Abstract cards

Welcome to Kristie Kreates!

Today I have a bunch of cards to share with you.
I saw this video from Kristina Werner

and decided to give this technique a try.

She used a stamp that had a rectangle shape,

but I didn't have that stamp or one like it,

so I used craft foam and inked it up

with Color Theory Inks.

Worked like a charm!

This was the first one I made and I adhered it to a white card base with 

foam adhesive.

This one I adhered flat onto an "oatmeal" colored card base.

I decided to mat this one with some pink before adhering it to the card base.

Another one matted with pink.

And this one with a blue mat.

I love how these turned out, even though they are really not

like Kristina's at all.  

It's all about inspiration rather than making it look the same.

I haven't put any sentiment on them, as I can do that when I

use them, or I may just leave them as they are.

Thanks for stopping by today,

come again soon.

Until then:

Be inspired!

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.

 

No line coloring vs. stamped coloring

Hello, I hope you are having a good day!

I've been having quite a time being in the

house on lockdown for so long.

It's been weeks since I have been out and 

seen any friends or my family.

The only time I was out was one day

when I was pretty much force to go out,

as our refrigerator died on us, so we

needed to go buy a new one.  Luckily

everyone we saw at the appliance store was

wearing a mask and keeping their distance.

My creative motivation is down, but when

I do sit down to be creative, it helps a lot

and I do enjoy it.

Today I'm showing you a couple pieces I 

did, similar, but different techniques and

supplies.

I've always loved "no line coloring"

I'm not great at it, but practice makes perfect,

so I decided to give it a go with my watercolors.

I used a very light color, I believe Antique Linen, Distress

ink to stamp the images onto watercolor paper.

I then set about painting the images.

I think they turned out nice, but with practice

I should be able to do better.  

The point of this technique is to not have the 

stamped lines show as such.  All the ink is

blended into the painting and any outlining is

done with the painting.

This one was stamped with 

Onyx Black VersaFine ink

then colored with colored pencils.

This look is much smoother and cleaner.

It's much easier to control the color with this

technique.
I like both pieces, but the perfectionist in me

likes the second one better.

Have you ever tried no line coloring?

If you want to see how it's done check out
Kristina Werner's video here.

Kristina is one of my favorite artist/bloggers

and does beautiful no line coloring.

Thanks for stopping by today,

see you again soon.

Until then;

Try something new.

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.

Unicorn Envelope

Hi everyone! 

Have you ever been out shopping and see something

that you know you just have to pick up and send to a friend

or family member?
That's what happened one day when I was browsing around

in Michael's.

I found the cutest stickers that had unicorns,

I had to get them for my little God Daughter, Andrea.

She absolutely is all about unicorns, I guess at 6 yrs old

that is pretty normal.

My problem was that I didn't have an envelope that they would

fit into.  I wanted to send them to her rather than wait until

I saw her again.  Doesn't everyone love to get mail?

So I made an envelope to fit them.

I have a pad of paper that I picked up at Hallo's, 

which is a paper store in Brunswick, Ohio.

They have all kinds and sizes of paper and this pad 

is large, sturdy paper.

I made the envelope and stamped and heat embossed 

images all over it, leaving space for the address, return

address and stamps.

I think it turned out pretty cute and I'm sure she'll 

love getting this in the mail.

I had a lot of fun making this for Andrea.

Have you ever decorated any envelopes?
I love doing it, but don't do it all that often,

need to take the time to decorate them more.

How fun to get something pretty in the mail?!?!

Thanks for stopping by today,

I hope you'll give mail art a try,

if you need some ideas, a great place to get 

inspiration is from
Kristina Werner,

she does a mail art video every month.

Kristina is one of my favorite artists,

check her out, you won't be disappointed, 

she does beautiful cards too.

Until next time,

give mail art a try!

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.

Our Christmas Cards

Hi there crafters!

Today I'm showing you some of my Christmas cards.

I was totally inspired when I saw 

this video by Kristina Werner

I loved those cards and decided to make my 

own cards in this kind of design.

I have a few different tree dies and decided to use

some of the backgrounds that I had in my stash.

I went with whatever colors I had and I have to say

I love how they turned out.  Most of them 

are not traditional Christmas colors, but that's okay

with me.

Here you can see the background panel.

The white was just too stark, so I embossed them

with snowflakes.  This added just the right touch.

Here's a picture of some of the different colors

I used for the trees.

All in all I made a little over 50 of these cards

that will be sent out to family and friends

this Christmas season.

Thanks for stopping by today,

have you started your Christmas cards?

Christmas is coming quick, so better get to it!

Until next time,

be creative!

Halloween Envelopes

Hello and welcome!

My last post was about my Halloween cards,

today's post is about the envelopes I made for those cards.

I started by making the envelopes with white card stock

and my We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

I then stamped images onto the envelopes

and colored them with my Fantasia Colored pencils

This is "Pumpkin Vine Stamp"

QKR Stampede

I drew the banner freehand and added Mom's name.

This is done with 

"Ghost" Eureka Stamps

"Halloween Border"  Eureka Stamps

My friend loaned me this stamp, I don't know

what company it is from.

My friend also loaned me this stamp.

The background with the clouds doesn't show very well

in the pictures, but in real life it turned out pretty cool.

This one I didn't realize that I hadn't colored the 

owl or broom until I took the picture.

I may just leave it white like this, or maybe color the 

broom and leave the owl white.

I have never done any artwork on envelopes before,

but I was inspired by Kristina Werner in 

this video.

Kristina is one of my favorite artist and bloggers,

she does a mail art video every month and I've wanted

to give it a try.  This was the perfect time and I loved

the way they all turned out.  I'm sure I'll be doing more

mail art in the future.

If you haven't checked out Kristina's blog you should

do so, she's really quite wonderful and talented.

Thanks for stopping by today,

I hope you were inspired in some way.

Maybe you'll give mail art a try, I hope so.

See you next time, you never know what you'll 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.

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.

Love you

Hi all!

My last post was a card where I used the same technique as I used for this card.

I said I'd be posting the other card with this technique and here it is.

This is a technique I learned from Kristina Werner in 

this video.

I made this card to give to my husband, Dave.

Back in February I made a big decision, I decided to have 

weight loss surgery.  If you are interested in my story of why and

how things have played out since then, there is a tab at the top of my 

home page for "My Weight Loss Journey"

feel free to read it if you care to.

From the moment I said to him that I wanted to do it,

he has been very supportive.  He has encouraged me all the way.

When I had the surgery on June 6th, he was right there by my side.

He has been a huge help and support in this journey and I wanted to just

let him know, even in just this little way.

He has been my rock through the entire process and I know he will continue

to be there for me.

I love how this card turned out and I hope he will love it

as much as I do.

Just a little way to say Thank You to the best husband ever!

I hope you will try something that is a little out of your comfort zone.

I know a lot of people are intimidated by water colors,

but just give it a try and you'll be amazed at how easy it can be.

Hop over and check out the video with Kristina Werner

and try something like this yourself.

Thanks for stopping by today,

I hope you'll come 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.

Shower card

Hello blog fans!

Today I have a little card that I made to use as a gift card with a

bridal shower gift.

It was inspired by Kristina Werner

on this video where she made a Father's Day card.

I loved the concept so I adapted it for my own card.

I used my Peerless water colors , but I couldn't guess at what

colors I used, I just kept adding colors until I liked the look I had.

Believe it or not, I actually wrote that "love"

I usually hate my own handwriting,

but I played around and practiced until I got something I liked,

wrote it with pencil and then went over it with a journalling pen.

I layered the water color piece onto a piece of coordinating card stock

and then adhered it to a white card base.

Here is a picture with the envelope I made for the card.

It's an odd size and I knew there wouldn't be an envelope to fit.

I love the fun pop of green on the inside of the envelope.

I absolutely LOVE how this card turned out and I hope

Liz will like it too.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you've been inspired in some way.

Come again soon and you'll see the other card I made with this technique.

Until then,
Be Creative and Have Fun with it!

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.

Valentine's Cards

Hello!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I don't always send/give Valentine's Day cards,

but this year I am.

I saw this idea on Kristina Werner's blog and

was inspired to try it.

I cut pieces of watercolor paper into squares.

I then taped them down to a board.

This helps prevent warping of the paper when

it is wet.

I cut thin strips of tape to make the "cross bars"

You can use masking tape, painter's tape or Washi tape.

Just be sure that it isn't too sticky and you'll be able to 

remove it easily without tearing the paper.

I then used Distress Inks to paint them.

I smooched some ink, in the colors I wanted to use,

onto an acrylic block and mixed with some water.

Once they were completely dry I removed the tape

and cut the pieces down to the size I wanted.

This watercolor piece I embossed 

Swirl Heart from Biblical Impressions

with silver embossing powder and matted

it with a silver metallic paper that I found

at Hollo's Papercrafts

I printed all the sentiments for the insides of these

cards from my computer.

I matted the sentiments to mimic the outside of the

cards.

I love these mini crazy birds from

Tim Holtz.  I colored them all with 

colored pencils and cut them with the matching dies.

The heart was hand cut and I wrote 'Love You' 

on it with black pen.

I cut a slit in the birds beak to hold the heart.

This one was heat embossed with 

glitter gold embossing powder 

and mounted onto 

shiny metallic silver card stock

that I got at Hollo's

I used "I Love You" from Eureka Stamps

for these next 2 cards.

This card I watercolored the entire piece with one 

color and embossed "You're Huggable" onto the 

panel and added that adorable bird.

I simply stamped this heart, fussy cut it

and put it through a slit in the bird's beak.

I heat embossed this "Scribble Heart" from

Biblical Impressions onto a watercolored panel,

then layered it onto Matte Silver Metallic Card Stock

from Hollo's

This final card I used a piece of card stock for 

the front panel, added the crazy birds and heart,

it needed a little something more and the gold ribbon

worked perfectly to pull it all together.

I love how these Valentine's cards turned out

and I hope the recipients like them as much as I do.

Thanks for stopping by today,

if you come again soon, you will see

what I made for Valentine's treats to go with

some of these cards.

Until next time,

make something fun!

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.

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.

More Inspirational Quote Projects

 Hello all!

My last post was about some inspirational quote projects

that I made for our scrapping/crafting studio.

Today I have a few more to show you.

This is one of the walls at My Happy Place.

The banner at the top says CREATE,

I made that banner quite a while ago and it was 

hanging in a different spot, so we moved that over on

this wall.

The background of this piece was created

 with watercolor crayons.  I colored a few colors onto

my craft mat, added water and 'smooched' the 

watercolor paper into the color to pick it up.

After it was dried I used my light box to 

trace the words and painted them with 

pearlescent watercolors.

I adhered the project to a piece of matting and strung

the ribbon through holes around the sides and to make

the hanger.

This one was done by stamping the flowers onto

Bristol Paper.

I love the smooth surface of this paper for coloring.

I used VersaFine Onyx Black ink for the stamping,

did the coloring with my Fantasia Colored Pencils.

The words were painted with pearlescent watercolors.

This last piece was the start of my whole

"journey" into making these projects.

It started with this inspiration

from Kristina Werner.

As I said in my last blog post,

It's all about 

Inspiration not Re-creation.

I'm not as talented as she is,

so I used my light box to trace 

the words that I had printed onto a 

piece of computer paper using

pearlescent watercolors.

(Can you tell that I love them?)

The background was made 

with the 'smooching' technique I 

mentioned above using Distress Inks.

Thanks for stopping by today to see what I've

been up to.

I hope you'll come again soon.

I have one more project to show you in this

"series" ..... well, until I get some more done that is.

I hope you are enjoying them and have gotten some 

inspiration from them.

Until next time:

Make Pretty Things!

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,

and you may find better prices elsewhere.

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Inspired by Kristina Werner

Hello!  Hope you are having a beautiful day!

Today I have 2 cards to show you,

they were inspired by 

this post by Kristina Werner.

Kristina is one of my favorite bloggers and artists.

If you haven't discovered her yet, be sure to pop over

and check out her blog, she's really quite wonderful.

Now I have to start by saying that I goofed up both my cards.

This first one I adhered the vellum in the wrong spot for 

the style I was going for, but that's not really a problem,

because I love the way it turned out.

Kristina use a background stamp on her card, but 

I didn't have one large enough with me at the time,

so I used a patterned paper.

You can barely see the patterned paper in the pictures,

but in real life you can see it.  It's a fairly delicate purple pattern.

I cut the shapes on the Cricut from white card stock.

I then embossed them with silver embossing powder.

The sentiment, I did a little differently.

I covered a piece of card stock with Versa Mark ink

and silver embossing powder and heated it.

Once I had that done I used a die to cut out the sentiment.

I arranged all the pieces and glued them on with 

Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive.

Although this wasn't as I intended it,

I do like how it turned out.

For the 2nd card I decided to go with a Christmas theme.

This one I put together the right way.

The snow flakes were cut on the Cricut,

adhered with Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive

and covered with clear Wink of Stella.

I added a little bling on the centers of the flakes also.

The vellum opens to reveal this striped card front.

This is a piece I had in my stash that I had made a while 

ago when I was experimenting.

I made it using 

Simon Says Clear Stamps Basic Stripes

and 

Studio Calico Color Theory Inks

I didn't add a sentiment to this panel yet,

I want to see about fixing my goof on this card first.

I'll show that in a bit.

Lastly the front opens at the top and shows the sentiment 

inside the card.

This sentiment is 

"Christmas Blessings"

from Eureka Stamps.

I put this card together pretty quickly as I was running out of time.

It's not prefect, far from it, but I wanted to post it anyway.

I don't mind showing my mistakes and sometimes I think

it encourages people to try new things and continue trying

until they like the results.

Now for the goof on this card.

Here you go!  

When I was stamping the sentiment inside

the card, I got red ink on one of the snowflakes as well as

on the vellum.  It came off the vellum pretty well, but not that

flake.  Can't get that snowflake off either, that Quick Dry Adhesive

really sticks!

Oh well, it was a quick card and I wasn't crazy about those

flakes anyway.  

Things don't always turn out the way we want them to,

but sometimes they are fine anyway,

and sometimes we just learn from them.

Now, why don't you hop over to

Kristina Werner's Blog

and see what she has to show you.

I'm sure it's something quite wonderful.

Thanks for stopping by today,

I hope you are inspired in some way.

Remember to have fun with whatever you are working on.

Come again soon,

you never know what you'll 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,

and you may find better prices elsewhere.

I am in no way promoting any particular site.