Well now that my annual post fair stocktake is over, listing of unsold Thame Fair stock can now begin. Yesterday a few of those newly created handmade items went up for sale on KT Miniatures website, and although there were not quite so many as usual, it had felt so brilliant to be creating again, as it's been a while since I was at my workbench! But before I start, I will show you a close up photo of one of the tiny handmade vignettes that was sold the other day. It did create quite some interest at the Thame Fair.
And here it is... Nurse Dolly And Her Friends. Many of the items fixed into this tiny scene were vintage and damaged in some way, so it was challenging but great fun to create. I used a tiny drawer from an old smoking cabinet that I'd had knocking
around my workroom for many years, so wanted to do something unique with
it. The vintage Japanese Googly eyed doll was completely naked so I created a simple nurse uniform based on the one my aunt had made me back in the early 1960s - except I used old felt instead of cotton material.What do you do with an old celluloid doll with a split head....well wrap a miniature bandage around it of course! :) And what do you do with a late Victorian, early 1900s toy lead drummer soldier missing one arm....well you could stand him in the corner and let Nurse Dolly look after him! This little scene was snapped up by an enthusiastic buyer early on at Thame Fair, but I do have some other tiny framed 3D vignettes for sale.
With the birth of my very first grandchild just a few weeks away now (exciting times ahead - yay), I have been pondering on nursery vignettes and pictures for several weeks. Anyway, one thing led to another and I hit on the idea of making nursery 3D pictures for grown ups....tapping into our own childhood nostalgia. The following two pictures are most definitely not suitable for children and should be kept well out of their reach, as not only is the glass hazardous to them but there are tiny items that could come adrift and therefore become hugely hazardous in young hands.
Playtime In The Nursery
This is a gold painted shallow box frame, backed with an image from the page of a vintage children's book, edged with antique lace and the foreground filled with some of my own handmade items.
Some of those KT Miniatures handmade items include a fixed arrangement of antique toy bricks, a 1930s colouring book, dog on wheels and some of my old books. The toy sailor has been artisan made but I have had it for so long tucked away in a box, that I have now forgotten who made it (apologies to the artisan)!
Let's Play School
I have long adored this vintage image of a little girl at her easel, "teaching" her toys. This takes me right back to my childhood, when being the only girl with five older brothers, I spent hours playing on my own when they were off doing football, rugby, cricket, etc. and yep...one of my favourite games was playing "schools" with my toys. I had an old battered toy blackboard perched on a small wooden easel (it had been well used by the older brothers by the time I got it and was decidedly wonky) and I would perch my few toys on books, boxes and anything I could lay my hands on, as I basically turned into a very bossy teacher! Ah, those were such wonderful days....
Anyhow, in this scene are more of my handmade books, toy elephant on wheels, decorative box, plus a commercially made teddy and an artisan knitted dolly (again, I have had this doll for so long I cannot remember where I got her either, so yet another apology to the unknown artisan).
Both of these are now up for sale and can be found on the following page:
A Vintage German Style Kitchen Shelf
I created a smaller and slightly different version of this last year for Thame Fair. However, this time I have created a more chunky look that was based on my actual antique German dresser. There is something about the old printed tiles and images that decorate the old tiny furniture (and old dolls houses) that I adore, and makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I suppose again, it is that old childhood nostalgic feeling. This has been based on the upper half of my old dolls house dresser and have added real life size tacks to hang utensils, etc. from, just like on the actual dresser.
The reproduced tiles and frieze is very much in the Delft style. This would look fantastic hanging on the wall of an old dolls house kitchen. It can be found on the following page:
Replica Of 1910 German Dolls House Fireplace
This, you have seen before. Last year I decided to create a replica of an antique German dolls house fireplace that I have had for years. I had been hoping to find one exactly like it so that I could have another for my old dolls house, but over the years one just hasn't ever turned up. So in the end I'd decided to make one. In fact the couple of spares sold out almost immediately last year, so I decided to create a couple more.
Hence, here we are. The tiled cut out was a scanned reproduced image from the tiny German fireplace, so too the hearth. It has been a given dark finish with acrylics and am chuffed to bits with them.
This can be found on the following page:
Over the next few days I will begin listing some of the antique and vintage unsold stock from the fair, so if you are interested, do keep a watch of the LATEST UPDATE sliding box at the foot of KT Miniatures Home Page.
Celia
