I am so excited about the idea I had for this one, I started immediately.

I drew it and made notes and then was basically ready to go, when I realised that perhaps the *symetry* of a thread is very important! - good gues huh?
And then I started agonising how one would actually "make" a thread. I also want the lid to be fairly secure and want a little more then a full revolution.
And so I sat until 1 am on the internet learning about screws! It dawned on me that this has a lot to do with physics and physics was the one subject I really battled with at school .... and here I am looking and researching this stuff out of my own free will until 1 am? Sometimes life takes funny turns. Anyway, I learned how to make a screw ;-)
Of course it did not help that my friend tells me the next day that not only did she know how to make a screw, but she literally wrote school textbooks on the matter!! grrrrrrrr ;-)

I tried to make a few models out of polymer clay, but they weren't really helpful.
I then made some paper models just to get the right size, and find "something" to use as a "mandrell" type thing that I can make the base around (turned out to be a highlighter ;-))
I decided to make the base wall part first. Then mark that and make the thread (it took me several hours and a trip to the supermarket for my brain to send me this "flash news" message that carbon copy paper will do the trick!). At this point I have decided against the gems in the thread and will just go with gold. Once I have made the thread I will "inlay" the lid part of the thread - I am still a little worried how this is going to work ... won't know until I try ;-).
Once this is dry I will make a lid. I think because of the contents of the box I will make a little domed lid.
Then I am going to look at the bottom and inside of the "base" part. I may decide to fill most of it with silver and only decorate the top part, or else I need some type of internal support to decorate the top. It is not an important issue for the piece at this stage, so I can decide when i get there. Of course I am still thinking of turning it into a ring, which i would do right at the end only. Need to get the technical stuff out of the way first :-).

At this point an important decision is the lid texture, if any at all ... still agonising over that one. the inside of the box (base) is smooth except for the thread part of course. Maybe a nice brushed finish would work?

Now that I have started and am getting my ideas sorted out I am really excited that I did decide to enroll :-)

Of course while I am busy working on this piece, my design for the sleeve pendant is basically complete and I had this idea for the steel combo project (again in the supermarket - maybe I must spend more time there, it seems to get my creative juices flowing ;-)). As i am writing this, the project may also be suitable for the "found object" item ... time to think about this ...