2-21-11 card class project #8

Hi all

Today I am sharing the last card we made at the 2-21 class.  This card is very special and was inspired by one I saw on a blog by Valitas.  She generously included the measurements but alas, I think she is in Australia so she gave metric measures.  The standard measurements (in the US) were odd - not full inches, etc.  Plus the end result was an odd sized card - 5.5 square, I think.  So I spent some time diddling with the idea until I could get the numbers to yield a card that is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.  Here is my version of the card.....

Okay...I am having trouble with blogger tonight so let me just explain what is above.  The third pic is the front of the card.  The first picture shows this card from the front when it is open and the second card shows this is really a box that opens up when you pull the two front panels apart.  Inside our card, we put a scented room air freshener, but you could just as easily put a gift card inside.  The daisies on this card are feminine but if you used a more masculine image this would be a great card for a guy because I find that guys love cards that have a mechanical component.  I think this was so fun - contact me if you'd like the measurements or a tutorial.
Peggy

2-21-11 card class project #7

Hi stampers
Well everyone knows that cupcakes are all the rage now.  So I decided to use the cupcake punch on my card.  What is better than cupcakes and chocolate?  NADA!

Isn't it cute?  the layer behind the horizontal punch is really just pink marker used to color the outer edge of the punch - we do not yet have a punch to pair with that punch.  The cupcake on the left is on dimensionals.  Can you see the white gel pen line just inside the edge of the pink label under the cupcake?  Sweet!!

Peggy

2-21-11 card class project #6

Hi stampers!!

I have been a bit under the weather for the last few days and then today I woke up with an awful pain in my upper back/shoulder.  It kinda put me off my game today, so I did not stamp. 
But I did enjoy FINALLY reading a book on my Color Nook which my husband gave me for Christmas.  I have downloaded purchased books from B & N and have thoroughly enjoyed being able to surf blogs from my nook, but I had not yet mastered how to download books from the public library.  After fooling with it for a while last night, I finally succeeded in getting the book downloaded but could not get it onto my nook.  Dave is my "go to" guy about all things electronic so he jumped in to help me.  While he was reading the "how to" guides, I took the opportunity to do my monthly toys and papers swap of my school materials...put away February (ie all things valentine related) and pull out March (shamrocks!!)  This was the right time to do it because it was the warmest part of the day and I was in and out of the car and garage.  I am now ready!!   Eventually Dave was able to tutor me through what I needed to do to get the book on my Nook ....and I spent the rest of the day on the couch with the dog.  The book is really good.....Barbra - about Barbra Streisand.  I have long been a fan of her work but I am hearing how very odd she really was as a new star.   Hope she get more sane by the end of the book!!  My sister would enjoy reading this book though by and large, she is not much of a reader.
ANYWAY,  I realized just a bit ago that I had not posted a card for you for today so here goes....

I don't think my gals cared for this card much, but I like it.  I made if for the daughter of a friend - her daughter just graduated from college.  I plan to put her name on a cloud made from the icing of the cupcake punch and stick it on the top left side of the card.   The banner was made from the segments of the circles from the "Take a spin" stamp set.   I love to use specialized stamps in atypical ways. Can  you see that the blue background is sponged with clouds and the plane is on dimensionals?  The fancy silvery garland is from the Holiday mini.
The box class for tomorrow has been postponed ...it will be rescheduled when I feel more myself.   I appreciate the patience of those who signed up and agreed to postpone.  Hugs to you!!
Peggy

2-21-11 card class project #5

Hi all
Hope you all are enjoying your week. 
Today I have silly little card using one of the SAB sets. 

The ribbon is also a SAB reward....I hope you have earned all the SAB treats you would like.  Contact me for help inputting your order or place it directly through my SU website.
Peggy
peggyouten.stampinup.net

2-21-11 card class project #4

Hi stampers

This is another card from the Monday class.  It is so cheering - makes me feel that spring is on its' way, even though the weather says it is not!!  I think the black rhinestone eye is a simple element that really makes this bird pop.  So glad I stocked up on them before the Holiday mini retired.

Peggy

2-21-11 card class project #3

Hi all
This is a quick little card that shows how you can use a simple image in a repeated pattern to create a lovely card.  This card uses peach parfait and pear pizzazz.

2-21-11 card class project #2

Hi all
Holy cow!!   As I am writing this (Monday night), we are waiting for the arrival of yet more SNOW - enough! I say, ENOUGH!!  When the ladies came to stamp today, I was under the impression that we would be getting under an inch...therefore no more than a delayed opening of school was possible for Tuesday.  BUT the ladies had all stayed on top of the prediction better than me and they informed me that the prediction was changed to 3-6".  When my son got home from work (he works for the local power company) he said, "You aren't going to school tomorrow.  They are calling for 4-6" snow!"  NOOOO!  I have had enough!!  And we are about to embark on 8 consecutive weeks without a holiday - if we are going to get another snow day, I would much rather it come in a couple of weeks when I am desperate for a day off.  Woe is me!!

Well here is a another of the projects from Monday's class.  This beautiful card was tweaked from Mary Fish's project. She used a different color (I used rich razzleberry, isn't that a fun color to say?) and I managed my flower a bit differently than she did.  For mine, I crumpled up the cardstock is a tight ball and then opened it up and separated the two layers from the cardstock.  If you have trouble separating the layers you can either do more crumpling or run a bone folder over the paper several times to break down the fibers.  The reason I did that was that I like the suede-like look of the inside of the cardstock and thought it added a shabbiness to the look.  I also added the antique brad - she had used a button. One of the great things about this card is it encourages you to use up all those small pieces of cardstock that you cannot let yourself throw away but are often too small to use.  Each square is 1 1/4".  What?  You say you don't want to sit and cut up all those little squares?  Well.. see, that is why you should come to my classes.  I DO ALL THE GRUNT WORK!  I pre cut all the papers and I even separated the layers of the flowers for the gals. Don't you wish you had been there too?
Take a look...

Be sure to shoot me your topics for upcoming classes.  I am in the process now of setting my March schedule.  With my son graduating high school this year, I have to be extra careful to plan my commitments.  Don't want to miss a single senior event!!
Be warm!
Peggy
david.outen@verizon.net

2-21-11 card class project #1

Hi all
Here is the first of eight cards we are making at today's class.  This one is so elegant.  I have seen several different variations of this on different blogs so I cannot credit any one in particular as the inspiration, but this set sure makes lovely cards.  What do you think?

Peggy

The ways of life...

Hi all
Well, life does make its' odd twists and turns..and sometimes a situation turns out better than expected.  I planned to have a stampin' session today.  One of the participants called to say she had a issue arise and wouldn't be able to make it and she would connect with me later to get her parts...I suggested that she come on Monday to do the projects instead because we are off of school for President's day.... well that was the beginning of series of phone calls and odd coincidences and the long and short of it is that all the participants are coming on Monday at 2 PM now.  I can take some extra folks so if you want to come on Monday also to make a nice assortment of cards, contact me by 7PM today (Sunday) and I will prep materials for you too.  Maybe this strange twist of events will make a session more convenient for you too...hope to see you with us.  Tomorrow I will start posting the pictures.
Peggy

Meet Shelli Gardner!!

Look at the latest U tube video from Stampin' Up!  Be sure to look closely at all the fabulous projects shown  ...they are all made with card stock, stamps, ink and fabric.

Too cool!   I can help you make these same projects!!  Contact me to set up a workshop or class for you and your friends ..to be held in your home or workplace.  Don't want to have to clean your house for guests?  Hold you event in my stampin playroom!

If you are really eager to get going with this fun craft, try out my stampin class this Sunday at 2 PM..Contact me by Friday night at 7PM to register for this card making class.
Peggy
410-256-6772
david.outen@verizon.net

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends and fellow stampers!!!
Hope you all have enjoyed receiving a little love today from someone important to you.
Here is a picture of the treats I made for my coworkers. These are "in process" as I had not yet added the eyes.

Here is a closeup of the finished love owl.

Each owl had a little candy treat attached - either a valentine lollipop or an Andes candy.

Remember it is SAB time....don't miss out on the wonderful selection of free items to choose from.  Now is also the best time to hostess a workshop.  Book your workshop and we can plan a fun event for you and your friends.
Peggy
david.outen@verizon.net

thanks for the feedback!!

Hi Stampers!!
What was I thinking?!!  I appreciate hearing from yo'al about your sweet Valentine's plans ...and as suggested, I have moved the class to next Sunday, February, 20th instead.  Dave and I like to do our celebrations on the "off" day to avoid the long waits and crowds (we think we get better service on the "off" day) so we will probably not celebrate on the 14th or the 13th, but I get that most of you do.  Notice, I have also posted a class on my SU website for February 27th - we will be making boxes - recipe, card sorter or trinket storage, your choice!

I am also hearing that folks are having trouble posting comments here...that makes me sad because I love to hear from you!!  Makes me feel like someone is out there responding - I know you re looking, I can tell that by my counter on the side!   Thanks for taking the time to email me when you struggle to post here.  I'll try to figure out what the problem is.
Happy V-day!
Peggy
david.outen@verizon.net

Thinking of you

Hi all
I had a fun time tonight trying out a little inspiration I had today with one (actually a combo of two) of the new stamp sets in the mini catalog.  I needed a congratulations card and I think this worked.  I will post it as soon as I get it in the mail to the recipient ...wouldn't want it public before she sees it!!   We will be making it at my stampin session on Sunday.....hope you can join us to play.  If so, I need to hear from you by Friday night at 7PM.  Come play!!
Peggy

heart card - project #7

Hi all,
I just finished writing a report for school tomorrow and I'm not even sure who won the big game...but I think it wasn't the Steelers!!  Saw a brief snippet on a different channel than I am watching and looks to me like the Steelers got beat.  There must be lots of happy Raven's fans!!  I am an occupational therapist so when I saw that Dateline was doing a two hour special tonight on the guy who had to cut off his arm because he was wedged in a canyon, I had to watch.  You know, all that upper extremity stuff and all!

Anyway, I want to show you the final card from my heart class ...This is probably my favorite card from the session.  In part because it was my original idea.  That always feels good!!  Here it is...

This card is such fun!!  I love to use the clear cups - such a fun place to store a treat!!  But I hate to destroy a card to get to the treat....so I always try to find a way to get to the treat without tearing the card.  I did that by die cutting the square scallop with a hinge on top.  You do that by folding the cardstock and putting it on the die just inside the scalloped cut lines on one side.  That gives you scallops on three sides and a hinge on top.  I used the hand held heart punch and punched both layers - you cannot punch them at the same time (it will kill your hand!) so punch one layer and then punch the second layer through that first hole.  I put the candy treat inside the cup (I used cinnamon candy hearts but a chocolate foil-covered heart also fit in the cup) and then put a layer of acetate on the back of the cup.  If you remove the paper strip on the sticky of the lip of the cup, you can attach the acetate directly onto the back of the cup to keep the candy from falling out.  Then I put the cup though the hole in the top layer of the hinged scallop square segment. 

The hole in the bottom layer is so the DSP can show through the cup.  I punched the arrows from the retired my way punch and attached them with brads.  These arrows serve the purpose of closing the scallop square layer.  That way, you can swing the arrows away, open the square scallop, remove the treat and close the card again. Inside here is where you would sign the card as there is no other layer.

The bottom heart is layered basic gray on real red ( I used the hand held punch and the mover and shapers heart for the two layers).  I cut a zig zag in the heart and sponged that and the edges with gray and then inserted the larger arrow into the zig zag.(Cupid!)  The white gel pen was used to do the "dotting".  Hope you love it!!   I really like the masculine feel of the card - the big bold gray X's, the chunky arrows and the "mechanical" part of the swinging arrows and the hinged layer.   My guys love mechanical cards.!!!
Thanks for stopping by...would love to hear what you think about my card!!
Peggy
david.outen@verizon.net

heart card - project #6

Hi Stampers!!

Well it is late at night/early in the morning here and I am just now getting to posting the sixth project from my last class.  I was distracted with another project today - making the valentine treats for my coworkers.  I hope to post a picture of those in a few days...I will probably keep them under wraps until I give them out so as not to spoil the surprise for the coworkers who check my blog. 
The final two projects from my last class are probably my favorite two projects.
Here is your look-see for today......

Isn't it pretty?  I hope you can tell that there is lots of dry embossing on here.  The background is dry embossed with a textured impressions folder and each of the hearts is dry embossed with a different textured impressions folder.  The other day I told you.. I am hooked on the textured embossing folders right now!! 
This card is tweaked from one I found on the internet and I am bummed that I cannot give you the persons name.  I am still hunting for it.  Sometimes when I print pictures from the internet the person's blog addy is there and sometimes it is just jubberish, so I will have to post to one of my groups and see if anyone can help me find the name of the person who deserves mentioning.  This is a great card to mass produce because you can do it easily in stages - punch out all those hearts, pre tie the bows with the brad centers, dry emboss, stamp and sponge, then assemble.  I should mention that I did punch the hearts first and then dry embossed several at once, rather than dry emboss the cardstock and then punch the hearts out.  I felt that I could conserve cardstock better by punching them out first.  Do you have a sweetie that deserves a great card like this?
I hope you are taking advantage of Saleabration now...with each $50 (subtotal) of your order, you get to choose one of the free gifts (and there are LOTS of choices!!).   You can place your order through me directly or through my website (peggyouten.stampinup.net)   If you, or you and your friends, place a hostess order (at least a $150 subtotal) you would earn three free SAB gifts plus the hostess free $15 in merchandise and a level 1 hostess gift (or more).  What a great way to get the most from you dollars! 
Ever thought about getting the demo discount for yourself while also getting special gifts...now is the time to join with me ....whether you want to make your demonstratorship a business or just enjoy a discount on all your purchases.  Contact me so I can answer your questions.
Check  back tomorrow for a special valentine/heart card with a very different look!!

Peggy

heart card - project #5

Hi Stampers
Today I want to show you a fun little card from the heart class. 

What's fun about it?  Well, first, I sometimes like to make cards that are atypical shapes - this one is not so very unusual, but it is different than the usual A2 card.  The base was made from a piece of  6 x 6 cardstock which was folded to be 3 x 6.  I like that because it can be mailed in a standard bill paying envelope. The "jumping for joy" of this card comes from the heart and circle Love Impressions DSP background.  The card stock colors were chosen to match that paper - Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette.  I promised the ladies to work hearts into every project so it was a no-brainer that the cherries on the cupcakes had to become hearts.  Easy.  To make those hearts pop without making them 3D, I toned down the other colors.  Used a metallic silver pen for the stand and sahara sand for the cupcake papers.  The pink icing came from the DSP paper, pink pirouette.  I chose a greeting but it was quite long and would not fit onto the card front so I had the gals stamp it twice - first, one part of the greeting and then, the second part on a separate piece of c/s.  Then the greeting parts were punched out using the modern label punch and the edges were sponged.  Those two parts were layered on an X lg decorative label punch.  Sweet, huh?
Peggy

heart card - project #4

Hi Stampers!

What is the weather doing in your neighborhood?  Are we all eager for spring..yes ..Yes..YES!!  I had to laugh..the other day I had a lady here to talk about her wedding favors...we were kicking around some ideas to match her theme and looking at the many die cut boxes I have.  She expressed fatigue with the weather and said she was heading to the beach  for the weekend.  Her future in laws live in Salisbury and she was taking the opportunity to spend the rest of the weekend in sand in OC ..no snow.  What made me laugh is that just a short time ago, she had headed off to Utah to ski!  I guess she is a woman of many seasons!
Here is today's project ....

Let me point out a few of the special elements in this card.  The medallion on the card was made using two of SU's scallop circle punches.  When I layered the hugs and kisses stamped scallop circle on the rose red scallop circle layer, it looked a bit plain to me.  So... I used a 1/8" circle punch and punched around the design where the mini circles were stamped.  That allowed the rose red cardstock to show through the holes, then I dotted inside each circle with a white gel pen.  I like that.  I wanted the card to have a girly look to it, so decided to add some doo dads.  I did that by using the white gel pen around the edge of the larger scallop circle ...squiggles and dots.  Of course, the bottom of the card front is done with DSP so I added a punched edge.  That design did not show very well against the pink pirouette card base so I added a strip of the rose red cardstock to the inside of the card at the bottom edge - that allows the punched design to pop!  Nice!  The two black strips were added to add a bit of contrast. Again simple but loving.  Hope this gives you some ideas to try.
Peggy

heart card - project #3

Hi Stampers
As I am writing this, we are home yet again for weather reasons....except we don't really seem to have bad weather.  Very frustrating!  We all love to stay at home, all warm and cozy, when the snow is falling like crazy, but when we get jerked around by Mother Nature, we just want to scream!  Chances are, at this rate,  we will be going to school right into next year!  Of course, my son is enjoying this quite a lot.   He is a senior in high school and will be "done" long before we start the make up days.  I fear he will get up in June and July just to laugh at me as I drive off to school. Oh well!
Today I am showing you another "heart, but not necessarily valentine, card."  Sweet and simple.

The picture seems to block out the bottom layer which is certainly celery.  Cheerful card for a dreary day.  Hope your day is full of joyful hearts too.
Peggy

heart card - project #2

Hi Stampers
Hope you all are safe and sound and warmly nestled in your homes.
Here is another card from our class. 

This fun card was inspired by one made by my upline, Sandy.  I don't like to just copy others ideas - I like to work an idea with a bit with my own style, so I changed it up a smidge.  I like the way it turned out.  This card hinges at the top.  Can you tell that the rose red cardstock has been put through the Big Shot in the polka dot textured embossing folder?  Told you I am hooked on those folders!!  One of the fun little parts of this card is that I put both the flower stamp and the stem stamp on the same clear block.  We inked them up using spots and then stamped them at the same time....no need to align the stamps as they are already aligned on the block.  The gals had a choice of 3 greeting stamps to use so they could select one that suited them.  Hope you like this idea.
Have you looked at the free SAB sets and embellishments yet?
Peggy