Miniature Mania By Sue Passmore - New Book!

 A lovely and very unexpected surprise came through my letter box the other morning…a parcel. Inside was an A5 size paperback book titled "Miniature Mania" by Sue Passmore. As I turned to the first page I found that Sue had handwritten an inscription - To Celia with thanks, Sue Passmore. Being a little puzzled, as I was wondering what she was thanking me for, all was revealed as I turned to the next page...underneath the words Dedicated to...there was my name tucked in between Marion Osborne (Tri-ang guru) and Lin Hodder of JLB. To say that I felt privileged and humbled was an understatement! 

It must be almost 20 years since I first met Sue when she came to my stand at Miniatura (Birmingham NEC) and has been a customer of KT Miniatures and friend ever since.  I was completely unaware that she was writing this lovely book, she kept that quiet!

Sue's collection of dolls houses and miniature room settings, etc. is huge (over 140), which has apparently taken over her Welsh home. She says in her book that she even has 9 dolls houses in the bathroom and one can soap whilst looking into a Fisher-Price castle and treehouse...not many people can actually say that! :)

Her book features just over half of her collection, and the book is separated into the following sections: Themed Items, Collectibles, Very Small Scale and A Restoration Project. The book has 336 pages, literally crammed with  dozens of different projects and dolls houses. Plus there are colour photos on almost every other page. One of the vintage dolls houses Sue purchased off me which I had completely forgotten about is this lovely c1930s Eaton & Munby dolls house that folds away into a box..it is actually quite rare. It was like seeing an old friend again...I had fallen in love with it and was planning on keeping it, (however I kept falling in love with the majority of the dolls houses that came in - you know what it's like) and Mr KT finally felt the need to remind me that I simply can't keep them all as I was supposed to be running a business, plus we had no space to put any more...he was right of course!  So off it went to Sue, and I felt comforted that it was going to a good home. 

Sue's purchases have been carefully logged over the years and she has given details of them all in the book, including where they came from and even the cost in some circumstances. I suppose being a historian, attention to detail comes naturally to Sue. She has given talks up and down Ceredigion about her collection, and she says her miniatures have given a lot of pleasure to a lot of  people, and not just children. Sue's collection has even appeared on the Welsh Antiques TV Programme - Twrio.

She says that her "collectables" are often rescues so not perfect but that it is still interesting to have all their examples no matter what condition. Her book will be inspirational to those of you who like to make miniature room settings, and particularly inspiring to those of you who are on a tight budget and like to breathe new life into dolls houses that have seen better days. 

Her book is only available direct from the publisher who deal with every aspect of the order, including setting the price. Please click on the follow link which takes you through to the relevant page on Lulu Publishing's website:

https://www.lulu.com/en/gb/shop/sue-passmore/miniature-mania/paperback/product-zwkky6.html?page=1&pageSize=4

This could make an ideal Christmas present for a dolls house enthusiast perhaps?

Did You See Sue On "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE" ?

Yes....a few weeks ago on BBC 1,  Series 17: Episode 3, Sue was the historian that helped the actress Ruth Jones find out lots about her ancestors who lived in Sue's home town of New Quay. Ruth was filmed discussing her ancestors in Sue's living room surrounded by many dolls houses of course, it was hard to concentrate on the discussion as one could not help be distracted by all the lovely miniature treasures!