Throwing in the Towel

With only five weeks to go until the big Winter Festival, preparations are in full swing across the realm. Knowing that we frequently have to clean muddied armour and soiled tunics from our crafty quests, Mr. Claus had contacted me for some tips as he needed to get his suit cleaned and repaired after his imprisonment last winter.   

I started this CAS card by stamping the bathtub image from the Unity “Pure Happiness” set (I wrote the "sc" for "Santa Claus" on the towel...the stamp doesn't actually have that on it). I then stamped the "Santa's Gear" image from Stamp-It Australia. Everything was coloured using my trusty Prismacolor pencils. 

I added some glitter to the “fuzzy” parts of Santa’s clothes as well as the soap in the bathtub, as I imagine that Santa would probably bathe in glitter. (If you click on the picture to make it BIGGER you can see the shiny glitter better). The sentiment I stamped using the Lawn Fawn “Smitty’s ABCs” set. After matting the image on some silver cardstock, I adhered it to the base using foam adhesive for some added dimension and +194 puffy exp points.  

On the inside I stamped the first sentiment using the Unity “Naughty is the New Nice” set and the Merry Christmas from the Echo Park “Holly Jolly Christmas” set. I then used the Santa from the Tim Holtz “Christmas Memories” set and lightly stamped him in the background. I wanted to keep it faint enough that you could write a message over top if needed.

The envelope was stamped with the snowflake from the Unity “winter joy.peace.love” itty bitty set.

This card will keep it clean in the following challenges:

Delicious Doodles Challenge #62: CAS

CHNC Challenge #151: Indoors

CHNC Challenge Extra for November

Jo’s Scrap Shack FFC#26: Anything Goes

Little Scrap Pieces Fun Friday Linky Party

One Stitch At A Time Challenge #190: Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments: Christmas

Craftitude Challenge #53: Anything Goes

Penny’s Challenge #154: Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenge #70: Clean and Simple

MFP SpeedyTV Simple Salutations Challenge #72: Holiday Cards

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: It’s a Mystery (where Santa is…)

After viewing the damage that the suit had taken during his time in captivity, I suggested that he perhaps think about investing in a new one. Sighing heavily, he agreed. I offered the help of the Guild Hall’s best seamstress, Milda, who was brilliant with a needle and thread and even better at stitching magic into the article. Mr. Claus was very appreciative as there were only five weeks until the big day. Hopefully it was enough time for Milda to construct him a new magical suit.

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

So Fresh and So Clean

After a hard day of questing yesterday, it is laundry day here at the Guild Hall. Armor and tunics tend to get messy while dungeon crawling for crafty exp points. The house gnomes take care of the tunics and small clothes, but I prefer to tend to the magical armor pieces myself, so as not to disturb the delicate enchantments upon them. After all the scrubbing and cleaning, the laundry inspired me to create a card...as most activities tend to do. 

I started by stamping the "Santa's Gear" image from Stamp-It Australia and colouring it with Prismacolors. The sentiment came from the Dylusions "Christmas Words" set. I embossed a red piece of cardstock with a brick pattern and inked it using the Fired Brick Distress Ink. Then, after handling that, I had red ink on my hands and, much to my dismay, got a smudge on my nice white cardstock. After numerous obscenities were uttered yelled, I decided to try and make the best of it. To try and cover up the blemish, I stamped the "SC" from the Kaisercraft "Twig & Berry Postmarks" set, earning me +89 stealth exp points.

 My final touch was adding some glitter to the "fuzzy" parts of the clothes.

The inside sentiment was from some cheap Recollections brand holiday set I got from Michaels. I thought is went well because the hanging banner is reminiscent of the hanging clothes line on the front of the card.

I made a matching envelope out of kraft paper and used the Echo Park "Holly Jolly" set to decorate it.

I shall be entering this freshly laundered creation into the following challenges:
Try It On Tuesday September Challenge 2: Lots of Layers
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes
Stamping for Pleasure: Rudolph Day
ABC Christmas Challenge: S is for Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Simon Says Stamp and Show: For the Love of Sparkle

With our armor, tunics, cloaks and small clothes clean, the Crafters Guild is ready for our next adventure. Hopefully to somewhere cleaner, as it is incredibly difficult to remove stains from my Shimmering Rainbow Armor when it's "hand wash only".

~ Guild Master Crystal ~