Durcan Designs

Valentine Treat Box

Hello!

This is a tutorial for a treat box using the new Valentine Paper Kit from Paper Garden Projects. I found the template on the Martha Stewart website and thought wow, these would be great for the kids to use as Valentine's gifts. They are pretty easy to make and very ADORABLE!!

This post is also a part of a Paper Garden Projects Blog Hop so make sure you read all the info below to learn how you can win a very cute Penny Black stamp set :)

Welcome to the Paper Garden Projects Romantic Garden Walk.

Take a stroll through the blogs of all the Paper Gardeners and enjoy some "heart-felt" inspiration.

While you visit, subscribe to each Gardener's blog and take note of each designer's name and their Romantic Word in their blog post. Once you finish your garden tour, send an E-mail to custserv@papergardenprojects.com with the list of designers and their Romantic Word.

Everyone who sends the correct list of designers and words will be entered in a random drawing to win a sweet Valentine prize. You need to send an e-mail to the address above; please don't leave your list as a comment. You have until midnight (EST) on January 26 to sent your list.

And the prize? The super cute Penny Black clear stamp set called Every Which Way.

So enjoy the garden tour (feel free to bring along some Valentine treats). Here is the garden tour guide list:

• Cathy
• Melissa (Mel)
• Tracy <----- You are here!
• Amber
• Lorelie
• Tangii
• Tricia

Now onto the tutorial (this is a long post!)

First, here is a picture of the kit I used for this project. You can find it at the Paper Garden Projects store here. It features some gorgeous new Pink Paislee patterned papers.

Second, download the template here. There is also a video clip of Martha making them on her tv show :)

Step 1: Print out the template and select some cardstock. I chose the light pink cardstock from the Paper Garden Projects Valentine kit.

Step 2: Place the template on top of the cardstock and adhere it with some adhesive (Martha Stewart uses staples but I couldn't find a stapler, lol). Next, cut the straight lines using a hobby blade, ruler and cutting mat. Remember there is cardstock underneath so make sure your cuts go all the way through.

Step 3: Score the dotted lines with a scoring tool and ruler.

Step 4: Cut out the heart curves with some scissors.

Step 5: Punch out the holes:

Step 6: Remove the template. This is what your cardstock will look like.

Step 7: Rescore the cardstock if you need to and proceed to fold.

Step 8: Cut the slits on the bottom so you can fold it up.

Step 9: Adhere one side with sticky strip.

Step 10: Add your treats and fold over the flaps. Also, if you'd like, punch out some fun paper hearts to add as a decoration :)

Step 11: Tie the ribbon (mine is from of the paper kit) and add the punched hearts with some thread or scrap floss.

And again, my completed project!

I hope you liked my project :) Here is my word for the Paper Garden Projects blog hop prize:

Tracy: Flowers

Thanks for stopping by!

Next stop on the blog hop is the talented Amber.

~Tracy

along came a spider...

Hi, I'm the last stop on the Halloween Odd Bird Planet blog hop and I'm very excited to share these cute little treat bags with you!

If you're not familiar with the blog hop, you can start at the beginning here ----> Karrie's Blog ,or just hop around any of the participants blog's here:

Karrie

Debbie

Diane

Godelieve

Kathi

Laura

Marnie

Teresa

Tiffany

& Tracy(me) eta - Kim has joined us :)

These treat bags are easy to make:

1. cut black cardstock with Rectangle Nestabilities by Spellbinders

2. mat with purple cardstcock using larger Rectangle Nestablities

3. cut out orange strip and adhere

4. stamp cobwebs with white craft ink

5. stamp spider with Pallette black ink

6. draw black line with marker and ruler

7. punch out spider with 1 1/4" punch

8. punch out orange circle with 1 3/8" punch

9. add green hardware, brad and ribbon

10. adhere spider with dimensionals

11. stamp sentiment and punch with circle punch

12. adhere sentiment with dimensionals

Note - You can find these paper bag treat bags at Target. They are the perfect size for your Halloween goodies!

Thanks for stopping by all!!

Pencil Holders

Can you believe how crazy busy June is???

I thought I'd share a gift item I made for Miranda's Daisy Troop Leaders.  Her bridging to Brownies ceremony was today and it was so sweet. 

The design is by Laurie Schmidlin. 

You can see the one I cased here and she also has a tutorial on her blog here.

Thank you to Laurie and all the wonderful people who share their work on the internet! 

The sentiment is from the set "Thoughtful Florals", by Verve Visual.  I actually own the "Thoughtful Phrases" set which was Verve's very first release!

 

Here's one last picture for you.  The pencils were a little loose and I didn't want them to fall out so I packaged them individually in clear bags from SU!

I hope the summer has been treating you well.  We still have a couple weeks of school left so things are pretty hectic.  I do have many "thank you's" and "birthdays" I need to work on so I'll be sure to post stuff as I get it done :)

Take Care!

Pencil Holder Recipe

Cardstock - Black Textured by Bazzill, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White by SU!

Stamps - Little Flowers by SU! and Thoughtful Phrases by Verve Visual

Ink - Black Staz On, Regal Rose by SU!

Other Stuff - White gel pen, black marker, scallop punch by SU!, ribbon by Papertrey Ink, flowers by Making Memories, brad by SU!, red sticky tape, glue dots

Clear Cone Favor Box and New Stamp Kit

Hi everyone!

I'm on a mini skiing vacation with the fam right now but I wanted to do a post to let you know that the Farmyard Friends Stamp Kit is now available in the  Paper Garden Projects Store. 

Here's a  project I made using the kit that also features another fun product available in the store -

Clear Cone Favor Boxes

Be sure to pick one of these up with your kit because they are soooo easy peasy and they look just fabulous!

 

This little guy was stamped in Versafine ink, heat set and then colored with Copic markers.

Also, here's a better look at the flower topper.  The cones have a fun little scallop shape at the top that you can adhere stuff to.  They would also be great for Easter.  Throw some orange jelly beans in there and trace the scallop top onto green cardstock and walla... a cutie patootie carrot!!

 

And before I go, here's a gorgeous snapshot of the kit :)

Farmyard Friends Stamp Kit

Thanks for visiting and happy stamping! :)

Cosmo Cricket "Honey Pie" Kit Tutorial

Recently, I got a chance to work with a new "Paper Kit" from Paper Garden Projects  called "Honey Pie".  As I started making my cards I realized that this would be a nice project to share as a tutorial.  I also thought it would be fun to give you a little glance at my card making process.

Here is a picture of what I started with, the "Honey Pie Paper Kit".  It features Cosmo Cricket designer paper and Bazzill textured cardstock -

 

My next step was to decide what stamps I wanted to use.  I chose two Odd Bird Planet stamps, Bless Your Berry Pickin' Little Heart and Strawberry Row.  I thought they seemed to fit the look of the kit nicely. 

I also decide I wanted to make a set of 3x3 cards and started cutting my paper.  It's always hard for me to make the first cut into a sheet of paper.  It's as almost as if I'm afraid to wreck the prettiness of it.   

 

My next step was to stamp the sentiment on the back of one of the sheets of Cosmo Cricket designer paper.  It's a cream color like the one in my patterned squares and I like shades to coordinate as much as possible. 

I stamped the sentiment with Chocolate Chip ink by SU!  I like this ink for sentiments because it gives you a nice sharp image.   Also, there are browns in the dp and so I thought it would look better than a black ink.

 

After I decided that I liked the look of it, I went ahead and stamped a bunch of images on the paper.  I stamped them somewhat randomly because I was planning to cut them out and run them through the Cuttlebug with a rectangle Nestabilities.  I also did a practice run with the Nestabilities and some scrap paper to find a rectangle size that fit nicely. 

A couple notes - my Cuttlebug is totally jerry-rigged to work with the Nestablities so it's slightly embarrassing :)  Also, I don't tape them down or anything I just carefully set the B plate on top and run it through.

 

My next step was to make a mat for the sentiment using the scallop rectangle Nestabilities.  The scraps left from cutting your 3x3 card bases will work perfectly for this.

I also took a minute to coordinate the designer paper with the colored cardstock.  At this point in time I'm starting to really visualize what I'd like the cards to look like.

 

 

I then adhered the mats onto the sentiments.

 

Now I start working on the strawberries.  I decide to use my watercolor crayons with watercolor paper by SU!   I also change my ink to Palette brown because it's darker and the strawberries stand out nicely.  I don't want them to look washed out and that seemed to be the case when I tried the Chocolate Chip SU! ink.

When I watercolor with the crayons I apply the color directly to my brush and then color.

 

Now I need to cut it out.  I am a bit of an anal cutter.  I will cut as much as I can with scissors and then the hard parts with a craft knife.  I also might smooth the edges with a sanding block.  I like SU!'s sanding blocks the best. 

My last steps involve mixing and matching the matted sentiments with the card bases to find my favorite looks. 

I also decide on a final layout and add ribbon and embellishments from the kit.   

 

 

   

I hope you liked this little project and if you have any questions feel free to ask!  Hope you have a great day and happy stamping :)

Supplies:

Stamps -  Bless Your Berry Pickin' Little Heart, Strawberry Row by Odd Bird Planet

Cardstock and Designer Paper - "Honey Pie Paper Kit" from Paper Garden Projects

Ribbon and Embellishments - "Honey Pie Paper Kit" from Paper Garden Projects

Watercolor crayons, watercolor paper, Chocolate Chip ink, sanding block, dimensionals by SU!

Nestabilities

Palette Timber Brown ink

wrap tutorial for 3x3 acetate boxes

Happy Holidays all! 

This is a little tutorial using 3x3 acetate boxes from Paper Garden Projects.  They are really adorable.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

Supplies -

3x3 acetate boxes

12 x 12 patterned paper - mine is from SU!

red ribbon from Paper Garden Projects

button from Paper Garden Projects

Hero Arts stamps

Cuttlebug tag die

embroidery thread

glue dots

black palette ink, Close to Cocoa ink by SU!

Scor-Pal

 

Cut two strips of patterned paper

1 1/2" x 12"

1 7/8" x 12"

Score both strips at 3-6-9

Bend folds

Then adhere the strips together, matching one edge of the strips

*I found that if you adhere the strips and then score them together that the paper tends to tear at the creases  -  so score individually, fold individually, then adhere together

Wrap the paper around the box and adhere with two glue dots on each end

Wrap your ribbon around the box and tie knot

Add tag

That's it! Hope you like :)

Gnome Acetate Pillow Box Tutorial

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I was happy to have a little time to paper craft today.  Here's what I made -  
   

  

You may remember this acetate pillow box from a previous post.  Today I made an easy peasy belly band for it.  The gnome is from my Paper Garden Stamp Kit "Gnome for the Holdiays".  The green cardstock is 12 x 12 Textured Wild Wasabi by SU!  The patterned paper is by Flair Designs.

Stamp the gnome in brown Staz On and color him with Prismacolor pencils. The look of the pencils coordinates really well with the Flair Holly Jolly paper.  Cut the gnome out.  Punch a scallop circle.  I used SU!'s punch.

Cut the green cardstock 12 x 3.  Score on the 4" and 8"

Cut the patterned paper 4 x 2.75.

  

Adhere the patterned paper.

  

Wrap cardstock around acetate pillow box.  Adhere with a strip of red tape. 

 

Here's another look at the finished project.  Tape the scallop circle onto the pillow using a strip of red tape down the middle and adhere the gnome with dimensionals. 

Hope you liked my little project :) Here's a rundown of the supplies I used:

Acetate Pillow Box

Odd Bird Planet Kelly's Stitched Gnome stamp - available part of a stamp kit here or as a single here

Flair Designs patterned paper, Holly Jolly Collection

Wild Wasabi 12 x 12 cardstock, scallop punch, dimensionals by SU!

Prismacolor Pencils

Timber Brown Staz On ink

Craft knife and scissors

Red Sticky Tape

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great weekend.

Acetate Pillow Boxes

A little while ago, Cathy from Paper Garden Projects sent me one these cute acetate pillow boxes that she carries in her on-line store.  Today I decided how I wanted to use it...

A little mini stamping kit for a friend :)

Now I need to go decorate it!

Hope you all had a nice weekend :)

Christmas Tins

 

I have to tell you, I love, love, love paper crafting!  It really brings me much joy!  Today I'm sharing another Paper Garden Project featuring their metal tins and the Gnome for the Holidays stamp kit.  The christmas tree patterned paper in this kit is so much fun cuz you can cut out the little trees!  The tan and white cardstock is also from the kit. 

I hope you like the project! Enjoy the day :)

Kitchen Sink WCMD Challenge

Deck the Halls!  It's a Christmas Challenge!!  Choose your favorite crafting supplies and create a Christmas card or altered item.  Then, upload your work to any gallery/blog and link it to the Kitchen Sink Weblog -----> here. 

To be eligible for prizes you have till Sunday Noon (Eastern Time) to link your cards to the Kitchen Sink Weblog.

I will be drawing a winner to win the mini holiday gift totes pictured below (which were handcrafted with love by myself ) as well as entering your name into the grand prize drawings!

Thanks for playing and good luck! :) 

*Note - You are not required to use only Kitchen Sink Stamps for the challenge.  However, if you choose to you will automatically be entered into the October What's Cooking Contest.  October's theme will be "Getting Ready for the Holiday".

Prizes:

All entries from all challenges will have a chance to win 2 KS stamp sets - Ready 4 Any Holiday and The Limited Edition Set - A Year of Thanks.  And those who enter using 100% KSS will also be automatically entered in Oct.'s What's Cooking Contest. 

 

Recipe -

Stamps - Playful Christmas by Kitchen Sink Stamps

Versacraft Fabric Ink Chiffon Colors

Mini Totes from AC Moore

Buttons by Lasting Impressions