Guest Designer Week 25 Day Four

Happy Thursday!  Thanks for all of the lovely comments yesterday.  I wonder if any of you have made some "peachy paper" - it's a lot of fun to do!

I have another simple idea to share today.  While considering all of the ways I could use the Peachy Keen stamps I noticed a couple of bags of flowers in my craftroom and thought they could use some "peachifying!"  I made a card with flower faces and also decorated some candy for a treat bag.  I'll tell you about the card here and you can see the directions for the treat bag on my blog, Capadia Designs.

The flowers I had were from an Imaginisce build-a-flower kit I bought a few years ago.  They have a hole in the center so you can layer the flowers together with a brad.  When stamping the faces on the flowers, I aimed to have the nose fall in the circle.  Then I could add a gem to cover the hole and make a new nose.

For this card I cut a layer at 4 x 4 inches for the top of the A2 card and a piece 4 x 2 inches for the "grass" at the bottom.  I used a Martha Stewart icicle punch to create the grassy.edge.

The flowers were easy to stamp - I used StazOn ink and had no problems with spreading of the ink on the fabric of the flower.  Just be sure to use a light touch - you do not have to press down hard with these stamps.  I layered the flowers together with glue dots and added a tiny green gem for the "nose."

Once I had my flowers stamped and assembled, I cut some ribbon lengths for the stems.  I also cut a "get well" sentiment with the Cuttlebug "Everyday Greetings" combo die. 

I adhered the stems and flowers before adding the grass layer.

I have found that Scor-Tape is the best adhesive for attaching ribbon securely. It is easy to work with since you can tear it to length and it does not show through or buckle the ribbon.

Wouldn't these adorable flowers cheer you up if you were under the weather?  The face is from the Everyday Character Face Assortment (PK-490).

I also used some "peachified" flowers to decorate candy in a treat bag.  You can read more about this project on my blog, Capadia Designs.

Remember, you can leave comments on my posts here and the coordinating posts on my blog all week for a chance to win the PK-590 Blushing Bride Interchangeable Faces set.

I'll be back tomorrow for my final day - thanks for stopping by today!

Guest Designer Week 25 Day Three

Wow - it's already Wednesday!  I am having a great time creating with the Peachy Keen stamps and I hope you are enjoying the projects I have been making.  Thanks for all of the comments here and on my blog, Capadia Designs.

I was thinking about some new ways to use the face stamps.  I have seen many cute paper dolls and critters featuring the faces, however, I wanted to try something a bit different.  When I looked at the tiniest faces in the Everyday Character Face Assortment (PK-490) I had a few ideas...

I recently found some colorful clothespins in the dollar bins at Staples.  I thought it would be fun to make some clothespin dolls for my little neighbors and I found that the 3/8 inch faces were a perfect fit.

These will be fun to dress up with paper cuts or fabric.  I used StazOn ink to be sure that the faces would be permanent. I cleaned the stamps right away and while I was cleaning them an idea popped into my head!

I took the six small face stamps and lined them up on the grid of my cutting mat.

I used my rectangular acrylic block to pick up the faces.  It is important to use a grid or some system to keep everything aligned properly.

I stamped rows of faces on a piece of cardstock cut at 4 x 6 inches.  I used the grid to help keep the spacing accurate and then shifted the stamps to the right or the left to fill in the pattern.

When I was finished, I had created "Peachy Paper!"  I used this as the background for my 5 x 7 inch Fourth of July card.  The blue layer is cut at 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches and the white layer is just a bit larger to give a pin line frame for the red, white and blue theme.

I stamped the sentiment with a Studio G stamp (the sets that are in the dollar bin at the large craft stores).  After working with the Peachy Keen stamps I noticed a big difference in the quality of the stamps.  The Peachy Keen stamps ink so well and leave such a clean impression.  It is better to save up and get this peachy quality than to have a binder full of unused "cheap" stamps!

 

I used this adorable cut from the "A Child's Year" Cricut cartridge - one of my all-time favorites.  The crowd of Peachy faces is watching the parade pass by!

The Fourth of July card was my second "Peachy Paper" card.  This "Smile" card is the first one I made and you can read more about it on my blog, Capadia Designs.

Remember, you can leave comments on my posts here and the coordinating posts on my blog all week for a chance to win the PK-590 Blushing Bride Interchangeable Faces set.

I have lots of ideas for variations on this technique - I hope I may have inspired you to try it too!

See you tomorrow!

Guest Designer Day Two - Sketch Challenge

Hi, it's Diane back again for day two of my week as Guest Designer.  Thanks so much for all of the kind comments you left here and on my blog yesterday.  Today is Tuesday, so it is time for the Tuesday Challenge - Sketch Challenge 55.  For all of the details, please click over to the Peachy Keen Challenge Blog HERE.

I don't usually work from sketches so it was fun for me to give this a try.  I decided to stay pretty close to the sketch but changed a few details.

Here is the challenge sketch

 

I decided to make a 5 x 7 card with two layers.  When I chose stamps to use for this week, I thought it would be fun to do some "Christmas in July" projects (I know, ... it's still June, but my week will finish in July!).

I chose this set, PK-322 Christmas Tag Minis because it had so many great icons for small projects as well as sentiments and "to" & "from" for making tags.

I used ProMarkers, Stickles and a white gel pen to color Santa.  It may be difficult to see in the photo but there are two shades of Stickles glitter glue - the sparkly Diamond for the trim of his hat and some softer Frosted Lace for his beard and mustache.  The white gel pen was used for his eyebrows.

Here are all of the pieces of my card ready to assemble.  I usually try to figure out exactly what I am using and do a "dry run" before I assemble a card with permanent adhesive.  I used red Bazzill cardstock for the base and American Crafts and plain white cardstock for the other elements.

I added an extra scalloped circle with lace edges and some red gem stickers under the sentiment.  I chose some sheer red wired ribbon for the vertical element.

The white layer (6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches) was embossed with the Large Snowflake Cuttlebug folder.

The Santa and the circles and scallops were all cut with Nestabilities dies.  I added the row of red gem stickers to help balance the card.  It was fun to think about Christmas when the weather is hot - in the 80's for us today.

I had so much fun with this sketch - I did a second, smaller version of the card (A2 size). Here is a sneak peek - you can see the second card on my personal blog, Capadia Designs.  If you are from Australia or the UK you will also find a special offer from Scrappy-Go-Lucky on my blog.

Remember, all this week you can leave comments on my posts here and the coordinating posts on my blog for a chance to win the PK-590 Blushing Bride Interchangeable Faces set.

If you play along on the Sketch Challenge you will also have a chance to win this prize - a Potted Happy Flower stamp set (PK-243).  Don't forget to visit the Challenge blog to see what the Design Team has created - you'll be sure to find some inspiration there!

Have a wonderful day, I hope to see you back here again tomorrow!

PK Guest Designer Week 25 Day One

Hello and Happy Monday!  My name is Diane and I am so happy to be with you this week as a Guest Designer for Peachy Keen Stamps.  Some of you may know me already through the Cricut Message Board or my blog, Capadia Designs.  I do a lot of projects using the design software for the Cricut but I also enjoy trying many other types of other paper crafting and stamping.

The generous folks at Peachy Keen have provided a stamp set for me to give away to one lucky person.  The details about the stamp set and how you can try to win it are at the end of this post.

My first set of Peachy Keen stamps was a gift from a friend.  It was the Dolly Dumplins Face assortment set and I used it to make some paper dolls.  For a long time, I thought that Peachy Keen only made face stamps but eventually I discovered that they have much more to offer.

I used this sweet star stamp (PK-M20) for the card I am sharing today.  I wanted to make a congratulations card that would be suitable for any age.  I combined the cute stamp with a color scheme that is a bit unconventional for a "cute" card.

Instead of coloring the stamped image with markers, I decided to heat emboss it with a gold metallic embossing powder.  I stamped the image with Versamark ink on a pearlized textured cardstock from American Crafts.  The Peachy Keen stamps are crisp and sharp and the tiny letters stay quite legible when they are embossed.

The transformation when the powder is heated always seems magical to me!  I cut out the image with a circle Nestabilities die and cut a larger pinking circle from dark gold pearlized cardstock with another Nestabilites set for the bottom layer.

I decided to add a bit of a twinkle to the eyes with some small gem stickers.

The card base is cut from maroon cardstock at 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches and folded for an A2 card.  The first layer is the same dark gold pearlized cardstock cut at 5 3/8 x 4 1/8 inches and the black layer with the star pattern is cut at 5 1/8 x 3 7/8 inches.  The "Congrats" sentiment was cut with the "Everyday Greetings" Cuttlebug combo set.

I'll be sharing a variety of projects with you during this week.  For one of them, I'll be using this set of more "adult" faces called "Blushing Bride." 

This set can be used to create lots of different looks by using eyes from one stamp with the nose and mouth from another stamp.

This example from the Peachy Keen website shows the variations that are possible.

So, how do you get a chance (or ten chances) to win this set?  It's easy.  Just leave a comment on each post I make here on the Peachy Keen blog and on the corresponding post on my blog, Capadia Designs, every day this week.  If you comment on both blogs on all of the days you will have ten chances to win!  The winner will be drawn and announced on Saturday, July 2nd.  You do not have to follow or subscribe to my blog to be eligible to win but I'd be happy to see you there as a follower or subscriber if you like what you see!

I am looking forward to a great week.  Tomorrow I'll be participating in the Tuesday Challenge with a project based on a sketch.  I hope you have a peachy wonderful day - see you tomorrow!

Ellen M. LIFE AT WALNUT HILL ~ GUEST DESIGNER GIVEAWAY WINNER!!

It was a great week with all the PEACHY-NESS going on in my craft area. 

Again I'd like to send a BIG THANK YOU to PEACHY KEEN STAMPS for allowing me to be a guest designer.

As a giveaway (compliments of PKS) I picked the BOY MATES FACE ASSORTMENT (PK-642) a $25.00 value - HOW AWESOME IS THAT??!!

Here were the rules (as stated in my day 1 post)

Please leave a comment here on my blog (you don't have to be a follower but I always like making new friends) AND on the PEACHY KEEN blog http://www.peachykeenstamps.blogspot.com each day this week.  I will have random.org pick a day (Monday being #1, Tuesday #2, etc...etc with Friday being #5) then random.org with pick the blog (PKS being #1 and lifeatwalnuthill being #2) then finally the post. SO ~ You never know what day or blog random.org will pick - increase your chances and leave a comment each and every day.

Winner will be picked on Saturday, June 25, 2011 - 6:00 AM (Eastern Time)

I have no idea how to post the actual picture of the actual picked number from random.org so you'll have to trust me on this.

Day of the week number picked was #5 so that makes it FRIDAY

Blog picked was #1 so that makes it the PEACHY KEEN STAMPS BLOG

There were 18 comments and random.org picked #13 so the winner is

~Saundra from Luv Scrapping Together who said...

Awesome week, Ellen! Love the project today. I do remember some of those facts.

CONGRATS Saundra!!

I'll be contacting you soon.

Ellen M. LIFE AT WALNUT HILL ~ GUEST DESIGNER DAY 5

Welcome to my last day as guest designer for PEACHY KEEN STAMPS.  It's been my pleasure and honor to be a part of this!!

Today is the LET'S FACE IT FRIDAY challenge.  Here's the info.

The Challenge:

Create a project showcasing the year you graduated from high school! Make sure you "peachify" your project with our fun faces!


-Design must be new
-Project must include Peachy Keen Faces
-Link up by 11:59 pm 7/7


One random winner will receive a $20 Gift Certificate to Peachy Keen Stamps!



So.....I graduated in 1979.  How couldn't you love the year they came out with the DUSTBUSTER!

Ever since I got the info about this challenge, the song 19 SOMETHING by Mark Wills has been running through my head.

It was 1970- something
In the world that I grew up in
Farrah Faucett hair-do days
Bell bottoms and 8-track tapes
Lookin' back now I can see me
And oh, man did I look cheesy
But I wouldn't trade those days for nothin'
It was 1970-something

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here are some facts about that year.


Cost of Living 1979


Yearly Inflation Rate USA 11.2%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 838
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 15.25%
Average Cost of new house $58,100.00
Average Income per year $17,500.00
Average Monthly Rent $280.00 
Sony Walkman $200.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas .86 cents

The #1 song on the day I graduated was HOT STUFF by Donna Summer.

News from that year included


Ford's Pinto automobile design allowed its fuel tank to be easily damaged in the event of a rear-end collision which sometimes resulted in deadly fires and explosions. It was first noticed by Ford in 1971 tests.

On March 28, Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, had a near melt-down. No one was reported killed or injured, but the accident changed many regulations for American nuclear reactors. (I was not a member of our high school band but they were on a trip to Harrisburg, PA when this happened)

52 Americans are taken hostage in Tehran, Iran for 444 days. Four days later, ABC's Nighline premiered, centering on the crisis.

NASA's Skylab fell to Earth, landing mostly in the Indian Ocean.

11 people were crushed to death outside of Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum prior to a concert by The Who.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since that was the year I started driving, this is what the theme of my project is for today.


Here in New York state, people could only buy gas on alternate days, depending upon whether their license plate ended with an odd or even number and the lines were so long!  Gosh...I haven't thought about that in ages.


So....here I am getting some gas in my Plymouth Horizon.  My dad bought this car then decided he didn't like driving a "tin can" ~ HA...so my mom and dad let me drive it.



I love the little guy in the van (not mini-van) ~ (behind the pump) with the frowny face.  Guess he was not happy about waiting in a long line.

Here's a trick I use to determine what size/character face to use ~ not sure if everyone does this but....I take a piece of scrap paper and use the leftover piece from the doll cut as a stencil.  Sometimes the size and face that I think will look great doesn't so it's easily changed without cutting out another paperdoll.

Please see my DAY 1 post for info/rules on the giveaway compliments of PEACHY KEEN STAMPS!

http://lifeatwalnuthill.blogspot.com/2011/06/peachy-keen-stamps-guest-designer-day-1.html

Thanks for visiting me this week and come back soon for more F~U~N!

Ellen M.
lifeatwalnuthill.blogspot.com

Ellen M. LIFE AT WALNUT HILL ~ GUEST DESIGNER DAY 4

Welcome to day 4 and WOW...this week is going fast!

Today my project is a wall hanging and I hope you like it because I had such fun making it.

But first....

...a little bit about me ~ my family lives in a circa 1855 house on 5 1/2 acres.  I have 3 children ~ oldest daughter just graduated from SUNY - Oneonta (education major), my son is a computer engineering major at the University at Buffalo and the youngest will be a junior in high school in the fall and then there's my husband who is THE BEST!  We celebrated our 27th anniversary on June 1st.

We have a dog, 3 cats, a turtle, a bunny, 2 goats and about 20 chickens. 

When the COUNTRY LIFE cartridge came out, I just had to get it and I'm so glad I did because I just love this hen.

The eggs are cut from DOODLECHARMS and the numbers are from BIRTHDAY BASH. 

First I took a piece of very heavy chipboard then glued a piece of burlap to it.  I printed out the title, inked the edges then crumpled it up a bit.  I attached it to the base paper with foam tape and made it a bit wavy.

She needed something at her neck (the cut from the cartridge just has it plain) so I cut another one of the tail feathers, cuddlebugged it with the swiss dots folder, inked the edges and turned it upside down so now she has some neck feathers.



For her wing, again I used the swiss dots embossing folder and I layered the two cuts with pop dots so you'd be able to hang the eggs....like this  (I hot glued an opened paperclip to the back of the eggs for the "hanger")



But the best part about my girl is her super cute eye.  I used the CRITTER FACES - EXTRA LARGE (PK-756) but masked it so I had only one eyeball.  Then I stamped it again on the beige paper and cut out the eyeball then pop dotted it on top.  I think this is my favorite PK "eye"!! 

Hope you like it as much as I do.

Come on back tomorrow for the FACE IT FRIDAY challenge and don't forget about the giveaway (thanks to PEACHY KEEN STAMPS) ~ info and rules can be found on my DAY 1 post here

~~~~>   http://lifeatwalnuthill.blogspot.com/2011/06/peachy-keen-stamps-guest-designer-day-1.html

PEACE,

EllenM

Ellen M. LIFE AT WALNUT HILL ~ GUEST DESIGNER DAY 3

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!  I've been having a BLAST playing with my PEACHY KEEN STAMPS.

I had so much fun making my card for today. 

My youngest daughter Abby was invited to a Mardi Gras themed birthday party last Saturday (that girl had 5 things going on that day) ~ her dear friend Katy turned 16!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATY!

I found this adorable cutting file from Treasure Box Designs and cut it with the SURE CUTS A LOT program.  You don't have to use SCAL to get these cute files.  You can purchase them and hand cut them.



Isn't she CUTE?? 

I had the tiny chain layin' around for a very long time.  I knew that one day it would be perfect on a card or layout and I was right.  I colored it with teal and purple COPICS.  The larger chain with the GOT BEADS? sentiment is the kind of chain from a pull ceiling fixture (it's actaully from my oldest daughters closet - sorry Meta)  I colored that too.

I used one of my favorite PEACHY KEEN STAMPS sets (oh....who am I kidding....I LOVE THEM ALL) ..anyways it's the HAPPY LASHES ASSORTMENT (PK-460) and even though the "lashes" part of the stamp is covered up by the mask, you can see that HUGE smile and nose on this party girl. 

Did you know that PEACHY KEEN STAMPS sells all kinds of tools too?  I love their cheek chalk brushes  They are listed in the SUPPLIES category under PAINTBRUSHES and they come in two sizes.  My PEACHY cheeks come out perfect using these tools.

Please see my DAY 1 post for information/rules on the giveaway

http://lifeatwalnuthill.blogspot.com/2011/06/peachy-keen-stamps-guest-designer-day-1.html

Remember...think outside the box ~ that's where the fun is and I hope you have a PEACHY KEEN day!!

Ellen M. - LIFE AT WALNUT HILL ~ DAY 2

Welcome back......AND today is my mom and dad's 64th ANNIVERSARY....they are such an inspiration to my me and my husband!!

Today I have a GIRL SCOUT inspired creation.

This past Saturday, my youngest daughter and I attended a Girl Scout tea where her troop received their Silver Award.  For their project, they made teddy bears for our local fire department to give out when they had an emergency call involving children.

This card was made for her leader (and my dear friend Amy) and Abby picked out the sentiment (My Pink Stamper - Everyday Occasions).  Thank you Amy for being their leader all these years!!!

I used the B IS FOR BOY cartridge for the base (welded together on my Gypsy) then I cut two more for the top layers (a bit smaller).  One in green and one in white.  The white piece I cut  down and stamped little butterflies (from Stampin' Up - itty bitty bits). 

On the green piece, I started with the Vintage Notebook stamp from MARKET STREET STAMPS done in VersaMark but I turned the stamp so the lines were vertical, then (in orange again) I used the PEACHY KEEN Extra Small Polka Dot Print (PK-103) and stamped right over the Vintage Notebook.

The “Scout” is from PAPER DOLL DRESS UP and PAPER DOLLS FOR EVERYDAY. For the sash, I used the CAMPIN’ CRITTERS cartridge. It’s the sash from the Eagle cut.

Her sweet little face is from the Everyday Character Face Assortment set (PK-490). 

Please see my DAY 1 post for giveaway information/rules.

http://lifeatwalnuthill.blogspot.com/2011/06/peachy-keen-stamps-guest-designer-day-1.html

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow with a project that (if I do say so myself) came out SUPER CUTE.

Ellen M. LIFE AT WALNUT HILL ~ GUEST DESIGNER ~ DAY ONE



Now ~ giveaway information.

You could be the winner of this adorable set of faces.  It's the BOY MATES FACE ASSORTMENT (PK-642)

The rules:

Please leave a comment HERE on the PEACHY KEEN blog AND on my blog (you don't have to be a follower of my blog to win)  http://www.lifeatwalnuthill.blogspot.com/ each day this week.  I will have random.org pick a day (Monday being #1, Tuesday #2, etc...etc with Friday being #5) then random.org with pick the blog (PKS being #1 and lifeatwalnuthill being #2) then finally the post. SO ~ You never know what day or blog random.org will pick - increase your chances and leave a comment each day. 

Winner will be picked on Saturday, June 25, 2011 - 6:00 AM (Eastern Time)

Thanks for visiting and check back tomorrow for a GIRL SCOUT themed card.

Welcome to my first day as a PKSGD.

What an HONOR for me!!

First, I have to tell ya’ll how much I LOVE PEACHY KEEN STAMPS. My projects wouldn’t be nearly as cute without their wonderful products…and the quality is out of this world!!


Time being what it is (or I should say lack of time) I tend to keep my posts short and sweet. Just like Joe Friday (from Dragnet) said “Just the facts, Ma'am.”

For my first project, I made this card for my dear daddy who will be turning 87 soon. He served in the Marine Corps during WWII and is still involved in the Marine Corps League. Most of the things I make for him have a patriotic theme.

Using my Gypsy, I cut the dress shirt from SIMPLY CHARMED and on the knot of the tie, a cute little PK face from BOY MATES FACE ASSORTMENT (PK-642).

To give the effect of a tie clip, I cut off a paper clip and put a chipboard star on the top.

Baking twine is wrapped around the mat several times and when I don’t have to mail something, I go all out with foam tape.

The Winner of week 23

Happy Saturday!
Wow it has been an exciting week. I have been reading all your wonderful comments on my phone and I can’t tell you how much they mean to me. I haven’t been able to answer all of them because I am on a road trip with a friend.  We are driving from WI to up state NY to pick up her granddaughter.  We would drive and stop at bead shops and by the time we got to a hotel at night I couldn’t keep my eyes open. 

Now the  winner of the Peachy Keen Stamp set is Jessica and her blog is Paper Deckerations

I will be contacting you Jessica for your address so that I can send you PK 288 Skunk Cheer Up Set. 

Thanks again to everyone who visited both blogs and left a comment.  I wish I had more sets to give away. Remember to visit Peachy Keen Stamps every day because the guest DT for the week has a set to give away. That is a new chance each week for you to win a one of Peachy Keen's wonderful set.

Thank you to everyone at Peachy Keen for this wonderful week of peachy fun.


Have a wonderful weekend and a  Big Peachy Hug to you all,