October Afternoon

Monday Challenge: Create a Scene

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

As I was browsing about Pinterest one day, I came across this pin:

Image via Pinterest

I immediately fell in love with the little cityscape at the top of the image. I thought it would be fun to create my own little scene on a card (and I did!). Here is what I came up with:

For the base of my scene, I used a journaling card from the Summertime Memory Cards pack. I used cloud stickers from the Saturday Mornings Shape Stickers sheet and hand cut a house and tree from Summertime Puffy Clouds, Heat Wave, and Green Grass patterened papers and Treasure Map Moby Dick Isle patterned paper.

I completed the scene with a few cross stitches and a Summertime Double Take heart sticker and Treasure Map Designer Brad.

I added the scene to a Treasure Map Moby Dick Isle patterned paper card base and used Daily Flash Clover "Storybook" Flash Alphas and a Daily Flash Snapshots Double Take tab sticker to create a title.

I finished the card with some machine stitching and a bit of baker's twine from the Sasparilla Wrap Pack.

If you would like to take on today's challenge and create a scene on your next project, please share your creation by linking it on Instagram with the hashtag #octoberafternoon, along with tagging @octoberafternoon, so we can see! You can also share your projects on our OA Facebook wall or the OA Flickr gallery.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Thursday Sketch

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

I created this sketch while playing around in Photoshop:

It is sized for an 8 1/2 x 11" page, or it will work just as well for a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card. 

No surprise, I decided to use it for a card:

I was inspired to create this baby-themed card because of the adorable little teddy bear sticker found on the Word Stickers sheet in the all-new Saturday Mornings collection. Don't you just LOVE this new collection?!!!

To coordinate with the stickers and paper from the new collection, I created the title/sentiment using the Strawberry Ice Cream Sign Board Alpha and Stars & Hearts Flash Chip from Daily Flash and a Flash Blurb from Girl Talk.

I finished the card with some trim from the Sasparilla Wrap Pack and a few more stickers and chipboard pieces to use in place of the photo boxes and stars in the sketch.

I hope you enjoyed today's sketch and the sample 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!

Monday Challenge: Thankful

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

Thanksgiving is only a little over a week away so when thinking about a challenge for today, I decided to take inspiration from the holiday. Because Thanksgiving is all about celebrating the blessings in our lives with our friends and family, so my challenge to you is: Create a project based around the word THANKFUL.

I created a card for the the challenge:

I originally planned on using the Apple Cider collection, but I happened to have the Woodland Park collection out and found the sweetest sentiment on one of the Here & Now Chapter pages and thought it was perfect for one the people I am most thankful for in my life, my husband.

I trimmed a couple of the Here & Now Chapter pages down to create the 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" card. Along the top, I added some stitching to frame the "Sign Board" Alphas from the Daily Flash collection,

I finished the card by adding some baker's twine from Sasparilla, a die cut and sticker from Woodland Park, and a puffy button sticker from Apple Cider.

Mandy played along with my challenge, and here is the amazing layout she created around the word thankful and a little blurb about what she is thankful for:

"Lately I've been thankful for many things so when Roree challenged me to create a project based on the word "Thankful" I had no problem getting started. When I started to brainstorm my project I instantly thought of 3 friends who over the last few months(actually longer) have been great support to me and I'm so THANKFUL for these awesome gals I call my friends. Since we live hundreds of miles apart the Milk Money "Social Studies" paper had to be my base paper and from there I went with a large title and bold journaliing. Can't wait to see what y'all do with this challenge! Thanks so much for asking me to join along Roree!!-MK"

So now it's time for you to take my challenge and run with it. Create your own "Thankful" project and share it with us in the OA Flickr group. We can't wait to see what you create! 

Tuesday Tutorial: Attaching Tags to Bows

Hey everyone! Roree here with today's Tuesday Tutorial.

Let me start by saying, today's tutorial isn't so much a tutorial as it is a tip or a trick. I tend to create in the moment. I add things, take them away, add them back until they seem to work. Sometimes this causes me to have do things in multiple steps rather than in a simple step or two. But after spending so much time on a project I usually don't want to start from scratch, so I come up with creative ways to attach things after the fact.

Here is a card I created using the new Public Library collection:

I added lots of little bits and pieces to my card, including the ribbon from the Miscellany pack.

After adding the bow to my card, I decided that it really would look better with a tag underneath. Since I didn't want to re-tie the bow, I got creative.

First, I added a hole to the top of a Sew Fun Banners pennant die cut.

I snipped the hole at the top (sort of in an upside down V shape) so it was open. Doing it this way gave me a little more wiggle room to get it over the ribbon, yet it still has the look of being closed after I attached it.

Then, I just slid it over the ribbon on the underside of the bow.

Voila! The tag is attached and you can't even tell that it was added after the fact!

Hope this tip/trick helps. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Monday PINspiration Challenge

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

I was searching around Pinterest recently and stumbled upon this pin:

I immediately fell in love with the colors, the patterns, the texture - really, everything! So here is my challenge to you: Use this pinned image as inspiration to create your next OA project.

I was inspired to create this card using the new Public Library collection:

As you can already tell, I was totally inspired by the stitching. I ran tons of stitched lines up and down a panel of the Children's Section patterned paper. It really didn't take too long to sew, and it helped that the look didn't call for neat and evenly spaced lines. Just zip, zip, zip! (And zip, zip, zip a few more times. ;) )

This pattern worked wonderfully for a quilted look, don't you think?

I finished off the card with some pieces from the Miscellany pack, the 12x12 Shape Stickers sheet, a Tidbit, a Word Sticker, a die cut flower using Biography and Due Date patterned papers, along with a button from 9 to 5, some baker's twine from Sasparilla, and a Pop Drop heart from Eggnog.

I hope you enjoyed my project and if you get a chance to play along with today's challenge, be sure to upload your project(s) to the OA Flickr group. I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

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: Pick a Color

Hey, OA fans! Good Monday to y'all! It's Mandy Koeppen here with your Monday challenge.

It's a pretty simple challenge this week just pick your colors. Pick 3-5 colors and work with only those colors for your papers, embellishments, and washi etc.

 

Here is the layout I created using green, grey, black, cream, and white. 

When I get stuck or feel like my creations need a little more of a change I challenge myself and this color thing is one of the challenges on my list. 

 

I used many different October Lines on this layout including Sasparilla, Travel Girl, 9 to 5, Daily Flash and Midway. Remember as you're searching thru your OA stash almost all the OA collections coordinate with each other which makes this challenge easier. 

If you get a chance to play along with today's challenge, be sure to upload your project(s) to theOA Flickr group. We can't wait to see what you create.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Mandy 

 

Thursday Sketch: Patterned Backgrounds

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

I created this sketch while playing around in Photoshop:

I started with a 8 1/2 x 11" format that would also work for 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card. I had a fun patterned background in mind for my project, so I created a lattice/diamond grid pattern for the base of the layout. Then I added a square towards the upper center—perfect for a couple of photos or some fun OA embellishments.

Here is the card I created using the sketch:

I used my Cricut Expression® 2 machine cut the diamonds for my grid (Cricut® Font & Basic Shapes cartridge) and flowers (Southwest cartridge). I used Travel Girl and Farmhouse for the papers, Daily Flash Girl Talk for the memory card, Travel Girl for the buttons and label sticker, Sasparilla for the baker's twine, and 5 & Dime for the chipboard.

Since the memory card had a sentiment that was already at the top of the card, I just rotated some of the elements from the sketch to make it work for my card.

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

"When I saw Roree's sketch I knew I could easily use it for a layout or a card. Since this week my kids went back to school, I decided on making a card for my daughter, who loves (bordering on obsession), loves, LOVES dogs. Instead of the two open spaces in the sketch, I opted to use one, so that I could showcase the adorable dog illustration from All Boy and couple that with all the gorgeous papers from Girl Talk. For the lattice background in the sketch I decided to use the diagonal striped paper from Girl Talk and add strips to it going in the opposite direction giving the illusion of a similar diamond-esque texture. I then stitched along the strips to add more dimension and contrast to the background."

I just love how sketches inspire creativity. You can re-create something following the sketch exactly or just use an element or two to get you started—whatever works to get you creating.

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

Monday Challenge: Travel Tags Inspiration

Hey everyone! Roree here. For today's challenge, I went searching through my Pinterest boards for a fun inspiration piece and I found this:

I thought this travel tags image would work perfectly!

I was inspired by the tag shapes, the travel theme, and the font used for the airport codes, and with that in mind, I created this tag-shaped card:

I used paper, a sticker, and a tin pin from the new Travel Girl collection, the Daily Flash Summer Catch Phrase roller stamp, letter stickers from the Sasparilla collection, and a sticker from the Boarding Pass collection.

I just love the way the colors and the mix of products came together. These new collections are going to be fast favorites—I can already tell!

Vivian played along with my challenge and created a travel-themed layout. Here is what she had to say about it:

"I took inspiration from three different aspects of Roree’s inspiration piece: theme, shape, and technique. I decided to create a travel-themed layout using the new Travel Girl line (with a bit of Daily Flash thrown in). The tags in the inspiration piece included multiple city airport codes and I pulled inspiration from that in two different ways: 1) I used the B side of the Plane Ticket paper as my background, and 2) I die cut letters from black cardstock and used them as my title. I loved the look of all the different-colored tags with the open holes allowing the background to peek through.

I die-cut three tags from Travel Girl papers and used them as the main color and design elements on my layout. I loved the painted tone-on-tone look on several of the the tags in the inspiration piece and interpreted that differently on each of my three tags, using Sprinklers from the Art Box, Woodland Park, and Witch Hazel lines. I used an even coat of color on the tag on the left, adding the gray Tin Type Art Box Sprinkler over the cream-colored map. For the center tag, I used a piece of cardstock as a mask with the aqua Woodland Park Springs Sprinkler, creating a strong diagonal line. For my third tag, I sprayed the ink from further away, creating a misted look with the orange Jack-o’-Lantern Witch Hazel Sprinkler.

I cut 1.5” off the bottom of each tag and layered those pieces underneath the bottom of my photos, stamping on the orange tag with the Daily Flash Travel Catch Phrase roller stamp. I finished the layout with a Shape Sticker, two Tin Pins, a Doo-dad, and a Tidbit from the Travel Girl collection, plus a Snap Cap and a Flash Blurb from the Daily Flash Snapshots mini-collection."

Isn't is just amazing!? I absolutely love each and every detail!

I hope you enjoyed today's inspiration. If you get inspired to create a project using this inspiration piece, make sure to post it in the OA Flickr group so we can all see. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Friday Finds: A rootin' tootin' mini-book kit!

Welcome to the first week of October Afternoon's new Friday Finds feature!  Each Friday we'll offer a new special on OA products ... from kits to components ... right here on our blog!

To start things off, we invite you to saddle up with October Afternoon’s Sasparilla Mini-Book Class Kit. 

This kit includes everything you need to create a rootin’ tootin’ mini-album, including easy-to-use color instructions that even a greenhorn city-slicker can follow. 

Scrapbook photos of your younguns, your beau, your belle, or your entire posse! 

Retail cost of this kit is $53, but you can order yours today for the amazingly low price of just $21.99 (plus shipping)!  Supplies are limited, so don’t mosey … hit the trail and get yours today!

Kit Contents:

Easy-to-use color instruction sheet

Sasparilla 8x8 Album

Sasparilla 8x8 Paper Pad

Sasparilla Chip-n-Stick

Sasparilla Buttons

Sasparilla Miscellany

Sasparilla Flower Sack

Sasparilla Word Stickers

Sasparilla Label Stickers

Sasparilla “Saddle” Sprinkler

 

Shipping Rates:

Continental U.S. - $3.00
Alaska/Hawaii - $4.50
Canada - $8.50
All Other International - $17.00