SEPTEMBER TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE

We have a new inspiration board for September at Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, and we're quickly sliding into Halloween!

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: September 2026 Anything Goes Halloween

HA! I just realized, looking over at my TOB Halloween Challenge badge, that today is my 4th anniversary with the challenge! It's been great fun! If I multiply 2 cards each month times 4 years, I come up with 96 cards!

I was attracted to the books and candles in the lower right quadrant and got out my Whimsy Stamps #CWSD427 "Poe Boy" stamp set to make a Poe arrangement. I think one of the reasons I love Halloween cards so much is that my maiden name was Poe! But you already knew that.

I started by stamping the row of books with black ink and adding a Tim Holtz cobweb in white. Then I colored the books with Copic markers. I trimmed the front panel with a deckle-edged rectangular die and edged it with black ink. This card stock is textured, so to get a clean inking I turned the paper over and inked the raven/scull/candle and open book on the backside of a scrap. I had an old paperback book that had Edgar Allen Poe in the index and paper-pieced that page to the book image and attached it to the front panel. It wasn't in great shape, so I decided to add some gray splats over the book and panel and over-stamped the sentiment (LDRS Creative "Wicked") in black. I paper pieced the skull to the raven image and fussy-cut after touching up with a bit of Copic markers. Finally, I attached the raven and skull to the face of the card with a bit of dimensional foam tape. 

You have 28 days to come up with your September Halloween project - check in over at the blog to see the wonderful inspirational cards made for you by all of my Design Team pals!

STAYIN' ALIVE!

I couldn't resist naming this post "Stayin' Alive" because the new challenge over at AAA Cards Challenge is #322: "Disco Inferno"!

How fortuitous that I have this Whimsy Stamps "Zombie Party" stamp set with the silhouette images of zombies partying! Starting with a square white card base, I orange and purple heat embossed the sentiment on a smaller white square. Then the splatter was over-stamped in green and the stars and confetti in orange. The final steps were to add the zombies, mat the square in purple cardstock, tie on some twine strips. and attach to the face of  the card base. The square envelope was custom-made to coordinate.  

AAA Cards: AAA Card Challenge #322: Disco Inferno

HAPPY SEVENTEEN

Next week our grandtwins will be celebrating their 17th birthdays! I used the opportunity of a couple of challenges to make my granddaughter's card - Seize the Birthday "No Stamps Dies Only" and Tic,Tac Toe Challenge. Her brother's card is HERE. 

I wanted to do a card that was dramatic color-wise and decided on black with white and bright pinks - I already had a 6" square bright pink irridescent vellum envelope in my stash that I wanted to use, so I started with that. I made a 5-1/2" square card base with black cardstock and a slightly smaller square panel. I used a 1" wide embossing strip on the top panel to add some dimension and to ground the numbers (PTI die set that I always use for the birthday numbers on my grandkids' cards). I attached this panel with a glitter cardstock mat to the card base. To make the numbers I selected a black and white printed lightweight paper that I glued to heavier stock, die cut, and ayyached them to the card. The Spellbinders bow was die cut twice with two colors of glitter bright cardstocks and layered over the numbers, along with a die cut "Happy" from my stash.

The final step was to line the existing pink vellum envelope with the black and white printed paper to tie everything together.

The glitter cardstock shows up a bit better with this enlarged photo above.

For the Seize the Birthday Challenge, there is no stamping on this card - only dies!

Seize the Birthday: Seize the Birthday #333-No Stamping Dies Only 

And for Rosanne's Tic, Tac Toe Challenge, I selected the top row across - Letters/Numbers, Dimension, and Sparkle/Shine.

TTTC300 - Featured Designer Rosanne - Tic Tac Toe Challenge

AND SPEAKING OF CATS (which we weren't), I just changed the number of cats listed in my Profile from six to seven. This is getting a bit insane and I think perhaps I've passed the threshhold for how many cats you can have to qualify as a "crazy old cat lady"!! Last fall one of our kitties, Tux, ran out of the house and joined the other 11 feral cats in the feral cat community that we feed. Once out of the house, he would have nothing to do with us and seemed perfectly happy to stay outside - even through some pretty extreme temperature changes during the winter. While he was lodging himself on our patio, another cute little black character showed up and boldly came into the house to disrupt everything. We named her Bon Bon and had her vaccinated and spayed and she is now a permanent part of the household. Fast forward to yesterday, and Tux has been taking more interest in looking into the house and letting us pet him. Last night he finally came back in and this morning worked his way back into the morning inside cat-feeding frenzy. He appears to be sticking around for a while - at least until the next time he decides to take a runner. So we are now officially living with seven cats - YIKES!

"A" IS FOR ANIMAL

Here's a bit of silliness for my friends over at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers. We're challenged with "A" is for Animal.

I used a freebie stamp set from My Favorite Things sent to me in August 2018. I've never used it. I think this is a donkey. I stamped him onto white cardstock and then masked him out and overstamped with a green field of flowers. After coloring him with Copic markers, I blended some green ink and glued on a strip of sentiment that I had computer generated (with apologies to whomever created the old Halloween witch meme). I cut his mouth and inserted some fragments of green baker's twines for grass, trimmed the panel with a stitched rectangular die, and attached it all to a white card base. Quick and dirty!

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: Challenge #277 - A is for Animals 

 

BOO!

We're at the mid-point for the month! That's the signal that you still have plenty of time to get your Halloween card or project completed and shared with us. The Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge closes on the 28th.

My card borrows from the general overall black and tan tones of our inspiration board, with a specific nod to the top left Haloween door wreath and bats on the right. I started with a black card base and die cut the elements from various die sets I own. The circular die is cut from kraft wood-embossed card stock using Tim Holtz's Christmas wreath ("Vault Festive Wreath" #666715); the branches in three colors of textured papers are from a couple of Spellbinders seasonal dies; and the bow is from "Christmas Cocktails" by Spellbinders. The ghost of course is my favorite Tim Holtz Halloween ghost that I've used hundreds of times.

Before assembling all of the parts I rough cut a circle from a bat printed paper scrap and white heat embossed the sentiment. I lined a kraft A2 envelope with the remaining black and tan circle printed paper to coordinate with the wreath's bow. Check out the great inspirational cards from my fellow designers:

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: August 2026 Mid Month Reminder

A NOTE OF THANKS

 It's August and time for a new Simply Clean & Simple Challenge! This month's theme is "Mother Nature", which brings to mind a lot of options for representative images. Our challenge is always "anything goes" as long as it's CAS, and I decided on a thank you card.

Simply Clean & Simple: SCAS August 2026 Challenge

I might have pushed the limit a bit on this card, as CAS is minimal layers. But it seemed that if the layers were the same color/texture as the background, that might be okay. I made this card with watercolor paper - the A2 base and slightly smaller front panel. I cut an opening in the front panel with a rectangular die (love the plate mark watercolor paper leaves) and stamped the sentiment in olive green ink. The image is a scrap of printed paper that I trimmed out with a deckle edged rectangular die and attached a narrow kraft mat. I die cut one of Tim Holtz's floral stocks and some tiny butterflies, added a panel of green behind the opening, and layered it all together.

Come and join us in our CAS challenge! You have until the 28th to enter your project. And check out the inspirational cards designed by the team! 

AUGUST 2026 TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE

It's August and starting to close in on Halloween, so come and join us at Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge! We have a brand new inspiration board with some great images - or you can create your own Halloween images. You also don't really need to make a card, because this is an 'anything goes' challenge - so, bring them on!

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: August 2026 Anything Goes Halloween

I'm CASing it for this 2-week period and using a favorite postage die and new-to-me Whimsey Stamps "October 31st" #CWSD457 stamp set (with black witch's hat). The sentiment is white heat embossed from Newton's Nook "Spooky Roundabout." The envelope is custom made from a sheet of double-sided paper in my stash.

I made this card quickly and early, because as our challenge goes live I'll be attending a 63rd high school reunion! 63rd, you say? My class of 1963 has reunions every year now because we're all in our 80s and losing a couple of members a year. Our class was a small one and started the first year of a brand new school. When there are only 142 in a class, all of the missing ones are noticed, so we pay tribute to them. Our gatherings are very casual, meeting for lunch in the banquet space of a pizza parlor that we all enjoyed in high school. Meeting every year is a nice way to keep contact with each other. The class is spread out over the state and country, so not everyone can attend each year, but for me it's only a 2-1/2 hour drive.

CHRISTMAS COCKTAIL

I'm back again with my second Christmas card of the day! This time I'm playing along with The Color Hues Challenge - #137 "Black and Red." I love making black Christmas cards - especially with metallics.

My card is made with a couple of brand new (to me) Spellbinders die sets. The martini glass was cut from some silver metallic stock with their "Olive Martinis" set and the remaining festive additions was with the coordinating "Christmas Cocktails." The silver heat embossed sentiment is an old one from my stash. I love the bow in this set and I cut it out from a scrap of black and red lace printed stock from one of the old cardmaking magazines - I don't remember who had the cardstock "quads" inserted into their magazines. That just shows how long I hang onto paper scraps!

The black envelope is from my envelope stash and I lined it with a lightweight candy cane printed paper.

Color Hues: Color Hues #137-Black and Red

Added August 1, 2026:

GRACE US WITH YOUR PRESENTS

Okay, time to start making Christmas cards so I don't get myself into a bind in December, having to scramble for enough cards for friends and family. I've gone to The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #112 to begin my cards. But Inkspirational Challenge also has a word prompt of "Christmas in July."

I've promised myself to start using up Christmas scraps and NO new papers this year! This card is made completely of scraps from some coordinating papers purchased quite a few years ago. The gift boxes had already been fussy-cut and languishing in my scrap bin, so this was very easy. I die cut a bit of the coordinating stripe with a stitched rectangular die and matted it with red cardstock. This was all glued to a white top-folded card base, the sentiment added in brown (Hero Arts "Messages for Cardmaking" #CM379), and the gift boxes attached with a bit of dimensional foam. The final step was to line a red envelope with coordinating print. That's it!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge: The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #112 Reminder - Grace Us with Your Presents

Inkspirational: Inkspirational Challenge #372 - Word Prompt - Christmas In July

IS THE MOON OUT TONIGHT?

It's mid-July and time to remind everyone that you still have two weeks for this month's challenge. I actually made this card some time ago, but it was never published, so I decided to use it this month because of the gray, black and burgundy colors and full moon of the lower left quadrant. Is that cheating? 

This Tim Holtz die set is so complex, with many layers, so it's not a quick card. I started by assembling all of the parts for the Count and then made a background from a couple of different stamp sets - the sentiment is white heat-embossed with Impression Obsession "Is the Moon Out Tonight?" and the graveyard scene from Unity "Toil and Trouble."

I made a black card base and added the dark gray background (die-cut with a stitched rectangular die), die cut moon, Count, and his bat. The envelope is a custom one made from light-weight black textured paper and lined with black/gray printed paper. 

Here's our July inspiration board for a kick-start, if you haven't started working on your Halloween project yet - also, go and check out the great cards the other ladies have made for your inspiration:

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: July 2026 Mid Month Reminder

SEVENTEEN

I'm here today as the Surprise Party Guest for the next couple of weeks at Seize the Birthday, and the theme is "One or More Numbers". My grand-twins turn 17 in a couple of months, so I decided to get out ahead and make a card for Colin.

Seize the Birthday: Seize the Birthday #330-One or More Numbers

You might guess from this card that Colin's great passion is soccer, and I think this is the third year in a row I've made soccer-themed cards for him - mostly because a couple of years ago I bought several 12x12 printed soccer-themed papers (Authentique "Soccer Images") that I'm trying to use up! His younger sister, also a major soccer fan and player, has a 12th birthday coming up this fall, so there's another opportunity for these papers. 

This card was started with a black square card base onto which I attached a slightly smaller panel of green printed soccer turf. Then I trimmed a square of cardstock with black and white printed athletic numbers and a smaller square image with netting and player silhouette. I die cut the PTI numbers out of the front panel and touched up the edges with black marker before attaching the assembled and die cut panel to the face of the card base with black dimensional foam. I finished up with a custom square envelope in a coordinating paper. 

Here's a close-up image of the die cut numbers:

I used the same coordinating papers for the previous birthday cards from ages 15 and 16:

 

 

HAPPY 250th BIRTHDAY, USA!

Hello, all, I'm pleased to be officially at Simply CAS Challenge as a new Design Team member! CAS is really my favorite technique, so I'm looking forward to this.

Simply Clean & Simple: July 2026 - Birthday

Darlene has selected the optional theme for July as "Birthdays" and I wanted  to highlight July 4th as the 250th birthday for the US (hoping we can survive this year). 

 The only element of this card that is remotely current is the sentiment from Hero Greetings "Messages for cardmaking" - everything else is quite old because I haven't purchased any July 4th supplies for several years. The cupcake is from I don't know who. The sparkler is from an old PTI set. I started with a white card base and matching die cut stitched panel. I stamped the cupcake in dark blue on the card base and colored the flag with marker. I die cut a rectangular opening in the top panel, stamped the sparkler and sentiment, and lined the opening with dark blue cardstock. The top panel was attached with dimensional foam.

I do hope you will join us each month to play with CAS technique - and check out what the rest of the team has created to inspire you!

JULY 2026 TWO OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE

We've hit the mid-point of 2026 and if you've been following along with us you would be well on your way to creating all of your Halloween cards! Our July inspiration board is packed with red, white, and blue images.

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge: July 2026 Anything Goes Halloween

But I didn't pay one bit of attention this month to the red, white, and blue theme, because I am fresh out of ideas AND I was determined to use a couple of brand new die sets from Spellbinders - "Boos! Cocktails" and "Olive Martinis".  

Starting with a black 5-1/2" square card base and an additional 5" square panel, I stamped the Tim Holtz cobweb with white ink and heat embossed the sentiment from Whimsy Stamps "Pick Your Poison" #CWSD346a (I'm looking forward to using this stamp set in the future, as it has a lot of fun images and sentiments). I die cut the martini glass and liquid from the "Olive Martinis" set and the skeleton hand and skull from "Boos! Cocktails" and assembled all of the pieces to glue to the front of the top panel. I also stamped a centipede in black on white cardstock, colored and fussy cut it, and draped it over the skull for a truly disgusting drink. I matted the panel in red-orange and attached it to the card base.

Go to our challenge page and you'll see that the other members of the team were a bit more successful at following the inspiration board!