Ref. 73154-60Angela Kearns, 38, of Cranmore Avenue, Swindon turned a long term passion into a business idea when she started Ark Miniatures, a firm dedicated to making lifelike doll's house food and furniture.

She was surprised to hear that she had made it as a finalist after her stepdaughter Karen had nominated her secretly.

Angela said: "I'm quite excited really. Its really nice to have my work recognised."

A keen fan of doll's houses, Angela noticed a gap in the market for doll's house miniatures.

She said: "A lot of stuff available for doll's houses is either mass produced and unrealistic or expensive."

It was only when her friends and family began commenting on the high quality of her work that she decided to begin selling the miniatures over internet auction site ebay.

Her business is currently going so well she is developing a website of her own and looking into selling her goods in shops.