Return to work!!!

Today is back to work/school day for me!!  Luckily, the school system does not pay us in the summer so if you are not eager to go back to work after the summer, you are at least eager to get back to being paid!!  I thought I would sweeten the first day back for my coworkers with a little treat.  I made between 60 and 75 of these treats (I lost count!!) for the staff at one of my schools.  (Soon I will show you a different treat I made for my other school's staff).   I love the little one inch cubes which are absolutely perfect for the Stampin' Up!  "Cute by the inch" stamp set.   Unfortunately I ran out of the die cut cubes which I think I cut years ago when we had a specialty craft store here in Cockeysville.  I cannot find a die here so I guess that is where they came from - either that or from our local county resource center.  I will have to investigate because I would love to have more of them!!  Anyway, luckily I also have the Sizzix die for the mini popcorn box which worked very nicely as well.  Both the square cubes and the popcorn boxes each hold two Hershey kisses. Sweet!!  I don't think my coworkers will care that I used a variety of retired inks and cardstock.  By the way the letters with the highlighted "hi" was stamped on the top of each box and the wise old owl was stamped on the front.  Hope the folks enjoy them...the staff are not going to be in the best of moods today because the air conditioning in the building is broken.  We have been warned to bring our fans!!  Hope a cool breeze blows by soon!!
Peggy

Card #3 for Sunday's Stampin Up! card class

Hi all
Today I am sharing a card with you that was inspired by a convention trade I received from a lady who, I thin,k is named Debbie Grayson - her name stamp was on the back of the cad but was so faint that I can barely read it.  I hope I have gotten it correct.  She used a ribbon that I do not have so I mixed it up a bit and used the ribbon border punch to create a layer instead.  We also used different images from the Watercolor Trio set.  This is one of the cards we will make on Sunday.  I really like this Concord Crush color!

Peggy

Card #2 for Sunday's Stampin Up! card class

Hi all
This is a fun stamp set that I have had for a while but I don't think I have ever used it before!!  I received a card at convention from a gal named Susan Fields of MO and have tweaked her idea a bit.  She used the stitching around the primary image - You have to have stitching right?  I decided to add a smidge more stitching on the left end instead of ribbon.  I did not have the pre-printed newsprint DSP available so I used the Define Your Life stamp set instead..I like it!
Call me today to sign up for the class which starts at 2PM on Sunday.
Peggy

Card #1 for Sunday's Stampin Up! card class

Hi all
Here is the first card we will be making at my card making class on Sunday.
We will use the wild wasabi, marina mist, and early espresso colors and several punches - my favorite, the ribbon border punch, and the modern label and designer label punches.  The large tag is from the two tags big Shot die. I cut two and trimmed away the edge of the vanilla layer. 
Hope you will be joining us to play.

Peggy

graduation card

Here is a nifty graduation card I made for the daughter of my dear friend, Maureen.  I was too slow getting this card to her but hopefully the well wishes (and the gift inside) will help her forgive me for leaving the darn thing home each time I saw Maureen.  I knew the image would not cover the bottom of the card, (ie. that I would have to stamp it several times) so I started stamping in the middle and added additional images on either side.  When you do that, it helps the card to have a balanced look - you don't end up with half an image on one side and a whole image on the other side.  I take the same approach to punching my borders.  I always start in the middle (or I use a piece of cardstock that is longer than the card I am placing it on so I can trim it to look balanced).
I get such joy when I can send my wishes on a hand stamped card!

Peggy

convention make and takes #5

This little set is handy - the cards fit into the envelope holder which closes with ribbon.  Come join us on Sunday to make all these great projects!!  Contact me to pre-register.

convention make and takes #4

Isn't this pretty?  This project was easy but striking, I think!  Hope you will join us on Sunday to make this project and envelope.
Peggy

convention make and takes #3

 This is a nifty little mini gift tag holder.  We will make the holder and the tags.  This is a great idea to tweak and make Christmas gift tags. 
Join us on Sunday for the stampin session where we will make this project.
Peggy

convention make and takes #2

Here is another convention make and take that we will be making on Sunday - I may jazz this one up a bit as I think it could have a little more pizzazz.  Come join us and play.
Peggy

convention make and takes #1

Hi all
Tonight I am sharing with you one of my make and takes from convention.  We will be making all of  these projects at class on Sunday, August 15th at 2PM.   Check back each day to see additional make and takes.

We will be stamping both the card and the envelope using the new Paisley Prints set and the Paisley wheel. The card will be modified slightly as my ribbon hasn't come yet.

Peggy

Card #8 from today

Hi all
I want to share with you the last card the ladies made today at my class.  Now I did not trade this card at convention - I only had 7 different projects for convention - but I wanted the ladies to do 8 projects today, so I had to add one extra.  One of the ladies is interested in outline images and watercoloring so viola!  This flower is from the Fifth Avenue Floral set.  We used watercolor crayons ...I like it...hope you do, too.

Peggy

convention trade number 7

This is the last card I took to trade at convention.  It is a take off on one of the cards I took last year that was done in the color Bermuda Bay.  Again I used the border punch (this time the ribbon border punch) as a substitute for ribbon.  It made it a lot easier to transport across the country because there was not so much bulk as there would have been with ribbon. When I first made this card I had the yellow center on the flower and I was very unsatisfied with the look.  It needed something.  I couldn't use any special brads or such because I did not have enough of any one design so I kept staring at it and finally I decided to punch the center out of the flower and layer it on TOP of the yellow flower...it was the perfect simple solution. 
Peggy

convention trade number 6

I really love this card ...it is monochromatic, has a minimum of hand cutting (just the flower),and uses a punch instead of ribbon.  Let's face it, most of us do not have every ribbon in every color, but when you have the border punches, you can mimic the role of the ribbon easily by using cardstock.  The smaller blue layer is popped up to give added dimension to the card.  Nice!
Reminder ..sign up for the convention trades class to beheld on Sunday.
And...this is a great month to hostess a stampin up workshop ...you can earn an additional $25 in free product by hostessing a party with a $350 subtotal for a total of $60 in free product ...fabulous!  Call me to pick your party date!!

Peggy

convention trade number 5

Hi all,
As promised, here is another variation of the card I posted yesterday. This is pumpkin C/S and the pawsitively print DSP again.  This card could be made heavier and pop a bit more if another layer of pumpkin c/s was put as the base - I didn't do that because for convention we only make the front of the card - no inside.  Oh, wow!!  I just remembered I need to plan trades to take to regionals.  Maybe I will use the stamp set I won at convention. It is a halloween set!! Cute!!
On Friday I received my "come back to work letter" from one of my schools.  I had gotten the "OT come back to work" email the day before and Friday night I got a gang phone call from my other school.  Personally, I think it should be against the law to send those out until after August 1.  Waaaa! Only three weeks of summer left!!  Bummer!
Three weeks isn't enough because Stampin' Up!  is offering an additional $25 in free product to any hostess who has has a $350 (subtotal) workshop - that is a total of $60 in free product and a free hostess set too.  Too good a deal!  Call me so we can plan your August Stampin' Up! party!!  Hurry!     Call now!
Peggy
410-256-6772

convention trade number 4

Hi all
I see that this card did not photograph well - it is hard to see the pawsitively print DSP behind the die cut.  Here I die cut the lattice petals on the Big Shot, then glued it to a sheet of DSP.   I used my cuticle scissors to trim around the petals and attached it to the card front.  I really love the simplicity of this design.  By changing the color and the DSP used, you can change the entire feel of the card.  Tomorrow I will post another variation of this card, so you can see how the feel changes.  Isn't the greeting nice?  Love it!!
Note: in order to avoid confusion, I have re-numbered/relabeled some recent posts so you can see the 8 cards we will be making at the Aug 8th class (now labeded: convention trade number *).  You might want to go back and look at the cards over the past few days to get an idea of what we will be making..more to come.

Peggy