October Afternoon

Thursday Sketch: Squares

Hi guys! Alex here today bringing you this week's sketch. I was searhing for inspiration on Pinterest when I found this book cover.

Inspired by it, I made a sketch full of little squares.

I sent the sketch to Amy, knowing that she would rock it! I love her interpretation! 

I love the stitching, all the buttons, the white space and the contrast between black and aqua! 

Amy makes me wish I knew how to use my sewing machine... Here is what she had to say about her take on the sketch:

"I was so excited when I first saw Alex's sketch and inspiration piece. The complex-simplicity really sang to me and I loved the options that it really allows for. Originally I tried to create a page very literal from the sketch, using my photo as the band across the center of the layout, and with tiny boxes of patterned paper covering the entire page - however, that turned more "quilt-like" in it's execution than I wanted, so I started editing my patterned boxes. Ultimately I chose to use the white space and my stitching to resemble some of the additional boxes in the sketch without being too literal. The papers that I used were from Silent Night and 9 to 5 and I'm really loving the contrast between the aquas and the black/cream on the page. To brea things up, I used circular stickers from Silent Night along with buttons and brands from previous collections including Travel Girl. Thanks for the inspiration with your great sketch, Alex!"

When I created the sketch, I had a totally different layout in mind. Just like Amy's, my initial plan was to stay pretty true to the sketch. But once I started, the layout took it's own way and the squares got fewer and bigger. That's simply because I was dying to use the Spelling paper from the Milk Money collection :-) I am in love with it!

I am so in love, that I had to use two sheets! I cut out the girl, the boy and the books from one of the sheets and adhered them on top of the other using pop dots.

The layout is about my son's first day at the library. His big sister was an excellent guide. I had so much fun watching them together!

I used the Milk Money stickers, snap caps, flash blubs and a tin pin. I can't get enough of all the little bits and pieces that come with every Daily Flash collection! The orange chevron paper is from the 6x8 paper pack.

I hope you feel inspired to join us and play along with this sketch. Seeing how different my and Amy's takes turned out, I would love to see even more interpretations! If you do make something, be sure to share it in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

♥

Alex and Amy

Monday Challenge: Scraps & Labels

Hey OA fans! Mandy here with this week's Monday challenge. 

This week's challenge is pretty simple (I know I say this every time I have a challenge assignment to post but I'm a simple girl) I'm challenging you to use those October Afternoon scraps along with labels on your next layout, pocket page, or card. Simple right? I have tons of scraps in my bin right now including some I've cut with my silhouette and others that are small but still useful. So this week I reached for the scraps instead of cutting up a new 12x12 piece of paper. I'm also a labels collector. I absolutely love the OA labels they're so easy and fun to work but I love that any pen I grab can be used on these labels and it won't smear like others i have.

The labels I used on this layout are from the Silent Night collection. These particular labels had the to. & from. on them and I simply snipped that off with scissors. I used a pen for my journaling but if I would have had my laptop and printer on the same floor of the house I probably would have opted to print on these because the OA labels are great for printing and I love fonts more than my own handwriting. 

There you have it- my take on this week's challenge.I hope I've inspired you to grab those scraps and labels next time you start creating!

If you'd like to play along with this week's challenge,  we hope you'll share your projects in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery for us all to see! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day! ~Mandy

Thursday Sketch

Merry Christmas, everyone! Roree here with today's Thursday Sketch Challenge.

I created this sketch while playing around in Photoshop:

I chose an 8 1/2 x 11" format, which will work perfectly for a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card too.

I decided to make a card, and here it is:

I used the Silent Night collection and the Eggnog collection, along with some pieces from the Very Merry December Kit. I replaced the large circle in the background of the sketch with a snowman, the banners/title in place of the photos, and I added a sentiment strip in place of the journaling.

Just a fun holiday or wintertime card. :)

I hope you enjoyed today's sketch and the card I created using it. If you get a chance to play along, don't forget to post your project in the OA Flickr group.  I can't wait to see how you interpret it.

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from everyone at October Afternoon!

Collage Frame Tutorial

Merry Christmas Eve to those of you celebrating! Vivian here today with a quick and fun collage frame tutorial, perfect for a quick holiday layout or home decor piece (just pop your finished product into a shadowbox frame!). Let's start with the inspiration piece, a collage picture frame I pinned recently from ModCloth:

I loved the combination of round and square edges, the gaps in between framed elements, and the white borders around every element. I used this insipration piece to create a layout, using products from Silent Night, Daily Flash Eggnog and the Very Merry December kit:

Several elements are raised on foam adhesive, with gold twine and colored paper clips added for extra dimension. Here's a closer look at one of those elements, which uses two Sew Fun Banner elements from Silent Night:

Okay, I know, I know, you want to know how to create a frame like the one I used. The directions below explain how to do this using a Silhouette die cutting machine. I'll give you an idea at the end for how to do this if you don't have a Silhouette or similar machine.

Step #1: Draw Your Shapes

I started my layout by deciding what elements I wanted to use. I knew I wanted to use a 4" x 6" photo I'd edited using the "frost" feature at PicMonkey, a 3" X 4" card, a 2" X 2" embellishment, a 1" circular embellishment, a 3" x 3" square of patterned paper, and a small tag. Next, I drew six elements in Silhouette Studio that roughly mimicked the shapes of these six objects, deciding to feature the 3" x 3" patterned paper square and the tag in circular frames. The screenshot below shows where the drawing tools are located in Silhouette Studio and shows the six shapes I drew:

 

Step #2: Size Your Shapes

Use the scale tool (top arrow in the screenshot below) to open up the scale window. Select a shape and enter the dimensions for it in the scale window (bottom arrow), then click apply. Repeat for each shape until all are sized appropriately. Be sure to size each shape larger than the element it will house so that you get a nice frame around each element. For example, I sized the large rectangle for my 4" X 6" photo 5" X 7" to allow for a half-inch-wide frame all around.

 

Step #3: Collage Your Shapes

This is the fun part! Now that your shapes are all sized appropriately, move them around the screen until you have them overlapping in the arrangement you want them to be in:

 

Step #4: Weld Your Collage

Once you are sure you have each object placed where you want it, select all of the shapes ("select all" under the "edit" menu at the top) and then hit the weld button to join them (see arrow in screenshot below):

 

Step #5: Create Interior Cutouts

I knew that I wanted to place some of my elements on top of the frame, for example, the two journaling cards, the tag, and the "love" circle. I knew, however, that it would be easier to just tuck my photo and the bit of patterned paper behind openings so that I wouldn't have to cut the paper into a perfect circle or round the corners of the photo. My next step, then, involved adding interior cutouts to those two spaces. I did this by repeating steps #1 and #2 above:

 

Step #6: Group Interior and Exterior Cutouts

Select all objects (top arrow in the screenshot below shows all objects selected) and group them using the button shown by the bottom arrow. This step makes the whole element one object. You can then move it as a whole if you need to do so.

 

Step #7: Cut!

Load your cardstock onto the Silhouette mat and into the Silhouette and hit "cut!"

It's that simple! Now you can go and create infinite combinations of shapes for your own multiphoto/multi-element framed collages! Of course, if you want to use the same combination I did, feel free to download the cut file I've created here: Download Multiphoto Frame

If you don't have a Silhouette or similar die cutting machine, you can still create this same look by tracing household objects or shape templates of varying sizes and shapes in an overlapping pattern on the reverse side of a piece of cardstock. Cut out using scissors or a craft knife.

So...if you use the cut file available above, or create your own using either the Silhouette or non-Silhouette methods I've described, please share your work with us in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery!

Thank you!

 

 

Thursday sketch

Hi everyone, Mou here with today's sketch. 


It's simple and linear and open to your interpretation. Here's my take on it.

I used the Silent Night collection from October Afternoon on this layout. The strip at the very top is cut from White Christmas paper. The candy cane strpes below it is from the O' Holy Night paper. Then I used the Sleigh Ride paper below it. I cut out the Happy Holidays label from Winter Wonderland paper and used it as my page title.I added the photo, painted around it with gold acrylic paint. When dry, I journaled and embellished with Silent Night 12 x 12 Shape Stickers. I also added some machine stitching for a bit of texture. Here's a closer look

 

Hope you enjoyed today's sketch and use it in your own scrapbook layouts or cards. 

Happy Holidays!

Monday Challenge | Weather

Happy Monday, everyone! It's Amy here today with this week's challenge here at October Afternoon. We've had a lot of winter weather here in New England this past week, so I thought it would be time for a challenge using your local weather as a starting point for your page. I was able to capture this adorable pic of my son early one morning on our deck trying to measure the depth of the overnight's snowfall, and I thought it would make an adorable page using the beautiful wintery mix of colors from Silent Night and Eggnog.
I just love the Flash Blurbs and Snap Caps from Eggnog, shown here (above). They make creating little vignettes easy and quick, and I was especially tickled that there was a speech bubble with "Snow!" as a title - worked perfectly with my photo. Here I mixed in some buttons from previous OA collections and used my die cutting machine with some coordinating cardstock to create a title that ground the layout on the light background. For additional interest, I used a patterned paper behind the letters that had closed openings. Lastly, I added hidden journaling with two tags that I tucked behind my screenshot of our weather that day from my iPhone. Because my layout is not entirely about the weather, but about my beyond measure love for my son, I wanted those words to be kept private and something that my son would discover years down the road. Right now, he'll just see himself measuring the snow. 

Are you having winter weather right now? Or are you celebrating the *winter* in the sun this year? Whatever your particular situation is, documenting the weather, or using it as a jumping off point can make for an interesting page. If you decide to take us up on this weeks challenge, make sure to share your creation with us in the October Afternoon Flickr gallery for us all to see! 

Thank you so much for joining me today! I hope you have a wonderful day! ~Amy 

Thursday Sketch: Diagonal Lines

Today's sketch is a very basic design that can be taken in many directions. It features two bold diagonal lines that divide the canvas (card, layout, etc.) into four uneven quadrants:

I (Vivian) created a 4.25" x 5.5" card-sized Silhouette cut file to accompany the sketch, which you can download here: Download Diagonal Lines Card Cut File

I chose four different patterned papers from the Silent Night and Daily Flash Eggnog collections and ran each through my Silhouette with the cut file. I took all sixteen pieces and arranged and rearranged them until I was happy with the way the patterns mixed. I glued each to a card base and embellished. It was fun to take this design in four different directions!

1. Clean and Graphic

2. Elegant

3. Cute

4. Festive

Please share anything you create inspired by this sketch! We'd love to see your work in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery.

Thursday Sketch Post with Silent Night + Eggnog

 Happy Thursday everyone! It's Amy here today with this week's sketch challenge.  

I was looking on Pinterest for some inspiration and came across this uber cool poster with a very basic yet bold design. I thought it would be super fun to interpret into a scrapbook sketch. I took a very literal route to making the sketch, leaving it up to tons of possibilities!

When I started thinking about this sketch, I thought of several versions I could make. Including a pie chart, a full citrus wedge, and even a much reduced-sized version of the massive circle and a very small design. In the end, I deceided to turn the sketch 45 degrees and use the title and journaling section as a frame for my photo.

Reflections in Perseverance by Amy Heller (Collections Used: Silent Night, Eggnog, Very Merry Kit, Daily Flash)

We recently went ice skating, and I thought that the large round circle would serve perfectly as an "overhead" view of the rink. I stitched around the perimeter something like tracks in the ice from skating then used the large frame as the main space for all of my title work, embellishments and a tuck-away spot for my journaling.
For my page I mixed pieces from Silent Night, Eggnog and even a few bits an pieces from the exclusive Very Merry December 2013 kit. All the pieces work together so seemlessly and yet all have a distinctive flavor and flair. 

That's going to do it for me today! Make sure to share anything you create with this sketch with us via the October Afternoon Flickr gallery- we'd love to see your work!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic week! ~Amy

Monday Challenge: Shaker Pockets

Hi, OA fans! Mandy here today with your Monday challenge.

Another December is upon us and once again I didn't get those Christmas cards created or sent. I do need a few cards for some very special people so I decided to create a couple cards for this blog post. I love the Silent Night line and I've kept all my bits and pieces after projects are finished so both of these cards share a fun technique and were created with scraps. Onto the challenge. 

Today I am challenging you to put a little shake into your projects with a shaker pocket. I have created 2 cards today. Each card has a different type of shaker to give you a couple ideas. Let's get started. 

For this card I knew I wanted the pocket to be a circle right in the center of the card which meant my punches wouldn't work and I'm not all techy with my silhouette yet so I went back to my trust old creative memories circles cutter and it worked great. To make the pocket I used some October Afternoon packaging cut into a square. Adhered the clear package to the inside of the card then put my confetti in, then adhered around the inside of the square again. Carefully flipped the card over and stitched around the circle. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I added the chipboard and border strip to complete the card.

Here you can see the center with the Silent Night flair and the confetti floating around. 

 

Card number 2 is a little bit different and took more time to create because it's a different type of pocket.

To create this pocket I cut the frame out of some Silent Night scraps, grabbed foam squares, cut a backing out of Silent Night scraps, and reached for that Ocotber Afternoon packaging once again. After the frame is cut and the backing pattern paper is cut to the same size put adhesive on the back of the frame. Add clear packaging onto the adhesive on the frame. Now grab those foam squares or a roll of foam tape works good too. Put the foam adhesive squares on all sides of the packaging on the frame. Add your confetti to center. Adhere the backing pattern paper. Now you adhere to your card and embellish. 

These shaker pockets are a fun embellishment to add to your card, layouts, mini albums especially December Books, and tags. 

I hope I've inspired you today to challenge yourself to add a shaker pocket to your next project.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.

~Mandy