THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR MARCH 14, 2011

Hey All!

Top 'O The Morning/Afternoon/Evening to ya now!  Tis good to see you lasses and laddies.  I'm afraid that I may disappoint ya a bit for I have nary a thing to shows ya.  Me thinks that the wee Leprechaun folk played a trick on me and made time speed up so that it was Wednesday before I could blink me Irish eyes (and they ain't a smilin I can tell ya!)

But me and me Irish Schnauzers up there, O'Shotsy and O'Gunther O'Brien wanted to be sure to wish you the very happiest of St. Patrick's Day.  We also wanted to leave ya with an old Irish blessing in honor of old St. Pat.  It is bestowed on you from the bottom of our Irish hearts.  Please be sure to watch it. . .it is less than two minutes but is filled with what I wish for you!



I'll see you next Wednesday!

Curt O'BRIEN

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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR MARCH 7, 2012

Hey All!

How the heck are ya???  Sorry I was missing in action last week. . .Actually no excuses this time.  Simply had a week where I let myself be lazy.  I do have a couple of ANNOUNCEMENTS at the end of the post, so be sure you check them out!

Lots to post this time so here we go:


First card:

I had to stamp this #&!@# image 9 TIMES!  OMG!  You name it, it happened to this image. . .thumb print, smeared ink, incomplete stamped image, etc. . .  But I persevered and won!  Take that you stupid birds!!!  Bwwwahhhhhhh!  I actually built this card around the sentiment which is from the ever so talented Mark over at Deadbeat Designs.  The image is by Inkadinkado.  I stamped the background paper, cut it into strips, and created the panels.  I also made the little bird hats out of glitter paper.

Card #2

This is a new home card I created for a friend which is way over due. . .The house and trees are from PTI.  I drew in the curtains and colored with pencils.  The fence is an MS punch.  The fun part about this card is that the "floral trim" is done with the Spring mix of FlowerSoft.  Here's a close up:

Looks like little flower beds doesn't it???


Next:

Very simple birthday card.  I created all the squares and placed them then added the ribbon and cut out the ribbon tag and stamped the sentiment on it.  For some reason, this paper really appealed to me and I envisioned this card when I saw it.  The Paper is by The Paper Studio.


I saved the best for last (at least in my opinion).  Take a look:

I haven't made one of these stationery boxes in forever.  I made this for a birthday gift for my very sweet neighbor across the street.  I call this one my "Vintage Postcard Set".  How snooty huh???  LOL  Here's what is in it:

Here's more detail on each group of stuff. . .

Gift tags were made using two inch strips of cardstock with the tops only ran through the CB with a Spellbinders die. The stamps used were Hero Arts and SU's French Foliage then distressed with Walnut Stain distress ink.

The gift enclosure cards were stamped and distressed in the same ink.

The note cards are done very simply.  The large area is paper from the Paper Studio.  I created the "just a note" to look like a postage stamp and placed it where the stamp would go on a letter or postcard.  There are 8 of them in the set.  Here is the singular close up:

I cut the paper so that each card is a little different based on the print of the paper.  The box itself is made out of printed cardstock with old postcards on it by Gardner (never heard of them).  Don't be hatin on the pen OK???  It is all I had on hand. . .


Now on to some exciting news. . .I finally got my BLOGGIE!!!!  Here is a picture of it:

Small isn't it?  I put the quarter next to it to give you a reference point.  It is about the size of a small phone.  It takes still pics (12mp) and records up to 2 hours in HD video.  The little silver thingy on the bottom is a USB port which pops out to plug right into the computer to transfer pics and vids.  I got a great deal on it (was $179 at places on the Net, on sale at Costco for $149 PLUS a $50 instant manufacturer's rebate. . .so $99!  I'm impressed with it so far, but still reading up on uploading videos and looking at free video editing software to edit the videos.  So, hopefully, the next blog post will be an HD video staring yours truly!

ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!!!

My wonderful blogging buddy Karen and her husband are the proud new owners of HIGH HOPES STAMPS!!!  Congrats Karen!!!  I've always loved their images, and Karen is even doing some of her own artwork!  I've added their logo over on my sidebar so go click on it and take a look.  I wish her and her husband all the best with this new endeavor!

I also have a new blog to tell you about.  My new blogging friend Jean has joined us with her first ever blog at my prodding!  It's called "My Raspberry Room" and she does beautiful work!  Will you please stop over and give her a friendly welcome to this blogging world of ours?  I'd appreciate it and I know she will too.  I'm so proud of her that she took the big plunge!  You did a great job kiddo!

Pic of the Week

Took this photo this evening of the full moon rising over our neighborhood.

Well, that's it for this edition. . .I know it was a lot, but I'm glad you waded through it.  I'm off to start my journey to all of your wonderful blogs and can't wait to see what you've been creating!


Hope you are all well!  Love you guys!


Best,


Curt


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

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR FEBRUARY 22, 2012

Hey All!

How the heck are ya?  Really good from what I'm seeing. . .you look totally awesome!


I'm sorry I copped out of last week's post, but I just wasn't there and I know you know how that is.  But I'm here now and with a ton to show you.  I've decided to scrap the video blog posts for now until I can get a "real" video camera to do it properly so I'm back to the blah blah post for awhile.  I'm looking at the Sony "Bloggie".  Does anyone know about it?  It is on sale right now at Costco for a great price, so if you have something to tell me about it, I'd love to know. . .I'm getting mixed reviews on the web about it.


OK, enough of soliciting your help, here are my cards for tonight's post:

This was the Valentine card I made for my Sister.  This is my very first Lillie of the Valley image.  Boy are they tiny!  If I didn't have my reading glasses I would have never been able to color it, but they are certainly cute!  I do love all of the detail that is on this image.

This is the one I made for my Mom.  The only thing stamped is the sentiment.  I punched out the hearts and the envelope.  I wanted it to look like the hearts flew out of the envelope that had been opened.  Some hearts were just plain cardstock the others were punched from glitter cardstock.


My friend Mark at DEADBEAT DESIGNS has been doing some great stuff with a stamp he calls a "Shadow Stamp".  You can go HERE and see his great video using it.  Well it inspired me to say the least, and I wanted to give it a try.  There was also a challenge going on at SCS to do CAS cards that sort of used this technique.  So I plunged right in and made this set of 4 note cards:

These aren't "pure" CAS cards, but they are close for me anyway.  I used his "Shadow Stamp" for the square elements inked with combos of Distress Inks.  Two of the images are by Inque and two by Stampabilities.  I do love how this set turned out and I am loving his Shadow Stamp.  I've got more ideas on using it, and if you visit his blog on the links above, you'll see how he uses it to create backgrounds too.  Thanks Mark for your wonderful inspiration and for this wonderful stamp!


And while we are on the subject of Mark's stamps, the next card uses one of my favorite sentiment stamps of his:

This is an Art Impressions stamp and I thought Mark's sentiment stamp went perfectly because it sounds like something she would say.  LOL  She's colored with my cheap colored pencils and oms.


The last card I wanted to share (yep lots of cards to make up for not being here last week) is here:

I saw an old clip of Willard Scott (the Today show) saying his famous throw to line "And here's what's happening in your neck of the woods."  I had this thought of making a "world" using the caption on the card above (computer generated).  You can't see it in the photo at all, but the circle is covered with acetate.  Here is a side view:

The little houses are from the Memory Box die cut which I cut 3 times to get the different colors (afterwards I thought "Why didn't you just color one die cut?" What a dork!) Oh well, live and learn.  Also, after making the card, I realized I couldn't write anything on the inside because of the window. . .Dork #2.  So I created that little folded thingy to act as a stand and I can just write my message on the back of the card.  It's more of a "display" piece!  LOL  I freehanded the clouds and outlined them and the "sun" with Stickles.


Pic of the Week

Army Choppers Caught in Flight

OK, that's it. . .I'm off to take a look at what you all have been up to!  I'm still slow (still having arm problems) but making it all the same.


Thanks for stopping by. . .I will never stop being amazed that you do so.  Thanks for all of your kind support!


Love you guys!


Curt


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

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 FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Hey All!!!!


I'm back!  I feel like I haven't posted in months although it has only been two weeks.  My arm still hurts and I think I'm just learning to live with it and avoid whatever makes it hurt worse.  I'll eventually end up going to the doctor for one of those awful shots in the elbow, but not until I can help it.


Without further ado, here is my blog video:





Here are the still photos of the cards/projects:

Yes, as I said, it does hold a dozen of these cookies, but I ate one after finishing the video!  :P


Pic of the Week

SHOTSY'S BATH TIME

OK, that's it for this post. . .I'm slowly but surely catching up on your posts. . .if I have not been there yet, I'm on my way.  Thanks for being patient!  And again, thanks so much for your well wishes!  You guys are wonderful!


Hugs,


Curt


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

QUICK UPDATE

Hey All!

How the heck are ya???  Better than me I hope. . .I thought I better post a quick update because several of you have sent emails worrying about me.

I'm on injured reserve" at the moment.  I have a condition called "tennis elbow" and for those of you who have had it or have it, you know how painful it can be.  The only "fix" for it is either to not use it for several days until the tendons calm down, or go to the doctor and get a shot of cortisone in the elbow area.  So, for the first few days, I tried to rest it.  Mine is almost debilitating and unfortunately, it is in my dominant arm.  So it stops me from doing just about anything.  However, I was feeling much better, and then we got some snow yesterday. . .So like a dumb *#!, not only did I shovel our driveway, I went and shoveled a neighbors for her, then drove over to my sister's and shoveled her driveway (and it's a big one!) so she wouldn't have to do it after working all day.  As you can guess, my elbow is not only hurting, my forearm is swollen and sore as well.  So my plans for getting a video up this week are completely dashed.  I have not even been able to use a pair of scissors today, and typing felt like sawing off my arm (I've been using my left index finger for this) LOL.  So, that's what is happening and that is why you haven't seen me on your blogs commenting. . .it would take me months at this rate!

Until I learn to let it heal, I'll hopefully be able to finish projects this weekend and have a video for you next Wednesday.  Thanks to all of you who have emailed me worrying.  You are the sweetest!

See you next Wednesday! (I hope!)

Hugs,

Curt

THE WEDNESDAY EVENING POST FOR JANUARY 11, 2012

Hey All!

Glad to see you came back for another video edition of the Wednesday Evening Post!  Good News!  I figured out the "grinding noise" problem!  Now, can somebody figure out why I keep using the word "basically"?  I've got to break that habit, so excuse me for it this time. . .Here is the video!

Here are the still photos of the cards:

The digital image for this card is Whimsie Doodles.  Click HERE to go there.


The video for the magic trick and how it is done can be found HERE.  

Pic of the Week

This sweet bird just sat there watching the boys on the path a couple of days ago.  Believe it or not, this is not a "zoomed" photo.  I was actually this close to this wonderful little guy.  It didn't seem afraid at all.  It actually seemed fascinated with my boys.  It finally flew away.

Have a great rest of the week!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'll see you on your blogs!

Hugs to all of you!

Curt O'Brien

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