THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR JANUARY 9, 2013

Hey All!

Happy Hump Day!  I hope this post finds you all happy and healthy. . .although that doesn't seem to be the case for some of you.  As I visited blogs this week several of you were battling the bad flu that is going around.  Hope all of you that had it are feeling better and those of you that are well STAY well!!!

I have 3 cards to show you this week.  Take a look:

I can't tell you how nice it is to get back to "regular" cards and not Christmas cards. . . This little cutie image is from Stamping Bella and is called "Branching Out Owlies".  I loved how this one came together because my background paper (DCWV) has curly things that matched the branch the owlies are on.  Then I chose the Curlz font in Word for the sentiment which also matched the curly things.  Ran the back piece through the CB for a wood texture and colored them with markers.

Here's the next:

This image is the newest addition to my Happy Hoppers collection.  I got it on clearance for 55% off at Simon Says Stamps.  What a deal.  When I saw it, this sentiment popped into my head and so here it is in real life.  Colored it with my colored pencils and oms.

And the last for this post:

Had to take the picture of this one at a weird angle because I wanted the "rain drops" to show their sparkle.  What I gave up in this photo is that the umbrellas themselves are shiny "wet" because I used high gloss paper.  The die is from Memory Box (did I tell you I LOVE Memory Box???)  I was going to paper piece the umbrellas so that they looked like fabric, but the card was getting too gloomy looking so I went with the primary colors to brighten it up a bit.  After all it is a get well card right?  

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This is what I came home to after going to the store.  My darling little Gunther decided to go "dumpster diving" while Daddy was gone.  Lovely huh?  He had shoved the trash can all the way through the laundry room (room through the door) and into the guest bath (room at the end) and wedged the trash can between the wall and the toilet.  BTW, the trash contained 3 days worth of used coffee grounds (morning and night for a total of 6).  Can you imagine how proud I was of him???

Well, that's it for this edition.  I do hope you all stay well and don't catch the flu that is going around.  It's a nasty one I hear.  Stay safe and thanks so much for all of your support and for coming by to see me.

Hugs,

Curt

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR JANUARY 2, 2013

Hey All!

Well this is the first official Wednesday Evening Post for 2013.  Happy New Year everyone!  Anybody make any resolutions???  I made the same one this year that I did last year. . .I resolved not to make any resolutions this year!  It worked for me last year so why not stick with it huh?

I am going to try to try some different things this year with my cardmaking that I normally wouldn't do.  Which leads us to our example for this post. . .take a look:

BEFORE THE STACK IS OPENED

AFTER STACK IS OPENED

I always look at what the Wednesday Tutorial is on Splitcoast Stampers each week.  I always say to myself "Hmmm, that looks interesting. . .I think I'll try that this week."  But like almost every week I say that, I don't try it.  Well I did this week.  The card is called a "Flip Down Stack Card", and I love cards that move.  You can find the tutorial HERE.  Mark from DEADBEAT DESIGNS sent me the whole set of his new bird stamps for Christmas (Thank you so much, Mark!).  You can see his samples HERE.  I had originally thought I would use them for a note card set, but when I saw the SCS tutorial I knew they would be perfect.  The card measures 9 1/4 X 4 and fits into a standard #10 business envelope.  The birds were colored with watercolor pencils.

I did manage one note card:

Mark even sent me the matching background stamp.  I thought the bright colors on the bird really popped on the black and white background.

I also wanted to show you how Mark addressed the package to me:

Is this not unbelievable????  The O'Brien is in his own handwriting with glitter!!!  Have you known anyone who addresses a package to make it look like art?  Mark, you are so creative!

I'm working on some other cards using some wonderful stamps that my other fabulous blogging buddy Chris from Mudmaven Designs sent me.  Those will be highlighted next week!

As a lot of you heard, we here in central Indiana had a blizzard the day after Christmas.  I thought I would share a couple of pics from that storm:

FRONT OF OUR HOUSE

BACK YARD/POOL

Looks like we have our own skating pond doesn't it?  LOL  We had about 10" here when all was done.  Pretty huh?

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SWEET GUM TREE IN OUR FRONT YARD AFTER BLIZZARD

OK, that's it for this edition.  Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting with me.  I'm on my way to return the pleasure and can't wait to see what you've all been up to.  I hope you all had a safe New Year's Eve and that this new year brings you a ton of great things.

Hugs!

Curt

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR DECEMBER 19, 2012

Hey All!

Well, here we are less than a week from Christmas.  We have had a very mild winter here in Indiana so far.  No snow and none in the foreseeable future, so no white Christmas for us.  I haven't even used the fireplace yet!

I hope this post finds you warm, safe and happy.  I would be remiss if I did not mention the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.  What a very sad day for this country.  I was heartbroken for those families and can not imagine the grief that they are enduring.  They have been close in my thoughts with every news piece I've seen or read.

Here are the last of my Christmas cards for this year to share:

Aren't they sweet?  They look so cold!  I made this card for the House Mouse Monday Challenge and their theme "snow".  I used to be on their design team and hadn't colored up one of these images in awhile so I thought I would play for old times sake.  I used colored pencils and oms to color it and the snow is done with liquid applique.  The star was given a squirt of gold Stickles.

I love the simplicity of this stamp.  This is one of those "negative image" stamps.  The only way I know how to use them is to ink them up with Versamark ink and use embossing powder.  I used white ep on this one then used a marker to color in the birds.  Embossed the white panel behind it to continue the "falling snow" look and done.  Quick and easy.

I love gingerbread people and this stamp and die set from Hero Arts is one of my favs.  I love the little stitching lines around them.  And may I say, the person who invented the stamps and matching dies needs to be nominated for sainthood!  This is the first set I've had and I could have sets like this for every stamp!

I had one little gingerbread guy left over so I made a card just highlighting him.  He looks happy about it doesn't he?  Not much explanation needed here other than I drew in the white with a white gel pen and the buttons are done with red liquid pearls.

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SCHNAUZER REINDEER!!!

Since this is the last post before Christmas, I want to take this opportunity to wish you all the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest and Brightest of New Years.  I hope that you all get everything you hope for and then some, and that you are surrounded by those you love the most.

Love you guys!

Curt

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR DECEMBER 12, 2012

Hey All!

Happy 12-12-12!  Countdown to Christmas: 13 days  Countdown to End of World: 9 days  Christmas card count as of today: 27   Ah, the numerology of it all. . .

I hope this post finds you all well, houses decorated, goodies baked, shopping done, cards made and sent, gifts wrapped and trees trimmed.  If it doesn't find you this organized, then I hope it finds you with your choice of beverage in hand still believing strongly that it will all get done.  You know the policy here on my blog is BYOB.  Keep the faith Kiddos!

Seems like this post has an animal theme. . .Here are my cards for this week:

I wanted to make a "manly" Christmas card and I think I did that here.  Believe it or not, all pictures of my cards this week were shot in direct sunlight outside, and it still didn't make a difference on photo quality.  The outside mat on this was ran through an embossing folder then I went over the raised elements with a silver sparkly pen.  It looks awesomely frosty in real life.  I used a Memory Box die for the deer then colored them with marker.  Set them against the snowflake paper and then matted the whole thing.  The inside reads "Wishing you peace at Christmas".

Next. . .

I so love this frolicking reindeer complete with festive sweater.  I used Stickles on the dots for a little shine and he is colored with markers (Bic).

Again, the sun was no friend to this photo.  I created a scene using another Memory Box die (country landscape) and it is super sparkly.  The rooftops, snow, and outline of the big moon are all glittered up.  I like doing witches flying across moons for Halloween so I thought this stamp would be fun to do that with as well.

And lastly. . .

Sometimes I like to do "self-imposed" challenges.  When I'm stuck for an idea for a card I try to think outside the box.  So my "self-imposed" challenge was to use an image that is in no way meant for Christmas and use it to make a Christmas card.  So that is where this came from.  The image is a digital image from Doodle Pantry.  I bought it a long time ago and never used it.  So it became the target. I even challenged myself to use a pun for the sentiment.  I drew the Santa hats freehand with a white gel pen and cut them out and glittered 'em.  Everything is colored with markers.

Well, that's it for another Wednesday Evening Post.  I hope you enjoyed your time here.  I sure have enjoyed visiting you all and seeing your wonderful work.  I sure do have some mega talented blogging friends.

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Hugs to all of you!

Curt O'Brien

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR DECEMBER 5, 2012

Hey All!

Can you believe it is DECEMBER already???  And that Christmas is just 20 days away!!!!  I've been producing cards like a crazy person.  I was up until almost 2 AM this morning working on cards.  I figure if the end of the world is going to happen on the 21st, then that leaves me even less time to get these in the mail!  LOL  Great, just what we all need, more pressure!

Here are my cards for this week:

Is this little guy the cutest snow person ever???  This is a new image from artist Stacey Yacula in red rubber.  This one I colored in with water color pencils, but I've done several versions of this card also using markers too.  He's fast and fun to color and just puts a smile on my face.

Another new Stacey Yacula image.  I have a new found favorite artist for sure.  This image was colored with my colored pencils and oms.

Yes, this too is a Stacey Yacula image.  The sentiment is computer generated and I used this line from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas because it is what came to mind the first time I saw the image.  I created the brick background using an embossing folder then rubbing it with Fired Brick Distress Ink.  The image is colored with a combination of markers and colored pencil.

My last card was unfortunately necessary this week.  A friend of a friend of mine suffered a very sad, and tragic loss.  I have never met this person, but was touched by the tragedy of her situation so I felt compelled to make the card.  It was also nice to be able to get away from red/green/white/blue for awhile.

Well, that's it for yet another post.  I hope you are all well, warm, and happy and that your excited about the holidays.  Every since my heart attack, I view many things differently.  For example, I really didn't get excited about Christmas, but now it is fun and I realize that every holiday is a milestone in our so very short lives.  They should all be celebrated. . .

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Hugs to all of you!

Curt

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR NOVEMBER 28, 2012

Hey All!

There you are!!!  Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Evening Post!  How was Thanksgiving for those of you here in the US?  I can tell just by looking at you that you were all good and didn't overeat!  Look at you!!!  Have you lost weight???  You all are looking incredible!

I have just a few cards to share with you.  I've started my Christmas cards!  How about that!?!  How are you doing on yours???  From all of you I visited last week, I see you are getting them done too!  My first is not for Christmas, but for a friend's birthday. . .take a look:

What is special about this card is that this is my FIRST ATTEMPT at using water color pencils.  I'm really loving them!  I just can't believe that you touch the tip of a water brush right to the pencil and paint.  I was able to blend and shade with ease and no oms!  I think I'm hooked!  This is a Gruffies image.

OK, now the Christmas cards:

Here are two cards using the same image but different background papers.  I plan on making several of these.  They are easy to color (Bic markers) and fast to put together.  I added gold Stickles to the star and red liquid pearls to the ornaments for some texture.  The image is from Art Impressions and I so love these penguins.

This is a whimsical card created with two different stamp sets.  The trees are from Lawn Fawn and I paper pieced each one and mounted the middle and top layer of each tree on foam tape to give it some depth.  The reindeer is from Recollections and is also on a dimensional. 

I have seen people doing cards for challenges that are supposed to be done in "non-traditional" colors, so I thought I would try a version of my own.  I like the red/white/black combo and think that this is not a traditional Christmas color scheme.  The tree (Penny Black) is embossed in white and I used red liquid pearls to dot all over (faster than I thought).  The "Joy" is embossed in red tinsel so it is very sparkly.

Pic of the Week

Well, that's it for this edition. I do hope all of you are doing well.  Thanks for coming to see me. . .it is always good to see you and I love having you here.  I'll be seeing you on your blogs soon!

Hugs to all of you!

Curt O'Brien

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR NOVEMBER 21, 2012

Hey All!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!  I hope you find yourselves tomorrow surrounded by those you love.  I'm having seven for dinner tomorrow with all the trimmings, turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, home made dressing, etc.  And those of you who don't splurge or who have excessive will power, think about this. . .if the world is supposed to end on December 21st this year, then technically this is the last holiday forever!  So splurge!!!!  LOL  (Hey, it is a great excuse huh?)

I have 6 more cards to share with you today.  All Thanksgiving.  The top two are my favorites:

This is the card I made for my Mom.  It is made with a die cut from Memory Box.  I cut the image from 3 different papers, added the ribbon, stamped the sentiment, and done.

I'm never comfortable mixing patterns, but I like these together.  One fun thing I discovered when making this card. . .see the dots on the pumpkin image?  That was strictly by accident!  I stamped the image on the back of a "dotted" paper by Bazzill.  The front has raised dots on it, but the back seemed smooth.  When I started coloring with my colored pencils, the dots appeared.  How fun!

This is the card I made for my sister.  Another side step.

I saw this sketch where they used various pennants so I tried it out and ended up making 3 more cards.  You can't see it in the photo, but the one with acorns has dark copper glitter on top of the acorns, and I went back after the photo of the one with the pumpkin and added glitter to the swirl patter on the pumpkin.  The other, of course, is a House Mouse image that is actually a Halloween stamp, but worked well for this card.

Well, that's it for this edition.  I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I want you to know that as I think about all of the things I am thankful for I certainly count you all on the top of that list.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Curt O'Brien

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