Our Victorian Seaside ....The Movie!!!

Well..... O.K.....the video! With huge admiration and respect for my great chum and partner in this project - Celia Thomas of KT Miniatures - who created the video from our VAST collaborative collection of photographs taken during construction and afterwards....and thanks to Lucie Roper, the Editor of Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine who asked us to do it!

  So folks, I am assured by the technical people around me that this should all work if I have followed their instructions ........hopefully, below you'll see the super duper video (with cheery appropriate music, so put your speakers on) which will show you a little about the making of the seaside and the story behind it. We very much hope you'll enjoy it. By the way -  it is now also on the side bar for posterity...look RIGHT


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It does, we  think reflect, the ethos of our Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops - we aim for properly researched realism which is do-able, for both experienced and new miniature makers,  using as far as possible readily available and 'ordinary' materials. If we can add a little humour along the way sometimes - that's a bonus.
We hope that some of you will get the August issue of the magazine, create your own seaside, or perhaps use some of the elements in your own projects.

 Although we also work individually as KT Miniatures and Coombe Crafts, it's a very happy partnership.
 So - story behind the headlines, as the critics would say.........well, Celia was obsessed by groynes and bathing machines..... we discussed, debated and researched beaches until we were dreaming about sand and waves and flotsam and jetsom....and just don't mention lamp posts and sea to me......we both got excited about making the sea wall nice and green/slimey though.....

 I was putting the kettle on for another cuppa and Celia was still snapping away...

You'll find details of the landscaped base which is now for sale with a 50% donation to Breast Cancer Campaign, and the individual dolls and other components which are also for sale separately,  in my previous blog, on our Nostalgia in Miniatures Workshops website (information about our next workshop in Oxfordshire is on there too) and of course in Dolls House and Miniature Scene -  the August issue which is out next week.

Thank you for looking.
 Robin

Our Victorian Seaside in Dolls House and Miniature Scene Magazine!!

Today we can unveil a very special project commissioned by Dolls House and Miniature Scene Magazine to be published in the August Issue which will be on sale next week. We hope  readers will enjoy the project and perhaps be inspired to create an authentic and naturalistic beach scene themselves, as this is a very special and detailed 'how to '  project.

The Front Cover of August Issue Dolls House and Miniature Scene

This is another project for the magazine by Celia Thomas and me in our joint Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops style and although it was a long time in the planning and building we've thoroughly enjoyed it.

We so enjoyed the project - the research too - aiming to get the Victorian details just right, and also just the right selection of natural materials for the groynes, sea wall and promenade and of course the rocks and beach. We were determined that our rather splendid bathing machine should be pushed right to the water's edge and developed a simple but effective method for creating the sea.

The  Beach and the Victoria Promenade

Many of you will know that through the Workshops we fundraise in support of Breast Cancer Campaign and following publication we are able to offer the completed, detailed landscaped base with fixtures for sale, as shown, with 50%  being donated to the charity. Although we have created a Victorian scene, the basic beach and two-tiered scene can of  course be a lovely setting for a scene from then right up to the present day.

Individual components which were created especially for the scene are for sale separately and full details can be seen on our promotional page on our Nostalgia in Miniatures Workshops website, together with further details of the landscaped base.

The Bathing Machine

Mr Handy's Punch and Judy tent

Florrie, Nellie and Father

For further details of the Victorian Seaside Project  click on Dolls House and Miniature Scene and also our  Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops website.

Thank you for looking
Robin

Just a blog about my garden......

Sorry, no miniatures this week, although I've been sculpting - nothing to show yet.  So, because I love my garden and I know many other bloggers love gardens too...it's just about the garden and flowers.  Next blog there WILL be miniatures...

Well we haven't got the summer we were hoping for - at least so far - but the plants are at last beginning to catch up and the garden is looking super with lots of surprises as Mother Nature does her own thing.....

'Bowl of Beauty' is a fabulous paeony and having left it behind in previous gardens, at last it's blooming in this one for the first time. Magic!

I've had this large vintage galvanised washing/mixing bowl for some years - it has a hole in one side and I've been  dithering for a long time about what to do with it.  Another just like it, but hole-free, is my mini pond, so finally I bit the bullet and asked my other half to put more holes in the base so I could turn it into a this little alpine planter which is sitting on our ancient iron bench. I really love it now - it's stocked with  lovely alpine plants, some poached from my own garden and others purchased after a lovely splurge in a nearby garden centre. It looks a little new at the moment but will be lovely when it's grown a little.

 

All sorts of strange containers lend themselves to interesting garden planters and there are some really lovely ones around.  I've planted a smokey dark Heuchera in an old watering can and a huge ceramic lampshade (upturned) is now full of petunias.  I'll show those another time.

Thanks for looking - hope you enjoyed the flowery feast!
Robin 

Summer Holidays!

I'm still not sure we're getting a 'summer' in the U.K. again this year - but we've had a lovely few days in Norfolk, a county we've never visited before and had such a good time, even though the bones are still creaking a bit from all the walking and while the sun shone - the wind also blew! Finished off with a brief family visit - nice!

We visited the coastal area around Cromer and what a fascinating area it is, from the salt marches to the wild North Sea and big skies, taking in glorious landscapes and fascinating buildings. Promise ourselves we shall go back and explore some more........mind you the feet, knees and hips are still aching!!

We saw a number of wonderful windmills - more than I've ever seen before -  many working.

The tide crashing into the lifeboat slip at Mundesley

Loved the beach huts at Wells- Next -The Sea

We were fascinated by the beach cobbles used as main building materials in this area for walls, houses and even churches - readily available of course and also in 18th century circumvented the brick tax. I took this picture to show that the technique is still used, albeit in this case where an old wall is being updated with traditional building techniques still in use.

Then of course it's time to come home ...cats were pleased to see us.....

.....and the garden was blooming.

Best get the washing done and then get down to work!
Thank you for looking
Robin