MFT Blog Hop: Lovin' From the Oven

Welcome to the My Favorite Things Lovin' From the Oven blog hop! If you arrived here from Jessie, then you're in the right place. If you've just happened to stop by on your own, you'll find the beginning of the hop with Kim.

Today, we're showcasing this month's VIP kit. What is the VIP kit? It's a chance for you to get one of next month's not-yet-released stamp sets a whole two weeks early. Not only do you get the stamp set, but you also get a bundle of fun coordinating product. This month's kit includes the Lovin' From the Oven stamp set, Bakery Blend Buttons, Bakery Blend Ribbons, Sugar Glass Glitter, and a Sakura Clear Glaze Pen. Plus, receive a FREE Clearly Sentimental about Food stamp set (value $9)! That's some value for your buck! But hurry, the VIP kit is available one day only (today, January 20)!

As you've seen along the hop, in Lovin' from the Oven, our Who's That Girl gets domestic, mixing up all kinds of tasty delights in her cozy kitchen. Oh, the possibilities with this set! I really, really {heart} this one! A while back, I found small, wooden, toy rolling pins along the checkout aisle at Jo-Ann's and picked up a few, thinking surely they'd be fun to incorporate into a future papercrafting project of some sort or another. As soon as I saw MFT's new Lovin' From the Oven set, I knew it was time to use one! I decided to make a wall hanging of the "Recipe For A Happy Life" poem. You've probably seen this, or one of its various iterations, before. If not, here are the words:

Recipe for a Happy Life

Take twelve whole months.
Clean them thoroughly of all bitterness,
hate, and jealousy.
Make them just as fresh and clean as possible.

Now cut each month into twenty-eight, thirty, or thirty-one different parts.
But don't make up the whole batch at once.
Prepare it one day at a time.

Mix well into each day:
one part Faith
one part Patience
one part Courage
and one part Work

Add to each day one part of Hope, Faithfulness, Generosity, and Kindness.
Blend with one part Prayer, one part Meditation,and one Good Deed.
Season with a dash of Good Spirit, a sprinkle of Fun, a pinch of Play,
and a cupful of Good Humor.

Pour all of this into a vessel of Love.
Cook thoroughly over Radiant Joy, garnish with Smiles, and serve with Quietness,
Unselfishness, and Cheerfulness.

Here's what the completed project looks like:



And here's a detail shot of the main image, which is done with a combination of paper piecing (dress, apron), Copic markers (skin, bowl), and Prismacolor pencils (background and shadowing):



And last, here's the recipe, which I printed on the computer using the Goudy font:



How about that Basic Grey Nook & Pantry paper collection that I used on this project? PERFECT for this set!! Did you know MFT now carries Basic Grey 6x6 pads? You'll find them in the Brand-Spankin' New category.

That's it for me! To finish up the blog hop, head on over to the sweet and supremely talented Joanne Basile!

Enjoy the hop!



Stamps: Lovin' From the Oven (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate and Vintage Cream card stock, Basic Grey Nook & Pantry dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain Distress ink
Accessories: Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, foam adhesive, Papertrey buttons and twine, toy rolling pin (from Jo-Ann's), EK Success scallop border punch, sewing machine, computer-generated font

Healing Wings

Are you ready for another Skipping Stones Design Tuesday Sketch Challenge? Above is my sample, and below is the sketch:



For the past two weeks, I've shown the humorous side of SSD, which I adore, but there is another side, too. Healing Wings, a collection of beautiful butterfly images and wonderful sentiments, is probably my favorite SSD set. The butterflies in this set are the prettiest ever! I paired one of them up with some blue Kaiser Craft Duchess papers and some lace trims for a peaceful sympathy card. The sentiment, which is stamped onto the dp, reads, "Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can not heal." - Thomas Moore. Love that quote!

I stamped the butterfly onto the dp, added some shading and highlighting with Prismacolor pencils, trimmed it out, and coated it with Diamond Glaze. The lace trims all came from my local Jo-Ann's, the ivory satin ribbon is Papertrey, and the natural twine is also from Papertrey.

Hope you can play along in the sketch challenge! Use keyword: SSD08 if you upload to online galleries. Skipping Stones Design stamps are not required.

This week, I have a free Tropical Birthday set to give away, compliments of Heather, owner of Skipping Stones Design:



Check out that coconut sentiment! Snort!!

For a chance to win Tropical Birthday, just leave a comment on this post. I'll close comments at 8 pm EST on Thursday, 1/21, and announce the winner on Friday, 1/22. Good luck!



Stamps: Healing Wings (Skipping Stones Design)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft and Vintage Cream card stock, Kaiser Craft Duchess dp
Ink: Ranger Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, circle Nestabilities, Papertrey satin ribbon, twine, and buttons, lace trims, foam adhesive, paper piercer

My Little Love Monkey

Oh my goodness, this cutie-pie little monkey from Verve's new Love Monkey set makes me grin every time I look at him! I just love his little expression! Last week, during the release week festivities, Tosh hosted a "Get In Shape" challenge, which was to make a card that isn't a standard square or rectangle. I went with a circle card, which, believe it or not, I've never done before. Such fun, though! This definitely won't be my last.

My little love monkey is stamped in Ranger's Walnut Stain Distress Ink, then colored with Copic markers and trimmed out. The card is designed with Basic Grey's Sugar Rush papers and embellished with a Melissa Frances glittered heart, a button trio, a sentiment flag, and Swarovski crystals around the perimeter. On the inside, I included another sentiment and a pair of stamped hearts, also from the Love Monkey set.

To see tons more cute ideas for this set, visit Verve's Love Monkey gallery. I can hardly stand seeing that much cuteness all in one place!



Let me address the top fold, since someone might be curious. I started with a piece of folded ivory card stock, which I die-cut with one of Spellbinders' scalloped circle dies. I made sure the fold was just inside the die on two of the scallops, so that I didn't entirely cut off the fold. So far, so good, however, from the outside, I didn't really want those two partially folded scallops to show, so here's what I did to hide them. On the outside, I adhered a same-size green scalloped circle to the card front. The full scallops at the top hide the two folded ones underneath. I could have stopped there, but I also took the whole card and adhered it to a larger ivory scalloped circle. When the card is closed you see a double scalloped border - green and white. Does that make sense? Let me know if more pictures would be helpful!

Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: Love Monkey (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream card stock, Basic Grey Sugar Rush dp
Ink: Ranger Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Stampin' Up Real Red, Papertrey Fresh Snow
Accessories: Spellbinders classic and scalloped circle Nestabilities, EK Success scalloped border punch, Melissa Frances glittered chipboard heart, Papertrey buttons, May Arts burlap string, Swarovski crystals, foam adhesive, Copic markers

Dream Come True

I love the sweet, romantic sentiments in JustRite's Loving Thoughts set. Here, I've paired one of them with some equally romantic 7Gypsies Victoria designer paper. The fronts of most these papers are wonderful collage patterns, and the backs are coordinating solid colors with the teeny dotted pattern (the pinkish Label 4 shape and the green circle). The gorgeous lace trim along the bottom is from the Nature's Storybook/Postcards from Paris Trim Card by Webster's Pages. Can't wait to put all the other luscious trims to good use!

I'm wiped out tonight and short on chit-chat. Thanks so much for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!!




Stamps: Loving Thoughts and Decorative 2" Round Wide Borders (JustRite)
Paper: Prismatics Birchtone Dark and Natural Smooth card stock, 7Gypsies Victoria dp
Ink: Ranger Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain Distress Inks
Accessories: Webster's Pages lace trim, Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities, Spellbinders Labels 4 Nestabilities, SU vintage brads, May Arts ivory 3/8" twill and ivory burlap string, Papertrey button, foam adhesive

Love's Flower

Today is the last day of new release peeks over on the Verve blog. Stop by for a chance to win Love's Flower, a gorgeous mix of fantastic sentiments and elegant florals. I've used one of the quotes and a few of the flowers for today's card. The layout is based on Teresa's Release Week Sketch Challenge, one of five release week challenges. You still have time to play along (the deadline is today at 6 pm EST)! Complete all five challenges and you'll be entered into a drawing to win the entire release. Definitely worth playing for!

We warmly invite you to stop by the Verve Forum tonight at 9 pm EST for our Release Party. Hope to see you then! And one last thing ... today is the last day to download the FREE Regal Heart Digi Set. Click the link to get to the download page.




Stamps: Love's Flower (Verve Stamps, to be released tonight, 1/15)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream, DCWV "Rustic" stack
Ink: Ranger Antique Linen, Tea Dye, and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Accessories: Spellbinders Curved Rectangle Mega Nestabilities and Scalloped Border Piercabilities, Papertrey button and twine, foam tape, 1/16" punch, Wright's ivory twill, lace trim

Verve Peek: Heart's Desire

I've been waiting sooooo patiently for my turn to peek one of the new Verve sets that will be releasing tomorrow night. Each Verve release is just that much more fun than the last, and I've felt like a kid at the playground all week! The set that the Verve Divas are previewing today is called Heart's Desire, a set filled with a fabulous variety of Valentine/Love images and sentiments. You can read more about my project, as well as see some of the other Divas' creations, over on the Verve blog today. Just like with previous releases, leaving comments on the Verve blog gets you entered into a random drawing for the set or sets previewed that day.

Here are direct links to the previews so far:

Tuesday: Celebrating You and Love Monkey
Wednesday: Accent Notes
Today: Heart's Desire
Tomorrow: [sorry, that's still classified ;) ]

For more Verve giveaways, be sure to enter into any or all of the Release Week Challenges. You'll find links to all five challenges in the January '10 Release Week Challenges MASTER Thread. Good luck!! One of my favorite parts about each release is the massive list of winners. Let's see if we can get YOUR name on this month's list :)

And remember to swing by the Verve Forum on Splitcoast tomorrow anytime between 8:00 and 10:00 pm for our Release Party. Chat with other Verve fans, feast your eyes on gorgeous samples, and join in the excitement as each new set is unveiled in full. Hope to see you there!

Hugs!




Stamps: Heart's Desire (Verve Stamps, to be released 1/15/10)
Paper: Papertrey Smoky Shadow card stock; Basic Grey Sugar Rush dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Antique Linen, Old Paper, and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Accessories: Melissa Frances glittered chipboard heart, Prima crystal and pearl flourish, Stampin' Up grey taffeta ribbon, Making Memories decorative brad, May Arts ivory burlap string, distressing tool, EK Success scalloped border punch, Fiskars Lace border punch
Size: 5 1/4" square

Skipping Stones Tuesday Sketch Challenge

Hello, hello, hello! I have another Skipping Stones Design Tuesday Sketch Challenge to share with you today. Thanks again to Heather for inviting me to be the Guest Sketch Designer during January. Here's this week's sketch:



And here's my card:



Be sure to head over to the Skipping Stones Design site for lots more sketch inspiration from the talented SSD Design Team, aka Stamp Tramps. We'd love to have you play along, too!

I just love the sassy humor in so many of the SSD sets. The set I've used today is Donut Birthday. Among the funny sentiments is the one I've used here: "Birthdays are like donuts ... sometimes it is best not to recall how many you've had." I am SO at that age now!

I stamped the donut image twice, colored with Copics, trimmed them out, and added a little glitter using a glue pen and ultrafine clear glitter. The card layers are all from Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry collection. The sentiment carries over to the inside, where I did some minimal decorating to tie it in with the outside:



Heather at Skipping Stones Design is giving away FREE donuts. This Donut Birthday set can be yours FREE with the purchase of three regular priced stamp sets. The offer is good through Saturday. Here's the full set:



In other news, did you know Verve is gearing up for its next big release this Friday, January 15? Peeks have begun over on the Verve blog. As is Verve custom, we're also having five release week challenges, each with a chance for you to win some of the Vervalicious new sets. You'll find all the challenges posted in the Verve Forum on Splitcoast. Hope you can play!