Earlier this year, the Dolls House World magazine announced their Club Challenge - to create a roombox representing a scene from a West End Musical, past or present.

The Stay at Home Miniaturists Club decided to enter this competition  After much discussion, we short-listed the suggestions received, and voted.  The scene we decided to represent was from The Little Shop of Horrors.

In case you haven't heard of this before, very briefly Seymour, who works in a flower shop in Skid Row, buys a tiny plant from outer space.  He discovers to his cost that it thrives on human blood!  He names the plant Audrey2, after the love of his life, Audrey.  Unfortunately Audrey's boyfriend is a sadistic dentist, and she regularly turns up to work in the shop with Seymour with bruises or black eyes.

To cut a long story very short, the dentist dies, and Seymour feeds him to the plant.  The plant gets bigger and bigger until it fills the shop, tries to eat Audrey, but of course Seymour rescues her.  As Audrey2 expands, it pulls the shop down around Seymour, trapping him.  The plant has tentacles, on which buds appear, each of which then bursts into another plant complete with mouth and teeth.  Seymour manages to destroy Audrey2 by electrocuting it, marries Audrey, carries her off to their dream home - - - but in the garden, hidden away, is a tiny plant, looking very much like Audrey2 when Seymour first bought her.  Oh dear!

Well, we thought it would make a change from Oliver, My Fair Lady, and other pretty pretty scenes.

The roombox, which was provided by the magazine, measured 24 inches wide by 12 inches deep and 12 inches high.  We immediately turned it round so that the back wall became the front, cut a shaped opening into this front, and created a theatre.   Half pillars were put in at either side of the arch, to create an illusion of depth.

As the club members live in all parts of the UK, the USA, Australia, France and Greece, parcels started arriving nearly every day.  A counter hand made in Derbyshire;  plants hand made in Greece;  Fimo garden gnomes from Yorkshire;  everything that could be hand made was, and if not then it was made from printies, or bought and sent in.

I started to make Audrey2.  She started off as a tennis ball, cut open to form the mouth, and skinned.  She was then lined inside and out with air drying clay, which was also used to make the tongue and teeth.  More clay was added to get her from a round to an oval shape, and strong wires were inserted to form a stalk.

This is how she started off, painted with acrylic paints, but gloss enamel was used to make her tongue shine.

A club member in Oxfordshire offered to make the leaves, and her original prototypes are shown here.

Another member in Hawaii offered to make the tentacles.

Eventually, she looked like this:

Audrey and Seymour were made, wigged and dressed in Hampshire, using a pullover for Seymour hand knitted by a member living in Fife.

A stage floor was added;  curtains and a pelmet; scenery and props.  We decided to make it an all round scene, so the sides were made to look like the outside of the theatre, and the back stage area was visible too.

Other items too numerous to mention were contributed by all our other club members.

When completed, it looked like this:

We may not have won, but we all had great fun taking part and creating this scene, and I for one look forward to seeing what the Club Challenge will be next year.