October Afternoon

A Very Merry Week Two!

It's Nicole and Becky (that's me) here today to share some ideas with the awesome OA Christmas products!

Nicole created this fun layout-

Here's what Nicole had to say about her layout:

This photo of my Dad and I is one of my very favorites...I love that it shows both of us totally engrossed in Christmas morning and completely unaware that my Mom was snapping photos. This layout started with that photo + the journaling card from the Miscellany pack...the rest of the bits were added here and there until I forced myself to stop. The title came right from the Make a Gift paper, and I added the button + twine to balance the bottom out a bit.

Love the layered up border below the photo and journaling.

I created a spread for my December Daily album-

I just have to say that the stamp set in this collection is awesome! I used one of the stamps for the embellishment on the bottom right, "it's the most wonderful time of the year". 

You can take a look at the Make it Merry collection here. I hope we've provided a little inspiration for your holiday pages and projects!

And don't forget to email photos of your Very Merry December Mini-Book to jon.f@octoberafternoon so they can be added to a photo album which appears on the OA Facebook page!

A Very Merry December: Week One

All this month, we are excited to bring you ideas for using the October Afternoon Very Merry December 2012 mini-book kit! 

The album itself is a Make It Merry Here & Now book, which can be easily personalized.  

Both Mou and I (Jill) got started with our albums by getting painterly.  Mou removed the chipboard letters from the album cover and painted the cover dark green.  She then adhered the letters above the word "Merry." 

"I I After staining the letters blue, Mou stamped them with the 'Fa la la" stamp from the exclusive stamp. She also stamped "December 2012' on a strip of "Make A List" paper.

The final touches include a stitched die-cut star and an exclusive "Very Merry" tin pin. Next week, Mou will share a peek inside this festive album. I can't wait to see more! 

My approach to the album cover was similar to Mou's. I, too, ended up with green fingers. 

I added a coat of gesso, and once it was dry, I sprayed it with mist. I then used a paper towel to smooth the color vertically across the cover.  I used a die-cut machine to create the title, and opted to trim around the negative space and adhere the resulting strips to the cover. 

I may add a few accents to the cover, but since I'll be opening and closing the album quite a bit over the next few weeks, I'll wait until the end of the month to add anything else.

The hints of red and yellow behind the word "Merry" are peeks at the first page of the album:

I like the idea of beginning the album with a holiday "greeting" of sorts. The colors on this page are repeated throughout the album, offering a sense of unity.

Since keeping up with a daily album can be tricky at this time of year, I decided to organize mine by weeks. I defined a "week" loosely, dividing the month into four parts rather than into specific seven-day increments. The tabbed inserts in the Here & Now book serve as dividers for each week. 

Within each section I record how the holidays are taking shape in our daily lives. Each page focuses on a different day or event.  The journaling is simple -- not to mention handwritten. The goal is capturing snapshots and snippets that reflect the spirit of the month, and a natural, organic approach works best for me. 

We would love to see what you are doing with your own Very Merry December mini-book kit! Simply email photos of your pages, along with your name and the state in which you reside to [email protected].  We’ll add them to a Very Merry December Mini-Book Kit photo album that will appear on the October Afternoon Facebook page.

Christmas Advent Calendar Tutorial

Hi everyone, Mou here with today's tutorial.

Recently at a CKU event, I saw some super cute projects using baking sheets. Inspired by those, I made my own Christmas Advent Calendar using the October Aternoon Make It Merry collection.

For this, I used:

Make A Countdown 12x12 paper

Make A Bow 12x12 paper

Tin Pins

 Wrap Pack

and some tags (twenty-four 2.75"x1.5" and one 2.75"x4.75"), Distress Stains, Sprinklers, paint, a baking sheet (16.5"x10.5"), mini clips, Mod Podge and crop a dile.

Let me walk you through the steps.

1. Cut out all the number blocks from the Make A Countdown paper.

2. Attach the numbers to the tags: 1 to 24 on small tags and 25 on the bigger tag. Trim off any excess.

3. Color the tags with Distress Stains.

4. Color the baking sheet with red acrylic paint. Let dry.

5. Cut Make A Bow paper to fit the middle of the baking sheet. Seal the whole thing with a coat of Mod Podge. Let dry.

6. Holding the baking sheet horizontally, mark at 0.75", 3.75", and 7" on both sides from the top with a pencil.

7. Use crop a dile or a craft drill to make holes on the marked spots.

8. Tie baker's twine through the holes.

9. Attach the tags as shown to the baker's twine 'clothesline' with mini clothes pins.

10. Splatter some Sprinkler inks across the whole thing to finish.

Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and will add your handmade touches to your
Holiday decor this year!

More Make It Merry Gift Wrap Ideas!

Hey everyone! Roree here, along with Amy, to share some more fun gift wrap and packaging ideas using the totally cute Make It Merry collection.

I created a few pillow boxes to dress up with some fun bows and embellishments. I cut the pillow boxes out with my Cricut Expression 2 and Close to My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge.

 

 

 For my first box, I created a classic bow.

I folded 13 strips of patterned paper and layered and adhered them to create the bow. I added some fun die cuts from the Miscellany pack to finish the box.

For the second box, I created a rosette.

I cut the scalloped strip using my Cricut Expression 2 and Ribbons & Rosettes cartridge.  You could easily create your own with a strip of patterned paper and some scallop-edged scissors. I thought is would be a fun change from a traditional bow. I finished the rosette with a Tidbits die cut circle, a coulple of buttons and some ribbon from the Miscellany pack, and a tag that I altered from the Designer Brads pack.

For the third box, I created another paper bow.

 

This one I cut out with my Cricut Expression 2, Cricut Craft Room design software, and the 3D Bows digital cartridge. This one was quick and easy, only three cuts and a little adhesive to put it together. I wrapped the box with some patterned paper strips and added a few Little Flyers to the bow to finish.

Amy created some darling origami boxes perfect for smaller gifts. She will tell you a little more about them.

"I decided to create some little gift boxes made by origami folding. You can readily find lots of the same instructions online simply by searching for "origami boxes with lids". These fun little boxes are super simple to make and are perfectly suited to all types of gift giving. I can see making several of these little boxes for small gifts for teachers with my daughter's help this year!

I created 3 boxes using the Make it Merry 8x8" paper pads. The only cutting involved is trimming off the edge from the paper pad, the rest is very basic folding. Finished, these small boxes measure, about 3"-3.25" .

I also created one to share with you out of a 12x12" sheet. If you choose to make this size box, the finished size will end up being about 4.25" square.

To finish my boxes up, I created belly-bands for each measuring 1.5" x 9.5". This allows for simple unwrapping and a place to also adhere your embellishing. My embellishments are a mixture of handcut paper from the Make it Merry collection, star garland from the Make it Merry Mini Book kit, found here, and Make it Merry Stickers and Little Flyers."

 

 

 

Aren't they the cutest things?! I can't wait to make some of my own!  :)

We hope you all enjoyed today's gift wrap and packaging ideas using the Make It Merry collection. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Wrap it Up--Make it Merry Style

Good Morning!  Danni here today with a couple of ideas for dressing up your Christmas pillowboxes using the new Make It Merry line.  This line is so perfectly Christmas, vintage, fun, perfectly October Afternoon. 

 look at this tape, i could use it on EVERYTHING

 

 

and these cuuute journal cards that are perfect for layering with the gorgeous buttons and brads in the pack

 

it make is all too easy and fun!

 

here's the pillowbox i created, layering and layering (i didn't want to stop)

 

 

 

don't these little embellies, tapes, brads, buttons, trims make the cutest wrappings?  i am going to be using them a LOT this year.  i love to give gift cards so this year it will be fun to pretty them up!

 

 

aren't these ribbons, buttons and trims that come in that pack the perfect little touches?  i just love them and can't wait to see what you do with yours!

 

Joining me today is Marcy and she took the cute little snowman and dolled up this pillowbox.

Here's what Marcy had to say:

"I decided for some quick and easy packaging and knew that the Miscellany Pack would be perfect for that.  For this little package I cut a pillow box with my silhouette and added a ribbon.  Behind the ribbon I tuck the large snowman and some other embellishments, including a tag to write the recipients name on.  He's all ready to give."

 

 

    Could you imagine seeing one of these under the tree or on your desk?  OMCuuuuuuute!

 

We hope we've inspired you to wrap up some presents this year using your OA collections.

Thanks for visiting us today on the blog!

Danni and Marcy

 

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!

 

'Tis the Season for Card Making!

Hi OA fans! It's Amy here today and we are mixing things up a smidge from our regular routine since the holidays are so closely upon us!

This week we are focusing our efforts to bring you delightful ideas on creating your holiday greeting cards! Nicole, our newest member of our team and I are here to start the week off with several ideas using the fabulous new holiday release from October Afternoon, Make it Merry!

For my first card, I took my inspiration from this fun little snowman on the Make A List paper, shown below. Then I added l my sentiments from the Make it Merry Word Stickers and Little Flyers. 

Make a List Paper from the Make it Merry Collection

With it's simple color palette, it was simple to embellish this sweet little card with my Make it Merry buttons, a touch of red ribbon, some stitching and a cute enamel dot to finish things off.

There are so many pieces in this collection perfect for creating your holiday cards. Like all of the wonderful Postcards in this collection (shown below).

Postcards from the Make It Merry Collection

I couldn't resist this cute little Scotty dog postcard for my next greeting. Simply too cute pass up an opportunity to create a sweet holiday card for my friends who have two Scotty dogs themselves! By hand trimming him out, I was able to keep my main header from the postcard and my little dog, creating a simple frame for layering more pattered paper and a sweet little ho, ho, ho bark speech bubble from the Doo-Dads in the collection.

Nicole created two beautiful cards for today's projects and this is what she had to say about them:

I love the vintage images on the Postcards, so I grabbed my scissors and cut the girl/boy to use on this first card. Wanting them to stand out a bit, I kept the rest of the card simple...the sentiment stamp from the Greeting Cards set was perfect for the front of the card. Even the font mimics the era that is  tied in with the entire Make it Merry line!! The red trim is from my stash. - Nicole Harper

Greeting Cards Rubber Stamp Set from the Make it Merry Collection

I am smitten with the Snowflakes background stamp...pairing it with white embossing powder on the old ledger side of the Make a Bow paper made the perfect base for this card. All I needed to add were a card, seam binding and tag from the Miscellany kit as well as a button and brad. Super simple, but that snowflake stamp makes a big impact! - Nicole Harper

Miscellany from the Make it Merry Collection

Such gorgeous, cards, Nicole! I just love how she created that snowflake background, it's stunning!

Of course, there are MANY other pieces from the Make it Merry collection that are ideal for making your holiday cards. To see more, check out the entire collection here on our website or at your favorite scrapbooking store!

That's going to do it for today's post! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day! - Amy :)

Thursday Sketch Challenge

Hi there everyone. It's Marcy here today with your weekly sketch... so, let's get right to it.

I gave this sketch to our newest DT member... the awesome Nicole Harper!  And here's how she tackled it, and our featured product, the Sew Fun Banners.

"I cut the inside out of one of the Postcards, and opted to use what was left as a frame instead of a second photo. I added my journaling inside the frame as well as a few other bits. The chipboard numbers were stamped with embossing ink and then I used gold embossing powder on them so that they stood out as a focal point for my title. I also LOVE that you can use the Sew Easy banners as intended or like I did here: a few random pieces by themselves...the 'tree' in the frame and the detail pieces above the photo."

I love the Make it Merry line with charcoal grey cardstock!  Sooo pretty.  And that messy-stitched tree?  I'm definately going to have to do that on a page soon.

I decided to leave the sketch pretty much as is and came up with this layout.

The bubble paper from Midway was perfect for this page about my son enjoying the hot tub.  And I couldn't resist throwing that cute rubber duck on the page as well.

Even though the Sew Fun banners are ideal for sewing across as is, I like to space mine out a bit so I sewed mine down after I adhered them to my page.

I hope you enjoy the sketch this week.  Be sure to link up your pages in our Flickr gallery so we can see how you interpretted it this week.

 

monday challenge--sew fun banners

happy monday everyone!  danni here today with you and joined by roree with today's

monday challenge:  using the new sew fun banners in a fun, unique way

these new products are just that,  "sew" fun and i loved playing with them.  to create with this fun, new product, you simply stitch a straight stitch just below the top of the banners you would like to use, in a straight line across the number of banners.  when finished, you simply lift up the first banner and tear out the stitched banner.  these could not be more fun or easy!

 

check out this absolutely amazing card by roree today

i love how she interpreted this challenge and her amazing use of the sew fun banner

 

 

and i chose to create my projects today using the new Make it Merry Sew Fun Banners.  I chose to layer my banners and create Christmas Gift Card Holders using my stitched banners.

 

I created a short tutorial to demonstrate just how easy it is to create one of these gift card holders using 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" gift enclosure envelopes.

 

snowy "december" gift card holder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (please forgive the "thanksgiving starbucks card, as the Christmas ones are not out yet...wink)

 

and here are the other two gift card holders i created using these fun banners

 

 

 

 

as you can see, you can add a lot of patterns by layering these fun banners or you could create your own embellishments (like my Christmas tree) on your next project

 

we hope you have been inspired to add these new products to your next santa wish list and challenge yourself to use them in unique and fun ways!

 

happy creating♥

danni and roree

 

Thursday Sketch: Layered Postcards

Hi everyone! Vivian here, along with Becky, with today's sketch:

This week we are focusing on Postcards here at October Afternoon. Postcards are one of October Afternoon's newest products and offer a lot of fun opportunities, as we've seen throughout this week. If you're just joining us for the first time this week today, here's a look at the products we've been working with:

Becky decided to use the Make It Merry Postcards on this gorgeous layout documenting her son's family's Christmas card photo:

 

Becky had this to say about the sketch and her layout: "I love simple, so I just stayed true to Vivian's sketch. I had a photo that I wanted to focus on and even though it's not a traditional Christmasy photo, it is my son and his family's Christmas photo for their card. I think it works! It was fun to incorporate the vintage looking postcards too!"

Becky also used the Make It Merry Sew Fun Banners on her layout (another new product). Here's a closer look at what she did with those:

I decided to turn the sketch upside down and use it to create a card. Like Becky, I combined the Postcards with the Sew Fun Banners:

If you're liking our new Make It Merry line, please be sure to check out yesterday's Make It Merry Blog Hop (if you haven't done so already, that is!).

We'd love to see anything you create with this sketch! Please share your projects with us via the October Afternoon Flickr Gallery.

Happy creating!