Nested hearts shadow box SVG
Three open hearts, one inside another, with a solid heart in the middle: stars at the back, the small solid heart on a far hill, then a small ring, a larger one and the largest, each standing with its point in its own hill, and a bunch of tulips at each side of the front. 6 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.
6 sheets at 8 × 8 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 6 sheets
Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 6 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 6, “Tulips”, the slowest: at 0.9 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Tulips”, fills the most of the view, 26% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Stars | A whole sheet with holes for: Four-pointed sparkle and 9 × Plain disc | over 2 mm | 19% |
| 2. Heart in the middle | Rolling ground, with: Classic heart | over 2 mm | 9% |
| 3. Small ring | Rolling ground, with: 2 × Classic heart | over 2 mm | 10% |
| 4. Middle ring | Rolling ground, with: 2 × Classic heart | over 2 mm | 14% |
| 5. Large ring | Rolling ground, with: 2 × Classic heart | over 2 mm | 21% |
| 6. Tulips | A gentle slope, with: 2 × Three spring tulips and Bunch of grass | 0.9 mm | 26% |
Measured from the files at 8 × 8 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 × 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 6 in | 152.4 × 152.4 mm | 0.7 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 20 × 20 cm | 200 × 200 mm | 0.9 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 8 × 8 in | 203.2 × 203.2 mm | 0.9 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 23 × 23 cm | 230 × 230 mm | 1 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Cuts easily |
| 25 × 25 cm | 250 × 250 mm | 1.1 mm | 20 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
Each ring is a heart with a smaller heart cut out of it, and its point is sunk into the ground of its sheet, so nothing hangs on a thread. Cut the four hearts in four reds or pinks, palest in the middle. The rings are about a centimetre wide at 8 inches and nothing in them is finer than about 2 mm, so this is one of the easiest scenes to cut. The stems of the tulips on the front sheet are the only fine part, at about 0.9 mm.
- Cut all 6 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 6.
- 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 6 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 write on the heart in the middle?
Yes. It is solid card, about 4.5 cm tall and 5 cm across at 8 inches: room for two initials, a name or a date in pen, or for small letters cut from the lettering in the library.
How do I change the size of a ring?
Each ring is two parts on one sheet: a heart, and a smaller heart with Cut it out as a hole ticked. Select each in the maker and change its size by the same amount, and keep the point of the larger one in the ground so that the ring stays joined to its sheet.
How is this different from the Hanging hearts scene?
Here the hearts are open rings set one inside another, and none of them hangs. In the Hanging hearts scene the hearts are solid and hang on strings at every depth of the box, over a bench.
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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