WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR AUGUST 11, 2010 (ON THURSDAY! LOL)

Hey All!

Sorry this is several hours late, but I've been working on a project that I wanted to post to this post.  I finally finished it this morning, and I'm so excited to show it to you.  I am saving it as the last project I'll show you on this post!

I've got 3 more things to show you this post.   The card I want to start with is my first card for High Hope Stamps as a guest designer.  The challenge over at High Hopes is to use ribbons or bows on your card.  Here is mine:

Is she not the cutest????  Her name is "Oops Ellie".  I am so in love with the High Hopes stamp lines.  I can't wait to do more for them on their challenges, but on the new releases and blog hop.  Stay tuned for more info on those upcoming events.  In the meantime, why not jump over there and have a look at the challenge this week?  You can find the blog HERE.  

My next card is for a friend who recently got a new house.  Here is the card I'm sending her:

Honestly, this has to be one of my favorite stamp sets.  It is the Beams and Boards from Papertrey Ink.  Sponged the sky, colored the images with colored pencils and oms, cut everything out, grass was made with paper from The Paper Studio, created the scene, and then used Flower Soft there for the flower beds in front of the house.  Here is a close up:

Flower Soft is the coolest product, and I wish I used it more.

OK, now for the Grand Ending of the post.  This has to be one of my MOST FAVORITE PROJECTS ever!  LOL  Are you ready????  I've taken several shots of it here is the front shot:

OMGosh I had so much fun making this!  This was made from a template from PTI.  It comes as a plain house template that you print out, put together, and decorate however you want.  You know me and Halloween, so when I bought it online ($5 what a steal!) I knew the first type of house I was going to create was a spooky house for Halloween.  I LOVE how this turned out!  Here are some other shots:

This little project took me about a total of 6 hours to put together.  But you know me and details. . .I went online to find printable windows, doors, roof patterns, etc.  I saved them to Word and then sized them to the size I needed.  I printed them out colored them and attached them to the house.  You can see from some of the photos that I scored the main part of the house to look like siding.  I placed the whole thing on some sturdy chip board then decorated it with paper and the MS punched out fence.  Now, here's a great little surprise. . . . . . . .

It's a treat box!!!!

How cool is that?  This is a great size too!  It measures approximately 4.5 inches across the front, 3.5 inches across the side, and from the bottom to the top of the roof is 5 inches.  It is really roomy inside too.  You could get loads of stuff in it.  I'm going to use this one as a decoration on my entry table for Halloween.

Boy do I have tons of ideas for this too.  I'll be showing you all of the ideas I have for this template in the upcoming posts.

OK, that's it for now.  Hope you enjoyed the post as much as I enjoy your comments.  You are all such a boost for me.  I still need to catch up on some of your blogs, and will be visiting as usual everyone else's in the next couple of days.

Hope all of you are well!  Thank you so much for stopping by!  Don't forget the "Pic of the Week" below!

Hugs to all of you!


Best,


Curt O'Brien


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR JULY 28, 2010

Hey All!


Happy Hump Day!  Hope your week is progressing nicely with no bumps in your road.  The heat here has been unbearable.  It is so hard on people and animals.  I think I hate super hot/humid weather as much as I hate the bitter cold weather we have.


Before I continue, I want to share a little exciting news with you. . .I've been asked to be a guest designer over at High Hopes Rubber Stamps!!!!!  My very good blogging buddy Karen over at "1 Wacky Woman" actually tracked me down and called me from Canada to ask!  I am so flattered.  I will design for a 3 month period starting in August.  I'm so very excited.  I hope you'll check in to see how I do.  I'm very nervous!

OK, on with the post.  I have to WARN YOU!  I have several things to show you as usual, but there is one very DISTURBING Halloween card that I made that might creep some of you out!  LOL  After all, isn't that what Halloween is all about???? hmmmm????  I've saved it to the last so be forewarned!  BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.

Now, the first card is a cutie.  I made this as a thank you card for a very talented and super nice neighbor lady named Nina here in my neighborhood.  She has a crafting room full of stuff to die for.  I went over to her house for the first time last week, and our intent was to just share ideas and have a look see at all of her wonderful supplies.  Well, almost 6 hours later, I couldn't believe how fast the time flew!  It was so much fun.  She had this stamp that I just fell in love with and she was nice enough to let me borrow it (she doesn't know how lucky she is that she got it back LOL!)  I stamped off several of the image to tide me over until the one I ordered arrived.  Here is the card I made with it:

Is he not the cutest???  His name is "Fuzz Butt" and he is from Bugawumps.  By the way, I called and placed my order and the lady that answered (owner) is one of the nicest people to talk with.  We share a huge love for Schnauzers, so you know I love her right?  LOL  This stamp was fashioned after their Miniature Schnauzer named BJ.  Their current Mini's name is Bella and she is adorable.  I stamped Fuzz on white card stock and colored him with colored pencil and oms.  I stamped paw pads on the background strip, added the ribbon loops (they remind me of leash material), and used a sentiment that was computer generated.  I can't wait to get him in the mail!

I also wanted to make her something to express my thanks for her hospitality.  I'd just seen this project on SCS as the project for the week and I thought I would give it a go.  It is called an accordion card holder.  Here is my attempt:

As you can see, you make little divider cards with labels for the types of cards you can store in it.  I put 10 cards in it and they held beautifully.  You can see the accordion sides there in the pic.  I deviated from the original design a bit.  It was supposed to have a flap lid that closed with a magnet in front.  However, I didn't have a magnet so I made a slide over box lid which works just as well (Keeps the dust out better).  The card stock I used was really heavy so the box was much sturdier than using standard card stock weight.  The card stock is by Gartner and it is called "Bon-Voyage Postcards". For the dividers, I used glossy photo paper and computer generated the index names.  If you would like the tutorial for this box see it HERE.  

OK, to the first of my 2 Halloween cards for this week:  Here is the first:

When I first saw this stamp, I immediately pictured the card I would make with it in my mind.  And sure enough, it is just like I pictured it.  The stamp is from Hero Arts and is called "Distressed Frame".  I stamped the image with Archival Jet Black ink.  I then sponged the background masking off the area for the big glowing yellow moon.  Stamped the spider and the bats, added bling to the spider, matted it and done.  The inside says "Hope You Have A Creepy Halloween".  I love it when cards turn out exactly like you pictured they would.  It doesn't happen often with me, but it did this time.

WARNING * * * WARNING * * * WARNING!  Here comes the disturbed, twisted mind card. . .

LOL  How sick is this?  ROFL  This card did not start out this way, I swear it.  I ran the piece of black card stock through my CB with the spider web folder.  I then used Kraft White ink from SU using the "pad to paper" technique to highlight the webbing.  I punched out the spider using a MS punch and used fuzzy brown flocking powder to give the spider some fuzz.  So while I was flipping through my stamp catalog deciding what else I could use for the card, my eye caught this butterfly from Stampendous and, as they say, the rest is history.  LOL  I used white embroidery floss to wrap around the butterfly.  The inside of the card says "HOPE YOU GET ALL YOUR FAVORITE TREATS - HAPPY HALLOWEEN".  LOL   I guess you have to have a twisted sense of humor to appreciate why I love this card!

Well, that's it.  I'm so glad you stopped by to visit.  I really enjoyed all of your creations that I viewed this week!  That is why I appreciate your stopping by each week.  I still can't believe that all you talented people take the time to stop by and look at my "stuff",  let alone comment on it.  I love you guys!

Have a great rest of the week.  Don't forget the pic of the week below!

Hugs to All of You!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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