Mikros Kosmos #16: Tedium

Where we left off: I mentioned putting the epoxy on the main floor, and here it is. It looks great! :)

It’s hard to convey in photos, but the wood really shimmers. I think the combination of shellac + epoxy was absolutely perfect. I think if I had just put epoxy on it, it wouldn’t have the same feel. The padauk in particular really shines – it has a lot of figure. It also bleeds, as you can see in the corner there. I don’t mind (and there’s nothing I can do about it now, anyway) but it isn’t helping me when I insist to my friends and visitors that I did NOT just stain pieces of wood differently. I have found most people don’t really realise wood actually comes in different colours. I was a bit disappointed that the purpleheart doesn’t look super purple, but it’s definitely there. I mistook it for walnut in a couple of places.

Anyway.

The second storey was still epoxy-free. I was originally going to install the furniture in the bathroom and then apply the epoxy. and I started working on that last night when I realised the floor wasn’t level in the place where I was going to put the sink. So… I put the epoxy down.

Did not get a shot of the bathroom, but I think you all get the idea by now. ;) As you can see, the reflections on this stuff is just magic.

Since I was now waiting for epoxy to dry in the bathroom, I couldn’t really work on anything IN the bathroom. So I worked on the sink cabinet and I will get it glued in later today, I imagine.

Didn’t get progress shots of this but this is what I spent a lot of time working on. the “counter top” is made from a pen blank I found at Woodcraft. In fact it was this pen blank, if anybody is interested. I ran it through my bandsaw and ended up with 5 slabs with the most amazing patterns.

The legs are from a walnut dowel I found at Woodcraft, also – I believe it was a whole $0.93. I mounted the legs to a piece of maple (leftover floorboard, actually) and then the maple to the acrylic. The sink will sit on top, with exposed plumbing.

So.. the sink…....

This is a slightly long and meandering story. I was shopping online yesterday at my favourite miniature supplier and noticed they had exactly 2 sinks (that weren’t attached to something) The kitchen sink offered was alright – it looked like a standard double kitchen sink. The bathroom sink was your typical in-counter round offering, and made out of clear plastic. You are supposed to paint the underside of it. It’s pretty decent, but just not my style. I know this is a farmhouse…. but I just can’t escape my own personal taste.

So I decided to make my own out of polymer clay. I started with a hunk of white with a little grey and then rolled in some accents of blue and green, to match. It was going to be a lovely marble. Only problem: the first 15 tries turned out badly and I kept kneading the clay to start over, which means eventually I ended up with a block of solid seafoam. I rolled in a little white and grey scrap to try and salvage it but the colour was just terrible for the room. No problem, I carried on. Eventually I hit upon a sink design I love.

And there we are.

I did more to it today but have not taken photos of it yet, so you’ll have to wait and see.

I need to make faucets and pipe for it. I am also going to make those out of clay. Eventually.

The bathroom is basically functioning as my practise zone for the kitchen, which I want to be perfect.

I also have a few plans to make the sink fixture actually “make sense” in the room. Haven’t done it yet, but I have everything waiting for the moment of inspiration to strike.

In the meantime, I’m taking a day off and am going to the beach. :)

-- Lis - Michigan - http://www.missmooseart.com - https://www.etsy.com/people/lisbokt