THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR AUGUST 29, 2013

Hey All!

Sorry that I'm late with this post. . .what is the saying. . ."A day late and a dollar short."?  I'm usually both.  But here I am and I do have cards to show.

I have to give a warning (Bonnie), this post does contain a Halloween card, the first of the season for me!  So let's start with that one shall we????

I got the idea for this card HERE.  The card that was the inspiration was done in Halloween colors and screamed to be done for Halloween.  The coffee cup is from Gina K. Designs which I fussy cut out with an exacto knife.  The saucer was paper pieced and the skull/cross bones was a small dollar stamp.  You can't see it in the photo well, but I added steam rising from the cup by embossing it with silver tinsel embossing powder for a nice sparkly steam.  If you click on the photo you'll see it much better.  The harlequin background paper is from My Mind's Eye (Mischievous) and I created the paper behind the cup with a Stampabilities script background stamp and then "dirtied" it up with some distress ink.  The cup is set up with dimensional tape.

Can you tell I'm gearing up for Fall???  This card in my version of Gina Ks video of a card she made.  I used to have a favorite show where these interior designers would show a decorated room like in a mansion that cost thousands of dollars and then recreate it on a budget of $1,000.  I LOVED that show.  Well this card reminds me of that.  I duplicated Gina's card from her video HERE using what stamps and paper I had on hand to come up with the same look.  How'd I do?

This card was totally inspired by the seahorse.  This was a stamp in the wooden set that also had the ship stamp that I showed you a couple of weeks ago.  The plant life are stamps from Inque, and the shell stamps are in that same set as the ship/seahorse.  I created the panel by blending different shades of blue distress inks then spritzing it with water.  After it dried I stamped the images to create the scene.  I fussy cut out the shells and placed them in a cluster and added turquoise glitter to them for some sparkle as well as to the main sea weed image.

Pic of the Week

Well, that's it for this post.  Hope this finds all of you well and happy.  I'm sorry that my week got away from me and I didn't get to all of your blogs as I had hoped, but I'll be there soon.  I always love the inspiration I get from all of you.

Hugs,

Curt

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR AUGUST 21, 2013

Hey All!

Really nice to see you!  Thanks so much for the warm welcome back you gave me on my last post.  And it is so nice to be back.  I went around to all of your blogs (those that left a comment on last post) and you all have been doing amazing stuff.  You are all truly inspiring!

On to the cards for this week:

For this card, I used the negative of a die cut.  I took a piece of scrap card stock and sponged various colors of distress ink to get a gradient effect.  Then slid it behind the negative cut out.  Stamped the word "dream" and done.  Very quick and easy to do yet it makes a great looking card.

I really like silhouette stamps and I love the set this one came in from Sweet & Sassy.  The set contains several different silhouette landscapes.  I sponged the morning sunrise color scheme with distress inks, then stamped the image on top of it.  Added the sentiments in Archival jet black ink.  I used to have trouble with these solid images not coming out right and looking splotchy.  But the trick is two fold: 1. Make sure your ink pad is freshly re-inked and 2. Using a sanding block, lightly sand your stamp before inking it for the first time.  Makes all the difference!

 This is a 50th anniversary card that I made for a neighbor in our old neighborhood.  The dies are from Memory box and I used them on gold glitter paper.  Put them on red card stock then matted that with the same gold glitter paper.  The 50 is a sticker.

Pic of the Week:

This is a flower which vines that is in our backyard.  It was planted by the previous owners and I have no idea what it is called.  I am thinking it is from the orchid family.

Well that's it for another post.  Again, thanks so much for all of your kind words.  Still having shoulder issues (but that is expected for a year and I'm only 4 months into it).  But I am learning to tolerate the pain and know what my limitations are as far as movement goes.

Hope all of you are well and doing great.  Can you believe Summer is almost history?  But you know what that means right?  HALLOWEEN is right around the corner!!!!  LOL

Hugs,

Curt

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

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

Hey All!

I'm back!!!! Gosh I have so missed all of you.  Some of you may have gotten a surprise visit from me already as I'm trying to make my way back to all of your blogs to see how you've been and what you've been up to.  Thank you too for all of you who have sent me comments, emails, and get well cards.  You have been wonderful and I have felt very cared about!

Can you believe it has been exactly 12 weeks since I've been away????  It has been a combination of things, the pain in my shoulders, and a sever situation that happened with me and Shotsy.  I was playing with him in the pool with his tennis ball.  I reached down to pick it up at the same time he did.  As he clamped down on the ball, one of this teeth nearly went through my right index finger.  Long story short, emergency room, wrong antibiotics prescribed, trip to my own doctor, more antibiotics, two painful trips to the hand surgeon, and my predominant hand out of commission for almost 3 weeks.  That combined with my shoulder issues kept me from doing any crafting at all.  Then, you know how it is, when you've been away from it for so long, it is hell to get back into the swing of it again.

But this last week I've been busy at it again!  I've made enough cards for 5 weeks of posts! Ha!  So we can say that I'm officially back.  I'm back up to 80 words per minute typing again, so my hands and fingers are working. 

Here are my cards for this week:

 I love how this card turned out (the map especially).  I believe the map is a Hero Arts cling.  I stamped the map in Vintage Photo distress ink, cut it out, distressed and inked the sides, then crumpled it up several times before smoothing it out and matting it.  The map has such great texture (you'll see it if you click on the photo).  The ship stamp is from Michael's.  Paper is by Fancy Pants.  Added two copper brads and some heavy twine to complete the "nautical" look.

This card combines a digital image and a stamped image.  The planet surface is digital from Hambo, and the alien is a stamp from Recollections.  I colored the planet surface with colored pencils and the alien is colored with Bic markers.  I fussy cut him out and added googly eyes.  The sentiment is computer generated.  I also used a silver glitter pen and went around every one of those stars (Paper Studio) to give it some sparkle.

The last card to share is a House Mouse image colored with my colored pencils and oms.  I added some glitter to the base of the logs and a few little flecks in the flames as if the sparks were flying.  This is the first time I've ever used this image.  It was time consuming to color, but so worth the result.  I'm entering this into the House Mouse Monday Challenge over at House Mouse & Friends.  Their challenge this time is "Liquid Refreshment".  I think their little cups of hot cocoa qualifies.

Pic of the Week
 

TINY VISITOR

 Gosh it is is good to be posting again!  I hope you all still remember me!  Heck, I've almost forgotten how to do this posting.  Had to stop and think for awhile.  LOL  I'll be continuing now with my visits to all of you again.  Can't wait to see what you have all been up to these past weeks.

Hugs to all of you!!!

Curt

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR MAY 22, 2013

Hey All!

How the heck are ya?  I'm glad you are here and safe.  I have to say how heartbroken I am for those of you in Oklahoma.  I could not believe my eyes as I watched the coverage of that horrible tornado in Moore.  The complete devastation is more than I can imagine.  Thank God more were not killed.  I know this sounds kind of silly, but I kept thinking that if that happened to my house, I couldn't imagine trying to replace my craft room stuff!  I also thought, with all the paper I have, at least the wreckage would be prettier than most!

Update on my situation. . .I have been diagnosed with "Frozen Shoulder".  Not in one but in both shoulders.  The good news is that once I recover, I can never have it again.  The bad news is that it will take about a year for it to go away.  And because I have diabetes and a heart condition, I can not have the drugs usually used to ease it.  So that means I have to "man up" and just deal with it.  Not a pleasant perspective for me.  I have one pain medication that I can take, but it doesn't do that much and the side effect of nausea is almost worse than the pain.

Because of the above, I only made one card this week. . .

 This is a Mo Manning image called "The Big Guy Grilling".  I colored him with my colored pencils and oms.  This is such a perfect image for Summer.  I know it is still Spring, but Summer is just around the corner.  I can say for sure that I won't miss these Spring storms.

I do have 3 pics of the week to share:

PIC OF THE WEEK

This little guy was found making himself at home in my newly opened pool!  I happened to look out of the breakfast room window and saw a black thing floating on top and then suddenly shoot to the bottom.  So I got the skimmer pole and fished him out.  Isn't he beautiful?  His markings were so amazing and that fiery red color just stood out so brightly in the sun.  He had his head pulled back so far in that shell, I think he will have a stiff neck for a week!  LOL  I, of course, released him and sent him on his way after the photo shoot.

OK, that's it for this post.  Thanks once again for coming by to check on me.  I hope you are all OK and doing well.  Stay safe from this Spring storms.  I'll be by to check on you soon!

Hugs,

Curt

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR MAY 15, 2013

Hey All!

 How the heck are ya?  Thanks so much for stopping by, I'm always so glad to see you here and you always look so good!  How do you do that?  You just look gorgeous!  Hope you all had a wonderful Mom's day!

Wish I could say the same for me. . .I haven't had more than 4 hours of sleep each night for the last 5 weeks.  I have done something to my left arm and at times it feels as if it is broken.  I've already been to my doctor and he thinks it is "frozen shoulder".  I don't think it is (even though I have almost all of the symptoms) but he has sent me to an orthopedic specialist (this coming Friday) to see what is going on.  All I know is that yesterday, when I opened the car door, a hard wind blew the door open and yanked my arm.  I had to sit in the van and count to 100 just to stay conscious.  The pain was that bad.  I tell you all this because it is hard to type so it is taking me some time to get around to see all of you.  So please be patient with me.

I do have a few cards and a great  pic of the week for you though. . .  Take a look:

This is the card I made for my Mom for Mother's Day.  I've been wanting to try a flip card and this is my result.  HOWEVER, I added a little variation to the card.  Take a look:

I turned it into a gift card holder.  Actually, I just used double sided tape to hold the card in place.  But the Spellbinder's die I chose concealed the gift card perfectly.  I also lined up another die cut of the same shape directly behind it to write on.  As you can see in the first photo, the  gift card and the handwriting are hidden perfectly.

I also gave Mom a stationery set with eight different cards, personalized envelopes, two girly pens and a book of forever stamps.  She is always asking me to make her some cards to send to people so I thought this would be useful.  You all have seen some of the cards that I put in the set, but here are a couple of new ones:

This owl is from a clear set by Lawn Fawn.  I added googly eyes because all the little critters in the set look like their eyes are closed.  Ran the "tree" and the background through the CB with a couple of efs and added a computer generated sentiment.

Sometimes you find a paper that is just extra pretty, and this is one.  Ironically, I cut it all up (same paper used for Mom's card) and I have no idea who made it.  I added a 3-D butterfly (EK punch-3 way punch) and stamped the simple sentiment.  Easy and fast.  I also added glitter to the flowers.

That's it for this post EXCEPT for the pic of the week below!

Pic of the Week

PEEPING FROG

I think this is one of the cutest frogs I've ever seen.  He was stuck to the side window of my front door when I took this.  He is obviously on the outside of the glass and I took the pic from inside my entry hall.  I didn't think that the pic would turn out because it was at night, and my flash had to be used.  I figured the flash would bounce off of the glass and bleed everything out, but it came out perfect!  I found another one of these on my patio glass doors two nights ago.

Thanks again for stopping by to see my stuff.  I still can't believe you take the time to do so, but I love that you do.  Again, I'll be around to see you slow as I may be.  Thanks for your patience.

Hugs,

Curt

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR MAY 8, 2013

Hey All!


Well, it has been quite a week for news hasn't it???  The Jodi Arias verdict, the new Benghazi hearings, and the 3 found missing women.  What an interesting week of developments.  What a fascinating world we live in.

And speaking of news. . . how about the winner of my 5 Year Blogaversary Blog Candy!?!?!

Here is the prize package to refresh your memory:

There was actually a total of 56 comments, however one person asked not to be in the drawing, one person entered twice, one was my best friend and not eligible, and one was an anonymous comment who did not leave a name in the comment.  So, there was a total of 52 valid entries into the drawing.  I was going to use Random.Org to come up with a number, but that is too boring.  So I wrote all of the valid entry names on strips of paper, wadded each up and threw them on the floor.  I then gave Shotsy the command "Bring!" I use this command if I have dropped something on the floor for him to pick it up and give it to me (he would have made a great service dog!).  Shotsy looked at all the paper balls and looked back at me like "Daddy!  How am I going to bring all of those to you???"  LOL  Bless his sweet heart.  So I told him "Bring!" again, and he walked over to the pieces and picked one up and handed it to me.  How random was that, huh???  I wish I had thought to video it, that would have been a great video!

And ironically, he picked Shirley (Glittered Paws)!  LOL  How fun is that!?!  CONGRATULATIONS SHIRLEY!!!  Please email me with a verification of your address so I can mail you your prize!

I'm sorry you all couldn't have won a prize. . .I just wish I was really rich so I could shower you all with grand prizes. . .

Thanks for all of your congrats, well wishes, and sweet comments.  They mean so much to me!

'Til next week!

Hugs,

Curt

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

SPECIAL EDITION OF THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST ON FRIDAY 4/26/2013

Hey All!

Welcome to a Special Edition of The Wednesday Evening Post (even though it is on Friday!).  Today, I'm celebrating my 5 year anniversary of starting this blog and my very first post.  If you'll look over to your right, you'll see the huge anniversary cake there on the table and to the left is a completely stocked open bar for your enjoyment while you are here.  Servers will be walking around with a variety of hors d'oeuvres, so please help yourself.  Don't forget the GREAT GIVE-AWAY!!!!  More info on that at the bottom of this post.

I'm so glad you came!  5 years. . .I can hardly believe it.  For a stroll down memory lane for those of you who would like to see. . .here is the link to my very first post and my very first cards HERE.  I had 3 comments and remember that I had no idea how they even found me! I was amazed and hooked from that moment on and the rest is history.  Here are my cards for tonight:

 I haven't used this stamp in ages!  I LOVE this little guy.  We had a break-in here in our neighborhood this week!!  It was a house about 3 doors down from us and it is the home of a very cute, young couple.  They found their door kicked in and their house ransacked and robbed.  I just felt sick for them and wanted them to know how sorry I was that this had happened.  So, I made this card for them and went to a local bakery and got them some yummy cupcakes to make them smile.  The image was colored with my colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits.  The sentiment was from "Gunther's Greetings" which was a stamp set designed after my own sweet Gunther!

Next card. . .

Are those bee faces the cutest or what???  LOL  I used baker's twine for the "bee trails" but all I had was black and white so I colored the white part with a yellow marker.  Their little wings are all Stickled up and I fussy cut them out and popped them up on dimensional tape.  The bee stamp is by Recolections and I colored them with marker.

OK, now for the promised give-away in honor of my 5 year anniversary. . .Here is the prize package:

1 Set of Spectrum Noir Markers in browns and greys
1 Stampabilities House Mouse/Happy Hopper wood mounted rubber stamp (Snuggle Bunny)
1 Spellbinders Nestabilities Big Scalloped Squares (7 dies)
1 All Occasion Mat Stack with Glitter (44 sheets of 4.5X6.5)
1 Memory Box die (Resting Birds)
3 packs of assorted bling

Nice huh?  As you know I don't make you jump through hoops to win any prizes here.  All you need do is leave me a comment on this post.  I'll use Random.Org to pick a winner from all the comments, and I will announce the winner on the May 8th Edition of My Wednesday Evening Post.  Good Luck!

Pic of the Week

My sweet Gunther celebrated his 9th birthday on the 24th!  He got a birthday cake, a trip to the "doggie store" to pick out his presents, and lots of treats.

Hope you are all well.  Thanks for stopping by and I'll be seeing all of you on your blogs!

Hugs,

Curt

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