A Chocolatey Sparkly Discovery

As summer draws to a close, we decided to do some cleaning of the Guild Hall in preparation for the food we’d soon be storing from the fall harvest for the harsh winter months ahead. I was in the midst of pulling jars and tins out of the massive pantry, wondering why I thought this would be a good idea, when I heard a little sneeze come from behind a container of chocolate mixture. I pushed the tin aside and was surprised to see a little cocoa fairy huddled on the shelf.

I started this card by colouring the Meljen’s “Cocoa Christmas Fairy” image using my Prismacolors. I inked around the edges with my go-to “edge inks”- Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Ink. 

I then added some sparkles to the fuzzy parts of the outfit and her wings. Oooooo....sparkly! This earned me +392 glitter exp points allowing me to level up! I used my trusty Archival black ink to stamp the “marshmallows” using the Unity “Wanna Chill” itty bitty. Yes...they really are meant to be ice cubes, but I figured in the context of the card, what with the hot Christmas beverage and marshmallows and candy canes in the background they could pass as marshmallows. The sentiment came from the Dylusions “Christmas Words” set.

On the inside I stamped the sentiment using the Unity “Naughty is the New Nice” set. I regret to inform you there was no fancy technique used for the sentiment's reflection. I bought the sentiment set when it was first released and the plates to make the stamps were the mirror image of what they should’ve been. The sets were shipped out before anyone even noticed. So I have a full set of “Naughty is the New Nice” that stamps in mirror writing {lol}. Being the craft hoarder I am, I didn’t get rid of them when my replacement stamps came. And look how handy they came in :P

On the envelope I stamped the candy canes using the Bug Bites “Mistletoe” set to kinda sorta match the front.

This sticky sweet card will nom nom nom in the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #284: Things With Wings

CHNC Challenge Extra for September

One Crazy Stamper September Christmas Challenge

Christmas Cards All Year ‘Round: Christmas Fairies with a Little Sparkle

Cardz TV Challenge #3: Toasted Marshmallow

Loves Rubberstamps Challenge #68: Anything Goes

Friends of SpeedyTV Challenge #88: Framing It
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion Challenge #178: Do You Believe in Fairies?

A Gem of a Challenge #95: Use Two Backing Papers

Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge #175: Frame It

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Stamping All-Stars (Archival black ink and Distress Ink Antique Linen and Tea Dye)

Meljen’s Designs Challenge #175: Sketch

I brought the little fairy out of the pantry and rested her gently on the counter. It would appear she had gotten trapped behind stacks of tins that were too heavy to move and had been living in the pantry all season. I felt awful and offered the little fae creature a place at the Guild Hall to recover. That was when the Lady Commander walked in the room, spotted the sparkly being and started squealing uncontrollably with delight.  

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

A Direwolf's Gift

Greetings fellow craft traveller. Here at the Guild Hall we are busy wrapping presents and finishing up cards for the Winter Festival which is rapidly approaching. My direwolf, Lycan has been feeling a little lonely as my lord husband and I go about all our preparations for the coming feast. Unbeknownst to us, he had found another pup to play with, keeping him occupied. As I was riding through the Forest of Dreams I spotted the two of them darting in and out of the brush. I followed them back to the pup’s house and introduced myself to his owner. The gentleman explained that the two have been inseparable for the past fortnight.

I started by colouring the “Cozy Winter Wolf Pup” image by Meljen’s Designs using Prismacolors. I coloured him in the likeness of Lycan.

Lycan - My 'Lil Direwolf

This card was made for our neighbour across the street who hosts play dates between Lycan and his bff, Roland. We thought it appropriate to provide a thank you for watching the dogs a couple times a week as they play together for hours. In truth, the dogs have been bffs for the last year and a half! Anyways...back to the card. I cut out the trees using the Art Philosophy cartridge and stamped the coordinating image from the Close to My Heart stamp set. I embossed the red panel using my Cuttlebug. The sentiment was a combination of word from Lawn Fawn’s “Cozy Christmas” and the My Pink Stamper “Christmas Wishes” set.

The inside sentiment is also from the My Pink Stamper “Christmas Wishes” set. I then added a paw print since the card is “from” Lycan :)

On the envelope I stamped some red and green paw prints to make it all holiday-doggy style...wait...um...that sounded bad. *ahem* moving on...

This pup-tacular card will be entered into the following challenges:
Love to Create Challenge #45: Anything Goes
Cupcake Craft Challenge #222: Merry Christmas
Crafts and Me Challenge #114: Why So Blue? No Blues Allowed
Pixie Dust Challenge: Christmas Traditional Colors
Card Crafter’s Circle Challenge #53: Red White and Green
Meljen’s Designs Challenge #140: Anything Goes
Winter Wonderland Challenge: Oh Christmas Tree
Dream Valley Challenge #47: Christmas
CHNC Challenge #103: Anything Goes for Christmas
Perfect Sentiment Challenge #59: Anything Goes With Christmas

We purchased some rawhide candy canes to give to Roland, and Lycan keeps sniffing them out. It seems I will have to find a more efficient hiding place until we present the card and gift to our neighbour, lest Lycan chow them all down before then!

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Glasses of Sight

Good day traveller. Welcome to the Guild Hall. Today I was visited by the village smith who modified my Pink Glasses of Sight with +43 detection points, which will make it easier to detect foes using the stealth ability. If there is one piece of equipment I love, it is my spectacles. In fact, one of my favourite things is inanimate objects or cute things wearing glasses.

I began by colouring the little goth girl from Meljen's Desgins with my Prismacolors. Then I decided she needed glasses because, in my opinion, everything is about ten times cuter when clad in glasses. I used the Lawn Fawn "Clear to See" set and just masked the arms of the glasses and stamped the frames onto the girl. I decided to run with the whole glasses theme and cut out some glasses from the Nifty Fifties cartridge. I stamped the sentiment from a cheap Imaginisce stamp. I used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the "sun" shape and the diamond border shape. I embossed the white diamond shape, the white "blob" shape the girl is on, and the purple background with the Cuttlebug. 

The inside I made a "background" paper using the different glasses stamps from the Lawn Fawn "Clear to See" set. The UBER CUTE milk stamp is another cheap Imaginisce stamp. The inside sentiment I created using Lawn Fawn's "Jessie's ABCs". 

Stamped some more glasses on the envelope to make it all matchy matchy.

I will be entering this glasses-laden card into the following challenges:
Meljen's Designs Challenge #128: Just Because
Creative Card Crew Challenge #20: Purple
Lawnscaping Challenge #43: Texture

I look forward to testing my Pink Glasses of Sight in battle. So far I've only used them to see what's in cupboards and drawers before opening them. Sure cuts down on the time it takes to look for things.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

A Cocoa Fairy in Our Cupboards

Today as the Lady Commander of Copics was preparing herself a warm cup of cocoa, she came across a rare site in our cupboards. As Angela opened the old silver tin, a cocoa fairy fluttered out of the chocolatey powder, sneezing cocoa dust and sparkles. A huge grin spread across the Lady Commander's face as she watched the cute, sparkly fairy fly about the kitchen gathering the necessary items to prepare a warm mug of cocoa.

I started by colouring this super cute image by Meljen's Designs with my Prismacolors. The sentiment is from the "Christmas Words" Dylusions set. I added some glitter to the fuzzy parts of the fairy's outfit and some sparkly red brads on the corners. This combined with the shimmery candy canes in the background earned me +184 glimmer exp points. I'm sure somewhere the Guardian of Glitter's heart is aglow with pride.

Here's a close up of the fairy so you can see the glitter a little better.

This inside sentiment is from the Lawn Fawn "Cozy Christmas" set. I also stamped the plate of cookies from that same set and coloured them with Prismas. The mug and steam came from the "My Cup of Tea" Lawn Fawn set. 

I stamped the Christmas lights from the Lawn Fawn "Cozy Christmas" set and coloured them with my Distress Markers. 

I will be entering this nom nom nummy card into the following challenges:
Meljen's Design Team Challenge #128: Funny Bone
Cardz TV Challenge #15: Bling It Up
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards Challenge #22: Sweet Treats
Crafting for All Seasons Challenge #36: Things With Wings
Simon Says Stamps and Show Challenge: For the Love of Sparkle
Creative Craft Challenges2: Anything Goes 
ABC Christmas Challenge 2012: S if for Santa Claus is Coming to Town 
Sparkles Christmas Challenge #20: Sparkle & Bling 
Christmas Crafting Challenge #14: Traditional Christmas Colours

The cocoa the fairy prepared was fantastic - possibly the best I've tasted. The Lady Commander was in her glory, running around the Guild Hall playing with the chocolatey, sparkly creature. I think the sugar high might also have something to do with that...

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

The Elf Went Postal

Today was a rather uneventful day at the Guild Hall. The direwolves were quiet and not a hellhound was stirring. I decided to take the time to clean the crafting chambers. That is the one room I do not allow the house gnomes to clean as I tend to keep everything and wouldn't want them throwing any of my precious bits in the rubbish. As the afternoon wore on, I came to realize that I had accumulated quite the hoard of paper scraps. Instead of throwing them away, I decided to take a respite from the tiresome chores and make a card.

I started by stamping the postcard from Lawn Fawn's "You've Got Mail" set. Then I used my Prismacolors to color up that cute digi from Meljen's Designs. I used "Twig & Berry - Postmarks" by Kaisercraft to stamp the postmarks on the postcard. The sentiment was stamped with the "Christmas Wishes" set by My Pink Stamper. I randomly layered some scraps of Christmas paper and adhered them down. Slapped some buttons on the side and called 'er a day.

I used some more of those postmark stamps on the inside and finished off the sentiment started on the front using the "Christmas Words" Dylusions stamp set.

Made a little matching envelope for this postal elf. This is actually a pretty small card - closed it measures 3.5" x 6.25".

I will be entering this into the following challenges:
Meljen's Design Team Challenge #127: Scrap It
Tammy's Scrapin Corner Challenge #28: Anything Goes
Try it on Tuesday: Anything Goes September Challenge
Paper Playtime Challenge #84: Punches & A Sentiment

It feels good to use some of those scraps on an actual card rather than watching the pile swell with no end in site. I didn't get much actual cleaning done...but did manage to lose -92 hoarder exp points - trust me...that's a good thing. That is one attribute I need to go down a level!

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

Grumpy Gnome at the Market

It's only September and already the market stalls are filling with Christmas wares. Seems like it happens earlier and earlier each trip around the sun. The Lady Commander and I were strolling through Market Lane in a nearby village the other day browsing some of the festive goodies when we were stopped by a rather grumpy gnome. He followed us down the lane from stall to stall complaining about everything the entire time: the weather, the prices, the quality of goods offered. After awhile this grew rather tiresome and Angela sicced her familiar, Ronin, on the unlucky fellow. As we watched the leopard slash at the grumpy gnome, I thought to myself...he might look good on a card...

I started by colouring this digi from Meljen's Designs with my Prismacolors. I used a stamp from my new Dylusions "Christmas Accessories" set to stamp those pine branches. The sentiment came from the Dylusions "Christmas Words" set which I picked up at Market Lane last Friday. Let's open up this card...

This is the first time I've attempted a card like this, and was pretty happy with how it turned out. It earned me +79 folding exp points. The Merrry Christmas sentiment was stamped from the "Christmas Memories" Tim Holtz stamp set. 
 
I really like the sayings in that Dylusions "Christmas Words" set. They make me laugh.

I went on a serious buying spree at the market and also purchased a new Dylusions stencil - "Ho Ho Holly". I used it to create the four small green panels.

I also made a matching envelope using the larger pine branches stamp. I love those pine branches; they look so Christmasy. 

This pine fresh creation will be entered into the following challenges:
Meljen's Designs Challenge #125: Anything Goes
Divas By Design Challenge #50: Let's Celebrate 
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes 
The Perfect Sentiment Challenge #47: Anything Goes with a Sentiment
Creative Card Crew Challenge #18: Christmas  
Christmas Crafting Challenge #14: Traditional Christmas Colours

After Ronin taught that grumpy gnome some manners he turned out to be quite the personable fellow. The Lady Commander invited him to dinner tomorrow night. Ten gold coins says he complains about her cooking.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~ 

The Sparkle Strike

Alas...it was a busy night in the Guild Hall tonight. The dire wolves were restless, sensing a change in the air as autumn fast approaches and enemies draw nigh - enemies, bearing glitter. I spotted their approach as I was in the rookery, tending to the owls. It is hard to be stealthy when one is made entirely of glitter. Anticipating an attack, I quickly sent word to the Guardian of Glitter, knowing she would know how to best defend the Guild Hall from a sparkly strike. As the battle started, glitter dust rose in the air. Not wanting to waste any of it, I collected as much as possible. Then I made a card.

I started out with this super cute goth girl I got from Meljen's Designs. I coloured her up with my Prismacolors, which are my favorite medium to colour stamps with. They just blend so nicely with the Gamsol. The light purple paper I embossed with the gears embossing folder and my Cuttlebug. I used sandpaper to make it all "distressy" <-- just made that word up. I find you can make any word into an adjective by just adding "y". Totally legit! Anyways...went off on a grammar tangent there...I also distressed the edges of the polka dot paper. I stamped the banner from the Lawn Fawn "Bannerific" set and the sentiment from the Lawn Fawn "Clear to See" set. The final touch was some glitter on the little goth girl's skulls and the "whooshes" coming off her.

 Kinda hard to see...but it's there in all its glittery glory.

Simple inside...giving this card some purpose.

Matching envelope...because I like when things match. That cute skull stamp is from The Greeting Farm "Sweet & Toxic" set. I thought a girly skull would go with the cute little goth girl. I earned +53 dark magic exp points by crafting this card.

This cute goth girl card will be entered into the following challenges:
Paper Playtime Challenge #82: Polka Dots + Sentiment
Shopping Our Stash Challenge #66: Use Your Favorite Things (Prisma Colors are my favorite medium to colour stamps with!)
Meljen's Design Team Challenge #124: Sketch Challenge

Nikki, the Guardian of Glitter, was able to defeat the sparkly attackers, thus keeping the Guild Hall safe for another day. She collected the glittery bodies and loaded them onto a wagon to carry to her workshop to extract the glitter from them. Waste not want not. Blech.

~Guild Master Crystal ~

Zombie Rabbit Attacks!

It was an interesting evening at the Guild Hall last night. One of the house gnomes found an injured rabbit while doing a sweep of the grounds before locking up for the night. He brought him inside, insisting the poor creature could be saved. As I was surely unable to reach the village healer at this hour, I called upon a white mage that I knew was passing through town and lodging at the inn for the next couple of days. The mage arrived and began her magic upon the rabbit. Before she could finish her healing spell, the rabbit arose and began feasting upon the flesh of a rat that was scuttling by! It was a zombified rabbit! The white mage and I managed to defeat it in battle, getting lucky on a couple of rolls. It was a good thing she was there to help. Imagine the carnage should that rabbit have awoken during the night. The rabbit, although a zombie, was super cute and inspired me to create a card (as most of these encounters tend to do).

Errr...don't mind the corner of my ink pad in the picture; I needed something to hold the card shut while I took a picture. Here's what it looks like opened:
The bunny image is from Meljen's Designs which I won with the cupcake card from another crafting quest. I coloured him up using Prismacolors. I then used the Lawn Fawn set "On the Mend" and stamped the turtle with the water bottle on his back, and just cut out the water bottle to put on the bunny's head. It just fit so perfectly. This earned me +40 dress up exp points. The sentiment is also from that same set. 

That cute tissue box and sentiment inside the card also came from "On the Mend". I also used the little bug from that same set to create a subtle patterned paper on the orangey-brown paper. It's a little more noticeable in person.

I used the bugs on the inside panel of the card as well. I just couldn't leave that panel "plain" and those bugs are just too cute not to use! 

I used the little bug on the envelope as well. I also used the little "bug trail" from the Lawn Fawn "Happy Summer" set. 

This super cute get well card will be entered into the following challenges:
The Corrosive Challenge Blog Challenge #156: Cute as a Button
Card Crafter's Circle Challenge #36: Rich and Earthy Colours!
Lawnscaping Challenge #40: Make your own patterned paper with stamps

I'm glad the Lady Commander wasn't here to witness the slaughter of the cute zombie rabbit. Hopefully she doesn't find out.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~