TOB - July Mid Month Challenge Reminder

 Hello crafty friends,

Welcome to this month's challenge reminder post.  Have you started working on a card?  If yes, GREAT!  If no, WHAT are you waiting for?  We want to see your Halloween creations.   Remember  the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, runs from the 2nd to the 28th of the month and the theme is always Halloween... ANYTHING related to Halloween!

This cute Halloween cat is a digital stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil titled Bat Cat.  I've had him for years and thought it was time to print and color him up again.  I did very simple coloring and placed him onto a card front covered with a black bats.  To tone down the pattern paper a bit, I added a panel of vellum die cut the same size of the pattern paper. The digi is adhered on foam and the vellum with tape runner behind the digi.  The purple you see on the edge of the card was done w/the same marker I used for the bat mask on the cat. 

Here's this month's mood board for additional inspiration... Hope to see your card soon. 

Challenge ends on the 28th, winner will be announced on the 1st on the month before the start on the new challenge.  For a full list of all the rules please visit Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge home page.  unit next time... take care.

TOB - July Challenge

 Hello crafty friends,

Welcome to a new month at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, which runs from the 2nd to the 28th of the month and the theme is always Halloween... ANYTHING related to Halloween!

Since this month's mood board included a cat among pumpkins I felt compiled to use this digital stamp from Lili of the Valley (LOTV) titled Halloween Cats.  The finished card size is 4.75"x7".  The black frame is part of the digital stamp and I colored it black to recreate the look of a mat.  In addition to the tri-blend makers shown in the pictures I also used a white gel pen,  black Nuvo dots and Wink Of Stella maker. 

Here's this month's mood board for additional inspiration... Hope to see your card soon. 

Challenge ends on the 28th, winner will be announced on the 1st on the month before the start on the new challenge.  For a full list of all the rules please visit Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge home page.  unit next time... take care.

TOB - June Mid Month Challenge Reminder

 Hello crafty friends,

Welcome to this month's challenge reminder post.  Have you started working on a card?  If yes, GREAT!  If no, WHAT are you waiting for?  We want to see your Halloween creations!   Remember  the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, runs from the 2nd to the 28th of the month and the theme is always Halloween... ANYTHING related to Halloween!

I used Krista Smith's Fast Food Flyby Witch digital stamp on the front of my card below.  The wonky circle "moon" I fuzzy cut out make an opening into the inside of the card, where I used Twisted Citron Distress Ink to give the "moon" it's green neon glow.

 

Here's this month's mood board for additional inspiration... Hope to see your card soon. 

Challenge ends on the 28th, winner will be announced on the 1st on the month before the start on the new challenge.  For a full list of all the rules please visit Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge home page.  unit next time... take care.

TOB - June Challenge

 Hello crafty friends,

Welcome to a new month at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, which runs from the 2nd to the 28th of the month and the theme is always Halloween... ANYTHING related to Halloween!

This month's mood board (see below) is all about the moon and spooky trees, so I created a mini card using the square tree window die from Impression Obsession and add a cute (not scary) Halloween bear from the Waffle Flower on the inside of my card.   Note... I had to trim off a couple of the tree limbs so the bear's face could be seem.  A couple of the ghosts finished the mini card.   

Not sure what I'll add inside the Purple card yet... thinking bats.

Here's this month's mood board for additional inspiration... Hope to see your card soon. 

Challenge ends on the 28th, winner will be announced on the 1st on the month before the start on the new challenge.  For a full list of all the rules please visit Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge home page.  unit next time... take care.

TOB - May Challenge

 Hello crafty friends,

Welcome to a new month at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, which runs from the 2nd to the 28th of the month and the theme is always Halloween... ANYTHING related to Halloween!

This month's mood board (see down below) is full of pumpkins and animals, so this reached for this large unmounted cling stamp from Purple Onion Designs by Stacey Yacula titled Pumpkin Charm.  I love Stacey's stamps and can offend be found with a desk full of them working on scene cards with all her critters.  The little bird w/pumpkin is titled Little Boo.  

I stamped the image off center and colored it with my Spectrum Noir TriBlend Markers. I used Distress inks to color the background.  I tried dabbing a damp paper towel over the blue "sky" area to create clouds. On the inside of the card I stamped the Happy Pumkpins and the Happy Halloween sentiment that came with the Pumpkin Charm stamp.  

Here's this month's mood board for additional inspiration... Hope to see your card soon. 

Challenge ends on the 28th, winner will be announced on the 1st on the month before the start on the new challenge.  For a full list of all the rules please visit Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge home page.  unit next time... take care.

TOB - April Mid Month Challenge Reminder

 Hello crafty friends,

Welcome to this month's challenge reminder post.   Have you started working on a card?  If yes, GREAT!  If no, WHAT are you waiting for?  We want to see your Halloween creations.   Below is another card I created with this month's mood board color neon green as inspiration. 

I used the left bottom balloon stamp with Twisted Citron Distress Oxide on vellum for my three balloons.  I fussy cut them and hand drew the balloon strings. 

Challenge ends on the 28th, winner will be announced on the 1st on the month before the start on the new challenge.  For a full list of all the rules please visit Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge home page.  unit next time... take care.

TOB - April Challenge

 Hello crafty friends,

Welcome to a new month's challenge here at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, which runs from the 2nd to the 28th of the month and the theme is always Halloween... ANYTHING related to Halloween!  

I have two cards for you today...

The stamps I used are older MFT ones (Which way is the candy, Spooky Sentiments) that are probably both retired by now (sorry), but they are still some of my favorites.  I create both a standard A2 and 4"x8" slim card.  I used this month's mood board color of neon green by way of Hero Arts' Neon Ombre Chartreuse to Blue ink pad for all my green background stamping.  The A2 card has a vellum panel over the stamped background to tone down the stamped background.  

On the slim card I created a flat shaker window.  Basically I took a piece of acetate and folded it... making sure to score it well since the folded side would be the right edge of the card.  Using strong double sided tape, I sealed the two of the three open sides of the folded acetate.  I added sequins and sealed that last open side.  Next I glued the acetate behind the card front panel cut out window.  The flat shaker sequins move a little when shaken, but not on their own.  

Challenge ends on the 28th, winner will be announced on the 1st on the month before the start on the new challenge.  For a full list of all the rules please visit Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge home page.  unit next time... take care.

TOB - We're Backkk

 Hello crafty friends,

Sorry, I just couldn't help but quote a similar movie phase. The Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, is back with a March Challenge that runs from the 2nd to the 28th of the month. Remember, the theme is always Halloween... ANYTHING related to Halloween!

For example, my card is Halloween, but not scary at all... I'm an equal opportune Halloween fan, loving both the scary and the cute and everything in-between.

This is a slim card measuring 8x3.80 inches.  The three pumpkins are stamped onto a Strathmore 
Mix Media paper die cut panel.  I'm going to use colors to refer the pumpkins, but I didn't actually color them until later. 

I stamped the orange pumpkin first, elongating it a bit to make it taller. I masked the top of it and stamped the green pumpkin, stretching it wider this time. Again, I masked the top part and stamped the yellow pumpkin, also elongating it taller.  Next I fussy cute the inside of the green and the yellow pumpkins.  I added the extra stamped elements (the scene inside the orange pumpkin) and watercolored the panel.  Once dry, I covered the shaker windows with acetate and added foam tape around the two pumpkins so that I could fill them each with different colors of sequins. I backed the shaker windows with an orange pattern paper and attached the panel to the front of my card.   

I didn't use this month's mood board for this card, but here is it for additional inspiration: 

Challenge ends on the 28th, winner will be announced on the 1st on the month before the start on the new challenge.  For a full list of all the rules please visit Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge home page.  unit next time... take care.

Impression Obsession - Autumn Colors

Hello crafty friends,

This card idea has been on my mind as an entry for the Impression Obsession "Autumn Colors" challenge for SEVERAL days, but being the procrastinator that I am, I only just sat down to make the card this afternoon.  I know I cut it close on this one considering the challenge ends tomorrow (Oct 6th), but never the less, it was a fun card to make and I love playing with my IO stamps.

I stamped the pumpkin three times, twice masking off the center part of the stamp, so that the eyes and mouth wouldn't stamp.  I watercolored all my stamped images.

I used the Pumpkin Cup CL778 stamp set, which is currently not available on the IO website, but here's a link to other cute cups stamps, some of them would work for a stacked design.  I especially like this Coffee Cup and this Tea Cocoa die set.

Thanks for stopping bye... wish me luck.

Scrapy Land - Challenge 126

Hello crafty friends,

I have two cards using the Brooklyn Alphabet dies by Frantic Stamper.  I love how tall and thin the letters in this alphabet die are. 

I needed two quick Fall cards, so I kept my design simple and I used pattern paper on both my cards, which measure 8in x4in.  If I were to make these cards again, I would make them as 4.25in.x 5.5in, because as much as i love the letter dies, I fee they are too thin to carry these wider cards.   

The letters were die cut from pattern paper backed with double sided score tape and from thin white foam also packed by double sided score tape.  The cute critter on the second card that I used instead of an "A" in the Adorable Skunk by Frantic Stamper, but I colored (distress inks) him as a squirrel.  I can see from the photo, that I forgot to give him eyes, which were going to be dots of brown nuvo drops.


Thanks for stopping bye.... I hope you'll join us for this challenge.  One winner... selected randomly will receive a $15 gift code to Scrapy Land.  Top three and honorable mentions will be selected by the Designers.  Until next time... take care.

Scrapy Land - Challenge 125

Welcome crafty friends,

I recently picked up the Sizzix Winter Tree stamp and die set, because you can never have too many tree dies.  If you think about it, tree dies can be used year-round, for all card themes.  I created a Winter and a Fall card w/the same stamp and die set, just by changing the colors and the background pattern papers.

On my Winter card above, I stamped and die cut using greens.  On the Fall card below, I used reds.

Here are some die sets that would work well for this technique
Memory Box Cosenza Tree Border Background
Impression Obsession Fir Trees
Little B Trees

Thanks for stopping bye.... I hope you'll join us for this challenge.  One winner... selected randomly will receive a $15 gift code to Scrapy Land.  Top three and honorable mentions will be selected by the Designers.  Until next time... take care.

Scrapy Land - Challenge 112

Welcome to Scrapy Land Challenge 112, craft friends...

Created a simple but not fast Easter card for this challenge using the Tutti Design Tulip Egg die.

I die cut the tulip egg into a per-cut rectangle card panel several times.  I used double sided tape to make attaching all the die cuts onto the watercolor pattern paper easier.  wanting to keep the card simple/clean, i just added Nuvo drops as a finishing touch. 

Thanks for stopping bye.... I hope you'll join us for this challenge.  The winners... one selected randomly and one selected by the Design Team will both receive a $10 gift certificate to Scrapy Land.  Until next time... take care.

Scrapy Land - Challenge 111

Welcome to Scrapy Land Challenge 111, craft friends...

I created two Easter cards using the Impression Obsession Bunny die set for this challenge.

As you can see the cards are somewhat the same, but different. 

On this card I die cut the bunnies from yellow watercolor pattern paper and one of the Sizzix Garden Greens leaves from green watercolor pattern paper.  I arranged them onto a card panel with a light pink egg stenciled background.   A stamped Happy Easter and pink Nuvo drops finished this card.

This card was a lot quicker to make.  I die cut a panel of pattern paper with the one of the Stitched Rectangle dies by Elizabeth Craft  and next die cut my bunnies from the panel.  I mounted the panel onto a black card base.  A stamped Happy Easter and lime green Nuvo drops finished this card.

Thanks for stopping bye.... I hope you'll join us for this challenge.  The winners... one selected randomly and one selected by the Design Team will both receive a $10 gift certificate to Scrapy Land.  Until next time... take care.

Michele's 50th Birthday Hop

Hello craft friends,

Today we celebrate Michele Gross (owner of CAS-ual Fridays) turning 50th over at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.  As someone who's a few years into her 50s, I welcome her to this decade, which is not a bad one at all.  Since my thoughts were on decades, I decided to have some fun and create five decade specific birthday cards.  So, this post contains cards for a 10 year old, a 20 year old, etc. 

My card for a 10 year old, has one of the bunnies from the Somebunny stamp set holding a yellow balloon.  "its your birthday" from the Whole Sheband stamp set is stamped on a tag several times with a fishtail banner full of stars from the Fun-Fetti die set die cut into it and backed with yellow card stock. 

My card for a 20 year old, has a border of die cut purple flowers from the Pretty Posies stamp and die sets.  On a purple fishtail banner, a stamped number 20 from the Flower-Case Alphabet stamp set and the "its your birthday" from the Whole Sheband stamp set.

My card for a 30 year old was fun to make.  I started by stamping lots of 30s using the Flower-Case Alphabet stamp set on my card front.  Since the "its your birthday" from the Whole Sheband stamp set was on my desk has working so well for me, I used it again, stamping it across all the 30s (in black ink, so they would stand out from the red stamped 30s.  Next I added several die cuts of the smallest flower from the Pretty Posies stamp and die set.

My card for a 40 year old, well... I'm honestly not sure about this one.  I was trying to create a window box card w/layers, but I added everything except the kitchen sink to this card and it's just not working for me.  I used the following stamp and die sets for this one...  Somebunny, Flower-Case Alphabet, Little Birdies, Pretty Posies, and the new CELEBRATE.

For my happy 50th card,  I stepped outside my normal style and created a more grungy card.  Hand drew boxes around the sentiments from the Whole Sheband stamp set.  Used die cut balloons from the Somebunny stamp set to "pull" those wishes up into the sky.

HAPPY 50th Birthday Michele!  I'm looking forward to celebrating with you, the CAS-ual Fridays crew and all our wonderful crafty friends who will be joining us in the blog hop.

Your next hop is to Penny Ward blog.
A list of all the Designers Blogs can be found back at the start... CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

There are quite a few stops along the way, but make sure to comment on each because Michele is giving away 5 prizes and we don't know which blog she will select from.

Commenting ends at 11:59pm April 23rd

If you found something you just couldn't live without.....

Click on this coupon code from me to you:

Inspiration Squad - Feb2018 Challenge 193

Hello crafty friends,

Happy Friday... and welcome to CAS-ual Friday's Challenge #193.  This challenge uses this sketch as our inspiration starting point.

What do you think?  I would love to see how you interpret this sketch.  I made these cards for the challenge. 

For card #1 I used the HB2U set from the Whole Shebang stamp set, stamping it in black three times.  next I added a die cut Friend in red to the center of the panel, right over the middle HB2U.  I finished the card by stamping in red a flower background with the Full On Floral stamp.

For card #2, I turned the sketch sideways and used the ballerinas from the Tutu stamp set... stamping thee ballerinas across the card's front panel.  Now for those you are very observant, you will noticed that the ballerina on the left is not in the stamp set.   It's actually the same stamp as on the right.  I used one of those mirror stamps to reverse the direction of the ballerina stamp.  I will be honest and let you know that I tried it several times before getting an OK (not great, not good, just OK) result.  I was also stamping on watercolor paper, so maybe that caused some of my problems.

I finished the panel by water coloring it, adding a sentiment banner and mounting it onto a black card stock that I have previously stamped flowers from the Pretty Posies stamp set.  I finished that card by mounting my finished panel and adding a few drops of white Nuvo.

Thank you for stopping bye today.  I look forward to seeing your heart theme submissions to this month's challenge.