Botched Boxes

So I was going to try making and selling boxes on Etsy, but it turns out boxes take foreeeeever to make.  And you can buy factory-made ones for super cheap... And then I had the bright idea to make a polymer clay inlay.  So no, that's not just painted on there (although that would have taken *Dr. Evil voice* ONE MILLION fewer hours); I cut out the wood letters and then stuffed some polymer clay in there and covered it with a clay design that I thought would show up better.  And it was going to be soooo much cooler before I sanded too much and had to redo the whole inlay.  Siiiiigh... this is indeed a learning process.

And in this shot, I was going for the lone, pensive box, pondering life's mysteries as the sun sets... 

Pine Plus Polymer Pandemonium

Ah, texture.  I'm a big fan.  So I slapped some polymer on this wooden name cutout and Danish oiled the exposed wood.  I'm always a little sad to paint or otherwise cover the wood, since I think wood grain is art in and of itself (go God), so this is a happy medium.  Pine & polymer, salt & pepper, me & mini Reese's... the list goes on.

Korver is my awesome neighborfriend's son.  So this one was for him.  While I don't think it's HORRIBLE to not have the middle of the O and R's cut out, I'm pretty happy that my new scroll saw can make inside cuts with ease.  Perhaps I should consider a career in Dewalt sales...

So then, I was like, "I think this is cool, maybe other people would, too..." So this became my first Etsy listing.  It's super hard though to narrow down the -here's what poly clay finishes are available- when there are virtually endless possibilities.  So I'm working on a good way to convey that in just a couple pictures and pull-down options.  Too many options hurt my brain...