THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Hey All!

Come on and get in here!  It's cold outside!  Here, have a cup of freshly made hot chocolate and go sit over there by the fireplace.  Gosh, it's so nice of you to drop by!  I've got some stuff to show you!

Well, I can finally show you something I've been working on for a couple of months!  And it's in VIDEO FORM!!!  Two first here. . . I made my first paper bag album and my first video showing you a project!!!  So you ready???  Here is the video. . .it explains it all. . .

Bonnie loved it, and I'm so glad.  She has posted still pics of it on her blog HERE.


Here are my cards for this post:

A left over Thanksgiving card that I did not show you.  I love creating my own background paper and I made this using a stamp by Basic Grey.  I stamped the images with Forest Moss and Rusty Hinge distress inks.  The acorn image is by Inkadinkado and I covered the acorn caps with copper colored Stickles.  Added the wood grain ribbon and brads and done.

This started out being a Thanksgiving card and ended up as a thank you card.  I really like this bird stamp from Paper Girl clear stamps.  It actually stamps the gingham pattern.  Again I used distress inks for the bird images, cut them out, and popped them up on dimensional tape.  The wings are actually from another set and is actually a leaf!  LOL  I just thought they needed wings and the pattern on the leaf looked good with them so I went with it.

Now, my first Christmas card!!!!  Can you believe it?  Nor can I. . .

I've always liked this simple Santa hat image from Stampabilities.  It's colored with markers and then the white areas were done in Liquid Applique for texture.  The sentiment is Hero Arts.  I matted them onto red, sparkly paper for a little pizzazz.

OK, that's it for another visit.  Can I get you some more hot chocolate?  I've still got the "Pic of the Week" to show you and the "Video of the Week".

Video of the Week
This is THE MOST REMARKABLE MAGIC TRICK I HAVE EVER SEEN!  YOU WILL BE AMAZED!

Pic of the Week

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

OK, if you must go, I understand. . .here's your coat.  It was so nice that you popped by.  Hope you enjoyed the visit.  I know I certainly did.  Take care of yourself and I'll see you soon!


Hugs,


Curt


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR NOVEMBER 23, 2011

Hey All!!


Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  I hope this post finds you surrounded by friends and family and filled with love and happiness.


Today's post is simply about thankfulness.  No matter what your situation is in life, there is always something to be thankful for.  Sometimes it's hard to remember all the blessings that fill our life on a daily basis, but that is what Thanksgiving is for.  To reflect on all of those gifts that are big or small that we are grateful for but generally take fro granted.


I could go on and on for all the things that I am thankful for, but I've narrowed it down to the top 10:

1. My health-even though I have a few issues, overall I have great health.
2. Jay-he's always an inspiration in how he deals with so much.  I've learned so much from him.
3. My Mom and Sister. . .they are always there when I need them.
4. My "boys".  I can honestly say I would be on medication if it weren't for their unconditional love.
5. Freedom - We are so blessed to live in this country (despite the politicians!).
6. My craft room, all my supplies, and my ability to create.
7. My great neighbors and my neighborhood.
8. Dr.s and nurses who dedicate their lives to the sick and injured - Where would we be without them?
9. Walks with my boys every day.
10. And last but not least, all of my wonderful blogging friends.  You all make my life so rich and I am so very grateful.  Grateful for your support, your wonderful comments, and just the pleasure of "knowing" you.

I'm going to leave you with an incredible video that I was fortunate to find.  I have watched it several times and each time I am more inspired.  This is one of those videos that the five minutes you spend watching it will change something in you - the words are amazing.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Hugs,

Curt O'Brien

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR NOVEMBER 16, 2011

Hey All!

Can you actually believe that it is a week before Thanksgiving????  Didn't Halloween just end last week???  Where does time go?  I feel frazzled but like always, you all look incredible and calm.  Amazing!


OK, on with the post.  I ADDED A NEW VIDEO TO THE SIDE BAR!  Many of you said you enjoyed the walk with Shotsy & Gunther that I did last Winter and asked if I'd do another one.  So, I now have recorded an Autumn walk.  So, if you are so inclined, go take a hike. . .err I mean a walk with us!  LOL

Now for my cards and project.  Take a look:

These are small boxes that I created to sit at each setting at the dinner table for Thanksgiving.  I wanted them to be functional, so each contain chocolate dinner mints (Andes) for after the feast as well as a decorated toothpick!  How's that for functional?  The two boxes on the side were done with DSP (don't know, didn't look) and the middle one is done with plain cardstock and decorated.  I stamped the turkey and colored it with Bic markers then attached it with a dimensional.  The leaves on the other two were cut with Nesties and the CB, added Stickles, a button, and some twine.  Filled each box with natural shred then added the mints and decorated toothpick.  Each mint was painstakingly wrapped with matching DSP.


Here's a card:

Another one of my beloved House Mouse images.  This one is new to my collection.  I splurged and bought it at Hobby Lobby.  I got it for 40% off!  Colored with my colored pencils and oms.  The sky was sponged with distress ink.  I did a lot of fussy cutting of the leaves on this one so it would look like he is throwing them out of the picture and onto the card.  I also cut out the 3 above him and popped them up with dimensionals for a 3-D effect.  I really do love how this one came out.


Last card:

My first Winter card!!!  Yikes!  The snowman and sentiment are by Crafty Clear stamps.  Colored with a combo of Bic markers and colored pencils/oms.  There is lots of glitter on this one, but you can't see it unless you click and make it bigger.  The white background is also embossed with the Swiss Dots ef, but you can't see that very well either.  Oh well. . .you are probably tired of looking by now anyway!  LOL


Pic of the Week

I just loved this shot when I got it uploaded.  I believe that this is an Ornamental Pear tree sprout coming up wild in the field.  Even the "sprout" was dressed for Fall in the midst of the browns and beiges.


Video of the Week

This video makes me laugh every time I watch it.  And who says dogs don't have feelings!?!


OK, that's it for another post.  I hope you are all well and happy.  Again, I'm so pleased you joined me for another Wednesday Evening Post and I hope you have enjoyed yourself.  It's always good to have you here and you are always welcome!


Love you guys!


Curt


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR NOVEMBER 9, 2011

Hello Everyone. . .

Before I begin my post tonight I have to pay tribute to a remarkable young woman who lost her brave battle with stomach cancer this past Monday.  Katie Renz was diagnosed with this horrible disease about a year ago and it took her from us much too soon.  Katie turned 40 this year and leaves behind 3 kids (two very young twin sons) and her amazing husband Kevin.  I've been following Katie's battle for almost a year, and I have been overwhelmed by her spirit and courage.  She has truly been an inspiration to me as has her husband Kevin who was always there for his beautiful, sweet wife.  They both faced this disease head on with incredible courage and grace.  I can't tell you how many times I cried reading some of her posts and what she was going through.  I have actually cried several times over the past couple of days thinking about her.  As I wrote in my last comment on her blog, this world is a dimmer place now without Katie's light.  If you weren't aware of Katie's battle or her blog posts, you can find her blog HERE.  Rest in peace dearest Katie. . .

The post tonight will be shorter than usual because I'm really effected by Katie's passing.  It just feels odd to me to do the post tonight in my usual manner. 

I don't normally use a lot of digital images but this one is certainly an exception.  For those of you who are always looking for "manly" images, this would be perfect.  The digital image is from "The Digi Doodle Shop". Judy Thompson is the owner and she delivers amazing customer service.  I've gotten several images and you'll be seeing more of them soon in future posts.  You should go take a look at what she has to offer there.  These are very high quality images.  I colored this one with my colored pencils and oms.  The pumpkins were created by lots of masking.  The pumpkin image is by There She Goes.  I placed the image a little cock-eyed to add a little more interest.

Here I've made another one of my "scene" cards for Autumn.  The tree and fence are by the ever so talented Mark at Deadbeat Designs.  Right now Mark is doing his "6 Tags of Texmas" on his blog HERE. The fence is actually double stamped on top of the first image to make it a 4 rail fence instead of a 2 rail.  The pumpkins are from Tapestry Stamps.  The leaf stamp is one I cut from a vine stamp from some set long ago.  I colored them in with various colored Stickles for lots of sparkle.  The background was created with sponging using Distress Inks.

The last card for the post is just a quick card I made to include what I call the "Ruff Report".  I "babysit" for various neighbor's dogs from time to time, so I create a report for each job to let the owner know what went on during their absence (the times I was there, feeding times, etc.).

This is made with various scraps of paper left over from another project.  I created the "leather collar" by running the paper through my CB with a CB folder, rubbing it with Versamark and embossing with clear embossing powder to give it a glossy leather look.

OK, that's it.  Sorry for the mood downer of this post, but I just admired Katie so much and the blogging world has truly lost a wonderful blogger.  Please keep her family in your prayers as they navigate the next several difficult days.

Pic of the Week

KATIE RENZ 1971 - 2011

Take care all. . .


Hugs, Curt


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Hey All!

I see you survived Halloween no worse for wear!  Good for you!  I'm kinda sad it is over, but I was getting a little tired of making Halloween cards.  As you can see, the blog is now dressed for Thanksgiving as well as a new pic of the boys who are always ready to welcome you!

OK Bonnie, you can relax. . .no hiding left over cards from Halloween.  So, on with the post!

As I looked through stamps to do cards for this post, I realized that I have horribly neglected my House Mouse/Happy Hopper/Gruffies stamps.  So I pulled out the ones I could use for Thanksgiving and here are the cards I made:

This is one of my favorite Happy Hopper images.  The apples always remind me of Autumn.  Right before I put this card together, I turned and through all the pieces on the table behind me.  When I went to grab them to assemble the card, the mat pieces kind of landed like they are in the finished project.  I kinda liked the look, so I went with it.  I colored the image with my colored pencils and oms.  The background paper is from a DCWV stack.  I love coloring these images.

Here is the second one:

Another one of my favs for Thanksgiving from House Mouse.  I love how they are being civilized by using their little spoons.  Again, I colored these with colored pencils and oms.  The background is from the same DCWV stack as the one above.  Those jewel leaves came from the $1 bin at Michael's.  There are 20 of them in a box.  What a deal!  The sentiment is from Peace and Plenty stamp set by Waltzing Mouse.

Last card for the post is this one:

Again, another great House Mouse/Happy Hopper image for Thanksgiving.  And again colored with my colored pencils and oms.  Patterned paper is from The Paper Studio, and I didn't notice what stamp set I used for the sentiment.  I believe it is from Stampabilities clear stamps.

So, there are the cards for this post.

Pic of the Week

I'm also adding a new feature to my blog which I hope you will like.  I'm calling it "Video of the Week".  I do a lot of surfing on YouTube, and I find some of the coolest videos, so I thought I would share these that I either find funny, interesting, nostalgic, etc.  I promise to only choose videos that are less than 3 minutes long.  So here is the inaugural video.  It falls under "Nostalgia":

 I just found this amazing and such an example of how things have changed.  Can you imagine Santa selling Camel cigarettes????  LOL


Hope you are all well.  Thanks for stopping by.  I'm working my way around to your blogs and I'll be seeing you shortly!


Love you guys!


Hugs,
Curt


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