Dad's Shadowbox

My in laws live in Maine, and have a sizeable collection of lighthouse artwork, small replicas etc.  So, naturally when I saw the latest set "Guiding Light" from Gina K Designs I wanted to create a gift for my father in law.

As money is obviously tight for everyone right now, I wanted to share how easy it was to put together a hand crafted piece with lots of detail very inexpensively.

I found this shadowbox frame at my local AC Moore.  Last week, the frames were 50% off and the frame was only $7.  What a bargain!  

And, if you wanted to create a similar project, you could even use the Digital Paper Pack which Gina created as a freebie for Stamp TV titled Jersey Shore, it would be an amazing choice for a Nautical themed gift! You can find the Stamp TV Digital Paper Pack Freebies here.

I added a piece of designer paper from my stash to the very inside of the box.  I added some Nautical Netting to give it a rugged feel, and then added a border of grosgrain ribbon.

I covered the mat with a coordinating piece of cardstock.  It was so easy to do... using a craft knife I trimmed neatly along the interior edge of the mat to create the opening.   

I then took the mat and ran the interior edges through my Janome with the zig zag stitch to give it a blanket stitch look.  This gives a finished edge to the matting.  

Note: for this frame, the matting was exceptionally lightweight, so I was able to sew right through it. If there was a heavier mat, I would simply sew right through the cardstock layer, then attach it to the heavyweight mat!  

 

Depending on the paper you choose for your project, you can do lots of things to dress up your matting, overstamp it with a background, distress with sponging, add details with brads, buttons etc.  But as I was trying to keep this manly and clean, I elected simply stitching. 

I stamped the scene with Timber Brown Stazon ink to watercolor paper.  Then I colored my scene with a Ninji Waterbrush and reinkers from my SU inkpads.  For me, the trick is to wait to let each part of the image dry.  I tend to rush and add the next color before the image is dry, and then it bleeds.  I either have to be patient, or just zap it with my heat gun.  

Once I was finished watercoloring and the image dried, I added a mat for my image with Gina's latest color of Pure Luxury Cardstock - Chocolate Kiss.  Its truly luscious!  Then, zip zap, right through my Janome for a finished look.  

My husband was thrilled with how this came out, and I'm thrilled to have a Father's Day present all ready!  Right now, I'm enjoying this on my shelf in my stamp room. Its going to be hard to part with, but it will fit **right** in with my in laws lighthouse collection.