New Look

I gave the blog a little bit of a new simpler look. Who knows, maybe i will even post more than a couple times a year! I'm not making any promises though since the third Nelson baby will be making his arrival in about a month, adding to the enormous amount of chaos that already goes on around here. I should really be folding laundry right now instead of blogging. But hopefully having three kiddos won't permanently suck all of my creative energy and time. We'll see... it will be an adventure thats for sure :)

Happy Almost Valentines Day

I know it's been quite awhile since my last post, but I have two pretty good excuses named Charley and Miles who occupy all my time and then some. Charley and I are going to try to make some Valentines today, but he usually only allows me to draw basketballs and footballs and Elmo when we do art, so we'll see how they turn out... Anyways, I'll leave you with one of the Valentine cards I made a couple years ago when I had a little more time on my hands :)

Grammie's Garden

This is something I painted a few months ago for Charley to give to my mom for her birthday. My mom and dad started a big vegetable garden this past summer, and it turned out awesome! We've gotten to enjoy tons of good home-grown food when we come visit, and Charley likes to help water the garden and play in the dirt.

Seal Beach Art and Craft Fair Sept. 12th and 13th!

This is going to be my first time participating in the Seal Beach Art and Craft fair, and I'm really excited about it! Not only will it be right down the street from my home, but I'll be exhibiting with a bunch of other talented local artists. It is a little tough preparing for an art show while seven months pregnant and chasing around a one year old, but it does make things more exciting :) ! I will be showing off some new paintings and cards at the show, so if you are in the area, come by the kristencraft booth and say hi!

Etsy find

I stumbled across this print while looking around on Etsy and I just loved it. It's quirky and cute and I wish I had that little sea creature as a pet! It's by TummyMountain, and you can check out more of their work at their Etsy shop.

New Paintings in the shop!

Stop by Kristencraft and check them out :)

Super Cute Barrettes!

Our friend An has started a crafty business of her own, making and selling adorable hair barrettes. They come in tons of different designs and colors, and would make a perfect gift for a little cutie. Go check out her site, Yellow and Pink. If the new baby is a girl, I'm going to for sure be getting her some of these, so she can be stylish right from birth :) If not, I might have to just get some for myself!

This is my favorite set so far, called "Little Miss Valentine"

One of An's very cute barrette models who has just enough hair to necessitate a hair clip. I love it! My mom used to tape bows onto my head when I was little, so this looks like a better and less painful idea!

Craft Fair Pics (a little late)

My camera was lost in my messy apartment for the last week, but I finally found it. Yay! So here are some better-late-than-never pictures of the Music Saves Lives arts & crafts fair. It was a lot of fun, especially when Jennie, Jess, and I were lucky ducks at the raffle and we each won 2-3 prizes :) A big thank you to JP for being the best helper all day long, and another thank you to Daron from Minds2Design for making my banner.

More Arts and Crafts Fair News!

Here is the flier for the Craft Fair I'm going to be participating in on March 14th. Mark your calendars and tell your friends :)

Music Saves Lives Arts & Crafts Fair

It's time to mark your calendar because I'm going to be exhibiting at a great event coming up on March14th! It's a fundraiser for a non-profit organization called Music Saves Lives and it is being held at Tustin Presbyterian Church from 10am to 4pm. I'm working really hard so I'll have a bunch of new paintings, cards, and other fun stuff to show off.
Here are 2 really bad quality photos of a couple watercolors I was working on a couple nights ago. I haven't worked with watercolor in a long time so I thought I'd try something new!

New Painting :)

Hi Guys!
I just put a new painting in the shop. It's a little portrait of a girl with a tear from my sketchbook. I got the idea from an old painting John-Paul used to have of a crying girl, but his was more creepy and this ones more cutesy. I liked painting the wooden frame part, and I think this might be the first in a little portrait series...we'll see.

You are a rock star

Here is the latest Valentine design I finished last night that is going to be in the kristencraft shop. I was trying to do something more boyish than the other designs. Hope you like it!

Illustration Friday: climbing

Happy 2009!

I took a little blog break for the holidays, and now I'm back to wish everyone a Happy 2009! I'm working on finalizing some designs for Valentines Day, so be looking for those in the shop soon!

Godzilla Baby

Attempting to photograph some holiday cards for the website last week became a little more difficult than I thought when Charley the Godzilla baby became involved. He can't quite crawl yet, but I forget what a skilled "scooter" he is. In a matter of seconds he scooted over to the cards, knocked them all over, tried to eat one and then spit up on the backdrop. Here's a little documentation of the destruction:



Needless to say, we didn't get any great pictures of the cards, but at least Charley had a good time :)

December already??!?

Time is flying by! I was invited to my Aunt's present wrapping party next week, but I barely have any presents to wrap. I need to get busy making/buying Christmas presents and getting ready for a little cocktail party we're having at our place coming up. I'm going to go get to work, but I'll leave you with a Christmas card I finished last night after C. went to bed.

A taste of Fall

The other night, I dropped all of the things that I should have been doing (laundry, dishes, etc.) and made pumpkin cookies instead, and it was totally worth it :) I saw the cookies on the angry chicken blog, and they looked so yummy I had to try some. They aren't too hard to make and they are delicious! They are especially good with my other fall obsession, Pumpkin Spice Tea. Yesterday my sister stayed home from work sick and her and I (and Charley) hung out eating cookies and drinking tea and being cozy on the couch. It was the best (minus the fact that Jennie didn't feel too great).

It's already almost time to GIVE THANKS!!!

I can't believe that it's almost Thanksgiving! I'm half getting excited for pumpkin pie and turkey and mashed potatoes, and half getting anxious about Christmas already...I've got A LOT of card making, gift tag making, and painting to do. But before I get too caught up with Christmas crafts, above is my Thanksgiving card design. If you are interested in buying a set, you can email me. My new shop website is so close to being finished, and I can't wait until it is up and running! For everyone who has been wanting to purchase items from the site, I apologize, and promise I will let you know as soon as the site is in working order :)

And also, HAPPY VETERANS DAY!!!

cute halloween cards!

the ghosty halloween card comes in a set of
8 cards printed on heavy white card stock
measuring 5.5"x4.25" with envelopes.
all of kristen craft's cards include
free shipping anywhere in the u.s.a.!

the dracula halloween card comes in a set of
8 cards printed on heavy white card stock
measuring 5.5"x4.25" with envelopes.
all of kristen craft's cards include
free shipping anywhere in the u.s.a.!

this happy halloween card comes in a set of
8 cards printed on heavy white card stock
measuring 5.5"x4.25" with envelopes.
all of kristen craft's cards include
free shipping anywhere in the u.s.a.!



this mummy halloween card comes in a set of
8 cards printed on heavy white card stock
measuring 5.5"x4.25" with envelopes.
all of kristen craft's cards include
free shipping anywhere in the u.s.a.!







this fun halloween card comes in a set of
8 cards printed on heavy white card stock
measuring 5.5"x4.25" with envelopes.
all of kristen craft's cards include
free shipping anywhere in the u.s.a.!