"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."

A WONDERFUL PRODUCT DISCOVERY

Hey All! Hope all is well in your parts of the world. Thanks for all the nice things you guys posted on the Faerie post Monday. You were all so sweet as usual!


Whenever I find something that I was not aware of and find it to be majorly AWESOME, I am compelled to share it with you. Well, this is one of those times. I'm sure some of you know that this product exists, but there may be many of you like me who didn't have a clue. This post is all about this product which is now one of my most favorites.


The product is called "Core' Dinations". It is the coolest card stock I have ever used. Here is the pad I purchased:





It is a card stock with a complimentary core color. This particular pad has 80 sheets 2 each of 40 different colors. I LOVE THIS STUFF! Are you ready to see what I made with it???? Take a look at these:














Is this the neatest effect or what??? I simply ran the paper through each of my CB folders, trimmed them, and then used a sanding block on the embossed image. They turned out so rich and beautiful. This is so much easier that inking up your folders to get this effect, and it gives you a nicer look than white core because the color you get is a coordinated color. Here is a couple of pics for you to see the sanded part a little closer:








I just can't get over how these turned out. Fast and easy with such a great look. No stamping. . . except for the sentiment. You will see at the bottom of each card I left a blank space for any sentiment I choose. Here is a pic of the entire set:



As it says on the cover of the paper, it is so versatile. You can use it as is, emboss and sand the image, antique it, tear it, crumple it up for a great effect, etc. You know me a note card sets. . . I think these in an A2 size with just the embossed panel and ribbon would make a wonderful set.


Don't let the price stop you. Even though the price you see on the pic of the product says $29.99, I bought it from Hobby Lobby when they had their paper on sale for 50% off. That made it very reasonable! The card stock also comes in smaller quantities and in different color combos. If you would like to get more information on this, click here for their website. They even have a video showing how it can be used.


Well, I hope you enjoyed this. Again, thanks for coming to see me and don't forget the pic of the week below! I think this one may be one of my most favorite shots simply because of the lighting that I caught.


That's it for now! I'll be seeing you on your blogs to leave ya some love! LOL


Best,


Curt O'Brien


"God, please help me be the person that my dog's 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."

IT'S MAGICAL MONDAY!!!!

Hey All! It's here!!! My first "official" post as a design team member of "There's Magic in the Air". Today's post is using the first FREE digital image for you to enjoy. It's called "Orson with Cake", drawn by the ever-so-talented Nina May. Here is the card I created using this image:

Isn't he cute?!? This is a really versatile image which could be used for birthdays or for any type of celebration. It's also a cute image for a child's card. I chose a "Party Animal" theme for our celebration. When I think of a monkey, I think of the jungle. So this was in my head when I first saw Nina's image. I colored the image with colored pencils and OMS. I added glitter to the icing on the cake and candle flame. The paper is by Frances Meyer called "Palm Fronds". It came in both the dark green and the light green. I used the light green for the background paper and cut the individual large palm leaves from the dark green. I then attached the leaves with foam squares for dimension. I cut out the circles with my Nesties circles and scalloped circles. The Bazzill card stock used was a dark chocolate. I wanted to give the look of a coconut. The sentiment was computer generated using the Curlz font.

When I put the card together, it still looked like it needed something else. So I created the "vine" and wrapped it all around the card to give it that "jungle" feel. I used brown braiding rope and punched the leaves out using a small $1 punch. Here is a close up:

So, there you have it! My first DT creation! LOL Hope you like it. I also hope you run over to the "There's Magic in the Air" blog to see what the other DT members have done. You also need to get over there to get your copy of this digital image for FREE! You can also participate in the challenge for the weekly prize.

Again, thanks so much for visiting! I do hope you hop over and play or at least pick up your free image. I would love to see what you all do with it as well!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

A HM MONDAY CHALLENGE

Hey Kiddos! Thanks for the nice comments you left regarding yesterday's announcement! If you missed yesterday's post, you can read it here! You guys always know how to make a guy feel special!

I wanted to share a couple of cards I made that I started to post on yesterday's post, but thought I should keep the subject matter to the announcement only. So I'm posting them today in a separate post. The first one I made was a get well card for my Mom's good friend who had some serious surgery yesterday. I'm glad to report she made it through with flying colors! Here is the card I'm sending to her:

I used 3 different stamp sets for this "scene". The main fish is from SU's "Fishy Friends". I love his little face. The other smaller fish, starfish, and coral, were from a $1 set I picked up at Michael's awhile back. Then the other plants were from a set from Inque. I stamped the images in clear embossing powder, colored them, then took a Versamark pen and colored each stamped image and embossed them again with clear ep. I then sponged the water background and sandy bottom. Added some glitter and done with the scene. I mounted it onto some navy Bazzill card stock and then mounted that onto some paper that looked like sand. The sentiment was computer generated.

My next card is for the HM Monday Challenge over at the House Mouse Monday Challenge Blog. They have a really nice sketch for this week's challenge so I decided to play. Here is the sketch:

Here's my card:

I needed to make a card for a friend of mine who didn't get a job that they had interviewed for.

I wanted them to know that they are "Still Fabulous" even though they didn't get the job. This is a Happy Hopper image from Stampabilities. Isn't she as cute as she can be? She is colored with my cheap pencils and OMS. I added the pearls one at a time (the image has pearls around her neck to begin with) to form her strand. As you can see from the close up shot below, I used two sizes to get the 3-D effect:

I just love her little face and that lipstick! LOL She just looks so confident. Every time I see this image it makes me laugh! I think that is why I love the House Mouse images so much. They just stir up so much emotion when I see them, and I think that they do that for the recipient of the card. I sure hope so in this case.

OK, that's it. Don't forget the pic of the week below. Hope you all are having a "Fabulous" week too. I'll be seeing you on your blogs. Can't wait to see what you've posted!

Best,

Curt

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

THE ANNOUNCEMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!

Hey All! How the heck are ya? Hope you all had a great weekend and the week ahead looks bright!

Today is the day that I can announce the new blog There's Magic in The Air! I was asked to join as a design team member by the ever so talented Nina May. I have to tell you that I am so excited not only for me, but for you too! Nina is so talented and creative, and I think she has come up with an awesome blog and some new and exciting twists that involve YOU! Here's what the blog offers:

~A FREE weekly limited original digital stamp.

~"Magical Mondays" - This is the day that the free digital image is released and the weekly challenge begins. You will also get to see the DT's creations for your inspiration!

~Weekly random prize drawing for all who participate in the challenge.

How fun is that??? In the future, she will also have her other original digital stamps and photo polymer stamps there for sale as well. I really think that you all are going to love her stuff!

And TODAY (July 27Th) and again on August 27Th she is having a blog candy give away to celebrate! So hop on over to "There's Magic in The Air" to enter for the blog candy!

Next Monday is the actual first post of the Design Team's work for the first image. So get over there and sign up as a follower so that you don't miss out on the free weekly digital stamp!

So there you have it! I'm so excited about this opportunity. I hope you have fun with it too over the next several weeks! I think you are going to LOVE her digital images! Good luck on the blog candy! And as always, thanks so much for your support and well wishes!

Best,

Curt

NOTE CARD SET

Hey Kiddos! Happy Weekend to all of you. I hope you had a great week and you are planning to have a great weekend.

Today's post is short and to the point today. I have a note card set to share with you today. I made this for another neighbor who I talk too every so often when I'm out walking the boys. I have found that she had a very similar past life that reflects so much of what I am going through with Jay now. Her husband was very ill, in a motorized wheelchair, and eventually passed. I could not get over all the things that she went through that I'm going through now. It's nice to find someone who actually understands the frustrations of taking care of someone and to be able to just "talk" about it sometimes. She has been a great help to me in that respect, and I wanted to show her how much I appreciate it. She also has a wonderful sense of humor and drops some "hard" language sometimes which always makes me laugh. The funny part is that she is an English teacher by trade.

Did I say this was gong to be short??? LOL OK, on with the card set.

OK, I know this was not the best choice for ribbon. HOWEVER. . .I tried 8 different ribbons trying to match the "overall" color of this card stock. I found one that was almost "perfect", but it was majorly wrinkled. So, I tried to iron it, and it shriveled up and melted! So, this was the only one that didn't look totally horrible.

I made four cards for the set. Here is the first one:

This is a Gruffies stamp from Stampabilities. The paper is from The Paper Studio. I used my cheap colored pencils and OMS to color it, and cut the image out with my Nesties labels die.

Here's the next one:

This is a House Mouse image from Stampabilities. Again, pretty much of the same info on the supplies as the first one.

Next:

This is a Happy Hoppers image from Stampabilities. Colored pencils & OMS, blah blah blah. Accept on this one, I sponged the sky background with Colorbox ink (much darker IRL, sun washes it out), and I did something I've not done before on the balloons. First, I double stamped them, but before I added them on the card, I tried a technique that I've seen on several blogs that I never think of doing. I turned the cut out balloons over in the palm of my hand and used an embossing tool to "round them out" and poof out more. I LOVED how they turned out. So 3-D!! I then attached them with foam squares. I also coated them with Diamond Glaze for the shine factor. I again also added cotton batting for his little fuzzy tail!

Last card in the set:

Another Gruffies image. How sweet is that face!?! Again, colored pencils/OMS. I used a new product (new to me) that I got at JoAnn's called "Fabric Tac" to make the ribbon loops. This stuff is great! Tiny drop on one side, lightly touch the other side to stick, and tah dah. . .ribbon loop to add. (I know, little things like this seem to amuse me.) LOL

Here is the whole set all together:

So, that's it. She loved them and I was glad for that. However, she said she didn't think she could send them to anyone, because she wanted to keep them for herself. LOL

OK, that's it for this post. 9 more days until the DT announcement. I'll have one more post before it's announced.

Thanks again for taking the time to look at my stuff! I still can't believe that people come to see me! I'll be seeing you all on your blogs! Don't forget the pic of the week below!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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