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 ~

29 comments:

Chana Malkah said...

Cute calendar and interesting characters! Thanks for playing along with us at Shopping Our Stash!
Hugz,
Chana, DT Coordinator

My name is Cindy said...

Wondered where I had clicked to for a minute! Gorgeous calendar pages and love a lot bear is quite right for February!! Thank you for joining us at Try It On Tuesday this time. Cindy

Ingrid Mason said...

What a fun calendar ..I'm sure that you will be creating lots more fun stories as you re meet your people throughout the year.

Thank you for sharing this lovely project in our challenge this week. Ingrid xx ( OSAAT Team )

Michelle N. said...

Different and unusual calendar! Thanks for joining us at FCCB's Snowman Challenge this week!

Gemiel said...

Love the backgrounds on your calendar pages and the characters are quite interesting. Thanks again for joining the MFP SpeedyTV color challenge. Blessings!

Margaret said...

Here are images that you don't often see. What a fabulous calendar and they are all so cute! Thanks for joining us at OSAAT this week. Good luck. Maggie, OSAAT DT

Unknown said...

That snowman is so unique and funky, that I just went to their site and order some stamps. Thanks for introducing me this stamp company. And thanks for playing along with FCCB this week. Great story.

brenda said...

Some real fun calendar pages.

Thanks so much for sharing your creativity with us at Allsorts challenge this week.

B x

Lin said...

I wasn't sure if you were entering a writing competition or a craft challenge,lol Loved your witty story.

Great calendar pages too!

Thanks for sharing with us

Lin
ABC

Evil Edna said...

I love that care bear expression! thank you for joing us at TIOT.EE

Josephine said...

What a fabulous design and great project.

Thanks for joining us at One Stitch at a Time this week.

Kim's Kreations said...

Unique snowman! Great calender pages. Thanks for linking to our challenge at FCCB. Kim

* Shell B.* said...

Wonderfully done calendar project Crystal, great image. I had to laugh at the image because that's how I feel about snowmen.... come the end of January when we have the snow hanging around seems like forever!

Thanks for joining us for the challenge at One Stitch At A Time using a digi!
¸. . • '¨ ¨)) -: |: - ¸. •'. • '¨ ¨)) * ((¸ ¸. •' .. • '
Shell in Alaska ~ OSAAT DT

Hazel said...

Thanks for sharing this lovely card for Cheerful Stamp Pad challenge 78: a snowy day- Hazel, DT x

Unknown said...

Awesome work love it thanks for joining us at Punk You Girl

Heather said...

What a unique and creative snowman! Thanks for joining us at FCCB!

Missy said...

Super calendar, I really like the coloring you do! Thanks for joining FCCB's "We Love Snowmen" challenge!!

Crea-Sandra said...

Gorgeous creation, love the colorcombo!
Thanks for joining us at Simply Create Too!
♥ Sandra ♥

DianeMoneyGoolsby said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DianeMoneyGoolsby said...

Hi, Crystal: Your calendar is so cute. Glad you entered the Simply Create Too "Valentine's Day or Hearts" Challenge #53.

Please come back this coming Friday, 31 Jan, for our new challenge #54.


Diane
Simply Create Too Design Team Member
http://DianesDigitalDesigns.blogspot.com

Beth F. said...

Oh my goodness! You really put a lot of work into this calender! Great job! Thanks for joining us at Parade Your Crafts!
Beth
Beth's Beauties

maria f. said...

Those are fun pages -Thanks for joining the fun at Simply Create Too!

Sarah-Jane said...

Fantastic! Thank you for joining us at Divas by Design this week.
Sarah-Jane x

Jenn said...

Awesome calendar pages! Thanks for joining us at ABC Challenges.

Min said...

The picture of the snowman with the scissors is how absolutely feel about all this winter snow! FABULOUS!
Thanks so much for playing along with this week's Bugaboo Stamps, Catch The Bug Photo Challenge!
We hope you'll join us again this week for our latest Bugaboo Challenge!
Hugs & Happy Days!
Min

Jen Leeflang said...

Thanks for joining us this week for our Photo Inspiration Challenge at Bugaboo's Catch the Bug blog and good luck in the draw. Please join us again soon!
luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
Bugaboo DT

Vicki Romaine said...

This snowman is so cute. Thanks for joining us at The Cheerful Stamp Pad and do come.back again.

Angela Weimer said...

Another fab project. So much work. Loving your posts. Thanks for sharing with us at TIOT and have a great week.

SAMARA said...

wow Crystal what a commitment you have made with this steampunk creation! It is wonderful. I love that you showed a few of the pages, so I could see how versatile an artist you are. i love the images that you chose and also the fact that you made something you can yourself enjoy all year round. thank you for coming to our challenge and best of luck winning our generous Kay's goodies. Samara, DT Punk You Girl

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