Christmas Sweater

Hello!

I have to tell you about my husband.

He can be a little on the nutty side, 

so when he told me that he had a surprise for 

a local art show that he was at, I knew that I was

in for something crazy.

And I was right!

I got to the show and this is what I was greeted with.

Yes, that is my dear hubby in his booth 

wearing a llama Christmas sweater.

Here is a closer picture in all it's glory.

I mean really, have you ever even seen a llama

sweater before?
Actually, I love it and it's so him!

Anyway, on the first evening of the show,

the promoters had a dinner for the exhibitors, 

which was spaghetti.

Dave was afraid he'd get sauce on his llama,

so he put his jacket on backward to prevent any

problems with sauce.

The next day a couple of his friends stopped by his booth

with a little gift.

They had bought him an adult sized bib, 

which they called an

ugly sweater protector.

And of course, I had to add a little bit of

Heat Transfer Vinyl to that baby

so everyone would know.

The next week, he went away to a show.

When he and a group of friends went to dinner

he made a production of putting on his

Ugly Sweater Protector

since, of course, he had his llama sweater on again.

He is having a lot of fun with his

"ugly sweater" and protector.

I hope you've gotten a giggle from my

story of my crazy husband and his

Llama Christmas Sweater.

I'm sure he'll be wearing it for years

 to come.

Do you have an "ugly sweater"?

Thanks for stopping in today,

it's like I say,

you never know what you'll 

find on 

Kristie Kreates!

His and Hers

Hello!

I hope you had a lovely Christmas.

Now that Christmas has passed, I'm free to share

some gifts that I made.

Well, this one I helped make.

My daughter wanted to make a beer mug and a

wine glass for her friends with specific messages

on them.

So, of course, Mom offered to help.

We chose a font that she liked and cut vinyl stencils with

my Silhouette.  Once it was cut, we removed all the letters.

We then covered the stencil with transfer tape.

Removed the vinyl from it's backing sheet and

stuck it to the glass.

This one was a bit harder since it was on a 

wine glass that was curved.

The other one went on much easier since it

was on a mug that was straight up and down.

The transfer tape was then removed and we

had the stencils ready to go.

We used Armour Etch 

to etch the glass.

You can purchase this in most craft stores.

It really is an easy process,

just spread the cream over the stencil and let it

sit for a while.

Check the instructions for the length of time

you should leave the etching cream on the

surface.

We left ours on for 10-15 minutes.

You can see you don't have to be neat about it, just 

dab it on and leave it.

But do be careful, this is a strong chemical mixture

which can cause irritation to the skin and burning.

Be Careful!

Then just simply run it under water and clean the 

etching cream off the project.

Peel the vinyl off  and you have an etched

surface.

Here is how the beer mug turned out.

And the wine glass.

I'm sorry for the poor pictures.

It is very difficult to get a good picture

of the etching.

I'm sure her friends will like these,

especially since she took the time to make

them especially for them.

Thanks for popping in today,

I hope you'll be back soon.

I'll be showing y'all some of the other

Christmas gifts I made.

Until then,

I wish you the warm days

and happy times.

Our card

Merry Christmas!

Today I'm showing you the card that I decided

on for our Christmas card this year.

I decided on something simple and easy to

replicate.

I found this paper at Tuesday Morning

They have the best deals on card stock and papers.

This is double sided card stock, 25 sheets of 12"x12" 

for only $1.99.  How could I go wrong with that.

There was another that I picked up, but decided to 

use this one for my cards.

I used my MISTI to stamp all my sentiments

with VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

I cut them into banner shapes and

layered them onto white card stock 

to give them a little pop.

I made about 70 of these cards.

So all in all, with the cards for 

The Caring Hearts Card Drive and all,

I made almost 200 cards this year,

you can see why I wanted a simple design for

these.

I always have good intentions to start my cards

very early, but it never seems to happen as early

as I plan. 

Maybe next year, right?

I'm glad you stopped by today,

I hope you have enjoyed all the Christmas cards

I have posted over the last month or so.

I would like to wish you all a very 

Merry Christmas

and a happy and healthy

2017!

Until next time,

Peace to you all!

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Bulb Ornaments

Hello bloggy friends!

One day I was in Michael's and the blank

ornaments were on sale 70% off and I saw these and

had to buy some of them.

They remind me of my childhood and those big 

lights we used to have on our tree.

Of course, they were clear when I bought them.

And I forgot to take a picture before I glittered them.

Glittering them was simple.

I used cheap pump style hair spray,

poured it into the ornament.

Then poured it out of the ornament, back

into the bottle.

I turned the ornament upside down onto a paper towel

for about 15 - 20 seconds,

then poured glitter into it.

I put my thumb over the hole and shook it up.

Then I poured the extra glitter out onto a piece of paper

and funneled it back into the container.

I set them aside to let them dry

and the next day put the tops back on.

And here they are, all ready to hang on the tree,

or to give as gifts.

I may add names or the year to some of them.

I think they are just so darn cute, very nostalgic.

I did try to get some more, as I thought they would

make great stocking stuffers for my family,

siblings, nieces, nephews and greats,

but they don't have anymore of them 

at Michael's.

Maybe next year!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Did you make any Christmas ornaments

this year?

Let me know in the comments what kind

you made and if you kept them or gave

them as gifts.

See you next time, until then

make something fun!

Left Over Cards

Merry Christmas y'all!

Today I'm showing you what I'm calling

my "left over" cards.

I had some small pieces of this paper

in my scrap stash from some cards I'd made

and decided to use them to make some

Christmas cards that I'll put away for next years

Caring Hearts Card Drive.

I simply cut some strips of paper and

started gluing them to some red card stock.

I left a couple small spaces for a greeting

and a little tree shaped sequin.

This is a very easy card to make

and uses up those scraps you have 

around.  You could make this style of card

for any occasion, just use different scraps.

I made about 7 or 8 of these, so I've got a start

on next years cards already.

Thanks for stopping in at 

Kristie Kreates.

I hope you'll think about using some 

of your scraps for a card or two.

Until next time,

have some fun crafting!

Multi gift card holder

Hello everyone!

I hope your Christmas shopping is done or going well.

As of this writing, I still have a bit to do

and one thing is to buy the gift cards for this 

little holder.

Every year we give my Aunt Marilyn, who is 93 yrs old,

gift cards.  I get several cards for restaurants like 

Subway and Wendy's for her.

She loves it and every year I come up with another 

gift card holder for her.

In the past I have done this one and this one

and this one and this one

and this year I made the one below.

I got the idea from Kristina Werner's blog

in her post for 

Day 5 of her Holiday Card Series

I made 2 of the double card holders and adhered them

to each other.

I then cut a cover for them and adhered the inside with

ATG tape.

I made a small "cover" for the edges of the 

part where they were taped together, just

to give a more finished look.

I threaded a piece of craft twine through a button,

used foam tape to adhere the button to the front of the 

card holder and wrapped the twine around the

card holder and then around under the button to hold

it closed.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Now I just have to get the cards for it and get it 

sent out to her with her other gifts.

Sure wish I could be there when she opens it.

I know she'll like the gift and she always 

appreciates the time I take to make a unique

card holder for her.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Not long until it will be Christmas,

my favorite holiday!

See you again soon.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Tree Card

Happy Holidays to y'all!

Today I have a card to show you.

Yes another Christmas card, well it is the season

isn't it?  This is a card that was an experiment.

I was trying to decide what card style to use

for our cards and this was one that I thought about.

I did decided against it, but I do like it.

I cut the trees with Sizzix dies and covered 

them with clear Wink of Stella.

I glued on the sequins with 

Ranger Multi Medium Matte

I cut and scored a 11"x 4.25"piece of card stock

 to make a 5.5" x 4.25" card.

I then cut a section out of the bottom part 

of the card leaving an open space of about 

1.5"

I adhered the trees to the top and bottom pieces

of the front of the card.

I liked this card, but it didn't make the cut for

our card this year.

Inside I stamped the greeting near the top of the 

card leaving room to sign at the bottom and not have 

it show through the space in the front of the card.

Thanks for stopping by today to check out what I'm up to.

I hope your holiday prep is going well.

Be happy!

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Punch Board

Hi All!

Y'all know I'm a scrapbooker and crafter,

well do you know that I love to plan crops?

Every year for the last several years, I have held a

Black Friday Crop

and I just love it.  It's my favorite crop to plan

and run.  I always try to have a theme and have done 

a bunch of  scrapping takes on game shows.

In the past I have done, The Scrapping Price is Right,

Wheel of Scrapbooking and this year I did

Let's Make a Deal the scrapping version.

My husband insists that the punch board is 

The Price is Right, but I figure it's my crop and my

game, so I'll do what I want.

So I made a "punch board"

Unfortunately, as I often do, I forgot to take pictures

from the beginning, so you'll have to use your imagination

a bit.

I got a large piece of cardboard, 

I'd guess it's about 30x40

Using a "Solo" cup I traced circles onto 

the cardboard, then cut just inside the lines

I covered the board with wrapping paper, 

turned it over and cut the holes out of the paper too.

I put little prizes in each cup.

It was simple to cut some tissue paper,

put it over the top of the cups and

secure it with a rubber band.

Then I just put the cups through the holes in the board.

Here's what the back of the board looks like,

not pretty, but no one sees it.

I just propped it up on a chair for the crop.

Each person just had to poke through the tissue paper

to see what prize they got.

I will be keeping this board to use for other parties.

How fun would this be for a kids birthday party?
Or to use for another game, put clues in the cups?

Or perhaps tasks to complete to win a prize?

There are a lot of ways to use this and it

was so simple to make.

Thanks for stopping in today,

I hope you have been inspired in some way.

Maybe for a game or a way to give prizes.

Come again soon, you never know

 what you'll find on

Kristie Kreates!

Cards for the Card Drive #7

Hello! 

 I hope you've got all your Christmas cards

done and mailed or ready to go soon.

This is the last post in the

Caring Hearts Card Drive

series.

Today I'm showing you the last card style

I made for the drive.

A few years ago I found a great deal on this

patterned card stock and I love it.

I got it at Tuesday Morning,

25 sheets for something like $2.99.

I love it so much, but I don't use it a lot,

I guess I just don't want to run out of it.

I pulled it out and created this simple card.

I used a couple different colors of mats as well

as card bases.

I thought it needed a little extra pop so I heat embossed

the sentiment with clear embossing powder over the

VersaFine Onyx Black

to give it some shine.

If you haven't made your cards yet and want to,

this is a very simple design to make.

I did them in assembly line style,

cutting all the pieces at once, then stamping and

assembling all the sentiment pieces.

Having everything cut, stamped and ready make it go

very quickly and easily.

You can see I made quite a few of these style.

I ended up with 107 cards.

I had an extra panel and needed to use it, then I 

had an extra card base and had to use that, then there was

an extra mat and on and on.

So my 100 cards turned into 107,

but that's okay, I know they will bring smiles to someone's

face this Christmas season.

And here is what 107 cards all in envelopes looks like.

All packed up and ready to be sent out.

I can't wait to get the cards that I will deliver to 

"my homes"

Vera Yates

heads up this card drive every year.

If you want to be involved, be sure to 

keep an eye here next October for info

or follow Vera's blog

Ling's Design Studio

She usually posts the info in October and cards

can be mailed in during the month of November.

This is a huge undertaking,

last year these ladies collected and sent out

over 22,000 cards for delivery to nursing homes.

This year we are all hoping to top that,

they are collected and distributed in 

The USA,Canada, Australia and this year

they added the UK.

Thanks for stopping in to see my cards.

I truly enjoyed making each and every one of them.

Come again soon,

you never know what you might find on 

Kristie Kreates.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Cards for Card Drive #6

Hi friends!

Can you believe it's December and Christmas

is right around the corner?

Here are a few more cards for the 

Caring Hearts Card Drive.

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

I love heat embossing.

When I apply the heat to that powder and it melts

and turns all shiny and pretty, I just have to smile.

If you've never heat embossed you really should

try it, it's kind of like magic to watch.

I love this image from 

Eureka Stamps 

and it works perfectly with heat embossing.

I heat embossed with silver powder and then matted with a 

shiny silver mat.

I got the silver card stock at 

Hollo's PaperCraft

It's located in Ohio, near Cleveland and

if you can get there, it's worth the trip.

If you're a papercrafter, it's like

Heaven being there.

I used several different colors of card bases for these

cards and I love how they turned out, very simple

and elegant.

I uses an embossing folder to emboss the bottom of this

card, then added the top in black with the silver heat 

embossed sentiment.

I used gold Stickles to put some stars in the sky.

This is the sentiment that I used in all of my cards

for the card drive.
I think it's simple and beautiful.

Thanks for stopping in,

come again soon.

Hopefully, you've gotten some inspiration

from one of my cards in this series.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Cards for the Card Drive #5

Hello!

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving and

weekend.

Here are a few more cards that I made for the

card drive.

I wanted to use some of my Christmas scraps

and this was the perfect way to do it.

I love this twine from May Arts,

it worked perfect for this card.

These are the only 3 cards I made this style.

I love the style, but it was a bit more time consuming

and when I planned to make 100 cards,

there wasn't enough time for too many of these.

I do love how they turned out though.

Thanks for stopping in,

see you again soon.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Cards for the Card Drive #4

Hi all you bloggy friends.

Today I have cards that I used a wreath embossing folder

to make.

I started out by testing out the embossing folder to 

see how it fit on the front of a card.

Thus I had this white embossed piece,

so I decided to color it.

I just got this Merry Christmas die

from Impression Obsession,

in the mail, so decided to use that for the 

sentiment.

Most of the cards I used this lovely shimmery

green card stock for the front panel of the card.

I used some Stickles on the berries.

This is one that I made with a regular green

card stock.

As you can see, I made a 'few' of these.

Love how they turned out.

Thanks for stopping in.

Hope you are enjoying my cards and maybe

getting a little inspired by something here.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.