Somebody stop me!!

Yippe, another project !!! ( I know, I know, as if I need one with all I have to finish!!)

I recently put a shop I liked the look of on ebay to watch and then forgot about it with half term taking up all my time. Well , John didnt forget and came in to tell me he had bid and won this fantastic Greenleaf Brimbles Mercantile store for me as a late birthday pressie!!



I love this store, i have seen a few other bloggers turn them into incredible shops and always wanted one to do my 'Ghost Whisperer' style antique shop.



So another to put on the list of to do's!!

This is my 3rd Greenleaf house, I have the Beacon of course and a Willowcrest in dire need of alot of work!

It arrived today ( beautifully packaged in a huge crate) and I am going to have a Ghost Whisperer DVD fest once Alice is done to get ideas on colouring etc. Outside is a green which I may just tone down a little , easily repainted. Inside is a blank canvas, tricky to decorate but once primered will paint up nicely too. Im looking forward to planning what Ill do with it. I have loads of display cabinets, and some goodies for it already that Ive bought when ive seen things , already having this project in mind! I bought lots of candelabra made out of pretty coloured glass a while back as the shop has lots of hanging lights. Also lots of vases of flowers so Ill have to get good at making flower kits! I have units to use, I need to buy an elaborate ornate counter like the one in the programme.

Upstairs will be Melinda's bedroom which has a lovely brass bed and again I need to buy an ornate wardrobe and other bedroom furniture and the whole house will be painted in shades of cream and gold in a shabby chic style.


But in the mean time, I have been waiting on my lights for the Alice roombox and promise to have more updates soon. Just deciding on the colours to use for the interior display panelling part and the actual outside of the roombox. Once I can make the decision if I have a dry day I can take it outside to spray paint it and then fit the lights , wallpaper and flooring and we are ready for filling!!

Work on the Alice Project at Last!

Yesterday was a grotty wet day so I took out my Alice roombox , the one going to be for the Hatters workroom, and set to stripping it, a job Ive put off for ages!

I know I took a pic when I bought the roombox as it was then decorated,but went to load it and its now not there so Ill explain, its long and narrow, like the room in the movie. It already had fitted a built in display area in the back with arches cut in, perfect for showing off hats on stands! I needed to strip all the existing paper which was candy pink stripes, and didnt think Id get out the back partition without damaging it, as it seemed truly stuck fast!


John told me to give it to him and set to work, prising off the coving and skirting and then set to easing out the back part! I was cringing and threatening him as he did it, as hes not quite as gentle as me and I could see it breaking and me cursing him, but no, he did a great job and got it all out in one piece! Phew! Once repainted this will fit back in ( hope it goes back in better than it came out!!) against the back wall which will be the lit hat display part.



So I soaked off all the old paper ,I love that job, its very messy but satisfying! Now I have a clean canvas to paper the walls all around, I can paint all the partition, skirting and coving and put in my flooring.

I found 4 little lights already fitted which were above each archway but they are attached to a copper strip, and also seem to have come unsoldered in 2 places so not sure if they work still. Im thinking of replacing them with some on a strip as i have never done copper lighting. I'll have that as a way of highlighting Kats Hats and this will be the only lighting so needs to be bright and id prefer battery lights instead of a big transformer for such a little room. Any ideas anyone? Ive seen spotlights, maybe 4 of them, or LED lights? Janice, you'll know!!
Here is the rear of the roombox with the drilled holes for the little lights which are soldered onto copper but as you can see one is loose.


There is a shop front which I may or may not use, its a lovely cream and black but Im thinking it maybe should be red and black. Also Im using black and white chequed flooring and pinstripe paper on the 2 side walls and behind the partitioning bit behind the hats, but not sure what colour to repaint the roombox itself and the outside of the display part? First thought red but think it would be too loud and take away from all the things going in it, maybe just clean white as theres lots going on in the room, lots of prints, fabrics, pictures, etc? Its cream right now but that dosnt match with the flooring or wallpaper now.Im so indecisive!! BUT at least Ive made a start which is good for me, and I want to do more, even better!

Once the room is decorated most of the things for inside have been made and bought already so Ill have great fun filling it. Just need to make some more fabric and ribbon minis to fill some shelves but I have some great pieces you havnt seen yet so I better get on with it! Progress at long last.

Im saving hard for some large pieces for the room, Id really love a Hatter and Red Queen that can be swapped between this and my Tea party project. SO I will be listing things on ebay soon and will let you know when I do. Janice made a great suggestion to offer swaps for some of my minis for sale but to be honest I really need to save the money as the things I need at the moment are mainly dolls so more major purchases.

I am selling right now on ebay a Brand new and Sealed Harry Potter DVD box set with a trunk style box, and 12 DVDs full of 1 to 5 movies and loads of added extras, about 719 minuites in all I think! Its region 2 but if anyone is interested its got about 3 days to go, its all new and sealed so a great pressie for a Potter enthusiast or collector!

The link is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Ltd-Edition-Harry-Potter-DVD-Box-Set-1-5-12-Discs-/180625513881?pt=UK_CDsDVDs_DVDs_DVDs_GL&hash=item2a0e1e9d99

Sold out in many stores, but I have found a new one on Amazon for about £75 so Ive listed it at much less than half of this at £29.99 plus postage which is recorded delivery.

Now, its half term this week so cant promise Ill be managing a post on progress until the end of the week as Im planning shopping and cinema trips to keep all these 5 occupied! Wish me luck!

Beautiful Pressies and A New Project!!!

Wednesday was my birthday, thankyou to those of you that sent lovely birthday messages and wonderful cards!
I started the day opening pressies, I got lots of much needed things for myself, not too many minis from the family but some money to start saving or treating myself to them which is just as good!
I had one large parcel to open which had sat looking and calling to me from the day before from dear Nicky Cooper and couldnt wait to open it!
Look at all my amazing goodies, Nicky is so generous!
I couldnt quite believe how lucky I was to have been given Nickys work of art, her dragon fireplace! Nicky made this for her own room box but luckily for me, decided it didnt fit, and she was so so kind to give it to me for the Potter house. In this before pic you can see the boring black fireplace that was there before , and see above for the dragon masterpiece and the difference it makes to the room! Its made from paperclay too so a really clever piece of art!


What was spooky was that it is painted in the same colours as Ive used on the wall, and so instead of looking like a fireplace simply added to the wall, it looks like its sculpted out of the wall itself! Im so pleased with it! As Emily commented it looks like it was made to fit this very room!

On the photos you can see more of Nickys work , I treated myself to this a while back. The little dragon on the potion board next to the old fireplace and the little pet bird the potion master has sat on the fab table made by Debie!


As always Ive been changing my mind on projects and their theme and as Nicky has been making such irresistable creations and I knew it wouldnt stop I have decided to change my tower which was going to be for the Snow White wicked queen, into a wizard/dragon tower. I will still have a wicked queen room but its a one story version of the same tower kit from DHE I have! Ill have to redo all the exterior and interior decoration to a more suited wizard style.

Downstairs is a courtyard style room. I hate the paper that HAS to go!!



Here I will have the wizard cloak and hat hanging up with a shelf of books and baby dragon bookends that Nicky sent me for my birthday!


Also can you see the darling sleeping baby dragon on the barrel of grapes, got a bit tipsy didnt he , ( abit like me on my birthday night lol!!) I think hes one of my favourite dragons so far, he is so tiny and well detailed! Thankyou Nicky for these beautiful gifts, they have made the perfect start to my tower!


Upstairs will be a bookcase I bought several years ago, filled with wizard goodies and a table Ive bought but have the fun of filling! A dragon plaque above the table, and.....well not sure what else, but with more and more of Nickys imaginative work being made Im sure there will be alot more to see!
See Nickys work on her new excellent blog http://theminidragonqueen.blogspot.com/
And another wonderful new blog from Nicky for her dolls !!
http://bodybaker-dollsincreation.blogspot.com/


Tomorrow Ill be posting some progress on one of my projects.......yes finally some work done!!