A Nerdy Aside Into the Realm of Table Top Roleplaying

                I used to be anti-third party when it came to DnD/Pathfinder anything. The most I ever branched out was playing a game called XCrawl back in high school. I had this pre-conceived notion that third party meant it was unbalanced and horribly written.  Boy was I wrong.  

Pathfinder took me in after Paizo was unable to continue Dungeon Magazine. I had really enjoyed the continuing adventures detailed in each issue. They were well written and put together. When Golarian came to be, I purchased the world guide, switched my friends over to the Pathfinder system, and ran them through the entirety of The Rise of the Runelords. This honestly was the only campaign I have managed to run all the way through. Golarian was fun for a while, but it is still a very cookie cutter world. Sure there is a history to the world, but it never feels dynamic enough to suit my tastes as a game master. Players go from point A to point B and everything is laid out for them. There are no side quests, and very rarely are there encounters the players need to run from or plan out carefully.  

                After some trouble trying to game with a trio of middle school girls, I’m sorry, I meant middle aged men (not to man-bash, these guys actually acted like Mean Girls), I was invited to play with a new game master that I had met during a pseudo DnD tournament.  This was the start of my introduction to the Lost Lands which started in Bards Gate and ended with my character getting slaughtered by a demon out in the Desolation.

I was in love.

                I started out buying Slumbering Tsar and eventually worked my way through anything on the market for Pathfinder and buying a few of the grab boxes for 3.5 adventures. I realized I had a problem. All of these older Necromancer games adventures detailed out areas I knew nothing about. The world of The Lost Lands is so vast, that most if it lived inside the heads of those old school game masters that ran their adventures there. I was (and am) still a newbie just venturing out.

 The best tool I had was the series of books detailing The Borderlands; unfortunately I choose to start my players out near Bards Gate.  In Crommlen’s Ghosts, the NPC’s mention the Kingdom of Helcynn and a place called the Hatha Peaks. Now this would be a perfect place for a lead in to another adventure that takes the players on a journey to lands distant to Bards Gate. Herein goes back to my current problem – where the heck are these places? Sure I could make it up as I go, but I am less of an extemporaneous GM and more of a spreadsheet-building-run-from-the-book kind of GM (too many hobbies not enough time for them). What I wanted, was a guide to anything and everything Lost Lands so I could, as a GM let my players turn off the main road (as players are oft want to do), and have the tools to pick up and run with it.

So needless to say, when Frog God Games announced the guide to the Lost Lands, I was ecstatic. A relatively new fan girl, I was still chomping at the bit for a world guide when Bill Webb hinted that one would be forthcoming. This was truly a “shut up and take my money” kind of moment.  Although not released yet, this will be my absolute favorite FGG product. Not just the book itself, but I also plan on buying the developers notes, because I want it ALL. I want to know every nook and cranny of the so far developed Lost Lands to build a dynamic and challenging world for my players. I also wish to try my hand at writing adventures. What better place to add when you don’t have to worry about drastically changing the setting just to make things work. Unlike Golarian with its static governments and very little historical change, the Lost Lands history is all about change. I could create anything from Bronze Age adventuring with the Hyperboreans to steampunk archeological adventures. I have also started venturing out of my comfort zone and buying more and more independent adventures that I can place in The Lost Lands. One day I will also revamp as many of my Pathfinder adventures that I can into The Lost Lands.

Frog God Games already has literal decades of published materials out there. I know many would be hard pressed to choose between something like Slumbering Tsar with the rich history of the Army of Light, and Rappan Athuk the definitive mega dungeon. I want to utilize everything I have and other products out there that catch my interest. To do this, I need the best tool in the FGG arsenal – The World of the Lost Lands.

                 

Cute Mouse Shaker Christmas Cards

Cute Mouse Shaker Christmas Cards

A set of adorable shaker Christmas cards using the Simon Says Stamp exclusive Lawn Fawn release "Merry Christmouse". Mice were colored with Kuretake Clean Brush Markers. I used a stitched frame for the rectangles, but honestly cannot remember which brand. The multi-windowed shaker card is a die I got from Aliexpress. It is cheating a bit, but I love dies and  don't always have a lot of money to spend on them.  This set of cards is available on my etsy.

Elegant Christmas Shaker Cards

Elegant Christmas Shaker Cards

Cards are for sale as a set on my etsy Etsy

Mixed Media Canvas

 I created this piece in a very simple way by melting crayons to create the swirls. I then decided to add some Lindy's Stamp Gang products for the background. This picture really does do the colors justice as I took the picture in my basement. I really do like the simplicity of it. 

Super Late Waste Not Want Not Wednesday

I about forgot about Waste Not Want Not Wednesdays until on my way home. So here is a quick scrap card I made using some left over paper from making more stamp panels. I altered the background paper using Lindy's Products and colored the tree with various things. Looking at this picture I can't say I like how I colored the tree, but the background looks amazing.

Hello Again

I know I have been crazy absent for a long time. It is a very long story that I will eventually talk about on the other blog I started Gamer Girl's Guide to Dating. I am trying to get my life back together and get un-lazy.

That is to say I have still kept up doing crafting and did take pictures of most of my projects so I will have tons of material to post.



Here are two cards I made from scraps after I made some clear stamp panels. I wanted to go with simple so I only added the simple sentiment. The matte is some marble paper I made awhile back. I didn't care too much for the papers I've made so I haven't used them much. 

On Vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry for no WNWNW this week. I ended up with a sudden ACT student who requested 4 hours of tutoring plus I was attempting to pack and get ready for my trip to LA. I'm currently at the Salt Lake City Airport awaiting my flight into Los Angeles for KCon! I am sooooooo exited to be seeing some of my favorite artists in concert. Be prepared for lots of pictures and new scrapbook pages when I return!

Waste Not Want Not Butterflies

I had this paper left over from working on my cling mounted stamp binders. I altered the paper with a bit of ink and stamped a butterfly in the center and embossed. I added a couple of vine stickers and butterfly die cuts. To give it that little extra sparkle I added some Stickles and acrylic gems. It really can be fun using scraps to make cards.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesdays are Back!

Another scrap card from me. I took some left over K & Co paper as my background and used a die I ordered a bit ago from: Elizabeth Craft Designs and tried out their double sided adhesive stickers with glitter. They weren't the easiest things to work with, but the birds turned out cute. I ended up adding a bit of Starburst Sprays to the bird cutouts to give it a bit more pop. I added a quote to finish off the card.

Fairy Card

I made this card awhile back. I took some scrap paper I had and colored it with several different Starburst Stains from Lindy's. I then embossed it and used permanent ink in back over the top. The background was so pretty it took me forever to figure out what else I wanted to do to this card. In the end I added one simple mushroom and a fairy stamped on scrap paper and embossed.

Simple Card

While trying to decide what I wanted to do for the Lindy's Color Challenge this month I started pulling some paper and using Lindy's products on basic cardstock that I had. Because I went with my altered art piece I had all this paper lying around.  Here is a quick card I made using blue card stock colored with Afternoon Delight Denim. The paper is DCWV from the Tradewind stack. I used one of the smaller stacks for this. I added a K & Co key and a sticker I had lying around. The card is a shimmery off white card from DCWV. 

A Ferret Card

I just adore ferrets and have a fun set of stamps from Rubber Headgehog that I like to use periodically. For this card I started out with an embossed card from DCWV and colored it with distress inks. I added a bit of Lindy's Glitz Spritz for added shimmer. I colored the ferret using some watercolor pencils and the sock with Magical Micas. Add a bit of ribbon and a random embellishment and I have a nice simple card.

Lindy's July Color Challenge: Steampunk Sky Altered Canvas

My absolute favorite craft company Lindy's Stamp Gang is having a design team call. I've been waiting for this since I learned of them thanks to Kate Palmer's Youtube videos. I just had to enter!

The design team entry called for participating in their July color challenge: Here

I tend to be very ADD about my crafting projects. I don't usually sit down and make a plan. I tend to grab some supplies and just get going.  For this project I started with a plan small canvas and added a layer of water color medium to help soak up some of my Starbursts. I then added: Baby Blue Eyes Aqua, Carpathian Bluebells, and Afternoon Delight Denim. I wanted to do some stenciling to the background, but I didn't want to cover up the pretty effect I got with the Starbursts. I had the fun idea to use a small steampunk gear stencil and some white paint to create the look of clouds. to finish off the background portion I used a Basic Grey stamp and some gold ink.

Next I colored a Recollections flower and some leaves with more Starbursts. On the flower I used Poinciana Red Flame and Cajun Carnelian Red. I topped the flower off with some Stickles on the edge of the petals to give it more sparkle. I used Bayou Boogie Gold for the leaves to give it a more steampunk-y feel. I outlined the veins of the leaves using a gold paint pen.

I added a K & Co. key with some gold embossing powder distressed using sea salt and a Lindy's Flying Birdwing Butterfly brass charm embossed with Terra Cotta Rust then some plain gold embossing powder around the edges.

I topped everything off with a Jolee's butterfly sticker and a quote sticker.

I started out with the idea of a really busy canvas with lots of stuff on it, but after creating that background I knew I couldn't cover it up so I went for simple. I absolutely adore how it turned out!

Butterfly Card

I created this card using some scrap paper I had, ink, and embossing powder. The focal image was created using some Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powder with regular embossing powder on top. I stamped my image with some versa mark and the dark color of the two-toned embossing powder stood out. 

Packing

So I will still be on hiatus for awhile. We do not having a closing date on our house yet, but I am working to pack up all the stuff in my room before we do. I've already packed 7 or 8 boxes and have yet to put a dent in all of my stuff! I'm really excited about having a craft room. My craft room will probably be one of the first things I set up, but I will still be pretty busy for awhile. Expect to start seeing actual craft posts probably after the end of January at the earliest.

I Got a Job!

So I finally got a job. I will be working as a loan processor at a bank about 45 minutes away from where I live. It's a long drive but I desperately need a job. My dad also put an offer in on the house we've been looking at so in about 6-8 weeks we will have a new house that will add about 10 minutes to my drive to work. The drive will suck, but at least I will be able to start paying off my student loans. Hopefully between the extra drive, the job, playing World of Warcraft again, and a boyfriend I will have time to get crafting once we are all moved in. 

Pathfinder Character Cover

Here is the cover I created for my latest Pathfinder character, a Samsaran Inquisitor of Pharasma. 

I used lineart from  who drew  's character. I used alcohol markers, watercolor pencils, acrylic ink, and Lindy's products to color the lineart.

For the background, I started with a plain sheet of blue cardstock and used my Tattered Angels glimmer screens and Lindy's products. I then used another glimmer screen and a silver paint pen and stenciled the flower shape. Finally I took a piece of scrapbook paper with foil and colored it using Starburst Stains and cut the circles using my Cricut and glued them on. I hand painted the holy symbol of Pharasma and the Carrion Crown banner was created using my Circut as well.

Double Embossing Technique Video

Here is the video tutorial I mentioned one of my earlier posts. I love the cool look of my gears using this technique!

Hope you guys like it!

Altered Page Background

So I wanted to share this piece before I post the final project. I love how the background turned out. I started with a piece of black cardstock and stenciled the designs using my Tattered Angels glimmer screens. I then painstakingly colored in the parts using a gold gel pen. Because it felt like it was missing something I added the red paint. I think it looks gorgeous and will need to use it on a card or a scrapbook page at some point. It did get a little smudged on some gold parts thanks to a ferret. I think Shark has an ability called Sense Liquid because she leaves empty glasses alone but always goes for ones with anything at all in them.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday

Well I'm sort of back, or at least feeling a little more crafty. Here is a scrap card I created using bits of scrap paper and one of my Bombshell Stamps. I stamped the image in distress ink then spritzed it a bit for a slight bleed effect.