This is the time of year when my thoughts begin to turn toward the sea.  There’s something about Spring that makes me yearn for long walks on the beach, combing for shells and other treasures.  I think the fact that everything here in North Carolina is coated in a film of yellow-green pollen has a lot to do with my desire to be at the shore right now.  I can’t even walk to the mailbox and back without having to wash a layer of pollen off my glasses!.   So clean ocean air is very appealing!  When Heartfelt Creations sent me their Balmy Breeze paper collection to use in my design team auditions, I went searching in the infamous Closet of Shame  fishing for something to alter.  I came across an old brie box.  And that’s how this Balmy Breeze Brie box came into being:

I love this elegant lighthouse backed by fluffy white clouds.  I dabbed a little Picket Fence Distress Stain onto the clouds and lighthouse to highlight them, and spritzed the panel with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Patina.  Using the box lid as my template, I traced around the image, inked the edges and applied it to the box, which I had prepped by painting it with Vintage Photo Distress Re-Inker and a foam brush.

The crocheted lace, shells and button with twine were secured with a hot glue gun.  (And yes, I burnt my fingers, but it was worth it. )  I used Scor-Tape to secure the blue ribbons and the row of crocheted lace.  The box is only about 4″ in diameter, so these shells are really tiny.  They are the result of last summer’s beachcombing.  They look right at home beneath that regal lighthouse. 

The inside of the box contains a special greeting card:

This circular card was easy to create.  I simply folded an 8 1/2 by 11″ sheet of dark brown card stock in half, then placed my Spellbinder’s scalloped circle die on the fold so that the two scallops of the  die rested just outside the fold line.  This way, when the die is run through the machine, the fold remains intact, and you end up with a card instead of two die cut circles.  I repeated this, and then overlapped the edges to create an accordion fold card with 4 panels.

Click on photo for a larger image.

As you can see, four panels were cut from the Balmy Breeze paper using a circle die that was just slightly smaller than the scalloped circle.  These were mounted on each brown panel, decorated.

The card was accordion folded and tucked into the base of the brie box, which had also been decorated with designer paper.  I think this makes a great masculine gift, especially if you tuck in a gift card for a sporting goods store or a coffee shop.  My husband loves the beach, so this would make a great Father’s Day gift for him….or a birthday gift as well.  The little box can be used to collect beach glass or other trinkets from the shoreline.  The soft neutral colors would work with most any color palette.

As a bonus, I decided to clean up the Closet of Shame after finishing the Balmy Breeze Brie Box.  When I did, I found several more little cheese boxes stashed away in there.  Now that I can find them, I’m sure I’ll be making more fun gift sets.  Maybe a baby card….or a wedding card would be fun.  You just never know where you’ll end up when you start rummaging around in the Closet of Shame. I might just have to change the name to The Closet of Potential or the Closet of Possibilities; I found some really great stuff in there!

Thanks for taking the time to read my little blog.  Let me know if you have any questions about today’s project.  I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.  You know how much I love your comments.  They make me happy, right down to the tips of my crafty little fingers.  Until next time,

Cheerio,

kathy

Product used in this project: Paper:  Balmy Breeze Collection, Heartfelt Creations; Dies: Spellbinder’s Circles and Scalloped Circles, Decorative Lattice Swirl Die/Heartfelt Creations; Ink: Ranger Industries Distress ink and Re-Inker, Vintage Photo; Mixed Media: Ranger Distress Stain: Picket Fence; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Patina; Ribbon and Glue from my stash; Word Fragments: Paper Wishes.  Brown Cardstock: My Favorite Things.