Reminding Me Of 'The Borrowers'.......

Did you read The Borrowers by Mary Norton when you were younger -  the lovely adventures of a tiny 4inch tall family who lived in the walls and between the floors of an old house and 'borrowed' useful things from the 'human beans' who lived there?  I loved the stories and read them to my children.

Pod, Homily and Arrietty had to overcome all sorts of threats to survive - one being the family cat, who would have loved nothing better than to gobble them up!! I was reminded of the stories this morning when I sat down at my bench to get back to work on my 1/24th scale characters. It looked very much as I'd left it last night, although I couldn't find one of my favourite sculpting tools, actually just an old knitting needle.
Worse, was that a newly dressed gent had gone missing too.......right on cue, Sam our lovely black cat wandered up, dived under the bench to have another play with the knitting needle and harrass the unusual mouse in the red check shirt! No he's not very bright......fortunately the little gent is unharmed. Phew!

Talking of books - Larkrise to Candleford is another favourite - and this lovely Victorian print, shabby frame and all, reminds me of those villages, which actually aren't many miles from where I live. The picture hung on my Grandparents' wall, was relegated to their attic and retrieved decades later to hang on ours. For a few years it's been on another family wall and now, in need of a little TLC it has come home again....just need to find a spare bit of wall - not easy in our house...

Thank you for looking
Robin

We've Been Planting Flowers in the Snow!!

What could be better when the snow is thick on the ground than thinking about spring and summer, warm nostalgic days bathed in sunshine...and a spot of miniature gardening....

Wearing our Nostalgia in Miniature hats, Celia and I have been doing just that, clothing our miniature arbour in flowering, climbing plants and working on our shabby chic furniture that will set the scene for this gentle and atmospheric little vignette of earlier times.

We live in the same town and enjoy our private 'workshops' as we create and refine our projects and fantasize about future ones...however...snow has stopped play, so the arbour is at my house, and the furniture 'up the road'! It'll be a few days until we can reunite the two, add accessories and take some more photos.
 So - click quickly onto Celia's KTMiniature Blog for the furniture pictures and updates and onto our Nostalgia in Miniature website for all the details of how to book for the latest workshop.  It isn't until April 7th...and it is at the wonderful, prestigious Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire but over half the places are already filled.

It occurs to me as I sort out the pictures to use, just how versatile we try and make our projects and how exciting it is to see how each one evolves, bearing the very individual touches of its maker, when we get the the actual workshops.  All our projects are designed to be suitable and as much fun for the very new miniaturist as for the more experienced......not to mention the fact that we are a friendly bunch.

Light bulb moment......wouldn't this dainty arbour be a perfect setting for a bridal scene?

So - it's snowing again and I can imagine our non-U.K. friends chuckling at our preoccupation with it, and the (annual) inability of the Brits to cope.....still is looks beautiful (we don't have to drive anywhere for a few days) and seems to bring out the cheeriest side of folks.
Our family were brought up in a hilly village so the first hint of snow gets them very excited and sends them all out making snowmen and sledging (they let their children join in too).

One left us this message as he dropped in with his daughter to see if she could have our snow and roll it up the road in a LARGE ball (don't go there...) but her Uncle had already turned it into half a snow man........ and the lawn had reappeared....

In the meantime!!!!!!!!!! In readiness for Thame Fair - at last, and not as many as hoped yet - 1/48th characters....moving on, 1/24th are next.....

Thank you for looking
Robin

....Works in Progress

I must admit that I am rather fond of photos that make it look as if I'm working.....well I am, and it also saves a heck of a lot of time setting up and staging when time is short..... so, herewith, works in progress!


With the back end of last year being just a bit disastrous, we're ploughing away trying to catch up with stock (we have a fair towards to end of Feb.) and also fulfill orders for REALLY patient customers.

The carpentry half of Coombe Crafts has been driven in from the workshop (shed) by the extreme cold and has taken up residence in our conservatory - handy for the kettle and a good deal warmer!!
This lovely 1/48th scale four-poster bed is nearly ready for a polish.

Meanwhile I've been concentrating for the last week on tiny dolls in the same scale - they're needed for both the fair and the aforesaid patient customers.....

And...with my Nostalgia in Miniature hat on, I'm having fun with climbing plants and Arbours - or do I mean Pergolas -  while Celia is immersed in shabby chic pre-war garden furniture. Our pictures will be up on the blog as soon as we've put it all together. We still have some places on our next Workshop at the wonderful Waterperry Gardens on Sunday 7th April.  All the details are on our website.  

Thank you for looking - and welcome to new Followers, who I can see are really talented ladies. I'll catch up with Blogs 'anon'.
Robin

Back to Work.... first a tiny cottage.....

During the Christmas and New Year break - having filled up on chocolate and abandoned the T.V. as mostly not for me - I had fun catching up on my mini cottage building.  There never seems much time for this sadly so I classify them  as 'me time' projects.

You probably won't be too surprised to see that it's another little 1/48th scale round house inspired by the Trist houses in Veryan in Cornwall, which I love. It's probably the most 'authentic' of the ones I have made as it features a cross on the roof just like originals when they were built.  Rev. Trist the Vicar who organised their building was  making a statement to anyone tempted to stray from his church as well as having them contructed in the round form so the devil  had no corners to hide in!  Well...so the legend goes.

St. Issey - 1/48th scale cottage

The cottage has a lift-off thatched roof for ease of access and the two rooms measure approximately 5ins. high - the roof adds about 3 ins.  Please email me if you'd like further details. I'm afraid as this one does incorporate some natural dried plant material it is only for sale in U.K. and will be on our stand at The Thame Fair in February unless it is sold before.

St. Issey - Interior

It's chilly and wet outside in the garden so it's cheery to see my orchids opening in the conseratory. This one is very glamorous I think. Now it's back to the 'day job' and I'm working on dolls again.

Thank you for looking
Robin