100th Post - Crafting Life in History

Hey! Guess what! It's my 100th post on this blog!
   

Not too shabby given I started this blog as an "unofficial blog". I have to admit this is the only blog I've managed to keep alive for more than 3 months!
   

And to celebrate(?) 100th post, I thought I'd post a few cards from the past to see the progression of my cardmaking hobby. At the end, I'll post a few new cards as well seeing as I've been making a few to help out Steph!
   

*THIS IS A WHOPPING BIG POST. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. LOL*
   

So here's a short story of my cardmaking life.
   

I've always been a bit of a crafty girl. My childhood dream was always (unllike most other kids, it never changed right through till high school) to draw for Walt Disney. Well, by some fate or whatever you'd like to call it, I've ended up in medical school. I will be graduating this coming December (scary!) and even scarier, be a 'real' doctor end of November (I get MB ChB but for those of you in the US, yes, that's the same MD that House has after his name!).
   

Sorry I digressed. Back to cardmaking. I used to make cards, bookmarks and whatnot from my scrap papers and whatever else I could rummage around the house. Then when I finally went to university, there was a decent scrapbooking shop in Dunedin at a walking distance!!! I went and spent $100 on paper and such. Unfortunately, it was their closing down 50% off sale so I never got to go back again T_T But my crafting supplies had certainly 'upgraded' since that visit.
   
Here are a few cards before my stamping days...
    

A coffee card. I really love that patterned paper, but now, I seriously don't know what to do. It might have to be that it becomes a part of my scrapbook when I finally do make a start on it.
     

  

  Then I had a go at some long skinny cards...

      

    

 This was using a cardmaking set, so not really my idea.

    

   

 Then I had a new hobby in between and started amigurumi (crocheted soft toys). Here are a couple of my favourites including a mini poodle keychain, blue teddy and my parents' anniversary bears. See more of my other creations here and here.

    

     

   

   

Then in my 3rd year of university, my (one and only) scrapbooking friend introduced me to *drum rolls* Cuttlebug! I thought it was the coolest thing ever cutting out alphabet letters, because boy oh boy, are those alphabet chipboards and stickers expensive!!!

   

At the end of the year, I managed to snag one for myself for $70 at a Christmas sale (pretty good deal given it was normally $120!). So I finally started to cross over that line into the dark side of serious crafting. Still then, stamping was a "no-no" to me, because tiny sets here were like $30+ to get and there was not a single stamp that really 'grabbed me' so to speak. I managed to get some Sizzix dies and had a play around. Some more cards (yes, cards you never got to see till now!) from my pre-stamping days.

   

   

     

  
Now would it surprise you if I said I've only been stamping for 1.5 years now? I came across Papertrey Ink whilst looking for a crochet pattern for a small flower. I somehow ended up in Nichole Heady's blog with senior DT challenge. Then I saw her cards and went "WOW". Perhaps clicking that Papertrey Ink button ont he side panel was a bad idea, but the moment I saw those stamps, I had to get them. So I took my time researching and looking through the shop at least 5 times and made my first order...
   

Now with international shipping, it couldn't possibly take longer. So I got bored in between waiting for that parcel, and started making some cards with some 'stolen' sentiments from some stamp sets...

     

     

    

Then my parcel finally arrived! Now, looking back now, what a terrible choice of stamp sets and ink pads I had. Most of those first order sets I hardly use now <_< Anyway, first stamped cards! Just note that I was still using crappy local cardstock that wouldn't hold itself.

  

   

   

        

Now, we finally get to the business part. I save photos in chronological monthly folders. So here are some of my favourite cards from each month since March 2011 (not that long ago!) - just happens that I have nothing from Jan/Feb 2011.

 

MARCH 2011

 

  

  

    

APRIL 2011

 

(a re-do of a card I did in April because the photo quality was terrible)
   

MAY 2011

 

(apologies for terrible photo quality)
     

JUNE 2011

No card, but I made a ruffle necklace lol

If you are wondering at the lack of cards early in 2011, I was waiting to put in a big order in July... I didn't like my choice of first few stamps!

 

    

JULY 2011

 So I put in that big order for my birthday. But we got snowed in twice (quite rare for Christchurch), the US was having a huge backlog of parcels to New Zealand and Aussie because of our awesome currency. And there was the Stamp-A-Faire. So I didn't get it till mid-late August. So I crocheted a couple of baby hats to take to birthing suite with me on my Obstetrics & Gynaecology run. These only take like 30 minutes to crochet because of that thick 12ply yarn! Such a shame the yarn's no longer produced (along with my other favourite - Patons Smoothie DK).

    

 

   AUG 2011

My order finally arrived! And you will now see cards you recognise from this blog. I was so happy with this first one, that I just had to show it off somewhere. And that is how this blog was born. Lol.

And note, I finally got some PTI cardstock here :D

     

    

     

SEPTEMBER 2011

  I got serious stamping from here onwards. Bad news was that the biggest exam of medical school was only a month away...
  

  

  
    Christmas cards started when I finally made that order for Christmas sets (because I had none!).

 

  
OCTOBER 2011
  

    

Not sure if anyone remembers, but this card used fake mirror stamping with tissue paper. I did a tutorial on it on the blog *click here*

   

    

  

And dum dum dum... EXAMS!!!!!!

   

But I still did a lot of cardmaking under the pretence that it was "stress relief*

   

NOVEMBER 2011

Exams finished early November. God knows how I passed given I didn't do all that much studying. Perhaps my mantra, "study steadily throughout the year" did me some good. I didn't really start studying properly till the week before exams... D:

 

But anyway, I had two weeks off after exams whilst waiting eagerly for that "congratulations you passed, therefore you only get two weeks before you are back to work" email. I started tackling some challenge blogs...

   

  

  

   

Remember the November blog hop???

 

 

DECEMBER 2011

December was a sort of misting month. Steph sent me some for Christmas and I was really into it for a while...

   

  

   

JANUARY 2012

 I would love to share the card that got accepted into PaperCrafts Stamp It! Volume 9 here, but you are going to have to wait for the mag to come out. I don't even know when it's getting printed <_<

 

  

  

   

FEBRUARY 2012

Cromwell month. I was alway for 3 months as of Feb 1st. I did take my crafting things with me to Cromwell, but I did not have a good camera T_T So my very average phone had to do...

 

 

I really love this card, but the camera did not do justice to it. So here's a card I did for Steph just yesterday so that you can vaguely see better what it sort of looked like.
  

  
The swirly gap with name in the middle was way way cooler in my original card for Oakley. Lol.

    

MARCH 2012

Timaru month! Yes, I've been all over the country this year. And I haven't even been on my elective to the Cook Islands yet!!!

   

My new favourite technique - outlined image background stamping! :)

   

 

    

APRIL 2012

*Finally!!! New cards I'm sharing today!*

 

Okay... I actually made that first Lily of the Valley card before. You've seen it already. But I thought I'd just post it again, because I was very happy with the copics. Lily of the Valley definitely looks better with a hint of blue than pink. Haha. And no misting here, because it's not December 2011. LOL.

 

 

So yes, I finally have a butterfly set. I really love Summer Sunrise + Spring Moss + Aqua Mist colour combos. I'm a very pastel person after all. That top orange butterfly is a bit of 3D work with a bit of scoring and little bit of tape down the middle so the wings could 'come alive' so to speak.

 

 

 This next card was a failure... well, that's what I called it. The final bit of embossing really killed it. But I liked the colours stamped onto the Rosie Posie flowers. Boy, Summer Sunrise + Berry Sorbet on flowers work like a charm.

 

 

So that's it! My cardmaking career in a nutshell ridiculously long post. I only realised as I was writing out this post that my stamping hobby didn't really start till August last year. Which is saying something (I should have been studying for exams!!! lol). There's a bit of phases with different styles coming through here and there which is interesting too. I hope I keep this wonderful hobby for the long years ahead because it has been really fun and I've met some really wonderful people (namely Steph - just a casual SHOUT OUT back to ya! ^^)

 

Thanks for reading this ridiculously long blog post. I hope you found it enjoyable to a degree and not too boring! 101th post coming soon! :D

 

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

(for new cards Apr 2012)

 

{Lily of the Valley - Take 2}

STAMP: [PTI] Year of Flowers: Lily of the Valley

INK: [Memento] Tuxedo Black

PAPER: [PTI] Simply Chartreuse, Rustic Cream
OTHER: [PTI] grosgrain ribbon (New Leaf), Woograin impression plate; [We R Memory Keepers] Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper (aqua); [Copic] Sketch Markers (T1, G20, G24, YG95, BG11)

 

{Pastel Butterflies}

STAMP: [PTI] Beautiful Butterflies

INK: [PTI] Summer Sunrise, Spring Moss, Aqua Mist

PAPER: [PTI] Stamper's Select White
OTHER: [PTI] Beautiful Butterflies die collection; [Scor-Pal] Scor-Buddy

 

{Rosie Posie & Hexagons}

STAMP: [PTI] Rosie Posie

INK: [PTI] Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss, Aqua Mist; [SU!] Daffodil Delight, Old Olive

PAPER: [PTI] Aqua Mist, Stamper's Select White
OTHER: [PTI] Diamonds impression plate, Rosie Posie die collection, Edgers #1 die collection, satin ribbon (aqua mist)

Amigurumi Turtle

Hello everyone! Long time no post!

I'm back home for Easter weekend and trying very hard to make some cards while being utterly inspirationless. I wish I had my pre-Christmas inspirations back!!!

While I've been away in Timaru - now, I call my room the dungeon, because only 1 of 2 lights are working and it's very dim - I've been crocheting more dolls. I made the mistake of not taking any stuffings, so couldn't really finish anything off, but I managed to finish them off yesterday :)

 

This time round, it's a cute wee turtle!!!

 

 

We had family friend over last night, and as I was finishing it off, their 7yr old son was very very keen to have this (seeing as I gave his little sister the Lion & Bear toys - these can be seen in my previous amigurumi post). So I had to take a VERY quick photo in my parents' messy room and give it to him.

The shell, unfortunately turned out a bit bigger than the turtle but hey, it can fit a small mobile phone in it now hahaha.

 

 

You can get the pattern for this cute wee turtle on LuvlyGurumi's Etsy Shop :)

I have managed to make one card last night, so I'll try and share that later in the week when I'll have nothing else to share while I'm away. I've two more weeks of Psychiatry placement then I'll be back home for another 4 months, before I dash off to the beautiful Cook Islands for 3 months of medical elective!!!

Thanks for poppin' around again! Hope to see you all back later!

Something Different for a Change

Hello everyone! I've been rather busy since school started back up and haven't had a lot of time to get stampin'. I thought I'd show you something quite different from stamping and cardmaking today.

Before I found PTI, I was a big crocheter. I still am, but I'd rather be stamping, because it takes so much less time. I'm not great at making scarves and what not, but I do have a knack at making soft toys (called "amigurumi"). In fact, this hobby led me to a crocheted flower tutorial on Nichole's blog, which in turn led me to PTI and got me stampin'!

I started crocheting 2 years ago. I saw this adorable bunny pattern on Etsy and just had to buy it - yes, before I even knew how to hold a crochet hook (I still can't hold it properly for that matter). So the pattern pdf came flying to my inbox and I just taught myself how to crochet a bunny using Youtube and a crochet basic instructions book. It's incredibly simple. Once you know how to make a magic ring, single crochet, increase/decrease stitches and know how to change yarn colour, you're able to make most of the basic dolls! No fancy pattern here and there. Just work away in circles ;)

So here are some stuffed toys I made over the past couple of years.

This is my very first bunny. Crochet's not quite tight enough, I've lost count of my row countless times and didn't stuff it enough. But hey, it's a bunny. What can go wrong?

   

    

 Here's the finished first bunny with some friends. I have made so many of these bunnies now, I've become very good at making them haha.

 This one's with a graduation bear I made for a friend. That grad cap was probably the trickiest part! Doesn't look it, does it?

 

  

  Next is a teddy bear. Pattern-wise, it's really not that different from the bunny.

 

A lion this time. The mane can come off, and it was so hard to figure out how to make it. I don't think I'll try making another lion in the near future.

 

 

Something more fun and quick! Donut cellphone charms! I bought lots of cellphone charms on Etsy to hook onto these and others (some shown in this post). Unfortunately they're a bit cheap and breaks off easily. I've heard from my friends that they broke off after a while :(

 

 

A donut lover! A mini elephant :)

   

 

    

It has a mini purple flower on its back too! 

  

   

This one's one of my favourite patterns. Love this bear. Takes longer to make than other ones, but the colour combination is just a charm. And the long arms and legs really look cute <3

     

 

   Mr. Snowman! This one's perfect for the coming Christmas. Except that it's the middle of Summer in New Zealand.

  

  

Another cellphone charm. This is the cutest wee poodle EVER! I gave it to my cousin, but I think it also fell off the charm... Just so you know, my hands look really big in the photo, but actually, most ten year olds have hands bigger than mine D:
  

         

 The next bear, is the first ever wee thing I made without a pattern. It's entirely original. It's not that hard really. It's just a matter of trying to get the ratios alright.

    

    

And last but not least!!! I saved one of my favs till the end. Mr & Mrs Bear were a gift for my parents' anniversary last year. I had a hard time crocheting with fluffy yarn. I swear you can't see the holes to put the needles into. I had to go with my guesstimation where each stitch should go to. lol.

    

 

 

 Hope you enjoyed this post! Something a little refreshing once in a while's not too bad huh?

 

If anyone wants to know where I got the particular patterns from, you're welcome to ask me (here or on the PTI forums!).