mini sea chest

[nid_dabeille]

I made a miniature sea chest for Stephen.  From scratch! 

  

I love making things look distressed.  And I've found a new favorite technique - burnishing! 
It makes things look shiny and worn without sanding away the stain or paint.






I remembered that I don't like hinges.  They are a pain!  They're so fiddly they try even my patience, whether with super glue or with nails.  Argh!  But they turned out all right in the end.  Nails to attach them to the base, glue to attach them to the lid.  The lid was too thin and the nails would have poked through.  (And randomly, it's so brilliant that they thought of eyelets to replace brads for the tapewire system.  Those brads nearly drove me batty, the closest I've ever been with miniatures.  These hinge nails reminded me of them.)  I love the way the nails look, though.




I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I haven't made many furniture pieces from scratch, especially with moving parts.  I feel fairly confident I can tackle more difficult things like an apothecary case and The Object (aka the Article), but I'm a little worried that I won't be able to make something nice from scratch that isn't distressed.

Also... I cut my finger while working on it, and I was bleeding, so I rushed to the sick bay and...




Too much?

Haha, I'm like Peter Weir with his blood bucket.


linked at doll_houses and little_world.

 

Comments

[firiel44.livejournal.com]

Only you would hurt yourself and think "Quick! I need to go bleed on my hobby!" ;)

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Haha! I'm sure it's not just me though!

[ozfille]

Well I'm sure Killick will stand guard over the chest to make sure Stephen doesn't get in there and mess it all up. *g*

Well there is something to be said for authenticity and Stephen was never too worried about a few blood stains here and there. *g*

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Get in there? I don't think Stephen himself will actually fit inside... but I'm sure someone does need to stand guard to make sure he doesn't rumple all the neatly folded shirts (all 2.5 of them).

Worried, not at all. In the movie I noticed there was blood all over the orlop walls and ceiling (and of course the floor, where they poured sand). They seem to do a lot of leaning with their hands on the beams above, so it seemed a suitable place for bloody hand prints.

[ozfille]

Sorry just meant by "get in there", exactly what you said, scrabbling around in search of things, turning things over and generally making a mess. These activities are considered by Killick as just one of Stephen's specialities designed to annoy him and make his life a trial. *g*

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Hee, I did know what you meant. I was just being silly. Though I can picture Stephen diving in head-first, his legs kicking in the air, with a muffled shout, "Where are my books? &*%^!"

[tealight-rookie.livejournal.com]

I seriously never knew until reading your journal just how mesmerising miniature things could be. And they truly are.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Well thank you! Have you ever been to a doll's house shop, or seen elaborate houses in museums? They're so wonderful and amazing.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

ROTFL!! The things we do for out Art!!

I must remember to attack myself when I've finished Elrond's surgery . . . although maybe an elven lord would be a bit tidier?

The chest is awsome. So perfectly distressed and battered. I am impressed with your hinges. Did you need to use a magnifying glass?

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

I think certainly an Elf lord would be tidier. Plus his surgery isn't rocking back and forth in the middle of a battle at sea, I hope.

Thank you! No, didn't use a magnifying glass but I did use tweezers. And lots of blue painter's tape for the glued part.

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

Somehow it amuses me beyond belief that there is real blood in the sickbay. XD

And that is AMAZING. Seriously. You never fail to astound.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! There was already (http://grace-poppy.livejournal.com/177066.html) some blood, actually, on the table and also on the floor (http://grace-poppy.livejournal.com/183710.html) (just a little bit. Mostly that staining is paint and tea.) But actually I had to paint over some of the staining, so I just added some more. Soon there will be enough of my blood in it that I can call it a relative.

[rum-inspector.livejournal.com]

That is beautiful!
And blood on the ceiling, that's a nice touch!

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[lilsayermonster.livejournal.com]

Wow nifty!

I bet you could make nice coffins too. I've been looking for a coffin.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Oooh, coffins! That would be so cute! Though I'm pretty lazy with angles. Anything beyond a 45 degree angle would be too much geometry for me. I did have to do some angling and geometry stuff with my sloping windows (http://grace-poppy.livejournal.com/131611.html), but even that was a bit much. I prefer to stick to right angles and, when necessary, ordinary 45 degree miters. :P

Why do you need a coffin? I'm sure you must be able to buy one somewhere...

[lilsayermonster.livejournal.com]

I want one for my witch's trailer for her front yard.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Hee, your witch has a trailer??? :D

[lilsayermonster.livejournal.com]

Yes. The Corona travel trailer kit is being converted to have monster legs instead of wheels.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's awesome. :D

[georgy-girl.livejournal.com]

That is awesome!

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[ldhenson.livejournal.com]

Your stuff never ceases to amaze me. A great job on the distressing as always--it looks so real!--and the hinges turned out very cool.

Years from now, when they need to positively identify this piece or that piece of your work as a genuine Grace Poppy, they'll just have to do a DNA match :-)

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Haha, DNA matching, what a brilliant idea! And thank you very much. :D

[sharpiefan.livejournal.com]

That's amazing! And real blood in sickbay too. Your attention to detail never ceases to amaze me... :D

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Heehee, thank you! :D

[materia-indigo.livejournal.com]

That is lovely. You do such nice work.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[setsukachan.livejournal.com]

This is lovely! It looks just perfect!
I must say that I really enjoy your miniature posts. It's like stepping into a museum or back into history for a while. I love artistic/historical/crafty/cute things like these.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Well thank you! That's part of why I like miniatures too. I love museums, but if I can't have a real museum all of my own, then having miniatures is the next best thing.

[setsukachan.livejournal.com]

Yes, I most definitely agree :)

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

You know, totally random, but it's so nice to see "definitely" spelled right, just every once in a while, to remind us what it looks like. :P

[setsukachan.livejournal.com]

I will admit that I didn't know how to spell it correctly until rather recently. I don't know how I could live with myself before automatic spell check in Firefox and Lj.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see. :D