I'm baaaaaackkkkk!

I feel like I have been gone forever from the blogging world. I have been checking on all my B7 Gals, but have not posted on my own. School is out so "Camp Janssen" is in session for my two little ones. I don't know who is more tired at the end of the day - me or them! In addition my baby girl turned 2! I can't resist sharing this photo of her on the morning of her big day. Of course I had to sneak a little SU! in there. Her crown is made from Sweet Always DSP cut on the Pennants die. The coordinating scallop circle from the die and a chipboard 2 covered in chunky silver glitter complete the crown. I should have laminated it for all the wear it has had. My baby is very into being our Princess!

So the camera is still having issues. Sometimes it works and sometimes it needs a good smack to work. My DH, tired of my frustration bought me a new one this weekend. Basic and simple...but it does the job. And to be honest, our last camera had a ton of features that I never learned because I never had time to read the book, so this is better!

Here are some cards from the Sale-A-Bration stamp a stack that I held in April/May I think. Hope you enjoy and gain a little inspiration. More to come soon....I promise!

This was embossed with the Manhattan Flower folder in the Big Shot. I then ran the two way glue pen over the embossed area and applied Dazzling Diamonds.
This little golfer was colored in with markers. The scallop frame is a Sizzix die.
I fell in love with this set just for the duck! Here's a close up of his ducky fluff! I actually wet the paper well and kept rubbing with a blender pen just to get a little texture and pill from the paper. It served it's purpose for effect in a simple way with tools I had on hand!

A little backwards, I know....

but I thought this Valentine's treat that we made for my son's classmates was worth sharing. I CASE'd the owl from a talented lady (who I cannot remember the name of) over at SCS. The owl is made up of cut paper from punches and Sizzix dies. I used SU! Real Red, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black and Whisper White CS. The edges of the large scallop circle on the owl were sponged with Real Red Classic ink to add a little depth. I used a Basic Black Stampin' Write marker to draw on eyelashes. The caption I created and stuck on said "Whoooo likes you? I do! Happy Valentine's Day from Zachary." In the cello bag are two heart shaped crayons. My son is obsessed with only using new, well pointed crayons and won't touch the broken ones. (hmmmm....wonder where he gets that from **wink, wink**). Anyway, we collected all the broken pieces and placed multi colors in a Wilton silicone heart mold pan. Baked at 250 until they were melted and swirling on their own. Once they cooled we popped them out and had cool crayons to share. Now maybe he'll use them! His friends were pleased, and I was happy to have come up with something besides candy to give! Hope you enjoy.

St. Paddy's Day (belated)

Okay...I have barely begun and am already admitting to being the worst blogger ever! My goal when I signed up in October was to be up and running in December. HA! Well now it is March and here is my first "official" post. I will do my best to be on the ball with regular posts since it is the easiest way to keep everyone up to date on my creative side. Plus it really has become an industry standard for the crafty set, so I feel a little pressure to join up.

Anyway, here is a cute little favor I made for our Bunco Gals this month. I hosted and the theme was St. Paddy's Day, so I immediately thought of pots o'gold using the SU! Basket and Blooms die from Sizzix. I made the baskets in Basic Black CS and the bands in gold cs purchases from my local craft shop. Both pieces are cut from the same die. I filled the basket with gold chocolate coins of course, and made sure to have a rainbow (in ribbon form) purchased at Michael's. In the second photo is a close up of a 4 leaf clover cut from SU! Wild Wasabi CS (retired in color). This is actually a "bloom" also from the same SU! exclusive Sizzix Basket & Blooms die. I just trimmed the petals on the flower to mimic a clover (with a little imagination!) So you can see what a great tool this die is! Every piece was cut from it, and there are still other items included on the die that I didn't use. This is one of my favs for sure!