Shadow Box for our Nephew’s Wedding–Part 3

This isn’t really part 3 – more like part 6 or 7 really – because I’ve done blog posts out of sequence with their own titles, describing the experiments, and the various embellishments and finishes I’ve been working on for the purpose of this project, but which stand alone as well.

The final steps to complete the project were simple assembly; I had to decide where to put the flowers on each layer so that they would not obscure one another, and also would reflect on the internal mirrored surface of the box. First of all I put the frame and mount together, adding the flowers in the corners. I had to support it on a small cardboard box in the middle until I was ready to assemble the box, because the mount, attached to the glass, had a tendency to drop out of the recess in the frame.

The next step was to put the flowers in the base of the box, so that they would line up correctly with the other embellishments. You can see a small pencilled arrow at the top of the box, to tell me which way to line up the frame when assembling the project – the small lugs projecting from the box with the screw holes are not exactly placed, and need to line up correctly with the screw holes in the back of the frame. You can also see the protective strip on the double sided tape on the top of the distance piece, which would be peeled off when the acetate was put in place.

Here is the acetate with the butterfly and flowers glued down:

The printed monogram appears fainter and less definite than I originally intended; I hadn’t taken that into account when I reduced the graphic in size, and maybe should have used a darker shade of blue, but I’m not too displeased, as the whole effect is quite subtle, and it doesn’t dominate, or compete with the butterfly which is the main feature. It doesn’t show up very well at all in this next photo because of the reflections of my hand and the camera in the mirrored surfaces, but in real life it’s a bit clearer. This is the finished project.

Here are some close-up pictures showing some more detail of the frame.

It’s really hard photographing these reflective surfaces! The red you can see is a reflection of the top that I am wearing today, and has nothing to do with the project!! It’s also really hard to judge where to place my lamps so that they illuminate the work properly, without causing a massive bright spot like in the next photo (sorry about that!).

This next photo really shows what the glass bead gel is like, up close and personal. I’m really thrilled with this stuff!

When you get the light on it, the stamped and painted butterflies sparkle and shimmer, and I like the effect of the glass bead gel extending a little onto the glass in places, softening the outline of the aperture of the frame; my original idea was to cover the silver mount completely with it, but I think it is more interesting, and has a more organic look, the way I’ve done it. You can also see it extending onto the aperture of the painted frame, linking the contrasting surfaces of textured acrylic paint, silver mirror card, and glass.

The final photo gives us a glimpse inside the box itself, taken at an angle so that you can see the distance piece with the acetate resting on it. The double sided tape which of course was visible through the transparent acetate, has been covered with a self-adhesive silver strip all round, which makes it much less obvious. Again, unfortunately you can see the reflection of my hand holding the camera, and the red of my top! I really don’t know how to avoid these reflection problems when photographing a project like this.

My hubby is now safely in Estonia with his brother and the rest of the family, getting ready for the wedding on Saturday. He’s been phoning me each day – I’m missing him such a lot, and it’s nice to know he’s safe and sound where he should be, and having a nice holiday too – I’m very sorry not to be able to be with him but with my health problems, such a journey wasn’t feasible, and quite impractical too, given all the stuff I need to take with me! He’ll be back soon enough, armed, I hope, with loads of photos!

He didn’t take this present with him, because after the honeymoon, the couple will be coming straight back to London where they live, and there was no point in my hubby loading his baggage up with it when they probably wouldn’t have time to open it anyway. It can wait at his parents’ house for the next time they come down to the Westcountry.