.....And Some Thank You's

Well - that's it until 2015!! I can't believe I'm talking a year ahead, but this is now the only fair we attend! The Thame Fair kicked off to a sunshiney start on Saturday (amazing) so it's another year before I can look forward to doing it all again. I admit to being a tad weary.......

I forgot to take my camera so sadly no pictures of the fair or our stand - so I thought I'd picture the miniature version of our old friend Anthony Church the Town Crier.  For the first time in 'forever' our lovely, lovely Town Crier was unable to attend and we so missed his cheery presence both at the fair itself where he always calls the magnificent raffle draw, and around local towns where he plays an active part in drumming up custom reminding everyone about The Thame Miniature and Dollshouse Fair and Breast Cancer Campaign fundraising.  Hope you're soon feeling better Anthony!

As always it was a lovely fair and we'd like to thank those of you who came along to say 'hello' as well as those buying from us of course.  So many folk remarked again on the friendly atmosphere and the very high standard of the artisans present - an oportunity to choose original work and meet the maker too.  I'm sure that Felicity and Ron, the organizers, will announce the amount raised for the charity when counting is complete  - all due to the hard working volunteers and the many people who donated so generously.

Perhaps the awful weather recently and the impression (wrongly) that the whole of Oxfordshire was under flood water was responsible for a somewhat reduced attendance this year.....must try  harder next year to make sure everyone knows in plenty of time to plan visiting if the weather throws another wobbly!!!

Some items shown on recent blogs are still available, so do email if you would like details of something specific. I'm hoping to create a 'Shopping List' as part of the blog shortly - I'll let you know when it's ready.

Thank you for looking
Robin

Looking Forward to the Fair...nearly ready!

I hope that even though you might not be visiting Thame Dolls House and Miniature Fair this Saturday, you've enjoyed seeing some of the  items that we shall be taking with us......and here are the last ones I've photographed this week.
We're all very conscious that many of you are having a dreadful time with floods and other damage to homes and land at the moment and hope that things will improve for you before too long. In Thame we are very lucky that the flood plain is working well and the roads and of course the Leisure Centre, the venue for the fair, are clear.

If you are coming along, we are on  stand 35 at the end of the hall nearest the main double doors, do come and say 'hello'.
The full list of exhibitors and a floor plan are now up on the Thame Dolls House and Miniature Fair website together with details of the venue and travel suggestions.  It's going to be a super fair!!

O.K. - now for the last few pictures folks.
Mini-water features are such fun to make - just the right containers make the difference too.

1/12th scale, with the duck and the smaller 1/24th scale in the half barrel

I have to fit in some gardening accessories....and birds.

1/12th and 1/24th scale robins (how can I leave them out!) and the blue tit

Just a few examples of our very varied stock of original hand-crafted 1/24th furniture.

Photgraphs don't do justice to detail of these tiny 1/24th pieces.  We work together on these - both the furniture and tiny teapots are all individually crafted so we only make a few.

Victorian style 'glass' domes are all quite different, either containing tiny feathered birds, butterflies or shells.

Finally our scruffy parrots!

1/12th scale feathered scruffy parrots

We've made big reductions on remaining stocks of 1/12th furniture (although we still make on commission), so there are bargains.  If you've spotted something that appealed to you in the recent blogs I'm happy to let you know whether it, or something similar, is still available, if you email me after the fair.

Thank you for looking
Robin

More Small Characters - not forgetting 1/12th scale!

I have rather been concentrating on the smaller scales on these last few blogs - so many of you are 'downsizing' these days - but 1/12th scale characters haven't been forgotten and I've just finished a friendly old gardener to take up his place with the others. There are also some brand new accessories.

First up are this 1/24th trio all dressed in navy blue!  The policeman is in traditional uniform complete with wooden  truncheon and handcuffs and is pictured with the district nurse and the workman, who must be a carpenter I think to judge by the saws and chunks of wood in his bag.

We do have children too - this is a picture I have used before but I'm in the process of filling a sack of presents for a similar Father Christmas to take with him to The Thame Dolls House and Miniatures Fair on 22nd February....nothing like getting ready early for Christmas!

I've also been enjoying creating some little nursery pieces in this smaller scale, using some of the toys I occasionally make.As I'm generally known for 'shabby' it's been fun go 'chic' for a change and paint pretty flowers on pastel coloured chairs with delicate antique lace, silk ribbons and dainty patchwork rugs to show off the the wooden dolls and cuddly teddies. I'm hoping the gollies will be finished by the end of the week!

...and here's my old 1/12th scale gardener - I think he looks like an 'Arthur'. He's wearing an old fairisle pullover and has tucked a skein of raffia into his pocket for tying up his beans - he's pretty proud of those carrots!

Talking of gardening, I'm delighted that Celia Thomas is going to squeeze our new Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops prototype of the 'Round the Back of the Old Gardener's Cottage' scene onto her KT Miniatures stand at the fair - our stands are next to each other - and we're happy to tell you about the workshops. We shall have Booking Forms with us and if you're tempted to join us at our next workshop in Oxfordshire on April 26th there are only a few places left. Full details are on the website.  If you are one of the ladies coming in April - come and take a look at what you'll be making!
 
We are also hoping to find space for the 'Seaside Scene' which we created last year for The Victorian Seaside feature in Dolls House and Miniature Scene Magazine - this is for sale with 50% donated to Breast Cancer Campaign.  All reasonable offers will be considered...it must go...we're both running out of storage space!!

Thank you for looking
Robin

The Little People!

Having concentrated on showing my little dwellings in the last two blogs, it's time to focus on the little people I've been creating in both 1/24th and 1/48th scales.  As well as some familiar ladies and gents I make regularly, there are some brand new characters that I hope you'll like and some that are putting in an appearance after a time away.

First of all a few of the new tiny 1/48th people, perhaps to live in one of the three houses or run the shop - and of course a little witch to cast a happy spell on the fair coming up soon...very soon!

Both a monk and a pedlar lady have appeared on the Coombe Crafts stand before, but not for a year or two, so it's been fun to make them again.  I filled her basket - which is a lovely one by Mouse House Miniatures, who are on the stand next to me at The Thame Fair - with lovely silk ribbons, old lace and pretty bottles and jars.

This little lady is off to do her shopping pushing her new shopping trolley - it's obviously going to rain as she's
wearing her 'mac' and tied a headscarf over her new perm.

The last two for this blog are the Scotsman and Morris dancer - I can't honestly tell you what clan the Scot belongs to but the Morris Dancer has the Uffington White Horse on the back of his jacket so he must belong to the Ickneild Way Morris!

In a day or two I'll put up some pictures of some of the others - but 1/12th need a top up! 

There are some of the finest miniaturists in the U.K. at the upcoming fair - THAME DOLLSHOUSE AND MINIATURE FAIR on Saturday 22nd February at Thame Leisure Centre, Oxford Road, Thame OX9 2BB  and you can find all the details by going to the website, www.thamedollshousefair.co.uk  As well as the fantastic standholders, there is a splendid Sales Table, now famous Tombola and Raffle organised by the Thame club - Market Town Miniatures. The proceeds from these raise funds for BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN.  Once again the club will have a splendid display of members' original miniature projects, which is always very popular.

If you're able to come along you'll have a lovely day in a friendly atmosphere  - do come and say 'hello'.  By the way, if you are hoping to come you might like to be reassured that as Thame is on a flood plain, which is working wonderfully well, the main roads are all fine, the 280 Oxford/Aylesbury bus service is running every 20 minutes or so and stops outside the Leisure Centre and Chiltern Railways train service to Haddenham and Thame Parkway (just two miles away and on the bus route) is unaffected by flooding too.

Thank you for looking .
Robin

Penny Farthing Stores and a Water Garden

Penny Farthing Stores - in 1/48th Scale  is the second little building I've managed to get finished so far this year....in my dreams there were (are) to be more....
The little old shop had a name before I even started building and it just remains for a new owner to decide just what it might sell.


A year or more ago I bought some tiny penny farthing bicycles - bound to be useful I thought - and the idea for the shop was born and been 'in planning' in my head ever since. The old stone-built one storey building has been around for a long time, but the owner gives it a fresh lick of whitewash inside and out every few years.

The generous window would be perfect for displaying anything from general stores to antiques- or would show off a lovely tea shop inside.  The mossy old thatched roof on this tiny building is permanently fixed down.

The door, which is half glazed is slightly ajar just waiting for the first customer, and of course the Penny Farthing hangs in place at the end of the building.  This is another little rural building so there's a grass path at the front and an old overgrown climbing shrub has begun to scramble across the roof at one end, while at the other a pretty tree is covered in palest pink blossom.
Of course we need a shopkeeper and someone to buy his goods.......two of the new tiny characters.
 Penny Farthing Stores stands on a base 5 1/2" x 3 1/14" and is approx 4" high. It will be on sale first on our stand at The Thame Fair on 22nd February.

If you follow or dip into this blog, you'll have noticed in recent weeks a bit of an emphasis on miniature gardens of one sort (and scale) or another - this one has a pond in it!

Ever since Celia Thomas and I developed a new way of creating both still and moving water for our Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops 1/12th scale project, The Victorian Seaside, for Dolls House and Miniature Scene Magazine, I've been wanting to do it again.

This is on a much smaller scale - 1/48th - and is a little pond filled by a stream rushing through a grassy, hummocky wild garden.  A small bush hangs over the pond which has a water lily floating on the surface and iris planted at its margin. The bright yellow flowers on the edge of the pond are as close as I could get to marsh marigolds in such a small scale, but I hope it works. 
After working on the cottage  (in the previous blog) and shop, I  have to admit it was pure indugence and I loved making this little scene.  As a free standing garden, which measures 2 1/4" x 1 3/4" and is approx 2 1/4 inches high to the tip of the bush, it would look lovely butted up against an existing 1/48th scale house or pretty on its own. It too will be first offered for sale at The Thame Dolls House and Miniature Fair.


Thank you for looking
Robin