21st Century Issues:

My new digital mini table saw came last Saturday.

I was upset to find that the box rattled. When I opened it I found bits of broken black plastic inside. A support piece under the table had broken off. So I am waiting for FedEx today to pick up my broken saw.

However, checking out the saw and reading the manual made me really happy and itching to get started using it. I don’t know why, but I really, really LOVE woodworking.

In the meantime, I have been following several blogs written by Cabinets of Curiosities classmates. One of them, Rachael Kinnison, who just happens to be an inspired dollmaker and woodworker too, has decided to complete her casket from the inside out. (She has installed a beautiful music box.)

This inspired me to finish the inside of my doll-sized casket first since I am having issues with planning my embroidery. This way, I’ll be able to test fit the inside my casket. Then I can go ahead and make more when I get my next new saw.

To finish the inside, I have silk velvet, silk tissue taffeta and have ordered custom miniature marbled papers from Jemma Lewis in England, all in pink.

Before I line my casket, I need to make a measured drawing so I can make more caskets. I am trying to use a program called SketchUp and there is a big learning curve.

The thickness of the wood I am using is in fractions of inches, but my measurements are in millimeters. In Sketchup, I had to choose either inches or millimeters and I thought my head would explode. DH brought out his digital calipers and showed me that in woodworking none of the measurements are THAT exact, so I just converted my inch fractions to millimeters and am trying to get the hang of the program.

17th Century Issues:

Planning the embroidery for the 19 sides of my doll-sized casket is daunting. So far, I’ve got ideas for just the doors. There are so many decisions to make! Then there are all the choices I’ll have to make on colors and embroidery stitches. (Head exploding AGAIN!)

Also inspired by Rachael Kinnison, I have decided to make the Trinket Box that came with my class first to work out design, color and stitch ideas. It has only 5 sides to embroider. The Trinket Box is approximately 3″ x 5″.

For the top, I’ve traced a castle from a French online coloring page and added clouds, a sun, a path and a hilly setting. I will add some birds and trees. For the sides, I will use existing designs (mostly from motifs given in my CoC class). That way I can start stitching sooner and begin to work out how to manage stumpwork in miniature.

I have found a beautiful sky BLUE duchess silk satin for the background for my castle box. The castle will be colorful, possibly pinks and purples and look lovely against the BLUE sky. I think this is actually going to be fun!