Scalloped Circle Shadow Box
Early last month, I attended the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, Texas in hopes that I would find new inspiration for hybrid projects to showcase here at The Hybrid Chick. I was not disappointed; one of my favorite products was a shadow box frame kit whose pieces had been laser cut from thin pieces of wood (or possibly MDF) and a sheet of 1/8″ thick Lucite.
I purchased several of these kits because I knew it was not something I could make for myself later on, seeing as how I don’t own a laser cutter and would probably have a challenging time convincing my husband that we needed one. However, late one night I had an epiphany – I could duplicate the basics using my die cut machine, dies, chipboard obtained from used cereal and granola bar boxes, and a sheet of transparency film.
Supplies I used:
- Flower Fashion Tea Party digital kit by Paper Garden Projects
- enough used cereal boxes to cut 10 4.25″ scalloped circles
- sheet of transparency film
- Epson Premium Matte Photo Paper
- red line tape (any double-sided tape would work just fine)
- small adhesive dots
- Nestabilities scalloped circle dies
- Nestabilities circle dies
- rhinestones
- ribbon
- 3-D foam adhesive square
- Die Cut machine
- Fiskars Paper Trimmer
- scissors
I opened a canvas in Photoshop
I dragged the individual pieces to an 8.5″ x 11″ canvas and then printed out the document. I cut the paper pieces down to size so they would fit through my die cut machine.
To create the shadow box, I started by using the largest scalloped circle die to cut the base for my project.
Next, I cut 9 scalloped circles with a circle in the middle by placing the plain circle inside the scalloped circle and running that through the die cut machine.
Then I cut the top scalloped circle from the transparency film.
To create the top paper layer, I selected the plain circle die that was one size smaller than the size I had used for the chipboard. This way, the paper would hide the fact that I’m human, and did not perfectly center all of the circles in the pieces of chipboard (as you’ll see in a photo below).
To create the bottom paper layer, I placed my scalloped die on the square, and then placed the top paper layer on top to check my placement. The scallops all have to line up around the outer edge, and I wanted the word art to be visible through the circle.
I hand-cut the teapot, leaving a small white border to achieve a sticker effect.
Then I added a 3-D foam adhesive square to the back of the teapot. I was careful to select a foam adhesive whose thickness did not exceed the thickness of my stacked scalloped circle rings.
Next, I added red line tape to the back of each scalloped circle ring.
I added adhesive to the base printed paper layer and attached it to the bottom scalloped circle.
Once that step was done, I created the shadow box effect by adhering the first ring to the top of the base paper layer and then continued adding the scalloped rings on top of one another to create a stack.
As I previously mentioned, I had to line up my scallops on the outer edge so that they matched perfectly. Below is the photo where you can see that not all of the middle circles are perfectly centered.
I attached the top paper layer to the top scalloped circle ring and also added the teapot.
Finally, I added rhinestones to every other scallop on the transparency film for a couple of reasons: one, to add some additional dimension to the frame and two, to hide the adhesive I used to attach the transparency film to the top paper layer!
To finish things off, I tied a small bow and placed it at the bottom of the inner circle using a small glue dot, and then added a rhinestone to the center of the bow.
I was thrilled at how this project turned out and I can’t wait to make more in different shapes and sizes – I may even make a magnet or two!
Other Articles by joana1n:
- Make Your Own Paper Tape! - March 25th, 2013
- Thanks a Latte Single-Serve Coffee Gift Box - February 18th, 2013
- Tootsie Box and a 3-D Santa Sticker - December 5th, 2012
- An Unlikely Advent Calendar - November 28th, 2012
- Gift Card Holder! - October 30th, 2012
