Pictish Stones and Stonehenge in a teacup

[pocketwatch]

My boyfriend went to scotland for a month and saw the pictish stones, and I did a reproduction of these amazing ancient stones for him. While I was at it I made myself a stonehenge in a teacup.
I copied these shapes from real pictish stones (one is the invierness stone I think) then scratched designs in with a toothpick. I pressed 2 toothpicks into each (to stake them down), baked, brushed with thinned acrylic paint, and wiped it off.

This view shows the scale. Oh, and they're planted in Scotch Moss, which adds a little subtle element of Scottishness.


These actually are balsa wood. Sorry. They're in a teacup to add a glaring element of Britishness, or as my boyfriend put it "you can't reduce an entire culture to tea and stonehenge" to which I replied "well I just did, so... maybe *you* can't." (I know that's not all there is to the UK!!! Feel free to make a washington monument obelisk in a mcdonald's fries carton, it would serve me right )

And another view.

[Indiana]

Awesome! I love it! Great idea! 

[Phizzychick]

Well I love it, and I'm British

I think Stonehenge in a teacup is a wonderful idea! It's such a special place.

[Lellibo]

I'm british and i must say i absolutely love your stonehenge in a tea cup i'd love to have something like that sat on my winowsill it's ace Also the pictish stones are really well made i love that you put them in scotch moss. Great job

[pops]

yup 'nother Brit here and it's fab! (i don't suppose the teacup has a picture of the Queen on does it?!)
;P

[Nven]

I love this.  You've inspired me to dress up my cactus dish terrairum!

[digital misfit]

Now I have to make my sister a Stonehenge in a teacup!
That is fantastic!

[Solarwen]

XD The most adorable things I've seen today! I think it's a wonderful idea, they look lovely with all the moss

[Hollow Shel]

I might not be British but I know pure awesome when I see it. Nice job!

[pinokeeo]

Ok, this is just plain fabulous.  I love the whole concept of reduction to a teacup.  How fitting!!

Maybe we should put the pentagon in a flower pot or a jell-o mold.

[sazzra]

I'm British, and am offended that you didn't do Stonehenge in a Marmite jar

Obviously only joking - they're both fab

[FriendlyNeighbourPsycho]

Thats completely amazing  The tea cup is adorable, its so tiny! The stones are amazing , you did such a good job!! He better have loved that gift!!

[littlebluegirl]

Tea is pretty central to British culture   Also a Brit, and Stonehenge in a tea cup rocks (pun intended).

[Miss Hel]

Wow!  This is sooooo great! I'm in my office jumping up and down with joy!

[pocketwatch]

Oh, I am glad British people like it and are not offended, that's so nice! nven: dress it up how? sazzra: of course I have no way of *getting* a marmite jar

[MamanTattoo]

awesome!

[Aikibookworm]

Epic rocks.  *clicks accordingly*

[sarafpool]

I adore this, it is incredibly inspiring!

[arimethia]

I'm going to go way out into almost irrelevant land here and say this TOTALLY reminds me of the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon which are about a woman who time travels to the past through standing stones in Scotland. (She also falls in love with an 18th century Scot, kilt and all, which is one of the main appeals of these books.) In fact, I *think* the first model of your stones are the stones she travels to the past through. SO cool! (The writer has a very passionate and loyal following, of which I am a part of.  ) Great job!

[stringofpearls]

These are pretty fun--and if anyone does the fries bit please let us know! Then we can heave a collective cry (sighing probably wouldn't cover it in this case...)

[Elphelba]

Those both look really cool. Great job .

And, I think the Washington Monument in a fries container would be the perfect dainty addition to any windowsill garden!

[beastie]

This is amazing. I'm currently studying Archaeology at Glasgow University and just wrote an essay on pictish stones - these are beautiful reworkings of them!

[amalgam]

The title for this thread alone makes this project cool. I think you should do a series of monuments in teacups.

[pocketwatch]

amalgam- I actually really like the idea of little cottages in teacups. But, my first little cottage turned out rather poorly. I was a bit too ambitious about the brick texture I gave it .

[Diane B.]

Love the stones! (...but of course they should have been made from polymer clay ...lolol ).  

...I actually really like the idea of little cottages in teacups. But, my first little cottage turned out rather poorly. I was a bit too ambitious about the brick texture I gave it...

I love miniature stuctures too.  A friend once made a number of tiny little cottages from polymer clay (as hollow, bottomless house "shells"), then sat each one over one of the tiny lights on a string of xmas minilights (on top of some angel hair, as I remember, though some she managed to sit in the branches of her xmas tree too); they were so-ooo wonderful.  
Her little houses were decorated with snow and winter themes, and the windows were made from translucent yellow clay so the LED's made them glow softly from inside, but they could be anything.
If you're interested in some ideas and lessons re making miniature clay cottages, etc, you might have fun checking out Gail Ritchey's book called Making Miniature Villages in Polymer Clay:
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Miniature-Villages-Polymer-Clay/dp/0891349561/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260290747&sr=8-1
(there may be copies at libraries, or the amazon one can be "looked inside" and amazon also has cheap "used" copies)
There are also some lessons and ideas on the Houses/Structures page of my polymer site for similar clay things too, as well as "bricks," etc, if you're interested:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/houses_structures_gingerbread.htm

P.S.  I see you may be interested in masks too so if you'd like to see a bunch of large-to-miniature polymer clay ones, take a look at this page:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/heads_masks.htm

Diane B.

[selkie]

These are so cool!!! I also thought of Diana Gabaldon's books when I saw the Pictish stones!!!
Amazing work and great idea!!!

[ShammyCrafty]

Love the Stone Henge in a teacup! Beautiful!!