THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR FEBRUARY 22, 2012

Hey All!

How the heck are ya?  Really good from what I'm seeing. . .you look totally awesome!


I'm sorry I copped out of last week's post, but I just wasn't there and I know you know how that is.  But I'm here now and with a ton to show you.  I've decided to scrap the video blog posts for now until I can get a "real" video camera to do it properly so I'm back to the blah blah post for awhile.  I'm looking at the Sony "Bloggie".  Does anyone know about it?  It is on sale right now at Costco for a great price, so if you have something to tell me about it, I'd love to know. . .I'm getting mixed reviews on the web about it.


OK, enough of soliciting your help, here are my cards for tonight's post:

This was the Valentine card I made for my Sister.  This is my very first Lillie of the Valley image.  Boy are they tiny!  If I didn't have my reading glasses I would have never been able to color it, but they are certainly cute!  I do love all of the detail that is on this image.

This is the one I made for my Mom.  The only thing stamped is the sentiment.  I punched out the hearts and the envelope.  I wanted it to look like the hearts flew out of the envelope that had been opened.  Some hearts were just plain cardstock the others were punched from glitter cardstock.


My friend Mark at DEADBEAT DESIGNS has been doing some great stuff with a stamp he calls a "Shadow Stamp".  You can go HERE and see his great video using it.  Well it inspired me to say the least, and I wanted to give it a try.  There was also a challenge going on at SCS to do CAS cards that sort of used this technique.  So I plunged right in and made this set of 4 note cards:

These aren't "pure" CAS cards, but they are close for me anyway.  I used his "Shadow Stamp" for the square elements inked with combos of Distress Inks.  Two of the images are by Inque and two by Stampabilities.  I do love how this set turned out and I am loving his Shadow Stamp.  I've got more ideas on using it, and if you visit his blog on the links above, you'll see how he uses it to create backgrounds too.  Thanks Mark for your wonderful inspiration and for this wonderful stamp!


And while we are on the subject of Mark's stamps, the next card uses one of my favorite sentiment stamps of his:

This is an Art Impressions stamp and I thought Mark's sentiment stamp went perfectly because it sounds like something she would say.  LOL  She's colored with my cheap colored pencils and oms.


The last card I wanted to share (yep lots of cards to make up for not being here last week) is here:

I saw an old clip of Willard Scott (the Today show) saying his famous throw to line "And here's what's happening in your neck of the woods."  I had this thought of making a "world" using the caption on the card above (computer generated).  You can't see it in the photo at all, but the circle is covered with acetate.  Here is a side view:

The little houses are from the Memory Box die cut which I cut 3 times to get the different colors (afterwards I thought "Why didn't you just color one die cut?" What a dork!) Oh well, live and learn.  Also, after making the card, I realized I couldn't write anything on the inside because of the window. . .Dork #2.  So I created that little folded thingy to act as a stand and I can just write my message on the back of the card.  It's more of a "display" piece!  LOL  I freehanded the clouds and outlined them and the "sun" with Stickles.


Pic of the Week

Army Choppers Caught in Flight

OK, that's it. . .I'm off to take a look at what you all have been up to!  I'm still slow (still having arm problems) but making it all the same.


Thanks for stopping by. . .I will never stop being amazed that you do so.  Thanks for all of your kind support!


Love you guys!


Curt


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Hey All!!!!


I'm back!  I feel like I haven't posted in months although it has only been two weeks.  My arm still hurts and I think I'm just learning to live with it and avoid whatever makes it hurt worse.  I'll eventually end up going to the doctor for one of those awful shots in the elbow, but not until I can help it.


Without further ado, here is my blog video:





Here are the still photos of the cards/projects:

Yes, as I said, it does hold a dozen of these cookies, but I ate one after finishing the video!  :P


Pic of the Week

SHOTSY'S BATH TIME

OK, that's it for this post. . .I'm slowly but surely catching up on your posts. . .if I have not been there yet, I'm on my way.  Thanks for being patient!  And again, thanks so much for your well wishes!  You guys are wonderful!


Hugs,


Curt


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR FEBRUARY 16, 2011

Hey All!

First and foremost, thank you so much for all of your wonderful words of encouragement regarding my week from hell.  Each and every one of them meant the world to me.  I feel like I was being such a whiner when I posted that.  There are others out there far worse off than I am, and I need to remember that and be grateful for that. . .

OK, I'm going to start off with cards, then I will unveil the BLOG CANDY at the end of the post.  I not only hit 250, I'm now at 260 at the time of this post.  Welcome to all of my new followers, and I hope you find this blog worth your time.  On with the post. . .

First card is a card I'm entering into a challenge.  As many of you know, this is very rare, but the host of the challenge berated me miserably into playing along. . .   :P  Ted at Happily Ever Crafter has a challenge this month which is to create a Valentine for someone special in your life.  HOWEVER, the stipulation was that the sentiment on the front AND inside the card had to be done in your own handwriting!!!  I hate my handwriting as many of us do, so this was definitely a challenge for me.  Here is my card:

As if you can't tell, the "Always" is in my own handwriting. . .here is the inside sentiment:

OK Ted!!!  I played. . .are you happy now?!?!?  I have been seeing loads of these flag stamps and I really do like them a lot.  I also created  the background paper simply by stamping Versamark ink on plain red paper to create the watermark effect.  Moving on. . .

This is my attempt at the "Zindorfian" techniques.  I Love Michelle's work, and when I saw this tree stamp at Michael's on sale a couple of months ago, I knew I would use it for this type of card.  If you are not familiar with Michelle Zinidorf's beautiful work, you can visit her blog HERE.    


Next is this one:

This card used 4 different stamps.  I don't know why this card was stuck in my head, but I'm glad it is out.  I had pictured a bird on a limb with a little balloon in its beak to go with Mark's "Happy Bird Day!" from Deadbeat Designs.  It's still a little plain and I feel it needs something, but it is now out of my head!


Last but not least. . .

This is a box I came up with to hold this. . .

This is just a sheet of paper scored and then a pocket added inside to hold the large size chocolate bar.  I made one each for my Mom and Jay's Mom for Valentine's day.


OK, now for the blog candy.  Here is the picture followed by the list of what's in it:

It includes:


1 - Cuttlebug embossing/die cut set (includes 4 mini folders and mini dies)
1 - Package of Tim Holtz Tissue Tape
1 - Ranger Distress Ink Forrest Moss (my personal favorite color)
5 - Laurie Furnnel unmonted rubber stamps (winter themes)
2 - 1 Pound Scrap Packs
1 - Crafter's Workshop 6 X 6 Template
1 - Sweet November rubber stamp
1 - Sugar Nellie rubber stamp (Strawberry Tea)
1 - Elizabeth Bell rubber stamp (Sugar Plum Rainy Day Emma)
1 - Hero Arts Sparkle Clear Stamp set with gems
1 - Quickutz Embossing Folder - Plants
1 - Pink Poison rubber stamp
1 - Decorated 5 X 7 journal
1 - Package of 2 mini frames
A few unlisted surprises


How's that?  Here's what you have to do to win:


1.  Jump up and down on one foot and say booga booga
2.  Stick your index finger in your mouth and make a popping noise
3.  Twirl around over and over until you are dizzy
4.  Point at a perfect stranger and start laughing hysterically
5.  If you have more than three ears, you get a second entry
6.  If you have ever worn two different colored shoes out in public you need not enter


LOL, that's about what I feel other blogs put you through just to win some stuff.  Not here.  Just leave a comment on this post and I will use Random.Org to choose the winner.  You have until next Tuesday (February 22nd) at 11:59 PM EST  I will announce the winner on the next Wednesday Evening Post.  Simple enough?  Good luck to all of you!


PICTURE OF THE WEEK

CAN SPRING BE FAR AWAY???

Thanks very much for taking the time to visit me.  I know how busy you all are and I am humbled that you spend some of your valuable free time with me.


All my best to you guys!  You are the best!


Hugs,


Curt O'Brien


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR JANUARY 19, 2011

Hey All!


Here we are at another Wednesday.  Wanted to thank those of you who sent me their address and birthday info.  I have paper copy now so if my computer eats it again, I've got a hard copy backup.  For those of you who requested my info, it's on the way.


Thanks too for those of you who went to visit Katie. . .I just came from there, and let me tell you, I had to wipe the tears away several times.  My heart just aches for her and her struggle.  I've seen several of your comments to her and it means a lot to me, as I know it does to her too.


Before I get on with my cards, my friend Karen over at "1 Wacky Woman" has written a book on water coloring techniques using markers.  Here is a pic of her new book:

Karen is so talented, especially when it comes to coloring her images.  I have always marveled at  her talent.  She has a video on her blog HERE giving a demo of her coloring.  Be sure to take a look and click HERE for info on her book!  You'll love this!


OK, I've got a treat this post (or maybe some of you might not think so).  Instead of the normal 3 cards I usually post, I have 5!  I fought with myself to save a couple for next post, but lost the fight with myself. . .I'm a little scary aren't I?  LOL  On to the cards:


First one:

I found this simple sketch (can't remember where - looked at so many) and I liked its simple, elegant look.  The "Pic of the Week" below, actually inspired this card!  I added red Stickles to the branch berries and used my Bow Easy to create the double loop bow.


Next. . .

Staying with the red/black/white theme, this is a simple Valentine that I came up with.  I used a Hero Arts background stamp (musical notes) and drew in little red hearts with a marker.  Super quick, super easy.  I call it "Love Notes". . . LOL  I'm such a dork!


#3

Here's another Valentine.  This Gruffies image is a natural for Valentine's Day.  I just love him.  The sentiment and the chocolate candy heart is from a very talented lady and my blog friend Elaine over at Crafticious.  She has posted there the BEST sheets of backgrounds and pieces of candy and chocolate sayings.  They are all free to download and are just amazing.  Thanks Elaine!  I colored this image with colored pencils and oms.


# 4:

I have had this stamp for over a year and never have used it.  Well, this card takes care of that issue!  I colored this with Bic markers!  That is a first for me.  The only thing that wasn't colored with marker was their pink mouths.  That is a colored pencil.  This is a Penny Black image.  I made it for my Mom to give to one of her friends.


Last card. . .

Once again I've used the Deadbeat Designs "A Tree for All Reasons".  I sponged the background with distress inks and the "snow" on the branches was created with liquid appliqué.  Birdhouse is from Artful Inkables, bird from PTI, and sentiment from Crafty Lounge.  


Pic of the Week:

I picked this photo because it reminds me of the stamp I used on the first card above!


Thanks so much for coming by. . .I'm still waiting for that magical 250 followers to offer my blog candy package which is growing bigger and bigger. . .thanks to those who have deemed me worth following.  It means a lot to me.


OK, I'll be coming by as I always do each week to see what you all have been creating.  Can't wait to see what you've done this past week.


Hugs to all of you and your families!


Best,


Curt O'Brien


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR JANUARY 12, 2011

Hey All!

Well, we are almost halfway through the month of January already.  Before you know it we will be showing off our Easter cards, then slip right into Spring.  I hope this post finds you all well and happy.


I have two favors to ask of all of you in this post.  Those two favors are listed at the end of this post.  So could you read those two favors when you are done looking?  I'd sure appreciate it.  I'll appreciate it even more if you consider granting me those 2 favors.  Consider yourselves as "Blogging Genies"!  Thank you!  OK, on with the post. . .


My first card actually has something to do with one of the favors below.  Take a look:

I so love this bunny.  This is a Happy Hoppers stamp called "Bunny Bath".  I colored it with my colored pencils and oms.  The paper is by The Paper Studio.  I generated the sentiment on my computer.  This is a card I'm sending to someone named Katie.  Many of you already know about her, but some of you may not.  Read on. . .


My next two cards are for Valentine's Day.  This "holiday" is the least of my favorites.  It was always stressful for me as a grade school student in Catholic grade school.  I was always forced to give Valentines to kids I didn't like, and was always stressed out worrying if I was going to get one from kids that were really popular.  Uhg!  Scars you say????  LOL  Here is my first:

I paper pieced these cups on paper from DCWV.  The cups and the "steam" are from a Flourishes set.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set.  I punched out the little hearts.  The "steam" is embossed with silver tinsel ep and is super sparkly.  The card base is Kraft cardstock.

This is a simple card using Deadbeat Designs small "Tree for All Reasons".  The little heart I used is from a Hero Arts set and I used the same sentiment as the card above.  The hearts are embossed with red ep so they are really shiny.  


So, there you go.  The 3 cards for this post.  Hope you like them, and I'd love to know what you think about them.  I value your comments.  OK, on to the 2 favors. . .


Favor #1.


It would be so wonderful if I had a database of addresses and birthdays of everyone who comes to visit me.  I had many, but I inadvertently deleted the document, and it is lost forever.  I've saved many of the envelopes of cards that many of you have sent me, but I know that some might not be current.  So, if you would, could you please email me at curt.obrien@gmail.com with your current address and birthday?  I would love to be able to rebuild my addresses and be able to drop cards to you guys every once in awhile.  If you don't feel comfortable, I totally understand.


Favor #2


I know from time to time that we are all asked to donate our talents to a cause.  I AM NOT ASKING THAT.  What I am asking for is for you to make a visit to the blog of a very sweet fellow card maker who's world has been pulled out from under her.  Her name is Katie and right before Christmas, she was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer.  She has 5 year old twins and a 10 year old son.  She also has an incredible husband (Kevin) who is standing strong by her side.  Do you want to be inspired????  Go read some of Katie's posts since her diagnosis.  I have laughed, cried, and have been so inspired by her strength and courage when facing this unimaginable enemy.  If you want to be totally inspired, go back and read previous posts.  All I'm asking is that you visit Katie's blog "My Paper Haven" and leave her your thoughts and well wishes.  Can you also keep her in your prayers?  This is such a scary thing for a young woman and her young family.  I know that she would certainly appreciate it, and I certainly would.  Thank you my friends!


OK, so here is the "Pic of the Week":

SNOWY CANOPY 

Again, thanks so much for coming by to see me.  I've been making my rounds, and I'm almost finished with stopping by to see each of you.  You all have been so busy!  I've enjoyed your wonderful work.  BTW  Welcome to all the new followers in the last few weeks.  I am honored that you find my blog worth following.  Thanks so much.


Hugs to all of you!


Best,


Curt O'Brien


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR FEBRUARY 10TH 2010

Hey All!  It's another Wednesday and I'm back with my Wednesday Evening Post.  I've evidently had a very LUCKY week.  According to my spam mail, I've won the Canadian, UK, Australian, and Nigerian lotteries!  With all that money, I can now buy all of the Viagra, Vicoden, and other online prescription meds that are in the other spam mail!  Try not to be too envious!

OK, now seriously, on with the  post.  You have to see the "Pic of the Week" at the bottom of this post.  I can't believe that I got the shot that you will find there!  Yes, it is a real tongue.  

I've got a few things to share with you this post.  First up on the agenda is my first "Magic Box".  No matter what I tried I could not get it to photograph as well as I had hoped.  It really does look so much better in real life.  I made this for my Mom as her Valentine card.  Here are the pics:

It is so hard from the pictures to really see the detail when it is opened.  If you click on the pictures you can see it better.  I got my inspiration from the "Queen of Magic Boxes" Elaine at Magic Boxes.  Her magic boxes are astounding, and one of her boxes was presented to the Queen of England herself!  I am so in awe of her work.  There are two large embossed butterflies and several floating hearts.  What I didn't get a picture of was the inside of the lid which is where I placed the sentiment.  These make impressive gifts, and I just wish I could have photographed it a little better!

My next card was inspired by my good blogging buddy in Canada.  Karen at "1 Wacky Woman" did a card back in November which I never forgot.  Take a look at the card HERE.  Here is the card that I came up with based on hers:

She used a stamp for her frog and booth.  I had to "build" mine.  The booth is made of a wood look paper.  I don't know who it is by.  I cut out the pieces and built the booth and wrote "Kissing Booth" at the top.  I then stamped the frog, colored it, cut it out, and attached it with a dimensional (you can see the shadow behind him).  The background paper had a "scene" on it, so I cut out the part that would make a good background for this card.  I thought it made a cute Valentine's Day card.

My last card was born out of an experiment.  I have an HP printer, and every time I buy the set of ink cartridges for it, it comes with 150 sheets of 4 X 6 photo paper.  Well I now have oodles of these and wondered if I could use them in my card making somehow.  Here is what got created:

Here is a side view so you can see the glossy shine there at the lower right quadrant:

I can't get over how weird it was sponging dye ink onto this surface!  I figured it would smear around and create an interesting background, but it didn't!  When the ink hit the surface that is where it stayed.  It was so odd.  And the ink became so vibrant.  Don't know if it was the ink reacting to the chemicals in the photo paper or what, but it was weird.  The image is from Hero Arts and the butterflies were punched out using an MS punch.  It looks like a fiery summer sunset.  It reminded me of these two photos of sunsets I took a couple of summers ago:

Anyway, I kinda like how it turned out.  I'm liking the silhouette stamps like the one I used above.

OK, that's it.  DON'T FORGET THE PIC OF THE WEEK BELOW! It will make you smile if not laugh out loud like I did when I first saw what I had actually captured.  I kept telling him "Gunther!  Look at the camera!  Gunther!"  And when he finally did, I quickly took the picture.  What I was wanting to get was the snow on his face.  I certainly got a little more!  LOL  Quick update on him.  He is still limping at about a 6 on a scale of 1-10.  It's frustrating, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain.  He is just going nuts not being able to go for walks.  I'll be calling the vet on Friday (3 weeks since the accident) to see if she thinks that level of limping is to be expected.  I'll keep you all posted.  Thanks so much for all of your concern!

Thanks for coming by and looking!  You guys and your comments are truly a huge bright spot in my day.  I thank you so much for that!  I'll be back on Monday with another HM challenge post.  So until then, I wish you a very HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  Sending you all huge blogging buddy hugs!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR FEBRUARY 3RD 2010

Hey All!  Happy Hump Day to each and every one of you!  I hope this post finds you all, well , warm, safe, and happy!  I  have another Gunther update at the end of the post for those who want to know what's going on with him!

I have a ton to share with you in this post, so I'm getting right to it!

I've been working on Valentine Day cards for Pat Adam's kids at Michigan's Children's Hospital.  I participated last year, and I'm very honored to be able to do it again this year.  I bought a set of stamps by Recollections called "Don't Bug Me".  When I saw this set and bought it months ago, I did so with Pat's kids in mind.  So here are the cards I made for them.  I made two of each:

Making cards for the kids is a blast and it makes me feel good that I'm doing something to put a smile on their faces.  If you want to do the same, again, the info is here at Pat's blog.

This next card is related to the above.  My good blogging buddy Chris at Mud Maven Designs is offering an array of wonderful things as blog candy if you help Pat out as well.  She challenges us to do 5-10 cards for Pat's project and to follow a sketch for another Valentine card.  Here is the sketch and my card:

I just don't feel I'm good at sketches and that's why I don't do many.  I always feel like I have to follow them to the "T", and I get really frustrated if I can't do it just right.  Anyway, I wanted to play along with this one.  

I also wanted to take some time to share with you some of the very sweet things that several of you have done for me.  I've kinda waited and wanted to put them all together.  So here are things I've received from some very sweet, thoughtful people:

Lorraine from "Lorraine's Loft" was so nice to send me the above after winning my last blog candy.  Lorraine did one of the most thoughtful things ever. . .she actually went through my entire blog to look at all the cards I did with House Mouse images so that she wouldn't duplicate any that I already had when she stamped out a bunch for me.  Lorraine, that was amazingly thoughtful and was so appreciated - Thank You!

This wonderful HM stamp was sent to me by the very sweet Margie at "Oh Bumbles Me".  She had emailed me and said she had this stamp and it needed a home.  She sent it along wit this amazing card!  Thanks so much Margie!  It was so nice of  you to do!

Gina Wrona (Gina's blog here) sent this wonderful gift for Gunther!  Is this not cute??  The card is so adorable and the decorated Altoids tin contained a wonderful bone for Gunther.  Gina, you are so very sweet and you have been a wonderful blogging friend.  Your constant concern has been amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!  I hope your sweet Zorro is doing well.

And this was sent to me from a fellow Hoosier blogging buddy, Julia at "Indiana Julia and Her Temple of Crafting" (love that blog name!).  She emailed me out of the blue and wanted to know if I would like some House Mouse images.  This is what arrived in the mail.  That card just melts my heart, and the images she sent are wonderful.  The extras she sent were such a wonderful surprise.  Thank you so much, Julia.  It was very kind of you!

This funny, sweet card came from one of my very sweet neighbors, Pat.  It came complete with a bag from a local dog bakery with some wonderful dog treats for Gunther & Shotsy.  I know she reads my blog, so Pat, thank you again for your thoughtfulness and kindness.  Gunther and Shotsy LOVED the treats!  I LOVE the way you "wrinkled" the background paper on this card.  How did you do that?  And the eyes on that frog made me laugh out loud they are so cute!

And this adorably sweet card was sent to Gunther from Jan McConnell at "Serendipity Stamping by the Gulf".  

She sent this adorable easel card to Gunther.  I love this image, and the sentiment is adorable.  Thank you Jan and I hope your little sweet Dulcie is doing OK too!  Again, thanks so much for your thoughtfulness.

I am so blessed and my life is so much more enriched by all of you.  Whether you have sent things, or emailed me, or left comments on my blog, you have all meant so much to me.  I honestly feel that I have so many friends out there and you have most definitely helped me through this episode with Gunther.  Thank you so much for your support and encouragement.  You have ALL made a difference in my life!

Quick update on Gunther.  He still has quite a dramatic limp going on, but he is definitely starting to do "Gunther" things that he hasn't done since the injury.  His leg does not seem to be as sensitive to pressure, and he is way more mobile than he has been in almost 2 weeks.  So, I think he is on the mend, but Daddy is not letting him get away with anything.  Keep sending your good thoughts and prayers his way.  I know they have been working!

Well, that's it for this post.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'm going to start visiting your blogs in the morning over my coffee.  So I can't wait to see what you've been up to.  Don't forget the "Pic of the Week" below!

Take care my friends!  GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!!