Monday 27 January 2014

A Shroom in Need

On our long journey to the Frostback Mountains to see Scissor Arms, we decided to stop at Mushroom Hollow to rest the night. It’s a quaint village, the fungi living there a peaceful people. We got a room at The Shiitake Shack, a small inn on the edge of town, and enjoyed a warm bowl of mushroom soup and some fresh bread in the tavern below. We were about to turn in for the night when a small shroom gal sidled up to our table.
“Are you the Crafters Guild,” she asked quietly.
“Indeed we are, miss,” answered the Lady Commander of Copics.
“Please help me. That’s what you do, right? Help people. My life is in danger,” the shroom girl looked up at us, fear in her eyes. 

This card was made for The Creative Card Crew’s recipe challenge that is happening now. Make a project using one ribbon, two designer papers and three pearls/gems for a shot to win a prize from one of our great sponsors!
 http://www.scrappingcenter.com/ http://www.etsy.com/shop/AuroraWings?utm_source=convo&utm_medium=trans_email&utm_campaign=convo_html
I started this card by colouring the super cute image from Aurora Wings using Prismacolor pencils. I added the exclamation point over the mushroom’s head and the sentiment which is from a Unity stamp. That earned me +888 punny XP and allowed me to level up! Now I have access to a whole new pun technology tree! The corner flair was cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge.

On the inside I stamped the sentiment using the Unity “Consider Yourself Vintage” itty bitty and the “Cinnamon” set from There She Goes. I added the dragonfly from the Lawn Fawn “Critters of the Forest” set and cast a colour spell using my Distress Marker wands. Last I stamped some mushrooms on the bottom using the Dylusions “Doodle Parts” set. The flowery border was cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge.

The envelope was stamped with some more mushrooms from “Doodle Parts” to make it extra shroom-y.

Make shroom for these fun-guys in the following challenges:

Although we were eager to continue on to the Frostback Mountains to finish the quest to see Scissor Arms and find out how to thwart the evil wizard Black Soot-Ture’s plans to destroy the realm, we couldn’t very well leave the small shroom in danger. I invited her to sit at our table and tell us her tale. It appears a new quest path has just opened up for us.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Saturday 25 January 2014

It's Dangerous To Go Alone

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.
“I had heard warnings of disaster. A wizard - Black Soot-Ture is hatching a plot,” I admitted.
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 ~

Final Pink & Brown Vision

Continued from Releasing the Curse...

As we cautiously approached the gathering from where the balloons had been released, I kept my hand on the hilt of my sword, not knowing what to expect. It turns out, that wasn’t necessary as we had stumbled onto a wedding in process. The groom was spinning his new bride on some weathered wooden boards that had been laid out for a dance floor.
“We should probably go,” I whispered to the Guardian of Glitter, not wanting to make a scene.

This ATC was created for the Just Some Lines January Challenge that is happening now. Our theme this month is Favourite Colour Combo. I chose to yet again use pink and brown, sticking with the same colour scheme as my previous three projects.

I started this ATC by colouring the Just Some Lines “Emo Amber Bride” image using Prismacolor pencils. I stamped the background of the pink paper using the Inkadinkado “Batik Cartouches” set using brown ink to go with the pink and brown colour scheme. I cut a small piece of vellum and stamped the sentiment using the Lawn Fawn “Clear to See” set, attaching it to the ATC using a couple brads, since any type of adhesive would just show through the vellum. This managed to earn me +80 fastener XP points.

This ATC will walk down the aisle into the following challenges:

We turned away from the celebration, but before I could stop her, the Guardian of Glitter let loose a Sparkle Explosion spell, sending a shower of glitter over the party-goers. A cheer arose from the folk amongst a spattering of ooos and ahhhs.
Nikki grinned at me, “Now we can go.”

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Sunday 19 January 2014

Releasing the Curse

Today the Guardian of Glitter and I were joined by the village scholar, Master Brendan, on the cursed island of X-Acto. The goal of our quest was to erect five wooden crosses, thereby completing an exorcism spell to release the island and the people who dwelled there of its curse. We had to gather a lot of wood to build all the crosses so Master Brendan could perform the spell, and we were hampered by the skeletons that kept attacking us. We rolled a success and were about to erect the last cross when in the distance we saw a bouquet of hundreds of pink balloons rising above the tree line. 

This card was created for the Just Some Lines January Challenge that is happening now. Our theme this month is Favourite Colour Combo. I chose to use pink and brown as I love how these two colours look together.


I started this card by colouring the Just Some Lines “Jenn Holding Balloon” image using Distress Markers and my Hydrabrush of +80 wetness, which allowed me to go up a level in Distress Marker colouring! The sentiment was stamped using the Unity “Encircled Happy Birthday” itty bitty. I stamped the banner from the Unity “Encircled Love” itty bitty to make the little “ribbon” part peeking out from under the circle. Some cute brown and pink polka dot ribbon finished off the front and earned me +77 dotted exp points. 

On the inside I stamped the background using the Unity “Heavy Chevy” background stamp and added the sentiment (also Unity, but I don’t know from which set). I stamped the banners from the “Encircled Happy Birthday” itty bitty and cut them out to adhere to the sides.

The envelope was also stamped with that same banner using pink and brown ink to tie everything together.


This card will float into the following challenges:

We quickly built the last cross as Master Brendan muttered the spell to release the island of X-Acto from its curse. The Guardian of Glitter and I then decided to head in the direction of the balloon release to see what it was all about. If we were lucky it would be a nameday celebration and we could partake in a feast and some cake. If we were unlucky...well...that’s what we had weapons for.

Continued in Final Pink & Brown Vision...

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Monday 13 January 2014

Retrofitting the Circle

Salutations, traveller. Today was rather uneventful in the Guild Hall. The Lady Commander of Copics is still away on her campaign in the Floundering Reef and the Guardian of Glitter is off helping the hill people construct some new sparkling weapons to defend against attacks from the zombie hoards that pass through. As such, I found myself with some free time to escape to the crafting chambers and concoct a card. 

This card was created for the Creative Card Crew’s sketch challenge that is happening now. Make a card following this sketch for your chance to win a prize from our two sponsors: Marianne Design and Kenny K Downloads.

 http://www.mariannedesign.nl/   http://kennykdownloads.com/

You can also enter this sketch at Seems a Little Sketchy.
  
I started this gatefold card by colouring the Kenny K image using Prismacolor pencils and cutting it out. I adhered the background paper, which I felt had a retro-y feel to it, and added some eyelets to the corners. The purple rectangle I ran through the Cuttlebug to emboss it with some bubbles that I thought sorta went with the dots on the paper. The sentiment is from the Unity “Fabulous Girl” itty bitty.

On the inside I used the Tim Holtz bubbles stencil on the background and stamped the side with a Unity stamp. The top sentiment I stamped using the My Creative Time “Wow! So Many Candles” set and the bottom one from the Lawn Fawn “Sophie’s Sentiments” set.

I made the envelope using my score board of +70 creasiness and decorated it with some purple circles to tie in the dotty front.

This sketchy card will be spotted in the following challenges:

Although it was nice to have a night off from questing, I am looking forward to my crafting sisters’ return to the Guild Hall when we can begin our next creative campaign defending the kawaii.


~ Guild Master Crystal ~