In Praise of the Ironing Board.......

It's not often you'll find a blog just about an ironing board.........

If you read regularly you'll know I ramble on and fit in as much as possible, so this is a bit of a first!!

My other half emerged from the shed (sorry, workshop) where he was supposed to be making 1/24th wheelbarrows, with an ironing board in his hand. I already think his 1/24th ironing boards are great and to judge by the number we sell, so do other people - so when he opened his hand and showed me the 1/48th version I was speechless!

Here it is - I think it's lovely - it even folds down. At present we just have three...I shall be very nice and we may have more....



A warm welcome to my most recent Followers - I see I've just passed the magic number so I'll have a think about a Giveaway in a few days, when I've recovered and cleared up after the fair on Bank Holiday Monday, and can put thoughts together in coherent order!!


Thank you for looking
Robin

The Little People.......at last

It's been a while, but at last I've another group of 1/48th characters finished - not a moment too soon as I've been promising to have them on the stand at the Dollys Daydreams Fair in Thame on Bank Holiday Monday - 29th August! Phew!

These are always something of a challenge - the size being the obvious one. I also want them to be fully poseable and have characterful faces ....so by the time 20 odd dolls are done, boy are my eyes are tired! Anyway here are a few for you to see.




After the fair any remaining will go on general sale and as usual I'll first email those who have been waiting. If anyone else would like to be contacted, please email to let me know. I'm sorry but I still don't feel that I can commit to making characters in this tiny scale to commission, so for now at least it is a case of choosing from the ones available. At the moment we are managing to keep the other 1/48th items in stock and we again have sets of sofas and easy chairs!

And now for something a little bigger. My very tiny tea pots pop up on many of our items, and here they are on some 1/24th scale breakfast trays.....still working in a muddle I'm afraid!



.........and some Teeny Tiny shelves in the same scale. These are designed to be 'hung' on a wall and only measure approx. 3/4ins high and 1in. wide.



Today's challenge has been photographing these really tiny items - I wish they were better.

Welcome to new Followers, it's lovely to have you along and I'll enjoy catching up with your blogs soon.

Thank you for looking
Robin

......When a Plan comes Together.....

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together............

Back in May I was lucky enough to win a super Flower Kit by Georgina Steeds (The Miniature Garden Centre), from the raffle at our local Dolls House Club here in Thame. I've used lots of her kits in the past for myself and I love them...but this was a 1/12th Marrow kit...mmm...daunting! It meant making marrows and I haven't made those for years!!!! I kept thinking about combining it with one of my old gardeners in a vignette of some sort.....I kept thinking......



Come early July and Celia (KT Miniatures) my friend and partner in our Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops, had made a wonderfully aged 1930s cold frame with sliding lid, as a prototype for our 'Down the Little Garden Path Workshop'. I ordered one immediately and a plan was beginning to form.....
Then my lovely Savoy cabbages arrived from Mouse House Miniatures and my flower-pot making efforts proved 'passable'....the plan was nearly possible....



I spent a long time looking at the marrow plants (well courgettes actually, but it's close) in my own garden and took photos - how sad it that - before actually digging out the polymer clay to attempt the all-important marrows!!

Marrows and dolls heads are very different.....




Anyway - it's been fun - I've enjoyed putting it all together and I do hope the other artisans feel I've done justice to their talents and expertise. Of course my old gardener should have planted his marrow out from the cold frame onto a nice big composty heap when it was young......but he was busy and forgot.... so it remained in the frame and in its lush exuberance, grew and grew and pushed and tumbled out of the frame!! It looks as if he should start picking!!
I popped the lovely Savoy in an old garden seive, along with a few basic carrots and onions as the final touch.

The Marrow that started it all........

The Marrow in the Cold Frame piece is for sale, definitely one only - email me if you'd like details - or it will be on our stand at the Dollys Daydreams Dolls House and Miniatures Fair at Thame Leisure Centre, Thame, Oxon. on Bank Holiday Monday 29th August. If you're attending this busy fair, do come and say 'hello'.

Thank you for looking.
Robin

The Royal Navy and Wild Carrots.......

A lot of my dolls find their way over the Atlantic to U.S.A. and these are the latest to go over....by airmail not ship!

As a rule my little old sailors - you've probably guessed these are 1/24th scale again - are pretty ancient, bearded, scruffy and definitely retired. However the call went out for two smart, distinguished R.N.Captains and here they are....you may even see them at a fair near you!



In other news, Celia and I have just put up pictures of our latest old cottage garden in 1/24th scale, prepared for the next workshop on September 18th. 'Down the Little Garden Path' features a super 1930s-style aged cold frame, compost heap and hostas....with slugs. The slugs were a bit of a challenge is this scale!! If you'd like to see more pictures and up-to-date news just go to our workshops blog.



In garden news...because I KNOW I'm not the only blogger who loves flowers and gardening.....

Our Magnolia Grandiflora Exmouth is flowering as magnificently as its grand name and wafting a delicious lemony scent across the garden - and the bees love it!



A couple of years ago I bought some Giant Lily bulbs...and wondered if they would survive year on year and grow taller and taller until an eventual height of around 8-9ft as promised in the glossy catalogue. But WoW! This year they are fabulous again and have now reached around 6ft. Exciting!!





And finally a rather beautiful mistake - or at least I think so. I couldn't quite remember which plant I'd put in at the back of the border, but its ferny foliage got taller and taller so I decided to wait. That plant IS showing every sign of being 8ft tall.... And turns out to be a Wild Carrot! Whoops!
But the flowers are fantastic and curl inwards as they begin to set seed in an amazing and intricate arrangement. So although it's a bit of a gardening bloomer it's also a very happy accident......








Thank you all for looking
Robin