Stenciled Flower Card

Good day to y'all!

Today I have a card that I made just for the

heck of it.  I wanted to play around in my 

craft room so made this card.

This is made with one of my favorite stencils.

I'm sorry I can't tell you anything about it,

except that I picked it up at 

Tuesday morning quite a while ago

and I love it.

I used some metallic paint from Art C,

which I can't find a link to anywhere,

I got it on clearance a while ago at 

one of the craft stores.

I matted the print with some gold card stock,

then a piece of heavy mulberry paper, then

adhered it to a card base.

I think it's a lovely card that can be used for

any occasion.

I'm glad you stopped by today and I hope

you were inspired in some way.

Come again soon,

until then: 

craft for the fun of it!

Doodling Card

Hello! 

 I hope you're having a great day.

Today I'm sharing a card I made.

Lately I've gotten more into doodling,

one day I was going through my background

stash and found this piece that I had made

with watercolors and decided to do some

doodling on it.

I know I need to practice more and get better

at it, but the important thing is that I

enjoyed making it.  

I let this piece sit for quite a while,

not really sure that I was happy with it.

Then one day I picked it up and decided that

even if it wasn't unbelievably gorgeous or anything

close to it, it should be made into a card.

I trimmed it down and adhered it to a card 

base and I think whoever gets it will

love it even though it's not a 

"stunner"

I had fun, like I said, that's the important thing.

Thanks for visiting today,

come again soon.

Until then:

have fun with your crafting!

Bird and Eco-prints

Hello blog friends!

Today I have a couple cards to share with you.

My friend Becky's birthday was coming up and

I wanted to make a card for her.  She loves birds, so 

I pulled out my bird stencil to make a card.

I used some metallic paint from Art C to paint over

the stencil and was pleased with how it turned out.

I love the contrast against the black card stock.

I pulled out some of my eco prints that I had in my

stash and tore around a couple leaf prints.

I loved the way these worked with the nature feel of

the card.

This is the other card that I made.

The prints along the edges are more

eco-prints, they are left over pieces from

another project.  You'll see the project they

were left from in a upcoming post.

All in all, I'm pleased with how these cards turned

out.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have enjoyed

your visit and were inspired in some way.

Come again soon,

you never know what you'll find on

Kristie Kreates!

Split Image Cards

Hello crafty friends!

Today I have 2 cards to show you.

I made these cards using a technique that saw

on this blog post/video

from Jennifer McGuire

I stamped and colored 3 flower images,

then adhered them to a piece of card stock,

right along the middle of the sheet.

I then cut the sheet down the middle, creating

2 panels for the fronts of the cards.

I matted the panels with gold card stock and 

adhered them to white card bases.

I decided to leave them blank otherwise,

so I can use them for whatever occasion

I want.  The sentiments will be added when 

I use them.  I may also add some sequins or 

other embellishments when I use them, but for

now, they will remain clean and simple.

Thanks for stopping in today,

I hope you are having a happy crafty day.

Come again soon.

Until then:

make something beautiful!

Dress for Father's Day

Happy Day to y'all!

For Mother's Day one of the gifts my kids gave me was

yarn and a pattern to crochet a dress for my granddaughter.

Unfortunately, I didn't get it right on Mother's Day.

With the pandemic, we weren't seeing the kids much, but 

finally I got the yarn and pattern.

I worked up this dress in just one evening.  It's a pretty easy

pattern and I gave it to Jaryd for Father's Day.

This is my fabulous granddaughter, Marie, in her

new dress and head band.  The pattern calls for a 

sort of waist band, but I thought it would be a bit

bulky and warm, so I chose to make the flower and 

add that to the front instead.

Here's the funny thing, the kids surely didn't know much

about crocheting and how much yarn would be needed.

They bought me 4 skeins of yarn to make this dress.

The dress took exactly one skein.

Guess I'll be making something else for our little one.

I'm thinking a little cardigan to match might be nice

for cooler nights.

Thanks for stopping in today and spending time

seeing what I've been up to.

Come again soon,

until then:

Happy Crafting!

DIY Vellum

Hello blog friends!

A while back I saw 

this video

from Nina Ribena, showing how to make

your own vellum using wax and an iron.

I used what was left of a burnt down 

taper and my little craft iron.

Below you'll see

the results of my experimenting.

I decided to try different kinds of paper,

some plain, some patterned.

Here is a patterned paper with some printing on it.

Below you can see that it is now somewhat translucent.

This pattern didn't become as translucent, but 

as you can see below, you can see the pattern on

the card underneath it.

This plain paper worked very nicely.

I think this one turned out pretty nice too.

I also tried with just a plain piece of 

white printer paper and this worked very well.

And my last one was done with a red candle.

One thing I noticed is, that the red candle was

actually red on the outside and white in the middle, 

consequently, I had to keep turning the candle to

get the red areas.  So be warned, if you are using a

colored candle, be sure it's colored all the way through.

The other thing that is different about this one is that I worked

on a paper towel, where the others were done on a 

sheet of deli paper.

If you do this on a paper towel, you get some 

of the pattern of the towel on the "vellum"

You can see, especially at the bottom of the sheet,

that it isn't a smooth, clear look, but has

a pattern to it.
I like how this turned out, but if you want a nice clean

finish, use something without a design on it.

Also be warned that the wax does seep through

the paper and get onto what you are working on,

so be careful.

Thanks for spending some time with me today,

I hope you have been inspired in some way and

will come again soon.

Until then;

Happy Crafting!

Eco Prints

Hello crafty people!

I hope you've been finding some time to do 

some crafting.

With the leaves all out on the trees and the

flowers in the garden, I decided I wanted to 

do some Eco-printing.

I collected some leaves and flowers and got to work.

I used watercolor paper, sprayed it with a water and alum

mixture, then laid down the leaves and flowers, covered it with

another sheet of watercolor paper, also sprayed with the mixture.

I then sprayed it with water and vinegar.

I have a heat press, so I placed the sheets into the press with

a teflon sheet both under and over the "sandwich" 

and pressed it in the heat press.

For more information on this process

check out Em'splace

on YouTube, she has some very good videos that 

give information on eco-printing and different ways to

do it.

Below are the prints I got from this session,

some I love, some I'm not so crazy about.

It's all about testing different leaves and flowers.

This was done with leaves from a Japanese Red Maple

tree.  Unfortunately, I moved the paper so it got a double print

and looks blurred.

This is the other print from the 'sandwich' above.

These next 2 prints were done with Japanese Red Maple 

leaves, I believe a begonia flower and "whirlybirds" from 

our tree. You can see that the whirlybirds didn't do much for 

the print.  Maybe if they had been plucked from a tree and

still green rather than dried, they would have made a better 

print.

These 2 are the leaves again. 

The "tops" of the leaves leave a beautiful print where

the backs don't have a lot of color.

They will make a nice background for cards

either way.

These two prints were done with some 

begonia and geranium flowers and leaves.

I think I may play around some more with these

flowers and do some more printing.

When doing eco printing, once the flowers and leaves

are pressed you remove them from the paper.

Sometimes they are dried right into the paper,

as some of them are on these prints.

I could wet the entire sheets and soak them off,

but I decided to leave the pieces pressed into 

the paper in some areas.

All in all, I like the prints I ended up with, 

some more than others.  And I had a fun time 

experimenting with different things.

I plan to do more eco printing in the next few 

weeks and months, I just have to find some different

kinds of leaves and flowers to play with.

Thanks for stopping in today to see what I've 

been up to. I hope you might give eco printing a try.

You don't have to have a heat press, there are different ways

to do it, even using a household iron.

I encourage you to check out the link above and

maybe give it a try yourself.

Hope to see you again soon.

Until then:

Try something new and different!

Graduation Cards

Hello Blog friends!

Today I have a couple cards to show you.

My hubby wanted a graduation card to send

to the son of one of his artist friends, so he asked

me to make one.

Here is what I came up with.

I started with the Abstract Triangle stencil from 

Simon Says Stamp and used Distress Inks and applied them

with blending brushes, I use make up brushes and they work great.

(Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, Blueprint Sketch)

I then cut the panel down to size and adhered it to

a white card base.

The sentiment is from my stash.

I followed the same procedure with this card, but used

a stencil from Heidi Swap, I can't find a name on it or

anywhere on her site.  Sorry.
For this one I used Stormy Sky and Blueprint Sketch

Distress Inks.

Inside I stamped this sentiment.

It's an old stamp from my stash and I have no

idea where I got it.  
I did a little stamp surgery on this one.

Originally it says something like

"If you love what you do"

above  "the whole world"

I just cut them apart and if I want

to use the whole thing I'll just piece it

back together again to stamp it.

I love this sentiment for a graduation card.

Thanks for stopping by today,

I hope you'll come again soon.

Until then:

Happy Stamping!

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.

First Time Pasta

Hello fans!

You never know what you'll find on 

Kristie Kreates!

Today I'm telling you about my adventure

into pasta making.

I've never made my own pasta before and I've

been told it's pretty easy to do,

so I decided that I was going to give it a try.

I checked out some recipes online and picked the

one that was the simplest.

Following the instructions I mixed it up

then I wrapped it to rest for a while, while

I got the other ingredients ready for 

Carbonara.

I don't have a pasta roller, but I figured I'd just roll

it out with my rolling pin.  That was a real work out,

let me tell ya, not an easy task.

Once I had 1/4 of it rolled out,

I rolled it up and cut it.

I later realized it's even easier to fold it and

cut it into strips.

Then I unrolled it and "fluffed" it up,

ready to cool.

Here's all my pasta, ready to cook.

It did take a little longer than it should have,

but I realized that this was because it was still

too thick.  I should have rolled it out even thinner

than I did.

This isn't the best picture,

I know it looks messy, but this is what was 

left after 3 of us served ourselves.

That one recipe sure makes a lot of pasta.

It was agreed all around, that the flavor was good,

but it was too thick, which I believe is why it was a little

tough.  But as far as Pasta Carbonara goes

it was pretty darn flavorful.

I will definitely be giving home made pasta a

try again.  I don't have a pasta roller, but I do have a 

clay roller in my craft room that is still in the box,

never been used and I may give that a try and see how

it works.  I also think I may add some other flavors to the

pasta, perhaps some garlic and S&P to start.
Thanks for popping in to see what I've been up to!

Have you ever made your own pasta?

It's a work out, but it's fun, you should give it a try.

Just remember, if you think it's rolled thin enough,

roll it out some more.

See you next time!