CHA Winter 2012 :: October Afternoon
My next stop was October Afternoon. I can’t think of a single paper collection they have released that I haven’t liked and purchased! And they have new papers, of course. Starting with the 9 to 5 collection.
9 to 5 features greens and oranges, which looks a lot cuter than it sounds. Embellishments include brads, stickers, labels, tin pin badges, die cuts and chipboard as well as washi tape and new coordinating colours of Sprinklers spray inks.
See that telephone photo thing? That something is very cool. It’s a new product called Chapters, and it’s essentially a set of mini book pages, all ready to make your own creation. If you liked the idea of the papers in Smash Books but wanted more freedom to make the book your own, this is exactly what you want. Each line has a great mix of images in the Chapters kit.
The papers are a mix of kitsch and small repetitive patterns. I think that’s why I find October Afternoon papers so easy to use: I cut my favourite elements from the bigger designs and then use the smaller, less specific patterns for backgrounds, boxes, border strips and pretty much anything else. If you’ve never used October Afternoon products, you’ll also love the quality of their paper stock. Their designs are cream-based and the paper is sturdy and smooth.
Collection two is called Cakewalk, with a happy colour scheme mixing soft shades with circus brights without relying on that elementary look of too many primary colours.
Same styles of embellishments and accompanying products – but to match the celebratory feel of the Cakewalk collection.
And more lovely papers!
Be still my heart: so many lovely shades of Mini Market letter stickers and Sprinklers spray inks. I love these two product lines and use them on the vast majority of my projects.
The third collection is called Woodland Park, which might be the most interesting of the three in that some elements break away from the recent designs – in a good way that adds breadth to the collection without making them look like they don’t belong.
Blue and green abound in this collection, but there are elements of pink and yellow thrown in the mix too. Not many manufacturers do nice deep blues, so this is a welcome colour scheme in my book.
And the papers: here’s what I mean by something different. That cloud paper isn’t something I would expect from October Afternoon, and yet I love it. There are chevrons and butterflies, which makes me happy of course. The trees remind me of one of the early October Afternoon prints but these are a bit larger and will be easier to cut out for both layouts and cards.
These collections are scheduled to ship to stores throughout the spring.
Click here to shop for October Afternoon products.
If you are attending the show, find October Afternoon at booth 1293.
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