Cherry Blossom Light Box

 

     The new Art Deco dies from John Next Door made me think of oriental style projects. Rather than a card I decided to make a box scene with internal lighting.

     To begin with I die cut a box shape in dark brown pearl card, twice, one for the bottom and one for the lid.

     Using the Cassandre die I cut the lid, this gave me a perfectly sized hole to drop a gold die cut of Cassandre into and a brown version to trim up and glue along the outside edges of the lid.

     To keep the gold die cut in place I attached some thick acetate to the inside of the lid opening and glued the gold die cut on to it.

     To create a mid depth layer I used the same box die, cut one layer in kraft card and then trimmed the sides down to half the depth of the main box. In hindsight this could have been a little shallower as the image at the back of the box didn't show as well as I had hoped.

     In the centre of the kraft layer I die cut the trees from another of JND's die sets, Four Seasons and attached some pink flowers o look like cherry blossom. Each flower is shaped and has some yellow pollen like flock in the middle.

     At the back of the box I used a white card layer with an oriental style peel off stuck to it, this layer was glued flat inside the box back. 

     To create a misty effect I used a sheet of vellum glued at the back of the trees, this would allow the lights to shine through and the black on white image to be seen.

     Before assembling the kraft layer I used a hole punch on the corner of the panel to thread the lights through, there was also a hole punched in the back of the brown box for the lights to pass through from behind.

     

     The kraft layer was assembled and the lights run around the outside edge and fixed in place. I put the kraft layer in the box back and then glued the box corners together, this made sure the kraft layer would fit inside and gave a tight fit so it wouldn't shift about in transit.

     There were half the lights left to be attached around the inside of the box on the top layer, these were fixed in place too. 

     Fixing the lights is not as fiddly as it sounds, as long as you remember to thread them through from the back of the box, that way the battery pack will stay on the outside. For this box I used some redline tape to secure the battery pack so it was easy to use and would stay in place. It is possible to change the batteries once they go flat so you can keep your scene for a long time.

     To get the box to stand up I cut a stand from the same brown card as the box and glued it in place.

     To finish the box I put the lid over the back and glued the corner flaps together to create a tight fit. With the battery pack outside the box there should be no need to take the lid off, but it will come off if necessary.

     Using kraft card and the Twigs die I cut two twigs and covered them with the same flowers as used inside. To hide the join in the twigs I made a small knot using Japanese Mizuhiki cord in shades of pink and hot glued it in place.

       

Materials used 

PCD224 - Cassadre die set

JND194 - Four Seasons die set

JND187 - Twigs die set

JND174 - Small Flower plate

S57320 - Thick Acetate

S57262 - 3D PVA glue

S57085 - Ultra Clear Tape 6mm  (Redline)

   Other items from stash

       

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Creative Fingers - #210 Anything Goes

Love To Craft - #59 Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - #555 Anything Goes/Option - Make A Scene    (Top 3)

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes 8th June

Let's Create and Craft - #172 Anything Goes/Option Add Buttons

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies ~ June

Creative Craft Cottage - #141 Eileen's Anything Goes

A Perfect Time To Craft - #6 Anything Goes     (First)