Ice, Snow and Sand Have Arrived

I have added a skirt of glossy varnish all along the newly applied snow boundaries, and then followed that up by dripping triple thick varnish in some of the spaces between the cobbles. It is more visible in person, but the idea is that this is a European market stall, there is not that much snow, and it is melting quickly. The proprietor of the stall has swept the area around her stall clean, and the meltwater is gathering in the cobble seams here and there.

In front of the stall, where the customer stand, the ice has been sanded. The sand is freshly ground pepper, which adheres nicely to the freshly applies gloss varnish....

Now I need to make a stiff broom, which I will place by the door at the side, to complete the story of the base of my market stall.

For the inside, I have three tilted bins that will hold Christmas decorations, a tall bin with a cut-away front for rolls of wrapping paper, and a flat bin for a collection of Christmas gift bags. It's coming along, but there is lots more to do still. I'd like to make a portable shelf unit, for example, to hold the two crates of moss balls and giant pine cones. The stand will likely be an A-frame, with a couple of shelves for the crates, and a handle on the top to allow the proprietor to move the unit inside easily at the end of a working day.

But I am still missing an important item, the name of the place! Suggestions for that will be gratefully accepted and seriously considered. It can't be too long, as it has to fit on the fascia over the opening, and it has to make it clear this is a Christmas decor shop. I need a name!

 

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

The decision I'm pondering is whether I need to add more snow along the edges of my vignette base; I wanted the scene to look like the snow had been removed, just remaining around the edges of the stall and the posts. However, I am not sure I am giving that effect. Any ideas, please?

I made a trio of crates last Thursday, that will eventually go onto an inclined plinth and will hold the many Christmas tree decorations I made. None of them are small enough to fit into the boxes, and there really is not a lot of space on the shelves for hanging displays. 

We have been going from snow storm to snow storm here, which has kept us in the house most of the time. It has also been quite dark because of the overcast, and I've wanted nothing as much as being able to hibernate like a bear and ignore winter altogether! Most of my time has been spent knitting or sewing, but I did sort out some more stuff to put together for the market stall. And I still haven't got a really good name for it....