The other book

Hi all!

If you follow my posts, you know that I made a bag book 

for my daughter's boyfriend, Jason, for his birthday.

I mentioned in the post about it that I had made a book that 

just was not him at all.

Well this is that book.  I do like it, but 

it just isn't right for him.

A couple of the pages are okay, but the others just don't

work for him.

I'm sure I'll add a few more touches to this one and will

find a good use for it.

This is the front and the back covers.

I love the paper I used for it, it actually has a bit of

glitter on it.  That's probably why it just isn't "right" for this guy.

I like to put a title of some kind on the front also,

I'll decide that when I decide what to do with this book.

I love the subtle colors on this page.

Here are the tags.....

....and the other side of the tags.

I loved how this page turned out!

This one suits a man better I think, at least the one

I was making it for.

The key on the tag has "24-7-365" stamped into it,

I wish I had more of that key, I love it!

I stamped the words and sponged Distress Ink onto the

edges of the tag.

I decided to do a little stamping on some of the pages.

I used a couple border stamps along the edges of this one.

Stamping isn't just for cards.

And my last page.......

It's a little hard to see the pattern that I fussy cut around

on the tag in this picture, but it really does look very nice.

So that's my "failure" that wasn't a failure at all.

I think this book turned out great, just not for the person

I planned to give it to.

Thanks for coming by today.

I hope you have been inspired in some way.

Until next time,

don't give up when something isn't quite what you planned,

I'm sure it will work out in the end.

Zucchini Lasagna

Hello blog friends!

Sometimes I say

"You never know what you'll find on Kristie Kreates"

This is one of those times.

 I don't know if you all know that

I recently had weight loss surgery.  If you are interested

you can click on the link at the top of my home page for

"My Weight Loss Journey"

where I have chronicled my experience very openly.

Today I decided to make something a little different for dinner.

I can't have pasta so I decided to make zucchini lasagna,

replacing the noodles with zucchini strips.

I got this idea from my friend Sue when she posted on facebook

that she was trying it.

I was just okay'd to have some of these veggies that I hadn't

been allowed to have since my surgery.

So follow along below and see how I made it.

Here are the ingredients that I used, except that I did 

put some parmesan cheese in too, but forgot it for the picture.

I don't have a recipe and that's how I cook most of the time.

I just put in what I like and we'll see how it turns out.

I started by putting some of the sauce in the bottom of

the baking dish.  Then I laid down the strips of zucchini,

covered it with spinach, mushrooms and sauteed onions.

I added some sauce on top of the veggies, then another layer

of zucchini strips.

Next I mixed the ricotta with garlic powder, salt, pepper,

oregano and basil and spread that over the zucchini layer.

I cooked up hamburger and drained it, then put that over the

ricotta.

Over that I added shredded mozzarella and 

parmesan cheese. Then covered it with sauce and more

zucchini.

I added a bit more cheese,

covered it with sauce and a little more of both cheeses

and popped it into the oven at 350* for about an hour.

It smelled so good while it was cooking!

It looked so good when it came out of the oven

that it was hard not to dig right in, but I was good

and let it sit for a bit.

You know how hard that first piece is to get out.

It didn't stay together perfectly, but not too bad.

It was pretty liquid-y, you can barely see where I took my 

piece out of the pan. I'm betting once it cools some more it

won't be quite so runny.

How was it?

This dish definitely gets a thumbs up from me.

The flavor was wonderful,

the zucchini was a little al dante and that was perfect for me,

it gave a little crunch and I liked that.

If you don't like the crunch, you could cook it longer to let 

the zucchini get softer.

All in all it tasted pretty much like the lasagna I usually make.

It was DELICIOUS!

Now here's the problem, I don't know how to cook small.

There is a LOT of lasagna left.

Once it cools I think I might just put it into containers and freeze 

some of it.  I'll just have to remember to make some very small

portions, since that is what I eat now.

Here are some of the amounts I used:

zucchini  -  3 medium sized - about 2 lbs.

ricotta  -  one container - 15 oz.

mozzerella  -  about 8 oz.

hamburger  -  about 8 oz.

mushrooms - 4-5 sliced

spinach  -  about 2-3 oz. fresh

sauce  -  one jar - 24 oz.

Thanks for stopping in today.

I hope you'll give this a try or maybe something

else that you eliminate one ingredient and use another.

Changing up the pasta for zucchini worked great,

who knows what else might work.

Until next time,

think outside the box!

Come again soon, like I said:

You never know what you'll find on 

Kristie Kreates!

Jason's Birthday Gift

Hello blog friends!

Have you ever wanted to make a gift for someone,

especially a guy, and just didn't know what to do?

That was my struggle for my daughter's boyfriend.

I know he likes hand made gifts, but couldn't come up with

an idea.  Then one day I was talking to Kelsie, my daughter,

and she said he does take a lot of pictures, but they aren't printed

and put in a book or anything.

I decided to make him a bag book and she thought it was a

great idea for him.

I recently went on a 4 day scrabooking retreat, his gift was

the major thing I wanted to get done.

I chose a lot of papers that I thought would be good ones

and took way too much with me, as we all do for these kind of

weekends.  I started right in on the book and when I got it all 

put together, it just wasn't him.  It was a nice book, but just not

him at all.  You'll see that one in a future post.

I rethought the whole thing and picked out different papers

all together.  This time I liked it a lot more and felt like it was

really Jason.

Here is what the book ended up looking like.

This is the front cover.

I wanted that wooden J on it and that's where I started,

then cut out the words and phrases to fit around it.

I had this paper in my stash for quite a while and knew

it would come in handy one day.

I love how the tag with the key turned out.

Each page has a small tag, that you really can't see well in this

picture, and a larger tag that goes into the end of the page.

All the tags are double sided.

I tried to make all the tags look different.

Every page also has places that can hold pictures as

well as the tags.

He has 2 dogs, so I had to make a page for them.

I fussy cut all those little pieces going down the strip at

the right side of the page, I think they turned out very cute.

This is one of my favorite papers.

I've had this for a very long time and never could bring myself

to use it.  I think everyone has some papers like that.

But Jason is worth it!

I love how this page turned out.

And last but not least, this is the final page in 

the book.

I often add embellishments to the pages, but with

this book, I didn't think it was necessary.

Kelsie will be helping him to fill it with pictures,

so she can always add more embellishments if she wants

to.  She knows my craft room and supplies are open to her

whenever she needs things.

Here is the front and the back together.

I did put a little strip along the bottom of the back

that says "Made with love by Kristie"

I loved making this book for Jason, I know he appreciates

the time and effort I put into it and I hope he likes it as much as

I do. 

It can hold 32 photos, now for him to just pick out the pictures

for Kelsie to put into it.

I've already been thinking of Christmas gifts to make for him

and some of the other people in my life.

How about you?  Have you thought about making Christmas

gifts yet?  I know it's early, but getting things done early

helps make the season more enjoyable.

I may be making a couple bag books for Christmas gifts this year.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to.

I appreciate your visits, come again soon.

Until next time,

start thinking about creating some gifts.

Baby Boy and B-day love

Hello Everyone!

Today I have a few cards to share with you.

A few weeks ago I shared this card and this one

using the same style and techniques that I used for these cards.

I needed a baby shower card and thought this would be perfect 

for it.

So I made this Baby Boy card.

I was playing with the colors and blending them

and had made 2 more heart panels and made them into 

birthday cards.

These are not standard sized cards, so I used my

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

to make envelopes for them.

If you are interested in how I made this watercolor piece, 

you can see this video on Kristina Werner's Blog.

I get so much inspiration from her!

Thanks for stopping in today!

I've been away for a bit on a little vacation

and crafting weekend.

I'll be posting what I made on my weekend away

soon.

Until then, enjoy some creative time!

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.

Jason's Birthday Card

Hello everyone.

Do you struggle with masculine cards?

I know I do and I have decided that I'm going to overcome

this problem.  I needed a birthday card for my daughter's boyfriend

and I wanted to do something a little different.

I put my mind to it and this is the card I created.

I started out with a die cut circle in a piece of card stock and 

a few coordinating colors of Distress Inks.

After some trial and error, I finally decided on these 3 large 

 intersecting circles.

I simply moved the circle "stencil" around and inked it with 

the Distress Ink and an ink blending tool.

Once they were the color I liked, I fussy cut them leaving a small outline around

them.  The Happy Birthday sentiment is 

from Biblical Impressions

and I stamped it with Timber Brown Staz On Ink

using my MISTI stamping tool, to be sure I got a clear, crisp impression.

The tag behind the circles is a manila tag covered with a piece of 

deli paper that I used alcohol inks to create. 

(See how here)

I used ATG tape to adhere the tag to a brown piece of card stock,

then trimmed the extra from the sides.

The circles were adhered on top of that piece and it was all 

adhered to a white card base.

The sentiment is from the 

Lovely Greetings Set 

from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.

I stamped it with the same brown Staz On Ink as the sentiment on the front

of the card.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my blog today,

and that you'll come again soon.

Until next time,

Happy Crafting!

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.

July Not Just Cards Blog Post

Hello everyone!

This is my post for the

Not Just Cards Challenge Blog

for July 2017

This month our sponsor is 

The Fantasy Art of Nikki Burnette

The image I worked with is an 

Adult Coloring Page

Karmina is the name of this magical being.

At first I wasn't sure what I should do with this image,

so I just started coloring her with my 

Fantasia colored pencils.

I also used my Prismacolor colorless blender pencil 

to blend the colors.

Once I had her colored I decided that I wanted to go with 

a magical theme.

I found a quote that I loved and stamped it with 

Sophisticated Script stamp sets from 

Concord & 9th

using VersaFine Onyx Black Ink

I used both upper and lower case sets.

"Magic is believing in yourself.

If you can do that, you can make anything happen."

It takes a little time to stamp something like this

as each letter has to be stamped separately,

but I think it's worth the time and effort to get that

beautiful script.

I matted the image with a purple card stock and

mounted it to the 12 x 12 stamped card stock.

I added a few sequins and it was done.

I have made several 12 x 12 pieces for the walls at

"My Happy Place" 

which is the crafting studio where I do most of my creating.

All of the pieces have crafting or inspirational quotes on them and

I think this one will fit in perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by today.

I hope you have been inspired to think outside the 

box and try something a little different.

I also hope you will join in the fun of this months challenge on the

Not Just Cards Challenge Blog

Come again soon.

Until then,

create something beautiful!

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.

You're How Old?

Good Day Blog Friends!

Today I have a card to show you that I just love.

I wanted to make a card using the 

Crazy Dogs stamp set from Tim Holtz

I chose this one, because I love that surprised look on the 

little guys face.
I stamped it onto water color paper 

with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink and colored him with

Lyra Water Color Crayons

The black card stock had been crumpled,

 spritzed with water and had Perfect Pearls brushed onto it.

It's hard to see the shimmer in the picture, but in real life it has a lot 

of shimmer and shine.

I tore the card stock to mimic the shape of the dog, then 

adhered the dog to it.

The background panel was made using 

alcohol inks on deli paper

that I found in my stash, I adhered it to a piece of 

white card stock.

I stamped the sentiment using an alphabet set

that I have in my stamp collection.

I thought it went perfectly with the look on the dogs face.

The whole panel was then adhered to a black card base.

Inside I stamped the 

"happy birthday" with the

Big Scripty Words

from Lawn Fawn

with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink

onto a color that coordinated with the 

front panel.

I'm glad you stopped by today and hope you'll come again soon.

Until then,

have fun crafting.

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.

Card with Kit and Clowder Image

Hi blog friends!

Have you ever heard of Kit and Clowder?

I have heard a lot about their online classes on one of the blogs that I follow.

They have classes teaching all kinds of coloring techniques,

I know they have some free ones if you'd like to check them out.

I'm on their e-mail list, so I was sent an e-mail before Mother's Day

offering a free digital download.

This beautiful floral image was what they were giving free and I

loved it.  I had already made my Mother's Day cards, so decided to 

use it for some birthday cards.

For this card I colored the flowers with colored pencils,

then cut a circle with a die, stamped the sentiment
(Happy Birthday from Biblical Impressions)

and adhered it to the circle area of the image.

I added a few sequins and the card was done.

For this card, I colored the image, then cut the center out to

make it into a shaker card.

I adhered some clear acetate to the back of the panel,

put foam tape around the hole, added some sequins and micro beads

and covered the back with white card stock.

For the sentiment I heat embossed the "happy"

with white embossing powder onto a piece of vellum,

wrapped it around the front panel and adhered it to the 

back of the panel.

Inside I stamped "birthday"

with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink

The sentiment stamps are from the

"Big Scripty Words" set from Lawn Fawn.

I love that I can size this digital image to whatever size I want

it to be. I also love being able to alter the image and do something

a little different with it.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to,

I hope you've been inspired in some way.

Until next time,

go try something different to stretch your images.

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.