October Afternoon

Thursday Sketch

Hey everyone! Roree here with today's Thursday Sketch Challenge.

I created this sketch while playing around in Photoshop:

I started with a square layout and kept it fairly simple to leave it more open to interpretation.

Here is the card I created using the sketch:

I stayed pretty true to the sketch and used lots of Daily Flash products, primarily the Snapshots and Girl Talk mini collections.

I used patterned paper, Snap Caps, and stitching to replace the strips in the sketch and layered the Partly Cloudy chipboard clouds and a patterned paper sun in place of the photo squares in the sketch.

For the sentiment, I searched way back in my stash and found some great letter stickers from the Campfire collection, Dandelions "Story Book" alphas, and a puffy heart from from Apple Cider Pop Drops.

Mel Blackburn played along with my sketch this week, and here is the amazing layout she created and what she had to say about it:

“I’m so excited to be here today, contributing to Roree’s amazing sketch! I really enjoyed the versatility of the sketch. My initial thought was to figure out how to incorporate the strips of papers underneath the pictures. My idea was to use the Public Library border stickers, but I decided that I need to add a bit more bulk and dimension to my page. I therefore cut strips of pattern paper on an angle, letting the angle of the strips of paper really bring emphasis on the picture. Afterwards I added stitching for more dimension and proceeded to raise the edges of the paper. Of course I finished the design with brads and other small embellishments. To create this layout I used the following supplies: Public Library Collection, Egg Nog Pop Drops, Daily Flash Picture This Stamp Set, Daily Flash Photo Booth Chipboard.”

I hope you enjoyed today's sketch and the samples Mel 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!

Tuesday Tutorial: Flowers

Hey everyone!  Roree here, and I have a Tuesday tutorial for you.

If you know me or my work, you know that I LOVE to make flowers.  All kinds, really.  Kim, the owner of October Afternoon, told me that she got some comments at CHA about the flowers I made on this layout, featuring Cakewalk...

Happy Days by Roree Rumph (using October Afternoon's Cakewalk collection)

so I thought I would share with you how I made them.

To make one complete flower, I cut out four individual flowers (cut at 0.25" increments, for example one each at 1.5", 1.75", 2", and 2.25" ) with my Cricut Expression 2 and Sweet Treats cartridge.  (Any kind of die-cut machine or punch will do, as long as you can cut the same flower in multiple sizes.)

I then sanded the edges of my flowers (totally optional), and curled the ends of each petal.

I added foam adhesive to the center of each flower except the top one.  I then layered and adhered the flowers together from smallest to largest. 

I pierced holes at the center of the flower, using the button that I wanted for the center as a guide.

I hand stitched the button onto the flower, and I finished by fluffing the petals back up.  And voila!  My finished flower!  Pretty easy, right?!

I made a couple more, along with some mini ones, cut out a few leaves, and created this card full of flowers.   

My Forever Friend by Roree Rumph (using October Afternoon's Farmhouse, Sidewalks, Campfire collections)

I added cross stitches to the center of the mini flowers instead of trying to find a bunch of tiny buttons. 

If you love flowers, texture, and dimension on your projects, you might need to give this a try.  ;) 

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  If you get a chance to make some flowers of your own, make sure to share them with us in the OA Flickr Gallery.   We would love to see your creations!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

  Hi there!  Mandie here for my first guest post.  I am so excited to be here this month!  (& a little nervous too! lol!)  I've made a couple of layouts to share with you all this week.

 The first one uses several lines from my stash.  If you are like me, you have a TON of lovely October Afternoon product lurking in your stash.  Waiting to be used, but you just love it so much you haven't cut into it!  

I used product from Schoolhouse, Report Card, Holiday Style, Campfire, Sidewalks & a smidge of Farmhouse.  I love how all of the lines coordinated nicely with one another.  Bust those papers out and use them!

 

My second layout uses Sasparilla (oh my heart, this line is ADORABLE!  can't wait to use it some more!) and a bit of Farmhouse.  Again, the patterns in these 2 lines mix so well!  I encourage you to mix them up a bit!  They yellows, blues and greys just mesh together so well!

This is a very simple and quick layout.  But, the photos just steal my heart.  I found them the other day when going through some boxes of photos that had not been scrapped yet.  (Seems like I've been doing that a lot lately.  And there are a ton in those boxes!)  My little guy in those photos is 7.5 now!  Yikes!  (and how funny is that second photo?  I mean, that is classic Noah!) 

I am totally loving the blues and greys in Sasparilla!  They are such a pretty shade!

That concludes my post for this week!  Until next time... Have a great weekend!
Mandie 

Monday Challenge-Scraplift yourself....

Scraplifting yourself is just the beginning of this challenge. Becky here today, with a multi-faceted challenge. Every year in January, I challenge myself to create a layout and then duplicate it for each of our grandchildren. You can interpret this as you wish...I would suggest a couple of ideas. Maybe you could recreate layouts for each of your children, or perhaps you have a great photo (or more than one) of a group of friends or family members who you could create a page for. This year we added two new grandsons, so last year I made 8 layouts based on one design and this year, I made ten! 

The second aspect of this challenge is to convey something across the board. Something that is important to you. Something you can communicate in a page. 

And the third aspect is to use past collections and scraps. I still adore many of the past October Afternoon collections and wanted to use them and not just hoard them : ) 

Take any part of this challenge and make it your own. Spin it, turn it, interpret it as you like! It's just a starting point. I've enjoyed challenging myself to do this for the past several years and there is something extremely gratifying and freeing to me about it year after year. 

This year, I assembled all of my photos and had a design in mind before I started. Once I began, it went very quickly. This is not my usual creative process. I normally have a mindset of doing something very fresh and of masterpiece quality! But for this challenge, I allow myself freedom. No pressure to create something completely fresh or new, no pressure to make it just right. It's more an exercise in creating and conveying a sentiment. 

On a sidenote, I make a lot of pages for my grandchildren. My goal is not to make albums that document their lives. They have parents who can document their lives if they choose. My reason for creating pages about them is to document my feelings for them and my memories about them from my perspective. I keep a book (or more) for each child that they will be able to take someday if they want. Right now, it's fun for me to do. A creative outlet.

So here are the ten layouts based on one design:

I don't know if I've ever made ten layouts in a day and a half before! But using this process really did work. If I were going to a crop, I think this would be a fun approach. 

Wilna joined me in this challenge and I asked her to interpret it as she liked...and I like how she chose to do it! She went back and found a layout she had made in 2005-

From this layout, she created this beauty-

I think it's great! kind...smart...important. LOVE. 

So please take up this challenge, any part or all of it and share with us what you make! Please post your take on the OA Flickr group! 

Thanks!

Monday Challenge: 5+ Photos

Happy Halloween!  Roree here, and I have a challenge for you today. 

Now a lot of you know me as a card maker.  Cards are my favorite things to create, and they are what I am most comfortable creating.  I do layouts, mini albums, and altered project too, but not nearly as much.  When I was thinking about what kind of challenge to post, I really thought about what would be challenging to me.  The first thing that came to mind was layouts.  While I do like to take photos, I am not great about doing it.  I take a couple here and there, but for the most part I always forget to take my camera with me wherever I go.  I never seem to have enough photos to put together a story on my pages, so I stick to one or two photo layouts.  Maybe three photos if I am lucky. 

So with that in mind, my challenge for you today is to create a layout with 5 or more photos.   For some of you this may not be as much of a challenge so for you, try and get more on a layout than you have ever done before.  Because it really is about challenging yourself, isn't it?  

Here is the layout I created for this challenge:

I really had to dig through my photos to find a day that I took a lot of pictures.  Luckily, I found a day that fit in with a fall/pumpkin theme in honor of Halloween.

I kept my design simple to really focus on the photos.  (I think this is the most photos I have ever used on one page.  LOL)  I love the Print Multiple Photos feature on Photoshop Elements.  It prints all of my photos at one time, and has multiple sizes to choose from.  I printed out all of my photos in two sizes, and then mixed and matched them. 

And I created some fun, little pumpkins to spruce up my title and play on the theme.

 

Collections used:  5 & Dime, Rocket Age, Campfire, Farm Fresh, Fly a Kite

Lexi played along with my challenge this week.  Here is what she came up with and what she had to say about the challenge:

"We just came back from our first true family vacation and, as you can image, took LOTS of photos. I am actually embarrassed to say how many, but I am a scrapbooker so you KNOW it was a lot ;) I knew Roree had the 5+ challenge coming up and it was a perfect way to scrap several of the photos I had just taken. These are pics are of the boys seeing the ocean for the first time. I printed them all out at 2.5x3.5" and added a little bit of a white cardstock mat. I added the bit of journaling with the title on the tag, which left me room to play with some paint, ink, and lots of patterns, without it feeling too crazy.

Collections used:  Sidewalks, Farmhouse, Sasparilla, Rocket Age and Seaside

So are you up for the challenge?  If so, make sure to upload your finished layout to the OA Flicker Gallery.  We love to see what you all create using OA products!

Hope you have a safe and Happy Halloween!  Thanks for stopping by!

Monday Challenge: Celebrate "October"

Good Morning OA fans, it's Danni here with a fun, new Monday challenge.

I love October in so many, many ways. We just celebrated my youngest son's October birthday. October means we're in the middle of a high school football season. October means the colors are changing in all the amazing trees in the Sierra Nevada mountains, swoon. And don't forget the scrapbooking world, "October Afternoon", good grief, they were destined to be my favorite manufacturer.

So, let's celebrate "October". Create layouts/cards/projects with "October" or "Oct" in the title or sentiment.

Joining me this week is Marcy and she created this amazing layout featuring one of the October Afternoon strips as her title.

 I chose to create a set of 3 cards for this challenge using "October" or "Oct" in different ways.

On this card i used the negative alpha stickers to create the sentiment. i cut out the negative from the sticker sheet to create a fun "alpha outline"

On this card i used the OA strip for my sentiment and the leaves from Campfire sticker sheets







On this card, i used the journaling strips "go, see, do" from the Boarding Pass sticker sheet and punched leaves from various OA pp





Do you love October? Will you play along with us? If you are able to participate, please link up your work in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery so we can see your creations!


happy creating♥
danni

Monday Challenge: Mix and Match

Happy Monday! Vivian here with this week’s Monday challenge. Today we’re keeping it simple with a challenge that asks you to create something using three or more October Afternoon product lines. If you haven’t already noticed, one of the great features of October Afternoon products is that the colors coordinate across lines, making it easy to mix and match products with success.

Becky played along with the challenge this week and came up with a fantastic and fun layout that combines products from several different lines, including Sidewalks, 5 & Dime, Modern Homemaker, Fly a Kite, and Thrift Shop. Note how the yellows, pinks, and aquas combine across the paper lines.

After declaring this a simple challenge I went in a more challenging direction, as I decided to see whether I could use something from every October Afternoon line ever created, from County Fair (the first October Afternoon line ever) through to Sidewalks (in stores now). It was hard, but I did it! Note how the greens, reds, yellows, oranges, and aquas combine across lines and how the alphas coordinate.

I started with a strip of paper from County Fair (the aqua at the bottom) and then cut ¾” wide strips of patterned paper, choosing one paper from each line and gluing the strips to a 12” wide scrap of cardstock to form my own striped paper. I cut the striped paper in half once I was done and used a strip both above and below my photos. Product lines not represented in patterned paper include Schoolhouse (scalloped border sticker), Modern Homemaker (apple punched from patterned paper), Boarding Pass (taller letter stickers), 5 & Dime (Red Wagon sprINKler), Rocket Age (Comet Tail sprINKler), and Sidewalks (label sticker).

If you are an October Afternoon blog reader but don’t visit the website, I encourage you to check out the products section. You can click on each line to look at thumbnails of each product and can click on those thumbnails to get a closer look at products, including the A and B sides of the patterned papers. I’ll let you in on a little secret – I use this section of the website often to help plan my projects. It’s quicker and easier (and less messy!) than pulling out all my papers and embellishments, especially when I’m looking for certain colors, patterns, types of stickers, etc.

Hope you’ll participate in this simple (or not so simple, depending upon how you interpret it!) challenge that’s also a good stash-buster. If you do participate, please link up your work in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery so we can see your creations!

Happy mixing and matching!

Thursday Sketch Challenge!

Hi everyone, Roree here, and today I have a sketch challenge for you! 

Here is my sketch:

I decided to go with an 8.5 x 11” format.  I kept the design simple with the opportunity to use multiple photos.   But for me, a square or rectangular box on a sketch doesn’t always read as a photo.  I love to fill them with fun embellishments.  And that is what I did.

Here is my take on the sketch:

Collections used:  Sidewalks, Campfire

I created the sketch before I created the layout, so I had to make some adjustments to it to make it work with the photos that I decided to use.  I went with two horizontal photos instead of the one that is shown in the sketch.  To make up for the extra space I had to use, the border around the whole layout had to be changed up and just used along the top and bottom of the layout.  I did stay pretty close to the actual layout placement, but I used one of the boxes for a little scene rather than a third photo.

For the journaling and scene, I created stitched boxes (machine and hand stitched) and place some Chip ‘n Stick chipboard pieces around the edges.

The Sidewalks products were so fun to work with.  Such beautiful colors and sweet images…  Everything about this collection just makes me happy!

Amy played along with my sketch this week, and she had such a wonderful take on it.

Here is her layout:

Collections used:  Sidewalks

And here is what Amy had to say:  “I used the sketch as the jumping off point for the focal of my page. I shrunk the overall sketch down and then used it pretty much as is for the grid for my photos. The only changing that I did was to move up the photo placement on the right so that it was flush with the top left photo, which I also rotated into a horizontal photo. I’m really happy with how it turned out, as its simplicity was perfect for using multiple photos!”

I just LOVE Amy’s layout, don’t you?!

I hope you all get a chance to play along with the sketch.  If you do, please post it to the OA Flicker Gallery, so we can all see your take on it.  And who knows, uploading to the gallery may just get you featured on the OA blog. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

 

Father's Day Inspiration

This Sunday is Father's Day...what are you giving to the special dad in your life?  The design team has been busy whipping up some fun card ideas that we are excited to share.  Masculine designs can be challenging, but don't worry, OA has plenty of fun products to make them an easy task!

First, we have a card by Lexi Bridges "I Heart My Dad".

Lexi says "This one is simple and little kid-ish :) The Campfire line can definitely have a "manly" vibe so combine it with the bear from Rocket Age and the fun quote and it makes the perfect card to come from a kiddo.  I also used the Comet Tail sprinkler against the blue background to make it pop."

Next is "You're the Man" card by Jill Sprott
Jill says "Every father deserves a "man card" for Father's Day, am I right? I brought together some manly-man odds and ends from the Rocket Age line as well as some Thrift Shop and Report Card wild cards."

"You're Out of This World" card by Marcy Penner.

Marcy embossed the little robot onto a tag.  Then she unscrewed the Tin Type sprinkler bottle, dipped her paintbrush in and painted the robot.  What a cool way to use the sprinklers!

"I Love You Dad" card by Roree Rumph.
She used 5 and Dime, Thrift Shop and Report Card to put this adorable card together.

Amy Heller's Father's Day Pillow Box "4 U Dad"

 
Amy created the main image with the B side of paper from Report Card. She used Campfire for the other papers and alpha letters. The buttons are from Schoolhouse, too.

"I Love You Man" card by Kinsey Wilson



Don't you love how Kinsey used the sticker background from the mini-markets to create a mask?  This card is full of cool techniques you gotta try!

And Danni has even created a tutorial for us today to create this ADORABLE card:









And another variation using the same technique:

If you have already finished your Father's Day creations we would love to see them!  If not, we hope we have inspired you today to break out your supplies and get busy! :)

Color Splash! Challenge

Hi Everyone! It's Amy here today and I have a bright, and fun inspiration challenge for you. One of my favorite things about October Afternoon has always been the COLOR. Bright, bold, fun and incredibly cohesive between collections. Today I thought I would bring you a post FULL of color, bright and vibrant, showcasing how all the different collections work together brilliantly when you want to put together a card, layout or mini album that focuses all of it's "umpf" on COLOR, glorious color!!
 
*Spring by Amy Heller*

OA Collections used: Rocket Age, 5&Dime, Campfire, Seaside, Modern Homemaker, Fly A Kite, Thrift Shop, Farm Fresh, Roadmap, Cherry Hill, Ducks in A Row

SprINKlers: Paper Doily, Buttermilk
 
*First Grass Stain Season by Amy Heller*

OA Collections used:  5&Dime, Campfire, Modern Homemaker, Fly A Kite, Farm Fresh,  School House, Report Card, Cherry Hill, Roadmap, Good Cheer
 
*Nothing But Blue Skies by Amy Heller*

OA Collections used:  5&Dime, Campfire, Thrift Shop, Fly A Kite, Weathervane, Thrift Shop

Mini Markets:  Mini Markets (Rocket Age) Light Blue, Sticky Keys (Playtime)

As you can see, I think I've used most of every collection in the OA line up to create these cohesively color-themed projects. Now let's take a look at Roree's incredible favorite pictures mini album!
 
When I presented the challenge to Roree, I told her we were doing a monochromatic challenge. When she finished her project and presented me with this beautiful tag album, I decided to mix up the focus of the challenge a tad to feature exactly what her project shows, that is that every collection you posses in your October Afternoon stash can work beautifully together! And her mini encapsulates that message in such a fun, creative way!

Lets take a closer look:
 
This is what Roree had to say about her album:

It is a little 'Fave Photos' pocket tag mini. There is a tag for each person in my family. We all got to pick our own favorite photos from the past year to put in our pocket, so it is personalized for each person. I am not crazy about doing monochromatic projects, so I got around it by doing each individual pocket tag as a monochromatic but putting them together to be a rainbow of color.
 
 
 
*Fave Photos Mini Album by Roree Rumph*

OA Collections used: Rocket Age, 5&Dime, Campfire, Farm Fresh, Modern Homemaker, Fly A Kite, Thrift Shop

Mini Markets:  Sticky Keys (Playtime)

So what do you think!? Are you up to digging through your OA stash of goodies and creating a super COLORFUL project? We would love to see your takes using all of your creative takes on OA Color!! Simply upload them to our Flickr gallery and let us all see your wonderful creations! I hope you are inspired to use a BIG splash of color in your next projects!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a WONDERFULLY colorful Monday! ;D