Hummingbird garden shadow box SVG
Three hummingbirds at the flowers of a summer garden: a magnolia tree at the back, one bird with its beak in a tall lily, another at a poppy bud, and tulips and wildflowers along 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 “Blossom” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 4, “Poppy”, the slowest: at 0.8 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 5, “Tulips”, fills the most of the view, 28% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sun | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc | over 2 mm | 27% |
| 2. Magnolia tree | Rolling ground, with: Magnolia tree in bloom, Round tree with leaf cut-outs and Hummingbird silhouette | 1.5 mm | 9% |
| 3. Lily | Rolling ground, with: Lily silhouette, Hovering hummingbird and Tulip with stem and two leaves | 1 mm | 17% |
| 4. Poppy | Rolling ground, with: Poppy silhouette, Hummingbird with wings raised and Simple tulip for children | 0.8 mm | 13% |
| 5. Tulips | A gentle slope, with: Three wildflowers on stems, Tulip border and Grass with flowers | 0.9 mm | 28% |
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 | 0.8 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.
Making this one
The two large birds are held by the flowers: each touches one with its beak and another with its tail, so no thread crosses the picture. Their beaks and wing feathers are fine, so make this at 8 by 10 inches or larger and lift the bird sheets off the mat by the flowers, not the birds.
- 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
Can I colour the hummingbirds?
Each bird is one piece with the flowers on its sheet, so it takes the colour of that sheet. For a bright bird, cut it a second time from a scrap of metallic or green card and glue it on top.
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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