1930s Hobbies Dolls House Video - Happy Christmas From KT Miniatures!

With 2011 almost at an end and Christmas nearly upon us, I am in the process of tying up loose ends before I shut down KT Miniatures for 12 whole lovely days! Just to remind you that I close this Tuesday 20th December and will officially open on January 2nd. However, I will try and dip into my emails occasionally during that time to keep an eye on things. Any outstanding orders after Tuesday will be despatched on January 3rd when the post office here in the UK re-opens.

Thank you for your custom and your friendship in 2011 and hope you have enjoyed reading this little KT Miniatures Journal.  I look forward to being back for my 16th year of trading on January 2nd.

Meanwhile, just for a bit of fun.....I have updated photos of my much treasured 1930s Hobbies House and made them into a video below....

 HAPPY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

to you all!!!!!

Sneak Preview Of The Old Curiosity Shop

I can now give a sneak preview of this "how to make" project that has literally just been completed  for the Dolls House & Miniatures Scene Magazine.  It is due to be in the issue that comes out about February/March time I understand and is something very different from my usual projects.

It is a scene from The Old Curiosity Shop - a novel by Charles Dickens and is set inside a model of an old book.

The project will show how to create the book from simply cardboard, card and paint.....and also how to create the antiquated scene inside.

A variety of  items were used in the shop scene including some of my handmade books and a replica of a Victorian family painting that was created to look like an old portrait on canvas.

For those of you who are collectors of antique and vintage dolls house items.....no, your eyes are not deceiving you. Yes, that is an antique Victorian chair with red velvet upholstery you can see...and a vintage unmarked Elgin chair!  Both were broken and totally unsalable so almost worthless in their present form - so no I have not completely lost my marbles as had they not been broken both would have been rather valuable! However they have been put to good use and are arranged in such a way that you cannot see the missing bits or damage.

Similarly, I have used other old broken mini treasures such as a Victorian table that is minus a foot and a vintage chest of drawers with decidedly wonky drawers (not a pretty sight). Again, they have been arranged in such a way that one cannot see any damage......cunning eh?

This was great fun to do.

Some Pre-War German Miniatures Plus Xmas Opening Hours For KT Miniatures

Just listed today are a couple of very interesting and rather unusual antique mini treasures....

A Tin Art Deco German Clock

This little clock I just love but simply do not have anywhere to put it so.....go it must. It is actually quite big measuring 2" wide at the base and 11/2" tall, so would suit an old dolls house where scale does not matter. But isn't it lovely?

A German Radiator

This is a pre war German radiator.....solid metal and extremely heavy; these radiators just do not come along very often, so is a bit pricey but if you are looking for something very different to either treat yourself or for someone who is an avid antique dolls house collector.....then this could be ideal?

Underneath it is clearly marked Germany and the pink paint is actually quite pretty.

Both of these items can be found on:

Antique 1/12th Living/Dining Room Page

CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS FOR KT MINIATURES

I am intending to stay open right up until the last week of Xmas and will close on Tuesday 20th December.  On January 2nd I will open for business again.  So, if you a UK based customer, please continue to place your orders and I will endeavour to process them asap right up until that date.

Due to a  deadline on a particular project now looming rapidly  I will probably be up to my eyes in glue, paint or whatever if you ring, so PLEASE do leave a message on my answerphone and I will get back to you as soon as I can. 

Many thanks.

Celia 

Am Now Back.....& Beginning To List Some More Vintage Goodies!

Having had a few fabulous days off....am now getting back into the swing of things and beginning to load up various lovely treasures to KT Miniatures website. To titilate your vintage dolls house tastebuds....I have highlighted one or two things that have been listed this evening.

These little Grecon beauties were snapped up within 10 minutes of their listing going live this evening.....sorry folks if you are disappointed but although I do not have anymore Grecons, I do have rather a lot of  other vintage goodies for sale.

There is this vintage metal art deco style Jacqueline living/dining room suite. Although it looks very 1920s-30s in style, it was actually made post war but nevertheless would be perfect for anyone with a vintage 1920s/30s 1/16th scale house.

I particulary love the fireplace and clock...arn't they just fabulous?!

This 1/16th scale dresser intrigues me greatly....it came with a batch of 1930s-1950s dolls house furniture. I cannot decide whether it was made pre-war or post-war. I do not recognise the maker but it appears to be very well made and has some nice touches such as the groove on each upper shelf so that crockery can be displayed easily without slipping. The door handles are tiny brown beads....not dissimilar to those I have seen on some 1930s furniture.

Both the dresser and the metal Jacqueline set can be found on the Vintage 1/16th Others Page:

http://www.ktminiatures.com/Others.html

Over the next couple of days I will be listing a variety of vintage treasures both in 1/12th and 1/16th scales on KT Miniatures...so do keep a watch and don't forget that you can email or ring to check for availability/reserve whilst payment is being sorted.



Can Anyone Identity These Mystery Dolls Continued.... Mystery Solved!!!

Huge "thank you" to Isobel for taking the time to email me and help solve the mystery over the identity of Glenda's old dolls....(see previous post)!

Little Bo-Peep

They are.....Baps Dolls, made by Frau Edith Von Arps-Aubert in Germany from the 1940s to the 1960s. Apparently Frau Edith began business by selling her handmade fairytale and nursery rhyme doll characters and animals door to door until demand increased. She also made dolls in national costume to sell as souvenirs. Glenda from the US has her mother's entire collection of these dolls, who had acquired them in post war Germany back in 1948 and for years, Glenda has not been able to find anything out about them.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, Peter Rabbit & Mother Rabbit

Snow White & Two Mice?

Isobel tells me that there is a big section on Baps Dolls in Dollhouse & Miniature Dolls 1840-1990 by Marci & Bob Tubbs With Dian Zillner - a Schiffer book.

The Big Bad Wolf & The Three Little Pigs

So....thank you again Isobel for solving the mystery....you  have made Glenda a very happy lady.

Can Anyone Identify These Old Dolls?

A lady called Glenda from the US has sent me photos of her treasured collection of very old dolls that belonged to her mother and would very much like to know if anyone can help her identify them.

Hansel & Gretel.....Plus The Wicked Witch

A very well known auction house stated that they were Grecon dolls but Glenda is not convinced. When I saw the photos, I have to say that in my opinion, they are not Grecons  for a number of reasons but quite what make they are.....I have not a clue. Glenda is hoping that someone reading this may be able to identify them. Glenda's mother bought them in Murneau,Germany in 1948. They are all fairy tale and nursery ryhme characters including animals....and are truly delightful.

 

Red Riding Hood & The Big Bad Wolf

Little Miss Muffet & Spider

Three Little Kittens

Goldilocks & The Three Bears

 I won't put them all up on here but have chosen just a few ....enough for you to be able to get a gist of their style and see their features. Arn't they lovely?

Snow White & The Seven Dwarves

As these were purchased in post war Germany, one assumes they are of German origin but are they? Glenda would dearly love to find out more about her collection as she has been trying for years to identify them. She says that when the Antique Road Show came to Atlanta, their experts could not shed any light on their origin either.

If you do have some info, please feel free to leave a comment on here or send me an email....I will then pass on any info to  Glenda.

MANY THANKS

Celia

Part One Of Our Project Now In Dolls House & Miniature Scene

You can see Part One of  our "On A Cold & Frosty Morning.....After The Night Before" project in the new January 211 Issue of Dolls House & Miniature Scene Magazine - out now.

This wintry festive scene is now up for auction.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

Breast Cancer Campaign Fundraising - A Personal Story

BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN - MY STORY
Over the years, I have often been asked why I am such an ardent supporter of the charity Breast Cancer Campaign. My story is far from being unique and will probably resonate with lots  of you out there, as like many others who support this charity, I have very personal reasons for doing so. 

My Mum

Back in 1959, my gorgeous and lovely mum, immediately after having just given birth to me, was found to have a very aggressive form of breast cancer (she was only 31 years old) and there was nothing that could be done.  Back in those days, treatment was limited, compared to nowadays I guess.  I was just 18 months old when she died so never got the chance to know her.  Shortly after my mum passed, my maternal grandmother developed breast cancer and eventually lost her battle to this disease too.

Then some while ago, I had a health scare myself. I felt my world had come to an end and convinced myself that the “breast cancer” curse had finally caught up with me. Luckily, my lump was benign and easily treated. But it was a very scary time as my daughter was still very young and felt that family history was repeating itself all over again. Whilst embarking on the road of genetic counselling, family research picked up other female members on my maternal side -my grandmother’s sisters and some of my mum’s cousins were discovered to have had breast cancer too, so there is a very probable genetic link. But I am not alone and there are many of us who have very similar personal stories to tell.   

However I felt that I had to direct my energies into doing something very positive.


WHY SUPPORT BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN?

Breast Cancer Campaign's mission is to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure

Breast Cancer Campaign funds research into finding a cure for breast cancer, so by supporting the charity I feel I am doing “my bit” and something positive towards helping scientists find a cure. It maybe that an absolute cure may not be found during my generation but I am full of optimism that it can be found during my childrens' generation.

I am sure that many of you reading this have been touched by breast cancer in some way too, either directly or indirectly. So please.... help support the charity...... maybe bid in our Sealed Bid Auction or come along to Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair on Saturday 18th February 2012 and help us all raise as much money as possible for Breast Cancer Campaign.


BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING - RAFFLE

I am pleased to say that the official  Breast Cancer Campaign Raffle page is now live on KT Miniatures website .
http://www.ktminiatures.com/Raffle.html
Donations are beginning to come in and you can view details of them on there. In the above photos, you can see a hand-painted set of plates from Victoria Fasken, a bronze pair of greyhounds by Tony Knott, an embroidered cushion by Nicola Mascall and a pair of prawn cocktails in real glass dishes by Mags Cassidy of Mags-Nificent Miniatures. A huge thank you to the artisans who have already donated.

 This raffle will be taking place at Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair in February. Tickets will be £1.00 each and can only be purchased on the day at Thame Fair.
I have great pleasure in co-ordinating this raffle again and if you are a professional miniaturist artisan - UK or overseas, and would like to make a donation of your work - then PLEASE do get in touch with me - Celia Thomas - at KT Miniatures. A photo of any donation or pledge that comes in before the Thame Fair, will be placed on the raffle page along with a link to each artisan's website (or contact details if no website is available).


BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING - SEALED BID AUCTION

"A Cold & Frosty Morning...After The Night Before"

 As you will have already seen on here (there is a video set to music to the right of this blog), our Sealed Bid Auction is now open. You can either bid online right now (will take just  2 minutes of your time - it is that easy), post a bid to me here at KT Miniatures or bid in person at Thame Fair. The closing date for the auction will be 3.00pm February 18th at Thame Fair. The winner will be announced by the Thame Town Crier shortly after 3.00pm that day....so plenty of time to think about it....but why not get your bid in early?

To find out more information about the auction plus full details about the little scene, please click on the following link:

www.miniatureworkshops.com/Sealed_Bid_Auction

BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING - SALES TABLE

On the day of Thame Fair, as always, there will be the fabulous Sales Table with miniature donations for you to purchase at bargain prices. This is an extremely popular attraction and always raises hundreds of pounds for the charity every year. It will be in the very capable hands as always of Jill and Melody.

We are in need of any good quality miniatures or unwanted miniature items or even childrens dolls house furniture (eg. Sylvanian, Early Learning Centre, Fisher Price etc.) for the Sales Table.  Any contribution would be gratefully received although please note that sadly we are not able to take on dolls houses due to lack of space.

You can send your miniature items to me Celia,  here at KT Miniatures (my email and phone number can be found on www.ktminiatures.com ) or bring them on the day of the event and simply hand them to the volunteers manning the Sales Table. Alternatively you can email or ring Ron & Felicity Holland the fair organisers (their details can be found on http://www.thamedollshousefair.co.uk/).


PLEASE HELP US SUPPORT BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN

My Little Attic Continued....

Back in September, I showed you the beginning of my special little attic room that I embarked on for our local club project and promised to show the development of it on here (click here to recap). Next February,  the Market Town Miniaturists (MTM for short or basically the Thame Dolls House Club) will be celebrating it's 10th anniversary and we will be having a very special display at The Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair. We worked on the attic project again at last Monday's meeting so my project has moved on slightly....only ever so slightly though as KT Miniatures work has to take precedent over everything else.

This was where we were at a few weeks ago....

Progress is slow but it is moving along gradually....

The ceiling has been coated with Polyfilla roughly (I want to  give the impression of a very old loft room - thoroughly aged).  I had originally thought about using antique wallpaper on the walls but abandoned that idea and used a pale green emulsion instead. Then with some burnt umber and white acrylics the walls and ceiling were aged. I absolutely love this technique and completely indulged myself!

 I loved the way that after sanding the Polyfilla,  the white dust fell into the cracks onto the floorboards and gloriously aged the floorboards further.

The little landing corner was painted in offwhite and aged with acrylics.  An old picture that I made years ago, that was broken and sitting in my "bit box", was repaired and stuck on the landing wall. Although you won't really see this when the door is fixed slightly ajar.....it will just give a hint of something else and add extra dimension to the scene. Instead of using commercially prepared door/ window architrave and skirting, I used plain wood and gave it the aged treatment with a top coat of white. I have purposely made the architrave around the door slightly wider than the more normal architrave....I have this  mental picture of a really old room that I saw a while back on my travels with this wider frame.... so filed it away in my mind to use in this project.  

This is where we are at now.....I still cannot decide whether to add a little something else behind the door or not but will have to decide soon as the door needs to be fixed into place...slightly ajar.

As this project progresses I will show more pics, however am about to start on another KT Miniatures commission, so this will have to be put away for the time being.

Handmade Miniatures & Old Treasures Just Listed For Sale

Now that the little Haddenham Fair is over, all of my unsold handmade miniatures have been listed for sale under the various pages on the Exclusive Items section.

HANDMADE EXCLUSIVE ITEMS

On the General Page, various 1930s framed prints,  WW1 trunks, sets of five books and vintage needlework ephemera arrangements are now available.  

Various printed items have been listed on the WW2 Page...in fact I have decided to discontinue selling individual WW2 ephemera singularly (it was definitely time for a change) and from now on, they will be available in sets or tiny fixed arrangements only, as seen above.

Various set pieces of vintage toys including some tiny replicas of Rose Cottage- the 1950s Chad Valley dolls house and old toy chests are now available.

ANTIQUE & VINTAGE TREASURES

Amongst some of the  antique and vintage treasures just listed today is this lovely old Pit-a-Pat fireplace. See http://www.ktminiatures.com/Pit-a-Pat.html

Also, just listed this afternoon is this exquisite antique soda syphon - so delicate and amazingly intact. A few weeks ago we had a Dol-Toi soda syphon that went up for sale - slightly different to this but equally lovely......however this one here is considerably older. It never ceases to amaze me how these tiny pipette tubes inside these soda syphons  remain in one piece.......either the little previous owners over the decades were incredibly careful or they were never allowed to play with them?

 A wonderful example of an unmarked Elgin table and chair c1920s also went up for sale this afternoon and both have already been snapped up. Am not surprised, they are lovely and simply do not come along very often. The full listing for these and the soda syphon can be found on the
Antique 1/12th Living Room/Dining Room Page.  

These two late Victorian/Edwardian bisque beauties are for sale on the Old Dolls Page.  Whoever takes either of these on could have great fun dressing them in authentic costume.

These are just some of the items that have been listed today. Please do go check out my website. I have quite a bit of vintage stock that was unsold from last Saturday's fair that still  needs to be listed onto the website. I will continue to list them over the next few days and highlight some of them on this journal.

www.ktminiatures.com