Another Shopping Basket!

I've been working on this little number for a few days now - glad I finally got it finished so thought I would share it with you.

Shopping basket give-away - winner!

Hey everyone - this morning I used a random number generator to pick a winner - and of course it got it all wrong!!  I wanted everyone to be a winner - but unfortunately this would keep me weaving forever so I will go with the numbers as picked!  I say "numbers" because I have added another little basket as a consolation prize!!
Anyway - enough of this!  Announce the winners!

First out of the hat (so to speak) was -

NORMA!!

Second was -

ANA!

(yours will be a surprise!)

Ladies, please message me with your postal addresses so I can get the baskets posted on Monday!!

CONGRATULATIONS to both of you and I look forward to doing this all over again soon!

Another Market Hall Update............

Well, it's finally on it's base and work has started on the cobbling.......still more to be done as can be seen!

This wall took me a few days solid work to complete but I'm happy with the results.

Another view - and you can see the area that still needs cobbling, plus the door to be inserted.

Back view - ground floor market, first floor guild hall, top floor library/office....
floor still to be stained as are the stairs.

View of market area showing "goal"

Other view of market area.

It was hard getting a shot of the fireplace!

There's something about Christmas!

With Christmas approaching, all those lovely Christmas lights are appearing on shop shelves, and this year more than ever before, many of the lights are LEDs.  They are diffused which makes them useful for dollshouse lighting, and they are relatively cheap which makes them even better for dollshouse lighting.

Big W in Australia (a bit like Walmart in the States) has a string of 20 lamps with battery box and switch for about $2 or if you like doing it yourself and pulling things apart, and getting them back together so they work which is the trickier bit,  you can get a string of 200 for about $20. This includes a transformer, which is rated at 22 volts - too high for normal dollshouse work.

This is what comes for $2. Note:  This is cool white

Now come the penalty clauses - you need to be selective. The best LEDs I have found are about 5mm diameter cylinders with dished tops (not domed like normal LEDs), which helps to diffuse the light. Go for warm white which gives a pleasant colour similar to a normal light bulb.

Picture on left shows dished bulb. 

Picture on right shows warm white and cool white.

Cool white has a bluish tint to it, which is OK if you want a fluorescent lamp look.  If the packaging just says white, you could end up with anything, but most likely cool white.

If you are pulling things to bits, LEDs are more sensitive than normal light bulbs and tend to die if connected incorrectly. They need a DC supply of the correct voltage (not 12 volts)  and they need to be connected the right way round - long lead to positive.

If you need more information on how to connect them successfully, fell free to contact me.

Oooops!! Re give-away comments!

Tail between my legs here - after a major brain fart!!
I deleted my comments list - and if you asked me how I managed that, I would have to say - easy!!
However, I did have a print-out of names - so you will end up in the draw.
Audra, Terefer, Eliana, Drora's minimundo, Kikka, CSPoppets, Teresa Martinez, Roelie, NarinaNapertas, Ultsu, Linda Carswell, Hilsu, Lataina, Elga, Rosamargarita, Jennifer Rydell, Catherine
See what happens when you're as computer literate as I am???
Apologies!!

Look what arrived today............and a thank you give-away!

The post finally brought my long awaited treasures all the way from the UK.  In May this year I met with Collin Bird while attending the Kensington Dollshouse Festival where I ordered these two beauties!  Their final destination will, of course, be in Indianna Jones' house.  I am so ecstatic - they are just unbelievably beautiful.

........and a thank you give-away!!

I can hardly believe that I actually made it to a 100 followers!  Wow.....thank you all so much for your support and kind comments.  So you better keep those comments coming as.............

 

....everyone who comments on this post will have their name in a draw for this basket.

I choose Friday 18 November as the closing date - short and sweet!!

Good luck everyone!

A walk through the bush........

And this was a very pleasant discovery indeed.  So pretty - and I didn't even have to plant it.  This is a native cymbidium orchid which I discovered close to our bush house.