Too D##n Good!

A couple of weeks ago I shared photos of my entry in DHMS's Fantasy Doll Dressing competition.  Well, the folks at DHMS have chosen the winners . . . . {insert drum roll here} . . . and my "Dragon Wizard" won!  It goes without saying that this is a great honour and a huge thrill.  When it comes to competition results, I usually find that I like the lesser place entries over the one that won, so I'm certain that there were entries in the competition that were far better than mine.  But you've heard it said haven't you; you just can't please some people?  I entered hoping that I might win third prize, a fabric pack from the Silk Route because good fabrics for miniatures can be so hard to find in my part of the world.  Instead I had to go and win first prize, a gift voucher from Pat Kay Toys and Dolls. 

 And here's where my good luck becomes yours.

Ms. Kay doesn't have an online store and admitted that she offered the gift vouchers as a prize intending for the winner to spend them at her table at one of the miniature fairs in London.  Living as I do about as far away from London as you can get and still be on Earth, this isn't much use to me.  Ms. Kay and I have been exchanging emails trying to think up something in her stock suitable to send me, but without online pictures to browse through I find it hard to know what sort of thing to ask for.  So it seems the only thing to do is for me to give the gift voucher away to someone who can actually make use of it.

If you will be attending any one of the three miniature shows in London (but not Miniatura) over the next twelve months and would like £30.00 to spend at Pat Kay's table, please register your interest by leaving a comment or otherwise contacting me by Friday 7th December and I will randomly draw a name over the weekend.  If I pick you, I'll send your contact details to Ms. Kay and ask her to send the gift voucher to you directly.

Coming back to current projects now and the Roombox Bedroom is . . . well, possibly finished.  Everything has been re-arranged again and the fireplace has been ditched.  The canopy over the bed is glued in place on the back wall, so the bed now can not be moved from it's current position.  I'm not sure I'm totally pleased with where everything else is. 

 I tried finding something covered in more of the picnk fabric to go on the left side wall to balance out the curtains on the right wall, but nothing really worked.  The chaise is now tucked up in the back left corner where it is virtually invisible, but if I put it back where it was intended to go in the front right corner, what will go in the back left one?  There are minimal accessories in the room, but as the idea is to show off the classy furniture I don't want to obscure it with too much junk.  But it all looks so empty!  Maybe I should take Martha out and dress one or maybe even two dolls to stand in the room instead?  I think whatever happens here, we're back to a case of "you can't please some people".

Tilli's house too is nearly finished.  Lots of little accessories have been added this week.

 In the bedroom, there are lamps for each bedside table as well as a small vase for the far table and a book for the near one.  The lamps (as well as the ceiling lights you'll notice in each room) are made from jewellery findings.  Gallery Glass paint was used to "colour-in" the open spaces in the design of a half round finding.  When this was dry the finding was threaded onto a piece of wire with a long silver bead and small bell cap to form a lamp.

On Tilli's dressing table are some tiny perfume bottles made from crystal beads.  This still looks a little bare and in need of something more . . . ?

 The only changes in both the Library and the Guest Bedroom are the lights and a couple of vases of flowers.  The vases are all beads with small dried flowers poked into the top.

On the ground floor there are again a profussion of lights and flowers in vases.  There is also a birdcage with two birds.  One of those birds is currently hanging upside down on his perch, perhaps it's a circus bird?

Out the front of Tilli's the vine that grew up last week has burst into flower this week.

 The leaves were created from green paper using a leaf shaped punch.  The flowers were made by dipping the tips of short pieces of green wire into some tacky glue and then into some Flowersoft.

Along the left side of the house some plants have grown that for some reason make me think of the Day of the Triffids.

The planting is less ominous along the right side of the house with a few small bushes and a stepping stone path leading around to the back.