October Afternoon

Work It Wednesday: Pinterest Inspiration

Hey everyone! Roree here working some Pinterest-found inspiration.

Whale has a Friend by Tracy Walker
Tracy Walker Art

This little beauty has been waiting oh-so-patiently on my Pinterest board for quite some time now for the chance to inspire one of my projects. I am so in love with that adorable whale, but what I was really drawn to was the cluster of speech bubbles at the top of the image.

With that in mind, I created this card:

I just loved the "STORY" letters in the Public Library Chip 'n Stick pack and thought they would work well in a cluster that mimics the one in the image. I used stickers from the 12x12 Shape Stickers sheet to fill in the rest of the cluster.

I added some Word Stickers and a Designer Brad to fill in the top corner.

Then, I created my sentiment with some Mini Market Stickers and another Word Sticker and finished the card with a Border Sticker and some twine from the Holiday Style Wrap Pack.

What from the image inspires you? Upload your Pinterest-inspired project to the October Afternoon Flickr gallery, post it on our Facebook page, or on Instagram via #octoberafternoon so we can all see.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Guest Designer: Holiday Cookie Packaging

Let's face it, during the holidays, finding time to scrapbook, or do any kind of paper craft for that matter, is challenging. I love the idea of working on daily book projects but like many, I fall behind this time of year. I try not to beat myself up about it and commit to diving right back in post-holiday, while the memories are still fresh. In the meantime, I collect all the little bits and pieces of the season in a box on my desk, jot down a date or note to remind me of their significance so I'm ready to go once the time presents itself. So, if you can't get time at your desk to scrapbook this holiday season, don't fret. You can still use your supplies, especially the holiday-themed ones, for cute packaging projects. I'm a huge baker so here's an example of how I put my October Afternoon Daily Flash/Eggnog products to work off the scrapbook page...

Starting with a pleated cellophane bag, I cut some 12 x 12 Daily Flash/Eggnog papers to make the bag backing and bottom - since gingerbread is the cookie equivilent of kraft cardstock, it looks perfect mixed with the colors in this line! 

Two simple folds of the two-sided carstock, leaving a small flap to face forward for the small tag embellishment, made a base for the cellophane bag - offering just enough protection for the cookies inside, and enough of a base for them to stand up for display. Two holes punched at the top and threaded with some baker's twine close it up. Here's a close up of the embellishment tag where the Flash Blurbs and Double Takes stickers came in very handy!:

 

And speaking of my December Stories project, I have definitely not forgotten it - that kit just makes me want to sit down and scrapbook all day long!! My book is in the works and I will share my progress with you next Friday, along with some tips on how to approach this project post-holiday (I have a feeling I won't be the only one playing catch up!). Here is the detail from my cover:

Thanks so much for stopping by today - hope you have a great weekend!

 

Documenting the Elf

I know I have seen my Pinterest and Instagram feeds explode these past few days with images of Elf on a Shelf. It is such a fun & magical tradition that some families have every year. 

I have had to live vicariously through all these photos of trees and beautifully decorated homes. We just moved this past weekend and I am surrounded by boxes and piles of things that need to be put away. Unfortunately that also includes all of my craft & scrapbooking supplies. So I am very happy that the super talented Shanna Noel is here today to share a 2 page layout with us. 

 

 

and here are a few words about her layout from Shanna

 

I wanted to document this very magical year for us! It is the first year we have included Jaden in on MAKING the magic happen around here! We gave her total ownership of Ella the Elf and it is so much fun to watch that twinkle in her eye again over the magic of the season only for this year she's on the other end of that magic (which sometimes is even MORE fun!!!) I used the December Story Kit to make this spread, I LOVE those leaves and red buttons and a finishing touch!! I hope you have a magical season! 

 

Thanks so much for making October Afternoon one of your online stops today, we really do appreciate it! 

Ginny

 

 

 

 

It's A Wrap Wednesday

  

I know it's not Christmas yet but I love getting all my shopping done early and take the time to wrap up our presents in a special way. I almost always start off with kraft paper and then just add my favorite embelishments from there. The October Afternoon Christmas collections are some of my favorites, and they have lots of fun little embellishments that are PERFECT for adding to the top of your gifts!!

 

One of my favorite things to do is to make custom ribbon like the deer ribbon you see on Addison's gift above. Take your favorite October Afternoon stamp along with Staz-On ink and ribbon muslin fabric, simply stamp teh design over and over again just becareful as the ink is drying that you don't make a hot mess! This is a fun way to add a personal touch to those very special gifts you have taken the time to pick our for the special people in your life! 

 

Do you enjoy using your scrapbooking products when you are wrapping up gifts? Use hashtag #OAitsaWRAP  to share your latest project!!!

Have a wonderful day! 

Shanna

Monday Challenge: Monochromatic Tags

Hey October Afternoon Fans! Mandy Koeppen here today with this week's Monday challenge.

This week I'm challenging you to pull out those tags and grab your pattern papers of the same color and create. You could add the tag to a card, your layouts, mini albums, gifts etc. I have 4 examples for you today. yellow, red, green, and blue. As I've said many times here on the blog past and present October Afternoon collection colors always seem to mesh well together so creating monochramatic tags should be no problem. 

Here is a shot of all four tags together on the cork board.

The yellow "Thanks A Bunch" tag was created with a mix from Sasparilla to the new Daily Flash Alphas. 

"Remember tag" was created with all blues. Instead of the simple horizontal layers like the yellow tag I chose a bit of a different look with a woodgrain background and layers of circles and the blue doily. I added pop dots to give the remember some dimension too. "Baby O" the red tag was one of the first tags I created for this project. I wasn't sure where I was going but once this tag was done I was on a roll and had lots of ideas flowing: Baby showers, Birthday, Wedding, Graduation, Thank You's, etc. 

Last but not least the green "Congrats" tag for the 2014 grad. Simple layers of pattern papers and the fun new Daily Flash stickers made this a great addition to the grads gift.

These tags were really simple and easy to create. I'm sure your friends and family would love to recieve a tag from you next time. This is a great way to use up those scraps too! 

I hope I've inspired you to create some monochromatic tags and if you do please share your creations in the October Afternoon Flickr Gallery!  I'd love to see them :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Mandy

Monday Challenge: Suggest a Tree

Today's challenge showcases a fun holiday design technique that can be incorporated into all kinds of holiday projects: suggesting a tree shape. There are many different ways to suggest a tree, but the basic premise is to collect embellishments, squares of patterned paper, or punched or die cut shapes and use them to build a pyramid. This is easily done with six shapes or ten shapes; you are, of course, free to use more or less, whatever works for you and your project.

Today I  (Vivian) will show you two different ways to suggest a tree on your projects - one more complex and another that's very simple.

First let's take a look at a layout I created that uses 2" x 2" patterned paper squares from the Daily Flash Eggnog collection and from the Very Merry December kit:

Six 2" x 2" squares and three 3" x 3" photos are arranged into a haphazard pyramid with stickers and other embellishments, including snowflakes die-cut from white cardstock, added to "decorate" the "tree." A title die cut and then colored with spray ink connects the patterned paper and photograph pieces of the tree shape. Let's get a closer look:

Now that we've seen the more complex take on this design challenge, let's look at the simple take:

What could be simpler than combining ten circles and one star punched from patterned paper atop a 3" x 4" patterned paper background, and then layering a greeting die cut over the top? This card came together in just a couple of minutes using the Very Merry December kit and is now ready for use on a greeting card, on a layout, or in a December daily album.

So, how will you suggest a tree on your next project? So many options! Please share projects inspired by this challenge with us in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery.

Happy creating!

Another round of December Daily

Hi everyone, Mou here! Hope your New Year is off to a great start. I'm still tying up a few loose ends from 2012, one being my December Daily journal. I did start with the wonderful intention of working on it everyday through December, but it didn't quite work out that way. So, here I am still working on it and savoring the last little flavor of the holiday season. And I have for you another round of December Daily pages before you finish up your January 2013.

Hope you enjoyed and found some inspiration you can use on your December Daily journals.

A Little Farm Girl Inspiration

Hey everyone! Roree here today. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are off to a good start this new year. 

Now that the holidays are over, I am finally getting a chance to create some non holiday-themed projects. I have been dying to play with the new Farm Girl collection, and so that is what has inspired my project today.

With a farm theme in mind, I created this fun little berry basket:

I used my Cricut Expression 2 and Spring Cottage cartridge to cut out the basket (cut at 9 1/2") using Midway's Main Gate patterned paper and little strawberry favor boxes (cut at 3 1/2") to place inside the basket using Farm Girl's Barnyard and Milk Pail patterned papers for the boxes and the leaves.

I added Farm Girl Buttons and Holiday Style baker's twine to close and embellish the tops of the strawberry favor boxes.

They would be perfect for small trinkets or candies.  

I finished off the basket with Farm Girl's Tidbits tag, Shape Stickers, and Miscellany ribbon.

This is such a beautiful collection, and I can see myself using it on any number of different projects. 

Hope you enjoyed today's project, and I can't wait to see how this collection inspires you. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Christmas gift wrap ideas for you!

Hi Everyone! It's Becky here today along with Jill. We have a few simple ideas for gift wrap using your OA products. I had a GREAT time putting these ideas together and I got more and more excited as the product inspired me! Looking at Jill's amazing ideas, I'm fairly certain she felt the same way. 

Here are Jill's beautiful packages:

 

Top left:  I arranged four strips of Make It Merry washi tape horizontally, and tied a green bow from the Make It Merry Miscellany over the top.

 

Top right:  In a variation on the usual red-and-green holiday color scheme, I used pink and mint green. I coated two Make It Merry chipboard numbers with pink glitter, and placed them over a Sprinklers-splattered background. 

Bottom left:  I sewed two rows of Make It Merry Sew Fun banners and wrapped them around the package, along with some hemp twine. 

Bottom right: I gathered together some odds and ends from the Make It Merry collection, including buttons, stickers, tidbits, and brads.  I added pop dots to the large "25" so that it would stand out even more. 

Here's a detail shot:

The gift wrap ideas I put together were based on my plan for my own gift wrapping this season. I purchased the deer head motif sihouette cut almost a year ago with the intention of using it on my scrapbook pages, but never had a spot that seemed appropriate. As the holiday season approached, I thought the deer head would be a great design to use throughout my gift wrapping details. 

Top left: A simple kraft box (5x7) with diecut (Silhouette) deer heads. The alpha sticker is from the Make it Merry collection. The red/cream chevron paper is from Holiday Style. One of my favorite papers ever!

Top right: A simple kraft gift bag with a large diecut deer head. The tag is handcut using an office supply tag as a pattern. The label sticker is from the Make it Merry collection. The mini alpha stickers are from the Farmhouse collection.

Middle left: The cash paper holder is cut from a Silhouette file using pattern paper from the Make it Merry Collection. I realize that the paper is upside down. Since it will be used for one of our grandsons, I thought they might get a kick out of it, so I left it this way. 

Bottom left and middle bottom left: I am showing the front and backside of this diecut box. Simple diecut box and deer head motif. Alpha stickers to identify who it's for. A little twine from Make it Merry to finish it off. 

Middle: Another money holder with simple stickers from Make it Merry to embellish. 

Middle right: A tag that you don't need a Silhouette to make! I simply layered up the buttons from Make it Merry to create a Christmas tree. Washi tape from Make it Merry to identify to and from. So simple!

Bottom right: Another money or gift card holder embellished with the deer head again, label sticker, washi and a little vintage red rickrack. 

I want to share one little tip about putting together diecut boxes and envelopes: use E6000 adhesive. It works so well for these projects! 

We hope we've inspired you to create some custom wrapping details for your packages this holiday season!

 

I dare you....

to create a page using only 4 products! Becky and Amy here today with a challenge for you. Here are the "rules":

We're giving you a few freebies: scissors, writing pen and adhesive. You pick 4 additional products to make a page. 

From Amy: Becky’s challenge was just that for me - a challenge!! I never knew I relied so heavily on so many different types of product/mediums when creating a page. I didn’t even sew on this page (gasp!) and for me that’s a big deal. I didn’t thread my buttons or anything. 

The four “things” I chose to work with were patterned paper, ribbon from the Miscellany packs, buttons and alpha stickers. I found myself really struggling to make my page flow in a way that I thought it needed to. Finally after lots of experimentation, I was able to get a design I am happy with. I’m especially happy with the how the colors work together. Both the ribbon and the buttons became integral elements in the design, both in creating attention and in toning down attention (as in the yellow ribbon over the plaid paper in the bottom left corner) which is something I’m really happy with. I didn’t need to sew on it after all. :)

Here's her awesome page!

I adore the color mix! 

So pretty! 

My 4 items were: 

sewing machine

pattern paper

paper distresser

alpha stickers

I hope this challenge pushes you to try something new! We'd love to see your projects on the OA Flickr gallery.  Thanks for participating!