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Squirrels under the oak shadow box SVG

Two squirrels under an oak in autumn: a low sun, a tree on the far hill, a large oak, a squirrel sitting up on the slope with its tail curled, a second squirrel holding an acorn beside a clump of toadstools, and a fern and a toadstool at 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.

Squirrels under the oak shadow box: 6 layered sheets seen from the front

Download the SVG files

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 “Autumn” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 6, “Ferns and toadstools”, the slowest: at 0.6 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 3, “Oak”, fills the most of the view, 25% 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	19%
2. Far trees	Rolling ground, with: Round tree silhouette	over 2 mm	9%
3. Oak	Rolling ground, with: Oak tree with a broad crown	over 2 mm	25%
4. Squirrel on the hill	Rolling ground, with: Squirrel silhouette	over 2 mm	11%
5. Squirrel with acorn	Rolling ground, with: Squirrel with an acorn and Three mushrooms	0.8 mm	8%
6. Ferns and toadstools	A gentle slope, with: Ferns growing in a clump, Toadstool with a wide cap and Bunch of grass	0.6 mm	24%

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	0.5 mm	20 mm	Yes	Too fine: choose a larger size
20 × 20 cm	200 × 200 mm	0.6 mm	20 mm	Yes	Too fine: choose a larger size
8 × 8 in	203.2 × 203.2 mm	0.6 mm	20 mm	Yes	Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed
23 × 23 cm	230 × 230 mm	0.7 mm	20 mm	Yes	Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed
25 × 25 cm	250 × 250 mm	0.7 mm	20 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 sitting squirrel is about 6.5 cm high at 8 inches and the one with the acorn about 4.5 cm; the oak is about 12 cm. The oak and the sitting squirrel are plain, sturdy shapes with nothing finer than 2 mm. The squirrel with the acorn is about 0.8 mm at its finest. The front sheet, with the fern and the toadstool, is the fine cutting, at about 0.6 mm. Nothing hangs on a thread. Cut it in the Autumn colours as shown, from cream to dark brown, or cut the two squirrel sheets in rust red card for red squirrels.

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 cut it by hand?

Yes. Most of it is large shapes. The edge of each tail is a row of small points, which takes patience with a knife: cut each point as two short strokes that meet at the tip.

How is this different from the other woodland scenes?

Here the squirrels are the subject and there are no other animals. The Woodland clearing scene has a doe and her fawn, a fox, an owl and a rabbit together, and the Autumn fox scene a fox trotting through an autumn wood.

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.

More shadow box scenes

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