Bats in my belfry

Hi all
Just a quick note to say hi and I'll be back soon- we have been running like crazy folks with the band and our final performance is just ten days away. Yesterday, we put together an outdoor picnic for the band - hot dogs, beans, snacks, cake, hot chocolate, sodas and the most yummy yummy yummy CRAB SOUP!!! It has been a new tradition for our group to have Maryland Crab Soup when we tailgate with the band. We could not tailgate this year due to limited facilities at the competition site, but we didn't want to miss out on our fun with the kids. This picnic was our pseudo tailgate! In fact, they named it halloween-gate! Thanks to Barb and Charlie, we had their soup again ...delish!! Their son is a senior so this is his last year in marching band and Barb was sweet enough to hand down the particulars of what she did to make the tailgating work, along with her recipe ...to me! I am going to do everything in my power to keep the traditon going next year. I was delighted to also receive two huge containers of the soup - it was a hit back home, for sure! After we did the picnic, my gang snapped into action to assemble treat bags for the kids which they recieved at the end of practice. I whipped two halloween wheels across some lunch bags and we walked around depositing candies in the bags til all the candy was divvied out. This weekend we are free - thank heaven! 'cuz I have been going through stampin withdrawal but we will be playing on Sunday, making thanks and thanksgiving projects. Thanks for your patience while I support my sons efforts in band. Soon I will get back to posting more projects - the ideas are in my head, I just need time to get them made up!
Hope your tick or treat bags are full of your favorite treats!!
I should remind you that the final deal of the week ends on Saturday - pirate and princess kits! I'll bet you know a kid who would love to have these for his/her party!
Peggy

Fourth and final October Deal of the week

The Stampin Up! deal of the week for October 26 until 11:50 PM on Halloween, Oct 31st is
116214 p 174 Princess Party kit usually 15.95, now only 9.99
116213 p 175 Pirate Party kit, usually 15.95, now only 9.99

These are great birthday party kits but are just as appropriate for bridal or bachelor parties. Use the items to create cards or scrapbook pages too. Call me or order online at http://peggyouten.stampinup.net

Townhouse

Hi all
Have to post quickly again...it is almost time to leave to pick up my son and his date from the Homecoming Dance. We had a fun pre-dance gathering at the home of one of my son's friends. The poor mom was only expecting a few people but it turned out to be lots more - including lots of moms and dads who wanted to snap pictures of the couples. It was very warming for me to see so many kids who clearly have families that are involved with their kids and are making good times for them while keeping tabs on the kids at the same time. But I did manage to get a few minutes to make this little treat box - isn't it dear? There is a battery operated light inside so it looks like someone is at home. Of course it is made with SU cardstock and designer paper. A bit of frosted (non SU) vellum is in the window.
Enjoy!!
Peggy

Boo Eyes!!!

Hi all
This spooky card was inspired by one posted on the demonstrator side of the Stampin' Up! website. The original design was made by Tammy Nowatzki. Of course, I tweaked the design a bit - added the button letters and used my modern label punch and word window to stamp the word on the kiwi kiss base card. This is a great example of how you can make a seasonal card even if you don't have a stamp set specifically dedicated to a particular holiday.
Tonight was our homecoming game and parade and the kids marched in spite of the drizzly rain. I snapped several shots of my son and his snare drum but my camera was on the wrong setting so the pictures are not great. rats! I did not have my blow up glasses with me so I couldn't find the correct setting. Old eyes! bummer!!
Tomorrow night is the homecoming dance so our consecutive busy nights continue uninterrupted! One of these days I'll get to rest - probably when I get the flu! One of my students was on tv the other night from the hospital where they had confirmed she has H1N1. Great! Hope you all are staying well. Now go wash you hands!!! Ha!
Peggy

bat treat

Hi all
Busy busy busy ...but I wanted to post a simple little treat you might like to make and fill with treats for your Halloween goblins. All it takes is card stock, two circle punches, and a white gel pen. Quick ...but cute!!
Marching band will eventually end (waaa!) and then I will be back to posting more involved projects..in the meantime, I'm prepping for homecoming this weekend, our upcoming halloween celebration for the band members, and our band showcase performance. Did I tell you the kids got a first place trophy last weekend? We were so proud!
Peggy

Here are some great Stampin Up! deals of the week!!

Week 3 Deals of the Week

Oct 19,2009 / Oct 26, 2009~ 9:50am ( MT)see page 179

#114348 Basic Jumbo Grommets $4.49, usually 6.95

#109857 Mini Library clips $8.99, usually 12.95

#112571 Circle Designer brads $ 3.95, usually 5.95

# 112581 1/2" Library clips $ 3.99 usually 6.95

You can order these directly through my demonstrator business website

http://stampinpegcadillo.blogspot.com

or by contacting me via email or phone!

project preview

Hi all,
Well, the weekend has flown by and now it is time to head back to work. I was feeling mighty sad about not seeing my gals lately for an afternoon of stampin' so I have tweaked my schedule and will be doing a stampin session on Thursday night at 7PM. Thought you might enjoy a sneak peak at one of the projects we will be doing. This cute little ornament is made using a wedding favor tin. The background mat was dry embossed using the Big Shot (my all time favorite toy!). Hope you will be able to join us for this mini session - we will NOT be doing 8 projects as usual since it is a week night and we all need to be home by the time the street lights go on (whoops! flash back to my childhood!!). Let me know by Wednesday night at 7PM if you plan to join us. We will be making holiday goodies - AT LEAST one halloween, one thanksgiving and this one for christmas...plus more.
Peggy

Quick shout out!

Hi all
Just a quick post today...we are headed to yet another band event so I have to post quickly. We have been sooo busy - Tuesday night we had a productive visit to career night at the high school - I think we have formed a great plan for John for after he graduates high school next year. Wednesday night was band practice and the meeting of the parents of students in the class of 2011 - to talk about fundraisers! Yikes!! I feel like all we do is fundraisers for the band and now we need to do it to prepare for the prom for the class of 2011!!

Thursday night was the chick fil a night fundraiser and John's concert where I sold birchwood roses to benefit the band boosters. They were very well received and I think if we hold the sales at each band event we will net a nice profit. Of course the engraved roses were VERY popular.
I want to shout out for all the lovely cards and emails I received for my birthday. Surprisingly enough even though we ate the fast food dinner and I stood on my feet all night selling flowers, it really was a fun birthday. Especially when this pictured group of "performers" (the drumline! ) came to sing happy birthday to me in the lobby. Too funny - we know why they play the drum instead of being in the chorus - but to me it sounded divine. Aren't they handsome! Some of you will notice that my own son is not in the group. He was off putting equipment on the stage....so I'm told!! Later in the evening, his new little girlfriend coaxed him into singing to me. Sorry the picture is blurry - my sister is still trying to figure out her new phone features. Last night I spent a good deal of time on my feet again at the band boosters basket bingo. I think we did well - the room sure looked full and there was lots of food, beverages, raffles and special game cards bought! Long, but fun, night. As I said at the beginning, Dave and I are headed out to the next performance in spite of the rain, rain, rain. We are told the kids will play standing still inside instead of performing the field show outside in the rain (yeah! it is about 40 degress out there!). Hope the rain stops, as tomorrow is our local halloween parade - the band will not participate if it is raining - and without the band there is not much of a parade!!!
Look forward to coming home tonight to continue watching the full set of West Wing DVDs that my hubby gave me for my birthday - great gift (my favorite show!) I can enjoy for hours - SITTING DOWN!
So thanks again for the well wishes - cards, emails, and comments on the blog. Love em all!!
Peggy

Part 2 Holiday Stamp a stack, fifth & final project

Hi all,
Another card inspired by Kerin Sylvester. She seemed to have brayed her "blue". Since I didn't want to freak out my "brayer phobics" (you know who you are!! tee hee!) I used brocade blue cardstock. We stamped the trees and the sleigh in Basic black ink on the brocade blue c/s then stamped the beginning of the "team" on a punched white circle in black. The circle is then attached to the brocade card stock so it matches up with the black image. The excess of the circle was trimmed off the top to fit the card. Glitter highlights the stars around the sleigh team. Clouds were daubed on using craft white ink and a plastic template. Silver cording was wrapped around the fold and the stars were threaded on and knotted. Nice! I did all of the cutting and planning...all the gals had to do was stamp and assemble. You should have been with us!! So far my awesome gals have 40 completed holiday cards and it isn't even Halloween yet! They will do 20 more new ones in November..hope you are there too!! I have scheduled one session but will gladly add another to help you and your friends get ready for the holidays. Check out my Stampin Up! website for the dates of my holiday tag class too.
Nighty Night
Peggy

part 2 Holiday stamp a stack, project #4

Oh wow! I am not absolutely positive who to credit with design. I THINK it is tweaked from Paula Goff..but I might be wrong on that. If anyone knows for sure, correct me please. This card uses gold metallic paper - I always use that sparingly as an accent as it is a bit more expensive than the regular cardstock. I don't always think to pull out my classy brass stencils so I really enjoyed using it to punch the holes around the circle. I pulled out a retired stamp for the greeting as I thought this card would serve my gals better with a "neutral" greeting instead of a Merry Christmas. Pretty huh?
I am pre-posting this card in advance - by the time you read it, it will be the big day for Chic fil a night to benefit the band, the night of the fall concert and the debut of my birchwood rose sale to benefit the band program ..oh and my birthday. Can you figure out why I am posting in advance? I will be exhausted on Thrusday night!! For sure!! Hope you have a pleasant evening!!
Nighty Night
Peggy

part 2 holiday stampt a stack, project 3

Hi all,

I am presenting four views of this original card, designed by me for this class. I used an accucut die cut twist card, trimmed the center panel to fit the images from the Holy
Triptych stamp set. The images are all embossed in white ep. I used the new shimmer paint to highlight the angel wings, halos and star(they show up better in the flat pictures). This was a really quick card with minimal "coloring" and when it stands up it is quite lovely. Can you tell that there is an open space on either side of the main image? And to top it off, when folded shut this card fit into a regular bill paying envelope. Handy, huh?
Nighty night
Peggy

Part Holiday stamp a stack, project 2

Hi all
This lovely card uses DSP that was retired last year - I don't usually like to use blue for Christmas but the tone of this blue is soft and cheerful - not like the dreary dark blue lights that haunt some homes at Christmas. Kerin Sylvester inspired this card. Her card had a heavier tone with dark red and chocolate chip(where I used blue). I am crazy for certainly celery so I lightened up the tone with that for the joy ornament and used real red instead of rose red. I love the way the eyelet border punch looks - and how it gave a sneaky little place to attach the ends of the strings.
Again we had a glitch with the 4 x 3 but this time it was my fault - I mistakenly stuck the pre-cut white cardstock for the ornaments into the wrong folder so the gals struggled a bit til we figured out my whoops! No harm, no foul.
Nighty Night
Peggy

Part 2 - Holiday Stamp a Stack, project 1

Hi all.
Sorry about the light in this picture ..clearly, I am not a photographer!
This card was inspired by Dianne Shiozaki who stamped her card in green, white and red while I chose to use DSP, rose red, kraft and chocolate chip. I do not have the snowflake punch that Dianne used so I went back into my retired punches and whipped out this "negative" punch where what you punch is removed from the paper and tossed, creating a window in the tag. There is a circle of chocolate chip behind the window. This is a quick card once you have die cut the tags - did you notice that the kraft tag has the border beyond the perforation removed? The DSP is double sided and each piece is 2 x 4. We had a great group of women today - young mom's with growing families. They are all friends so the conversation was as lively as the stampin! Loved having you ladies ...hope to see you again soon
Nighty Night
Peggy

Some chatter and 2 firsts!!

Hi all
Well, we had a great stampin session today with some awesome ladies....we were definitely stampin up a storm!! 20 cards each!
One of my long time super-talented stampers/downline has been dealing with her husband's recovery after a recent motocycle accident. I know she enjoyed the silly banter and time away from those stressors for a few hours. She deserved some fun after the challenges of her recent weeks. Another of my super stamper/downline came in a bit jittery; she had one of those mornings that can put you off your tempo. Once she threw herself into her cards, she gradually got back into her usual groove and regained her centered self. She left smiling (and with a template for clouds - she loved the way we added clouds to one of the cards. I know she will do something fabulous with that template - and I know she will share it with us!). One of our ladies has a creeky body but she pushed past her aches and pains while she stamped and brought us up to date on the latest about her world traveling grandson. Hi Josh!!! Two of the ladies giggled over 3 x 4 versus 4 x 3 - they knew they needed twelve ornaments but boy did we get confused for a minute on where the 12th one went. Some of us are just not into math! One of our stampers had to miss the session at the last minute but I tag teamed with her mother in law (a lovely lady who is often traveling back and forth to her mom's home out of state to support her mom as she confronts cancer.) and we got all their cards done. So what is the point? My ladies are the perfect illustration of the heart of stampers. As much as we all enjoy the pleasure of creating great projects we can share, what we really value is all the chatter and support that piles up on the table along with the snips of paper and the waxy red backing strips. These gals are wonderful ladies! They would gladly welcome you into the group as well. Hope you will think about joining us, whether you are a "newbie" or a seasoned stamper. There is a place at the table just waiting for you.
I'm looking forward to my repeat session tomorrow (really, later today) with another vivacious group of women. Stamp on!
My stampin class was followed by dinner at Red Robin - Dave wanted to go there because it is near where we get the dog's food. Each time we buy a big bag of dog food we tell Remy, "OK Rem - you can stay another month." Nutty dog!
Dave didn't know that Red Robin had sent me a coupon for a free burger for my birthday. They were gracious enough to let me switch it to a different meal as I really cannot do big burgers on big buns with my dietary restrictions. I got my favorite salad and Yum! I brought half of it home - my lunch on Monday will be fab, too! They even brought me a little sundae (which I tasted and then shared with my boys - too many carbs!!) and the obligatory public birthday song. I have been celebrated! Good thing, 'cause on my actual birthday, I will be having dinner at Chic fil A - another band fund raiser. The highlight of the evening was my younger son's milestone - he had his first date. My guys are definitely growing up. I know some mom's get teary at such moments - sad that their baby's are growing up - but I am mostly grateful that I am here to see each milestone reached. I am grateful to the heavens above that my guys are good guys!
Tomorrow I hope to start posting the cards from today's holiday stamp a stack - still need to compress and upload and all that jazz. I haven't forgotten to share with you - I promise
Before I head to bed I wanted to give a shout out to my newest blog follower...from Australia!!! I love it each time someone chooses to sign on as a follower and when I can, I try to send off a welcome. But when I found out that my most recent follower made me an international blogger, I gave myself a whoo hoo. Not sure how Bridget found my little blog but I'm happy to have her...as well as each of you silent viewers!! If you are a lurking stamper, let me know you are out there so I can give you a shout out too!!! Nuff said, I'm off to bed!!
Nighty Night
Peggy

halloween hello!

Hello all!!
I want to thank yo'al who called or emailed to check in on me, asking if I am okay during my little posting lapse. I am fine ...just wickedly busy. Tomorrow and Sunday I am having part two of my holiday greeting card stamp a stack sessions (part three will be in November!). Prepping for them is a tremendous amount of work. I have never quantified just how much work these take but one of my gals asked me how many pieces I had to cut. Hmmmm ... interesting question. This time we are doing five designs (which I will be posting this week) and the gals are doing four of each card. There are about 31 pieces per person to cut so I have cut nearly 1500 pieces..yeah! that would be why you haven't been hearing from me. Throw in there John's short incident of fever with his head cold - not flu like everyone fears (which made him miss 1 1/2 days of school - there goes years of perfect attendance!) and all the band events we are prepping for - there has barely been time to breathe. I am responsible for selling birchwood memento roses to benefit the band on Oct 15th at John's next band concert (regular band, not marching)...which happens to fall on my birthday. That is also Chick fil a night for the band. I am helping out at a basket bingo event next Friday, again to benefit the marching band ( I love the marching band!!) and if any of you are free on Oct 16th, we'd love to have you join us. The fee is$15 and tickets can be bought at the door. Contact me for details. Let's see ... we have a band competition next week, two parades, ..whew!!! I think you can see why I have been missing in action. My sons are soo important to me and I don't want to miss a single opportunity to support their efforts. High school years fly by so quickly that in a flash they will both be out and mom will have time to clean house or what ever. For now, they come first. So thanks for your concern ...hope I haven't lost you during my lapse.
Today I am posting a little halloween project - using the circle punch and the Sweet Centers stamp set. Gotta hit the hay...the gals will be here to stamp before you know it!!
Nighty Night
Peggy

Shhh Baby Sleeping!

Hi all
Quick before I hit the hay I wanted to post this sweet little door knob hanger that I made for a coworker whose baby shower was today. Unfortunately, I am not at that school on Monday so I missed the festivities. Hope they enjoyed the party favors I made and posted last week! I got the inspiration for this project from the wonderful Angie Tieman. When I saw her top note die door hanger I just knew one day I would want to make one, too. Today was the day! My version combined the top note die (made with chipboard, cardstock and designer paper) with the scallop circle die, cut twice and offset to make the circle pop a bit. The Brushstroke alphabet is a retired stamp set but it is one of my favorite alphabet sets and I use if often.
The seats of my two Holiday card classes are filling up fast. Be sure to contact me PDQ if you want to attend...deadline is Wednesday. I have already cut all the parts for two of the five cards ...try to imagine cutting all the cardstock so each person can make 4 of the same card! I am burning up my white cardstock!! We will have fun, as always!
Nighty night
Peggy

lookie what I got!!!

Look at the lovely card I received from my friend and downline, Terry!! Isn't she a wonderful stamper!?!? Terry puts love in every card she makes. I'm honored to receive it! Can you tell that she hand cut each flower and leaf set? I'll bet you could use her plan and make a great card too! Email me a compressed jpeg and I'd be happy to post your card too.
thanks Terry!
Peggy

Getting to Know you project #2

Hi all
Sorry the angle on this shot created a bit of shine but hopefully you can see what I tried to accomplish with this gift bag. I used a standard brown lunch bag, a folded piece of white cardstock which was punched with the eyelet border punch. This image is from the Autumn Days set and coordinates with the card I posted yesterday. There is a layer of soft suede cardstock on the white cardstock and the wide oval punch was used to cut the dusty durango and crushed curry cardstock.
The scalloped oval punch was used on white cardstock after the stem was stamped. I attached the folded white cardstock to the front of the bag but left the back loose, so the bag can be opened again and again. Want to make this bag? come to my next open house event.

Peggy

Getting to Know You project #1

Hi all,

On Monday night I opened my stamp room as an Open House. Thanks for those who stopped by to drop off orders or pick up ones that had already arrived. Unfortunately, no one was able to stay long enough to make this card I had prepared. Perhaps I will use this for my next Open House session - you cannot see what is trully special about this card but the smaller layers in the center of the card were actually cut from the curry and the soft suede layer. This is a great strategy to keep your card light so the postage demand isn't crazy and is efficient use of your cardstock. Want to see how it was done? Visit my next open house session.
Peggy

Baby Shower favors #4

Hi all

Last one! This sheep was made using the five petal flower punch, the wide oval punch, and the small oval punch. The white gel pen was used for the eyes.

Peggy