My Shadowbox is finished

I finished my project for me and I wasn't sure how I was gonna like it when I started, but it turned out really well. My initial design was just basically a plain box, but as I got into it I decided i needed to spice it up a little bit. I made a rounded front and put splines in the corners to add some personality. I used the leopardwood for the main part of the box and used the maple as a border around and contrast the leopardwood. The dark wood pieces visible in the corners (those are the splines) are actually cherry wood that goes all the way through both pieces. I finished it with a high gloss clear finish to bring out the grain and highlights in the wood...there is no stain.

The last two here are the completely finished display. It has my two old style badges that we don't wear anymore, the 50th anniversay badge we wore in 2005, my Police Service Medal I was awarded after a gunfight with a bankrobber, and some of the various merit pins I have been awarded over the last 12 years.

Something for ME!

My next creation is not one for the kids, it's actually something for ME! I have several badges from work (old ones that are not "official" anymore since we changed the style of our badge) and awards I have earned over the years that just sit around. I wanted a way to display them and decided to build a shadow box to show them off. I am deciding on a custom design, but have decided to use some exotic woods that I bought a while back.

The dark wook on the right is Leopardwood. It comes from South America, Brazil, and Chile. Its distinctive feature is obviously the dark wood with the lighter golden brown spots all over it. The light colored wood on the left is Bird's Eye Maple. It comes from the Northeastern US and is unique because of the small swirls in the grain which create "eyes" all over it's face. Of course the trees are also used for their sap to make maple syrup.

I post pics when I am done.....if it turns out like I hope it will.