Peck Life

Birth Announcements {Giveaway}

It took me a while but Ben’s birth announcements are finally complete!

This time, I was happy to get to work with Minted to pick out something beautiful. Minted is one of my favorite sources for announcements and invitations and their baby selection just keeps getting better and better! They are one of the only places that offers a large selection of shaped cards, like bubble scallop, which I used on our Christmas cards, and my other favorite, curved frame.

It was really hard to decide but I ultimately ended up taking the simplistic route and selecting a square “stats” card, printed on their signature paper, which is thick and produces great color output {amazing considering they have many more tiers of paper options all the way up to triple thick museum board! – can you imagine how beautiful that would look?}.

I paired the announcements with vintage flower stamps and a brand new return address stamp from NoteTrunk on Etsy. {P.S. – use “new10” for 10% off your first NoteTrunk order!}. Overall, I was very happy with the way they turned out!

Would you like to win $100 to Minted for your own upcoming announcements, invitations, or art {which is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G might I add..}? If so, you can enter below! I will announce the winner on Monday June 3rd.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to Justina S. for winning the giveaway!!!

March Garden {and a Giveaway!!}

It’s been quite a long time since we’ve visited the garden {last October to be exact!}. We were living in a different house and had a completely different yard. The one thing that I’ll miss most about our old place is the landscape – it was flat, lush, sunny, and we worked hard on it during the 6 years we were there {here’s a snapshot of the layout}.

Now? We are living in my grandparents old house.

This yard has its pros and cons. It’s much more established, with large, old shrubs and huge trees. But, it’s also shady, damp, slopey, and overgrown from a few years of neglect. Here’s a peek at what it looks like right now:

I love that the yard has quite a few things we didn’t have at our last house: many azaleas and rhododendrons, a fig tee, a forsythia, 2 giant camellias, 2 very old Japanese maples, and a towering lilac that’s been there as long as I can remember. I’m looking forward to working on it this summer and trying to make it a little more kid-friendly while also maintaining a lot of the shrubbery. My current plan is to create more of a shrub/perennial border around the perimeter and open up the middle area of the yard for a small patch of grass. We’ll see how far I can get! There is a great possibility my gardening will be limited to small chunks as I juggle a newborn and a 3 year old!

Speaking of gardening and lack of time, Sunset Publishing {aka – the makers of my plant bible: The Sunset Western Garden Book}, just released a new book: The 20 Minute Gardener. It’s 282 pages packed with tips on how to create a beautiful garden, even if you are limited on time – right up my alley! I especially love the focus on picking easy, low maintenance plants that are adapted well for your area and having healthy soil and mulch that will ultimately do much of the babysitting for you. Plus, the last half of the book is filled with a master list of “easy to care for” plants that are low maintenance and require little up-keep. *I should note that the book is focused on the western region of the United States so if you live elsewhere, “low maintenance” plants may differ for you.

Wouldn’t you love to be able to implement some of these ideas in your own yard? Or, better yet, give this book as a gift for the gardener in your life? Well, you’re in LUCK!

Good luck!!

Congratulations to Terumi who was selected as the winner!

Sweet Finds: Oompa Toys {and a Giveaway}!

Oompa toys has been a long-time favorite in our home so sharing this post with you today makes me extra excited! With brands like Tegu, Automoblox, eeBoo, P’kolino, Skip Hop, and Uncle Goose, it’s actually a bit embarrassing just how many of these toys we actually own. But, we choose them because they are high quality, they LAST, and they are durable. I’m such a fan of toys that have multiple uses, span years of childhood, and encourage kids to use their imagination.

Oompa was nice enough to send me 2 products, both from Kid O, for Mr. Sky to play with. The counting disks introduce early math concepts and help with sorting, both by color and shape. The Magnatab teaches toddlers to hold a pencil and encourages fine motor skills by allowing little ones to begin practicing writing their numbers by following the magnetic dots that pop up as you glide over each number.

The counting discs came first and were a huge hit! Sky is pretty good with his 1-5 numbers but struggled a little bit with matching the correct disc with the right amount of pegs. Aside from using it as it’s intended, he also loves to line the discs up on the ground in a giant row, and {as you can see in the last photo}, stack them all into a tower to knock over – probably his favorite pastime of any toy.

The magnatab was introduced a bit later on a rainy Friday when I was home with a very very sick boy who was not only getting over a cold, but also a quick 24 hour stomach flu. We were out of ideas when I remembered this little gem and Sky was instantly drawn in. He REALLY loves this toy, he shows it to anyone who comes over, he carries it around the house with him….he is very into it…much more than I thought he would be!

Do you like how Sky is in his jammies in all of these photos?! It’s the only thing he wants to wear when we are hanging out at home. I don’t blame him!

Now comes the fun part! Would you like to win $25 to spend on toys for your little one this holiday season? Oompa is generously giving one winner {U.S. only...sorry!} a $25 gift card, just in time for your holiday shopping!!

To enter, visit Oompa and leave a comment below with your favorite Oompa item. Please make sure you do not leave an anonymous comment so we can reach you if you are a winner!

This giveaway will close at 8pm next Wednesday {the 21st} and a winner will be selected via random.org and announced on the blog next Thursday.

This giveaway is closed! I loved reading all of your wonderful toy ideas!

Congrats to Ruthy T. from Discovery Street who was selected by random.org as the winner! Check your email soon Ruthy with more details. :)

Details and Disclosures: This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only will close at 8pm Pacific on 11/21/12. Limit one entry per person. Your contact info will only be used to contact you if you are selected as a winner. While Oompa was awesome enough to provide some toys for review, I was not otherwise compensated for writing this post. All opinions and commentary included in this post are my own and it’s the honest truth. I don’t lie about products I love.

Holiday Cards from Minted {Giveaway}

I really hope you’ve all heard of Minted by now!? Please say yes! They are quickly becoming one of my favorite shops for paper goods and most especially, their beautiful holiday photo cards {which I am already thinking about! Christmas is only 2 1/2 months away!}. The design choices are so vast and abundant because they work with independent graphic artists and designers all over the world AND they hold regular design competitions where you can go to the site and vote for your new favorite designs!

A few of my current favorites:

Joy in the box and Holiday Centerpiece

Blushing Christmas and Merry & Bright

The non-photo holiday cards are just as charming and to be honest, I may go this route if we can’t get a good family photo! Pictured are Merry Typography and Holiday Flowers.

Now comes the REALLY fun part! Minted was nice enough to hook me up with a few of their holiday cards and they would like to do the same for YOU!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite Minted card/product OR tell me….do you like to do holiday photo cards or do you stick to old fashioned non-photo cards? Please make sure you include your email or a way to contact you!

I personally love giving {and receiving} photo cards but find it stressful to get that perfect picture and sometimes wish I could just send a regular card! haha

This giveaway will close at 8pm next Wednesday and a winner will be selected via random.org and announced on the blog next Thursday.

This giveaway is closed! Congrats to Anandi R. who was selected by random.org as the winner!

Good luck!

Details and Disclosures: This giveaway is open to anyone who lives in a country where Minted ships products and will close at 8pm Pacific on 10/10/12. Limit one entry per person. Your contact info will only be used to contact you if you are selected as a winner. While Minted was awesome enough to supply me with some holiday cards as well, I was not otherwise compensated for writing this post. All opinions and commentary included in this post are my own and it’s the honest truth. I don’t lie about products I love.

A special giveaway from MOO!

Happy Tuesday friends! Today, I am thrilled to announce that MOO.COM has graciously offered to provide some very lucky readers with a stash of business cards and greeting cards in an exclusive giveaway! If you have not heard of MOO before, they just love to print – whether it’s creative business cards, stickers, Postcards, MiniCards, Greeting cards, and much more!

Well, MOO was born from a love of beautiful, high-quality print and design. They make printing beautiful and unique business cards online so simple! Either upload your own images or artwork to create truly creative cards, or you choose a designer business card template to personalize with your own details.

I am actually completely obsessed with their designs. For example:

Can you believe these are just ready to order so perfect and cute already? The thought of designing my own also makes me a little excited, the possibilities are endless!

There will be 3 lucky winners!

Each winner will receive 100 classic Business Cards.

But WAIT, there’s more!

One of the winners will not only receive their business cards…they will also receive a set of 25 MOO Greeting Cards!

To enter, post a comment below telling me how you would put your cards to good use and/or what your favorite MOO design is! You must include a valid email address or way to reach you so we can let you know if you are a winner. No contact info = disqualified, and that would be sad. You have until Sunday, May 13 at 8pm pacific time. 

The 3 lucky winners will be selected via Random.org and announced on the blog Monday, May 14.

This giveaway is now closed. And the winners (as determined by random.org) are:

GRAND PRIZE (100 business cards + 25 greeting cards): Libby from Libby’s Life

1st Prize (100 business cards): Bridget from Being Frugal and Making it Work

2nd Prize (100 business cards): Alyssa from Everyday Maven

Thank you to everyone who entered and congrats to the winners! You will receive an email shortly with more details on how to claim your prize.

PS – Liking Peck Life on Facebook or Twitter is not mandatory but is always welcomed and appreciated.

GOOD LUCK!

Details and Disclosures: This giveaway is open worldwide (because MOO ships anywhere!) and will close at 8pm Pacific on 5/13/12. Limit one entry per person. Your contact info will only be used to contact you if you are selected as a winner. While MOO was awesome enough to supply me with some business cards as well, I was not otherwise compensated for writing this post. All opinions and commentary included in this post are my own and it’s the honest truth. I don’t lie about products I love.