MY FINAL MAGICAL MONDAY POST

Hey All!  As my post title indicates, this is my last post for There's Magic in the Air.  I only committed to be on the team until the end of October (so it's not like she threw me out or anything like that!  LOL).  It has been so much fun working with Nina May and with her images.  She is such a wonderful person and an all around sweet human being.  I have loved being a part of her team and am very honored to have worked with such great talent.  Thanks Nina for including me in your aspirations!

OK, so here is my last card for Nina.  The image is called "Autumn Splendor" and the challenge was to be inspired by this photo:

Here is my card:

This is such a great image for the Fall season, and versatile too!  I think it would be a great image for a Thanksgiving card too.  I colored it as usual with my ccp/oms.  I sponged the coloring around the image for a golden Autumn sun look.  I used a small circle punch to achieve the "ticket punch" look at each corner (I learned this trick from my blogging buddy in Hawaii - Thanks Jen!)  I colored the white pearls with a Bic marker to get the shiny brown look to them.  The sentiment is computer generated and it, as well as the image panel, are attached with foam squares for dimension.  The background paper is from a DCWV stack from last year.  I decorated the inside too, but forgot to take a pic of that!  What a dork I am. . .

PLEASE READ THIS:

I wanted to take this opportunity to convey my very heartfelt thanks for all of your encouragement and wishes of good luck for my trying out for the House Mouse design team.  As I've read each comment, I just shake my head and wonder how I got so lucky to get the bunch of you.  You are wonderful people and it always gives me faith when reading your comments that there are still so many wonderful people in this crazy world we live in.  OK, enough of my gushing mush, but I just can't get over how wonderful you all are!

Also, I wanted to apologize for not getting around to your blogs lately.  I'm truly sorry about that.  But there have been a few things going on that has needed my attention and has taken me away from visiting.  But everything is back to normal and I'll be visiting you all soon to catch up!  I also need to come see some of my new followers too!  I can't wait to come see you all.

That's it!  I'll be back on Wednesday with a Wednesday evening post.  I'll also let you all know as soon as I know whether or not I made the team!  Until then, take good care of yourselves and have a wonderful week!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

ONCE AGAIN IT'S MONDAY!

Hey All!  Happy Monday!  An oxymoron if ever there was one!   Since it is Monday, we know what that means. . .It's another Magical Monday over at the "There's Magic in the Air" blog.  Nina May has a wonderful Fall/Thanksgiving image for you this week called Harvest Geese.  This week it was my turn to come up with the challenge.  I chose to challenge everyone by using pop dots or foam squares to make the image pop!  Here is my card:

It's kinda hard to see where I used my dimensionals in the photo above.  I used them for the pumpkins and also on the horizontal fence posts.  I also used dimensionals to pop up the entire matted image.  I think you can see them better if you click on the pic.  I went WAY out of my comfort zone with the placement of the matted image on this card!  As most of you have probably noticed, most of my matted images on my card are safely placed in perfect alignment with the card size and shape.  I decided that I would be different this time so I angled it for a little more interest.  It almost has a post card feel to it.  I colored the image with my ccp/oms and I sponged the morning sky with Colorbox inks.  I matted it onto Bazzill card stock and then onto paper by The Paper Studio that looks like crackled wood.  The background paper is some of my favorite also from The Paper Studio.  The leaf thingys in the corner are cut with Nestabilities.   Here is a closeup:

The paper I used to cut them out was stain samples (like paint samples).  They have great texture and wonderful colors.  You can find them at any hardware store.  I found mine at Lowe's.  The little berry thingys are pearls that I colored with a Bic marker.  I love how you can make any color you want.  The sentiment is computer generated and cut out using my round and scalloped Nesties.

So there you have it.  Seriously, be sure to go over to Nina's "There's Magic in the Air" to pic up this digital image for free.  We'd also love for you to play along with the challenge this week!

On a final note, for those of you who have not yet signed up for my blog candy, you have until  tomorrow at 6 PM Eastern Time to leave a comment.  You can go HERE for the details and a pic of the goodies.  Good luck to every one who has entered and thanks so much for the great comments!  You guys are the coolest!

OK, that's it for now.  I'll see you all on Wednesday!  Until then, stay safe and have a wonderful week!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

ANOTHER MAGICAL MONDAY

Hey All!  Didn't we just have one of these???  LOL  Well, since today is Monday, we have another new FREE digital stamp from the ever so talented Nina May to play with today.  It is another Halloween image just in time for the holiday!  The image this week is called "Spooktacular Pumpkin".  The challenge for this week is to use the 3D elements like liquid applique, flowersoft, glitter, and or stickles, crackle, liquid glaze, fun flock, etc.  So, here is my card:

So, how cute is he???  I used a recessed window card for him.  When I first saw the image, I knew it would be easily cut out, so I thought "scene" in my head.  I love pumpkin patches, and the look on his face looks like me when I find the perfect pumpkin each year!  LOL  I printed the image off twice so that I would have extra pumpkins to use.  Inside the recessed area, I popped in the big yellow moon and stamped a couple of bats on it.  I used a silver glitter gel pen to make "pinpoint" stars in the night sky.  I then colored the image with my ccp/oms and then carefully cut him and all the extra pumpkins out.  I place the main image on top of the moon, but bent it out for a true 3D effect.  You'll see it in the upcoming pics much better.  Take a look:

You can see by the shadow he casts how dimensional it is.  I then took the other extra pumpkins and attached them to the outer part of the recessed card for even more dimension.  IRL, it looks like one of those 3D cards.  Now, you can see in the pic above that the paper I used to create the frame on the card is pretty sparkly (don't know who made it.  I had already cut it up for this project and couldn't find the piece that had the company on it), but I didn't stop there.  I wanted my ghost to shimmer and shine too.  See  below:

He looks so beautiful IRL.  I used a Martha Stewart glue pen (my most favorite glue pen ever because of the ease of use.  Just like coloring with glue using a fine tipped pen).  I then sprinkled on diamond glitter.  I was very precise where I put the glue so that the glitter didn't blot out the line detail of the image.  It really makes a big difference when adding sparkle to elements of cards.

So, there you have it. . . my DT sample for this week!  What do you think?  This is a really cute image for a kid's Halloween card!  So what are you waiting for?!?!?  Get on over to "There's Magic in the Air" and pic up this image for FREE!  You only have a limited time before it is no longer free!  We'd love to see you play in the challenge too.

Again, as always, thanks very much for visiting me.  I love you guys.  I'll be back on Wednesday for my next loaded Wednesday Evening Post.  Not only will I have a ton of cards and projects to share, but I'll be also sharing a recipe for the most FABULOUS COOKIES ever!   They are so amazing, easy, and perfect for this time of year.  So come back and see me!  Take good care all!  I also have a feeling that Wednesday's post is going to be a very special one. . .so be sure to stop by and see why!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

MAGICAL MONDAY

Hey All!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  But now that it is officially over, that can only mean one thing. . . . .It's Monday and time again for a Magical Monday at "There's Magic in the Air".  Today's image is really fun and just in time for Halloween . . . it is titled "Mouse Candy"!  Here is my card:

The challenge this week is to use orange and black on your card and one other color.  I've never been good at this challenge, because I'm a stickler for having everything colored the way it is supposed to be.  But I've been assured that I have done this correctly.  That my third color is technically purple.  Even though I've colored the mouse grey, the pumpkin stem and broom brown, and the pumpkin squiggles green!  LOL  But there you have it.  I colored the image with my ccp/oms as always.  I added some purple glitter on the star on his hat and around his treat bag.  I cut the image out with my Nesties and soft sponged the outer edge of the cut out with distress ink called "soot".    I also embossed the edge around the image with my Nesties and then colored the embossed edge with black marker to define it a bit.  The background paper has little Halloween words (if you click on the pic you'll be able to read what they say) and is matted on black card stock.  I then added the black photo corners with a little orange bling and then the ribbon to finish it off.

I've begun decorating the inside of some of my cards like I've seen so many of you do, so here is the inside:

Simple but decorated all the same.  The sentiment is from a House Mouse Halloween set I have which I thought was perfect for this image.

So, there you go.  Another great image from Nina May.  Again, get on over there and snag yours for FREE before next Monday or you'll have to pay for it later!  We'd love to see your cards for the challenge, but be aware, you don't have to play in the challenge to get the FREE image.

I'll be back on Wednesday with another Wednesday Evening Post which will contain the Bow Easy tutorial tip I promised.  So until then, stay well.  I still haven't made it to all of your past posts yet, but I'm working on it.  So if I haven't left you comments yet, I will soon.

One final sad note, my sweet blogging buddy Judy at "Designs by Nanny" had a very serious heart attack last week.  I was just stunned by the news.  So if you have a few moments, could you drop by and send her some words of encouragement?  I'd appreciate it and I know she would.  Thanks!

Until Wednesday Kiddos!  

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

MAGICAL MONDAY & CARD PROCESS

Hey All!  Happy Monday to one and all.  Ohhhhhh did I say Monday???  That must mean it's Magical Monday!   LOL  And it is indeed.  As most of you are aware by now, every Monday Nina May over at "There's Magic in the Air" releases a new digital image and gives it away free during the week.  Being on the design team, I create a card using the image along with the challenge for the week.  This week's image is called "Dancing Hearts" and the challenge this week is to "Make it sparkle!  Add some form of glitter or bling."  So, here is my card:

Cute image huh?  When I sat down to work with this image, two holidays came to mind.  The first was Christmas, the second Valentine's Day.  If you click on the picture, you will see all the glitter and the bling.  I colored the image with my cheap colored pencils and oms.  I used Stickles on the band of the vase and on the heart in the word love.  The hears on the bottom were created by using two different sized heart punches.  I punched the large hearts right on the background matting.  Then positioned the smaller hearts I punched in the center of the larger punched out area.  I then added bling to each of them.  I used chunky glitter on the "snow".  Finished it off with some ribbon and a bow made with my Bow Easy.  I'm starting to get the hang of that thing!  

I really had a rough time with this week's card.  Now brings the second part of my blog title:  Card Process.  Below, I have cut and pasted an excerpt from my email that I sent Nina with my card file attached.  I think it will give you an insight into the mind of a crazy person (yours truly):  Read at your own risk: 

"Well, you see. . .when I first saw the image, I thought it would be a perfect image for a Valentine's Day card.  But then, as I started thinking about it right before I started working on it this afternoon, after I asked you the question about what was "hanging" from the shelf. . .it reminded me of snow or icicles so I had this fab idea to make it a Christmas card.  I had this grand idea that the hearts were red and the stems were green (Christmas colors) and I could make the snow all glittery, and that little vase thingy I could color in candy cane stripes.  Then put it all together with some Christmas paper and oh what the hell was I thinking!?!  I made 2 cards with the Christmas theme, and once each was finished they were promptly ripped to shreds!  LOL  My candy cane stripes actually turned out looking like I had been drinking all day. . .they were all wavy and pitiful looking.  So I tried again, this time making the vase green and putting red stickles on it.  That only made the vase look really gaudy and like something you'd pick up on clearance at Wal-Mart after Christmas!  Kinda made me nauseated just looking at it.  But I pushed on trying to save the second attempt.  Once I got the glitter on the "snow/icicles", I tried to find some Christmas paper that would go with it.  Talk about my eyes crossing then!  LOL  No mater what paper I would try, it was like clash of the Titans. . .At that point I thought, heck I might as well go down to the kitchen and get some elbow macaroni and make a frame around it because it looked like a 3RD grader had already made most of the card.  Geeeeezzzzz  So that one got torn to shreds as well and I abandoned the "Fabulous Christmas idea".  So on to the Valentine's day theme, and thank God that one worked out OK.  I figure we still have friggin snow in February and I remember several Valentine Days that we had snow on the ground so it can still be a Valentine with snow on it!  And if people in warm climates don't "get it", well they can go make their on "sunny" Valentines. . .see if I care!  LOL"

So there you have it my sweet blogging friends.  A momentary glimpse into the mind workings of a madman!  LOL  I just thought it would be fun for you to see the "behind the scenes" goings on of my "creative process".  LOL

As always, thanks so much for your support.  I hope you go visit the ever so talented Nina May for this FREE image.  I would LOVE to see what YOU will do with this!  LOL

Stay well my friends.  I'll be back with another loaded post on Wednesday.  'Till then, take good care!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

IT'S MAGICAL MONDAY!

Hey All!  Hope your weekend was all that you hoped it would be.  The weather here was so beautiful and me and the boys hit several parks.  They are worn out (so is Dad!)


Since it is Monday, that means it is Magical Monday over at "There's Magic in the Air".  Today's FREE IMAGE is really beautiful, and I had a super time working with it.  Here is my card for this week:

This image is called "Deco Flower".  Nina did a great job with this one.  The challenge this week is to use this image on a card and use either dry or heat embossing on your card.  I went with the dry embossing.  You can't see it very well in the pic above (you can if you click on it), so here is a close up of the embossing just for proof:

I used one of the new Quik Cutz embossing folders for this.  (You can use the Quik Cutz folders in your Cuttlebug).  This folder almost matched the lines in the background paper.  Here is another look at the card so you can see the embellishments I used:

I colored the image with colored pencils and oms.  As you can see, I added pearls and rhinestones to the image.  I cut the image out with my oval Nesties and mounted the matted image to the card with a foam dimensional.  Super easy card.  This is one of my favorite color combos too!


So, there you have it.  Run over to "There's Magic in the Air" to grab this image.  It is only available for a limited time for free before you have to buy it.  So don't miss out.  And I'd love for you to play in the challenge this week.


Thanks for stopping by!  I'll have another post on Wednesday and I can't wait for you to see what I have to share!  Again, I appreciate you guys so much!  Hope you have a great week and I'll see you on Wednesday!


Best,


Curt

RELAX WITH GIGI

Hey All!  How was your week?  Hope your weekend was all you wanted it to be!

Today is another Magical Monday, and today we introduce a new FREE digital image from Nina May!  Today, you are being introduced to Gigi.  Here she is in all of her splendor:

Is she not the cutest pig ever?  LOL  Today's challenge is to use paper piecing on your card.  When I first saw this image, I was drawn specifically to the umbrella for some reason.  That umbrella was just screaming "fringe".  But I knew that I didn't have anything that was small enough to look like fringe.  So, when I colored the image, I colored a green border about a 1/4 of an inch around the bottom of the umbrella and then cut it out (all from a second printed image).  I then used my smallest snip scissors to cut vertical cuts all along that newly created green border to give a fringe effect.  I then popped it up with a foam square piecing it on top of the first printed image.    Here is a close up:

Actually, the fringe shows better by looking at the shadow it casts. Anyway, I colored the image with my cheap colored pencils and oms. I used Diamond Glaze for the shiny water effect (can't see in the photo very well). I sponged the background sky with Colorbox light blue ink and a dauber. The paper is from a DCWV stack and the mat paper is navy blue Bazzill card stock. The bow was made using my bow easy. I think I'm getting a little better with using it. The inside of the card says "Relax and Enjoy Your Day".  The sentiment was computer generated.

So, there you have it.  Another great FREE DIGITAL IMAGE from Nina May and There's Magic in the Air.  Hurry on over and snag your free image and if you have a chance, play along with us in the challenge this week.  I'd love to see what you do with this image.

Thanks again for all of your support and for stopping by.  I love having you here.  I'll be posting a new post of some great stuff on Wednesday.  So I'll see you all then.

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

INTRODUCING ELVIS!

Hey All! Hope you had a great weekend! I certainly did. I spent hours visiting all of your blogs and just marveling at how beautiful your work is! I also wanted to thank you for the incredible comments you left me on my last post. Honestly, besides loving doing this, you are one of the main reasons I do this. Thanks so much! You are all the coolest. 


Speaking of coolest, it's another Magical Monday and today we are introducing "Elvis with Boots".  This week's challenge is to get "inspired" by the photo below and create a card using Nina's "Elvis with Boots":

So, here is my inspired card combining the above:

When I saw Elvis for the first time, I immediately thought of a young boy's birthday image. So, That is what this is, a birthday card for a little boy. I incorporated mostly all of the colors from the inspiration picture. I colored him with my cheap colored pencils and OMS. I then masked him and sponged the stormy looking sky behind him using Colorbox inks. I used my Nesties for the matting and sentiment tag. The background paper is from my stash (don't know who's it is) and the sentiment is from a $1 stamp set I picked up at JoAnn's. By the way, this is my FIRST BOW USING THE BOW EASY! LOL I still don't quite have the hang of it yet, but this isn't too bad.

I also used Diamond glaze to make the water look wet as well as putting a few drops on his boots to look like they are wet too. Here is the close up:

If you click on it you can see the shine really well. I LOVE Diamond Glaze. It makes a super adhesive too! I use it exclusively for gluing on dew drops and crystals. They really stay put!

So, there you have it. You need to run over to "There's Magic in the Air" and pick up your FREE "Elvis with Boat" image as soon as possible. Once you have him in your collection, why not play along with us this week. I know Nina would love that. And I would love to see what all you creative people do with Elvis!

Thanks so much for visiting! I love having you here! What would I do without you??? LOL

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

"BEACH LIFE"

Hey All! It's another Magical Monday and I have the newest edition of Nina May's beautiful digital stamps to share with you! This is one of my favorites so far. The image is called "Beached Boat". Here is the image:

We were challenged this week to use this image in a "gate fold" card design. Here is what I came up with:

I really liked working with this image. It was great to color and is really versatile to use. I printed it out after sizing it to the size I wanted (a great feature of digital stamps), then colored it with colored pencils and OMS. I matted it on Bazzill card stock and used an EK Success punch to do the corners. The fun background paper is by Provocraft and it came in a pack called "brights". This pattern reminded me of curling waves and the turquoise blue pretty much went with my color scheme. I used Colorbox ink and sponged the background for the sky effect. The one great thing about using colored pencils is that they act as a resist agent to ink because of the wax in them! So you really don't have to worry too much about getting the ink on your colored image. It wipes right off. Here are a few other pics of the card:

Here it is partially opened.

Here it is all the way opened. I used some paper that looked like sand on the inside and stamped the "Beach Life" again.

The sentiment here was from a $1 stamp set that I got at Michael's. I stamped it in Versamark ink, then embossed it with some turquoise embossing powder from JoAnne's. I colored in the letters with a marker. I cut it out with my Nesties and mounted it on the card with a dimensional. The little thingy in the center is a "stick on" metallic brad.

So, there you go! I hope you run over to "There's Magic in the Air" to pic up this FREE image. I also hope you join in and play along with the challenge this week. I would love to see what all you wonderfully creative people will do with this image.

Thanks so much for stopping by for another Magical Monday! I appreciate your support of my first DT designer gig! You are the best!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

DO YOU BELIEVE IN FAERIES?

Hey All! It's another "Magical Monday" and that means another new image and challenge at the "There's Magic in the Air" blog. Today's image is a cute faerie named Kacey. In my opinion, she should really be a Pixie because she caused me quite a bit of mischief!

I worked on making the card using Nina May's Kacey. I already knew it was going to be a "Hello" card because Kacey is waving. I had told Nina up front that I was not good at using "human" images on cards. I'm not good coloring them or incorporating them. I'm just not comfortable with these types of images. So I knew I was going to have a challenge with this one. But, after some effort, I came up with a card that I was fairly happy with. And here it is:

This background paper is by K & Company and I've had it for quite some time. I knew this was the time to use it. I colored Kacey with colored pencils and OMS, but I did her wings in shimmery paints by Yasutomo. Look at the close up below:

Click on the picture to see how glittery they are. The sentiment was stamped using a set from Hero Arts. I sponged the background with Colorbox pale blue ink for a sky effect. So, I THOUGHT I was done. However, right after dinner on Saturday a thought hit me like a ton of bricks! I remembered that this weeks post was a SKETCH CHALLENGE! CRAP!!!! I ran to my computer, went to the DT blog, and sure enough it was a sketch we were supposed to use with this image. Here was the sketch:

You can see that my original card didn't even come close. So I ran upstairs with the card in hand and started playing with it to see if I could get it to "conform". After about an hour I realized there was no way I could do it. So, I tore it apart to start over. I did manage to salvage the colored image and the sentiment. The rest had to go. So, another couple of hours past to get a new card made to reflect the challenge. I told Nina that this was a double whammy for me because I also NEVER use flowers on my cards! Geeeezzzzzzz this was driving me nuts. So, after all is said and done, here is the sketch card:

Of course it is now after midnight and I needed to get the picture taken and uploaded to get it to Nina for her posting. So, the lighting is canned and not as flattering. But, as you can see, all the elements to the challenge sketch are there. I used a coppery/shimmery ribbon to go with her wings, but you really can't see that well with the lighting on this photo.

OK, so there you have it. I also told Nina that you think a gay guy could do a faerie proud and that this shouldn't have been so hard for me! LOL I do hope you go over to "There's Magic in the Air" and grab this week's FREE image and play along. Again, this image is very versatile as well and can also be used for a saying good-bye card, or an array of other sentiments.

Thanks for coming to see this weeks card! I so appreciate you supporting me like this!

I'll be doing another post mid-week using some new card stock I "discovered" that has an awesome property. Some of you may know about it, but I sure didn't and I'm so glad that I found it. It is the coolest stuff! Can't wait to show you what I made with it. I'll also publish a new pic of the week at that time.

Thanks again!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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