October Afternoon

Showing love to the bad photos - Challenge!

Happy Monday everyone!  It’s Danni here with a post-CHA challenge for you.  With all the new lines coming out, we have visions of perfect layouts with the perfect pictures dancing in our heads.   But what about those photos that don’t make the cut, the ones that would certainly not be considered to be on the newest papers with the best embellies?  You know the ones, they tell an amazing story, a story we don’t want to forget, but just aren’t the best photos?  Well, this challenge is for them.

Today we challenge you to “show love to the bad photos” and will share some techniques for scrapping photos that wouldn’t normally make it onto a page as the center of attention.  Whether you have photos that are blurry, off-centered, poorly lit,  busy or crowded, taken by children, over-exposed, older (some may say vintage) or ones that just wouldn’t make the cut, pull them out and let’s show them some love with all the OA goodies we have to choose from.

For my layout, I chose these photos taken by my 5 year old son of me and a group of kids he played tee ball with.  These are the only photos I have of these children and these families have such a special place in my heart (as the journaling will explain)

Here is the layout I created using the new October Afternoon Boarding Pass line of papers and embellies:

 

If you look closely, you can see the photos are not the best.  They are off-centered, crowded and taken by my 5 year old, but they really mean so much to me, they are the only ones I have of these families.

(I have blurred the images of the children’s faces since I am unable to contact each family to ask permission to use them on-line)

I’ll share a couple of techniques I used to draw attention away from the fact that these were not the best photos and bring the layout together.

Technique #1:

Make the journaling a BIG focus.  The reason I wanted to scrap these photos was because of the story and meaning behind the photos, the journaling  “shares the story”.  When getting started , focus on the journaling first and not the photos.  Decide what your journaling will be and design the layout to focus on and around your journaling.

 

Technique #2:

Create title work through parts of your photo.  If you have a photo that is not centered, a photo that was not edited in PhotoShop, or just printed off-center for one reason or another, create your title work through the part of the photo you wish to “hide”.   I could’ve cropped this photo with my paper trimmer but the background (seen behind the title) actually adds to the memory of the photo and I didn’t want to chop it off.

 

Technique #3:

Frame your photo using corner stickers or embellies.  This photo was taken with the kids all trying to fit in the picture, sitting on my lap, arranging themselves, and I giggle just remember falling over backward during this.  It is a very special photo to me and I wanted it to be part of the layout.  To draw attention away from the fact that the photo was taken by my 5 year old, busy and overly crowded, I created a frame using various sticker and embellies, to focus the eyes...... a “border” if you will, so the person looking at the layout could focus the eyes around what was in the picture.

 

Technique #4:

Create focal points around the page, drawing the eyes to many points of interest. These layers finish telling the story of the layout and draw the layout back to the starting point “the journaling”

 

 

 

Joining me today is Becky with her gorgeous layout.  Becky is an amazing photographer, as we all know, so I thought I might have to send her some of my drawer of “bad pics”....giggle, but she went another direction with the challenge, one I absolutely love.  Becky pulled out some of her Christmas photos, the ones we all have that are indoors, with poor lighting and scrapped this amazing page, swoooooon.

 

Technique #1:

When lighting is a problem, change photos to black and white.  This gives you a lot of room to “lighten” up the photos and scrap the photos with any paper you’d like, regardless of how busy the colors are (like all the colors of Christmas)  Becky created this amazing layout using the new October Afternoon Boarding Pass and Christmas photos......genious!

 

Technique #2:

Add color to the layout using bright and fun title work against a basic patterned paper background.  This really draws the eye back to the photos and makes them pop. 


Technique #3:

Use multiple photos.  Using multiple photos actually focuses the attention on the “story of the layout”, rather than the “photography” of the layout.  We are documenting life, and sometimes life doesn’t have perfect photos, but the stories are always just that.....perfect.

Thank you Becky for your absolutely gorgeous layout and ideas!

These are just a few techniques to get the ideas flowing.  Open up your desk drawer and pull out those photos you’ve been keeping hidden, the ones that you can’t bear to throw away but haven’t wanted to scrap, this challenge is for them!  We can’t wait to see what you create.  Please upload your layouts in our FlickrGallery so we can all be inspired.  happy creating♥

Eight with Lisa Truesdell

Hello again, October Afternoon fans! Last week I got my hands on the new Boarding Pass line, and didn't waste any time in cutting into it. I ended up mixing it with some pieces from Rocket Age and am loving how well they compliment one another.



This page features another misted star background - I'll admit, I'm addicted to how versatile this technique is! I used the Tin Type Sprinkler on vanilla cardstock, and I love how the neutral tones make the colors in the patterned paper - and my photo - pop!



I rarely use the computer for journaling, but since the text for this page came straight from my blog, it seemed the easy way to get it all onto the layout. I did a test print on regular paper, and once my block was the right size, I cut my pattered paper to 8.5x11 and ran it through my printer. I used a page from the 8x8 patterned paper pad to make an oversized mat for my photos - the smaller scale of the print works perfectly for this.

I hear that there will be some fun CHA stuff on the blog next week - but I'll be back before July ends with one more project!

Tutorial: Paper Planes

Welcome to Tuesday Tutorial OA fans!

Ok. Seriously..when was the last time you made a paper plane? For me, I have two boys so we do them around here quite a bit, but I had never made them with pretty patterned paper until now :)  I have a thing for old maps and when Boarding Pass arrived on my door and I saw this paper:

 
 
I knew it had to be used. In fact, I want to frame it, but that is all together a different post ;)  Why not use the paper for a paper plane? Yes? Yes. Let's do this. 

So I started out using the 8x8 paper pad because I needed small planes to go on my layout. I cut the paper into 4x4 and made one plane that size and two more 3x3.

 

Here was a plane I practiced with using the whole 8x8 sheet. You can see the size difference with the 4x4. At this point my boys were drawn to me like magnets asking if they could have them. Umm, not this time dudes! Now there are a million, ok maybe not a million but LOTS, of different paper plane tutorials. Google for the one you like. Some are super simple...my husband said I need to do this kind because they look look paper jets ;)

 

Once your planes are finished, place them on your layout to get an idea of where they will look best. You know me, no rhyme or reason where I place them really, I just knew I wanted an odd number. 

 
 
I took a pencil to lightly draw a line from the planes because I had an idea for all that twine I had been hoarding ;) 

 

I took a glue pen and traced the pencil line, then followed the glue path with the twine. This twine was airmail style and I thought it worked perfect for Boarding Pass.

 

Ta Da—Wanderlust....

 

Certainly adds some interest and dimension to a page! Will it get smushed? Most certainly. Do I care? Nope :) In case you are wondering, some of the new Boarding Pass Sprinkler colors, Set Sail splattered on the page and All Aboard to recolor the Thickers, were used. Some of my favorite colors yet!

I can't wait to try making even smaller paper planes, or “jets” as the case may be ;)

If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them and, as always, do link us up in the October Afternoon Flickr group. We LOVE looking at what all you are creating with your favorite OA lines!

Have a happy Tuesday!
Lexi

I'm Inspired By....Challenge

Happy Monday, OA fans!! It is Amy here today and I thought I'd bring you a fun challenge this week all about being inspired by someone else's original work and putting your own flavor upon it.

I'm inspired daily by so many super talented people in art, design, paper crafting, photography, scrapbooking, fiber arts, to name a few creative genres, and I find myself pin, pin, pinning away images I love that I find on Pinterest whenever I have a spare moment. So, in that very spirit, my challenge to you is to create a page, card or altered piece based upon a project created from our fabulous OA design Team and put your own flavor into your piece! Not an exact copy, but a version inspired by . . .

For my project, I was inspired by Marcy Penner. I used the brand new collection, Boarding Pass (shipping soon!) for my take on Marcy's fabulous original page.



This is Marcy's original page she created, titled "Science" using Rocket Age.

And speak or the cheetah, Marcy is here today to give you her spin on our challenge this week! Here's what Marcy had to say about her take on the challenge:

"I loved the design of Amy's '8 Suits You' layout.  And all the little clusters were just perfect.  The twine tied around my photo was a happy coincidence.  Using Amy's design as my base this layout came together quite quickly.  (I was so happy to dig into the new 
Boarding Pass for this one.)"

 
 
 

And here is the original layout that I created that inspired Marcy's adorable layout of her boys.

Well, there you have it! What do you say? Are you up for the task? Make sure when you've finished, to upload your creation to our Flickr gallery and let us know who's project yours is based upon or inspired by. We can't wait to see what you create!! Thanks so much for joining us today! Have a wonderful day!

Introducing Boarding Pass!

We gave just a sneek peek at CHA of our new travel-themed line, and now it is time for us to present to you Boarding Pass! 

 
Across the country or around the globe, a trip of any distance is sure to be an exciting experience.  Look back at the journey with the fun travel-themed designs of this new collection.

There are 8 patterned papers and 1 die-cut patterned paper.
 
New York
 
London

 
Amsterdam

 
Venice

 
Sydney

 
Hong Kong
 
Tokyo
 
Berlin
 
Paris

 
8x8 Paper Pad

 
Chip 'n Stick Chipboard Shapes

 
12x12 Shape Stickers

 
12x12 Alpha Stickers

 
Word Stickers

 
Label Stickers

 
Yellow & Black Mini-Marker Stickers

 
Clear Stamp Set

 
Image Rub-ons

 
Border Rub-ons

 
Buttons

 
Tin Pins

 
Rubber Charms

 
Chipboard Mini-Album

 
Sprinklers

Whether by plane, by train or by automobile; by land, by air or by sea, we all love to travel and we know that you will love using this brand new collection!

Boarding Pass is shipping in May so be sure to ask for it at your favorite local scrapbooking store.

Leave a comment and let us know what you love about Boarding Pass.  We will pick 3 lucky winners to receive a Boarding Pass Collection Kit!