APRIL MID-MONTH TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE

Time for the April mid-month reminder at Two Old Bats Anything Halloween Challenge.  

https://twooldbatshalloweendt.blogspot.com/2020/10/april-2024-mid-month-reminder.html

This time I decided to go with a "witchy" theme, but you'll also see some pumpkins with black cats on these great coordinating papers by American Crafts ("Boo Crew" and "Happy Halloween").  

I love pocket cards and wanted to play around a bit with the idea of a witch upside down in a pocket. I started with a single 5x7 piece of black cardstock and added a couple of  printed papers to the face of it. The envelope is a die I have for gift cards and I cut it from two-sided printed paper, tied it with a couple of pieces of orange and black twine, and attached it to the face of the card.

For the insert tag I partially die-cut Tim Holtz's witch feet from a piece of black cardstock and trimmed it to the correct size. I added colored paper for socks and white heat-embossed the sentiment. I fussy-cut some of the images from the papers and glued them to the tag. 

Trick-or-Treat, pull my feet...

Now it's your turn!

LIVE/LOVE/CRAFT

Today's offering is a combination of two challenges: Time Out Challenge #261 "Inspired by Words" and Inkspirational Challenge #313 "Fold".

The sentiment and image are from Hero Arts #CM366 "Handmade Happiness" stamp set. I started with a black top-folded card base. Using a two-sided printed stock from American Crafts, I die cut a stitched rectangle, cut a slit across it, and folded it back to show the backside of the paper. Once I knew the location of the opening against the black card, I white heat-embossed the sentiment and attached the printed rectangular panel to the face of the card. I stamped the hand/scissors image on a piece of white cardstock and colored it with Prisma pencil and Copic markers and fussy cut it. You can't really tell from the photo, but I also fussy cut the blades of the scissors from silver metallic stock and glued them over the colored image. After attaching the hand and scissors, the final step was to punch a hole in the face of the card and tie on orange and purple twine.

Here are the two challenges - yes, the fold is a bit simple, but a fold never-the-less!

TIME OUT Challenges: Challenge #261 IBW "I'm a romantic! I live for long, dreamy walks down the craft aisle"

Inkspirational: Inkspirational Challenge #313 - Word Prompt - Fold (inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com)

NAUGHTY KITTY

I felt like dabbling a bit this morning in my craft room and I had two inspirations: AAA Cards Challenge #262: Sketch and our loveable but naughty lynx-point kitty Tiger.

I created this card in a horizontal format because of the size of the Tim Holtz Snarky Cats images. I started by computer-generating the sentiment directly on a piece of white cardstock, followed by stamping the ball of yarn with blue ink. I masked off the yarn and stamped the orange cat and colored him in with Copic markers. I then trimmed the panel with a stitched rectangular die and attached it to a very narrow black mat and the face of a white card base. The final step was to stamp the naughty kitty on a separate piece of white cardstock and fussy cut him out before attaching him with dimensional foam.

This is the AAA Cards sketch that inspired the layout:

AAA Cards: AAA Card Challenges #262: Sketch

And this is the naughty kitty that inspired the idea:

 

F IS FOR "FOLD IT"

Here I am at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers for a repeat Guest Designer slot! This month Challenge #249 is "F is for Fold It". You can see that Edna has made herself a hat to wear for this challenge. Do you suppose it's lined with tin foil? 

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: SoSS #249 - F is for Fold It

I won't pretend that this challenge was easy! I started with a completely different idea (you'll find that at the end of this post), but scrapped it because it felt like it had too few folds. I knew I wanted to start using up these paper dolls from Tim Holtz that had been languishing in my stash for a couple of years. I use one once-in-a-while, but wanted to use a bunch of them. There are a total of 19 people + a dog, so there's only a handful of them left - stay tuned! 

I'm not sure what this fold is called, but I've played with it a couple of times - maybe a standing accordion fold? When compressed it's approximately 5" square. It took 3 sheets of chocolate paper trimmed to 5" strips to complete all of the folds. The sentiment is from AALL & Create (#771 "DEE Quips"). The envelope is a custom one.

The card I made initially for my husband is a much simpler fold. I folded an 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" card base in half with the fold on the right, then turned back the right side. I added tan panels to both layers and glued on the figures so that they slightly overlapped.

When opened, the second part of the sentiment (AALL & Create #771 "DEE Quips") appears with a pile of wine bottles (Unity Stamp Co.). This card was so hard to photograph. Showing the fold really distorted the image. 

APRIL TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE

April Fools Day and a new challenge from Two Old Bats! We have a new mood board for your inspiration - or you can submit anything Halloween.

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: April 2024 Anything Goes Halloween

I came across a couple of new 12x12 pads of double-sided Halloween paper at Michael's just shortly after Christmas and it was love at first sight! The images are all contemporary and the colors are intense. My Halloween cards are generally more somber, but with these new papers I can see a whole new movement of brightly-colored cards and envelopes starting up! This card and envelope are using the papers at American Crafts "Happy Halloween". 

I was drawn to the lower left quadrant with the giant moon and turquoise sky with bats and stars, and then I diverged to other scary images. I had intended to do a "witchy" card, but the card had other ideas! I started with a black card base and attached a slightly smaller rectangle of orange dotted paper. I black heat embossed the sentiment (Impression Obsession's "When Life" #CL306) onto a gray die-cut circle and smudged up the edges and interior a bit with some gray ink, then attached it to the turquoise and black bats and stars paper and die cut both layers with a deckle-edge rectangle. This I glued over the orange panel and dug out an old Tim Holtz haunted house that was in my stash and attached that. I fussy cut some little ghosts from one of the papers and glued them to the windows of the house. The final "topper" was a die cut bat from Whimsey Stamps ("Dracula Going Batty" Die Set #WSD406). I really like this card - what do you think?

We would love to have you join us on this challenge! We still have a really cool die to give away if we get 25 entries:

MID-MARCH REMINDER - TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE

It's mid-March and it's a perfect night for Two Bats Halloween Challenge! My cell phone camera didn't like the bright green I used on this card and to line the envelope - they came through decidedly yellow. 

This time around I was inspired by the lower right quadrant of the mood board - a skeleton and some drippy branches. Using some laurel branches upside down from an IndigoBlu rubber stamp set ("Laurel Leaves" designed by Kay Hallowell-Sutton), I heat embossed with Zing! "Leaf" onto a stitched rectangular panel of black card stock. Then I white heat-embossed a very old sentiment. The skeleton is an old friend I've used many times. I stamped him on white card stock and fussy cut him, adding some green Copic markings for reflection on his old bones. I heat embossed an additional spray of leaves on black and cut it out to add to his hand with a bit of black dimensional foam. All of this got attached to a black card base.  

Time for you to get out your green supplies and make a March Halloween project - although it really doesn't have to be green. Diane's moodboard is for inspiration, and you can use it or not. I personally am fond of this month's board because there's so much there to play with!

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: March 2024 Mid Month Reminder

HOME SWEET HOME

Today looks like the first day of spring - the sky is absolutely clear and the plum tree blossoms are ready to pop! I haven't worked in my craft room for more than a week. I looked in on Tic Tac Toe Challenge #243 and see a perfect opportunity for a bright spring-like card! I decided on the center down choices - Yellow/CAS Design/Pearls or Sequins.

This is also a new design for my son's real estate business - he gives out my handmade cards to his clients when they close on their new homes. I've spoken about this previously here and here. 

This card started as a white 5-1/2" square card base. I trimmed a piece of yellow cardstock down to 5x5 and die cut a square out of the center. The sentiment is from a small Hero Arts stamp set #DC225 and I stamped it with Memento "Tuxedo Black before attaching the yellow square to the face of the card. Then I die cut Birch Press Design's "Honeycomb Mini Tile Later Set" #56125 from several yellow and ochre scraps, glued them together, and centered them in the opening of the yellow square. The final step was to stamp, color, and fussy cut a bee from Hackney & Co. "Tell the Bees" set and mount her to the card with a bit of dimensional tape. I dug through all of my stash and found three honey-colored sequins to complete the challenge.

The coordinating envelope is from a pack of square vellum envelopes I picked up a couple of months ago at Michael's. I decided to line it with some bee printed paper I have in my New Home stash. 

I realize that everything on this card - the honeycomb die, the sentiment, and the queen bee are all elements that I've never used before, so I hear NBUS Challenge #60 beckoning to me!   

TTTC243 - Featured Designer Silke - Tic Tac Toe Challenge  

NBUS: NBUS Challenge #60 (mynbus.blogspot.com)

MASCULINE BIRTHDAY

I've been fascinated by cards I've seen on Pinterest that look like a man's suit or shirt and thought to attempt one myself for a dapper friend of mine who's having his birthday today. I really had no idea where I was going when I first started, other than that I wanted to have a pocket to slip a tag into that resembled a handkerchief.

I started with a black 5x7 piece of cardstock for a base to attach all of the other elements. It took me hours to make this and I really don't know how to describe the whole process, other than to say it was a complicated series of trials and errors! I found this black embossed paper in my stash that seemed like it would make a perfect jacket and I started with the collar by folding a strip of beige cardstock and attached it to the top of the black panel, overlapping it slightly above the panel and a bit off-center so that I would have space on the right side for a pocket. I added a piece of beige below for the rest of the shirt. Then I constructed a tie by folding a striped printed paper into roughly the shape of a tie with a Windsor knot and gluing it to the card base under the collar. The next step took the longest because I had to figure out just how to make the lapels. I attached the left side first, gluing it to the card base and trimming the edges. The right side was more complex because I had to construct a pocket by slitting a line across the jacket front and adding a pocket behind it before I attached it to the right side of the card and trimmed it. I cut a strip of paper and die cut some stitching on two edges before attaching it to the jacket front. The final step was to make a button from solid black cardstock and pull some thread through the buttonholes and attach.   

WHEW! As I said, it was a complicated procedure - similar to a tailoring class I once took! The "handkerchief" is a tag cut from a coordinating printed stock with a beige square attached and black heat embossed sentiment. Before slipping the tag into the pocket, I tied on a strip of black silk ribbon.

I'm really proud of this card, so if Alex doesn't make a big deal out of it, I'll be very disappointed!
 

ST. PATTY'S DAY

As I write this on Monday morning, it's been snowing off and on since Friday night/Sunday morning - just as it was starting to seem like spring was around the corner. I pretty much stayed in all weekend and worked in my craft room. One of the results is this card that hits a couple of challenges -  Shopping Our Stash #SOS516 - "It's Not Easy Being Green" and NBUS #60 (Never-Before-Used-Schtuff). This is the very beginning of thinking about St. Patrick's Day cards. I'm not sure I'll put in the effort this year - we'll see. At the very least, I'll make cards for the immediate family.

I picked up this little dragon a couple of years ago and this is the first time I've used him. He's from Whimsy Stamps ("Bart on St. Paddy's Day" #C1106). I stamped him with black onto white cardstock, colored him with Copic markers, and fussy cut him. I colored an additional shamrock and glued it over the top of the others for dimension. I know I wanted to use this ancient sentiment in my 3/17 stash and I white heat embossed it onto a scrap of green cardstock. Then I just played with both images for a while until I hit on the idea that Bart and the sentiment would work best in this case on a square card. So I prepared a 5-1/2" square card base and added two additional square panels. Rifling through my dies, I came across a filigree-edged rectangle that I've never used (I have used a smaller version of this rectangle, but not this particular one). I trimmed the sentiment and attached it to the die cut rectangle as a frame and attached them to the card front. I attached Bart with some dimensional foam, overlapping the sentiment. That's it! I found the bright green square envelope in with my St. Patty's Day papers.  

Shopping Our Stash Weekly Challenge Blog: SOS516 - It's Not Easy Being Green

NBUS: NBUS Challenge #60 (mynbus.blogspot.com)

MARCH TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE - EEK!

The beginning of March (how did we get here so fast?), and it's a new Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge! I love this month's green mood board - lots of inspiration for you! I went with a combination of the upper right and lower left quadrants for this card - a Venus flytrap in a jar of spiders. My Venus flytrap is eating a spider right out of her web!

You can see from this photo that I started with a stamp from Whimsey Stamps with a jar of eyeballs and other stuff. I stamped it with black on white cardstock, colored it with Copic markers, and added spiders, and fussy cut it, excluding the skull and pumpkin. I white heat embossed a spider web  and "EEKs" onto a stitched panel of gray printed card stock and glued the jar and some additional fussy cut poison jars to it. I then set about creating a Venus flytrap by drawing and coloring and cutting out and gluing to the top of one of the stems. I also added some die cut PTI leaves and a fussy-cut spider. This I mounted to a bright green polka dot panel that I border punched with drips. It was a fairly complex process, but it was fun! 

Here's a closer look at the images: 

It's now your turn with this fabulous mood board! If you can't find enough inspiration here, not to worry because you can enter any Halloween project. Check out the great cards the Design Team is sharing.

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: March 2024 Anything Goes Halloween

BIRTHDAY FISHES . . .

. . . FOR MY FAVORITE PISCES!

My brother's 76th birthday has caught me a bit off-guard this year - I've been really busy planning a surprise 40th birthday for the guy who runs the non-profit organization where I volunteer weekly. His birthday is the 8th and my brother's is the 7th. So I decided to cheat a bit by restyling an old card from July of last year. I've had this card from a previous challenge and I thought to CASE my own card, but laziness got the best of me!  I just added a new sentiment over the old one. Is it cheating to offer up an old card with a new sentiment at the current AAA Cards Challenge #259 CAS "Anything Goes - Optional Twist Birthday"? I guess I'll find out!

The new sentiment is a Penny Black set - #30-846 "Birthday Fishes". I white heat embossed it on black card stock, trimmed it, and rounded two of the corners with a Fiskars quarter-round punch. I attached it to the card with black dimensional foam. The original top-half description is HERE. The custom envelope is stamped with a silly rubber stamp "Sealed with a Fish" 

So, we'll see if AAA will accept my cheatin' card!

AAA Cards: AAA Card Challenges #259 Anything Cas goes (Birthday Card)

W IS FOR WINTER

I was inspired to make a "winter" themed card based on the latest challenge at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #247 "W is for Winter". I made the card a couple of days ago and then encountered many technical glitches - we ended up with no internet for a couple of days and my photo software just quit working. I'm not very good with technology, so it's been a bit frustrating to get here with this photo!  

Having said all of that, this project started with a white top-folded card base on which I attached a gray embossed panel with swirls. I added some white gel pen to the dots on the embossed panel. I used a bunch of the zombie silhouettes from Whimsey Stamps #CWSD388 ""Zombie Party" and stamped a row of them in Memento "London Fog" across the center of a gray panel and then over-stamped four more figures with black ink. The snow was added with Tim Holtz splatters from a Halloween set and the sentiment is from Impression Obsessions #CS1082 "Zombie Sayings" - both the splatters and sentiment were white heat embossed. The panel was then die cut with a deckle edge and matted with black. I love this sentiment and have used it several times over the past couple of years! 

 

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: SoSS #247 - W is for Winter

Added March 5, 2024:

MID-MONTH FEBRUARY TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE

Here it is mid-month already and this is our reminder that there are two weeks left to enter your projects for February. I showed this card to my husband and he just rolled his eyes - he thinks we at Two Old Bats are mostly nuts! Halloween is not his favorite holiday. He better be careful - he may get this in October when we celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary!

I was looking at the heart-shaped wreath with two skeletons in the top left quadrant when I started this, but I don't have any large heart dies in my stash, so opted for a round wreath.

I started with a 5-1/2" square black top-folded card base, then die cut a circle opening into the center of a smaller square black panel. I cut a piece of Park Lane "Haunted Hollow" printed cardstock and mounted one skull to the top left of the circle opening and glued it from the back before mounting the square panel to the face of the card base. Then I attached a larger circle cut from the printed stock and fussy cut a second skull to overlap the circles. I die cut several stems of PTI foliage from both sides of the printed card stock and arranged them with some black "witchy" threads and enamel dots. 

Inside I die cut a couple of Stampin' Up "Chalk Talk" tags and white heat embossed a PTI sentiment and XOXO - I layered these on to the inside and added some fussy cut bones.

This has been a fun month of combining Halloween and Valentine's Day imagery! I hope you find it as interesting and join us in our rather morbid enjoyment! If we get to 25 or more entries, there will be a drawing for this great die:

 

Join us here:

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: February 2024 Mid Month Reminder