I had been wanting to make a backlit shadowbox for a while but just never got around to it. . . enter the recent “Light It Up” swap! It’s immediately what I thought to make for this swap. I designed it in Inkscape and cut it with my Glowforge. The box itself is cherry plywood and the paper layers are watercolor paper.
Of course these things never go smoothly, and the style of the first box I made did not want to assemble easily (I’ve saved it so I can tinker with it later and make another one). So back to the drawing board where I incorporated a couple other improvements. I also wanted to use a LED light strip (which came with a remote control), but the lights weren’t bright enough for me so I ended up switching to fairly lights. I also wanted the lights to be battery operated so the recipient could place the box wherever they wanted.
The final project:
That lightbox is gorgeous and I really love the process pics and explanation. Your execution is flawless and the rich color of the wood is perfection. You have me itching to make a lightbox of my own!
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(Linda -2024 Choose Projects that You Want to Do :us:)
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I sure have learned a lot from the various projects in that swap! A lot of bold and creative ways to use light as a feature for artwork.
This is really fun and lovely…I love seeing the process as well…makes me feel braver to try something like this!
For anyone interested in creating a similar shadowbox without fancy equipment - it’s completely doable!
A deep frame from a craft store would work perfectly for the box, and the paper and foam core can be cut by hand with x-acto or other sharp blades. I’d love to see what y’all make!
Congratulations! This hot project is featured this week!