Printable Gift Box Tutorial

With two new sets of printable gift boxes designed (a Strawberry set and Woodland set) I thought that I would post a tutorial on how to make these simple boxes...

The gift box templates come as high resolution 300dpi jpg (or pdf) files and measure 8.5 x 11 inches (US letter paper) but can also be printed on A4 paper.  The templates can be printed on any paper you like, I recommend using a card and printing with your printer's highest quality setting.

I have used one of the Woodland themed sheets printed onto 225gsm white card for this tutorial.

1.  Cut around the edge of the printed box.

2.  Fold along the lines marked in blue on this diagram.

Scoring along the lines first with a bone folder and ruler on a foam mat will make folding easier and neater.

3. Glue four of the tabs to finish the box.

You can leave the box as it is, or embellish it with ribbons, bows, tags etc.  For this box I have used two different yarns tied around the box with a bow and two tags from my Woodland printable collage set.



The templates for these boxes and for my other printables are available to buy from my shop www.hfcSupplies.etsy.com  I would love to see things people have made with my printables so please feel free to share links to photos of your projects!

Steampunk rubber stamps

I recently licensed my Hexley art to be made into rubber stamps and the first designs are now available to buy from Queen Kat Designs! :)

Three sets of steampunk stamps are available at the moment - two contain clockwork birds and one has D.O.R.A. the fish submarine.

The stamps are laser etched rubber and come unmounted.

New printable products!

I have been working on some ideas for new products and here is my latest creation... printable gift boxes featuring a range of my paper designs.

I wanted to start with a simple shape so chose these small rectangular boxes - each box prints onto one sheet of A4 (or US letter) paper.  They're simple to make and the finished size is approximately 2.5 x 3.5 x 2 inches (6.5 x 9 x 5cm).  Great for giving small gifts in a unique way the finished box could also be embellished with ribbons, bows etc.  I decorated the box in the photo with 3 strands of cotton thread tied in a bow and a little tag from my Rule Britannia collage sheet.

I will be selling these printable boxes as a set of 2 templates.  The first design available in my shop is a pair of 'Rule Britannia' boxes - they both have a union jack pattern, one has blue gingham ends and the other has a red gingham pattern.  More designs will be ready soon! www.hfcSupplies.etsy.com

Kat's Magical Patches

I had a really nice surprise through my letterbox the other day - these samples from Kat's Magical Patches featuring my artwork. :)

I have the 2.5 x 3.5 inch sized patches - they also come in 4 other sizes up to 8x10 inches.  The quality of these blocks is really impressive - I'll have to think of something to make with them now!

There is a really great range of artwork from lots of different artists available as fabric patches from Kat's Magical Patches - currently 9 of my designs are available to buy there.  See more on the website... http://katstamps.com

Pick of the week... Mollie Makes

This post is a bit late really as I've had a copy of Mollie Makes magazine since before my holiday but I wanted to share this great new magazine as this week's 'Pick of the Week'.

Inside are lots of interesting articles on handmade and vintage and a good mix of tutorials too.  This issue came with a free kit to make a pretty felt flower - the photo above is the flower I made :)

Find out more about Mollie Makes on their website - http://www.molliemakes.com/ 
I'll be keeping an eye out for the next issue!

Clockwork Black-Headed Gull

Edwin Cracknell's recent trip to Hytheby proved a good source of inspiration for his latest mechanical creation.  Among the masts and rigging of the fishing boats tied to the quay lives the noisy Black-headed gull which has now been made into clockwork form...

This illustration (Clockwork Bird No.26) was actually inspired by my visit to Blakeney.  I think the shape of their beaks makes them look like they are smiling - did you know their scientific name means 'laughing gull'? The things you find out on Wikipedia!

You can buy prints of this illustration from my shop... www.hazelfishercreations.etsy.com

Summer Garden

The summer has definately returned so I thought I would make the most of the sun and take some photos of my garden.  I've been pleasantly surprised at how well some of the tubs and baskets of flowers have grown (although not all of the garden looks this good!)...

Basil enjoying the grass...

 Some of the veg is doing well too, like the leeks and peas...

We've not had a huge crop of peas but I love being able to pick a few and eat peas fresh from the pod!

Sunflowers are the sort of seed you give to children to grow as they're supposed to be really easy, however, most of mine usually just die.  Until this year anyway... I had a packet of these pompom sunflowers for my birthday and they're all doing really well :)