Monday 28 October 2013

Sing For Your Supper

Today I was hunting in the Forest of Woe with my direwolf, Lycan when we heard some singing come from the depths of the forest. Curious and over confident with my familiar by my side, I headed deeper into the woods to investigate. As I neared the source, I could hear that the song was a popular Winter Festival carol. Lycan started to growl deep in his throat, apparently not a fan of the tune. I shushed him and crept closer. In a small clearing I spotted a choir of bears, singing away. 

This card was created for the Creative Card Crew “Teddy Bear Picnic” challenge that is happening now. Stamp Fairy is sponsoring the challenge, so come join in the fuzzy fun for a chance to win a $10 gift voucher to their store!
 
I started this card by colouring the Stamp Fairy image using Prismacolors. I cut out the window and used some tulle and thread to fashion some curtains. It looked a little odd with no rod, so I cut a chopstick in half using a butcher knife as my sister cowered in fear, ready to call 911 should I injure myself, to make a little curtain rod. I stamped the banner using the Lawn Fawn “Bannerific” set and then stamped the sentiment with the Bug Bites “Mistletoe” set. For the background I used some gold coloured music note paper that I’ve been saving for a couple years. I don’t know what it is with me and saving music note paper. I love it and keep buying it, but love it so much I never want to cut it...go figure…

On the inside I stamped the sentiment using The Greeting Farm “Holiday Blessings” set. I added some music notes with the Lawn Fawn “Winter Sparrow” set.

Those same music notes also got stamped on the envelope, tying this musical symphony together and earning me +300 musical exp points and leveling up my bard class skills.

These bears will sing their way into the following challenges:

I crouched by a tall pine tree, my boots covered in snow, listening to the bear choir. They were actually quite good. Their festive music imbued me with the Great Winter Festival spirit, and I abandoned my hunt, much to Lycan’s dismay, rushing back to the Guild Hall and my crafting chambers to create some holiday cards.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

The Potion Peddler

Salutations. Today we received the first of what will surely be many a snowfall. The blustering winds howled outside whilst I huddled under my furs with a mug of tea, trying to stay warm in front of the roaring fire. I was startled when I heard a pounding on the Guild Hall door, as I couldn’t imagine who would be outside in this weather. Unhappy at having to leave my warmth bundle, I opened the large oak door. On the stoop stood a girl dressed in her winter attire and holding a steamy beverage.
“Good day, m’lady. Can I interest you in a warmth potion? I have a sample if you’re interested,” she said thrusting forth the mug.

I started this card by stamping the Kraftin’ Kimmie “Piper” image onto watercolour paper and colouring her using my Distress Markers and Hydrabrush of +40 wetness. I cut the scalloped circle out using my well loved Art Philosophy cartridge and stamped the sentiment using the Lawn Fawn “Winter Fox” set. The large mug is from an October Afternoon sticker sheet that I’ve been hoarding for about 3 years and finally decided to use, earning myself +282 bravery exp points. I added some Distress Ink to the edges of all the papers slapped on some red thread and called the front done.    

On the inside I cut the scalloped sqaures out using Art Philosophy again. The red sentiment is from Unity and the brown one is from the Echo Park “Holly Jolly Christmas” set. I then added the little steamy mug that came with Piper.

On the envelope I stamped the mug again and added some red snowflakes to match the colour scheme of the card.

This chilly craft will warm up the following challenges:
The Corrosive Challenge #186 - Tic-Tac-Toe (patterned paper, image, sentiment)

Knowing better than to accept food or drink from a complete stranger, I politely declined her offer and shut the door. I then rushed to a window and watching the girl, silently whispered a Reveal spell. I wasn’t surprised when her innocent appearance melted away to reveal a hideous ice witch demon. Although her glamour didn’t fool me, I am a seasoned adventurer and wise to such tricks; some of the smallfolk may not know to refuse the seemingly sweet lass. Annoyed at having to leave the warmth of the Guild Hall, I grabbed my sword and fur cloak and set out to stop the demon.  
 
~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Saturday 26 October 2013

A Fleshy Spidery Snack

Tonight the Lady Commander of Copics and I were called to the village as some sort of skeletal zombie demon had wandered in through the gates and was attacking people. We grabbed our weapons, mounted our horses, casting a swiftness spell on them, and rode as fast as possible to the nearby village. Before we even got through the gates, we passed a trail of bloodied bodies on the ground - this beast was strong, and it was hungry. I dismounted Ruffles and drew my sword, hurrying into the town square, my sister following close behind. We noticed people fleeing the tavern and figured that would be a good place to start looking for the creature. We were quite surprised with what we saw upon entering the alehouse. The demon appeared to be female in nature and though devoid of any flesh, she had hair, pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing clothing - not something demons generally tend to do. 

This card was created for the reminder about the Just Some Lines October Challenge that is happening now! The theme this month is Halloween. Come play along with a JSL image for a chance to win a digi!

There is another tale that goes with this card. A sad tale. A true tale. There I was, happily colouring in the Just Some Lines “The Eater” image with my Prismacolor pencils, blending with Gamsol as I went, when there was a mishap. I dipped my blending stump into the Gamsol and when replacing the cap on the small jar I keep it in, it slipped and spilled the oily substance all over my nearly done picture!!! Numerous “M” rated cuss words were shouted as I crumpled up my ruined image in frustration and began to clean up the mess. In a huff, I retreated from the crafting chambers, no longer wanting to work on anything. A day or two passed and I returned to my work bench and sadly uncrumpled the image. To my surprise, you could barely tell it was completely soaked in Gamsol a few days ago. I finished colouring it and accentuated the crumpliness with Distress Ink...almost as if it were intentional. This earned me +666 revival magic exp points, which is sure to come in handy during battle...or other crafting mishaps. The base of the card was cut using the Mini Monsters cartridge, as was the spider and the web. I embossed the “drip” using my Cuttlebug and sanded it to make it more defined and distressed.  I distressed the heck out of all the paper to match the crumpled up image.

I stamped the inside edges using the Dylusions “Further Around the Edge” set and added the sentiment using a Unity stamp.

This spidery card will chomp its way into the following challenges:

Although the clothes and hair made it seem less imposing, as soon as the skeletal zombie opened its mouth to snack on a passing spider we caught a glimpse of its razor sharp teeth, dripping with blood, that were surely used to tear into the poor people now piled at its feet. Before the demon could strike, the Lady Commander cast a Holy spell, weakening its defence stat, while I attacked with my tech Sword Strike. It didn’t take too many turns of battle to defeat the monster and prevent any more carnage. In the morning we would have to investigate as to where this creature had emerged and ensure there were no more of its kind to terrorize the village.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Saturday 19 October 2013

Try Not To "Gourd" Yourself On Treats

Good day, traveller. Today a raven arrived from the distant village of Gourdlington. It seems some unknown miscreant was sneaking into the fields under the cover of night and smashing all the pumpkins. This was a problem for the small village, as the pumpkin patches are how they earn their gold coins, with the Night of Sweet Delights being their most important event. Gourdlington is more than two days ride, and we would never make it in time to stop the destruction of every pumpkin in the field. Fortunately, Guild Apprentice Lindsay was in a nearby town, distributing treat receptacles the Crafters Guild had recently created for the impoverished children. 

This was created for the reminder about the Just Some Lines October Challenge that is happening now! The theme this month is Halloween. Come play along with a JSL image for a chance to win a digi!

I started this project by colouring the Just Some Lines image with Prismacolor pencils, going against my usual style and not blending it with the Gamsol. I then cut the box out using the Mini Monster cartridge. 
Before assembling the box, I adhered the image and stamped a sentiment on the back using the Unity “Haunted House Halloween” set. Lastly I added some fun orange crinkle ribbon (thanks Karen!) for the handle of the box. 
Last thing I did...was eat all that candy in the picture, earning myself +500 calorie exp points NOM NOM NOM!!!

This little treat container will canvas for some goodies in the following challenges:
Luckily my raven reached Lindsay in time and she was able to make it to Gourdlington and, with the help of the villagers and some crafty cloaking spells, set up a sting to catch the pumpkin smashing fiend, thereby saving the realm’s pumpkin supply.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Training Can Leave You in Stitches

Greetings. Thank you for stopping by the Guild Hall today. Us guildys have been quite busy catching and training new familiars to fight alongside us in battle. In fact, our training regime with them has become so intense that I had Holton, the carpenter from the village, come to the Guild Hall and construct a little training gym for the creatures so we could level them up more efficiently. He did such nice work, I decided to take a break from training and retreated to the crafting chambers to make him a thank you card. 

This card was part of a collection of thank you cards I made. I started by inking three different sheets of white cardstock in pink, blue and yellow tones. For each one, I swiped two different colours of Distress Ink on my splat mat, spritzed them with water and wiped the cardstock through a couple times. After that I cut them into little 1” squares so I had a pile of pinkish ones, bluey ones and yellowish ones, earning me +725 rainbowy exp points.
These were the left over squares after making ten cards.
For this particular card I stamped a flower image using Inkadinkado “Special Thought For You” set. I then used my Cuttlebug and a cute stitched border folder to emboss the front. The sentiment came from the My Pink Stamper “Family and Friends” set.

This card will stitch its way into the following challenges:
Jo’s Scrap Shack FFC#21: Favorite Technique (using Distress Ink spritzed with water to colour paper that’s swiped through)

With our new training room, we are able to level up our novice familiars much quicker than before, rapidly teaching them new skills and spells. Soon we will have quite a number of the little guys to choose from while questing. This should increase our spoil collection rate and help us gain levels more quickly.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Monday 14 October 2013

A Sparkly Process

Today the Guardian of Glitter was in the lab experimenting with the new sparkle flakes the Lady Commander of Copics and I had recently harvested. She was working on a more stable form of glitter bomb powder...one that wouldn’t explode everywhere with each use. Despite the Lady Commander’s protests that it wasn’t an issue to be finding various flecks of glitter in everything for the next 16 months after using the stuff, I was adamant that a new formula be created. Upon hearing a loud explosion which rocked the entire Guild Hall, I rushed upstairs to ensure the Guardian of Glitter was intact. As I carefully cracked open the lab door, a puff of pink glitter emerged from within. Nikki stood in the middle of the room, her scarf in tatters and hair askew. “Eureka!” she exclaimed, holding up her beaker.  



This was created for the Creative Card Crew’s “Sun Moon or Stars” challenge that is happening now! Create a project using a sun, moon or stars and you could win a $15 gift voucher to Scrapping Center!
 
I started this card by stamping Amelia from The Greeting Farm’s “Fuzzy Wuzzy” set and colouring her with Prismacolor pencils. I then cut the letters out using the Winter Woodland cartridge. The stars I cut using a border off the Artbooking cartridge and chopping it in half so that both halves of the border were bursting out behind the image panel. 
I then cast a spell of +88 sparkle, adding glitter to all the stars on the project. Even the background paper has glittery pink stars on it. (Click the picture to see all the glittery goodness).

On the inside I used the Lawn Fawn “Cozy Christmas” set to stamp the sentiment and added some snowflakes with the “Frosty Friends” set. 

The envelope also got the pink and teal snowflake treatment, leaving some space to write the address in the middle. This holiday card earned me +999 non traditional exp points for not using any red or green, which allowed me to level up (in a non traditional manner of course)!

This Christmas card will sparkle in the following challenges:

Using the sparkle flakes we had acquired from the cavern in Oakmont Glade, the Guardian of Glitter was able to create some new forms of glitter powder bombs as well as some nifty weapon enhancements. I was eager to try them out and not have to worry about having my lungs coated with glitter.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~