HOUSE MOUSE MONDAY CHALLENGE BLOG HOP!!!!

Hey All!  Hope you are all well!  Today is a really special day for House Mouse And Friends Monday Challenge Blog.  For the first time ever, we are having a BLOG HOP!!!!  There is so much that is "new" today.  Not only are we going to see the creations of our brand new designers, our blog has changed to a new look too.  Wait till you see the blog hop candy!

It is awesome.  PLUS, some of the blogs have even MORE HIDDEN BLOG CANDY!  (You can see the pics of those prizes on the main blog)  So much fun!  The theme of the challenge this week is "Saying Good-bye".  Here is my card for this week's challenge:

We are heading into the official vacation season here, so I thought this was a good card for saying "good-bye".   Don't those little mice look perfectly comfy and ready for their long road trip?  The stamp is called "Are We There Yet?"  I colored this image with my colored pencils and oms.  I sponged the sky with light blue Colorbox ink.  I've never used the teal and chocolate brown color combo before, and I kinda like it.  The sentiment was stamped with Versamark ink and then embossed with detail ep.  That's why it looks so shiny in the photo.

OK, time for the blog hop directions.   

1. Enter a card or creation for this week's theme and link it on the main blog as always.
2. You need to sign up as a follower of the House Mouse And Friends Monday Challenge blog if you are not a follower.
3. Leave a comment on each individual design team member's blog as well as the main one!
4. To be eligible for the "Hidden Blog Candy" (pictured on the main blog - you just don't know who's blog it comes from) you have to have left a comment on that person's blog who is giving it away to win it.
5. The main blog candy winner will be selected by Random.Org and will be announced on the main blog on June 7th.  If you are a winner of the "Hidden Blog Candy" you will be notified by that design team member.

If you came to me first, then you need to start at the House Mouse And Friends Monday Challenge blog HERE.  If you came here from Christine's blog then you are right on track, and your next destination will be Heather's blog HERE.  

So off you go!  Thanks for looking!  Have fun and good luck to all of you!!!


Best,


Curt O'Brien

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR MAY 19, 2010

Hey All!!!!  I'm back!!!!  My computer is running like new, and I feel so connected again.  Honestly, I felt isolated without it.  I want to thank all of you for sticking with me and sending me emails of hello and encouragement and leaving such supportive comments on my last post.  I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

So, I've got some time to make up.  In all of my upheaval the past few weeks, I have stolen some time in my craft cave to make some cards.  So I'll show you a few of them that I've done.  Here is the first:

This is a fun technique called a folded frame.  It's super easy to do and I like the effect.  This was a birthday card I made for a friend of my Mom's.  The main image is from Flourishes, the viney stamp is a Hero Arts background stamp, and the butterfly is punched with a MS punch.  Here is a side view to show you the dimension:

This folds down beautifully to put into an envelope and pops up by itself when removed.  You can find a tutorial for this technique HERE.


The next card I made was for our next door neighbor who broke her foot:

How perfect is this image for that!?!  The House Mouse Stamp actually has nothing on the cast when you stamp it, so you can put anything on it.  I drew a smiley face on the cast, and had this great $1 stamp with a smiley face on it so I created the background paper with it.  I colored the image with my colored pencils and oms.  The inside says "Sending Happy Thoughts for a Speedy Recovery".

The last card I'm sharing with you tonight is one I made for another neighbor who's two daughters got pregnant at pretty much the same time, and ended up having their babies together while being in the hospital at the same time.  So here is the card I made for her:

I so love this House Mouse stamp. . .However, since she is a Grandma only twice, I had to alter the original image.  Here is what the stamp actually looks like:

You can see that I removed the third bunny so only two showed.  I just put a piece of cut paper on the stamp when I stamped the image so the third bunny did not stamp.  Here is a close up of the bed:

If you click on the picture, you'll see that I used a gold glittery pen to give it the look of brass.  Obviously the blue represents the two boys that her daughters had.  

So, I've shown great restraint by not showing all of the cards I've made over the last few weeks.  They are being saved for next Wednesday's post.  I hope you've enjoyed the cards tonight.

I want to again say thank you for continuing to visit me and leave me wonderful comments, even though I've not been able to do the same for you.  You are truly wonderful blogging friends, and I appreciate you all so much.  I hope you all know that.  I'll be visiting you all in the next few days.  Boy, do I have a lot of catching up to do!  Thanks again to all for staying with me!

Don't forget the Pic of the Week below.  This duck was standing on a rock in the middle of a creek and this sun beam was highlighting him like he was a messenger from the heavens!  LOL  It looks like he is posing for me.

Take care all!  Hope you are all well!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

"God, please help me be the person that my dogs think I am."

COMPUTER DOWN

Hey All!  My computer has been overheating for the past 4 months.  It is either one of the fans going bad or thermal paste that has broken down.  In order to operate my computer these last few months, I've had to leave the side cover off and use a desk fan to blow air into the computer from keeping it from shutting down as often.  But even that is not really working anymore!  As an old boss of mine used to say, "Poor people have poor ways."  LOL  With the desk fan going and the loud sound of the internal fan of the computer going, I'm going deaf in my left ear!!!

So, I've finally broken down and called a repair place and I'm taking it in this afternoon.  They said their turn around time is 1 to 3 days.  OMG!  The thought of being without my computer for 3 days!!!!!  I'll go nuts!

So, that has been a main reason for nothing posted for awhile.  Every time I try, and I take too long, the computer shuts down in the middle and I lose stuff.  So, cross your fingers and send good computing thoughts my way so that I get my computer back quickly and it is nothing more serious than I am thinking!

Miss you guys!  Hope you are all well!  This computer problem also explains why I haven't been posting comments on your blogs.  Can't wait to get back to normal!

Take care all!  Hope to see you in a few days!

Best,

Curt