Thanks for a Lovely Day!!

Once again The Thame Dolls House and Miniature Fair on Saturday was a super day - even the little flurry of  snow didn't deter anyone - so many thanks to everyone involved, especially to Felicity and Ron for all they did to make the day a success.

It was lovely to see so many old friends, both behind the stands and as visitors and customers and thanks to those who popped along to say 'hello' or purchased items from us.  This is our favourite fair and as it's literally just up the road we're so lucky in only having a five minute travel....many, many standholders and visitors come a significant distance.

As a standholder the opportunity to browse and buy is seriously limited (the big downside) but I did come home with 'Busy Bee' from the wonderful Shoebutton Bears stand. I love him!! I've also ordered the beautiful, diminutive Alice in Wonderland from Sandra - Tower House Dolls, and look forward to her arrival in due course.

It was sad to be saying goodbye to Tony Knot and Vic Pain (Simply silver) as they attended their last fairs.
I believe they've supported the fair and the Breast Cancer Campaign Charity from the beginning and we shall all miss them.

Part of Market Town Miniatures Club Exhibition

Every year the ladies (and friends) of Market Town Miniatures  - our Dolls House club here in Thame - do the most amazing job in not only putting on a superb exhibition of members' projects, but run the most fantastic sales table, the now famous Tombola, and man the Raffle, all for Breast Cancer Campaign funds...as well as helping just about everywhere to help make the fair such a success... thank you all!!

Anthony Church our Town Crier, once again did sterling work, pounding his beat in town to advertise the fair on a bitterly cold day, then announced the winners of the raffle etc.  It was great to see him in his green finery, because as you'll see if you look on the side bar it's how I portrayed him in miniature a year or two ago.
If you noticed something on the Blog during the fair previews and wonder if it was sold, or is still available, do email and I'll let you know.

Thank you for looking.
Robin

It's a Bit of a Muddle ...We're Getting There!

My workbench is in a muddle - nothing new there, as you'll know if you keep up with my ramblings.
However, I promise this is a productive muddle! Oh Yes!! And I have lists too!

Surveying the muddle are a few 1/12th characters - Fag Ash Lil' looks tipsy, but I think it's the camera angle and the hurry I was in.
Little Billy has some tadpoles in that jam jar.

 Moving along to take their place in the pricing and packing line-up are a selection of 1/24th beds and Mackintosh chairs together with our new 1/48th scale chairs in the same style. We also have some new beds, including a rather posh four poster and some new characters all in 1/48th scale!

I'm sure you've worked out by now that this is another 'getting ready for THE THAME DOLLS HOUSE AND MINIATURE FAIR' blog. If you are able to come, I know it will be a great day out and a wonderful show this coming Saturday 23rd - do come and say hello'. We're on stand 36 - Coombe Crafts. Right next to us is friend and Nostalgia in Miniature partner Celia Thomas on her KT Miniatures stand, and we'll both be delighted to tell you more about our workshops.If you click HERE you'll go to the fair website for all the details.

St. Issey - Talskiddy -  Little Pethrick

Our unique tiny 1/48th scale round cottages will also be on our stand - three, all subtley different - inspired by real life Cornish cottages. They all feature an open back and a mossy thatched roof that lifts off for easy access. Completely handmade, I love giving each its own little garden and climbing shrub clinging to the weathered 'stone' wall. A shabby door is invitingly ajar, and a curve of worn stone steps leads up to the first floor.

So now it's back to the muddle and turning it into a beautifully ordered and packed series of cases and boxes ready for the show! 
Thank you for looking
Robin

Circling the Magic

I remembered the wonderful word 'Widdershins' - archaic and magical and associated with witches - and thought it was a great 'title' for this trio of witches climbing and circling the magical spiral branches.  Then I looked it up and realised that is meant anticlockwise, against the sun......Whoops, they're all going the other way!

As you can see I've settled for the rather less exciting 'Circling the Magic'....I just knew someone would spot the bloomer.  The idea for the little group came to me many months ago when I found the super bleached root that had grown naturally in this brilliant circlar manner. Finally I got around to making the 1/48th scale witches and their tame raven and set it all on a grassy mound. Of course the witches each carry a  magic crystal or metal sphere as they climb to begin their ritual.......maybe it's a spell for an early Spring and lovely Summer?

Like 'Hollow-tree'  pictured on my previous Blog, this is also a 'one and only' (after all how many cicular bleached roots can I find?) and will be for sale on our Coombe Crafts stand at the exciting and prestigious, artisan only Thame Dolls House and Miniatures Fair, here in Thame on Saturday 23rd February.
Click on the link for all the Fair details including the full list of artisans, fabulous Raffle and Sales Table raising funds once more for Breast Cancer Campaign.

Celia Thomas is collecting up an amazing array of the generously donated Raffle prizes and features them on her  KTMiniatures Blog as they come in - a tiny exquisite Tower House doll by Sandra Morris and a beautiful watercolour by Dave Williams of Harvington Miniatures are just two of the latest.

Phew....just finished some new characters in 1/24th scale....1/12th next week....only two weeks till Fair day!

For the gardeners amongst us - a lovely patch of Hellebores surrounded by the marbled leaves of cyclamen and arum.

Thank you for looking.
Robin

Hollow-tree....and Signs of Spring

Apparently we're halfway through Winter, or to put it more optimistically...halfway to Spring. In a break from dressing some new characters I had a wander round my garden this morning in the sun - yes just for a bit, real sun.

I had hoped to find a few snowdrops to pick, but it seemed a shame, so I left them to open and took the camera instead to capture a few spring pictures.

The Viburnum Bonantense looks and smells wonderful and I've Hellebores in  many different shades about to open properly.

Sadly the slugs have also sensed fresh flowers about and they've ravaged patches of the delicate Iris Reticulata Katharine Hodgkin - my absolute favourite - I felt quite murderous....don't slugs EVER sleep?
I've also found some beautiful toadstools, which I find very fascinating.

The toadstool picture leads me neatly on to Hollow-tree, which is a quirky cross between a naturalistic piece in 1/12th scale and if you turn it around it's a 1/48th scale dwelling......I can't really call it a cottage can I?

Along with a couple of new 1/48th scale cottages, Hollow-tree was one of the new miniatures I completed while I was waiting for my wrist to be strong enough for sculpting in the weeks around Christmas. 
I've been dithering about keeping it as it is a 'one and only', but I've decided it will go on our Coombe Crafts stand at The Thame Dolls House and Miniature Fair later in the month. Creating something like this that reflects my love of nature and wild things has given me huge pleasure and I'd like to do more when there is time......never enough is there?

The old hollow tree is mossy and crumbling...a woodpecker is pecking away at the bark and a squirrel runs down from a branch to see what the rabbits are up to. The soft green bank and ferns shelter little violets and ivy is beginning to take over - all in 1/12th scale. Inside the hollow trunk I've created two tiny rooms and a look-out linked by a fixed ladder and a 'rope' ladder made from twigs.  While I think my 1/48th characters would feel very at home living there, I can also imagine it being home to a family of little animals or fairy folk.
If you click on the images you'll see more detail. 

Thank you for looking and for kind comments, and a warm welcome to new Followers over the last few weeks.
Robin