New Little Garden Scene Now Revealed!

For anyone following our Nostalgia In Miniature Workshops may be interested to know that at long last our Down The Little Garden Path Workshop garden has now been photograped and can be revealed...

 

In this next workshop Robin and I will show you how to make a little garden scene incorporating an old fashioned crazy paved path, old weathered cold frame, compost heap and even some slug eaten hostas.

The gorgeous pansies were supplied by Georgina Steed of

 The Miniature Garden Centre

Our little garden scenes are designed to either stand alone, butt up against an existing dolls house or  join onto each other to make an entire garden.

Over The Little Garden Fence Workshop Project/Down The Little Garden Path Project

We use many natural materials as well as some synthetic materials and the cold frame has been based on real plans from a 1930s handbook. Techniques used for this scene are different from those used in our first project and can be adapted to suit various other projects too.

Booking is now open and there are still  some places available.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE DETAILS

A Bit On The Large Side - 1/10th Scale Plus!

Every so often, I acquire some vintage dolls house pieces that are larger than the "normal" average 1/12th scale. Today I have listed for sale on KT Miniatures website,  several items that may be of interest to those of you who collect 1/10th scale and even larger.

 

There is this tin cooker, that not only has an opening door but the cooker lid opens right up to form the splashback....how wonderful is that?! With this particular cooker, age and maker is unknown but judging on the style, I would say that it is most probably post war - 1950s?  The cooker measures from floor to top of cooker hob just under 4".  But when the cooker splasback is fully opened, the whole measurement from floor to top is 6 1/2" high. So you can see, this is a little larger than your normal 1/12th cooker.

 

Now this tin cooker is a different story. It is meant to be a gas cooker, has MADE IN ENGLAND embossed on the splashback and judging by the style, I think there is no doubt that this is pre war. I have dated it between 1920s and 1930s. Sadly the plate rack is missing off the top, even so though....this is a lovely example of a vintage larger scale cooker. This cooker measures just over 4 1/12" to the hob top and 7 1/4" to the very top of the splashback. So a bit bigger again than the other cooker shown on here.  

 

Amongst some of the other items listed are a very old heavy metal saucepan and pretty blue bucket. Perfect for the larger scale vintage dolls house kitchen! In fact both of these items came with some  early 1900s dolls house furniture so I am assuming that these are of the same era.

Another of the more interesting pieces is this extremely old cane chair, upholstered in green material and could be useful for various rooms in the dolls house.

There is also this very old glassware set.......probably from as far back as 1915. I am not sure whether one would call these a set of drinking glasses and a bowl or if indeed they should be classified as four dishes and a bowl? (We do have some real life sized glass bowls very similar in style, that belonged to my husband's grandmother). This miniature set would look lovely adorning an old sideboard or old shelves.

To view more info on these above plus other large scale items, please go to the

Antique 1/10th & Larger Scale Page

Venue For Our All Day Workshop Revealed.....WATERPERRY GARDENS!

We are delighted to announce that the very special venue for our all day workshop next March is the wonderful Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire and booking is now officially open!

THE LITTLE OLD GARDEN SHED WORKSHOP

This all day workshop will take place in the classroom block at Waterperry  on Sunday March 25th 2012 and will start at 10.30am and finish at 4.30pm. We will be making a unique quirky model of an old fashioned shed and contents. This will not be your old common or garden shed......oh no siree......think old, rusty, well-weathered with oodles of character! 

Waterperry Gardens is tucked away in Oxfordshire, a tranquil haven for garden lovers everywhere and easily accessible from the M40.  It was once the home of a Horticultural College For Ladies, founded in the 1930s by Beatrix Havergal and is steeped in history. 

BOOKING NOW OPEN- See our "Nostalgia In Miniature Workshops" website for full details.

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

1940s Hallway Revisited!

For those of you who have followed KT Miniatures for a few years will recognise this 1940s Hallway Room Box below. It was made by KT Miniatures in 2009 and then auctioned off at the 2009 Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair to raise money for Breast Cancer Campaign.

Full instructions on how to make this scene appeared over several issues of Dolls House & Miniatures Scene magazine that year plus several UK artisans  also donated some pieces.

Well now....out of the blue the other day, the lovely lady who had the highest bid at that sealed bid auction and who is the owner of this little Hallway Room Box has been in touch.

Paula Ward from Daventry wrote a letter telling me how she is still thoroughly enjoying her purchase and sent a photo to show me how it has developed (see below).

George and Lil certainly seem well at home! I love the idea of putting a settee in the scene and making it in into a sitting room - ingenious! Paula is a talented lady and has added some of her own creations to the scene such as the tapestries on the wall and the knitting bag. In fact Paula forwarded photos of her work too and below is an image of her miniature knitting.

Now I am always in awe of anyone who can partake in miniature knitting (not something that I am good at) and Paula's work looks exquisite.

It has been a pleasure to see this little box again and hope you enjoyed it too.

THANK YOU PAULA!

Grecon Dolls - Arn't These Wonderful?

Some Grecon dolls just don't do it for me and can be quite ordinary.....others are simply amazing. These little gems came in the other day and unsurprisingly some have already been snapped up within minutes of going up for sale. In fact, as I sit and type, grandma, the little girl and dog should be embarking on their mammoth journey "over the pond" to the US and their new home.

 

Grandma is wonderful and all three of these dolls and dog came in together, believed to have been made post war 1940s or possibly early 1950s. I love grandma's spotty dress with lace trim and bead embellishments.  A really nice touch is her woollen scarf and her little bead neck decoration. None of these dolls have Grecon labels, whether they had any in the first place or  whether they all dropped off, there is no way of knowing.

The little girl is sweet.  She has a material dress and matching bloomers.

There is something so charming about this old dog. I have no idea what make he is, could even be Grecon but not sure? He appears to be made out of either pipe cleaners or woollen covered wire. I love him!

This delightful Grecon lady in a purple felt suit with felt frilly decoration and bead embellishments is in a super played with condition. Her hair style is very 1940s don't you think and you can just see a hint of a spotty blouse around the neckline?

Lovely!

She is still currently available at the time of writing this.  

FOR FULL DETAILS GO TO http://www.ktminiatures.com/Old_Dolls.html