My Other Pages

To make it easier to read about our trip to Ireland, I have made a page that is just for that. There is a tab above for Ireland Trip 2014 or click on the Home tab to read my other posts. I have also created a new page for My Weight Loss Journey if you are interested in that, click on the tab above.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Sprinkle Card

Hello y'all!
Today I'm showing you a card that makes me pretty
darn happy.
I won't get into the whole story, but my nephew and niece
adopted their son, over 6 yrs ago,
now they are pregnant, so they are having a 
drive by "sprinkle"
I'm so excited that we'll have another new baby in 
our family.
Below is the card I made for the sprinkle.
I drew the hearts lightly with pencil on watercolor
paper, then painted around the hearts with water.
Water colors will only spread as far as the paper is wet,
when doing this technique.
I then put little "blobs" of watercolors into the
wet areas and let it dry.
I hand wrote the
Baby Boy
into the hearts.  Then cut the piece down
to size and adhered it to a coordinating 
card stock base.
I know they will appreciate this card
along with their gifts.

Thanks for stopping by today,
I hope you have been inspired in some way
and will come again soon.
Until then:
celebrate a child!

 

Friday, June 25, 2021

Cute Little Pocket Tutorial

Hello everyone!
I haven't done a tutorial in ages and thought this was 
such an easy little project that it would be one 
that everyone can make.
These cute little pockets are easy and quick to make.
You can use them to hold a note for hidden journaling,
to hold a tag or a picture, or maybe a piece of memorabilia
on a scrapbook page.  They are also great to use on cards
for a gift card or a little note or even a tag on a gift.
Use them in any way you can think of.
The larger one measures 
2.5"x3.75"  the smaller one is 1.25"x2.25"
You can start with any sized piece of paper or
card stock, as long as it is square.  This one is
5.25' square.
Fold square corner to corner and crease.
Then fold the opposite way and only put a small crease
in the center to show where the center of the 
square is.
I have marked the center here to show where it is.
For mine I measured 1.25" from the center on each side
along the crease and marked it with a pencil.
Now fold corner over to meet the pencil mark on the 
opposite side.
Fold both sides over in this manner.
If the corner is extending over the edge fold,
I snip it off, both inside and outside.

Now fold it along the crease and you have a cute
little pocket.
I glued my pocket backs together from top to bottom,
but if you'd like a little slide through area, you can
just glue them together at the peak area only.
This is a piece of paper I had in my handmade background
stash. I wish you could see the shine this has,
it's really beautiful in real life, but doesn't show
the shine in the photo.
I didn't like the back of the paper, as it was white and
a mess with random ink spots.
I took another scrap piece and glued it to the inside of the
pocket to cover the messy area.
Here are a few of the pockets I made in various sizes.
This is a larger pocket that I made with a piece that
was approximately 12"x12".
Again the back of the piece was a mess, so 
I cut off the top peaked part of the back and 
glued it inside the pocket.
Here you can see where I cut it off and then
glued the bottom to the back of the pocket.
I had 2 small pieces of background paper in my
stash that I made with shaving cream and alcohol inks.
I loved how they worked together, so I glued the 2 pieces back
to back to make this little pocket.
It turned out really cute, 
but.......
since it was 2 pieces glued together, they were a bit thick
and didn't fold well and split at the bottom.
I did score them first, but they still split.
So, just be aware that this can happen.
If you want the inside and outside looking
pretty, this may work with paper rather than card stock,
or you can use double sided paper or card stock
or use the method I used above.

Thanks for stopping by today,
I hope you have learned something new today
and maybe will give these little pockets a try.
Until next time,
make someone smile.




 

Monday, June 21, 2021

Dryer Balls #2

Hello crafty people!
A few posts ago, I showed you some dryer balls
that I had made and told you I'd be making some more.
I got 2 100% wool sweaters from Goodwill
and deconstructed them and unraveled them
and rolled them into balls, about the size of tennis balls.
I then cut an old pair of panty hose and put the balls into 
the legs of the hose. I tied a knot after each yarn ball.
I then put them in a pot on the stove and boiled them  for
about 10 minutes.  Once they were boiled I put them in
the dryer to dry.  This took quite a while as they hold a lot of
water.  Once they were dried, I took them out of the hose.
This was the hardest part, untying those knots was
tough, but I got them out and they were all nicely shrunk 
and felted.
Here is what I ended up with.
From 2 sweaters I got 14 dryer balls.
Here is a link to a tutorial about making these 
kind of dryer balls.
Why use dryer balls?
Here are a few reasons......

  • eliminate the need for fabric softener or dryer sheets (these are bad for your dryer, your clothes and are full of chemicals that are not good for you.)
  • are eco-friendly (no more throwing away dryer sheets)
  • reduce drying time by 20% (less money spent on energy)
  • remove static cling
  • are easy-to-use (just throw a few into the dryer with your laundry and then leave them there for the next load)
  • are chemical-free (better for you and the environment)
  • you can add natural scent if you apply essential oils

    Thanks for coming by today,
    I hope you have learned something new 
    and have been inspired in some way.
    Come again soon.
    Until then,
    try something new.


 

Thursday, June 17, 2021

Father's Day Gifts

Hello crafty people!
Today I'm showing you the shirts I made for 
my husband and son for Father's Day.
I think each shirt really suits the one it's made for.
This is obviously for my hubby.
This is for my son.
When I saw this somewhere online, I knew
I had to make it for Jaryd.
It is so him.
The kids and I pitched in together to get Dave
a bike trailer for his new bike.
We gave it to him early and he was thrilled with it,
now he'll be able to go for rides and take Marie along
with him.
Jaryd is getting a gift certificate from 
He and Sara love their coffee and candles.
The family is getting together to celebrate these
2 Dads and I'm sure we'll all have a great time.

Thanks for stopping by today.
I hope you have a chance to celebrate with a 
Dad on Father's Day.
 Come again soon,
you never know what you'll find on
Kristie Kreates.

Monday, June 14, 2021

Just a note card

Hello and welcome.
I'm glad you've stopped by today.
I have a friend whose father is in rehab after
some health problems, so I wanted to send him
a card that would hopefully bring a smile to his face
and let him know people care and are thinking about him.
For the sky and grass I used 
Salty Ocean and Mowed Grass
Distress Inks with blending foam.
I cut a piece of scrap card stock with several
"bumps" on it and used it in different positions
to create the clouds.
I used colored pencils to create the grass.
The train is a stamp available from
I stamped it with 
Onyx Black VersaFine Ink
and colored pencils to color it.
I fussy cut the train image and adhered it
to the background piece.
I liked the silver card stock and black 
card base, I think it really sets off the image.
Inside, I wrote a personal note.

Thanks for stopping by today,
I hope you have been inspired in some way and
will come again soon.
Until then,
brighten someone's day.
 





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.

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Layouts

Hi All!
Now that the pandemic is more under control and 
many of us have had our vaccines, we have opened our
scrapbooking and crafting studio again.
I'm finally finding the time and motivation to get moving
on my scrapbook of our granddaughter.  I have 18 months to 
catch up on and I'm making a decent dent in that.
Here are a few layouts that I've finished.
If you click on a picture you can see them enlarged.
When I had my kids they didn't have this kind of photography
available at the hospital.  Beautiful pictures!
It was wonderful getting to visit and hold my 
first grandchild!
My hubby was out of town when Marie was born,
but the first thing he did when he got home was 
go and meet her.
Our daughter was so excited to be an Auntie.
Aunt Zoe is Jaryd's God Mother
Uncle Brian and Aunt Kelsey Ann are Marie's
God Parents.
Sara's Moms and sister got to visit her too.
I think this is my favorite layout that I have done so far.
I love all the smiley faces.
Buffalo Bills fan, Harry Potter fan, little ballerina and just
silly fun.
First Christmas!
Daddy and his girl.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting for a while.
I hope you'll be back soon to see what else I have to 
share with y'all.
Until next time,
Cherish those you love!

 

Friday, June 4, 2021

Dryer Balls

Hello blog friends!
Today I have something a little different to show you.
Dryer balls!
When I visited 
Scrap Creative Reuse
in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
I found strips of wool fabric and decide to
try my hand at making some dryer balls.
Wool dryer balls are simple to use,
you just throw them in your dryer with your
laundry.  They cut down on your drying time and
help with static.  Dryer sheets are not good
for your clothes, your dryer or you,
so you can eliminate them and fabric softener and
throw a few dryer balls in the dryer.
There is a lot of info online about the benefits
of using dryer balls rather than dryer sheets.
This is what I started with.  I got 3 bundles of these
kind of strips of wool fabric.
Most dryer balls are made with wool yarn or roving,
but I thought I'd give wool fabric a try.
I simply rolled up the strips of fabric and pulled them 
tight.  They needed to have a little stitching done on the
outside to hold them together, but they came together nicely.
I then tied them inside of socks and put them through a hot
wash and dry.  This "shrinks" the wool and compacts it.
Once they were removed from the socks,
they were ready to go into the dryer with my laundry.
Okay, so they aren't pretty, but who cares?
After all they are just dryer balls.
This is what I'm working on now.
I went to the thrift shop and found a couple
100% wool sweaters and I'm unraveling them and 
making them into dryer balls.
Here is the video that I found showing how
to do this.
I am thinking I will be making dryer balls for 
Christmas this year.  I think I'll be able to get 3
balls out of each sweater.

Thanks for stopping by today to see what I've been up to.
I hope you'll give wool dryer balls a try, whether it's 
home made ones or not.
Until next time,
try something new.