LaserGirl

Hooray - refund appeared in account today.

Nope

I hate to switch sides but the fact is that there is nothing you can do if you booked a non-refundable hotel room. If you book your room as instructed on the Con website, you will be refunded if it's cancelled. If not, then you must read the small print or live with the consequences. I too am angry that they left it so late to cancel. I too have lost money on a non-refundable room, but I knew it was a risk and made sure it was an amount I could afford to loose. It really sucks I know, but all you can do is treat it as a learning experience and move on.

So exactly how last minute do people have to leave it to book their flights & hotels? Do we always have to wait until 11 days before an event to make sure it's going ahead? It's my birthday tomorrow so I'm going to put all this out of my head until Wednesday, then I'll think about whether Showmasters/Massive Events ever deserve my custom again...

Aaarg. This is exactly the problem. You've known for days (possibly weeks) that it wasn't happening that weekend, and you still let people carry on booking time off and paying for non-refundable hotel rooms!!!! You should have let us know it was cancelled/postponed much earlier.

"are we really expecting them to post sorry guys we dont kno yet?" YES that's exactly what we expect! At this stage just ANY communication at all! I (and I'm sure a lot of others) don't care any more about knowing what is DEFINITELY happening. We just want to know what is NOT happening. If it's NOTat the Park Inn, we need to know now so we can go about getting refunds. If it's NOT that weekend, we need to know now so we can cancel the time off and the cattery etc. If I hear one more person say "try and be patient" I will scream.

Well said Julie, I too have been considering complaining to Trading Standards. I don't know why they think they don't have to provide the same level of customer service as any other company.

Urgh. So sick of this. Just want my money back (before christmas) so I can spend it on something else.

"but have faith in showmasters, they've not let anyone down yet" Please tell me that's sarcasm. Showmasters have been cancelling LOTR conventions on me since 2007. My advice, don't get too excited. If it happens, hooray, we'll all have a great time. If not, we get a refund and can spend the money on going to see The Hobbit another 10 times

Excellent, I've set up the Yahoo Group and to get the ball rolling have designed a logo, posted an explanation for the name and uploaded photos of my creations so far (including the dress I wore to Oxonmoot). To join just send your email address to: heather_coleman "at" btinternet "dot" com and I will add you to the list, you should then get an invitation describing how to log in. For those who are not familiar with Yahoo Groups, they are driven more by emails than a typical message board/forum. You send an email to a central group address, and it is then forwarded on to the other members. There is also web space for photos etc. So please drop me a line, the more the merrier, Heather

Hey Guys, I've been thinking of starting up a Yahoo Group, if anyone's interested, called something like "Minas Tirith Seamstresses Guild" so we can keep in touch on all things velvet now that this forum has a limited lifespan. Let me know what you think (I might even see if I can make it a TS smial)... Heather

No need to worry at all. Most people seemed to be there to eat, drink and be merry. There were lectures going on (I only made it to one) but I don't think that Merry & Pippin's dance class could be considered intellectual . Heather

Hey Jo, Although I was really excited about another show, I can't say I was totally gutted about the cancellation because last weekend I attended my first "Oxonmoot" (the annual knees-up of the Tolkien Society) and I had the BEST time . I was able to wear one of my costumes and everyone was so lovely and friendly. So my advice is to join up and you're guaranteed a LOTR event at least once a year. You might also be interesteed in the upcoming "Tolkien's Birmingham" residential weekend: http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateConte...0&MENU_ID=0 Heather

I haven't touched any of my dresses in months. However I've just been signed off work for 2 weeks so I'll be getting the sewing machine out again soon. Heather

Hi Jo, I actually meant your NEW dress. The lilac shot viscose with the great gathered cloak over the top. Anyway, mine was going to be very experimental, so there's plenty of time for me to mess it up. I'm really chuffed with the way the Pre-Rapaelite one is turning out. I wanted to come up with a very simple pattern that used less fabric and not much construction, leaving me to concentrate on decoration and be able to splash out on more expensive fabrics. What I've ended up with only needs 3-4 meters of fabric (depending on sleeve style). So the question that I've pondering for some time now is...exactly how many frocks is it sensible to have for the whole weekend. I reckon if you intend to stay in costume the whole time it's about 5 (or is that just going over the top). Any thoughts?? Heather

Hello to all my dressmaking faerie friends, I've been meaning to post an update for weeks now but never seem to get round to it. Having re-examined the carrier bag I find that it is indeed Fabric Land and they do have a shop in Southampton. Unfortunately, having looked again at the pictures of your dress, I realise that I've only gone and bought EXACTLY the same fabric. Oops My plan was to do something like Arwen's "flashback" dress from the Two Towers. Very full & floaty, possibly bias cut, with a draped neck. Anyway, my current project is Pre-Raphaelite inspired: http://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com/paint...inting1365.aspx The dress is mostly done, so I've got weeks of beading pearls all round the bottom to look forward to. Anyone else with any news, I'm dying to hear, Heather

Jo, I totally agree with Voronwe, that dress is heavenly and the cloak is wonderful (very original). In answer to you questions: The fabric I've used is a "spray dyed" crushed velvet in yellow and dark turquoise (that mix to make green). It's from Fabric World in Bristol and they have it in other colours as well. As a novice it will probably take me another day to finish this one off (I'm a bit scared of sleeves so I've been avoiding it recently). I have also found a couple of great velvets in a little shop in Bath recently. One is pale yellow and the other is a bluebell colour. I've not quite decided what to do with either of them yet. It's a good job there's months left, I'd make a right mess if I was in a hurry. Heather

Here's my first dress.... http://www.heathercoleman.co.uk/MISC/dress.jpg Some of you may remember that it's based on Susan's coronation gown in the Narnia film. The dress part is complete and this is the first time I've pinned on the sleeves and trimmings on so I'm really excited. I've never done any dressmaking on my own before and I'm now completely addicted. The only time I really get to relax is when I'm swimming and I just keep going back and forth in the pool designing elf dresses in my head. Can't wait. Heather

Hi all, I may be going crazy but my current plan is to copy a movie costume - but not from LOTR...... I was watching The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe and just fell in love with Susan's coronation gown: http://costumes.narniaweb.com/sucoronation.asp http://costumes.narniaweb.com/exhibits/bli...Susan_1_med.jpg I think it's in keeping with Elvish costumes (plus Tolkien and C S Lewis were chums) and I don't think I'll have to worry about anyone else wearing the same outfit. Just need to wait until payday, when I can buy the fabric and get going. Heather

Thanks for the info guys. I have a much better idea of what to expect now. Elwyn, I'm with you. No plans to enter the competitions, I just see the weekend as an excuse to swan around in velvet. It's unlikely I'll make it to TORN by opening time (I'm having a totally exhausting week , and having to get up super early on Saturday may just finish me off ). How about noon, in the cafe as you suggested? Heather

Elwyn, Which day are you going to the re-enactors market? I'd love to meet up - get some tips (and anyone else of course). I too can't upload a photo here but there's a (bad) picture of me at www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/parvum (I'm the short one, front row, second from right, green T-shirt) anyway I'll make sure I wear my Evenstar necklace. Having never been to a "proper" convention where people dress up, I'm unsure of the norm. Are most of the costumes close replicas of those in the films or do some people try to do their own designs just taking inspiration from the films? I prefer the latter as I'd like to wear the results out normally and don't want to look like toooooo much of a geek. Heather

Oh that definately counts!

Now that's what boyfriends are for. Not that I can remember really (been single for a long time now ) Soooooo anyone out there got any romantic stories about first seeing their partners over a crowded convention hall? Heather

Yippeeeee. Have just bought my Silver pass. Would have loved a Gold Pass but: a. can't afford it b. have no interest in photo ops as (obviously) the photos would have me in them (not good) Hope that I can buy a separate Banquet ticket later as I'd hate to miss that. Heather

Elwyn, Thanks for the tip about the re-enactors market. I've never heard about it before but am definately going to try and get up there next week. I'm currently working on the theory that a good velvet cloak will hide a multitude of sins, but don't know whether to buy one or try & make one. Heather