Showing posts with label Tim Holtz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tim Holtz. Show all posts

Thursday, 12 March 2015

A Splattering of Green

Today the Lady Commander of Copics decided to remodel the crafting chambers, wanting to paint the walls a greenish hue. She was soon bored with the manual labour though and attempted to use a spell to expedite the process. Unfortunately, she hasn’t been allotting enough XP points in her willpower slot, and the spell went awry, splattering the walls and all the lab equipment.

This week the theme at Wicked Wednesday is to go green. Make an ATC with the majority of it being green or go for a recycling theme for a chance to win a prize from our sponsor, Oddball Art Co.

I started this ATC by inking the splotches using the Tim Holtz “Splatters” stencil. I then coloured the Oddball Art image using Prismacolor pencils.

This ATC will be green with envy in the following challenges:

Although it wasn’t her original plan, I rather liked the abstract look of the splattered green paint and decided to keep it. Except on the lab equipment and gear...that she had to clean up.

~ Guild Master Crystal

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

The Skull Elf

Today I went north to see how the friendly moose was getting on with the rest of the reindeer team. I was pleased to see that he had progressed to the third level of training and was performing well. As I was preparing to take my leave of the North Pole, not wanting to get in the way of all the frantic preparations for the fast approaching Winter Festival, I noticed a small elf sulking against one of the giant candycanes growing out of the snow covered ground.
“Whatever is the matter,” I asked the sniffling girl.
“T-t-the other elves said I wasn’t a real Christmas elf,” she said, wiping at the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. 

This week the theme at Wicked Wednesday is “Skully Christmas.” Make an ATC that goes with this theme for a chance to win a prize from our sponsor, Oddball Art Co!

I started this ATC by colouring the image using Prismacolor pencils. I left them unblended so it has more of a sketchy look to it. The skulls were stamped using The Greeting Farm’s “Sweet & Toxic” set. I then stamped over top of them with some music notes using the Tim Holtz “Seasonal Reflections” set (kinda hard to see in the picture because I used a super light purple).


I stamped the snowflakes using Versamark ink and then heat embossed them with some super glittery silver embossing powder, earning me +555 sparkly XP points. This was the first time I’ve used this embossing powder and I was really impressed with it. It was really hard to photograph just how sparkly those snowflakes are.

This ATC will sparkle in the following challenges:

The crying elf was dressed in a purple and blue outfit, with black and white striped stockings. Little skulls were stitched on her tattered dress - not your typical Christmas elf garb. I still found it hard to believe that they would treat her so, based solely on her untraditional outfit.
“Why do the other elves tease you,” I inquired.
The girl sniffed and looked up at me. “I think it’s because of this,” she said.
Before I could ask what she meant, she scrunched her eyes closed and two floating skulls materialized beside her. When she opened her eyes the two skulls started circling the elf.
I became very excited! I didn’t think there were any more Skull Elves left as their clan had been slaughtered to near extinction many many years ago.
“Your comrades are correct, lass. You are not a Christmas elf,” I said, placing my hand on the girl’s shoulder. She opened her mouth to protest, but I continued, “You are a Skull Elf. Part of an ancient and thought to be extinct clan.”
The young elf agreed to leave the North Pole and accompany me back to the Guild Hall where we could locate someone familiar with the Skull Elves and could help her understand her power. An impressive discovery to be sure!

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Monday, 8 September 2014

Buttergears Take Flight

Today I was gazing out the window, watching the yellowing leaves fall from the trees when a large airship landed right in front of the Guild Hall. Sighing at the interruption of my melancholy reverie, I put down my mug, threw on a cloak and, shoving a dagger in my boot for good measure, headed outside to see what this unexpected visitor wanted.
“Hail, good lady!” a woman called as she disembarked from her steaming airship. Her curly pink hair cascaded down her back from underneath a bowler hat. She held a monocle up to her eye, examining me. “Are you the Guild Master?” she inquired.
“I am.”
“Excellent!” She pulled a small clear box from a pouch on her thigh. It contained a tiny butterfly fluttering and whirring inside it’s glass prison. Upon closer inspection, it appeared the insect was comprised of tiny gears!  

This card was created for the Creative Card Crew “urban/steampunk” challenge that is happening now. Make a urban or steampunk themed project and come play along with us for your chance to win a prize from one of our sponsors!
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I started this card by colouring the KennyK “Inspector Em” image using Distress Markers and cutting her out. Next I stamped and clear heat embossed the gear image from the Tim Holtz “Industrial Blueprint” set. The sentiment I stamped using the Lawn Fawn “Beep Boop Birthday” set. Last thing I did was die cut that steampunk butterfly. I was super pumped about that die when I found it, and I was incredibly disappointed with it. As you can tell from the slightly mangled right side, it really did not cut very well...and this was my FIFTH attempt. I tried using shims to make it tighter, ran it through the machine back and forth numerous times, and nothing would make a nice clean cut - there was always one section (not always the same section, mind you) that would not be cut the whole way through. It was a most infuriating trial and earned me +3400 frustration XP!

On the inside I stamped the sentiment, gears, and butterfly using a bunch of different Unity stamps.

I stamped the same gears on the envelope to make everything match.

This card will gear up for the following challenges:

“What is that creature?” I exclaimed.
“We have started calling them buttergears. I was hoping you would be able to help me,” the woman replied. “These mechanical butterflies have completely taken over my city. They started appearing a fortnight ago and now there are so many it is unsafe to be outdoors. They must be powered by some sort of magic,” she explained, offering me the clear box to examine the creature closer.
“Let us go inside, Madame. I will make you a hot beverage and we can formulate a plan.” 
The strange woman and I made for the comfort of the Guild Hall while the odd buttergear whirred and clicked inside the glass cube, seemingly protesting our planning the destruction of its brethren.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

An Inky Black Day

Today I was toiling away in the crafting chambers when suddenly the room got drastically darker. I glanced at the window and saw that the sky had blackened, despite it being mid-afternoon. Knowing this could only mean something malicious was afoot, I hurried downstairs to don my armor and weapons before heading outside to investigate.

This card was created for the Creative Card Crew “chalkboard” challenge that is happening now. Make a chalky looking project and come play along with us for your chance to win a prize from our sponsor!
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I didn’t want to stamp with white ink to make this chalkboard looking card, as I find it extremely messy. No matter what I do, it always seems to smear. I can heat set it until it’s practically on fire, or leave it untouched until the paper ages and turns to dust and the white ink will still somehow manage to smear. Soooooo...not having any white embossing powder, I stamped the images onto white paper and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. Then, using black Distress Ink, I coloured that paper black. I lost -400 efficiency XP points for this roundabout method.


The stamps I used on the front (from top to bottom) are from the Tim Holtz “Christmas Memories” set, a Unity sentiment and trees from the Lawn Fawn “Let It Snow” set. I then dug into my stash and pulled out those sparkly snowflake stickers and added them for some glittery goodness.

On the inside I stamped the sentiment and frame using a couple Unity Stamps.

I stamped the chevron trees on the envelope to make it match the front of the card.

This card will try to chalk up a win in the following challenges:
Try It On Tuesday: Use Your Stash (those sparkly snowflake stickers)

Neither the sun nor moon was visible, yet the treeline was glowing brilliant white. Perhaps someone was casting spells in the forest, causing this phenomenon. I lit a torch and headed off in the darkness to get to the bottom of this. I needed natural light to complete my crafting!

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Caravan of Crazy

Welcome to the Guild Hall. Earlier this week, a caravan of unique merchants had arrived at the market square in the village and as the night was fair, I decided to venture into town and see what they were selling. The first booth was full of curiosities that the strange inventor claimed could do wondrous things. As he was missing an eye and had replaced the empty socket with a lightbulb, I was hesitant to trust the breadth of his sanity.
Next to him, a young lady was selling what appeared to be your standard, albeit rather large, strawberries. When I inquired about her oversized fruit, she shook her head and gestured for me to lean in close. She then glanced from side to side, apparently ensuring no one was listening in, and whispered in my ear. “These are magical strawberries. Some can heal any alignment, others can enable you to fly, and still others will send you on a magnificent trip down a rabbit hole.”
The stall next to her was simply a girl with a scuba helmet on. She didn’t appear to be selling anything. Or speaking. It was odd.

Here are some more calendar pages from my 2014 desktop calendar. You can see January - March and April already. For May I started by stamping and colouring the Octopode Factory “Steampunk Alfie” image with Prismacolor Pencils. The background was coloured with Distress Inks and then stamped with the lightbulb from the Tim Holtz “Industrial Blueprint” set. The curly border was cut with the Artbooking cartridge.

June was made by stamping the Alice image from The Octopode Factory and colouring her with Prismacolors. The background was coloured with Distress Inks and then stamped with a large strawberry stamp from Unity (not sure what kit it’s from). I also added the leaves on the side using the Dylusions “Luscious Leaves” stencil. Last I stamped some strawberries from the Lawn Fawn “Summertime Charm” set and coloured them with Distress Markers.

This calendar page will soak up sun in Try it On Tuesday “Colours of Summer” challenge. 

July was made by stamping and colouring the Octopode Factory “Steampunk Willow” image with Prismacolor pencils. The background was made by swiping the paper through some wet Distress Ink. After it was dry, I stamped the tentacles using the Dylusions “Doodle Parts” set and the “bubbles” using the Lawn Fawn “Summertime Charm” set.

This calendar page will sink into the following challenges:

I decided to not risk my hard earned gold coins and went home empty handed. Later I received a raven from the Peanut Nutter Asylum of the Magically Insane informing me that three patients had escaped and were suspected of ambushing and stealing a caravan. Well that explained a lot…

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Saturday, 3 May 2014

Spring Snowfall Warning

Today the temperatures outside have plummeted and it looks as though some snow may be on the horizon for the realm. I found myself in the crafting chambers with a cozy fire burning in the hearth to stave off the chill, and couldn’t resist sketching some blueprints for a snowman should we get enough of the white stuff to construct one. 

I started this card by stamping the snowman image using the Tim Holtz “Christmas Blueprint” set and colouring him with Distress Markers. I then ran a gluestick over the entire image and glued a used dryer sheet overtop.

I tried to add some glitter (hoping it would stick to the gluestick glue), but only a few flecks actually stayed stuck; most of it just fell off. On the main panel, I stamped the sentiment with the Tim Holtz “Christmas Memories” set and embossed it with a pearly white embossing powder. It didn’t make it as white as I wanted it, but it still looks okay. 

On the inside I stamped the sentiment using the My Pink Stamper “Biggie Christmas Sentiments” set and added the bell that was from a cheap Recollections brand set.

The envelope was stamped with some snowflake flourishes using another Recollections brand set.

This card will freshen up and make the following challenges less staticy:

After my sketch was complete, I wandered down to the kitchens to make myself some tea and hope that spring would finally come and maybe stay for a month or two.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Sunday, 5 January 2014

A Heart Filled Warning

Greetings. Today us guildys spent the day putting away all the winter festival decorations that were once adorning the Guild Hall. I was busy in the lower storage caverns rearranging things so we could fit more crates in when a flash of pink caught my eye. I held my candle up and spotted the source - two tiny love sprites were playing tag in the storage cavern. These creatures don’t usually appear until closer to the Festival of Hearts, so it was odd they would let themselves be seen this early.

This card was created for the Just Some Lines January Challenge that is happening now. Our new 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 CAS card by colouring the Just Some Lines “Emo Alek and Amber - I’ll Catch You” image using Prismacolor pencils. I left the pencil unblended this time for a more sketchy look. I then used the brand spanking new Tim Holtz Bubbles stencil that my lord husband gifted to me during the Winter Festival to create the background (he also got me Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, which was the pink colour I used). This earned me +100 polka dot exp points. Last I stamped the sentiment which is a Unity stamp.

On the inside I used the Bubbles stencil again and stamped the sentiment using the Lawn Fawn “My Silly Valentine” set.

Of course I had to make the envelope match so it got the Bubble stencil treatment as well.

This card will string itself up in the following challenges:

The two flittering creatures noticed me staring at them and stopped their game.
“Darkness descends. The Festival of Hearts is in danger. Beware, Guild Master,” the female one breathed. And with that, the two sprites disappeared. What a way to begin the next trip around the sun.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~