Thursday 15 October 2015

Two cards and a long story or two!!!











Hi everyone!!!


Hope you're all well!!!  Oh boy, I haven't been posting for a very long time, but I think most of you know that I'm somebody who enjoys many other crafts apart from card making, so you will know that I've been busy with other crafting and I have to admit that by times I have also been a bit lazy and just enjoyed sitting around and relaxing!!!  I've also enjoyed some sewing and crocheting and I'm busy making samples for wedding invitations for my niece who is getting married next year.  I've put a lot of time into that and I might share some of it at a later stage, with you.


If you've got a minute of two to spare I would like to share a story with you of two orders of mine that went 'missing'!!!  In the beginning of March my DH said I could order some cardmaking stuff again, so I placed an order with one of my favorite shops, MFT!!!  That was on the 2nd of March and on the 7th of March my parcel left the USA on it's way to me!!!  I was so excited and knew I had to be patient for hopefully not more than 3 or 4 week, for the stuff to arrive!!!  And then the long wait began - after quite a few weeks the mail box was still empty!!!  By the beginning of June still nothing!!!  Living in a country where crime and theft are an everyday thing I started thinking that someone at the Post Office thought there was something valuable in the parcel and took it!!!  At the beginning of June I again placed some orders - another one from MFT, but this time I used the courier company to deliver my order, as I didn't want to take the chance to loose another parcel - within less than two weeks my order was delivered at my front door - I was sooooo happy!!!  At the same time I also ordered a MISTI from My Sweet Petunia and that arrived after four or five weeks!!!  I was really excited to have this lovely tool not go missing, too!!!!  I was the lucky winner of a $30 gift voucher from Altenew, on a blog hop, so at the beginning of June I also placed an order with Altenew, hoping that this parcel would arrive safely!!!  So at that stage I was waiting for my first MFT parcel and my Altenew parcel!!!!  As weeks and weeks gone by, I lost all hope to receive either of these two parcels!!!  I was so upset about all the money I lost, as apart from the money DH said I could spend I also used money that I got as Xmas and birthday gifts, from my DMIL.  When by the end of August, I haven't received either of my two parcels, I decided to take the matter up with the Public Complaints line at our President's office - I was hoping to claim my money from them as the Post Office is a governmental institute and they were the people having my parcels go lost!!!  A person high up in the Post Office contacted me and we figured out that the Post Office never got the parcels - it was the Customs and Excise department that never delivered the parcel to the PO!!!  International parcels go to Customs and Excise first to have the parcel inspected and to calculate the taxes that have to be paid and then they allocate a local tracking number to it.  A local tracking number was never allocated to my parcels, so we had to come in contact with Customs and Excise.  So back to the Complaints line again, but this time they didn't respond to my e-mails!!!  I sent numerous e-mails, but no luck!!!  I was very upset and by the end of September I still tried to get the Public Complaints line to tell me how to claim my money for the missing parcels!!!  And then, on Monday 5 October, I emptied the mail box and I found a slip for a parcel in the box!!!!  My glasses was in the car, so I couldn't read what the slip was saying, but I was sure it was the kind of slip you get when you can collect an international parcel at the counter!!!  As fast as I could, I ran into the PO, handed the lady my slip and when she came to the counter with my MFT parcel, I could not believe my eyes!!!  Could it be true - two days short of 7 months, after leaving the USA!!!!  I was over the moon to receive my MFT parcel!!!!  And then I had hopes for the Altenew parcel to arrive, too, but I was ready to wait another 2 or 3 months!!!  And can you believe this - when I emptied the mail box on the Wednesday, there was another slip in the box and this time I had my glasses and I could see that it was in fact my Altenew parcel that arrived - 4 months after leaving the USA!!!!  This might be a record for having to wait for parcels to arrive!!!!   So now I'm like a child with a lot of new toys - don't know which one to play with first!!!         



The first card I'm posting is for the Mojo Monday sketch for the week .  This is Julee's sketch on the Mojo Monday blog. 




I flipped the sketch on it's side.





I've used my new MFT Notebook Edge die.
Flower stamps and die from Altenew.
I used some of my new MFT ink pads to stamp the flowers. 
Sentiment stamp also from Altenew.
Rounded it off with some black plastic dots.




Next up is a card for the current CAS(E) this Sketch challenge.  This is the sketch:



and my card:




I used my new 'Hello' die from MFT - that's the only die available that is the same for Afrikaans and English so I had to get it!!!!
The little flower stamp is from Altenew.
Used my Tim Holtz lattice die to cut the diamonds from some of my new MFT cs.
Given the sentiment and diamonds some shine with my WOS brush.



One more thing I want to share on word dies.  Who doesn't love all the fantastic word dies that is so popular lately???  Well, of cause there aren't any Afrikaans dies available :(  and almost all my cards are Afrikaans!!!  For the samples of the wedding invitations that I'm making, I got the idea to have the names of the couple cut out and put on the front of the card.  I went to a friend and we tried to cut the names with the new Brother Scan and Cut, but unfotunatly it didn't work.  I also spoke to someone who has a Silhoette, but she too, said that if it's very fine letters I want to cut, it wouldn't work.  (I think part of the problem might be the local paper I'm using is not ideal for fine cutting - too many long fibers that doesn't want to cut nicely).  My friend was so clever to suggest laser cutting, so off I went to a laser cutting business in town and was I surprised at what they can do!!!  No problem cutting my fine letter!!!  I got the names yesterday and I'm really impressed and the cost is quite reasonable.  And now I'm going to have some Afrikaans sentiments cut so that I can use that on my cards!!!!  I'm so excited!!!!  (I am considering buying a Silhoette, although I'm having second thoughts about it now - would love you to tell me what your experience is with cutting fine letters and with using different kinds of paper)             



Before I go I would like to apologize for not commenting on any of your beautiful cards over the last few weeks!!!  I have visited all your blogposts and really enjoyed what you have made!!!!  I fell behind in commenting and in the end I was so far behind it was impossible to catch up!!!  I will be popping in and saying hello on your blogs, within the next day or two!!!


For those of you who are still here - thanks for spending some time with me and reading all my stories!!! 
Always such a pleasure to have you here!!!



Have a wonderful day!!!




23 comments:

Mirjam said...

These cards are so lovely. I know you understand my Dutch, but after reading a long story in English I get used to writing English ;-)
I really love Mojo Monday's sketch and what card you made based on it!
Mirjam

Hannelie said...

Jippee !!! so bly jys terug in die land van blog!
Jou storie beat myne... my niggie het vir my n pakkie uit Kaapstad gestuur wat 6 maande gevat het om by my uit te kom!!! Kan jy glo!
Pragtige kaartjies, ek kan nie wag om te sien waarmee jy vorendag kom nie!
Mooi bly eers
x

Happy Dance said...

So sorry you had to wait so long for your packages. We are definitely spoiled here in the US by our PO and other delivery options. But I am glad that you Finally!! got both packages and can't wait to see what you make with them! I have a Cameo, and it does cut fine things if you work on the settings and it has "Print and Cut" files, though I've never tried to change the words on them...Hannelie might know more about that. She's a dynamo with the Cameo! Your cards are lovely, and I like the bright colors of the first one very much. The flowers and dies are wonderfully used there too. Your second card is so pretty with the sparkly and flowery diamonds. And the peach color shines against the white base. Good to see you back in blogland! I'll be taking a little break from cardmaking as I'm headed off to watch four of the little ones for a few days. Take care. Bev

Rosemary said...

beautiful set of cards, petra!!! your lovely design style always makes me happy to see!! i'm so very sorry that it took you so long to get your packages. you have far more patience than I do. I would not have waited as long as you did to find out what had happened. But now you have your new goodies and I cannot wait to see what other works of art you create with them. and I do hope you share the wedding invitations... I know they will be gorgeous!!

My Card Attic: Hazel said...

I was so excited to see you pop up in my blog reader today Petra my dear friend! I can't believe how long you had to wait for your precious packages to arrive . . . I thought it was bad enough here in the UK, but I'm not so sure now?! Anyway, I'm glad that all's well that ends well and it was worth the wait (for us at least) as these creations of yours are fabulous!! To your question regarding electronic cutters. I have used these cutters and had a number of them over the years - I even used to have an on-line shop selling cutting files I had created for these machines - but that's another story. Anyway, I have owned a Craft Robo, Craftwell, a Black Cat Cougar and finally a Brother Scan N' Cut and I have found that all of the above mentioned has struggled with very fine fonts and a lot depends on the material you are cutting, the actual design you want to cut, blade depth, pressure and even the stickiness - or lack of - and the sharpness of your blades. Which is why, in the end, I gave up my on-line shop because everyone wants to blame your files! Anyway, I digress, to answer your question, I have never tried a Silhouette so am unable to comment on them but my Scan N' Cut has been the best one yet . . . I can even cut my stamped images out with it! Sorry this is a long-winded comment!! Have a lovely day my lovely friend! Nice to see you back! Hazel xx

Jacquie Southas said...

It is wonderful to see your cards again, Petra! Lovely as always :)

I am so happy your MFT box finally arrived. We are spoiled with quick service in the US and whine if a package takes 2 weeks to get to us.

GerJanne said...

Hoi Petra!
Gezellig je weer te zien! Wat een verhaal over de pakjes. Dat je ze toch nog kreeg na zoveel maanden wachten.
De hoop al bijna opgegeven en dan toch nog de pakjes krijgen.
Zo heb ik eens een pakje uit België niet gekregen. Heel dichtbij eigenlijk, ik denk 200 km. Spullen van Tim Holtz. Helaas heb ik die nooit gekregen.
Je kaarten zijn heel mooi. En de woordstans is inderdaad handig, in veel talen kent men Hello of gebruikt men het.
In Nederland heb je Nederlandse en Engelse stansen te koop, dus ik hoef niets te laten snijden.
Wel leuk dat je iemand gevonden hebt die het voor je kan doen.
Lieve groeten en tot gauw!
GerJanne

Jen Mitchell said...

After reading how long you had to wait to receive your orders from MFT and Altenew I hereby promise to never complain about our post office ever again! The longest I ever had to wait for anything was when I ordered some Kuretake watercolors from Amazon. They were shipping from Japan so they took about six weeks to get to me. Obviously no where near the wait you endured so I envy you and your endless patience.

Oh, and I love what you've done with your new goodies! I look forward to seeing what else you create in the coming days!

Joyce said...

Hi Petra. Your cards are just lovely, and I enjoyed reading about your travails with the postal service and your packages. I am so very happy that they finally had a happy ending, and you will be enjoying your new goodies for a long time. It is really crazy how long it takes for things to arrive in the mail. Now, those new Altenew flowers are just gorgeous, and what a fun notebook edge die that is. I try not to look at MFT because I am already so tempted to buy all the PTI, I cannot add another company to my list. And, your hello card is so sweet, with all those little diamonds and flowers. I did not know that hello is the same in Afrikkans and English. See, I am becoming multi-lingual by visiting your blog. Hope you can get back in the swing of crafting and blogging now that you do not have to be standing guard at your mailbox every day.

Unknown said...

Two brilliant cards Petra - so glad you're back; we missed you!!! Well, to say persistence pays out in the end is certainly true and I'm so pleased to hear that, eventually, you have received all your missing goodies. Bet you're going to have a fun-filled weekend trying everything out.

Hugs.

Karen xxx

chilli pip said...

Hi there . I was worried about you! You are such a regular blogger , I thought perhaps you were sick. I am so pleased that all your parcels eventually arrived but it did make an exciting story. Hannelie seems to be an expert with the silhouette so perhaps ask her for advise if you a considering buying one.
..... Almost forgot , wonderful cards, have a good weekend.

Vicki Dutcher said...

SO FABULOUS to have you popping in! You know you are missed!! Your cards [as usual] are amazing - I love the mojo sketch one the best.

I have to say you have the patience of a saint waiting 7 months for your goodies! [How ridiculous it took that long] -- I am all about instant gratification - 2 days and I'm itching LOL. I am thrilled that you got your goodies and you are back [at least today] with your art! Such talent needs to be shared!

I Card Everyone said...

I don't believe this arrived in my inbox! I just a few moments ago sent you an email!! Oh Petra, I adore your cards, and your gorgeous photos were also missed! I wish I could give you hope that this shipping issue will never happen again! LOve what you've done with your new goodies! Sadly, I don't have a Silhouette, so I have not advice except this: start your own die-cutting company!!!
=] Michele

Pat said...

Your two cards are absolutely delightful Petra and I love the Altenew stamps and the prettily coloured flowers look great against the black and then the grey notebook background. The second card is simple but really effective with the bold die cut sentiment and then the pretty flower stamped diamonds. I am so pleased for you that your parcels arrived eventually but how frustrating that they took so long. What a great idea to get some Africaans sentiments laser cut and I look forward to seeing them in use. Hsppy crafting! x

cm said...

Petra, you can't imagine my joy in seeing notification of your post appearing in my Feedly! You likely heard my cheering and applauding! Your cards: gorgeous, amazing, inspired, fabulous! Their impact is made all the more powerful with the journey some of your poor products had to endure! I'm often waiting 4-6 weeks for orders to arrive to Canada from the US, but several months? Oh my! Glad things arrived safely and that you finally have a chance to give voice to your abundant creative expression!
Hugs~c

stampingbowd said...

Petra, your story brings a tear to my eyes! I am sooo excited your parcels finally arrived! And OH so many fun things to play with. What a very long wait!!! Yikes! I too have to apologize as you have commented on my blog in recent weeks and I don't think I came over here to comment. Sometimes life gets in the way but I am so glad that I was able to stop by today. Celebrating with you on your packages arrivals and enjoying your pretty cards! Hugs!!!!

Amelia Breytenbach said...

Welkom terug Petra! Jou kaartjies is pragtig. Ek is baie bly jy het die pakkies darem gekry, ek het ook aan die begin van die jaar 6 maande gewag vir 'n pakkie maar die vreugde is altyd daar om die nuwe produkte te kan gebruik ongeag die lang wag.
Groete,
Amelia

Monika/Buzsy said...

Oh, I am so glad you got your stamps... even though you had to wait for 7 months! That is a long time! Such pretty cards. Especially love the first one with the colorful flowers.

Anita in France said...

Yay ... welcome back, Petra ... so lovely to see your gorgeous cards again ... and both made with new goodies from your long lost packages! So happy for you that they finally arrived ... and that you're playing with them ... looking forward to seeing more! Don't have a silhouette or other cutting machine ... but it sounds as though you could explore the possibilities with the laser cutting company you found ... you never know what might come of that! Lovely to have you back in blogland, my friend! Hugs, Anita :)

Desire Fourie said...

Petra, jou kaartjies is weereens pragtig.
En dan wat n ongelooflike storie mbt ons geliefde SA Poskantoor, lol. Ek dink jy het die rekord gebreek met die tydsduur van jou pakkies. Ek pos al my bestellings met n trackingno deur die poskantoor en het nog nooit n pakkie in agt jaar verloor nie, en ek pos redelik baie bestellings. Dit mag partykeer baie lank neem as daar stakings is, maar dit bereik gewoonlik die bestemming. So bly jy kan nou lekker speel met al jou aankope.
Mooi bly
Desíre {Doing Life}

Monika Reeck said...

I just read your loooooong story about post
it is the same like in Indonesia
it sometimes came after 4-5 months
but it sometimes lost cause they think it is something like money inside...last 2003 I sent my dad some of our photos and it never arrive
also now I always ask my friend who fly to INDONESIA and I ask her to bring something for my mom and dad
now about your card
this is stunning
I adore the color combo
the grey is perfect there and the happy birthday is so fit together
you are so great at combine so many element Petra
I ADORE THIS CARD
now I wait for your other visit I have posting many cards Petra and the man named HN send me 3 lovely Digital Images..found it maybe on my post..one with 2 birdie and one with winter scene :)
hugs and see you around Petra
Monika

Shawna said...

Wow Petra I stomp and cry when a package doesn't get her within two weeks of the company sending the parcel.. What a story Petra!! What a shame you had to wait for so long.. But you know what they say 'good things come to those who wait.' and boy you got the entire bundle!! Awesome and I see all the cards you have made and am so glad to see you back my friend!! Hopping along to comment on more of your gorgeous work!!

Shawna said...

So I guess I can start with this card!! I thought your story and cards were on a different post. Your grey card is fantastic.. Love all the new stuff you got!! and your card does not disappoint.. The color is well done and your signature black is present as always. Even without the South African view I can tell it is your work.. it is so distinctive and delightful to look at... Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my blog and I just love your new profile pic..