Graphic 45 By the Sea Treasure Box

When Graphic 45 came out with By the Sea paper collection, I fell in love. I knew I wanted to make something for my parents using this beautiful collection. Ten years ago my parents retired to a small barrier island in New Jersey called Brigantine. I thought By the Sea would fit in perfectly with their decor. I chose to make a small treasure box for my Mom for Mother's Day.

Graphic 45 papers are not available at major craft stores. I found a collection of By the Sea tags at a small scrapbooking store near Lancaster, PA. I ordered the papers from Scrapbook.com. At Joann's I found a cute set of boxes and picked the middle size for this project. The other two are going into my craft stash for a future project.

Like most of my projects I didn't have a clear plan. I decided not to paint the box and just to use the plain brown paper as a background. I used matte Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the box and lid.

The nice thing about Graphic 45 is that their papers are two-sided. So for the inside of the lid I used one side of the papers for the lid and the other for the sides.

For the inside of the box itself I used the same paper as the inside of the lid and added a tag in the corner. I also "fussy" cut a seashell out. "Fussy" cut means to target a specific area on a paper or fabric and cut out just that area. I had cut the bottom paper a little too small so I edged around with some jute twine that I had with hot glue.

Back to the lid - I cut the paper to show this cool fish. I also used the other side of the paper (not shown here) to the edges of the lid box. I gently coated the lid with Mod Podge to seal the paper and to protect the surface. While it was drying I made a tag with some navy blue scrap paper I had and a seashell I had collected in Brigantine. More "fussy" cutting and twine finish off the tag. The tag itself and the individual pieces were also Mod Podged for protection. To attach the tag I used a few glue dots. Glue dots are one of the best inventions around.

For the outside of the box I used the same paper as the lid and Mod Podged it down. I added a tag and some more seashells. Using Mod Podge I used craft sand the same way you would add glitter to a project.

This was my first time using Graphic 45 papers and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and weight of their papers. I very happy with the way this projected turned out. My Mom loved her gift.

I have plenty of paper left. I am currently working on something for my Dad for Father's Day.