translation of it, but as I started creating it ended up quite different.  I loved the different height strips with the words on top and was inspired to do something similar with label stickers cut to different heights, and added chipboard hearts above them instead of words.  So for me the inspiration image was a great jumping off point to make a fun and simple card."

Laura is one of my all time favorite card makers, and I love how she can take something so simple as a blank label and make it look so cute and creative!!  

Like Laura, I had originally planned on creating a layout that was nearly identical to the inspiration piece. I was hoping to mirror the title and the strips of color, however after I began my layout, it took a bit of a different turn. I still used the vertical lines that are so prominently featured in the book cover, however I ended up ditching the title.  I made one of my lines into a giant "1" in honor of my son's birthday and added a white boarder around the lines as an attempt to keep it from getting too busy!

This layout includes paper from a few different October Afternoon lines. I love how easy it is to mix and match between them!  

If you were as inspired by this book cover inspiration piece as Laura and I were, we would love for you to play along! Upload your layout to the October Afternoon Flickr gallery, post it on our Facebook page, or connect with us on Instagram via #octoberafternoon. Have a great Tuesday, and happy scrapping!

Monday Challenge: Fall Fashion

First day of Fall for most of us starts tomorrow!  Going back to school, crisp, cool weather, falling leaves.  For both me (Patricia) and Sasha, we live in climates that don't see the fullness of the season.  But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it through color.

Sasha is an expert at adding color to her layouts, so I was excited to see what she would do for us:

I live in Singapore, (if you don't know that already) where it's almost a 100℉ everyday. We don't have fall. Not to say I don't dream of crisp air and pumpkin spice latte. *LOL* When Patricia shared the color scheme for this challenge, I must admit, I panicked a little. What do I do? What do I do? I don't have 'fall' photos! Then I took a deep breath, calmed myself down and realized I don't have to use 'fall' photos after all. And I can make the 'fall' colors more 'mine' if you know what I mean. :)

 

I decided to use white background for this layout. Besides being my go-to when it comes to cardstock choice, the white background also helps in making my layout appear more airy even if I'm using some range of fall colors. I took the plunge and used my STORY chipboard letters for this layout, despite my inner hoarder screaming for me not to because it's gonna be perfect for something else down the road (I know that will happen, call it instincts. lol).

 

 

I also used bits and pieces of Encyclopedia, Due Date and Bonfire PP to add more of the color red, grey and yellow onto my layout. I love how the papers are designed in such a way that you can cut it up and draw more attention to a certain element like the ampersand from Encyclopedia PP. I finished my layout by adding some Tidbits, stamping and Pop Drops. :)

Not only is Sasha's layout amazing, I love that she used non-Fall photos to work for her.  Just gorgeous!

For my (Patricia) layout, I also went with a white cardstock and used variations of the colors.  I stumbled onto this old photo of my daughter's first year at pre-school, and started pulling pattern papers.  I used both sides of the Apple Cider pattern papers Hayride, Corn Maze, and Bonfire and the Milk Money 6x8 paper pack.  

I started with the 'argyle' pattern with the leaves using the Silhouette, and replaced most of the traingles back.  Then I started adding papers around it and my photo, giving it a very geomtrical, school feel.

Then I layered the chipboard numbers, and more from the Milk Money 6x8 paper pad, and Milk Money Double Take Stickers.  I used baby powder on the back of the Bookworm stickers, then applied a light strip of adhesive with Scotch ATG onto the back and adhered to paper to feed through my typewriter.  I laid these going in a different direction leading to the photo, with more details to help tell the story using Milk Money Metal Badges, Pop Drops, and Pillow Puffs.

Sasha and I hope these Fall Fashion colors have inspired you to join our challenge.  Please share your work with us on October Afternoon Flickr Gallery, post it on our Facebook page, connect with us on Instagram via #octoberafternoon, or link us up in the comments below.

OA Saturday Shares

Hello and happy Saturday! Are you scrapping this weekend? Patricia has been and has a little sneaky share for her Monday Designer Challenge blog post for all of you.

 

And Suz created this layout that showcases the Daily Flash chipboard and how well it complements another manufacturer's collection (Chic Tags- Story Teller).

What OA collections/items have you been creating with? Share your October Afternoon creations on Instagram with the hashtag #oasaturdayshares so we can spot them!! Happy Saturday!

New Designer Spotlight: Shanna Noel and Melanie Blackburn

Every Friday this month we will be introducing you to the new members of the October Afternoon Design Team! Today, we have the talented Shanna Noel and Melanie Blackburn.

Shanna Noel

Hiya! My name is Shanna Noel and I am super excited to be a part of the OA family! I live in Sonoma County California with the love of my life and our two wonderful daughters!!

Are you a layout person, card person, or both?

I like it all! I love to play with different techniques on different formats, it keeps me inspired! 

How would you describe your style? 

While I love white space and bright colors I am not sure I have a signature style, I love to try new techniques and am always inspired by the latest trends. 

From my Studio Calico September Gallery  

What is on your scrap desk right now?

I just finished working on a layout for later this month with the Public Library line, seriously how cute is that line!? 

What is a favorite tool or product you cannot scrapbook without?

My sewing machine!! I love adding that finishing touch and the texture it creates is just so much fun!!!

What is your favorite October Afternoon line?

YIKES! How in the world am I supposed to pick just one?! Since I used Public Library last, let's go with that.. the vintage school elements steal my heart EVERY time!!

What is your favorite source of inspiration?

You!! This community is such a source of inspiration, I am always amazed and honored that I get to be a part of it! 

 

From my Studio Calico September Gallery 

What is your favorite movie or book?

Serendipity (movie) have you seen it? I don't know why but I love it to pieces! 

What is your favorite food?

Living in Sonoma County I am lucky enough to be surrounded by some amazing food and I have to say I love it all, trying new things is my favorite! 

What is a favorite childhood memory? 

Building forts from the couch cushions with my little sister!

If you could have dinner with anyone living or deceased, who would it be and why?

Great question!!! I think my Grandpa, I was so young when he passed away I have a couple questions I am dying to ask him! 

Melanie Blackburn

Hello! I'm so excited to be here today and part of this inspiring team! I'm a mom of 3 girls, married to my high school sweetheart, life is busy but I try to be creative every day, even if it's simply organizing my scrap space or editing pictures. 

Are you a layout person, card person, or both?

I prefer making layouts, especially 8.5x11 but every once in a while I will make a card or a mini album. I love we have so many creative options. 

How would you describe your style? 

Layered!! I love adding layers, bits of papers to add as much depth as possible to a layout. I love playing with various techniques and mediums. I'm not afraid to experiement!

What is on your scrap desk right now?

Nothing! I just did a major clean up and my desk is ready to tackle an upcoming project for OA! I do have to clean between each project, I have a tiny work space so there is no room for things to pile up.

What is a favorite tool or product you cannot scrapbook without?

Like Shanna it's my sewing machine!! I have to add stitching to every single project, it just doesn't feel complete without it.

What is your favorite October Afternoon line?

One?! This is hard, but I do have a strong love for Public Library. We are a family the loves to read, my oldest is devouring the Harry Potter books, I just finished a series of books and my middle daughter is learning to read, so this collection is very appropriate for us right now.

What is your favorite source of inspiration?

Everything! From other scrappers to home decor inspiration to of course awesome products!! Inspiration is all around us and I really try to remember this. 

What is your favorite movie or book?

The Time Traveller's Wife, both the movie and the book. I read the book in my 20's and was delighted when the movie was released.  

What is your favorite food?

Pizza! I love a very good authentic pizza with fresh ingredients. My husband and I always joke that we could live off pizza alone.  

What is a favorite childhood memory? 

Picking raspberries at my grand-father's. We would visit and enjoy a swim in his pool and in between pool time to run to the garden to eat fresh raspberries. 

 

We can't wait to see what fun projects Shanna and Melanie create!!  Stay tuned next Friday to meet a couple more new members of our fabulous Design Team!