Scots in 1/16th Scale - just for a change!

For the last few days I've been shifting scale - depending on where you come from on this....down to 1/16th scale...or up to it! I also had to decide to give the Scotsman pants - and yes I know that's not authentic, but he looked better that way!

I also worried about whether his sporran should be under or over his jumper.......oh the decisions a dollmake has to make!!!!
Anyway this is a modern couple so I'm sure his lovely wife will sort it all out.

This next group are down in scale again to 1/24th and are heading for the West Country where I believe they will be joining their friends at the local market.

I find it interesting that so many of us, both collectors and makers, work and collect across the scales, commission new work and collect vintage and antique.  It's a very diverse and fascinating hobby.
As a scale comparison, the next picture might be of interest - 1/12th, 1/16th, 1/24th, 1/48th scales.

I had some lovely comments on the pictures of my flowers in the last blog (thank you all), and wasn't going to include any this time - BUT - I couldn't resist photographing the 'Blue For You' rose when the rain finally stopped today.

Thank you for looking.
Robin

...And Another Family Moves On....

One of the most exciting (terrifying) commissions for a doll maker is the one that starts with a photograph...or series of photographs..........

It is quite a leap of faith for a customer to entrust a commission which aims for a likeness of their family so that a miniature family home can be inhabited by (one hopes) 'the family'. To be very (VERY) clear I don't 'do' portraiture ... others do and I'm in awe of their  artistry....but I'm always happy to have a bash at a 'likeness' - which usually works and is seriously less scary!

So here is the latest 1/12th family who have just taken up residence in their new home  - it's to be a post war house and as you can see Dad is wearing his de-mob suit and the boys are all in their regulation, below-knee grey short trousers worn for decades in this country.

With friends, I had a lovely time as a visitor to KDF last Sunday. It was a really outstanding show so there is no way I can even begin to list favourites among the many artisans.  It was also great to catch up with old friends, see new-to-me artists from outside the U.K, and have a modest spend on some special miniature treats.

One old friend I did catch up with, not having seen her for ages, was Deb Jackson whose superb miniature work is absolutely unique! Dolls with heads the size of a pin head.....micro everything from chairs to microscopes. Attendance at fairs is rare so take a look at her website - www.debjacksondesigns.com and be enthralled!

A couple of blogs back I featured our WW1 scene commissioned by Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine as a 'how to' project - August Issue (out on June 26th). The scene is now on display in the Thame Museum,  Oxfordshire, as part of the fascinating WW1 exhibition, which is well worth a visit if you're in the area. 
The scene will be returned to Celia and me after the exhibition closes towards the end of August. Thereafter the diorama will be offered for sale with 50% donated to The Royal British Legion in support of their valuable work. Full details for any interested individuals or organisations are on our Nostalgia in Miniature website and we welcome enquiries.

The sun is out - the garden is blooming!!! You know me....have to squeeze in a few flowers......

Thank you for looking.
Robin

Here She Comes Again.....

While I've had a lovely little garden 'spend' in my local market to tell you about - I have been working too so it might not come as a great surprise to see yet another Fag Ash Lil' - she has to be the favourite character!

I really should find a few more names for this lady.....although they're all cheery characters wearing all their 'slap' and trinkets for the early morning cleaning shift at the bank.......each one is individually sculpted and of course dressed in a variety of wrap-round pinnies and fluffy slippers so they all have different personalities!

I think this little 1/12th lady could have a go at my work bench with her bucket and mop before she sets off for the bank, then moves on to her new home.

Two special buys in the market recently - the first, a very unusual double cowslip, which is just lovely, and has now been planted in my 'wild patch' where I'm trying to persuade my lovely cat not to sleep quite on top of it when she's sunbathing!

...and I bought an owl!!

As I rule I can walk past the stall selling garden 'ornaments' without much of a second glance - but the large snowy owl, all very rustic and fashionably rusty took my eye. Two circuits of the market and back....for thinking time.... and he came home with me.  Since I took the photo he's taken up residence on a chunky log and looks more at home.  The local birds took a day or so to be sure he wasn't going to chase them but now they happily ignore him.

Thanks for looking.
Robin

.......WE WILL REMEMBER THEM....THE PROJECT REVEALED

This year is the 100th Anniversary of World War 1 and it will be remembered and commemorated, with reflection and respect.

Already many strands of the media have focussed on these years and the miniature world has been paying its tributes as well. I have been mentioning a 'secret project' for some time now -and it's great to be able to reveal it at last.

My colleague in Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops is Celia Thomas, also a great mate, and we were delighted to be commissioned by DOLLS HOUSE AND MINIATURE SCENE MAGAZINE to create a very special large scene as a 'how to' project as part of their commemorations.
It was important to us that it should above all be respectful and poignant and acknowledge the emotion of the moment. We took enormous care and  thoroughly researched all aspects and, as we do in all our workshop projects, used readily available materials so that it would have appeal to miniaturists of all abilities.

In the many hours we spent working on the scene it became very much a labour of love.
As we often do, we created a story......an elderly gentleman, sometime in the early 1970s, returns to the scene of his youth - what was then a battlefield.

Beneath his feet are the long derelict remains of an Officers dugout and trenches..........
He remembers the young man he was - so many years ago......and those friends who did not return  home.

We leave him to his thoughts, in the field of poppies that have grown up to cover the scars of conflict.

To view the entire scene, the derelict dugout, the remains of the trench and the poppy field please take a look at our  video, which has been brilliantly created for us by Celia. Put your speakers on and view best in full screen.
 


The project will be in AUGUST 2014 Issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene, available on 26th June and at least one further issue - already there have been some great smaller projects on the theme in earlier issues, well worth catching up with.

We are both very proud and delighted that the actual scene will be on show at THE THAME MUSEUM, Oxfordshire from Saturday 3rd May until 20th August as part of their World War 1 Exhibition.


Thank you for looking
Robin

From the Back of the Cottage...to the HERB GARDEN!

Last Saturday saw a whole group of lovely ladies join us for our workshop at Bicester Avenue Garden Centre - and what a super day we had!  Thanks to all of you who came along....and for your splendid rendition of 'Happy Birthday'!
Next time we're going Down the Little Old Herb Garden Path ........
 
However, this time I'm going to leave it to Lucie Roper - Editor of Dolls House and Miniature Scene to tell everyone about the recent workshop as she came along and joined in the fun....and a very talented miniaturist she is too!

You can read all about it when she 'reports' in the August Issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene which is published on June 26th  - but for pictures of the day and of course the projects themselves, go to our Nostalgia in Miniature Blog - miniatureworkshops.blogspot.co.uk

And now we're planning and looking forward to our next workshop!

                                     BOOKING IS NOW OPEN!!! 

 For all the details of this unique and nostalgic scene, which as always, is offered in both 1/24th and 1/12th scales go to our website, where there is also a downloadable booking form and details of the very attractive discount on offer to groups of four or more.  This little herb garden will stand alone or butt up to an existing house or a previous workshop project, and with more of our carefully researched 'vintage' accessories will be very special indeed.

http://www.miniatureworkshops.com/Down_The_Little_Old_Herb_Garden_Path.html

If you're tempted, do get in touch to reserve a place, numbers are limited, and this very successful new venue has lots of other things to offer in the way of a little retail therapy!

Thank you for looking
Robin

Bluebell Woods, Tomato Plants and Gardeners!

If you Follow or dip in, you've probably got used to my somewhat random, rambling blogs..... this is another of those!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of these lovely tulips - they were broken off in the garden so we've had the silken beauties indoors, popped in a vintage Bovril jar.

Yesterday we took a nostalgic trip to bluebell woods at Badbury Hill just outside Faringdon in Oxfordshire.  The bluebells under the unfurling bright leaves of the beech trees were just magical!  I've been going since I was a child when it was permissable to pick the flowers - then we took our young sons who loved it too. It is now well-guarded by The National Trust and as the flowers are protected they have spread and spread and it's even more wonderful.

In the middle of the wood is a delightful cottage.  When I was a child it was small, dark and completely dwarfed by the surrounding trees - I imagined a witch lived there. I expect it was the gamekeeper or an estate worker - now it's been extended and is rather grander.  However, that's as good an excuse as any to picture a 1/24th gamekeeper who is looking for a home  - do contact me if you'd like to consider buying him.

On Saturday Celia Thomas and I will be happily knee deep in our Nostalgia in Miniature Workshop 'Round the Back of the Old Gardener's Cottage' - so I thought a gardener was definitely needed! Here he is - 1/12th scale - surrounded by tomato plants...............red, black, striped, pink! My photography spot in the conservatory has been taken over by tom-growing husband!

Hopefully some of the plants will be finding new homes shortly.

Thank you for looking
Robin

Happy Easter to Everyone!

The sun has been shining for the last few days, spring flowers are blooming in our gardens and countryside and I'd like to wish you all a very special and Happy Easter.

I've been assembling kits and things for our upcoming Nostalgia in Miniature Workshop after Easter - have also been losing things! The very last finishing touches have been made to the 1/24th protoype  - Celia lost the chicken wire - I lost terracotta pots......but it's done now and we're very much looking forward to a busy and happy day with the workshop ladies next Saturday.

1/24th Scale 'Round the Back of the Old Gardener's Cottage'

1/24th Scale Victorian water carrier and the old  console table

It isn't always easy to tell from photos, just how big or small things are, even when you know the scale. Both the water carrier and table are under 1 1/2" tall - and there's a packet of turnip seed in that drawer!

We've also been making plans for the Autumn Nostalgia in Miniature Workshop, which will again be at Bicester Avenue Garden Centre, on 27th September.  Full details will be on our website around the end of April, and as always we welcome both those new to miniature making and the more experienced for a really super day.  Do get in touch if you're interested.
Now it's a few days off for Easter and then back to the doll making in earnest.

Thank you for looking - HAPPY EASTER!
Robin

Spring and a Visit to Miniatura

Spring has finally sprung; the sun has been out, the garden is bursting with blossom and flowering bulbs and we have frogspawn in our tiny pond!
(Well it excites me!!)  Spring also means a fun day out at Miniatura.

In between punching out hundreds of paper flower shapes, measuring, cutting, counting, card, pots and bits of string.......for our Nostalgia in Miniature Workshop on April 26th, I nip out into the garden for an hour or so to hack back the undergrowth and take some pictures of the spring flowers.

Working on the 1/24th scale version....

Snake's Head Fritillary

Ipheon

Hellebores

 Last Sunday saw Celia, my great mate and partner in 'Nostalgia',  and I take a break from making up kits and hop on a train for N.E.C. and The Spring Miniatura Show.  Not to waste a minute, we spent the journey planning the Autumn workshop.....well, we have an outline and a title....! In due course, and hopefully around the end of the month, details will appear on the website.

It's lovely for us to be on the visitor side of a fair for a change and great to catch up with very talented friends who had been working hard all weekend.  My impression was that the fair was smaller, not as interesting as in the past with some important makers missing, and not very busy.

It is always very inspiring however, and terrific to see quality artisans.  To mention just two amongst many, ArtofMini.com had a beautiful stand with so much to love, and The Glorious Twelfth had the most exciting and quirky half timbered period houses I've seen in ages.
I treated myself to a beautiful pot of cinnerarias from Jan Southerton - The Flower Lady and another of Ellie de Lacy's faux books with beautiful marbled covers. Super day out!!

Thank you for looking
Robin

It Was All About The Research

I think I've said before that I really rather relish a spot of research, whether it's for costuming a character or getting the details just right for an accessory. This last week or so, I've been immersed in uinforms of World War 1.

It's always a privilege to be asked to make a character in uniform, and vital to get the details right, be they badges or buckles and belts. So here is  my version of a  1914-18 soldier. I've chosen to picture him with some family items from The Great War - a set of binoculars are in the case, alongside Princess Mary's 1914 Christmas Tobacco tin and a medal.

I spent 'forever' dyeing and redyeing the fabric to get as close as possible to the authentic colour and appropriate material for the belt and puttees....and of course different fabrics dye differently.....
All strands of the media are giving World War 1 important and respectful coverage which I'm finding very interesting and very poignant, including the miniature publications. Dolls House and Miniature Scene have some great projects and an inspiring competition that is well worth checking out.

More research for the main items in the next picture - a Victorian Water Carrier.  It was taken in a bit of a rush on top of a pile of CDs where I'd popped some poppies to dry - but as you can see it's in both 1/12th and 1/24th scales.

 
The water carrier is one of the accessories in our latest Nostalgia in Miniatures Workshop on April 26th and it's important to us both - Celia Thomas is my partner in the enterprise - that we create entirely original and accurate pieces. The research for this wasn't quite as hard as you might imagine, as many moons ago we owned one. So wish I still had it!!
The poppies needed no research at all!

Thank you for looking
Robin

The Couch Potato!

If you pop into my blog regularly you might have noted the distinct absence of new dolls lately - at last I can put that right and show you the latest character to saunter off the workbench.

My workshop partner Celia and I have been juggling like mad the last week or three - working together on another new and very exciting magazine project, trying at the same time to keep ahead on the work for our new workshop in April - Round the Back of the Old Gardener's  Cottage - and keeping abreast of our individual work too! Phew!

The magazine project has involved lots of research, which actually we both love, and we're inclined to wallow and enjoy that part of it for far too long.......still it's done and delivered so it's cake and coffee to celebrate! We're both looking forward to revealing what we've been up to in a few weeks.

So.....back to sculpting then and hoping to create just the right character to bring to life someone's idea of exactly the right miniature 'person' for their house or setting.

Which is where the 'Couch Potato' comes in......

I wouldn't mind betting that this cuddly chap in 1/12th scale would fit on many a comfy sofa with a can of beer, packet of crisps and a nice gooey pizza  - watching footie on the T.V.!

That shirt is stretching a little snugly around that tum and clearly the old jogging bottoms and scruffy trainers haven't actually seen any sport-type exercise lately. Never mind - he's happy - and in his dreams he could get the ball past Best and Beckham!!

I've really enjoyed creating this chap and got carried away a bit with the photos (bench is still a muddle)  and I miss him now he's gone to his new home as he was such fun to create. Another interesting chap is nearly finished on the workbench though - he's very different and I hope to show him next time.

Thank you for looking
Robin