This week has been one of the busiest weeks yet and it isn't even the run up to the Christmas market!! So many enquiries to answer and curios to make that it is amazing that I have managed to keep up. Thursday has started with what can only be described as a "head full of bees" day, so many thoughts and ideas trying to distract us from the tasks at hand. I still haven't made a coffee but there is a pot of soup made, because there were carrots next to the oat milk in the fridge. Tonight will be more productive, the headphones are on charge and the paints are made and prepared for finishing touches tonight. Days like these are a nightmare, they either help or hinder and today they have done a bit of both. 
In all honesty I do not feel ready for this market at all. You know when you are just constantly chasing your tail and not seeing any results for your efforts? That is how I feel. I am not complaining, not even a little. I remember the days of silence and little work so this is welcomed hugely. I just can't believe it. So happy to see returning customers, new customers and people that had us highly recommended getting in touch. It is overwhelming.
After the Christmas market, it has been decided that we will take a bit of R and R to focus on the book to really give that a huge push so we hit our deadline and have it ready for summer release! That also means we will be working away on dolls while we are at the market so we keep ourselves up to scratch on that front as well. 
We had an amazing weekend at the Small Business market and said goodbye to Buttons and one of Gypsy's kittens, Rose. We also had two custom orders collected and were delighted with the feedback we got on them both, it is the little things that matter especially after a tough week. We also got a gorgeous diary from the lovely Bedlam Bags and a beautiful little macrame witch from Boho Knots. I love finding unique pieces from other small businesses. 
We are charging forward and stocking up on our curios for the last of this years markets and we may fall silent on social media, mainly because the We is only Me and there are only so many plates I can juggle. However on saying this, it might not be the case as there are so many amazing dolls coming that I won't be able to not let you all have a sneak peek at them. 
Lastly and probably on a more annoying note, we have noticed a lot of people taking pictures of our work. We don't mind but it would be nice to be asked especially after all the drama we had dumped at our door with another person pretending to be part of what we do, which resulted in a lot of stress and sleepless nights. 
Anyway the next one to be finished is our stunning Autumn witch and she should be available soon! As much as we have loved making her, the bodice nearly caused an accident as the sequins took down two needles and, had I not been wearing my glasses, I would be one eye down. The joys of being creative haha.

As always, Stay Quirky

​Gemma

As you all know we have been waiting for confirmation to let us announce something big for Pretty Darn Perfect. Sadly we didn't get the exciting news we were hoping for. We had been going into a shop in Edinburgh under the amazing Shop-Scotland name, as you all know we have been a part of this website for many years. Due to unforeseen circumstances alongside the rising costs, it is not going ahead any more. It was a decision by the shop owners and it was not taken lightly at all and they have to prioritise their livelihood first and foremost which we respect as times are hard enough as it is. However we have expressed our interest to join them in the future should circumstances change.
We were devastated by the news as this was a huge step for us, it did set us back a few days as we were not expecting the news and it had us hanging around in an emotional limbo. After a look at our scheduling and plans for the next year we have set our sights firmly on launching our book and really taking our creativity to a new level. This does mean Gemma will be working any and every spare second she has, so watch this space for some new amazing ideas appearing just in time for the festive season. 
As of now we are working on two very special custom orders, a wonderfully weird design challenge and re-drafting one of our stories in preparation for the final edit!
This is all being done in the drying times as next week is of course painting week, so our facebook will come alive with sneak peaks at our next curios.

As always stay quirky xx

​ Admin 

Hello Everyone!! We have so much to write about it is hard to decide where to start!!
Firstly it has been a long haul over the school holidays, trying to juggle the home life/work balance and we survived. It was not easy at all. However we have 3 illustrations complete for the book, one story nearing completion and a few other exciting things coming!!
We are no longer attending The Yard in Perth which was a tough decision but it wasn't working for us but we have another outlet for our work, just waiting on the final details being ironed out before we announce it properly.
On the book front we are making headway with it and we are getting really nervous and excited about it! Between the book and the top secret announcement we are working harder than ever. We have 3 dolls prepped to be painted and another 9 waiting to hit the stands!! All ideas and designs have been finalised for them all. There are more kitchen witches coming, kittens, cats, plague masks, pin ponies and the painted plague masks! The sewing machines are going constantly and it feels so good to be stupidly busy. We are going to have some curios exclusive to the website because why not? 
We did totally forget about the competition which was a good thing as we have had a brilliant idea for it, way better than the initial one which works out for the best. 
Custom orders are open so if you have an idea for someones Christmas/birthday present, book your space now!

Lastly due to the ever changing world, we will be offering a lay away service to help people. We are all feeling the pinch and with Christmas coming up we all want to get the perfect gift for someone, so if you see a curio that someone would love, please get in touch.

​Keep your eyes peeled for more updates!!

We have launched our new variation of our plague masks and have had a lot of positive reviews regarding them, so the hand-painted plague masks are here to stay! Our next market is in August and we are all ready hard at work preparing for it, fabrics and hair have been ordered so keep your eyes peeled for some truly stunning dolls. 
Our first drafts of two stories are being re-drafted before they are edited again and it is starting to feel so real that we are writing a book! The first 6 dolls have been picked for the book and we are aiming to have at least 13 stories. The only difficulty is picking the dolls to go into this one. 
In other news we have an old pattern being brought back and hoping to debut this little one in August, if all goes well. 
We do have another surprise in the works but it is still in talks at the moment and we have everything crossed. It will be a huge leap forward for us but more on that later!
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Huge shout out to The Small Business Market for having us back once more and for letting us be part of Picnic in the Park! As always the Kingsgate was amazing with all the chit chat with the other stall holders and of course the customers. I will say Picnic in the park totally blew us away, we had such a successful day it was overwhelming. Apologies to everyone who stopped by for a chat and had to listen to me squeak my way through a conversation, I lost my voice much to the delight of my husband and kids. Apparently the house has never been so quiet. 
We said goodbye to Jingles, Elphaba, Fortuna Major and the hauntingly beautiful Maurelle. I hope their new owners are over the moon with them. Arethusa and Eolande have been added to the shop and our beloved Buttons is still waiting on her forever home. There are new makes on the horizon with a brand new take on the plague masks coming soon!!
If you popped by the market on friday and saturday you will have had the chance to have a look at the first illustrations for our book! To those who missed that announcement, we are aiming to release our first book with a mixture of stories about our very own curios!! The first 2 dolls have been picked to have their stories written. Pop over to our facebook page to watch us announce the book. 
Our next market is The Yard in Perth on the 26th June and we are already working on new stock for it. 
Here are pics of our latest makes and as always stay quirky.
Gemma/Newt
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What an amazing weekend at the small business market. We sold out of our pin ponies and plague masks on Friday and Saturday, it was lucky I had some plague masks finished off at home or our stall would have looked very bare on Sunday. Honestly blown away with the amount of people showing their support to all the small businesses, we were all run off our feet and it was great.
We have had to cancel The Yard this month so we can catch up with our list of dolls we want to make and with the school holidays fast approaching, we don't really have much of a choice. So the next 3 weeks are packed with a huge list of sewing that will be done so we can catch up at nights during the holidays, doesn't help that I have a new concept for a doll that involves learning a new technique but hey ho. The aim is to have at least 4 new dolls for the next market, we are trying to keep in mind that the next 2 are heavily detailed and this might affect our aim but it never hurts to try. 
If you popped by on Friday you will have probably seen that I was a bit frustrated that I forgot the doll I was meant to paint and had bought a canvas to paint on instead. Honestly could have kicked myself for forgetting, I remembered all the paints, the water jar etc but not the thing that needed painted. However I did get a very nice painting based on Sol and Mani, I may even decide to sell it as a one off sometime. So our next market will be in June with the small business market and I hope to have a lot of new curios to show off very soon.

Stay Quirky
​Gemma 

This is something I never thought I would have to prove or voice but here goes. There has never been and never will be a porcelain doll branch of Pretty Darn Perfect. The last 3 weeks have been hell. It was brought to my attention that there is someone out there claiming to be this in order to sell, now I only know of two sales that had been complained about due to paint peeling/being easily wiped off and one that had been broken, repaired and sold. These were the two that I was being accused of allowing to be sold. I have since the first phone call proven that none of my sales or curios were porcelain dolls, obviously due to the complaints I had to prove my innocence. My name has been cleared. I want to avoid anyone pointing fingers and saying I am accusing whoever. From what I was told over the phone is that they could not contact the original seller as they no longer exist on Facebook which is why they went higher, I wasn't given any names of who it was and refuse to add any speculation as to who it may be. 
The reason I am writing about it is mainly due to the fact that there will be people talking about this and I want to put my side out there, whatever happens now has nothing to do with me. I didn't point fingers, accuse or throw anyone under the bus; my main concern was clearing my name and I have done this.
If you have ever been told, heard or seen someone acting as part of Pretty Darn Perfect it is not true. Unless I have stated that I am working with another artist on here, Facebook or Instagram then it is not the case. 
As always I am grateful for the support and custom you all provide but please be vigilant when buying online and don't be afraid to ask questions about what you are purchasing, I know I am happy to answer any questions regarding my work and I am sure all other artists are as well. Always use paypal and never send through friends and family as this stops you being able to request a refund. 
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I will hopefully see some familiar faces at the next few markets.

Stay quirky,
​Gemma 

It has been a while since I checked in here to update you all on what is going on. 
Since the last time we have created new kitchen witches, dyed new scarves, completed custom orders and introduced the first sin of the collection!
All while juggling the kids during the Easter break, a very much awaited gig with our favourite band Ghost and we spent last night watching Scribble Showdown. I haven't laughed so much in ages and now have a nervous twitch when stationary is mentioned.
If you have visited our stall recently you will have seen that we are now displaying what we are currently working on, mainly because we have been questioned a lot of where we import the dolls from. We have also started painting them at the stall so you can see us in action and let people see first hand the amount of work and detail we put into everyone of our curios. Our latest custom order made it off to her new home safely and we have another amazing custom order come in which, will surely turn a few heads when she is complete. 
The stunning Mani and Sol went off to pastures new as well! It was sad to pack them up and send them off on their journey. While we are talking about moving off to new homes, one of our new kitchen witches has jetted off to America! Little Circe, the cupboard raider has left us. We still have her sister Elphalba, the last biscuit eater...so if anyone wants to re-home her let me know. It would be nice to get a biscuit once and a while, you don't stand a chance between the house and the workroom. 
Our next few dolls are going to have a few new techniques used, a few extremely talented friends have been giving us tips and lessons to help us really push past the boundaries. One requires soldering and there is a mini fire extinguisher prepped and ready to go for when we attempt that one, there are days I come with my own warning label.
The first Sin has been finished and we even have a video showing you all what we did! Have a peek below.
Pride will be added to the shop soon so keep your eyes peeled!

Our next market is coming up on the 27th February!! 
Thought I would give it a shout out before I start rambling on about what we have been up to. So far we have 6 dolls, sculpted and ready to be painted, kitchen witch poppets needing limbs, pin ponies, plague masks and of course our exclusive cats and kittens. It his all hands on deck as we try to get lots more stock made and the shop coding is being worked on by a very good friend to help us get it up and running. We also have an amazing commission plus our new theme of the next dolls have been announced!!
We are working on the Seven Deadly Sins! They will be based on the Sins featured in the play Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. I had originally done costume designs for them back in college and found them when I was in the attic which sparked the idea to do them as dolls. So the Sins will be made in the order they appeared to Dr. Faustus, keep an eye on our Facebook page for hints, peaks and the big reveal when the Sin is complete. 
Have a look at our doll artist at work stitching together the bodies and tagging them in this time lapse. It took 38 minutes to get this footage, 6 bodies in 38 minutes. It shows just how much time goes into making our dolls from scratch. We will do a full time lapse of a doll being made in the near future so keep your eyes peeled.
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