THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR MARCH 19, 2014

Hey All!

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Evening Post.  I'm happy to remind you that today is the LAST DAY OF WINTER!!!!!!  I've actually seen signs of Spring, so I know it's coming and it has been a very long wait.

I hope this post finds you well and happy.  Tonight's post (BTW, I've used a larger font-what do you think?) contains more thank you cards.  Seems like I have been thanking people left and right lately.  That makes me a lucky guy to have so many out there doing stuff that deserves thanks. 

As most of you know by now, I have a brand new set of choppers.  The dental staff has been wonderful, and I wanted them to know how much I appreciated them.  Here are the cards I made for them:

FOR MY DENTIST

FOR THE HYGIENIST

FOR THE FRONT OFFICE 

The first two are of course House Mouse images and the last one is Gruffies.  That is one of the many reasons I love these stamps, because they have an image for just about anything you would want.  On the second one, I created the "crocodile skin by running it through the CB with an embossing folder, then covering it with Versamark and embossing it with clear embossing powder (twice).  It gives it a leather look.  On the last card, I created the background paper using clip art.

I also needed a "manly" thank you card for someone else who helped me recently.  Here is another "guy" thank you card:

I actually got the inspiration from a card from one of my old House Mouse buddies Patricia Rose HERE.  I liked her two-toned oval.  So I changed it up a bit by running it through a wood grained look embossing folder, then using distress ink to make it look a little more like wood.  I added the copper square brads and then a banner greeting all on some DSP for background.  You are going to see a lot more square cards from me.  I've never really liked the A2 size card.  The square just gives more room to do stuff and is more impressive in size.

Pic of the Week:

I think these Canada Geese are tired of this crappy winter too.  I love how they were standing on just one leg while trying to keep the other one warm.

Well another post is complete.  The next post will be written (wait for it. . .wait for it. . .) IN THE SPRING!!!!  LOL  I've still got just a few more people to visit then I will be all caught up.  So hang in there those of you who haven't seen me yet. . .I'm coming!

Hope you all are doing great. . .

Hugs,

Curt

PS. . .there were a couple of you who asked for the instructions for the gift card holder I made last week.  Your blog is not set up so that I could reply with it so here is a link in case you were interested:  GIFT CARD HOLDER

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR MARCH 12, 2014

Hey All!

Welcome to my first "normal" post since my sabbatical.  I've caught up with half of you and have about half more to go before I'm all caught up with visiting you.  It's amazing how much all of you have done in 3 months!  So if you haven't heard from me yet, I'm on my way this week!

While I was "away", I had an emergency visit at my local hospital.  Since I got my new "smile", I've had to really adjust to eating differently.  Well, one night I was eating and swallowed a large piece of stew meat which promptly became lodged in my esophagus.  Long story short, they took me from the emergency room directly to emergency surgery to remove it.  I felt so bad because they had to call in the GI team at 11:30 at night.  These pour souls (two nurses, the surgeon, and the anesthesiologist) all were called from their warm beds to take care of my emergency.  They were so amazing and so wonderful at their jobs.  Not once did they make me feel like I had inconvenienced them, even though I apologized to them 100 times for dragging them out in the cold so late.  I wanted to say thanks and I made the following cards for them:

For Nurse #1

For Nurse #2

For the Surgeon

For the Anesthesiologist

Not only were these people disturbed late at night, I had to call my sister to come and get me after surgery because they would not allow me to drive home after being put under.  So she had to come and get me at about 1:00 AM.  So I made these for her:

An inside, I tucked this:

I really like this style of gift card holder and it fit perfectly inside the A2 size card.

What an ordeal, but these people literally saved my life.  I now chew my food until it's mush before swallowing!  LOL  God, such changes. . .

Pic of the Week:

Snow covered sweet gum balls

Well that's it for this post.  If you would like to know about what I used on my projects above or have questions regarding them, ask in your comments and I'll email you a response.  Just make sure that you have your settings set so that I can respond via your comment.

I hope you are all happy, well, and warm.  Will this damn winter ever end???  We had almost a 70 degree day yesterday and we have snow today!  I could just spit!

Hugs,

Curt

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Hey All!!!


Is that you who is wearing that amazing perfume???  You smell great!


There will be no video tonight. . .For some reason, my video is taking way to long to upload to YouTube.  So it's the old format for tonight.  Can you tell I just don't have the patience to deal with technical problems tonight?


Here are my cards that I would like to share with you.

Remember the card I made with the fireplace that used a battery operated tea light?  Remember the little tiny portrait of a little black pug above it?  Yep, this is another card for that neighbor lady.  I made this card for her to give to her from her beloved Marley.  She is kind of alone and I wanted to be sure that she got a Valentine.  This is a Mo Manning image and it so looks like her little Marley.  It's colored with my colored pencils and oms.  I put on some gloss on her nose for a shiny, wet look.

I made this thank you card for a very sweet neighbor who just gave me two giant grocery sacks full of stamps!  She is giving up stamping for now and wanted me to have them.  I am so grateful and wanted to make a thank you card to let her know.  The image is from Hero Arts colored with Bic markers with glitter added for sparkle.  I USED MY SEWING MACHINE AGAIN!  Simple straight stitch, but I think it looks pretty good for only my 3rd time using it.

This last card is for her sister who lives just a couple of houses down from her.  I watched her sweet dogs for her while she was away for a few days, and she was very generous with compensation.  I just wanted to let her know how much I appreciated it.  This card is out of my comfort level because I combined 3 different patterns of DP (all The Paper Studio).  I added liquid pearls to the image for texture.  The ribbon used to be black and white, but I "dyed" it with Antique Linen distress ink to go better with the color scheme of the card.


Well that's it for now. . .I've had to stop several times in typing this because typing makes my forearm feel like it is on fire.  The elbow is better (for the most part), but it is taking a lot of time to heal because my care for Jay requires me to lift him out of bed to get him into his chair each morning, and other various uses during the day.  So it is slow, but I'm going to keep going to see if I can't do this on my own without another shot.


Pic of the Week

This sweet little fox is new to the neighborhood.  This was taken in my side yard this past weekend.  It is hunting voles.  From his size and face, I can tell he is a young pup and still hasn't learned to fear humans as much as he should.  He has certainly made himself famous around the neighborhood.  He drives my boys nuts!  LOL


Well, thanks so much for stopping by.  I'm SO SORRY that I haven't made it to everyone's blogs in the last couple of weeks, but I swear I'm working on it.  It just kinda hurts (it has taken me over two hours to type this!)  It is all YouTube's fault!!!  Anyway, I will be catching up with all of you in the coming week!  Promise!


Hope you are all doing well.  Hugs to everybody!


Love you guys!


Curt


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Hey All!

WOW!  What have you done to your hair????  You look amazing!  It makes you look so young!  I'm so glad to see you here!  I want to welcome those new followers too!  You pushed me to 300 followers and I couldn't be happier that you are here!  Thanks to Patti (Cherish Each Precious Day) and Mark (Deadbeat Designs) for mentioning me on their blogs.  It was great of you to do, and I appreciate it so much.

On with the post. . .Nothing too special tonight, but I can tell you that some fun new stuff is coming in the next couple of posts (videos!).  So keep tuning in.  My first card is a card that I really don't like AT ALL!  But I wanted to post it because it was one of those types of cards that we all fight with.  Take a look:

This card started with the sunflower head from Bo Bunny.  I then added a stamped stem with leaves which is actually from a poppy stamp.  That's all I had that even came close to add to the sunflower.  Totally not happy with the look, I added some Autumn colored FlowerSoft to the center.  Still not happy. . .Added the CuttleBugged frame and had the flower head stick out from it.  Ehhh. . . .Added the bee and used Stickles on t he wings. . .errrrrr.  Added the rust colored mat. . .ekkkkk. . .stamped the sentiment. . .ho hum. . . .big empty space needs something on the lower left so added orange dew drops, OK, I'm frickin sick of trying to save this damn card!  So, there you have the process, and after reliving it again, I HATE this card!  LOL

This next card uses punch art:

I made this card for some neighbors who recently lost their sweet dog Jake, but have gotten a new one since (rescue dog named Miley).  I wanted to welcome the new member of their family.  She's predominantly brown and white so I stayed with a monochromatic look.  I learned to make this punch puppy here with this great video tutorial.  It's little ears curl forward.  I created the background card stock and popped up the puppy with dimensionals.  The treat can is a recycled cashew can (I have several of these because cashews and pistachios are my favorite nuts).  I filled the can with "Pup Corn" which is a favorite treat of my boys.  The sentiment says "There is nothing better that to end a bad day covered in dog slobber."  Such a wonderful sentiment to welcome their sweet dog.

My final card (get ready Bonnie!!!) is a Halloween card:

I used one of those $1 stamps again but this time by itself.  I intend to do that with the other 3.  I wanted to get a "mummy" feel for the card, so I used masking tape all over the mat panel then used distress ink to "dirty" it and make it look like old bandages.  The "ribbon" is a used dryer sheet that I again "dirtied up" with distress ink.  Stamped the sentiment and done.

Now, I have to share a remarkable gift that one of my crafting neighbors (NINA!!!) gave me.  I was awe struck when I walked into her kitchen and it was sitting on her kitchen island lit up.  Take a look at this!

Bonnie has probably fainted right about now. . .LOL  Isn't this fabulous!?!  The eyes of both the man and the dog have lights in them so that they glow!  She said when she saw this, that with the combination of it being Halloween oriented and mentioning a dog, it had my name written all over it.  For the picture, I sat it on my mantel, but it has a permanent spot on the built-in bookcase next to the fireplace.  It looks so awesome!  Thanks again Nina!  You know me so well. . .LOL

Pic of the Week

BUG DRESSED FOR HALLOWEEN!

OK, that's it for this edition.  I'm still working my way around your blogs, so if I haven't gotten to yours yet, I'm on my way.  As you know, I use my comment section from the week before to visit all those who have left me a comment.  So I've been hitting an average of 45-50 blogs a week.  And I read EVERY word of your posts.  So it takes me some time, but I love every minute of it!

I do hope you are all well and happy and that you are having a great week.  You all are important to me and I think about you all a lot.  I don't have a big family (there are only really 4 of us) so you all have become my extended family, and I'm honored that you visit me each week.

Love you guys!


Best,


Curt O'Brien


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2011

Hey All!

I've been waiting for you!  So glad you could come by and see me!  And may I say, you are looking absolutely fabulous!  Honestly, I've not seen you look better!


OK, I've got 4 cards to post tonight.  This is a good balance of regular cards and Halloween cards.  Yes Bonnie, you have a couple of non-Halloween cards you can look at!  LOL  So, let's take a look, shall we???

One of the things I love most about Halloween (and there is a ton I love) are "haunted houses".  The creepier the better.  When I was younger, I used to love to go visit the local haunted houses for a fun scare.  So, I wanted to create a card that had a haunted house.  I sponged the background first then stamped the image with Staz-On jet black.  This image is by Martha Stewart.  I then added the background papers and separated them with a MS border punch (which reminds me of an old iron fence that would be in front of a haunted mansion.  I then took a black and white striped ribbon and used distress inks on it to give it a dirty, moldy look.  The skeleton key is an actual key (plastic) that I attached with dimensionals.  Stamped, matted, and attached the greeting and done.

I wanted to use that silhouette cat stamp for a Halloween card too.  When I first saw the cat stamp, I thought that the pose of the cat reminded me of it balancing something on its nose.  So, I came up with this:

I created the background paper using a There She Goes bat stamp.  I sponged the background with distress inks then stamped the cat, pumpkin, and raven.  Stamped a few extra bats, matted the image, tied a small black bow, and done.  I really do like how this turned out.  I can imagine using this cat stamp again for a Fall card where a leaf is landing on his nose.  

OK, the next one is a thank you card I made for a sweet neighbor lady who took me out to dinner for my birthday. . .I know, it was in June, but we just got around to it last week.  LOL  Here is the card I made her:

The focal image is embossed in gold ep.  I always forget about my metallic eps.  The background paper is from (I believe) DCWV.  I don't know who the stamp is by.  It is actually a single fern stem that I stamped twice.  This was such a quick and easy card to do.  I need to make a few more of these to have on hand.

The last card for tonight is also a thank you card:

I don't know about you, but I like to do my note cards, thank you cards, and other cards in the spirit of the season.  Since it is now Fall (in my mind anyway!) all occasion cards will carry that theme.  Again, a very simple and quick card.  Don't know who the stamp is by (it's from a set I got when I first started).  I stamped the same image on 3 panels in 3 different colors of distress inks.  Matted them and tied some twine to the end panels and then stamped the simple thanks sentiment on the middle panel.  Popped up the panels on foam squares and done.  This is also for a very sweet neighbor who fixed Jay and me a wonderful dinner.  She made us Italian Beef in the crock pot and it was to die for.  One of the best meals I've had in a long time.  Thanks Nina!  It was so nice of you to do.  You'll probably see this card here before you get it! LOL

OK, now for the pic of the week.  Because Halloween is coming, the picture of the week will reflect a Halloween theme from this post forward through Halloween.  The picture will show scary looking things, or things that remind me of Halloween, or things that have Halloween colors, etc.  So here is the first of the series.

PIC OF THE WEEK

This is kinda creepy eh? This photo was not altered at all.  It was a cloudy day and the faint light was just enough to highlight the strands of this wonderful web against the blackish grey of the tree line in the distance.  Great Halloween pic huh?

Thanks for coming by.  You know how much I love having you here.  I'm off to take a look at what you have all been up to.  Can't wait to see.  And welcome to my new followers!  Thanks so much for thinking my blog is worthy to follow.  That means a lot to me!  Glad to have you here.

Love you guys!


Hugs,


Curt


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR AUGUST 4, 2010

Hey All!

Happy Hump Day to one and all.  I wanted to start this post with some fun, exciting news. . .take a look at this:

I was the lucky winner of this awesome candy from Jodi over at Inked Inspirations!  I am so excited.  Can you believe she had 4 of these prize packs?  Jodi was one of my early readers and I have so been inspired by her work.  She is so talented and a master at coloring images.  Hop over to take a look - she will inspire you.  Thanks Jodi!  I love that I won!

OK, on to the rest of the post.  As promised, there will be no Halloween projects this post.  However, I am working on more and I will sprinkle them in my future posts all the way to Halloween.  Here is the first card I'd like to share:

Here's the story.  Our sweet Japanese neighbors across the street are moving to Osaka, Japan at the end of the month.  I didn't really "neighbor" with them a lot, but I was so fond of them just the same.  The husband was such a friendly guy, and the wife so very sweet.  When they were in Japan, she sent a couple of gorgeous origami cards to me.  What impressed me most about them is that when they first moved in, they walked around to our houses and presented us with food gifts from Japan to introduce themselves.  I've never forgotten that.  So, I wanted to do something special to let them know that I wish them the very best.  I went online and did research as to what the symbol was in Japanese for good luck.  I then printed it off and hand drew it for this card.  I wanted the card to be clean and simple and also have an Asian feel to it.  I love this technique that I used several months back on another card.  This is a labels die from Spellbinders.  I used the largest die and the smallest die to cut out the windows out of the first one.  Here is a close up:

                                                                  Click on Picture for Detail

The large die cut piece is raised up over the images which gives a great recessed look.  I added a little bling and glitter to give it a more finished look.  The flower images are from Artful Inkables which I have had forever but have never used.  I think they have an Asian look.  I actually "built" the flowers because every piece (stems and flower heads) is an individual stamp.  Inside, I have a computer generated sentiment in Japanese that I also looked up the reads "Gokouun o inorimasu" which means good luck.

My next card is also a neighbor related card.  Here it is:

I made this card for the new neighbors who just moved in to a house here on our cul-de-sac,  This image is from Paper Tray Inks' Board and Beams stamp set (a gift from my super sweet blogging buddy Chris).  I sponged the background sky and used a mottled green paper for the grass.  I stamped the trees, fence and house out on white card stock and then cut everything out and created the little scene.  I took it over with a fresh baked pineapple upside down cake.  Turns out, the new residents are a guy and his two sons.  I know he didn't know what to really think of this guy bringing over a freshly (still warm) baked cake and a handmade card over to welcome him to the neighborhood!  It was such a Martha Stewart moment. . .LOL  It felt very awkward to say the least, and I snickered as I walked back across the street.  Oh well, such is the life of this gay guy.  LOL

The last card I'd like to share for this post is a thank you card I did for a neighbor lady who was so sweet to take me out to dinner for my birthday:

I used two stamp sets for this card, and I'm sorry to say I have no idea who they are by.  These were stamps I purchased when I first started card making over two years ago.  At that time, I didn't know that lots of people were interested to know sometimes what stamps you used.  So forgive me.  The paper is by The Paper Studio.  I used two different colors of inks on the flowers, cut them out and popped them up on the stamped leaf thingies with pop dots.  Matted everything up with Bazzil card stock, added the sentiment on the little banner tag I made using a corner of a square paper punch.  I really like the colors on this.

So, that's it.  I'm sorry I was really windy on this one, but the cards needed some extra explanations.  I want to close this post with a couple of pictures that I would love to share with you.  Take a look:

I love this little couple.  See the little heart they are forming with their beaks in the first pic?  They stay around the house quite a bit, and are always together.  I watched them this Spring give life to two beautiful offspring.  The top pic is of them on my roof one evening, and the second is of them on my fence one morning.  I honestly believe that animals feel what we call love.  And I point to these little sweeties as proof.  I always tell my boys I love them and have since they were pups.  I've taught them to show me they love me back by giving me their paw.  I say "Do you love your Daddy?"  And they will raise that paw so gently to hand it to me.  The amazing thing is that with Shotsy, I will be petting him as I pass by, and without asking, he will extend that paw as if he is initiating the "I love you Daddy".  It simply melts my heart.

OK, mushy stuff over!  LOL  Just had to share.  There is also a pic of the week below for your enjoyment too.  Thanks for spending A LOT of time with me on this post.  Again, I'm sorry I blathered on so.  I'll be on my tour of your blogs to see what you've all been up to this week!  Can't wait to see.

Love you guys!


Best,


Curt O'Brien


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