A card at last!

Hello everyone. It has been an awful long time since my last proper card post.

Things have been busy here with my last stretch of my degree in sight. I am chasing around ENT surgeons by day and organising my Cook Islands elective by night! I just bought my flights the other day and it's exciting and daunting all at the same time. I've never done any real travel in my life, unless you count immigration as travel.

Anyway, I only have 5 week left before I head off and the clock is ticking for me to get organised. I have set up a new mini blog for my elective so when I get time, I get to give everyone updates on what I'm up to.

So... card time right? About time! Sorry for all this wait!

I've decided that my stamping/crafting mojo has gone on a holiday of its own and that it isn't coming back any time soon, so I've made myself a project to get started. Seeing as I am graduating this year, lots of my friends are too! I thought I'd make as many graduation cards as possible before I head off. So far... only one. It took me about a week of saying "I will stamp tonight" before I even got out a piece of cardstock.

It's a simple card. I used blue and yellow to represent Otago University colours. And why chevrons? Because I just bought it off Laura on PTI forums haha.

It seems that taking photos in the evening without adequate ambient light + a smartphone gives you that slightly grainier look (i.e. poorer quality) + yellow hue. It's still better than the so-called proper camera in my house. I am planning on buying a point-and-shoot camera soon (just because my grand plans of buying a dSLR this year fell through when I bought a car instead!) so hopefully it will do a better job.

Thanks for all the wait. I hope to bring you more shortly. If someone sees my stamping mojo on holiday in America or elsewhere, please tell it to get back to NZ quick because I need it.

PS - That card I mentioned a while back finally got published in PaperCrafts Stamp It! Vol. 9 a couple of weeks ago. It is truely exciting to see it standing tall and proud, and right next to Betsy Veldman's! ;)

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

STAMP: [PTI] Chevron Stripes, For the Graduate

INK: [PTI] Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise; [Adirondack] Earthtones Pitch Black dye ink

PAPER: [PTI] Stamper's Select White

Just remembered

Hi everyone. Sorry to keep you all waiting for something new!

I just remembered I had 'rejected' cards from PaperCrafts that I could have shared with you all. Well, technically just one, because I resubmitted the other one :P

I am totally knackered today. Not sure why but it's not a good sign given I'm on call tomorrow! 

This was submitted for the Nov/Dec issue I think. They were after something clean and classy (something along that line) so I went with the less is better option.

A simple window with embossed images worked rather nicely, except that the plastic warped under the heat. Not sure if I will bother trying again later lol

 

Anyway, sorry for a short post. I might feel like making a card tonight before bed seeing as I'm not in the mood for cover letters (I've done the two that were the important ones - still deciding how much effort I want to put in the remaining 4-5. They are optional to be honest but better to give myself more chance than not).

 

Thanks for coming around!

 

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

STAMP: [PTI] Stocking Prints; [SU!] Snow Swirled

INK: Versamark

PAPER: [PTI] Stamper's Select White

OTHER: [PTI] Stamp plastic packaging; [Filigree] embossing powder (white, silver); [KaiserCraft] rhinestones (silver)

No card still... but

Sorry! Still no card!

I'm on call again tomorrow and I'm just knackered when I'm back home these days. And I still have a few cover letters to pump out which I am forever denying the need to (until last minute!).

I just thought I'd share something that arrived in the mail yesterday!

It looks like that card I submitted to PaperCrafts in January and got accepted did make it to the States in one piece! This is rather exciting getting paid for something made for a hobby! So a quick shot of proof. I am dying to see what magic the photographers did to the card in the mag! ;)

And... did I mention we got snowed in last week?

I mean, really snowed in. Okay, maybe this is nothing compared to Canada in winter, but in my 15 years in New Zealand, we've only been snowed properly like this a handful of times. And I don't ever recall it snowing in June either! Usually we get a random decent fall in August/September (Spring) when we do get them.

It literally started snowing as I left home for hospital at 7.30am and just snowed and snowed all day!

This shot's one that made its way to our weather forecast website, MetService. It just got picked as the photo of the week! Well really, in all honesty, I think there were only about 3 photos submitted last week. It was more of a fun thing to submit than anything. No prizes for getting it picked either. I do reckon I should have sent it to TVNZ, then if it did get picked, then our famous weatherman, Jim Hickey, would have had to have a crack at saying my name right! Haha. 

Oh, I forgot to say what the photo was of. This is the Christchurch Botanic Garden looking down from 4th floor of Christchurch Public Hospital (technically the temporary student common room).

 

The funny thing is that literally every student who turned up to school last Wednesday took a photo of this exact same scene on their phones. I've already seen 3 different, yet the same versions on Facebook! However, I'm now copyrighted since I submitted this photo first lol

Sorry for keeping you all waiting for new cards. I'm sure if I dug around, there might be a couple of cards that I forgot to upload. I still have to upload all the other images that got lost when I got my new phone too. I'll get there eventually.

Have a great week!

WOOHOO!!!

Hi everyone!

No card to share today, but I have an exciting news to share instead!

I just got a happy mail from PaperCrafts magazine that the one card I decided to submit in January will be published in the Stamp It! Cards: Volume 9!!!

I am very excited over this news and cannot wait to see it in there.

Now I have to battle through these forms they've sent me and send them. Hopefully the mailman doesn't lose it like they did with my recent driver's licence!

So there it is. My 2012 stamping resolution achieved :D

A Mini Update

Hello everyone.

Sorry I've been rather quiet recently! I just haven't had time to make anything. The one card I did manage to make ended up as a PaperCrafts submission so fingers crossed for that one! hehe.

I'm going to be out of town for 2-3 months for my studies. I'm off to the beautiful Central Otago town, Cromwell, on Wednesday and there for a few weeks to 'work' at the general practice there. Then I'm off to South Canterbury for my other runs.

Because I now have a car, I am going to shove all my crafting gear into a box and take it with me. So hopefully I'll have time to do a bit more once I'm settled. Unfortunately I don't think I'll have a good camera with me (not that I ever had a decent one), so you'll have to put up with my phone!

Anyway, I hope everyone is faring well. Will give another update once I'm settled down in Cromwell, famous for their cherries and apricots (and in season now too!!!). YUMMY! :D