Cutting loose.....

A few weeks ago, after over a month of researching, humming and hawing, and doing a lot of justifying, I bought A Thing.

It came in a big box.

The Thing in the box was this.....

It's a cutting Thing.  

A devilishly clever cutting Thing which can cut all sorts of other things.  When I have learnt to use it properly it will transform my working life, but in the meantime it's mostly performing the function of a desk ornament.

I find it increasingly difficult to apply enough pressure to cleanly cut the thick card by hand which I use for the scenery and components for my little toy theatres.  I can only do it for a very short time and my hands take ages to recover afterwards.  In theory, with my new Thing, I should be able to upload my designs and it will cut them out perfectly, time after time, to the nano-millimetre.

This will open a whole new world of creative endeavour, as I have ideas for dozens of miniature toys which have been languishing as I didn't think I'd be able to manage if I had to cut them entirely by hand.

Also.  Boxes.

You'd think, wouldn't you, that boxes would be a snap to make?  They look so easy.  A base and a lid. What could be simpler?

However, if you've ever tried to make a box, by hand, from scratch, you will know that they are anything but simple.

So.

Here is the result of a week of experimenting and learning how to work The Thing.

I am ridiculously and inordinately proud of this box.  I have lavished love and care on its design and its subsequent creation.  It is perfectly square.  The lid fits perfectly.  The sides and corners are perfectly crisp and even.  It measures 3" wide, by 3" deep by 2  1/2" high.

And it contains......

Little Violet, (who measures less than 2" tall!) is dressed in a hand-sewn silk costume, with pleated dress and bustled silk jacket, and reclines on a luxurious silk pad.  Her accessories include two tiny dresses, a bonnet, silk parasol and an almost microscopically tiny pair of gloves.

As this little presentation case harks back to the heyday of French dollmaking in the 1890s, there is even a tiny Eiffel Tower silver charm to celebrate its Parisian origins.

For a first go at using The Thing to make a box, I think c'est magnifique..... even if I do say so myself