Colliii.com: Congratulations Cassie, how does it feel to be recognised for your hard work?

Cassie: It feels exciting and overwhelming at the same time! I cannot believe it, everything is happening so fast but its fun and i´m so pleased to be recognised for my hard work!

Colliii.com: What are you going to do with the winning baby?

Cassie: Kaelyn has been adopted in Denmark, she now lives with 4 others of my babies so she is in good company!

Colliii.com: You were awarded the "Best Rooting" Colliii Award, how long did you need to finish the babies hair for the competition?

Cassie: I love experimenting with different hair styles and Kaelyn had a widows peak. I had to plan the hair ahead of time to make sure it would sit nicely once baby had left home, I prefer to directionally root all hair as naturally real babies have this too. She took me about 45-50 hours of rooting in total. I can never be sure exact timings, but it does take me ages as I root with very fine hair, one hair at a time.

Colliii.com: What kind of Mohair do you use for your babies?

Cassie: I'm very particular about mohair, its definitely worth investing in quality mohair. The finer the better for me so i mostly go for kid. Slumberland sells beautiful mohair, Its a personal favourite of mine so far.

Colliii.com: How do you market yourself and your dolls, do you go to shows to present your dolls, if so which ones?

Cassie: I have a website and I try to promote that as much as I can. I always think its nice for people to be able to see my work in real life too, so I exhibit at Peterborough doll show and take my latest babies with me.

Colliii.com: How do you decide which dolls you Reborn?

Cassie: I'm very picky about sculpts, I personally prefer the very pretty or very newborn babies. Newborns are my favourite to do, i´m still searching for my favourite kit, but I enjoy the 20" babies. It takes me a long time to root, so to prevent me going cross eyed I tend to try and keep away from the bigger babies.

Colliii.com: Would you like to one day sculpt your own dolls for production or do you prefer to Reborn them?

Cassie: Oh yes that would be brilliant. I have recently sculpted my first mini head and that was really enjoyable, I made him into a bundle baby. I have also just finished some little preemie hands, I have no idea why I started with the hands but i´m really pleased with them for my first attempt.

Colliii.com: Have any other artists been an influence on your work?

Cassie: I wouldn't say any particular artist has influenced me, they all influence me to be different and try harder with each baby. There are so many brilliant artists who dare to be different and I really like that sort of attitude towards reborning.

Colliii.com: What advice could you give for newer artists to help them with their rooting?

Cassie: My advice would be to take your time, it really pays to be careful, vigilant and slow with your rooting at first. Always choose quality over quantity, it doesn´t matter if it takes weeks to root, you will see the difference in the results. When I first started reborning, I wont lie, it took me half a day to root my first doll, you can imagine what it looked like!

Colliii.com: What things have you got planned for the future, any big plans?!

Cassie: At the moment I have no huge plans, I hope to carry on with my reborning and improving with every single baby i make, striving for the ultimate realism in both my rooting and painting. And also to carry on testing the waters of sculpting as i´m really enjoying it at the moment. Perhaps one day I will be able to offer my own creations sculpted, painted and rooted by me? That would be a dream!

Colliii.com: Thanks for your time Cassie. We wish you all the best for the future and look forward to seeing in you in next years Colliii Awards!

To see more of Cassie Peeks dolls visit her website through this link