Today as I was sitting at the dining hall table with a steaming mug of coffee in hand, pouring over today’s post, I was surprised when a time rift was ripped right there in the middle of the Guild Hall. With a crackle of light the very fabric of space and time was torn open, allowing a sad looking pink bear to step through the portal. Behind him I noticed that nefarious time demon that we had banished - twice now. She caught my eye and with an evil grin, waved her hand as the time rift was closed.
The pink bear looked up at me with sad eyes. “You must help me, Guild Master,” he started.
“Wait a second. Just hold on. Who are you? Why did you have that evil demon tear a hole in space-time?”
“I am Love-a-Lot Bear. I have come from the future, with the help of that time demon, to warn you of the impending doom surrounding the Festival of Love,” he clutched a pink stuffed heart to his chest, obviously some sort of safety blanket.
The bear shook his head, “Not only is the Festival of Love ruined, but all of Crafterton Vale and the surrounding towns are destroyed, the land covered in perpetual darkness. No hope. No love.”
“What can we do?” I asked, worried at this news.
“There is hope. We need to see Scissor Arm, an enchanted snowperson who dwells in the forest of Frostback Mountain.”
I started this desk calendar by making the base. I used the piece of cardboard that was in the middle of the new wall calendar I bought. Turns out it wasn’t quite long enough to make the base as wide as necessary so the calendar doesn’t tip over. It’s okay in the middle of the year, but the first few months it tips forward and the last few it tips backwards. Oh well...lesson learned. I covered it with navy cardstock that I ran through the Cuttlebug for some texture. The year I cut out using the Birthday Bash cartridge. I used the shadow feature, but you can hardly tell against the navy background. I wanted to keep the paper neutral for the “2014” since each calendar page was a completely different colour in the background.
January was made using the snowman image from The Octopode Factory, coloured with Prismacolor pencils. I used some Glossy Accents on his button eyes to make them more...plastic-y. The background I made using Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. I then used the Dylusions “Let It Snow” stencil and some Perfect Pearls mist. The snowbank I cut using the Give a Hoot cartridge. I think the cut is supposed to be mountains or rolling hills, but I always use this cut for snowbanks. Last I added a ton of glitter to the snowbank, earning myself +225 sparkly XP points.
This snowman will melt in the following challenges:
Next up is February. I used the Care Bear image from The Octopode Factory, colouing it in with Prismacolor pencils. The background was made using Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry and Festive Berries DI, earning me +140 gradient XP points. I then spritzed it a couple times using Dylusions Bubblegum Pink spray ink and a simple splatter spell. The stringed hearts in the background are from the Unity January 2013 Kit of the Month. The little cluster of hearts behind the bear were stamped using the Unity “Loads of Love” set. The heart the bear is holding is from the Lawn Fawn “Love ‘n Breakfast” set.
This bear will sulk in the following challenges:
There’s not really a holiday in March (I’m not a big St. Patrick’s Day fan), and even though it’s technically spring in March, here in Alberta Canada we have snow until April (not very spring like) so I went with a clock theme since we set the clocks ahead for daylight savings in March. This will also serve to remind me of that come March. {lol} March’s background was made a little different from the previous two months. I swiped some Vintage Photo and Tea Dye DI on my craft mat and sprayed them with water and just dragged my piece of paper through the ink, drying between layers, until I was happy with it. I then went around the edges with Walnut Stain DI. I stamped the background using the vintage clock from the Unity “One Day at a Time” itty bitty. I also used a couple of pocket watches from the 7 Gypsies “Steampunk” set. The character I used for this one is The Octopode Factory’s “Violette” coloured with Prismacolor pencils.
This page will tick away in the following challenges:
Stay tuned for more pages of my The Octopode Factory themed desk calendar!
After listening to Love-A-Lot Bear’s plan, I decided it best if I assembled the other guildys for this quest. It’s dangerous to go alone. We gathered our snow gear and a full compliment of weapons in preparation for our trip to the Frostback Mountains. The Guardian of Glitter carefully packed extra mana potions and elixirs as we had no idea what we would be facing. Hopefully we could complete the quest in time and save, not only the Festival of Love, but the realm.
~ Guild Master Crystal ~