KNS Christmas Store - Greeting Cards

Hello! Hello!!!

KNS Gear has been gearing up Christmas Season and Zazzle is having a 40% off sale until October 1st, 11:59pm Pacific Time.  Our Holiday Greeting Cards and Holiday Postcards have been updated this year and most now have a design on the inside or backside of the postcard.  These distinctive design elements makes our cards stand out.  The interiors are beautiful and have been made with you in mind.  The colors are light enough so that you can easily write in pen.  

Our Holiday Greeting card section (link below) shows all of our seasonal cards plus has a lot of seasonal envelope stickers and seasonal address labels.  Steve and I have purchased one of almost everything we have made to insure that the quality of the product to our customers is top notch!  So far we have been VERY satisfied with the quality of the items we have purchased.  We truly believe that you will be extremely happy with your purchases.

Holiday Greeting Cards
by KNS Card Shop

Here are a few individual cards both the outside and the inside, so you can see what I'm talking about. Up first is our Winter Solstice card.  We have this in both a greeting card and a postcard.  The exterior says "Welcome the beginning of Winter and the return of the light." 

The inside of the card has the beautiful crystal snowflake photograph and the customizable text space.  You can change that to your name of course! 

To see the card in our shop, click link below

Winter Solstice Card

 Here is the second Winter Solstice card that we created, with the same sentiment on the front but with a different photo on the front and different interior design.  

To see the card in our shop, click link below

Winter Solstice Card

The next card that I got a screen capture of is the truly unconventional card of the season.  I discovered this photo and thought it was perfect for a holiday card - maybe a chef or home cook would enjoy a card that reflected their interests.  Maybe someone who is known for having the holiday dinners would love this card design.   

The sentiment inside the card is completely customizable and can say whatever the buyer wants.  I put on there, "May we enjoy each other's company again, soon." as that is what I was thinking.  I miss my friends and family and I cannot wait to share a meal with them again. 

To see the card in our shop, click link below

Christmas Dinner Holiday Card

Here is the last card that I'm featuring in this post and it's the iconic red car with a Christmas Tree on the roof.  I find it funny that in this watercolor design, the tree has a few decorations already on it.  I hope they don't drive too fast!  

The inside of the card has a larger picture of the back of the car and the salutation is of course completely customizable. 

To see the card in our shop, click link below 

Watercolor Fresh Cut Christmas Tree

I have ordered about 50 postcards this past year and I love them.  They are not those thin flimsy cards you can buy for a Dollar each, or that you are receiving in the mail by the dozens during election season.  These postcards are thick, you can write with a Sharpie on them and it won't bleed through and still only takes a postcard stamp to mail.  

You can see the whole Holiday Postcard Collection by clicking the link below. 

Holiday Postcards

by KNS Card Shop

AND I know Zazzle will be having an ornament sale real soon, so I leave this collection for you to look at and ponder until a sale comes.  

Christmas Ornaments
by KNS Christmas Store

I believe that one should take advantage of sales and not buy full price if you don't have to, especially with Zazzle.  Zazzle has a sale going on every single day for one type of product or more.  Sometimes the sale is 20% off -- sometimes, like this week, it's 40%.  If you sign up for Zazzle emails, you can get notice in your inbox as to what the sales are and how long they are on.  If you sign up for Zazzle Black, you pay a small fee once a year and get regular shipping free all year.

Here is the current sale and abbreviated details.  

A discount of up to 40% off the product net sale price shall apply when one or more qualifying products are purchased: Enter code CARDSFOR2020 in the promo code box at checkout...This offer only applies to qualifying products marked "Sold by Zazzle." Valid until 10/1/2020 11:59:59 PM Pacific Standard Time.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Have a great day!

Kristin

KNS Gear is Kristin 'n Steve.  
That's us!  My husband and me.  

#KNSGear  #ChristmasCards  #WinterSolsticeCards  #WinterSolstice #ChristmasPostcards

Please fill my stocking

It's the same thing each year.

A few weeks before Christmas my husband and I have "the talk,"  the Christmas talk.  Are we getting each other big gifts (no), what are we going to do for Christmas Day (go to the Christmas Day dinner with the transplant community), and last but not least I mention that he is responsible for filling my stocking.  

It's the same thing each year.

He rolls his eyes and ends the conversation when I mention the stocking.

A week before Christmas I remind him.  "Don't forget that you are responsible for filling my stocking."

He rolls his eyes and says, "I never know what to get you!"   (which by the way is so untrue.  He knows that the kitchen aisle and the paper/crafting/scissor aisle are all the further he needs to go.)


This helpful information is given to him each day until Christmas Eve when I stand in front of him and literally point to the door - "GO!"

Actually, I got that wrong.  This year around noon on the day of Christmas Eve he sighed and said, "I never did get to the store.  I'm sorry."  Like he was given a pass because it was just a few minutes past noon.  Ha!!  Then, I stood in front of him, pointed to the door and said go.

I don't know why he does that because, just like every year, he comes home with a huge grin on his face, carrying three or four bags from Target saying, "I don't think all of this will fit in your stocking, is that OK?"

Then he spends about 20 minutes wrapping up a few things.
You know that I have already set up a wrapping station for him so it's easy.

And he can just hardly wait until I get to dive into my stocking.

This year in my stocking I received...

dishcloths
pot holders
sharpies
a brand new box of 64 Crayons
(he was so tickled.  He said, "It's been a long time since I've gotten you a new box of those and look on the back, you can upload a photo on the Crayola site and turn those into coloring pages!")
a package of pens on a rope
A two pack of scissors
multi colored silicone spatulas
some candies and a few other kitchen goodies.

This is exactly the type of things we both love to give and receive.  I was pleased as punch!  I loved my stocking.  And he really did have a great time shopping for all of it.  I don't know why he resists so much.  I'm actually surprised that he didn't buy me a package of Post-its.  That's usually a guaranteed Tom gift to me.

I gave him - a bacon press, new plastic cutting board, Salt and Pepper grinder set, some Penzey's Spices and two of those long handled back scratchers.  And probably a few other things I can't remember right now.  We tend to give upgrades to our worn out kitchen tools as gifts.   I like that.


Am I the only one that has to go through this?  I doubt it, but it sure feels that way.

I hope you have a wonderful day!
Kristin

Holiday Gift Guides roundup

It's that time of year when the online gift guides come out en masse.  I posted one the other day, (Emily's Holiday Guide) but that one just got me started! I decided to go through my Google Reader, which was well over the 5000 unread posts mark, and discovered all of these buying guides and do-it-yourself projects.

Have a cup of coffee, maybe tea, and kick back and enjoy flipping through these online magazines. 

Anthology Gift Guide

OCD Cutting Board 

This was just too funny not to pull out and share.  haha!

Sweet Paul Magazine 

Gifted Magazine

100 Handmade Christmas Ornaments

101 Ultimate DIY gifts

101 Simple handmade gifts

Holiday Gifts from Poppytalk

Additional links...
Handmade gifts Dec 2010 ,   Handmade gifts II Dec 2010,   50 Homemade gift ideas,   Gifts in a Jar

There will be more, lots more, but these are the ones I found the past several days. 
Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

Emily's Holiday Guide

The Holiday Guide 

by Emily Henderson

To say that I was shocked to find out who put this guide together is an understatement.  Emily Henderson won one of the HGTV Next Design Star seasons and I wasn't sold on her.  I have seen a couple of her shows on HGTV and I have found them to be pretty good, but I haven't been a consistent watcher.  When I found the link to the guide and Oohh'd and Aahh'd over nearly every page, I would have never put Emily's name on the project.  I will pay a lot more attention to her now. 

Empty Parking Lots

I linked this up on Facebook and one of my sister's said "Well that might just be the best gift guide I've seen in my whole life. Fun fun."  High Praise coming from someone who is one tough customer.

Go ahead, flip through the guide.

Everything in the book is clickable and will take you to the page you want and you won't lose the page you were on in the guide.  (sometimes it's the little things that make me happy.)

Balancing Blocks

A range of prices are included for all ages.

DIY ideas and free printables.

Stripey Straws

I already have a pretty nice list of items that I would love to give or receive.
I may not give any of them but at least I've got some ideas in my head!
It's good to be a step ahead that's for sure.

The photos are just a few of the fun things in the guide, with links to the source.

Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - The Deer Family

POTD - The Deer Family

©2010 Kristin Corlett

Those deer need to move a little bit, they've stood so long that they've got snow on their backs!

Enjoy!
Kristin

POTD - Santa Santa

POTD - Santa Santa

©2010 Kristin Corlett

My mom set up this little Christmas display on a shelf over her sink.  The tree is new, but the Santa & Mrs. Clause mugs and the Kewpie plate are all old and pieces I remember well.  The Kewpie plate is from 1973, Alison's birth year.  We always called it the piglet plate.  I'm not sure if this is the original as we've had a few.  I think we wanted two of them, one for Mom and one for Alison.  Someone broke one of the plates so we got another one.  Ebay is a wonderful invention. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

POTD - Hello Hello

POTD - Hello Hello

©2010 Kristin Corlett

Mr and Mrs Clause sitting on the window frame at my mom's house.  They are waving hello to all who greet them.  They look to be in excellent condition for being 30 years old.  I'm pretty sure these are S/P shakers.  My Dad bought a set of shakers for us every year for a few years and this just might be one of those sets.  Funny the things you remember.

Enjoy!
Kristin

POTD - Kissin' Clauses

POTD - Kissin' Clauses

©2010 Kristin Corlett

These are my Mom's Mr and Mrs Santa Clause decorations.  I always set them up lip to lip, but my mom said that she doesn't keep them that close.  She angles them a bit so you can more of their faces.  No matter how they are displayed they are among my favorite decorations.  She said she got them in the early 70s, so they've pretty much been a part of my entire life.

Edited to add - these little statues stand about 6" high.  They aren't S/P shakers, just little Kissing Clause figures. 

Enjoy!
Kristin

Holiday Ornament Swap 2010

The results are in and it was a winning season!

A month ago I joined the Holiday Ornament Swap hosted by Freshly Blended.  A few days later I was given my instructions and the names and addresses of 9 other participants.  We were group 11.   I really like 11s.  11:11 is my favorite time of day, so I was just assured that this was going to be a great swap group.

I was not disappointed.  Not even a little.  I'm actually a little nervous that the dud in the swap was me, but I just won't think about that right now :) 



Kate painted this ornament with a Chickadee and on the other side a cardinal.  If you can see, it's kind of light, she has also painted on some snowflakes.  Too cute.  Love the shape of the ornament and the subject. 

This was the first ornament that I received.  Oh goodness, I was really nervous sending out my matchboxes after this one arrived.  Naomi is a jewelry maker.  The tin is a spice tin that she has filled with little books and snowflakes and the glass jewel hangs below.  Did she know how much I love letters and mail?  Perfect.

Kristin - me.  That's mine :)

Tonya.  I got hers today.  It's so cute.  It's a green recycled cap of some kind with a red glitter background, Merry Christmas and a snowflake all topped with a flocked bow.  It's just great and it hangs nicely in the tree. 

Allison made a wire person with colorful clothing, made from fabric scraps.  She had many different colors, but mine is green and blue and she's holding a snowflake.  I saw these in the Flickr Pool for this group and secretly hoped that I might get one.

Liz is in the midst of getting married.  She sent a little story with her ornament telling us that her favorite place to eat with her Fiancee was a Chinese place, so that's why she close the Chinese soup spoon.  Then she painted on the snow woman face and surrounded her with a veil and pearls. 

Amber is a quilling artist.  She made these adorable snowflakes and then dunked them in silver glitter.  I like how the blue of the paper peeks through.  I've always been partial to the blue and white decorations.  I know, it's Hanukkah colors and that's not my religion, but it's beautiful.

Melissa made the birdy.  It's pretty small, so she added bells to the ribbon so it wouldn't get lost on the tree.  (I made up that reason - haha!)  I love the red and white fabric mixed with the plaid. 

Becky sent us a fortune cookie.  What a perfect ornament for me and actually I'm surprised that I didn't already have one!   I collect fortune cookie fortunes and we gave fortune cookies as the little gift at our wedding. 

Lei made these adorable pink and red ribbon ornaments.  What a neat idea!  I love the simplicity of the ornament, yet it's got a beautiful shape.  I don't know if I have enough hands to be able to make all of these loops and glue them altogether!

There were at least 23 different groups of 8 to 10 swappers.  (that's the highest group number that I remember seeing in the Flickr pool.)  That's a lot of ornament making!   If you want any ideas for this year or even next, head on over to the Flickr group and take a peek at all of the holiday handmade goodness.  There were more than a couple in there that I'd love to recreate. 

Thank you Freshly Blended for putting this together.  Thank You ornament swap friends for making this a successful and enjoyable swap! and thank you post office for delivering all of these wonderful packages so that I could enjoy them. 

Thank you everyone! 
Merry Christmas.
Kristin

Kristin's First Christmas

Kristin's First Christmas.
The Kristin in this story is me :)  
That first Christmas was 44 years ago in a snowy little place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
KI Sawyer Air Force Base.

This pink stocking has been a part of my baby book since it was taken down off the wall.

That card is around here somewhere.  I didn't see it in the book, but it might be in a different one.  I know that I have read that card and touched the red flocked dress.

On the back of this picture it says "Kristin with gifts.  Christmas 1966"

I still have the piggy bank, that's pictured sitting on the arm of the sofa.   He's been broken and glued together a few times, but he's still around and so is the pink stocking.  That's a pretty good survival rate for items received in 1966.  Me, the stocking, the card (I know it's here somewhere) and the piggy bank.

What fun to look back at old photos.  I was only 2 months old.  Oh, how much trouble was coming for my parents :)    If they only knew then what they know now.

I turned out to be a blogger with a camera.

Merry Christmas!
Kristin

POTD - Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus

POTD - Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus

©2010 Kristin Corlett

Away in a manger,
No crib for His bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head

The stars in the bright sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay

Enjoy!
Kristin

Magic of the Season

This was originally posted on my blog in Dec of 2008.
I thought it might be nice if it was republished as I was feeling a bit nostalgic this evening.

I decided this would make a great Saturday Sampling post, too.  Stop by Mrs. 4444's place for more great posts from other bloggers.


Enjoy!
Kristin

My Mother wrote this piece for the Lansing State Journal a few years ago. I have it framed and hanging on my wall. I stand and read it every so often and it chokes me up every time.

In this home, Santa, magic of season still thrive
by Judith (Bommer) Bridger

I believe in Santa Clause, in reindeer on the rooftop, in a wish list and a plate of cookies beside the fireplace. I believe in stockings filled with oranges and nuts and a candy cane crammed in the top. I believe in unwrapped toys made by elves decorated with ribbons and bows: a book or two, a pair of mittens, a baby doll (that I can hardly resist buying for my granddaughter this year) a coloring book and socks, always socks.

Mostly I believe in the wonder of a small child standing before the blazing tinsel-decked tree on Christmas morning, amazed that Santa did actually come during the night, ate the cookies and left a note that read, "Some little gifts for my special girls, with love, Santa."

The small child was mine of course. And one became three. The wonderful daughters. Years of Christmas mornings when they stood huddled together peering with delight, laughing and giggling over what Santa had brought them.

As they grew older, their laughter became whispers and serious conversations as they waited by the tree for their dad and me to make our way down the stairs in our bathrobes. Christmas morning became a tradition of nibbling on poppy seed bread and blueberry bars, admiring packages, the wrapping paper and the bows.

We laughed and poked fun over phrases like "Christmas Eve Day Morning" before eventually opening packages. It took hours.

Next came the Christmas breakfast of potatoes, onions and bacon all fried together with a scramble of eggs, a steaming bowl of freshly made applesauce and flaky croissants.

I miss waking to the sounds of their voices. I cannot recall Christmas and my children without tears. They are happy tears, yet mixed with that little longing, for what always seems like the good ol' days.

All my daughters are grown now and I'm gathering little stacks of Santa toys for the grandchildren. Two boys and one girl this time.

The welcome lights are in the windows and the tree is adorned; years of old decorations revived from their boxes, finding their longtime home or an exciting new one. Each ornament admired and placed in its perfect location, rearranged and considered. Tinsel's the final touch; strands hung carefully, as I consider how melting snow would make an icicle.

Under the tree, there's a collection of teddy bears. It looks like Santa has already been here.

How can I not believe in Santa? I am attached to the pleasure of this holiday ritual. Peace and joy and love. It overtakes me. I will cling to it as long as I can.

written for the Lansing State Journal and published on Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Thanks Mom!
Love, Kristin

POTD - Feliz Navidad

POTD - Feliz Navidad

©2010 Kristin Corlett

This was discovered painted on the window of a barber shop in my neighborhood.  It's the first sign of snow I've seen around here!

"Feliz Navidad" is also a Christmas song written in 1970 by the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano.

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Año y Felicidad.

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Año y Felicidad.

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.

Enjoy!
Kristin