You’ve seen them on the cover of Somerset Studio…now is your chance to create your very own Butterfly Box! A glassed-in shadow box holds a wooden cut-out sporting real butterfly or moth wings, arranged among your favorite bits of papers, paints and other ephemera. Add a crown or other accessories fashioned from vintage tin and you are well on your way to dressing up Aunt Irma’s childhood photo in ways she never imagined! In this class you will learn how to use a jeweler’s saw to cut wood and metal, work with the metal itself, and play with some fun cold connections. Ideas for background finishes will be discussed, along with options for creating custom boxes.
Kit Fee: $15
Supply List:
- 5x7 or 8x10 glassed-in shadow box (glass sits in a channel, not a separate piece-see my website for an example)
- 1/8” Birch Plywood (not balsa wood!)
- Jeweler’s saw frame (www.riogrande.com item # 110-134)
- Bench pin (www.riogrande.com item # 110-010)
- Scissors
- Hand-drill (www.fiskars.com)
- X-acto knife
- Small clamp (American Tool QuickGrip Micro Bar Clamp-available @ Lowe’s, etc.)
- Xerox color copies of family or favorite photos sized to your box (no inkjet or original photos)
- Favorite papers and ephemera (think things to stand or sit your cutout on-need to be no larger than the width of your box so it can shut)
- Thin gauge metal from vintage cookie and candy tins, rusty bottle caps and cans, etc
Optional: (but it would be really, really great if you had them-you’ll probably want them anyway after this class!)
- Tin snips-Fiskar’s SoftTouch small scissors work great! (www.fiskars.com -look under “craft scissors”)
- Bench Block (www.volcanoarts.biz -metal surface on a wood base)
- Nylon/rawhide hammer
- Hammer
- Center punch
- Metal files
Teacher will bring:
- Various tools (saws, bench pins, drill, center punches, clamps, hammers, files)
- Adhesives
- Extra birch plywood
- Extra photos
- Papers and ephemera
- Acrylic paints
Kit Fee Includes:
- 2 sets of butterfly wings
- Miniature nuts and bolts
- Socket wrench
- Sawblades (6)
- Drill Bit
- Wood blocks
