Magnolia box

I truly love this box!  It represents the use of three different techniques to create the magnolia--inlay for the leaves, raised inlay for the first tier of petals, and compound cutting for the second and third tiers. I created the patterns for the petals from photos of magnolias, and spent quite a bit of time sanding them until they "looked right".

The main difference between this project, and those that use compound cutting for all elements of the flower, was the need for careful positioning of the inlays.  The location of compound cut petals can be adjusted at the last moment, since they are attached with glue, but inlay locations need to be planned in advance and positioned precisely.  Once that's done, however, the project proceeds quite easily, and is, I think, worth the extra work.