Ballroom Floor

It's been a while since I've posted, but I have been working on Myrtlewood. January and February, in particular, are my busiest months at work, so bulding progress has been slow, but I've tried to still work on it a little each weekend. Here you can see the fruits of my labor - the ballroom and music room floors.

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I cut every piece by hand.

Just kidding. I like to think I could have cut each piece by hand, but it probably would have taken me two years to complete instead of two months. I did stain and place each tiny piece individually, but the pieces were already cut: I found these great parquet kits for the sunburst medallion and the border at an online dollhouse shop. The kits were about $15 each, and I needed two for the border and one for the sunburst, so you're looking at a $50 floor here. Money well spent, as far as I'm concerned, considering the time it saved me and the overall results.

Here's the music room, an alcove off the ballroom:

Detail:

I've been working on a few other things off and on, and my busy period at work ends in about a week, so I should have more to show you soon.

Christmas Baking

I've spent the last few days baking. No, not Christmas cookies, although I'm wishing I had a few right about now. Rather, I've been mixing, shaping and baking polymer clay into marble mantles, hearths and fireplace surrounds.

This set is for the dining room; I made a nearly identical set for the parlor.

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It's a bit hard to tell from the photo, but this set is pink marble (for the conservatory/music room).

I also made a set of black with veins of gold for the library.

I still need to add a coat of clear lacquer; I photographed them before the lacquer to keep the flash from bouncing off them.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out. One of the things I really love about miniatures as a hobby is that it encourages creative problem solving. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make marble in miniature. I read about some faux painting techniques, but I've never been very good with paint. Also, the results don't seem to have much depth. You can buy marble tiles from miniature shops, but they're expensive and only come in certain dimensions. But with polymer clay, I can create any dimension I want and achieve, through the incorporation of translucent clay, some of the depth that is so characteristic of marble. I also plan to use this technique to create marble decorations, vases, statuettes and furniture tops.