October Afternoon

Challenge: Scrapbook A List

Hi everyone.  Marcy here to start your week off with a challenge.

Before I get to the challenge I wanted to let you all know that we've teamed up with Glue Arts this week.  They will be sharing some fun layouts featuring Modern Homemaker all week on their blog here. All of us here have had a great time trying out their adhesives this last little while.
 
I've been using this big guy a lot!  I find it quite nice for larger items on my pages... like photos and mats.  So, stay tuned this week for more projects featuring Glue Arts adhesive.

Okay.... onto the challenge for the week.

I challenge you to scrapbook a list.  I'm a HUGE listmaker.  I have a planner on me at all times.  At first I thought I'd scrapbook a photo of my planner.  But I've done that in the past.... so I decided to scrapbook a list of my boys' favorite things about school.  The great thing about this topic was that I could use two of my favorite October Afternoon lines...Schoolhouse and Rocket Age!
 
(For all you eagle eyes out there you may notice that this layout is not exactly the same as the bit you can see in the first photo I posted.  I wasn't happy with everything on it so I changed a few things).  I typed my boys' lists out so many times it not even funny.  In fact... the lists shown are actually adhered over individually cut strips... the Glue Arts adhesive took that challenge on like a champ!  :)

I love how well different October Afternoon lines work together!  I had no problem mixing in Schoolhouse with Rocket Age (and I threw in some Road Map title work on top of that too).
 
 
A couple of my favorite things... ink splatters and buttons.
 
I sent this challenge off to Lexi to see what she'd do with it.  And funny enough, she chose to scrapbook a school related list as well!

I love how Lexi also mixed Rocket Age with previous lines.
 
 
Those red and blue ledger stitches are totally brilliant!
 
 
So, now you've seen what we've done with the challenge...we'd love to see what you do with it!  Link us up in the comment section and share your work in our Flickr gallery!

Also, because of all the issues with Blogger last week, we have decided to extend the blog hop contest for one more day.  We will choose the winners this evening and will post them tomorrow!

Happy Monday!

We are going to wrap-up the CHA booth projects this week and then we have a pretty special announcement next Monday, the 21st.  I can't wait for you all to see what we have been up to! :)

Today I want to share some very cool Schoolhouse projects from Jill Sprott. 
I love every single thing about this page. I love the theme, the misting, the colors, the pictures...everything! It is so great.

 
I love how she cropped her photos and framed them with the paptterned papers and embellishment on this fireworks layout.

 
This is the first time I have ever seen someone trim the mini-market alphas into a little banner like Jill did on the word "science".  Isn't that such a great idea?  I am definitely going to use that one soon!

Thank-you Jill for inspiring us on this crazy Monday morning.  Is anybody else still dragging from Daylight Savings? 

Hello to Jen Jockisch - our March GD!

We are so happy to welcome the sweet and talented Jen Jockisch as our March guest designer.  We were thrilled to have her design some amazing projects for our CHA booth, and now we're thrilled to have her here on our blog to share some more of her beautiful work!
 
First, let's learn a little more about Jen.

1) Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m 33, have a 4 year old daughter named Ayla, and a 6 month old daughter named Nora.  I’ve been married for 7 years; my husband is a junior high principal and so is rarely home. I work as a secretary at our local high school and trying to find time for everything is frequently a struggle. In addition to scrapbooking, I love to read, and most nights can be found curled up with a book after the girls are asleep. I’ve been fortunate to have had my scrapbooking work published in numerous publications, and was a 2010 member of the Creating Keepsakes Dream Team. Currently, I design for studiocalico.com, twopeasinabucket.com, American Crafts and Sassafras.

2) Tell us about your scrapbook style and how long you have been scrapbooking?
I’ve been scrapbooking for close to 7 years, and my style has definitely evolved over time. I love to use lots of layers and patterns and colors to make my layouts. I really like trying to mix different colors and/or patterns that you would never think would match, but when all combined they just work. Or at least I think they work, lol.

3) Are you a layout person or a card person...or both?
Definitely layout. I occasionally make cards for assignments, but it’s not where my heart lies.  

4) What is on your scrap desk right now?
I just spent 2 days cleaning and purging my scraproom, and it was the best feeling ever. So right now there is not a whole lot on my table, it’s all neatly put away, but I’m sure that won’t last long.

5) What is your very favorite October Afternoon line of paper?
I love the new 5 and dime line. I have 2 little girls and I’m always looking for fun and feminine designs. This fits the bill perfectly, and has just enough vintage thrown in to make it perfect for me.

6) What can you NOT scrapbook without?
Foam adhesive, a black pen, chipboard alphas, white or kraft cardstock, and patterned paper.

7) What is your favorite source for inspiration?
I love design blogs, Décor 8 and Creature Comforts are some of my favorites. I
also get a ton of inspiration from the ads on Nick Jr.

8) Favorite TV show?
The Office or Parenthood.

9) Favorite 7th grade memory?
I have the worst memory ever, truly. I can barely remember last week, let alone 7th grade.

10) If you could have dinner with anyone living or dead who would it be and why?
My Mom. She passed away very unexpectedly a few years ago, and I miss her every single day.

 
Don't you love how she cut the hearts out on that pink paper?  You also don't really notice at first glance that this layout was made with our Schoolhouse collection.  I love it.

We are looking forward to seeing what else Jen has to share with us! :)

Farewell Nancy Holley!

It is the last day of February (already!?!?) and it is time to say goodbye to our fabulous Guest Designer, Nancy Holley.

Before we say farewell, let's get inspired by a few more of her beautiful layouts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I just love all the little details that Nancy adds to her pages!  From that ruffled paper on the "Happy Day" layout to the stapled ribbon on "Kindergarten" layout, those special little touches really make her pages stand out. 

Thank-you, Nancy!  It has been wonderful getting to know you and we appreciate your wonderful work.

Schoolhouse Inspiration

I thought it would be fun to show you some of the Schoolhouse/Report Card projects that were in our booth at CHA.  I know I mentioned it before, but we really had some fabulous projects made by some pretty fabulous designers!

First up is this darling little mini-album and card from Sasha Holloway.

 
 
 
Stacey Kingman provided us with LOTS of beautiful card inspiration:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Some gorgeous layouts by Roree Rumph:

 
 
Look at those cute fish she made with the Report Card argyle paper?  Love it.

 
 
And a layout by Stephanie Howell: 
Is anybody else ready to run to their scrap desk and get busy with some Schoolhouse? 

The countdown is on!

It is crunchtime for CHA and things are coming together nicely.  We are so excited to share our new lines with you...but you will have to wait a few more days! :)  Sorry to tease you, but I think they will definitely be worth the wait.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you these fabulous cards made by Michelle Philippi. 

I love how she embellished the clothing on this card.  Such a cute idea.
 

I am sure any teacher would love to receive this card.

Thanks to Michelle for sharing these beautiful cards with us!

Happy December!

Hi there! I cannot believe that it's the first day of December! It is my favorite month of the year, but I almost dread it as much as I look forward to it! LOL! Not that I dread doing all the fun stuff...but I am not a fan of the running around at the last minute finding gifts and such. I also used to look forward to my birthday being this month, but now that I am older than dirt...the thrill of that is gone! LOL! But in the end it is such a fun time of year full of families getting together to celebrate, that really none of the hustle and bustle matters. I love it!

Thanks for sharing all of your favorite holiday traditions with us in the comments section on yesterdays post...there is still time to enter to win the prize. If you didn't have a chance to enter you still have until Friday when we draw winners!

To give you a little inspiration...here is a fun layout that was in the 2 Peas gallery by Sarah! Love her simple, clean and classic lines here! That stitching is impeccable! Thanks for sharing this Sarah!

Here is another layout found over at 2 Peas by Ami G. Here is what she said about her design "An out-of-focus pic of myself, which I decided to use on a layout about all the things I'd like to focus on. I made the masked background by using the leftover piece from October Afternoon journaling cards, after they were punched out. I sprayed with Glimmer Mist to get the effect, then traced with a brown Zig." I love the idea of using the journaling cards negative space as a template for spray inks, and also the idea of this layout being all about focus. So important and such a great idea!

We also have something really exciting that I get to tell all of you about on Friday! It's BIG news! It will be a first EVER for October Afternoon...so stay tuned!!

Sharing some love...

I have been seeing the cutest October Afternoon projects all over the world wide web lately. Thought I might share a few things today. I found this darling layout on 2peas this morning by Katie Rose. Her photos steal the show here and I love how they almost look like they are jumping across her page, just like her title implies. Perfect! :)

I love this! I found this one posted by Renata TW also on 2peas and just had to share it here. I think the use of yarn twine here is so creative. I love how in the bottom right corner how she strung a few stars and shells together to make a little garland. It's so pretty!

And a few cards by Charity Hassel too! This fun star shaped card uses our Schoolhouse line.

And look at her roller skate card! What a creative use of our Modern Homemaker line!

It's been frosty here in our neck of the woods...16 degrees to be exact right now! It's getting me in the mood to work on my Christmas card design for this year. Seeing that my parents are currently driving here for Thanksgiving...I think they might have to wait for a few days as I will be totally occupied with spending every last minute I can enjoying their company. Hope you are staying warm and cozy!

It's a pumpkin muffin kind of day...

I really should not have stopped at the corner gas station after dropping off the kids for school this morning. I knew what the end result would be. I knew I didn't have the strength to say no to that little pumpkin muffin with the giant dollop of cream cheese frosting on the top. I'm sure I just consumed my entire recommended fat grams for the day. But it was totally worth it! :)

I have some super fun projects by our fabulous Designer We Love Celeste Smith! This is such a fun layout...and the title just grabs your attention immediately because the photo is of her husband, and the title reads "June Cleaver." Like a good book synopsis that makes you just "have" to read it! The journaling reads "he cooks, he cleans, he vacuums, he mops, he folds, he straightens, he empties, he fills, he washes, he mows, he rakes, he fixes, he even does windows!...he's my June Cleaver." What a great way to say thank you to your spouse by documenting in your scrapbooks how much you appreciate everything they do! I love this! What a great layout using Modern Homemaker!

And Celeste also made a card using our Schoolhouse line! I love the simplicity of this, it's perfectly perfect. It's always nice to have a card or 2 laying around for teacher thank yous. I am going to be meeting with Tanner's teachers tonight for literacy night and I would love to have a few of these to to pass out. Maybe I'll have a few minutes to whip a few up!

Thanks Celeste! If we lived closer I would bring you a pumpkin muffin. Happy Thursday!

School Days, School Days...

School pictures were just ordered at our house and this chalkboard photo idea is a great one to be able to display them at the house!  What do you think? Don't you just want to create this for your house... or as grandparents' holiday gifts?