Ok so I admit it, Ive bought a few things!

I know I said Id been good, and really for me, I have! Ive bought some little things for various projects. I know alot of people only buy things for the project they are working on at that time, but if something comes up I see and love then I prefer to grab it while I can and keep it by for when I work on that house/ shop!

So when I saw Victorias wonderful house she is working on right now, Vultures roost and saw these lovely pillars in it, I knew I had to buy a couple for my dragon tower. Luckily Victoria sells these in her shop ! When the parcel arrived, as always Victoria had been too kind and included these darling little Alice bottles which ive put in the Roombox. And some little labels for me and Harry Potter and stickers for the children, thankyou Victoria!

Also for my dragon tower I saw these gorgeous dragonclaw sword holders made by the lovely
Nicky Cooper, another must have , love these too!






I have to say my other 2 purchases are hmmm..............somewhat larger shall I say.......BUT absolute bargains , that I was very lucky to see when I did! One Saturday morning I decided to just have a look at the dollshouse, just to see what was out there, no intention of buying of course!
When I saw these 2 Sid Cooke shops I couldnt believe the buy it now prices and after a quick , "Can I Pleeeeease???" to John ( If he said no, Id have got them anyway he he!) I got them there and then and the lovely lady agreed to box and send them for the cost of sending one shop!

In a few days they arrived and Im thrilled with them. I know alot of people prefer to buy the kits unmade as its easier to decorate then but Im happy to strip and redo them, I quite like that bit!

The larger shop is another double fronted Cooke shop, different from my Honeydukes, in that it is not as deep, has only the one door and no stairs.



This will be 'Glad Rags' the wizard and witch shop for all their clothing, hats, shoes, bags and accessories! Cant wait to do this one. It means I will loose my witches hat shop as I will be putting my massive Kats hats collection into this 2 storey shop now. I had run out of room in my single storey shop so this is great. I will be contacting the lovely Cher who made my Alice Mannequin for some witch and wizard mannequins!

Here is a picture of the Universal Glad Rags and this is the colouring Ill be doing, shabby pink and purples. I think it will compliment Honeydukes beautifully! I do love that double box frontage, but abit tricky to change the existing shop that much beacuase the windows are already in place , shame !



The single square fronted shop is an older shop, all wood, with wooden window frames. This will need alot more work as it seems to be stained in a deep redwood varnish , yuck!




Saying that, if you look at 'Zonkos' at Universal again, it is very similar in colour so I may not have to do that much with it as I thought, maybe take off all the posters, rub down and keep this sort of colour, just ageing it more. However I wont be doing the joke shop, boy that one would be tricky to fill!



I love several Potter shops, the Post office, Ollivanders, The Bookstore, Scrinvenshafts and Potages, so which would it be? SO I had a brain wave. As I dont relish making hundreds of wand boxes and books etc, how about I make my own wizards supplies shop, with all of these goodies in one store! Wands, books,quills and inks, brooms and cauldrons, this will be a fun one to fill!





So I have to admit these will take a while, but hey whats the rush! Lacey starts full time school in September so from then I will have all my days to fill with mini making, so although I have many projects to choose to work on, I couldnt let these babies go, and one day youll see the Potter street grow I promise!

Today in the post arrived my latest ebay find! Made by Dave Williams from Harvington Miniatures, http://harvingtonminiatures.blogspot.com/, this beautifully made table with benches is the perfect addition to the Potter inn I will be doing. Dont Jains wonderful dolls look at home in there already ! I was only browsing looking for things for Emily for her castle potion room but came across this set and had to bid!



And here is a closer picture to see the table, I love the aged look it has to it, everything about it is just right for this setting! I will be back to Dave for my pub signs, some beer pumps and more, just love his work thankyou Dave!




Now I just need some witches to be sitting on these wonderful benches........Jain can you hear me.....i NEED another!!!!

So, I may not have got to KDF this year but Ive made up for it with my ebay and internet bargains. Now the table is in, Im going to work on the pub counter I have this weekend to go in the downstairs room, a little something to do while I wait on Emily to finish my Honeydukes signs and then next week, time to make sweeties galore!!!

Wonderful Gifts from Ella Rose Miniatures!

Ive been meaning to show off my fabulous prize that I won in Kerry Fawcett's Mothers Day giveaway draw in April so today I finally got the camera out so I can do just that. Kerry's great blog showing all her tasty treats is here for you to see. http://ella-roseminis.blogspot.com/

Isnt this a darling little set with a breakfast fit for a Queen! Dont tell them but I wish my children bought me such finaries on Mothers Day, I seem to remember baking myself Chocolate Croissants with a cup of tea!




At the moment as you can see, Lola has aquired the set for her Mouse house, as she tells me I have no 'normal' house for it to go in until I get my French house on the go, and then, sorry Lola, Im nabbing it back! The gorgeous table and stools were made as a pressie by Victoria http://darksquirrelminiatures.blogspot.com/ for Lola and I shouldnt be showing them here as Lola demands we need to catch up her own blog and show off all her gifts but they looked so perfect on there, I had to show, thankyou Victoria!



Well, I recieved that parcel , early April, so today was quite bemused to find the postman bring me another box with EllaRose Miniatures label on the box? I couldnt remember ordering anything, Ive been good with my spending limits lately, honest!

So imagine my excitement to open it up and find 2 beautiful candy displays made in perfect pink and green candy stripe papers, full to the brim with sticks of rock and swirly lollipops!
They are gorgeous and will go beautifully on my counter display thankyou so so much Kerry for making them for me! Kerry thought they would fit right in with Honeydukes and they sure do! My pictures dont do them justice, even on macro!



I was instantly Inspired to get the fimo out, only to find I cant for the life of me find my giant floor tile that I use to bake everything on.....where on earth have I put it!! So until I scour the house in search of the safe place I obviously placed it, I have to just get out my notebook and sketch pictures of what I will eventually make!! How frustrating!

SO a huge thankyou and Hug to Kerry Fawcett for my fabulous new goodies!

Oh and that was the second surprise today, I awoke to find Id won the giveaway on Carol's blog http://true2scale.blogspot.com/with the amazing prize of $25 of goodies from her Etsy store! Imagine my delight at being able to choose from the beautiful array of miniatures, all perfect for Honeydukes in shades of green and pink! I have made my choice, hard as it was ( I do so love that delightful little halloween haunted house kit......another time Im sure!) and you will all see what ive chosen as soon as it arrives! Cant wait.

So 2 surprises in a day, shouldnt there be another, they say things come in 3's! Im off to check out if there is anything I can enter in case i'm on a lucky streak! If I win big time on the lottery Ill buy you all something of course!

Check out Emily's Castle , Advice needed please!

Hi all, well progress is slower than Id like it to be on Honeydukes, but I managed to get the perfect paint today and have painted the walls and some of the many counters at last!

I havnt got pics just yet as all the paintwork has to be aged and Honeydukes signs made to go on the furniture . Still loads to do.

Just wanted to let you know that my eldest daughter Emily is back into blogging so please support her blog whenever you get a chance!

A lot is fashion/ beauty/ Reviews etc but she is of course into miniatures.....well theres not much chance of her not being with me is there!

Her next project is the Merlin Castle and as always its only money holding us back on starting ,as she wants the walls done realistically with compound and stencils so we need to save for the materials. We already have collected quite a number of medieval items and furniture so please check in to see what shes up to! She'd appreciate any advice and suggestions on the castle, ideas for the exterior, tips on putting it together, makers of medieval style furniture, etc

http://emilyclairefashions.blogspot.com/

Back soon with pics of some new purchases this end too! I have been good and not spending too much but there have of course been certain things I just HAD to have !!!

Have a great week

The New Alice Dressing Table , Curiosity Cabinet and Gifts

As you know Ive been after the perfect dressing table for all the Red Queens perfume bottles for some time.

Well I found one I liked with the same bow legs as the table in the roombox so put in my bid and won and its the perfect colour and style. It has a little lift up section in the centre with a hidden mirror so Ive done something abit clever with this!




Firstly I glued on this lovely tall ornate gold mirror onto the dressing table to make it look more like the one in the film. I added gold detailing to parts of the table.



Next I lifted the tiny mirror and replaced it with a sneaky picture of the white queen! Now the Hatter loves the White Queen but I dont think her sister would be too happy on him having portraits of her hanging in her room, hence why he has put this little secret picture of her in the dressing table , that only he knows is there!


On top of the dressing table is a fine array of perfume bottles, most of which are made by the talented queen of perfume displays, Victoria! I have added some of the smaller pretty bottles Dear Sabiha made for me and they go amongst the others a treat!


On Mothers Day my pressie arrived just in time to complete my roombox.



And what a stunning piece it is! I knew The fabulous Tara was making an Alice cabinet and asked her very cheekily if I could see it before it hit her Etsy shop shelf! I think we were both quite stunned by how perfect the finished piece turned out to go with my own pieces! Tara hadnt seen my roombox, she was actually making this cabinet at the same time as I was decorating my room, and neither of us had seen each others progress. So when I had finished the room and afew days later saw the cabinet in all its glory we couldnt believe how the piece actually looked like it was made just for my room. The colours, style, everything about it matched my room and all my other miniatures in there! So of course it was meant to be, and made its way to the UK in time for my Mothers Day treat!

A huge thankyou to Tara, and stay tuned to see more pictures of the dressing table and cabinet in their new home. I hope you agree the new furniture all works really well! The detailing in the cabinet is amazing, theres even a dainty red heart painted on the sole of the queens boots.


Squimberry Tarts, under a glass dome. A beheaded thieving frog in a red coat and black bow tie stares blankly from his stuffed perch at what he wasn't allowed to have of the Red Queen's. The Oraculum-bound together by red ribbon is also tucked inside, the calender of Underland currently in the Red Queen's castle. Bottles and Tottles in Red Queen style sit on a dainty tray. Photographs of both the JubJub Bird and Jabber-baby-wocky are framed in high-styled ornate frames. The crown of questionable ownership also sits inside on a velvet pillow. A well-worn copy of the study book "Dominion Over Living Things" sits beside it. A trinket and jewel chest, looking recently rummaged through, sits with drawers open and jewellry spilling out.

On top she has a lovely red bird, caged in a fabulously ornate wooden cage. Two lovely crystal bottles sit beside a gorgeous hat and hat stand. Red roses twine around the items on top of the cabinet. Beautiful!

Also for Mothers Day I recieved a darling little corner shop, already made up, and in need of tender loving care, which of course it will recieve in this dollshouse mad house! Not sure what it will become as yet, but have already stripped the walls inside and out and now it will sit on the shelf until it speaks to me. Something magical and different of course!



The exterior green paintwork has been started on Honeydukes, and has been extremly tricky as I had to mix 2 paints to get the colour I wanted and Im going to have to do the same on the interior units and walls as one matchpot was too green, the other too dark, etc,and the perfect colour cannot be found without some magical mixing! I have more primer to buy, surprising how quickly it dissapears having to primer so much furniture etc. So once I get the materials needed Ill move on and start ageing the woodwork on the exterior and painting up those cabinets! So not as quick a start as Id hoped for!

The pink spiral staircase , which was a dream of mine, will have to remain just that, and Ive decided to keep the existing staircase for ease and to keep it in my budget. It will be pink though, I still love that idea!

I am 1 wall unit short and the suppliers are out of stock, so Im now scouring the internet for a matching plain wood single wall unit to complete my shop furniture display!

Stay tuned, school resumes on Tuesday so Ill hopefully get more painting done !

Happy Easter everyone, we had our usual Easter egg hunt in the garden this morning, and the chocolate is not lasting long!

A New Fabulous Blog on the Block!

Just had to share with you, this new blog that deserves lots of attention!

The Blog link is http://greggsminiatureimaginations.blogspot.com/

We all love a bit of fantasy and this new blog dosnt dissapoint! Stan makes the most fabulous miniature houses, gnome/fairy style houses.




My favourite so far is his truly gorgeous Hagrids hut that was Stan's first paperclay project, though you wouldnt believe it as its totally brilliant and I love it inside and out!



Please go and check it out and say hi! Stan is in the middle of his latest creation, a new Gnome house, so I think we will all enjoy watching it grow and following his progress!
Lola and I cant wait!

My Wizard Light Up Table

I was checking through my blogs I follow and found Dales wonderful new fortune telling table complete with light up crystal ball, and it reminded me of my own Wizard light up table and I couldnt remember if Id shown it off before.
This table used to be in my haunted house but as this now has a different story behind it, this is residing in my new Wizard tower in the top floor.
It has got dragon heads as the base, with a wonderful stone in the centre. The table top is glass, and has a cut out for the LED lights to shine through. The small LED box is a 3 colour one, shines red, blue and green which is quite wonderful at night! It works off a simple switch to turn it on and off, on a tiny battery to power it. The glass marble acts as the crystal ball on top and the colours bounce off it around the room!

I love the table, I think Ive had it for about 5 years or so now, its a favourite piece!

So hope you like it Dale and everyone else! You will see it again in situ in my wizard tower once its all redecorated

A break from Alice to show gifts from Wonderful friends!

Firstly , can I say thankyou so much for all your lovely comments on my blog yesterday about the new Alice roombox, I really appreciate you all finding the time to leave your feelings on it, it spurs me on, and makes me want to do more projects to show off! I know everyone leads busy lives so its so lovely to see friends find some time to leave a little comment on what they think of what youve done, its very heartwarming!

I took lots of night time shots of the shop last night, but wanted to give you a break from it for a bit so what better way than to show off some parcels recieved in the last few days from incredible friends!


A while ago I made a comment on the wonderful blog by Sabiha, on her beautiful new dollshouse! Sabiha had made some darling little pegs for a washing line out of ornate toothpicks and I left a comment to ask how they were made so I could follow suit for some for Lolas mouse house.

And then in the post arrives this pretty parcel , wrapped in these gorgeous little boxes, with pressies for lola and I, and some sets of the toothpicks for us to use too! How kind, thankyou Sabiha. Lola is very behind on showing off a multitude of lovely gifts and minis , so Im leaving her gifts to show herself, and she will do it soon I promise!

But in the mean time, look at these stunning little Alice themed perfume bottles from Sabiha, she made herself! So, so perfect! And lots of beads, and some fabric hearts too that I already have plans for and think Sabiha will like what i have in mind when its made! They will all be a wonderful addition to the Alice room i think you will agree!




And one of the parcels was wrapped with the sweetest Cameo, which I have a special love of, so this will go on a ribbon around my neck Sabiha, its so adorable thankyou for all your kindness all the way from Holland!

And good minds think alike as Dear Janice also saw my blog comment on Sabihas blog and she saw these detailed toothpicks and sent them to me to use, and also previously had sent some sheets and cut outs of card as samples for future brickwork and roofing work. Janice always sends me something if she sees it and thinks of me, its so very thoughtful thankyou too Janice! I have already used some of the brick card slips and will certainly be going for some cards in the future, nice and easy to cut out and use!




Lola and I will be trying out the toothpicks and Im also thinking of using them to make some orante scrolls for the wizard house! Will let you all know how they turn out!

As I said before dear Kat and Nicky C sent my Emily lots of material and bits and bobs for her Uni project, which I cant get pics of as shes already delved into the stash and used lots and put away the rest for future work, but we both apprciated it so much, it was a great help to her!

But as well as sending the material Kat kindly sent me some bits and bobs for various projects and as always i love my Kat parcels, always full of fun and different things to use thankyou Kat!




So sending huge hugs to my friends, what a wonderful group of thoughtful ladies you all are!