Travel in Venice @StepCatStudios

Title: Travel in Venice
Brand: Tonecheer
Begun: June 9, 2024
Completed: June 9, 2024

Tonecheer is my go-to brand for one day builds. They’re narrower than most book nooks I’ve found, but that’s not a bad thing. I like having a variety of sizes; whether I keep them or gift them, too much of the same is too much. Even if the insides are all different microcosms, if the outsides all look the same, it’s difficult to distinguish one from another. I like the varying colors and vibrancies that are available. But, I digress…

One of the things I like about Tonecheer is the openness of the world. The front facade is set towards the back of the nook with the motion sensor. To me, it makes the whole scene feel open and accessible, almost as if you could step right into the world you’ve built. This brand, the ones I’ve built anyway, uses a mirror to add depth to the scene. I think this is why some of their pieces are painted on both sides of the wood; so the reflection creates a continuation of the scene. The directions are very clear and explicit with what you’re supposed to glue and where. Tonecheer also has one of my favorite lighting kits. Everything is already built for you and enclosed in a worry-free switch box that just has to be attached to the back panel. (Screws and a tiny screwdriver are included!) I’m not a huge fan of the glue stick they’ve begun including instead of liquid glue, but I just opt to use one of the craft glues I keep in my nooking kit. Nearly every piece easily pops free from the wood panels with very few burrs. They do include sandpaper to deal with those. Be careful with the sandpaper though, it can leave the paint looking worn or faded in parts. If that coincides with the theme of the nook, like in this one, it’s okay. If your nook has a more elegant or refined vs a weathered feel to it, you might want to seek an option smaller than sandpaper, or use it lightly to avoid marring the aesthetic.

The only issue I’ve run into with that is the holes for fitting the window sills don’t line up with the gluing lines of the window frames. This wouldn’t be such a big deal, but I don’t like the spaces between the window frame and the sill. I could just lower the window frame, one might say. That would leave an unpainted outline where the window frame “should” be, but isn’t because it was lowered to be flush with the sill. In the end, I have to choose which bothers me least: the unpainted wall being visible, or the painted wall with a gap between the window frame and the window sill. I chose the gap. Now, one might think the company should fix such discrepancies because being off like that that is just unacceptable (or you might not care), or perhaps you hadn’t even noticed until it was pointed out. The difference is 1-2 mm. It’s smaller than small. It’s minute, minuscule, teeny tiny. It just bugs me when I’m building the nook because I want everything to be perfect. Once it’s all put together, you really don’t notice it unless someone points it out. In my opinion, it in no way negatively affects the beauty of the completed nook or the ambience of the scene.

One thing I’ve learned through the building of roughly 20 or so nooks is be flexible. If something doesn’t make sense to you, set it aside until it does. For example, on this nook, in Scene One, the instructions were to glue the gondola onto this tiny sliver of the middle section that would eventually meet with Scene Two. The gondola, being a curved object, would be so easy to glue at the wrong angle, and then it’s running into the other side or doesn’t fit at all. I decided to wait to add the gondola until after both sides were together, and I could see exactly where I wanted to place the gondola. It’s not 100% where the instructions said to put it, but it’s where I thought it looked good for the scene. Since the top was open, placing the gondola after combining both sides was easier for me than guessing which part of the curve fit which curve of the gondola and then maneuvering Scene Two under it when it was time to combine the two scenes.

All in all, a Tonecheer nook is an easy, relaxing nook to build, or a great starter nook if you’re just getting into the craft. This one only took a total of 6 hours to complete, and that’s including breaks, dinner, and time to take photos of each step.

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