Vampires Like Pink?

Well I am one tired Guildy. I spent the night celebrating the Great Melizandra's 605th name day. Being that she and her vampires were so kind to help out my sister and I in that huge button crisis last week, I thought the least I could do was attend her celebration. Of course I couldn't show up empty handed, and crafted her a card using the buttons rescued from aforementioned crisis.

I thought this card was super cute, and luckily Melizandra agreed (who knew pink could be a vampire's favourite colour). I used my new The Greeting Farm stamp - "Birthday Anya" and my Lawn Fawn "Bannerific" and "Sophie's Sentiments" stamps to create this mega kawaii card. Embossed a rectangular scrap of paper, slapped on some buttons & thread and called her a day.

 I spent 60 mana points colouring the "Birthday Anya" stamp, but it was 60 mana points well spent. Plus, the Lady Commander just bought a huge case of mana potions from a travelling warlock (I think he got them from Costco), so we're well stocked up. I also gained +82 exp points in "free hand lacerating" for cutting out those stamps to adhere to the front.

I will enter this card into the following challenges:

Divas By Design Challenge #45: Happy Birthday 
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes 
Paper Playtime Challenge #80: Anything Goes 
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #25: Three Things 
Cardz TV Design Team Challenge #12: Anything Goes
Emergency Crafters: Circles 

Luckily the Crafters Guild and Melizandra's clan are in an alliance, forged out of the trials in the Battle of Buttons, because I would not want to be on her bad side. The Lady Commander of Copics and I are having Melizandra over for a game of Power Grid next week after finding out she's a fan of board games too. Vampires never cease to amaze me.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

The Lake of Mirrors

It sure has been a hot last couple days in the Guild Hall. I had to send the house gnomes to the market to purchase some jars of witchwind in an attempt to keep the place cool.  The Lady Commander suggested an outing to the Lake of Mirrors to help "beat the heat". I vetoed that idea on account of the recent harpy infestation. Her suggestion did remind me of our "beach" outing to the Lake of Mirrors the previous year when we took our pets to the lake and my dire wolf, Lycan, went swimming for the first time.

First I spritzed the page with my London Blue Dylusions spray ink earning me +45 splatter exp points. I cut the phrase "splash" from the Pack Your Bags cartridge and embossed it using good 'ol reliable Swiss Dots. The little sun was from Simply Charmed and the phrase "doggy days" was from Four Legged Friends. I earned a triple combo bonus for using three different cartridges on this layout netting me +357 exp points!

I don't know how I feel about this layout. I definitely specialize in card making attack points and I will have to level up my scrapbook layout magic quite a bit. Well...not going to level up if I don't gain some experience first.

I will enter this piece into the following challenges:

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #75: Summer Fun

Crafting For All Seasons Challenge #32: Splash Me
Paper Playtime Challenge #80: Anything Goes
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #23: Beach Theme

The heat has yet to ebb and I think we will be slumbering in the dungeons tonight just to keep cool. Hopefully the brigands will keep quiet so we can get some rest.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Legend of the Tea Fairies

Ahhhh...what is more comforting than a nice warm mug of tea? Here at the Guild Hall, we stock many different flavours, some coming from as far away as the ancient realm of China. Imagine my surprise when I wandered into the kitchens to prepare a cup for myself and discovered a tea-fairy in our Hall! These fabled creatures were thought to be extinct, the last siting being over a century ago. I quickly hailed my sister, Lady Commander of Copics to the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, she squealed in delight upon seeing the tea-fairy, asking if we could "keep her". I assured Angela that the tea-fairy was not a pet that we could just slap a collar on, but if she chose to stay on her own accord, I wouldn't object. This little encounter also inspired me to create a card, and I rushed to my crafting chambers to get started.

I really loved making this card! I love pairing pink and brown together and the teal colour matched nicely. I used my brand spanking new Stamping Bella stamp and coloured her using the Lady Commander's Copics which gave me enough experience points to level up my colouring skilllz. The patterned paper with the mugs on it was from my stash that I've been hoarding and too scared to cut because it's so cute. It's from the Bo Bunny "Sweet Tooth" line. My mother bestowed me with a bunch of papers and embellishments from this line on my last name day and I haven't used a single one yet because they're too cute to cut. I earned +34 bravery exp points for chopping up that sheet of paper *sob*.

The little tea bag stamp and sentiment were from my Lawn Fawn "My Cup of Tea" set. I also used some stamps from that set for the inside of the card. I love this set, and the elements from it will combine nicely from my "Coffee & Tea" set I have by Crafty Secrets. 

I also made a coordinating envelope for the card, netting me +16 combo points. Again, I used that same Lawn Fawn set to stamp the image on the envelope.

I humbly offer this creation to the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash Challenge # 61: Something new (Stamping Bella "Tabitha The Tea Cup Girl" stamp is brand new) 

Use It Tuesday Challenge #36: Uncut Paper  (The "mugs" patterned paper at the bottom was painfully cut from my Bo Bunny Sweet Tooth paper) 

Simply Create Too Challenge #18: Use It Two Times

Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #4: Favourite Colours 

Simon Says Challenge: Anything Goes!

Cardz TV Design Team Challenge #12: Anything Goes

Well in the end, the tea-fairy did decide to stay in the Guild Hall, and has been beating the Lady Commander at Mario Party for the last half hour. How she is able to use the controller with such tiny hands is beyond me...

~ Guild Master Crystal ~ 

Damsel in Distress...Ink?

Today I undertook a quest to help the needy. It was a true crafter's quest. Last night we were awoken by a loud banging on the Guild Hall's enormous wooden door. I lit a torch, donned a robe and crept downstairs to see who would be foolish enough to call on us at such an hour. When I opened the door, a young lass, drenched from the pouring rain, stood  before me. She begged me for the assistance of the Crafters Guild. Having travelled a fortnight to reach us, I found it hard to refuse. Also, I was so close to leveling up, I could use the experience from a new crafting quest.

The young woman was in desperate need of an anniversary card for her beloved, as they were celebrating the first year of their union.  

The card base was cut using Just Because Cards. The champagne glass I cut from Stretch Your Imagination. The phrase "one year" was cut using Wrap It Up. It actually cuts out the phrase "one year older" and a candle, but I cut off the "older" part and saved it and the candle in my "bits box" for another project, earning +15 exp in "hoarding". The random shape the "one year" was glued on was already in my "bits box", left over from another crafting quest, and I honestly can't remember which cartridge it came from. The inside phrase was stamped using my Lawn Fawn set "Sophie's Sentiments".

I then cut out an envelope from Just Because Cards to make it a "fancy" envelope and inked all the white edges using Tim Holtz Distressed Ink "Old Paper" (probably my most used colour).

 

This project, which earned me a +76 combo bonus for using three different cartridges, will be entered into the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #121 - Wedding Bliss. 

It feels good to make something that helps out someone in a crafting crisis. It also doesn't hurt that the young woman left a sack of gold in exchange for the Crafters Guild's assistance...hey....these bills don't pay themselves.

~Guild Master Crystal ~

Dusting Off The Ancient Archives

Yesterday the Guild Master and I had the tedious task of cataloging the family archives to preserve our genealogy. It is a delicate process that requires a deft hand and skilful eye, so as not to disturb the delicate relics. We started by selecting an ancient photo of our mother’s wedding day and went to work.

We cut out the butterfly from the Rock Princess cartridge and the word “Bride” from the Storybook cartridge. We also embossed the white letters using the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder.

The picture was mounted on some sparkly foam from the dollar store (much to the Guardian of Glitter’s delight) earning us a level up in “frugality”...think of all the mana potions we'll be able to afford now! We were also able to snag a handful of exp points in “replication” by scanning in a copy of her wedding invite and reprinting it on vellum paper.

We shall add this completed page to the dusty tome and carefully store it until next time we need to index the records.

This page will be entered into the challenge at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #121 - Wedding Bliss.

I think I now need to take an allergy pill after breathing in all that dust from the library. I’m going to talk to my sister, Guild Master Crystal, about hiring some house gnomes to dust this place...

~ Angela – Lady Commander of Copics ~

The Mine of Magnets

Today as I was farming the mines, I came across a wonderful surprise… Magnets! They are little wonders of our world. I wanted to take one back with me so I could learn its secrets and harness its power. I was lucky to have an extra slot in my bag to carry it. I had done so much mining, it was already quite full. 

Once back at the Guild Hall I went straight to work, creating my own magnetic weapons from the treasures I had gathered at the mines. 

I cut out some super cute creatures using Create-A-Critter (and a lonesome unicorn from Once Upon A Princess) and using hot glue, adhered the magnets to the back of them!

With my creations I gained +20 exp points in cutting and gluing and +3 exp points in inking and embossing. These new magnetic weapons are sure to fend off the celestial black bears that roam the forests near the Guild Hall….and if not…well, we can put them on the icebox in the kitchen.

I offer these up to the Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #25: 3 Things.

The candles are almost out... there is no more time for me to continue this log… I must get back to work… my Guildys are counting on me.

~ Angela – Lady Commander of Copics ~

Mail Call

Salutations, fellow adventurers. Today, rather than participating in any campaigns alongside my crafting kin, I had the distasteful task of collecting the post from the rookery. Not only am I terrified of birds (I know, I know...it's hard to believe the Guild Master would be scared of those "fowl" creatures - haha), but that is also the dirtiest place in the Guild Hall. Blech. As I was carefully removing each scroll from the birds, inspiration suddenly struck.

I was truly impressed with the outcome. This is one of my favourite cards I've done in a while, earning myself +120 bonus exp points. Hard to believe it was all done with rectangular pieces of paper and ink...not one die cut on there - BAM....another +80 exp points.

The background was done with a harlequin pattern stencil I have and Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Tea Dye & Vintage Photo). I am really loving the stencils lately, and do believe I shall be purchasing more with my plunder from the latest quest I've completed. The telephone image came from the "9 to 5" October Afternoon stamp set and the rest was stamped using the Lawn Fawn "You've Got Mail" set. I am IN LOVE with this set! (You can tell this because I wrote it bigger). I can see myself using that postcard stamp for sooooo many different cards, racking up some massive combo points. 

This card will be entered into the challenge over at Paper Playtime #79 - Say It With Sentiments - Miss You Card 

Well I've come to the end of my parchment. I'd best go feed the razor wings before they start eating the birds again.....on second thought...... 

~Guild Master Crystal~

The Clash of Tim Holtz & Hello Kitty

It's a chilly night in the Guild Hall, so I'm snuggling deep into my pile of furs as I type this entry. A crisp chill in the air makes me start thinking of Christmas - my favorite season to craft for. Tonight I took a small respite from tending to the dire wolves to whip up a quick card.

 

Talk about two contrasting styles. The snowman is from the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge and all the inks and tickets are from the Tim Holtz line. 

I coloured the holly using my Distress Markers, which was much easier this time as this paper was actual watercolour paper (Donna Salazar Artistic Paper) which allowed me to gain +60 exp points. I inked the edges with Old Paper and Tea Dye Distress Ink. I stamped the tickets from the Tim Holtz "Odds and Ends" stamp set, cut them out, inked 'em up and distressed the edges with a +16 attack, wielding my edged weapon Paper Distresser. 

Overall I like how the card turned out despite the contrasting elements. It was a good warm up for the Crafters Guild Christmas Card Crop coming up this Saturday. 

This card will be entered into the Christmas in July Challenge at Cardz TV

Well, the night draws nigh, and this little Guildy needs her sleep to face another crafting battle on the morrow.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

 

Adventures in the Mushroom Cave

Greetings! Thanks for stopping by the Guild Hall today. Don't mind that puddle there; the hell hounds have been tracking in all sorts of muck today.

My creation today was inspired by a recent campaign me and the Lady Commander of Copics endured this weekend. While we were traipsing through some gloomy caves, hauling a captured princess around, trying to find some stupid master dragon to kill, the Lady Commander and I stopped to admire some super cute mushrooms that were growing along the damp walls. While Steelhorns and Battlemage Jaes took care of some annoying skeleton archers that kept appearing the Lady Commander and I exchanged tips on how to stop your edged weapons from rusting while constantly dungeon crawling in drippy caves and also how cute some mushrooms like this would look on a crafting project. 


Upon our return to the Guild Hall, I set out to do just that (create a crafting project that is...my blades could wait).

 

The background was inked up with Distress Inks and Dylusions Spray Inks. I used my recently acquired heat tool to dry the background with +179 heat points, and MAN does that work better than the regular hair dryer I was using before which was like +27 heat points and +450 whooshy-ness points as it blew my papers and bits all around!

I cut the melon out from Simply Charmed at 2" and it fit the A2 card nicely. I was originally going to cut the sentiment "Thanks a melon" out from the "Just Because" cartridge, but decided against it, because I thought the letters would look too small on my A2 card. Instead I used my Lawn Fawn stamps to just stamp out the phrase on a little tag. 

The mushrooms were stamped from the "Doodle Parts" Dylusions stamp set (which I adore), coloured, cut out and glued on. After it was all assembled, they did look a little random with the watermelon, but I said to myself "meh", and just plowed forward.

Perhaps my favourite element of this card are the little ants I stamped from my Lawn Fawn set.

Man are those little guys cute! They are from the "Happy Summer" set. I really love stamping with the Lawn Fawn stamps. Their quality is top notch for clear stamps.

I also used that same set to jazz up the front of the envelope I made for the card.

I gained +150 exp points in envelope making with this one and went up a level! I used my new Martha Stewart score board to make it. It comes with a triangular envelope maker piece, and I LOVE how the custom envelopes look using that. Sooooo much better than the way I was doing it before, where the flaps were never even and it looked like it was folded by a three year old.

Well thanks for taking a look at my super random mushroom-melon card. I will be entering this card into the following challenges:

Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges #29 Sweet Treat
Cardz TV Cricut Card Challenge #112 "Tag, You're It"
Divas By Design #44 Anything Goes

Oh...I know you were all wondering if we managed to slay the dragon and save that useless princess, and the answer, much to Overlord Nathan's dismay, is yes. Well, these crafts aren't going to slay themselves... until next time.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Christmas In July Challenge

Today I'm here to show you my recent creation after visiting the alchemists cave and dabbling in some new techniques.

I coloured the stamped image by Whipper Snapper Designs with my Tim Holtz Distress markers. This was the first time I tried them out and am still not used to blending with them. I think I will need to work on leveling up that skill. Checking my stats page, it seems I need about 287 exp points to reach the next level. The background was embossed with my Cuttlebug and inked with Distress Ink. The snowflakes on the side were cut using the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge.

Overall I like how this card turned out and can't wait to create more next Saturday at the Crafters Guild Christmas Card Crop! 

I created this card for the "Christmas in July" challenge over at Die Cuttin Divas.

Thanks for stopping by the Guild Hall. I'm off to attempt my next crafting quest!

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Welcome!

The Sisters of the Crafters Guild would like to welcome you to our corner of the internet and ask you to join us on our adventure to gain experience tokens through crafting and level up our abilities. 

Today we spent the day listening to video game soundtracks while getting inky by stamping out some images and colouring them with Ang's Copic markers. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from all the glue and glitter and just relax with a plethora of vibrant colours. 

Guild Master Crystal gained +15 experience chips by practicing her Copic colouring skillz with the Lady Commander of Copics. We'll save our stamped and coloured images for future projects.

Here's a sneak peek of some of Angela, Lady Commander of Copics colouring spoils.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the dungeon, Guild Master Crystal was slaying some Christmas themed stamps in preparation for the Crafters Guild Christmas Card Craft Crop (try to say that three times fast - haha) next Saturday, where the Sisters will be joined by Nikki, Guardian of Glitter, for some Christmasy dungeon crawling.

Thanks for stopping by our Guild Hall. We'll keep you updated on our next crafting quest!

~ Guild Master Crystal & Angela, Lady Commander of Copics ~