October Afternoon

October's Guest Designer | Janice Matsunaga

Hello!  I'm Janice Matsunaga and I'm very excited to be able to share some October Afternoon projects with you during the month of October.  I was born and raised in sunny Southern California and live here with my husband Dean and sons, Canaan and Luke.  I've been scrapbooking since the mid 90's and started using pocket pages in 2011.  I find pocket pages the most efficient format to document our busy lives, while still being able to be creative.  I am an admitted paper addict, washi tape hoarder and coffee snob.  My father was a photographer and he gifted me with a Kodak Instamatic 110 pocket camera when I was in elementary school.  I've been taking pictures since and enjoy documenting life's moments.

 

Now to answer some questions...

Are you a layout person, a card person...or both? I used to make cards before I started scrapbooking.  After a friend introduced me to modern scrapbooking, it's been my creative outlet of choice.  Occasionally, I'll sit down and stamp out an assembly line of cards.

What is on your scrap desk right now?

I have pictures from the month of April that need a home, bowls of embellishments, water colors, my journaling Bible, and memorabilia that needs to be filed. 

What is your favorite October Afternoon line or product?

I have owned most of OA's lines but my personal favorites are the Schoolhouse and Report Card lines.  I collected these lines for many years until I recently used them to create my younger son's School Years book, Pre-K to 3rd grade.  I also love the Mini Market letters and sticker tabs. 

What can you NOT scrapbook without?

My paper cutter, rolling adhesive and journaling pens.

What is your favorite source of inspiration?

Usually it's a photo or something funny my boys said.  Sometimes it's scripture or a verse from a song.

What is your favorite movie or TV show?

Currently, it's "Downton Abbey" and "The Blacklist."

What is your favorite food?

A tender, juicy piece of rib eye.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

Roller skating with my friends in the street until the streetlights came on.  That would be our signal to go in for dinner.

If you were a superhero, what would your name be and what power would you possess?

My name would be Blink and my power would be super speed.  I would be able to clean my home, run errands and cook meals in the blink of an eye. I would have more time to spend with my family, scrapbook and read.  

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to see you back here next Friday.  I will be sharing my posts on Instagram at: @mochajan and on my blog at: mochajan.wordpress.com

Janice 

 

 

 

Thursday Sketch: Green is for...

Hey guys :)

This is Laura here today with a 12x12 layout sketch, although you could definitely use it as inspiration for a 8.5x11 too as you will see bellow!

Being as our theme for this week is "Green/Luck", I thought I'd focus on the green aspect, and do a layout about how we color coded our kids when it comes to cups, and things.  Our middle guy could never remember his color so it became a bit of a mantra I would find myself saying over and over "Green for Griffin".  My printer has decided to go wonky and not print so there is not visible journaling on the page yet.  I've written my thought on the back of the page and will print it out for the front once it resumes working.  

I knew there were some great greens in the December Story kit so I pulled that out and started with the green trees on white.  I turned it on it's side and they now look like arrows!  The gold stars and striped journaling card were also from the kit.

My favourite part of the page it the cut up label stickers along the edge.  It's such a fun way to use them, and I totally cut them in half and used the other sides so as not to waste any of them.

It was just enormously fun to dig through my stash for green products.  

I have Emily with me today to see her fun take on the sketch!  I was so excited by how she made it work for her.

Here is what she had to say:

When I saw that the theme for this week was “luck,” I knew I had the perfect story to document.  Last year while I was walking with my two boys, a man stopped me and asked about them. When I told him I also had a daughter, he exclaimed, “Wow!  Two girls and a boy!  How lucky can you be?” Usually when I’m out with all my kids I get comments like “you sure have your hands full.”  I absolutely love that this man saw they joy and love that comes with having a bigger family!  I used a lot of elements from the Daily Flash Milk Money collection because I love how their bright colors contrast with my black and white photo. I was sure to include lots of hearts, because this layout is about luck and love!  My layout stayed fairly true to Laura’s sketch, although I knew I wanted to use a big title, so I moved the photo from the right to the left so I could include my vertical title!  Thanks to Laura for such a fun sketch!

So thanks for stopping by today, I hope you are having an amazing day. If you guys feel inspired to use my sketch, then please share your creations in the October Afternoon Flickr Gallery!  I'd love to see them :) 

Laura & Emily

Topic Tuesday: Feeling Lucky?

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

This week's Topic Tuesday prompt, appropriately, focuses on luck:  What is your view of luck? How do you define it? Based on this definition, do you consider yourself lucky? 

Roree and I used these questions as a springboard for our projects, working in some St. Patty's green along the way and mixing old and new October Afternoon collections. In thinking about the prompt, Roree was inspired to create this lovely card: 

Roree explains: 

""I view luck as a circumstance of chance. Sometimes your luck can be good, sometimes it can be bad. Either way, it is something that you have no real control over. I do feel like I have been lucky in my life, especially in love. I have been with my husband for almost 25 years, married for almost 22 those, and I am still madly and deeply in love with him. (And I think he still feels the same way about me too!)

This feeling of luck inspired me to create a love-themed, St. Patrick's Day-inspired card just for him. I used patterned papers from the Farm Girl (for the lucky die cut) and Witch Hazel (for the stripes and clover) collections, along with Milk Money Pop Drops and letter stickers from Daily Flash. It's the perfect sentiment to let him know just how much I love him."

The recipient of this card is most definitely one lucky guy! 

My thoughts on the prompt led me to create a layout that features a photo collage documenting the evidence of how lucky I am. 

...Or am I not lucky, but blessed? The journaling works through this question. 

Among the layers of this page, I incorporated a variety of colors and patterns, all of which pick up the colors in the photo collage. The backdrop for the layout is the B-side of an uncut "Journal Cards" sheet from the Saturday Mornings collection. I included some Miscellany, Wild Cards, and accents from various October Afternoon collections, such as Daily Flash, Road Map, Report Card, 9 to 5, Cakewalk, and Schoolhouse. As a finishing touch, I added a few stamped sentiments, using the "Everyday" Daily Flash roller stamp. 

So how about it? Feeling lucky? We'd love to see your take on this week's Topic Tuesday prompt! Link us up in the comments below and/or share your projects in the OA Flickr gallery. 

Thanks for visiting today! 

-- Jill 

Monday Challenge: Old & New

Hey everyone! Roree here with a Monday challenge for you.

I was cleaning out my office a couple of weeks ago, trying to clear out my older supplies to make room for my newer ones. When I got to the shelves that house my October Afternoon products, I moved right past them without even looking. There is absolutely no way I could ever get rid of any of my OA supplies! But I decided to go back after I finished cleaning to see what OA products I still had. My collections date back all the way to 2008 and the Daydream collection!

With this in mind, I thought it would be fun to challenge myself (and YOU!) to an "Old & New" challenge—create a project using one of your oldest OA collections with one of your newest OA collections.

For this challenge, I mixed my oldest collection:

with my newest collection: 

and I came up with this:

I used Daydream's Freshly Mown Lawn and Garden Chair patterned papers for the pennant and flowers and a label Die-cut Shape and mixed them with Treasure Map's X Marks the Spot and Hangman's Cove patterned papers, a Word Sticker, a Tin Pin, Buttons, and a Tid Bit sentiment. I created a fun nautical-themed card with a girly twist.

Even though you wouldn't normally think to match these two collections together, they had a few colors in common that paired together wonderfully. I just love that!

Vivian played along with my challenge, and paired her oldest collection:

 with one of her newest:

 With them both she created this amazing layout:

"When Roree shared the idea for this challenge with me I was thrilled! I house an unofficial October Afternoon archives in my scraproom, with product from every single line ever created. I dug way back to the very first line, County Fair (which dates to 2007!), and was delighted to discover that I still had a scrap of the Grandstand paper, whose B side features a notebook-paper pattern. This scrap combined beautifully with the brand new Daily Flash Milk Money line and was perfect for listing my son’s class schedule. When I was digging around in the “archives” a couple of bits from the Detours line (from October Afternoon’s second release) caught my eye so I included a 3” x 3” square of the Walk in the Park blue grid B side and printed my journaling on a speech-bubble-shaped Detours die cut. I also pulled out my Word Stickers from the Report Card line and used one of those on the square in the upper right-hand corner. After all of these years it’s amazing to see how timeless the lines are and how well they continue to work with one another!"

What older OA products do you still have? I bet they are feeling a little unloved, so it's time to pull them out and mix and match them with your new ones. If you get a chance to play along with today's challenge, be sure to upload your project(s) to the OA Flickr group. We can't wait to see what you create.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Monday Challenge | Ombre

Happy Monday, everyone! It's Amy here today with a fun challenge for you that will have you reaching into your stash to create a trendy color effect! This week's challenge is to create a page, card or insert page using ombre (gradation of color from dark to light) as a feature of your page. 

The ombre trend has been on of my favorite from some time, and if you are familiar with my work, you know I love to play with color. So for my take on the challenge, I reached into my OA stash to come up with a dual ombre with blues and yellows. Here's a look:Ring, Ring Goes the Bell and They R Back 2 School Again, by Amy Heller

I started by using a deep, saturated blue on my edge, then gradated the color to my lightest blue, where I then started my lightest yellow and gradated it to the edge with my most saturated yellow. To achieve this effect, I used papers from Farm Girl, Make It Merry, Midway, and Witch Hazel even. To finish things off I added some pieces from the newest Daily Flash mini collection, Milk Money to add a bit of the school theme in, and shhhh! I even sneaked in a few MUCH older pieces from Report Card in there as well! ;)

I asked Mandy to join me on creating a project using ombre, and here's her beautiful layout.

AEK, by Mandy Koeppen

Here's what Mandy had to say about the challenge:

"I have to admit when Amy first sent the challenge to create a project with ombre I was a little nervous because I really haven't used that trend on my pages and I wasn't sure what I was going to do. With a phone call and inspiration from my friend Denise I was ready to give it a go. The first layout I created I loved but it was more rainbow than ombre so it will be saved for another project. When I started this second layout I thought outside my creative box and grabbed my paints. I decided to use the stencil part of the alpha stickers sheet   from the Daily Flash line and some paint to get the ombre effect for a background mat. It worked great so I thought I'd try one more thing watercolors on a canvas frame and ta-dah I love it!  Thanks Amy for this great challenge and that little push outside my creative box! " ~Mandy

Thanks, Mandy! I'm so glad it pushed you - as the results are gorgeous!

So, what do you say? You want to take the ombre challenge? If so, we'd love to see your take in our October Afternoo Flickr gallery! Simply upload it here for everyone to see! Thanks so much for joining us today and have a terrific week! ~Amy

  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: 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!

It's back to school time

Our designers were insipred by the kids going back to school. I asked them to use some  favorites, such as Report Card and Shoolhouse along with the new Sidewalks.

From Marcy Penner

I made my daughter a little journal for keeping track of her homework using the Schoolhouse line (a favorite of mine).
Now... whether or not she'll use it is a totally different question.

From Jill Sprott

For the upcoming "Back to School" feature, I used papers from the Schoolhouse and Sidewalks lines to create these clips.  As a teacher, I constantly travel to and from school with stacks of papers, and it's important to keep them organized.  These clips not only serve a utilitarian function, but they also look cute doing their thing!  They are also very simple to create.  I painted the clips, and when they were dry, I adhered strips of patterned paper to them.

And From Vivian Masket

"First and Fourth," uses Schoolhouse, Sidewalks, and Report Card as well as Boarding Pass letter stickers and 5& Dime and Boarding Pass sprINKlers (Lemon Drop on top, All Aboard and Lemon Drop layered on the bottom). To create the white "frames" for the embellishments at the top, I used a punch one size larger than the punch used for each embellishment and punched shapes out of scrap cardstock (or, in the case of the flashcard, I cut a larger sized piece of cardstock and rounded the corners), and sprayed Lemon Drop over them while they were temporarily adhered. I removed the cardstock circles, stars, and rectangle, and then popped the embellishments in the center of each frame.

Challenge brought to you by Kinsey and Jill

Hey OA Friends! Kinsey and Jill here today with this week’s challenge and it’s a fun one so let’s jump right into it! This one is all about the number one…literally. It’s a one of each challenge, and I’ll admit, when I chose this challenge, I was aiming for simplicity- back to school time is hectic so the easier the better for now, ha! I was totally surprised though by how much thought went into every choice because let’s face it, choosing 1 of anything October Afternoon- related is next to impossible…I tend to use multiples of EVERYTHING on my projects and now, I’m proud to say that this challenge pulled me out of my comfort zone and made me really edit my choices more.

So here’s my take on the challenge and for this layout, I used the new Sidewalks line (LOVE!)…

My ‘ones’ are as follows: 1 large font, 1 small font, 1 sheet of pp, 1 pin, 1 photo strip, and 1 tin pin (from Modern Homemaker- couldn’t resist the cat, it was perfect).

My partner in crime today is my sweet friend Jill and she knocked this challenge out of the park! I’m so excited to show you guys what she came up with…

Here’s what Jill said about the challenge:

Given my penchant for layering and repetition on a layout, I found this to be a REAL challenge.  Only ONE of each item?  I was a little worried that it would be like scrapping in a straitjacket.  However, it ended up working for me and really stretching me creatively.  This challenge made me think about my supply choices, and along the way, I realized that there was still repetition inherent in this challenge -- it just happened to be the repetition of ones.  Most of the items that I incorporated on the layout have something to do with my daughter's schedule.  For instance, the numbers relate to the Math Team, the singing bird relates to choir, the text paper relates to the Speech Team, and so on.  I used the new Sidewalks line here, along with some Boarding Pass and a Report Card pencil stamp.  Since I could only choose one sheet of patterned paper, I went with a sheet of Sidewalks "Jump Rope" paper, since it is full of variety and has two distinct A and B sides.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us today! We hope you play along because we LOVE seeing your projects in the flickr gallery and as always, there’s a chance you might find your beautiful work posted right here for all to admire :)

Take care and have a wonderful week!

Kinsey and Jill

July Guest Designer: Lisa Truesdell

It is that time again to introduce you to our guest designer for July, Lisa Truesdell!  We just love Lisa's fun, eclectic style and if anybody knows how to rock the OA Sprinklers, it's her! 

 
1} Tell us about yourself.
I live in Omaha, NE, in a midtown neighborhood filled with big trees and old houses. I’ve been married to Matthew for 13 years and don’t know if I’d manage life without his left brained computer programmer self balancing out my right brained craziness. I am a stay at home mom to our three boys – Alex is 10, Ben is 8, and Sam turns 4 at the end of July. I’m addicted to Mcd’s Diet Coke, Words with Friends, magazines and my iPad. I love to read, but I find that I’m useless from when I start a book till I finish it – I wish I had more time to indulge that! Life is often complete chaos here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. ;) You can get a glimpse into my everyday and my work at www.gluestickgirl.com.

2} Tell us about your scrapbook style and how long you have been scrapbooking?
I’ve been scrapping for almost 7 years, and in that time, I’ve been published in BHG Scrapbooks Ets, Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbook Trends and Cards Magazine. I was a CK Hall of Fame Honorable Mention in 2006 and am currently designing for Studio Calico and am a Two Peas Garden Girl. 

My style is detailed and whimsical – I like to use a lot of little bits and layers, and I tie everything together with lots of sewing. I tend to scrap more everyday moments than events – I want to capture the little things that would otherwise be forgotten.
 
3} Are you a layout person or a card person...or both?
I do mostly layouts – but I do like using cards as a way to play with new color combos or techniques. Plus, they’re a good way for me to use some girly product.
 
4} What is on your scrap desk right now?
A mess. ;) Lots of OA Rocket Age, the remains of my last Studio Calico kit, and bits and pieces of STUFF waiting to go into my project life album.
 
5} What is your favorite October Afternoon line of paper?
Rocket Age! No doubt about it. But I’m dying to see the new releases at CHA – it’s always one of my favorite booths to hit.
 
6} What can you NOT scrapbook without?
My sewing machine – I can’t finish a layout without a little (or rather, most of the time, a LOT) or stitching.
 
7} What is your favorite source for inspiration?
I’ve been sucked into Pinterest – and I can’t imagine life without it! Anytime I’m feeling low on inspiration I go through my own pins and those of my friends – it never fails to get the ideas flowing.

8} Favorite TV show?
My husband and I have a weekly ritual of watching Big Bang Theory and 30Rock. I don’t want much else on a regular basis, but if I’m home alone and needing noise, I’ll watch anything on HGTV.

9}Favorite 7th grade memory?
Oy. Junior high! What a time. My favorite memory is that a piece of my art was selected for a special show at the state capitol – definitely a cool experience!

10} If you could have dinner with anyone living or dead who would it be & why?
Oliver Jeffers. We are HUGE fans of his children’s books and his illustrations are just amazing. I’d love to get a little glimpse into how his brain works.

Let's say hello to Lisa :)

Hi everyone! I'm excited to be guesting here at October Afternoon this month - and THRILLED to be working with their Rocket Age line! I'm a mama to three boys, and this line was my favorite of the last release. I love the colors and images - such a fun, bright, vintage feel.

 

As soon as I saw this robot on the sticker sheet, I thought of these photos of my oldest at a science camp he attended last summer. It was a week of Lego Robotics - totally perfect for a Lego obsessed 9 year old!  I popped the robot sticker with foam adhesive and added a few other embellishments from the line around him.

 

I started my page using the B side of Captain's Log as a background - I'm in love with the teeny tiny polka dots in this line. Once I had the main elements on page arranged, I used temporary adhesive to attach some punched stars to the background and then sprayed over them with the Night Sky Sprinklers. This is one of my favorite techniques for the background of my pages - it adds a little interest and depth without being overwhelming.

 
I finished off the layout with Alex's name tag from the class. I always seem to keep this sort of thing, and am trying to be better about getting them ONTO my pages.

Lisa will be back next Friday, can't wait to see what else she has put together!  We hope you have a fabulous holiday weekend and we will see you on Tuesday!