Angel and shepherd shadow box SVG
An angel appearing in the night sky to a shepherd in the fields: a great star and a sky of small ones, the angel above the far hills, the little town with its own star on the next hill, the shepherd with his crook among his sheep, and two more sheep by a camp fire at the front. 5 sheets of card, cut and stacked with a gap between each, make the picture. The files are free, and every part of the scene can be moved, swapped or resized below before you download.
5 sheets at 8 × 10 in, zipped, with a note on putting them together.
Free for personal and commercial use, no sign-up. What you can do with it.
The 5 sheets
Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 5 is the front. Each one is a single piece with the same frame round its edge, so they line up when stacked. The colours shown are the “Snow” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 3, “Little town”, the slowest: at 1.1 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 5, “Sheep and camp fire”, fills the most of the view, 31% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Star | A whole sheet with holes for: North star and 7 × Plain disc | over 2 mm | 36% |
| 2. Angel in the sky | Rolling ground, with: Standing angel with hands together | over 2 mm | 13% |
| 3. Little town | Rolling ground, with: Nativity town of Bethlehem | 1.1 mm | 8% |
| 4. Shepherd and flock | Rolling ground, with: Nativity shepherd with sheep | 1.8 mm | 11% |
| 5. Sheep and camp fire | A gentle slope, with: Sheep silhouette, Campfire in a stone ring and Lamb standing, a young sheep | 1.1 mm | 31% |
Measured from the files at 8 × 10 in. The narrowest part is the thinnest neck of card that holds anything on; sharp tips are not counted. “Seen from the front” is the share of the picture that sheet fills once the sheets in front of it are in place.
Will it cut at your size?
The download is 8 × 10 in. The scene maker above makes the same scene at any of these sizes; the thinnest part scales with it.
| Frame opening | Each sheet | Narrowest part | Depth needed | Fits a 12 × 12 in mat | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 × 10 in | 203.2 × 254 mm | 1.1 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Cuts easily |
Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.
Making this one
In the Snow colours the back sheet is dark blue and the angel is cut in white, so she shows against the night without a light. She hangs from the top of her sheet on one thread of card 1.6 mm wide, which joins her halo to the frame. The angel has nothing under 2 mm at 8 by 10 inches. The little town and the sheep at the front are the fine cutting, at about 1.1 mm, and the shepherd is 1.8 mm. The great star and the small ones are holes in the back sheet.
- Cut all 5 sheets from 160 to 220 gsm card at the same size.
- Lay them out in order, sheet 1 at the back.
- Put strips of 3 mm foam tape round the border of sheet 1 and press sheet 2 onto it with the edges level. Carry on to sheet 5.
- Fit the stack into a deep frame with the front sheet against the glass. For a light box, run a strip of warm white LEDs round the inside of the frame behind the stack.
The zip includes these steps as a text file, each sheet as its own SVG and all 5 side by side in one SVG. More on paper, frames and lights is on the shadow box page.
The parts, on their own
Everything in the scene comes from the free SVG library, where each has its own page and file:
Questions
How is this different from the Angel and stars scene?
Here the angel is in the sky above a shepherd and his flock, in an upright frame, and it is a Christmas scene. In the Angel and stars scene she stands alone on a hill in an arched window, with nothing seasonal in it.
Can I take the thread off the angel?
Only if she touches something else on her sheet. In the maker, lower her until the hem of her robe overlaps the hill and switch her thread off; the check tells you if she would fall out. She then stands on the hill and no longer hovers over it.
Can I sell boxes I make with it?
Yes. Finished pieces are yours to sell. The files themselves may not be sold or shared; send people to this page. See the licence.
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