Graphic 45 Pillow Box Tutorial | #ClubG45

Today I’m sharing a Pillow Box process using the Graphic 45 Garden Goddess Pillow Box Treat Holder project sheet by designer & educator Annette Green.

I’m also sharing fussy cutting tips that you may find helpful.

Graphic 45 carries a wide variety of paper crafting project ideas and tutorials on their website.

Click here to go to the Graphic 45 project sheets

Pillow Box Tutorial

The instructions call for the 8×8 Garden Goddess paper pad. In it you’ll find the pillow box template. Since I’ve already gone through my 8×8 paper pad, I’ll be using the 12×12 sheets from the Garden Goddess collection pack. I’ll also be using my pillow box die.

Tip: You may also find free pillow box templates, when you search from them online.

The pillow box that I’m making measures approximately 2 3/4 x 4 1/2.

Once I have my die-cut pieces, I like to shape the ends. I find that by doing this first step, helps me form my pillow box at the end.

Now I’m ready to glue my pillow box parts. If you’re using the template from the 8×8 paper pad, all you have to do is score along the guidelines, fold, and apply wet glue on one side.

I trim a piece from the Thoughtfully Planted sheet to 7/8 x 8″; then I ink around the edges with Colorbox Graphic 45 Ink in Precious Pink.

I use the buckle from the Graphic 45 Garden Goddess Tags & Pockets. I also ink around the edges with Colorbox Graphic 45 Velvet Teal ink. Once that’s done, I’m ready to thread the pink strip through the buckle.

About Fussy Cutting

Up until recently, fussy cutting was a challenge for me. I’ve tried imitating fussy cutting techniques from other paper crafting tutorials; but my end results looked nothing like what was shown. I don’t know why fussy cutting was so difficult for me. Maybe it was the size or the rounded shape of my hands that always made it harder than it needed to be.

So instead of attempting to fussy cut straight from the page, I decided to first cut out the image and then (with my slim, pointy scissors), fussy cut around the image. I quickly saw how much closer to the edges I was able to get to by doing it this way.

So if fussy cutting is a challenge for you, you may want to try this method.

In my video tutorial, you’ll notice that when fussy cutting, you will move your image around more than you move your scissors.

Once I’m done fussy cutting, I ink around the edges with Colorbox Graphic 45 Dark Cashmere ink.

Using the same technique, I went to town fussy cutting more flowers!

Level Up your Project

The beauty about the Graphic 45 Project Sheets is that they give you all the steps to create your paper crafting projects; but you don’t have to stop there. Level it up by adding your personal touch!

Here you see me showing you the Graphic 45 leaf dies that I’ll be using to add to my fussy-cut flowers.

Because I’m using the 12×12 sheet, you can see how much larger the flower is. So what I decided to do was to add it to the back of the buckle; and it frames it so beautifully!

Then I add the smaller flowers. Some are glued and some are with dimensional foam dots. I also use glue on the leaves.

And once I glue the band to the center of the pillow box, I add some flourishes from my stash. I also apply some Graphic 45 Matte Pearl Gems.

Video Tutorial

I’ve put together a quick and easy to follow video tutorial for you. I hope that I’ve inspired you to check out the Graphic 45 Project Ideas. I thank you for watching. Until next time. Happy paper crafting!