Love triangles......

So.... Yayyyy!  The fabrics arrived for my workroom bunting the other day, so I've been sewing up a storm and the pile of beautifully lined triangular flags has been growing steadily.

There are enough on that little table to make up 4 strings of gorgeous bunting to go all round the walls.

HOwever, I still seem to have quite a lot left over.....

Sadly I've run out of the cotton lining fabric so I can't finish them all off yet.
I'll use the spare ones to do something quirky in the room.... not quite sure what yet but I am sure inspiration will strike at some point.

Buoyed by my success on the bunting front, I'm also determined to finish off the lovely cabinet.  It still needs a knob fitted to the drop down desk flap, plus I want to stencil on the inside of the flap, to frame the area where the leather writing pad was, which I'll also paint in a different colour.

I'm still working on the organisation of the cabinet itself, which needs to be a bit more user friendly.  I find myself surrounded by boxes of stuff from the drawers in the base, which are tricky to access when the desk is open.  Although I have two folding tables which really come into their own while I'm working... the smaller one as an 'ironing table', and the larger one for stuff which needs more working space than the desk flap.

I also need to properly organise the cubby holes and small drawers inside the desk, as they're currently in chaos.  I've re-purposed some empty coffee containers to act as storage for tools but it's all the small bits, which I use all the time, and which I need to have to hand, which are proving more difficult to keep in order.

I've fitted a length of LED strip lighting inside the desk, to better illuminate the working surface, but I need to fit a power socket with integral USB points on the side of the cabinet, so that I can run the lighting, mini iron etc.  

I'm also considering fixing some lightweight storage pockets inside the cabinet doors on one side, and a lightweight pin board/whiteboard on the other.

Things are slowly evolving as I get used to working in a radically different room layout and I'm gradually working out the best place to store things for maximum findability.  It's still a work in progress but at least progress IS being made! 

Bunting and beyond..........

Busy, busy, busy week, making up and packaging orders from the Mini Miniature Show last weekend.  The last batch went out yesterday and are now winging their way to destinations worldwide.  Thank you to everyone who visited our page during the show!

So..... what now?

Well, I have a To Do list that's currently running to several pages so I will need to multitask like a demon to try to make inroads into it.

However, I still haven't quite finished organising the workroom, since my work cabinet makeover and I've also decided that the room needs more bunting.

Of course it does.

I'm of the firm opinion that almost any room can improved with bunting, because bunting rocks.

And making bunting is one of my very favourite things.

Up till now I've had one string of bunting over the windows.  I bought it years ago during the first workroom makeover and it's not really up to my, now, extremely exacting bunting standards.  The flags are just too small and they're spaced really widely apart so it looks a bit sparse.

Nothing worse than sparse bunting.

So I've taken it down (leaving the windows wall looking VERY bare, despite the sparseness of the bunting which had been there!) and am working on making new, bigger, un-sparse bunting, which I'm hoping will go round two of the walls.

I've ordered some fat quarters of fabrics in various colours, and I've even gone to the length of designing four different fabrics, based on the colours I've used on the cabinet, which I'll have printed onto cotton calico.

This is going to be 'next level' bunting, the likes of which has ne'er been seen....  bunting par excellence,  the crème de la crème of bunting, the epitome of bunting......

It is while I am extolling the virtues of bunting, that I sense a small furry presence behind me.....

Small Dog: *incredulously*  MUUUUUURRRRMMMM!  Stopp with the bunten olreddie!
Me: * resolutely* No SD.  I will not stop.  I am a woman on a bunting-making mission and I will not be denied.
SD: *eye-rollingly* Yue ar beein redikewluss.  Hav yue kno sens of pryoritties?
Me: *airily* Oh yes.  I absolutely DO have a sense of priorities.  I am prioritising designing and making bunting.  It is my raison d'être.  I make bunting, therefore I am....
SD: *dismissively* Bollox.  Fillosofikle clapptrapp.  Yue ar maken bunten as displaismint acktivitie.  The wurkroom is a kompleat mess, yue hav lodes of stuf to doo, and yure waisten tym maken bunten.  Admitt itt!
Me: *craftily* You may think that SD.... but it is a well known fact that working in a beautiful environment increases productivity by a factor of 47%.  My bunting is a motivational tool.
SD: *sceptically*  Humph..... yule be tellen me neckst thatt its tacks deeduktible.
Me: *appraisingly*  You might just be onto something there SD.  I'm fairly sure that bunting making materials might be an allowable business expense.
SD: *resignedly*  Ai dispare.... *sie*

End

August Online Show.....

Later today, at 5pm (UK time)  the August Mini Miniature Show  will open its virtual doors for dollshouse enthusiasts to browse artisan offerings. 

I've been an exhibitor at every artisan-only show since it first began 10 years ago and have 'met' some lovely people from all over the globe, who have attended my online workshop sessions and visited my dealer page time and time again.

This year, for the first time, I'm not offering a workshop. However..... I have designed and created a brand new, limited edition kit, specially for the show.

Sneak peek?  Oh, go on then......

Hmmmmm.... not much of a clue is it?

Better....?

Tah dah!

A little Alice in Wonderland toy doll trunk.... with a twist!  

This workshop pack is actually two kits in one.  First the little Alice doll herself.  She's made from china-painted porcelain and has jointed arms and legs.  She's dressed in Alice's trademark blue silk dress with white pinafore apron and comes complete with a tiny 'Drink Me' bottle.

She measures a smidgen under 1 3/4" tall and has a removable doll stand to enable you to display her outside the trunk.

The wooden trunk kit contains everything needed to complete the trunk, including the internal and external graphics, plus additional scenery.

Back of the trunk

Trunk interior

The kit also includes a complete cast of 11 Wonderland-themed double-sided characters which are precision cut and cleverly magnetised so that they can stand unsupported in the left side of the trunk.

Removable 3-D scenery showing Cheshire Cat

Cast of characters, from the White Rabbit to the Dodo

In addition, I have included a separate board, which can be used to create additional scenes, or to store characters.

OFF with his head!!!

This workshop pack includes fully illustrated, step by step instruction booklets, and, if required, email support is only a mouse click away.

Kit cost is £45 plus shipping.

The pack is only available via my online show page HERE. (this link will only work from 5 pm on 9th August)
I only have 10 of these packs and they will not be repeated.

In addition to the items on my dealer page, for the duration of the show (August 9th-12th) we are offering a 10% discount on selected categories on the website
If you also wish to include any items from the online show page, I will deduct the postage and amend your PayPal invoice so that you only pay one lot of shipping.

I'll be online off and on throughout the duration of the show to deal with enquiries and orders but please bear in mind any time difference if you're not in the UK! 

If you need any additional information on the Alice doll trunk kit, or the online show, please contact me.