Tuesday, September 15, 2009

in the studio blog hop

♥ W E L C O M E ♥

to the first CAARDVARKS and GCD STUDIOS collaboration! i hope you're having fun seeing all the fabulous inspiring projects the crew have created with these gorgeous papers and embellishments!

i fell in love with the eye candy collection! well, heck, what's not to love about these luscious patterns and bright happy colors? especially if you have a mother-in-law who's celebrating a significant birthday, and you need to make an extra-special gift set. i made a memory box, photo album, birthday card and a gift bag in which to present them all, and still only used about a third of my paper pad!

(patterned papers: GCD designs from the eye candy collection, with a bit of red textured paper from the sunny days collection; template for cupcakes & hearts: "db love pastries" font from scrap-n-fonts; black cardstock: core'dinations; ink: colorbox; acrylic paint & glossy sealer spray: folk art; 12 x 9" wooden memory box: michael's; 4 x 6" photo album: sei; adhesives: xyron cartridge, tombow power hold adhesive runner, 3m foam tape & double stick tape; other: paper trimmer, scalloppy decorative scissors, several sizes of ek success circle punches)

since the blog-hoppers have lots of ground to cover, i've put "solo" pictures of each item, and detail on the process, in a separate post immediately below this one. i'll try my best to answer any questions left via comments or email, but let me anticpate the two most obvious questions right now:

#1: YES, i hand cut all of the cupcake layers and the hearts using a cupcake dingbat i re-sized & printed out; then i mounted them on black cardstock and re-cut them all freehand to leave a 1/16th inch border of black! (i held 3-4 layers together, so it's a *little* less work than it looks like, but yeah, it was A LOT of hand-cutting!)

...and...

#2: YES, i'm pretty sure i *AM* crazy, actually!!! :)

of course, GCD makes more than paper, they have gorgeous glitter letters, fabulous chipboard diecuts, and all sorts of fun embellishments! here are a couple of cards i made, using some of the more dimensional items:

(patterned papers, glitter letters, epoxy stickers & chipboard journaling block: GCD designs; glossy black cardstock: ranger; flowers: prima; ink: colorbox; pen: zig; adhesives: xyron cartridge, tombow mono runner, 3m foam tape)

(patterned papers, chipboard letters & tag, rub-ons, cardstock tag: GCD designs; cardstock: core'dinations; ink: colorbox; ribbon: queen & co;adhesives: xyron cartridge, tombow mono runner, 3m foam tape)


and now i will send the hoppers on their way, with a fond farewell and a reminder of the running order:

Jenyfur
Lauren (...you are here...)
Mel
Lori
Tanis

♥♥♥ happy hopping!!! ♥♥♥

96 comments:

  1. Gorgeous, gorgeous GORGEOUS!! Love it all...that gift set is A-mazing!

    (-: Heidi

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  2. Now this is some stunning and inspiring projects here. I just love the colors, images, texture, and all the details you add to all your projects.

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  3. Wow - that is a lot of cutting. It is a gorgeous set. Love the cards too.

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  4. You're right.....that's a lot of cutting......but the results are great. Thanks for all your hard work. It's very inspiring.....
    Diana
    dj_enns@yahoo.com

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  5. Looove them all! Gorgeous, Lauren!!

    Hugs,
    Vanessa

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  6. Beautiful projects, love the colors and all the layers. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  7. Beautiful projects, love the colors and all the layers. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  8. Wow!! That birthday set is AMAZING!! That is a lot of cutting, but it totally paid off in the end. Awesome work!!

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  9. Holey Moley you were busy!! Love everything, especially that gift set and the layered cupcakes look good enough to eat!

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  10. Holey Moley you were busy!! Love everything, especially that gift set and the layered cupcakes look good enough to eat!

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  11. wow is all i can say. My friends think it to much work to color in stamp imagess let alone trim and cut around stuff. You did a great job and your mother in law should be very happy with this. great job.

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  12. These are wonderful!!!!! Love them. Cannot believe you hand cut the cupcake layers!

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  13. Beautiful colours and textures! The recipient is one VERY lucky lady!

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  14. Stunning projects as usual Lauren. Thanks for another hop Varks!

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  15. wow you are crazy, but it was well worth it, those projects are glorious.

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  16. OMG! I LOVE THE CUPCAKES! SO CUTE!
    GREAT WORK! I am headed over to scrap-n-fonts right now. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  17. Totally awesome Lauren! Crazy is good if it looks like that! ;)

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  18. Wow you do beautiful work! I love the gift set! Great colors!

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  19. FAB projects Lauren - your gift box set is AMAZING. (Drool).

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  20. LOVE the cupcakes!! I don't mind all that cutting either, and the black in back really adds a nice touch!!

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  21. Beautiful gift set. The paper is fab.

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  22. so cute but lots of work. thanks for the instructions.

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  23. WOW that is YUMMY looking, great job

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  24. Very cool projects. I love the cupcakes!!

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  25. Those cupcakes are to die for. Love your projects!

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  26. You are one patient lady cutting all those layers! the result is amazing!

    Sarah x

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  27. Great projects and one great pair of scissors and a steady hand.

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  28. Yee-Haw! Here we go!

    Tamara
    tamara_bennett7@hotmail.com

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  29. Amazing work. Love the detail and I bet the MIL will adore all the goodies.

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  30. The gift bag it adorable the whole set I love!

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  31. Just amazing - I can't believe all of the handcutting you did!

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  32. fabulous projects - a lot of work!

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  33. I am in love with the cupcake theme.. the cards are so cute hugs
    www.stretchnbubbles.blogspot.com

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  34. You really put a lot of work into this. It is so pretty,

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  35. Wow! This set is gorgeous! I love the whole layered set! The cards are beautiful also!

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  36. Beautiful! I love everything here.

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  37. luv the set-any one wld b lucky to
    receive!

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  38. Great gift set. Eye Candy is such pretty paper.

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  39. I just love that gift bag set. Wonderful job!

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  40. Wow...that must have been a lot of work...but at least it looks great!

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  41. Lots and lots of work went into your projects. Beautiful job!

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  42. WOW!!! Your creations are just amazing!! Everything is beautiful.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  43. beautiful creations and so detailed-one reason why I struggle with making cards!

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  44. I love that cupcake set you created. It is so fun and vibrant.

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  45. Your cupcake set is so amazing!!! Love it.

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  46. Wow!! What a great gift. I love the colors of the paper. The black shadowing is something I have never seen before but really makes the details pop. The cards are fabulous too. You have incredible talent!

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  47. Oh Man! These are SO beautiful. That set is supah YUMMY! What an incredible gift that would be to give/receive! And your card layouts & details are divine GF! :o)

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  48. What a neat project, love all the details

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  49. I know you spent alot of time on that gift set, but it looks sooooo good! your cards are smashing, too!

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  50. WOW! Your gift set is amazing! So much detail. Thanks for sharing!!

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  51. Yummy yummy! The papers are to die for and your project is fabulous! xxD

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  52. OMGoodness that set is totally fabulous!! LOVE those papers and your cupcakes are amazing!!

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  53. Wow your creations are really colourful and funky - fabulous
    love tasha xx

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  54. Wonderful works dah-ling. Again you have made me drool.

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  55. Fantastic gift set. Love those cupcakes.

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  56. Wow! what work on those cupcakes, but it's adorable.

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  57. amazing...you have a lot of patience!

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  58. beautiful projects! love the box.

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  59. what a gorgeous set!!! really love the lil photo album, and what fabulous cards too!!

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  60. No wonder you fell in love with the eye candy collection... absolutely gorgeous! Loved visiting your blog! Thank you for sharing!

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  61. Gorgeous!!! your project is "EYE CANDY"...love it and paper collection is very pretty.

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  62. This is so pretty! And all that work....yeah, you are crazy!! :)

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  63. i think she'll definitely like the set. great work!

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  64. Those are great projects! thanks for sharing.

    yelowflower at yahoo.com

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  65. Awesome gift set Lauren, it is really stunning! Your cards are adorable as well! TFS

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  66. What a stunning set!!!! Love it!!!

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  67. I can well see why you fell in love with those luscious papers - love your crafting x

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  68. Awesome! I love it! I love visiting your site! Your work is just beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
    Missy

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  69. Such gorgeous paper and I love the way you put the cards together! Love the 3 dimensional aspect you showcased.

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  70. Very nice collection of cards and gifts. Love the cupcakes.

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  71. WOWOWSA! Love the hand cut cupcakes~great projects!

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  72. Just Adore your Creations...always Wonderful and perfect in every way!!

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  73. VERY, VERY, VERY adorable (did I mention VERY?)

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  74. I just love your bright and cheery creations! Thanks for sharing.

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  75. What incredible creations. Thank you for sharing so much of your talent with us.

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the *BEST* part of blogging is the comments, dontcha think? thanks for taking time to leave one! ~♥~