Making Valentine’s Day Cards with Coworkers

As you may already know, I have two full-time jobs – and I absolutely love both of them! During the day, I’m Director of Corporate Accounting for Cox Enterprises – a large, privately-owned company that operates successful media companies (cable, TV, radio and newspapers) all over the United States and automobile services (Manheim Auctions, AutoTrader.com and Kelley Blue Book) all over the world. At night (and weekends), I create and share paper projects as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. These jobs (one is right-brained, and one is left-brained) constantly exercise both sides of my brain – what fun!

On Friday, I hosted a quick-and-easy class in our department’s conference room so that my team members and other members of our department could pop-in and make a quick Valentine’s Day card for someone they love. My coworkers know I make cards but don’t know much about what that means, so I showed them. I set up an hour on their calendars and invited them to drop-in at any time during the hour.

Here’s the quick-and-easy card we made:

Heartfelt Love Notes Paper Pumpkin Kit, Stampin' Up!, Brian King, Valentine's Day cardThere were two designs – same project with just some of the colors switched out. All of the cards were designed with a Soft Sky base and Soft Sky panel for the sentiment, but some of the cards were framed with Dapper Denim, while others were framed with Berry Burst. That way, people could choose the card that best suited the person they wanted to give their artwork to. Novel idea!

I shared a variety of my recent Valentine’s Day cards with my new stampers and lined up all of the card bases and coordinating pieces on the credenza in the conference room. Here’s a look at the all the card pieces:

Valentine's Day cards at work, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingI set up the conference room table in stations, so the card creators could make their way around the table to complete each step of the card. Once team members selected the card base they wanted to use as the starter for their card from the credenza, they made their way to the table:

Valentine's Day cards at work, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingThey started at the station in the lower right of the picture above where they stamped the sentiment (from a recent Paper Pumpkin kit) on Soft Sky cardstock and punched it out with the Everyday Label punch. I haven’t worked with brand new stampers in a while, so it was fun to show them how to ink (LIGHTLY tap) and stamp. I encouraged them to test out their sentiment on the grid paper before stamping onto the cardstock. Ryan was A-OK with this premise:

Valentine's Day cards at work, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingIt was also fun to guide them through punching out their sentiment – always a fun thing for new stampers.

After they stamped and punched their sentiment, they moved to the next station where they stamped the band of their card with hearts. Because some bands were blue and others were pink, I gave them VersaMark ink to lightly add the texture of hearts to their project – there would be no stamping into the wrong ink pad in my quick-and-easy class. 🙂

The card makers continued around the table, snipping banners, gluing down the elements and popping up the sentiment and base panel with Stampin’ Dimensionals. As one person finished a task, he or she walked the next person through what they did – the students quickly became the teachers. Yasmeen showed Rosie how to apply SNAIL and Dimensionals to the layers of her card:

Valentine's Day cards at work, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingMost walked in with anticipation that they couldn’t make a card, but they all left happy with what they made. Here are some of their smiling faces and the cards they created:

Maureen created her own design, while Kyna followed the example I shared:

Valentine's Day cards at work, Stampin' Up!, Brian King

Ryan and Sean didn’t stray at all from the sample – they joked about making a card the entire time, but I think both of their cards turned out wonderful. Someone needs to show Sean how to fold his card so it will fit in the envelope:Valentine's Day cards at work, Stampin' Up!, Brian King

I didn’t even have to ask Janet to pose with her card. She just stood there and smiled until I ran over with my phone:Valentine's Day cards at work, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingSusan and I have a mutual friend who is a customer of mine, but I think this is the first time she’s made a card: Valentine's Day cards at work, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingIt was fun to share stamping with my coworkers, and I’m happy they’ll be able to share their creations with their loved ones. None of these folks will turn into avid card makers (I like the separation I have between my two jobs), but I was happy to share this bit of me with them.

The sentiment on this card is from the Heartfelt Love Notes Paper Pumpkin Kit, and the black-and-white panels are from the Sew You Paper Pumpkin Kit (I ordered several refills of this kit a couple of years back – this was a great time to use them). Sounds like a good time to remind you how you can earn Sale-a-Bration items with Prepaid Paper Pumpkin Subscriptions. 🙂

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Stamp Sets: Heartfelt Love Notes Paper Pumpkin Kit, Heart Happiness  Papers: Soft Sky, Dapper Denim, Berry Burst, Whisper White, Sew You Paper Pumpkin Kit (black-and-white background paper)  Inks: Archival Basic Black, VersaMark  Accessories: Everyday Label Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian

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60 Comments

  1. What a lovely thing you did. I’m sure all your co-workers loved it!
    I’d like a job with your company please!

  2. Wow! It’s amazing to me that after working two jobs, you still have enough brain power left to create. I’d be brain dead! LOL! It is so cool what you did for your co-workers. It might be the only time some of them will get to make a card. I think what you did is just amazing.

    • Wow. Thanks, Terri! It was fun for the two worlds to collide for a bit, but I’m mostly happy to have a clear line between them. I appreciate your comments.

  3. And I especially love the smiles! Your magic continues to the workplace. I love this, however: there would be no stamping into the wrong ink pad in my quick-and-easy class. ?

  4. So fun, love the idea.

  5. It looks like everyone had fun! I love the simple card design they all made. This actually gives me a great idea to prep a little stamping with my own kids. They always want to stamp with me (but that’s MY time hehe). Happy Sunday:)

    • Have fun with it! It’s fun to share with others – your kids might really have fun. If nothing else, it gives them a peek into your other world. 🙂

  6. How awesome that your co workers got a break in their day for such a fun and creative task. I bet they were thrilled with their cards! I’m impressed even the guys were enthusiastically participating. It was so fun of you to share that part of your life with them. Thanks for sharing the results of your pop up card event with us.

    • Thanks so much, Traci! We really had a lot of fun (although I suspect I enjoyed it more than some of them did). I was so happy so many were willing to play along. <3

  7. Totally fun! Looks like everyone is smiling and having a great time! Cute card too!

  8. What a great idea to organize a stamp event at work. Don’t you love taking pictures of people with their first creations? Looks like they had fun AND felt creative. Lots of good organization on your part.

  9. I like your design and might just have to make a few of those. Last night I was cutting out a few to share with my coworkers at work tomorrow. I have done this before and it was very entertaining to watch my men co-workers stamp a card. Some of them were pretty good at it too. Always fun to share what “we” love.

    • Thanks, Leah! I’d say there was an even balance between the men and women who were stamping for the first time. It’s always fun to watch people see that they CAN create. <3

  10. Gosh Brian, I am so impressed that as a supervisor you would take the time to make something fun for the employees you oversee! I wish I had worked for you before I retired! What you did is basically what I do at the nursing home once or twice a year. I am not allowed to share photos of the residents but I can tell you that you can’t wipe the smiles off their faces when they finish their cards. I love the card and I love that you take the time to share your talents. Thank you so much.

  11. What a kind and fun thing to do Brian! Thanks for spreading love in the world. <3

  12. A lot of smiling co-workers….must have warmed your heart. Very nice thing to do.

  13. Brian your message today made me smile a lot and laugh out loud about Sean needing to be taught how to fold his card. What a great random act of thoughtfulness to set up this project. This Paper Pumpkin sentiment is perfect for a card for anyone you love. Great thinking!

    • 🙂 So glad you liked the write-up, Katrina! We had a lot of fun. I’m glad you like the card – I agree that this sentiment was perfect. It wasn’t mushy and could be used for any kind of card. <3

  14. Love this and reading how you guided them through. Now that I know there is a way to prevent “stamping in the wrong ink pad”, I might host one!

  15. That was a great idea to share with your co-workers. I’m sure they loved it.

  16. No wonder you are the King! Your subjects probably had the best time creating a card. At first, I thought, oh no – no guys took advantage but then there they are! Smiling with no frowns! Plus you even gave us a good tip about the ink pad business. I was at an event and the one woman, a stamper of many years, cross contaminated the pad not once but 4 times (2 cards and 2 envelopes). The people after her couldn’t figure out what was wrong until the demo saw a smudge of the wrong color on the edge of the pad. I had to smile, I just cut up those cards from that PP kit so I had two front pieces to use on some valentines. I also stitched the YOU in red but I added them to some little treat bags adding a stamped FOR above the You and added some stamped hearts. Thanks for sharing this session with us! Loved it!

    • Thanks so much, Chris! We had a lot of fun. I’m glad I could share stamping with my coworkers and that I could then, in turn, share them with you. A fun time was had by all. <3

  17. Way to build that team, B! It looks like everyone had a great time, no sorrows, no regrets ! Fabulous idea and oh-so-much fun!

  18. Well done, Brian!

  19. Looks like a lot of fun and card making adventure !! Thanks for sharing this with us !

  20. What a great way to show off what you do. I had never thought of doing a production line with stations. That might be something different for my next class.

    Just love your ideas and your blogs.

    Have an awesome week.

    • Thanks so much, Donna! In my club meetings and classes, we all stay put and pass the supplies around. Since these were all newbies, I thought the stations would be best! Thanks for your comments! <3

  21. They look like they are having so much fun and I am sure they appreciate you! Great idea!

  22. What a great idea! They all look like they were having fun- even the guys!! But who wouldn’t at a Brian King event! What a great way to use up those extras.

  23. Super lovely idea, Brian! What a nice way to break up a work day. Leave it to you, to get them going. WOW! I wish I worked there! What fun! 🙂

  24. Thanks for sharing a bit about your day job! Looks like a group of fun people.

    Love ❤️ that you did this for them.

  25. Louise (Cartes Mamilou)

    How sweet and thoughtful! You’re the best. Love reading about the process too, very informative. And I too want a job at your company…. funny little fact: my MIL maiden name is COX……

  26. How awesome! Love this idea and love your card design Brian.

  27. What a great idea! All your prep time was well worth having everything go smoothly. Loved your idea about using Versa Mark for the small hearts…no cross stamping! Everyone was happy about that!! Great job of spreading your love of paper crafting to them and to us. Have a wonderful day!

  28. Oh my goodness, you are so sweet, Brian … what a great idea! Besides getting to take home a handmade card for a special someone, it had to have the extra benefit of being a team building event as well! Awesome!

  29. I remember teaching a few family members about stamping and letting them make a few cards. My aunt did not want to give her card away that she had made– she told me so. : ) I wonder how many of your participants actually gave their cards away. : ) Thanks for sharing, Brian!

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