Practice for major project

While I was working away on my last Marquetry piece I was pondering the way 'pictures' can be made using wood veneers and my mind drifted to decorated antique boxes. The thought processes went round and round, as they do, and I thought it would be nice to buy a couple of small plain wood boxes to decorate. From there, how do you veneer boxes; veneer the sides first or the top; what designs could I do; what to do with the finished boxes ... and on, and on. 

Out of the melee of sparking brain impulses came the idea that I'd like to decorate a box for my 6-year Granddaughter. Knowing that I didn't have sufficient knowledge or experience to just dive in and produce a nice box, I decided I'd have to do some practicing first. My final target was to produce for her a jewellery box with a picture of her favourite cuddly toy on the lid, with sides decorated with Unicorns, Ice Skates and her name. So the first objective was to have-a-go at creating the cuddly toy.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out but there's a technique called Sand Shading that would help give the face more definition. I'll have a go at that when I'm doing the box proper. 

Here are previous posts on Marquetry

Marquetry
First attempt

Second attempt
Different technique

Flower design
for drawer front