It's only taken us 10 years to finish decorating!

Over the past year we have slowly been decorating our flat, making the most of our limited space and finding room for all my treasures.  I have been collecting for years in the vain hope that one day I'll own a country pile. This hasn't happened yet (I still live in hope that it will) so rather than waiting and storing we thought we should actually put my collections on display.

First thing I had to do was find the wallpaper. This took about 5 years to find exactly what I wanted! I wanted something that wasn't too modern or dominating and something that looked as though it had been there for years. I came across this wallpaper on eBay and it cost $15 per roll. When I bought it the exchange rate was really high so it was a real bargain even with shipping from the states.  We finally got to hang all my pictures and I love this wall so much. Nothing has been measured or organised so it's completely higgedly piggedly, just the way I like it.

My collection of fabric boxes finally have a place to go.

And a shelf I've had for 10 years finally got put up so I could display some favourite treasures.

The missing piece to the bedroom was some extra storage. I finally found THE cupboard and it fits perfectly. It's also like a tardis so we can fit loads in it although I've been allocated only a certain amount of shelves and I CANNOT start spilling over to the others!

It has taken us ages to get it right but I'm so glad we took our time as it is exactly as I envisaged it. I love spending time in there just looking at everything as it feels like there's always something new to see and every piece has been lovingly searched for over the years. I feel a real sense of achievement when I walk in there :)

There's been a murder!

I love reading Agatha Christie books and have done ever since I was young.  I still enjoy reading them to this day and despite reading them several times I never remember who the murderer is!  I also enjoy the Poirot and Miss Marple adaptions on the tv and wouldn't mind starring in one even if it was just as an extra.  I could be one of the old pussies in the tea shop gossiping when Miss Marple overhears and because of my innate ability to understand the human psyche, my gossiping helps solve the case.  I could maybe have a walk on part where I'm in the village doing my daily shopping before stopping in the Post Office and asking for two first class stamps and a packet of envelopes.  The possibilities are endless but because I've never acted before I'm thinking my appearance would be more from the Mrs Overall school of acting rather than RADA.

Being fairly pragmatic, I know that it is highly unlikely I will ever be cast in a Miss Marple adaption so I decided to create my own miniature diorama depicting a scene from one of my favourites, The Body in the Library starring:

Joan Hickson as Miss Marple

                                                 Gwen Watford as Dolly Bantry

                                           and Astra Sheridan as Pamela Reeve

The complete diorama can be seen here:

 

Checking the body for clues before the police arrive.

The scene is my interpretation based on when Miss Marple and Doll Bantry inspect the body in the library before the police officers arrive.

This was so much fun to create and I got the idea when I happened upon a Poirot minikin doll made by Sarah and Elizabeth from the USA.  They create a range of wonderful figures and you can see them here as well as their Etsy shop.  I tried to think how I could use a Miss Marple doll in a scene and as I happened to be flicking through a dollhouse brochure at the time when I saw a library wallpaper the light bulb came on and The Body in the Library diorama was born!  I emailed Sarah and Elizabeth to ask if they could make me a Joan Hickson doll and they came back with all three after I told them what I was planning on doing.  I was blown away by the detail as everything is exactly as it was in the film and considering they are only 4" tall, I think they are fantastic.  The rest of the scene I created using doll house miniatures and found that I became quite obsessive over the smallest detail but those details are the ones that make all the difference!

A really great project for me and I can't wait to start the next one :)

Vintage by nina.com - Among Vintage & Friends book review

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A day out with the girls

Now, you may or may not know that I have a certain passion for collecting cloth dolls.  Not just any old doll but a certain kind called Roldan Dolls.  They were made in Spain in the 1950s/60s as tourist dolls and each has its own character.  The dolls are highly stylised and each have their own accessories and I would say, personalities.  It was because of this that I decided that it would be a great idea to take them out and photograph them as though they were on an outing somewhere.

The main character in this sequence of photos is Finoula Bucketwash who likes to drive in the countryside in her classic car with her beloved pooch, Alfred. 

Before she set off, Finoula wanted to make sure everything was tickety boo with the car so she took it to the local garage for a service.

Bert the mechanic (who had a little bit of a crush on Finoula so liked to look smart for her) was happy to service her and said that everything was fine although it maybe an issue that the car had no wheels.  Finoula didn't care about a tiny detail like that and off she went.

As she was driving along she saw a lonely hitchhiker thumbing a lift.  Heidi the hitchhiker had made her way to England all the way from Germany and she had one last little bit of her journey to go. Hoping Finoula would take pity, she stuck out her thumb and.............

........watched as Finoula just drove on past.  Finoula didn't like the look of Heidi the hitchhiker especially as she didn't approve of smoking.  She didn't want Alfred exposed to any unnecessary bad habits.

On she drove leaving Heidi at the roadside.  During her drive she came across........

........some cows in their shed and........

........some horses in their field.  Alfred loves horses and cows and barked his head off when he saw them, woof, woof, woof.  Despite the car not having any wheels, Finoula managed to make it to the tea rooms........

........where she enjoyed a cup of tea and a flapjack.  Alfred was allowed a dog biscuit which he gobbled down and thoroughly enjoyed.

After tea, Finoula set off again towards the church.  In the distance she thought she saw her dear friend Betty.

Betty had been enjoying a stroll in the  bluebell woods with her faithful hound, Henry. Betty got to the gate of the church........

 ........where she thought she spied Finoula.  "Finoula, Finoula, is that you Finoula?" she called.

Finoula skidded to a halt, " Betty!  How marvellous to see you" she said

They stopped and chatted for a while until Betty suddenly exclaimed " Finoula, don't turn round now but you'll never guess who just walked out of the church..............married!"

"Only Jemima and that awful, dreadful bore of a man Cuthbert.  Now you know I'm not one for gossip but I hear he's rather partial to a lady's undergarment". On that statement, Betty turned, gave one last close up look at the happy couple and waved goodbye to Finoula.

Finoula was somewhat appalled by the thought of Cuthbert enjoying a too familiar relationship with a lady's undergarment so she too made her escape by carrying on driving through the country lanes.

Just as Finoula was driving along, a heavily pregnant Cynthia stepped out of her cottage with her darling little boy,  Tarquin.

Finoula being the good friend she is, stopped to offer Cynthia a lift

Cynthia decided that because the car didn't actually have any wheels she may be better off walking.  That and the fact she didn't want Tarquin pulling Alfred's tail.

With a toodle pip, Finoula set off on her way back home already planning her next trip, this time to the seaside.

The end.

All words and photos ©Faded Rose Vintage 2013