The Shadow Box

     Warning this post is image laiden, lol!!! I wanted you to get the full affect of this project. This used to be a black shadow box however it just didn't go in this newly painted room. I wanted a rustic, weather worn look so I sanded the box, painted it with some white paint. Once it was dry I sanded off several areas and then distressed it.
     The pictures were updated from our recent trip to Florida and several weeks later for our youngest grandson's birthday party. In some ways the pictures involve water.

     I have been collecting sea shells on our many trips to Florida. I am so fair that I burn and get over heated quickly so the only way I survive at the beach is by constantly moving and keeping my body in the water! Some of these shells are from St. Pete Beach, some from Shell Island and some from Venice Beach. This last beach is amazing. The water is a bluish green and the setting reminds me of the Caribbean.
     The shells are adhered with a glue gun and took quite a while to lay them out. I only went around the outside edge. Believe it or not I didn't have enough shells to frame the individual photos!
     I wanted to frame the outside edge with some sort of roping but couldn't find what I wanted so I made my own. I had a skein of cotton yarn so I measured around the frame and added 4 times the length to account for the braiding. I love Beacon's 3-in-1 glue. It grabbed beautifully on this project.

     I even added some shells to add some dimension near the pics.

     This is a sign for the nesting turtles near Venice Beach. Besides the incredible view at this spot you can have great fun sifting for shark teeth. That's right: shark teeth! Next time we go back I'll have to keep some for myself instead of giving them to the grand children. All the ones we found are black!!! I also used a Tim Holtz bottle to add some sand. Please stop me before I get carried away. Hope you enjoyed your visit. As always don't be afraid to leave a comment.