Paper Quilling Ballerina Shadow Box
My granddaughter, Hailey, started taking ballet lessons when she was 4 years old and really enjoyed dancing. As a special Christmas gift for her, I commissioned a paper quilling artwork of a young ballerina from the local mother and daughter team “2 Quilling Queens”. Barb, the mother, did an amazing job and incorporated Hailey’s favourite colours, blue and green, in the artwork.
The shadow box frame that I made for the ballerina artwork was a true labour of love and a perfect example of putting the “custom” into custom framing...
The frame was a combination three different profiles. The outer profile was an elegant white moulding from Roma Moulding’s Ruvo collection. The narrow enhancer and the shadow box moulding were from Larson-Juhl and both started off as their normal black colours. The shadow box moulding was hand-painted with a light blue acrylic on the face of the moulding and white on the sides. The enhancer was hand-painted with a light green acrylic.
The single white mat was combined with a variegated bevel accent made from 8-ply matboard which was hand-painted using 4 different colours (2 shades of blue and 2 shades of green). The spacer that separates the top mat from the mount board provides the necessary depth for the 3D paper quilling, and also provides a wonderful surprise when viewed at an angle. The text “Our sweet ballerina...” is displayed along the top spacer and “Hailey Grace” is displayed along the bottom. Floral sequins, held in place with French knots, finished off the spacer design.
I chose Tru Vue’s Museum glass for its 99% UV protection and amazing clarity.
Hailey loved her gift from her Nanny and it is displayed proudly in her bedroom.
