My daughter loves horses and went to horse riding camp this summer. I arrived early on the last day so I could see her ride. She made my heart skip a few beats when she stood up on the saddle while her horse was walking. I got a great picture of that moment and she asked me if I could frame the picture for her room. I took the request a little further and created a custom shaped photo mat of a horse’s profile to frame her photo. This was also the perfect project for this month’s home decor themed Silhouette Challenge.

{Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post}

There are several advantages to creating your own custom shaped photo mat. The first is that the mat color choice is only limited by the colors of cardstock you own. Cardstock is also much cheaper than mat board. Another advantage is that you can create a mat with any shape that you want!

Supplies:

• 2 pieces of 8.5×11 cardstock in same color
• Silhouette Portrait
• Silhouette Portrait mat
• ATG adhesive
• liquid adhesive

Instructions:

I purchased a wood 5×7 wood frame. To make sure I cut the mat to the appropriate size, I removed and measured a frame insert to get the exact dimensions. Just because a frame says it is 5×7 doesn’t mean those are the exact dimensions but my frame was actually 5×7.

When I want to trace an image in Silhouette Studio, I like to make it easy on myself by searching for a free silhouette shape (a dark image outline against a lighter background, not the Silhouette Cameo or Portrait). I found this free horse profile clip art from Cliparts.co. I downloaded the clip art, opened Silhouette Studio (SS) and dragged the clip art into SS.

Next, opened the Trace Window. Chose Select Trace Area and draw a box around the horse silhouette. This will use the Silhouette default of High Pass Filter for the trace but I never use the High Pass Filter.

I unchecked the High Pass Filter box and checked the Low Pass Filter box. Then I played around with Value, Threshold and Scale until the yellow traced area looked like it had a smooth outline.

To finish the trace, I selected Trace Outer Edge. And dragged the clip art off the mat.

I used the rectangular drawing tool to draw a box roughly the 5×7 size. To get the exact dimensions, I opened the Scale Window, selected the box,  entered the W (width) and H (height) for the dimensions and pressed Apply. You may have to uncheck Lock Aspect Ratio so you can get the exact dimensions you need.

At this point, I sized the horse profile a little bigger so that it was a good size for the frame. When an image is traced it is changed into a vector so no resolution is lost when the shape is resized. To center the horse shape in the box, I opened the Align Window, selected the two shapes and chose Align Center.

To keep the mat together as a unit, I selected both shapes, right clicked and chose Group from the menu.

Two of these 5×7 mats can fit on an 8.5×11 sheet so I changed the mat to landscape and copied and pasted the shape onto the mat.

I wanted my custom shaped photo mat to be thick like the ones made out of mat board so I cut 4 of these 5×7 mats (2 at a time).

I used ATG tape and liquid adhesive to adhere the mats on top of each other. The ATG tape was used around the entire border and I used the liquid adhesive on the smaller portions of paper.

Here’s a closeup of how thick the mat is when all 4 layers of cardstock are adhered together.

This custom shaped photo mat is now ready for my daughter’s photo.

More Home Decor Projects

My Silhouette Challenge friends and I are all sharing projects on our blogs, so check out the projects below for more home decor Silhouette inspiration.

1. Whatcha Workin’ On? // 2. Two Purple Couches // 3. Made in a Day // 4. Ginger Snap Crafts // 5. Architecture of a Mom // 6. Simply Kelly Designs // 7. Crafty Bonds // 8. Practically Functional // 9. DailyDwelling // 10. DIY Just Cuz {Sam} // 11. unOriginal Mom // 12. Decor Adventures // 13. Creative Ramblings // 14. My Paper Craze // 15. Where The Smiles Have Been // 16. Get Silvered // 17. DIYJustCuz {Brittany} // 18. Weekend Craft // 19. Create & Babble

I hope you found some inspiration with this month’s home decor themed Silhouette Challenge. My daughter loves having her horse photo framed and displayed in her room. Now my son wants his own custom shaped photo mat. A crafter’s work is never done. 🙂

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Simply Kelly Designs.