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Friday 22 November 2019

Get your Christmas skates on!

Hello crafting pals!

Sorry to have been away for a while. I've been struck down by a very nasty lurgy AND his mates! Each time I've picked myself up, those horrible lurgies have given me another bashing and back down I've gone! Now I know what it's like to be a skittle... Anyway, I digress. Come and see what I made today:


I love this pair of skaters. They're from a very old (2009) Stampin' Up set called Winter Post and I love how absorbed in one another they seem to be. Their vintage styling is bang up to date too - and the guy is sporting a trendy moustache! I coloured them with alcohol markers in lovely bright colours so they'd pop against the background.


I've set my skaters twirling on ice made by drawing swirls with a Versamark pen and heat embossing using clear embossing powder. After masking the top half of the panel, I sponged grey and blue inks over the swirls and polished them up with a tissue.


The greeting is from Uniko's Pure Florals Poinsettia and I gave it a touch of sparkle with a couple of gems.


I'll be linking this card up with CAS(E) This Sketch, where the sketches always inspire me; also Addicted to Stamps and More, where the theme is Holiday, and I felt that skating was the perfect winter holiday activity; and last but not least, The CAS Christmas Card Challenge where Warm and Cosy is the theme - those skaters are bundled up in warm scarves and hats and look positively rosy-cheeked with cosiness!!!

AND IN OTHER NEWS
My top tip for a tight chest is to hold a covered hot water bottle to it - this never fails to help me to breathe. I had to rummage at the back of the cupboard to find one and when I did, I had to smile. Hot water bottles were often on the list when the children went on trips at school or with the Scouts and obviously we labelled them with the children's names so that they'd find their way home. The one I'd found was not one of these but it had obviously been labelled by an industrious child who believed that all hot water bottles should be labelled!


If you've been laid low with the lurgy, I send you get well wishes and all my sympathy. But, let's look on the bright side, at least we've got it all out of the way before Christmas!

Hugs,

25 comments:

  1. Super card and love your sweet skaters too Vicky!So pleased you are feeling better now too.I still use a hot water bottle lol, our bed has special memory foam and coconut fibre on top so you don't get too hot BUT it means you can't use a heated blanket.It's the most comfy bed ever though so we don't mind ;) Viv xx

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    1. Oh my goodness Viv, it sounds lovely and you're making me want to go off for a snooze! Vicky x

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  2. Fabulously icy skaters card there Vicky . . . and ingenious "grounding" of the image.

    Hoping you're on the road to recovery now.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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    1. Thank you my lovely, I feel human today for the first time in over two weeks! Am powering through with lemons!
      Hugs, xxx

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  3. Just LOVE this card and your clever way of showing the "tracks" of ice, - Fabulous. Hope you're feeling better soon, nothing like a warm hot water bottle. Shame is I'd have to buy one! LOL.
    Faith x

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    1. I know, and they're great for when you have cold feet too! Can't believe you don't own one Faith, but what with Christmas coming up you can start hinting now! x

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  4. I'm so sorry to hear you've been lurgitated for a while, Vicky. I hope you well and truly have it out of your system now. I love that your hot water bottle has your name on it in precious childish handwriting. Now you'll never part with it even if you wanted to, which, of course, you wouldn't! I love your romantic skaters Christmas card! You did a cool treatment creating their icy pond. I've skaters on my blog today, too, but they have their feathers on, lol! Hugs, Darnell

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    1. Not just lurgitated but re-lurgitated! You're so right about that hot water bottle - in fact I can't believe I didn't instantly get better when I saw it :) Off to check out your feathery skaters...!

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  5. Glad you’re feeling better. These skaters are so sweet and look warm and cosy with each other as they glide across the ice. Thank you for joining us at CAS Christmas.

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    1. Thanks Trina! I think those skaters are in lurve ;)

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  6. Sorry you've been sick and so glad you're feeling better. Hopefully you're over it all early and the rest of the winter will be clear sailing! This is one of my favorite images! The skaters do look absorbed in each other and the ice looks beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing this with us at CAS Christmas!

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    1. Thanks Bonnie, yes hopefully that's my stint over with and I'll be as chirpy as a bird for the rest of the winter :)

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  7. I love your skaters Vicky and the embossed lines added by you to show the blade marks on the ice is an inspired idea. Sorry to hear you have been ill and hope you are feeling a lot better now. x

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  8. Hi Vicky,

    I’m sorry I haven’t got back to you sooner. I realise you have 'comment moderation' so thought I would answer your query here as it isn't going to post without you pressing the button. You were asking about the Misti. I don’t always use it but if the stamp is very large and not so easy to get a good impression first time or if it is a technique which requires being able to stamp more than once then it is very useful to have. I also use it a lot for sentiments which are going straight on to the card as again there is less room for error, and it is also good for silhouette stamps where you need a good thick coverage of ink to make a nice dark image.

    Personally if I had my time again I would buy one where the paper can be bigger than the platform and just hang over the edge which makes it more versatile. The Misti has a very deep edge and bringing the lid down on it hanging over will tend to crease the card. I had not had mine long when Tim Holtz bought out his stamp platform and I think that I would personally buy that one if I had my time again, but there are many on the market so lots of choice and these things are personal preference, and if you are thinking of getting one you have probably researched them to choose what suits you best.

    Pat x

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    1. This is such useful info Pat that I hope you don't mind me posting it so that others can benefit. I have an idea that I'll have mine out all the time and use it instead of acrylic blocks. Is that something anyone else does?

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  9. I love the way you used a versamark pen to create the swirls on your pond. These skaters are certainly wrapped up warm and cozy :)
    I love your little hot water bottle, it reminds me of my child hood when I had my bed socks and hot water bottle. We had no central heating until I was 12 (good old Welsh cottages)

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    1. I grew up in a cottage in the middle of Exmoor Christine and know exactly what it was like having no central heating! The hot water bottle was the best invention EVER! x

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  10. Fabulous vintage skaters and I adore your "pond"! Spotted this beauty at CAS Christmas - love it!!

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    1. Thank you Linda! Glad you like the pond. Not a chance of any skating in England at the moment - it's unseasonably warm with rain!

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  11. Your card is perfect for our challenge, Vicky. Those skaters are dressed in warm and cozy clothing to be out on the ice. Great work with adding the skate lines with your versamark pen and embossing powder ... very cool! And thanks for sharing your card with us at CAS Christmas. Sorry to hear you haven't been well and hope that you are feeling much, much better soon!

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  12. Fab card, Vicky, and I'm so happy that you're feeling better xoxo

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  13. Great holiday card. I love that cozy couple ice skating on that fabulous iced pond you created! Great idea for the ice! Lovely card. I love the trio of candles giving off their flickers of warmth! Thanks for joining us at CAS Christmas this month.

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  14. Thanks Nance. Don't know about candles - strikes me as a dangerous thing to have on the ice!

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I'd love to know what you think. Do leave me a comment - it always makes my day! Vicky x


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