Rose Shadow Box with Split Mongogram and a Dash of Anxiety

Last month I made a shadow box filled with flowers that formed a heart for my son’s girlfriend. (Whew, say that three times fast.) I always show my BFF my work so I can get feedback, plus she always loves what I do so a real boost to the ego. But this particular creation she LOOOVVVEEEDDD! She loved it so much that long after the gift was gone she would comment how much she loved it. Of course, I knew I had to make her one...after all she is my BFF.

Two things I knew, it couldn’t be a heart as I didn’t want to duplicate and the other was her birthday was 4 days away and I needed to get cracking. I was going all out, split monogram, layered vinyl, and lots of roses. At first, I created my own split monogram - this is a great video that explains how to do it. I wanted more oomph which led me to purchase from Etsy. For under $2 I picked up the entire alphabet,: "INITIAL Split MONOGRAM Single Letter Alphabet Bundles". Best $1.96 ever spent.

My idea was very straightforward. I made 25 cream roses and glued them to the back wall of the shadow box. Belmont Shadow Box By Studio Décor is my go-to brand - I love that the back wall is fabric. For the roses, I used the rose pattern that was created by Jennifer Maker. It is free from her Resource Library. It is #187: Paper Flower Shadow Box SVG/DXF/PDF. Cutting that many roses takes time, but the quilling takes quite a bit more. My favorite way is to cut them all out and then turn on a move and quill the night away.

Once the flowers were glues and in place, the glass was put on so now it was time for the vinyl. I was feeling confident. I placed my lineup markings on the glass with a dry erase marker. I called my husband in for a second pair of eyes, with a steady hand, I lined it up and slowly lowered it in place. I step back to admire...and...WTF!?! It was off-center. Oh heavenly being, strike me down and end this misery. All those hours of work poofed in a matter of seconds.

Off-Center...WHY ME???

The obvious fix was to peel and recut. Problem? Yes, I didn’t have extra of the vinyl I used, just scraps, and I didn’t have time or resources to buy more ( it wasn’t on sale...and I only buy on sale). After hours of contemplating what to do I decided to make it as if that was my design intent by adding butterflies to the area with the wider gap. With just enough scarp vinyl I recut her name and added the overlay. Those two changes were enough the pull focus off the alignment issue.