Yes and no... you can create a link to create new outlook items but at the very least, a stub of outlook is runnng in the background. If you are composing email, outlook needs to be fully opened to send it, but it will work fine for everything else.
From
Command lines switches for outlook, you want to use the /c messageclass switch - the shortcut will look like this:
"C:\Program files\full\path\to\Outlook.exe" /c ipm.stickynote
or take the easy route and use quickicons instead -
http://www.sunflowerhead.com/software/quickicons/ - it creates quicklaunch icons but you can move them as needed.
note that with Outlook 2010 and Windows 7, you can right click on thedefault outlook shortcut and create new items from the jump list menu. (I have it pinned to my taskbar so its easy to use, not that i have outlook closed often.)