HUGE SURPRISE COMING!!!

BE SURE TO READ THIS FIRST PARAGRAPH!

Hey All! Hope your week is progressing nicely! Along with today's cards/project, I'm going to tease you with some exciting information. As most of you know, my 1 YEAR BLOGAVERSARY is in 4 days! I've also went over the 20,500 mark on my counter. Naturally, I want to celebrate because I think this is a very special occasion (at least to me) so I'll be offering blog candy. However, it isn't just any blog candy. . . and when I announce what it is in four days, you will be thrilled. But at the end of this post, I'll give you a photo clue as to what the prize is going to be and I think that you will be quite excited. Some might even drool. . .LOL

So on with the cards. . .

I had this sunflower paper for quite awhile and when I saw this House Mouse stamp, I knew it would be perfect with the paper. I love everything about sun flowers, and I love how well the image and the paper went together on this one. You know how when you just take some time to relax and let your mind wander? And sometimes you think of people you haven't thought of in awhile? That's what this image brings to mind for me. The card stock is by Bazzill and the paper is by The Paper Studio. The sentiment is a $1 stamp I picked up at Michael's.

Below is a close-up of the image:

The next item I would like to share with you is another one of my famous Spam can note card sets LOL. I made this for my friend Bonnie. She is a huge dog lover like me and she also is a professional groomer. Here is the set:

The theme of the set is the sentiment which reads "Dogs Leave Paw Prints on our Hearts". Here is a close up:

There are six cards in the set and each has a matching envelope with the paw print, as well as the paw print appearing on the inside of the card. The ribbon already had paw prints on it so it was perfect for this note card set. I now have a collection of 5 more Spam cans, so more note cards sets are in the pipeline. I'm currently working on some that I am using my own original photography. I've selected some floral shots and have turned them into "Artsy" watercolor pieces using Photoshop. The images turned out beautifully and I think the note cards will be very unique. So stay tuned.

OK, so now for the tease for the upcoming blog candy give away announcement in 4 days! Below is your hint:

Now, if you know what that is, sssshhhhhhhhh. Don't put it in your comment. You CAN tell me in the comment that you know and how excited you are, but don't let it out of the bag when you leave me your fabulous comment! LOL

So, here is the scoop. . .On Monday, April 13Th (ooohh a lucky number!) I will be posting my Blogaversary Celebration post with all the details and the actual prizes that will be given away. You will find out how to win and it should be a lot of fun! So don't forget to come back on the 13Th for your chance at this very special prize!

Thanks for stopping by today and looking. I love reading your comments. They give me such a lift! I'll be seeing you on your blogs!

Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

LOTS TO SHARE!

Hey All! Happy Saturday! I hope all is well in your world. I have lots to share with you today so I'll get right to it! I have 3 cards to share with you, a recommendation of an online store, some amazing RAKs I received, and an announcement. So if you don't read anything else, be sure you read the last few paragraphs! LOL

My cards today are Easter themed for obvious reasons. I also have one card that for the first time I cased from SCS. So on to my the first card:




As most of you know, I'm a big fan of House Mouse stamps by Stampabilities. When I saw this one, I knew it would make a great Easter card. This one is called "Will Knit for Friends". I colored the image with colored pencils and OMS. The paper is from Paper Studio and the card stock is Bazzill. I used white photo corners and colored them to accent the card.


The next is another Easter card made with a HM stamp. This one is called "Eggcellent". These are bunnies from their Happy Hopper line.



Again, colored with colored pencils and OMS. The paper too is again from The Paper Studio and card stock is Bazzill. Each layer on this card is mounted with 3-d foam squares, so this has some hight to it. I then added the coordinating brads to finish it off.

My next card is the one I cased. As I understand it, when you case a card you have to change 3 things about the card. I don't know if that is a rule or just the rules for a challenge on SCS. Regardless, I would never try to duplicate any one's work. It's kind of like American Idol for me. You take a card idea and "make it your own". LOL You can all be the judges on this one and see if you would vote me through to the next round. Here is the card I "cased":



I have tried so hard to find the artist who did this card on SCS, but after searching over 30 pages of cards and using keywords to search, I still can not find who did this gorgeous card. EDITED TO ADD: Two people found her for me! You guys are so awesome! Here is the link to the SCS post: HERE And you can see her actual blog HERE. Jean aka CraftJean on SCS found the link to the SCS gallery, and the other was found by my blogging buddy Julia. Thanks again you two!

Here is my version:



I do love how this one turned out. I love the effect of looking up at the dragonfly flying by. As you can see, I changed many things to make it my own. I left the circle in tact, used a dragonfly instead of a butterfly, used different foliage, added brackets instead of ribbon, different colors, etc. This person's card was really an inspiration for me. I just wish I knew who it was. This has taught me to be more cognisant when making notes.

Now, on to the RAKs I mentioned at the beginning of the post. The first is from a very new blogging friend who lives in Canada. Her name is Bonnie, and she is a groomer and also has a Miniature Schnauzer. She is a huge dog lover like I am. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a blog that I can share with you, but based on the card she sent me with my gifts, she is so talented! Here is what I received from her:



Is this awesome or what??? A gift for me and gifts for my boys! I was amazed at her generosity. The bookmark is brass and has this wonderful saying: "A dog is the only thing that loves you more than he loves himself. ~ Josh Billings" I just can't thank you enough, Bonnie. I will cherish these always!

Another wonderful RAK arrived the same day! It is from my wonderful blogging buddy Jodi at Inked Inspirations. Here is what she sent me:



Are those puppy faces cute or what? She had gotten this for me awhile back, but had misplaced it, and then recently found it again and sent it to me. I lOVE it so much, Jodi! Thank you for your thoughtfulness knowing how much I love Schnauzers and thinking of me. You are very sweet!

OK, now for a BIG recommendation for an online store that I am very impressed with. The store is Creativeplaystamps.com. The owner is Laura Hampton and is located in Illinois. WHAT AMAZING SERVICE! I had been jacked around by another online store (which I won't mention) and gave up on an order that I had been waiting for for 9 weeks! I cancelled that order and went to Creative Play Stamps to order my Nestabilities. Not only were they on sale, but she also carried House Mouse stamps (and a ton of other stuff). So, I ordered a few other things and got my priority shipping free. I placed my order on a Wednesday night, and had it in hand on Saturday morning! I was having trouble (due to my stupid computer) placing an order on her site. I sent her an email and she responded literally in minutes to help. Once I placed my order, she sent an email (again in minutes) telling me that she had pulled my items and they were ready to go out. I then received an email from the USPS that it had been shipped with a tracking number. When the package arrived, she had also included a free gift (small ink pad) with my order. I couldn't be more impressed, and I plan to order from her again in the near future. Go check her online store out. Huge selection, and AMAZING service! Thanks again Laura! You have a very happy customer here!

Finally, my Blogaversary is coming up in 10 days. I also noticed this morning that I have gone over the 20,000 hit count. So I'm going to be celebrating! Stay tuned for my Blogaversary Celebration. More details to come in my next post in a few days, so stay tuned.

That's it for now! Again, thanks so much for your incredible comments and support. You are all the reason why I do this, and I wouldn't be doing this without you! I hope you all have a FABULOUS Easter! Don't forget the pic of the week below! I'll see you on your blogs this week!

Best,

Curt

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

BUTTERFLIES, BUTTERFLIES AND A STRANGE STORY

Hey all! Hope you are having a great weekend! It is simply gorgeous here and my Mom and I took "the boys" out to the park for a romp. That is where the strange story comes in, so be sure to read it (and see the pics) at the end of the post.

I have two cards to share with you today. Both have a butterfly theme in honor of the beginning of Spring. Here is my first:

I so love this butterfly stamp. I also love the sentiment I put on this card (click on pic for a better read). The butterfly is from a newly purchased set from Inkadinkado. The set includes several bugs, and one I can't wait to use is a dragonfly. I stamped these with Archival Jet Black ink and then colored them with Bic markers (I didn't have bright pastels in my Copics set). I have no idea who made the paper, but I thought it was perfect for this card. I cut each butterfly out and mounted them on the card with foam squares. The sentiment (computer generated) was printed on white cs and then cut out using Nestie circles. I cut the circle in half and added the scallops to give in a "flower" feel. Below is a side view showing how the butterflies really stick out:

My next card uses the same sentiment, but a totally different card:

I love how this one turned out too. Same butterfly, just no color. On this one, I stamped the butterfly twice. On the first one, I colored it in solid black with a Bic marker. The second one I left alone and mounted it on top of the black one so that it gives a black shadow effect. This card has a lot of dramatic matting, and I also added bling, brads, and ribbon.

I just ordered (and received today) another set of butterfly stamps from Joan Fricker at Joan's Gardens, so you are bound to see more butterfly cards in the near future. I have to tell you that she is a pure joy to work with, and her service is beyond compare! Thanks Joan for such a quick fill of my order. You are the best!

NOW FOR THE STRANGE STORY (complete with pictures! LOL)

As I said in the beginning of the post, my Mom and I went to a local park to walk the boys today. We got to this really neat overlook place and I told her to stand up there while I went down below it to take a picture of her and her dog Chunk.

So, here is the first picture to give you that perspective:

So, for the next picture, I stayed in the same spot, and used my zoom to get a closer shot. When I got home, I uploaded the pictures and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Here is the picture (be sure to click on it and look right below her elbow):

Is that amazing?!?! Someone had obviously carved that there, but neither of us were even aware that it was there until I came home and uploaded the picture. Obviously she is my Mom and she is "Chunk's Mom" too! LOL By the way, she is going to be 72 in October. Doesn't she look fabulous at 71???!!!??? When I called and told her about it, first thing she said was "I'm glad it didn't say "dumbsh*t". LOL

Well, that's it for this post. I always tell myself before I start a post to not make it long because you will bore these poor people, but they always end up this way. I'm sorry this one is so long too.

Anyway, have a wonderful rest of the weekend, and I will be seeing you on your blogs! Thanks so much for coming to see me and for all the wonderful things you say. I love ya all!

Best,

Curt

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

WISHING YOU WELL

Hey All! How the heck are ya? How about those two cute flowers up there huh? LOL The things I make those sweet boys do. . . A quick and heartfelt thanks to all who left comments on my last post. You are all so wonderful, and you sure know how to make this guy's day. Thank you!

Remember last post I said I had no creative energy? Now I'm clear on the opposite side of the pole! You wouldn't believe how many cards I've done. So I'm all set with enough material for at least several future posts! Now I just have to fight with myself not to publish them all at once! LOL - I'm such a dork.

Here's my card for today's post. I have to say, I think this has to be one of my favorites. I really love how it turned out, and I did some different things on this one. Here it is:

Are those bunnies just too cute??? I'm sorry to those who don't really care for the House Mouse stamps, but I truly love them, and am starting to have quite the collection. They are such a blast to color, and the images stamp so beautifully. To think that just a few months ago I was terrified to attempt them, and now I love doing them! When I saw this stamp I knew it had a ton of possibilities. Wish you well, wish you were here, wishing you luck, OK you get the idea. I wish you could see some of the stuff on this card a little better. Like the roof of the well was double stamped and glued to the top and then brought out 3-D at the edge of the roof with foam squares. It looks so cool in person! Here is a close-up of another couple of features (click to enlarge:)

See the tails? Cotton batting. . .LOL is that cute or what? LOL I also painted the pennies with a glittery copper paint. This has to be one of my favorite stamps. Once again, it was colored with my "cheap" colored pencils and OMS. It's matted on a shiny copper piece of cs from The Paper Company. The sentiment is computer generated with my favorite font, I finished it off with some large shiny copper brads.

Well, that's it for this one. Thanks again so much for taking the time to visit me and leave a comment. You all really do make this so worth while.

Don't forget the pic of the week below! I'll be seeing you on your blogs!

Best,

Curt

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

DID YA MISS ME???

Thanks so much to all of you who sent me emails asking if I was OK and letting me know that you missed me. I certainly have missed all of you too! I have no real reason for being missing in action. I don't know what had gotten into me. Has anyone felt that it was a forced effort to go make a card? I swear I felt as if I would rather do anything else than go up those stairs and "create". Each day I would say to myself "OK, after dinner, you are going upstairs." Then, after dinner, I would go check my email, get interested in a show on TV, then not go. Am I going through something that any of you have gone through? I'm also an AVID American Idol fan. So, those nights are completely out of the question, because it is too late for me to "start" something after the show is over. And of course, I would have to watch the news too. Geez! Well, the spell has been broken in a big way! I have a couple of new cards to show you, and in my "creating frenzy" over the past few days, I have created a whole bunch of new cards to share over the next couple of posts. I've also gotten several new stamps/sets to play with, so that has me excited again. So, let's get started shall we?

Here is my first card:


This one is for the House Mouse Monday challenge blog. The challenge this week was to create a "Male Card". I thought this image was perfect for that. It was very hard for me not to use ribbon, but I think it turned out OK. I colored the image with my "cheap" colored pencils and OMS, and then matted it with black and then attached it to the DP with dimensionals. The sentiment is computer generated.



My next two cards are for St. Pat's day. This next one is one of my favorites:



The image is Anna Wight's set called "Fish Friends" made by Whipper Snapper designs. Each image you see up there is a separate stamp. I LOVE Anna's work, and this is my first set of hers. I plan to get many more. With each image being separate, you can create any "scene" you want. I colored the images with my colored pencils and OMS. Also, see the photo corners up there? I bought a package of white self-stick photo corners to color. I used my Copics on these to coordinate them with the colors. This is my first "masking" attempt. I had to mask the frog so that I could have him sitting perfectly on top of the mushroom. The "Kiss Me I'm Irish" sentiment was created in Word.


My second St. Pat's Day card is more traditional, and really I'm not happy with it:







I wanted to use the Irish Blessing on this card. So I thought using Celtic squares to go with it would work. Well, it really didn't. I stamped the squares with Versamark onto green cs and then embossed them with black detail ep. There was too much detail on some of the squares that they came out looking to black. I mounted the one inch squares onto Inchie squares and then attached them to cs. The Irish Blessing was cut out using Nesties and then paper pierced. The shamrocks are sparkly stickers. It turned out OK, just certainly not one of my favorite cards. It also weighed a ton.


Well, that's it Kiddos. I also wanted to thank all of you who were so supportive and left such wonderful comments on Gunther's stamp set. You all certainly made me a very proud "Dad".

It's nice to be back, and I'll try to keep it that way. I'm going to spend lots of time catching up on your blogs over the weekend. Can't wait to see what you all have been up to!


Don't forget the pic of the week below! It is so sweet! I took it yesterday right out of my window of my craft room. She was just perched there, and I didn't even wake her when I opened the window! Enjoy!


Take good care all!


Best,


Curt O'Brien


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

GUNTHER'S GREETINGS SNEAK PREVIEW!!!!!

Hey All! It's finally here! I get to show you the stamp set that was inspired by my Gunther! I have had such a blast making the 2 projects I'm showing you today. As my last post told you, the stamps were designed by Jami Bova of Stamp Happy with Sgt. Stamper. I am just thrilled with the set, but then I'm a little partial. . .LOL! Are ya ready???? Here is the package of the set, then I'll follow that with my projects. Introducing. . . .Drum roll is playing. . . .Gunther's Greetings:





Now, if you take the above stamp set and combine it with this:




You get this:



When I first saw the stamp set, I knew immediately that I would make a set of note cards. Can you believe the container is a Spam can? LOL A good blogging friend sent me a note card set in a spam can that she decorated and I had always loved it. So, I broke down and bought some Spam. I'm surprised that I still like it because it has been years since I've had it. I like to cut it in thin slices and fry it for a sandwich. Yum! OK, sorry, back to the cards. I love how "Gunther" peaks out over the edge. Here is the whole set out of the can:



The set consists of 6 note cards ( 5 1/8 X 3 5/8 ) each with matching envelope (one shown below) I had so many thoughts when I saw this set, but one of the first things that hit me was "She gave him a bandanna!!!! I immediately knew I could stamp it out on patterned paper and give him an array of bandannas just like he has in real life. (I know, you all are thinking I'm a little too nuts over this). So the note cards were born. As you will see below, the paper matting matches his bandanna on each card:





I then used coordinating ribbon for each. There are 5 sentiments with this stamp set (all adorable plays on dog phrases - see package at beginning of post) so each has a different sentiment inside, and one is just a blank note card. As I said, they also each come with a matching envelope here:





I only had a couple of things that gave me issues with this project. It took me some time to find paper in my inventory that had print small enough to show well on the bandannas. I also had a hard time trying to get the coloring down. It was hard for me to color a "black" dog when the lines had to be stamped in black. Drove me nuts actually. After several attempts, I finally decided to stamp the image in Versamark, then embossed them with fine detail ep. This made a big difference, however I still don't' think I did very well with the coloring. I can't wait to see the others designs to see how they colored him. But I don't think mine look too bad, especially with the bandannas. It's just that Gunther is jet black and it is hard to get that when coloring.

My second project involves a couple of items that I bought over a year ago and have never used. They were such a good deal that I couldn't resist buying them at the time. I also intended to use them for "the boys". When I got the stamp set, I new this was the perfect time to pull them out. Here it is:



It is a glass front memory box (or shadow box). You can either stand it up like I have it in the picture, or hang it on the wall. I bought two - one for each of them. They had been originally $24.99 at Hobby Lobby, and I got them on clearance for $5.00 each. They have hinges so the front part lifts up (see below):




The picture below shows the detail of what is inside:



This was like doing a scrapbook page, and that is kind of what I wanted it to be to remember the stamp set. I have always loved this photo of Gunther. There are so many captions you could put with it. You'll also notice that on this stamped image (and one of the note cards) I added a tongue to him! Of the hundreds of pictures I have of him, I have very few where he doesn't have his tongue hanging out. I also added a bowl of food to this one (Gunther is a chow hound).

So, there you go. My Gunther's stamp set! You can go to Jami's blog or to the 2 Red Bananas' blog to see what they did with the set. They may not have theirs up yet (It is now 2:03 AM - I just couldn't wait) so keep checking back.

Thanks so much for coming to see my Gunther's stamp set. I appreciate you humoring me through all of this. You all are so very sweet! Thank you again for all of your support. You'll never really know what it means to me.

Take good care and have a good rest of the week. I'll see you on your blogs!

Best,

Curt

Stamps: Gunther's Greetings 2 Red Bananas
Papers: The Paper Co., DCWV "The Pet Stack", Bazzill card stock.
Ink: Archival Jet Black
Stuff: Ribbon, 3 D stickers, K & Company Letter, colored pencils and OMS

CHALLENGE, NEW CARD, AND EXCITING NEWS

Hey All! How have you all been? Happy Friday!!! Hope you all had a great week and a wonderful Valentine's Day. As you can see, my blog is all decked out for St. Patrick's Day as are my boys above. Honestly, they have bandannas for every holiday and season. I love my guys so much! And with my last name being O'Brien, I would lose my Irish card if I didn't decorate my blog for the holiday.

I have a few things to share with you today. A couple of cards, an update, and some EXTREMELY EXCITING NEWS! So, on we go!

My first card is my submission for the House Mouse Monday Challenge #25. This one was a little different because they had a sketch you had to follow. I'm not big on sketches, but this one was kinda cool and I really loved the layout. Here it is:



Here is my interpretation:



How perfect for St. Pat's Day. As most of you who have followed my blog for any time, you know that when I do a sketch challenge, I literally follow the sketch - no variations. I think this HM image is so cute. I like how this turned out, except that bare spot up there in the upper left hand corner. But, like I said, I follow the sketch as given. Here is a close up of the image:



I'm listing all the details of the cards at the end of the post if you are interested. But I have to say, I colored this image with colored pencils and OMS with blending stumps. I'm not kidding you when I say this. . .the pencils I use for my coloring of all images are simple Crayola colored pencils. I also use these other super cheap colored pencils called "Cran". Makes me laugh every time. Remember when you were a little kid and you called crayons "crans"? Anyway, these pencils cost $7.99 for 72 colors! LOL Can you believe it? My Crayola pencils were like $6.99 for 48 colors. And I get these kind of results. And trust me on this. . .I know some 5 year olds who can color better than me! The secret to the coloring turning out is the odorless mineral spirits and choosing the correct colors. That's it. So, I'm just telling you my little closeted secrets because if you think you can't color. . .if I can get results like this, you can too!

My next card is one that I had in my head the minute I saw two of the stamps that I used for it. The bird and the nest stamps just inspired a card in my head. Here is what came out:



Whenever I see a nest with eggs, I always picture them blue or speckled. When I saw these stamps, I immediately thought of beige and robin egg blue. The background paper is speckled with the browns, blues, and the light greens that I used for the tree just budding. Here is a close up of the bird:



I also did something that I have never tried. That is coloring an image on colored card stock. I always thought that the color of the paper would alter the color. I was so pleased with how it looked, and plan on doing it more in the future.

OK, now on to my EXCITING NEWS! Did you notice the "2 Red Bananas" logo on the right side of my blog near the top? It's there for a reason. I know many of you know Jami of Stamp Happy. If not, go see her. She is so very talented! Anyway, she has designed some wonderful stamp sets for 2 Red Bananas. She emailed me and asked if she could design a stamp set with my boys as the inspiration. She had seen a card I had done previously, and took inspiration from that too (you can see it here). I was so honored and pleased and, of course, said ABSOLUTELY! So, a stamp set was born which will be released next month. The are going to sneak peak it on February 25Th, and I get to play along. I will be posting (proudly I might add) my card using the new stamp set. I was also so excited to find out that the stamp set includes a likeness of my sweet Gunther and the stamp set is called "Gunther's Greetings". I hope I didn't spill too much, but I'm just on cloud 9! My little boy is now a stamp set!!!! LOL I've really been doing the happy dance ever since I received the set. I can't wait till you see it. So be sure to come back on the 25Th to see my card and get links to the other designer's cards.Finally, Pat gave me a final count of her cards for the kids at the hospital. She received, are you sitting down. . . 5,675 Valentines. Doesn't that just knock you over. Job well done, thanks again for all of your help!

OK, that's it for this post. As always, thanks so much for stopping by. I just can't believe that you take the time to do it, but I'm so very grateful that you do. Don't forget the pic of the week below! I'll see you on your blogs this weekend!


Best,

Curt O'Brien

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

Card Details:

HM Card:

Stamp: "Oh Lucky Day" Stampabilities

Ink: Archival Jet Black

Paper: DCWV; Bazzill Card Stock

Accessories: Nestabilities; ribbon; gem stone

Bird Card:

Stamps: Tree - Memory Box; bird and nest - Inkadinkado wood mounted

Ink: Staz-On Timber Brown

Paper: Bazzill card stock

Accessories: Nestabilities; grosgrain ribbon; foam squares.