A rare sight...a card from me!

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Yes folks, shock horror it's a card from me!

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I say that like it's an infrequent thing because it is compared to most of you, although they end up ok, the proccess is rather a stressfull one for me lol. Nothing matches in my eyes, i haven't a clue what to make....so i'm kind of a "throw it on and eventualy something will come together" kind of guy.

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Maddy's always a good influence for me, so thats what got me going on this one. To help me with the layout i followed this weeks Sketch Saturday challenge, always a big help for someone like me.

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I enjoyed this sketch, easy enough not to be daunted, but enough room to jazz the card up as you wish...i used a Maya Road key stamp set for the main image...

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I did some hand stitching around the oval, very time consuming but one of my fave additions to a card. I also gave the oval a very thin dusting of Distress Crackle Paint, it gave it the finest, almost invisible crackle effect...

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I punched some small holes along the edge of the card and laced the sides with ribbon...

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I added a custom made stamp that the lovely Nikki made me over at Dewdrop Craftz. ( For the record, i just got permission off of Maddy to call Nikki lovely...no black eyes for Calv tonight!)
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A bit of lace and a tassle....you can't go wrong with those two can you?
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So thats my yearly card making session over! I need a bath and a cuppa! :)

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Thanks for stopping by, see you soon.

A challenge piece and a sketch holder.

Maddy and i shared a rare experience today, we crafted together!!!

There is always so many things going on here, we never get to play together, so today we did just that. How she got through the day with me i don't know, but she just managed to not wring my neck and all is well! :)

I say this because i decided to join her in making a card for a challenge. Now whilst my cards turn out OK in the end and i love the end results.....the making of them absolutely 100% does my head in!!! I stress about the colours, i stress about the papers.....in fact i stress so much during the process, Maddy said today, "You look suicidal when you are making a card!!!". Anyone who says card making is therapeutic, needs to make one with me!!!

So once again i apologise to you Maddy, but thank you for your tips here and there to get me through the nightmare!!! Here's what i made.....
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The card i made for two challenges, the Sketch Saturday card challenge and the Copics Colour Challenge.

For the Sketch Saturday, we were given a sketch to work to, always a big help to me. The sketch allowed me to play with some nestabilities, something i'm a bit of a newbie to.
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The Copics Colour Challenge required that we use three colours, Cardinal, Cadmium Orange and Olive. I managed to use all three in various parts of the images.
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To compliment the card, Maddy showed me how to make a notelet holder from a template. I made mine into a wallet for storing my sketches, they are such a help for me, it's a shame to get rid of them after using them.
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This was a great little project, and i didn't stress over it either....WOOHOOOO!!! :)

I tried to make it semi match the card, i used some distress ink blending on the stamped images (always a fave on mine), and added a bit of lace here and there to pretty it up a bit.
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So quite a productive day for me today. Thank you to the ladies at Sketch Saturday and the Copics Colour Challenge for their ever wonderful challenges, i like to think i learn something from them each time.

Finally, a big thank you to Maddy, who kept her calm whilst i lost mine with the card today......and kept herself off the overgrowing list of women who have buried their partners under the patio!!!

Thanks for popping in. :)

*Edited to say: I just read this out to Maddy, and she would like me to amend the bit where i said i did not stress out over the sketch holder.......she said it was at this point she thought i was going to spit my dummy out and burst into tears!!!

Oh well..... :)

Sketch Saturday Challenge card.

Hi all :)
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Tonight i had a go at this weeks Sketch Saturday Challenge. They have a sketch to follow (always a big help for the card buffoon here).

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I am proud to admit that this was a first for me, in that i wasn't pestering Maddy all the way through it saying that i didn't know what matched and what didn't! :)

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I still don't know if it matches.....don't laugh......i honestly am useless when it comes to matching colours and papers for cards, but i like it anyway. :)

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So a big thank you to the Sketch Saturday Challenge for this weeks activity, i really enjoyed doing this one. (Maddy will faint when she reads that lol!)

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By the way, if you are wondering why the colouring is blotchy, i was experimenting with a mini mister and isopropyl alcohol.....it didn't work!

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Thanks for looking. :)