Thame Fair End Of Next Week And Ellie Ruddock's Beautiful Song!

KT Miniatures preparations are now well and truly in full swing for the end of next week's  Thame Dolls House &  Miniatures Fair  (Saturday 21st), which is now creeping up on us rapidly. I will be putting up a Thame Fair Stock Page on KT Miniatures website very shortly, including some pics. Hope you can come!

Meanwhile, something completely different.....

Ellie Ruddock- Love That Matches Mine

I would just like to tell you about a gorgeous talented young lady who comes from these parts (Oxfordshire) and who I've had the privilege to hear sing several times now at local gigs and music festivals, including the prestigious annual Towersey Festival. Not only is she a professional music therapist but also a singer/songwriter. For the first time, we can now hear and download Ellie's beautiful "Love That Matches Mine" from the internet and I promised Ellie that I would tell you about it when it all went live. So if you have a few moments, please do click on the following link, turn your speakers on and enjoy! If you really love what you hear, for just £1.00 you can even download it!!!

CLICK HERE

Big Dolly & All Her Friends Plus A Little Bit More Besides!

Just lately, amidst the weird and whacky chaos of real life here, I've been trying very hard to get stuck into some serious creating for the forthcoming Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair- being held on Saturday 21st February. As usual I'll put up a Thame Fair Stock Page on KT Miniatures website a few days before the event, which will include both my handmade items as well as antique/vintage dolls house items that will be available to purchase from me on the day.

 BIG DOLLY & ALL HER FRIENDS is something I've been wanting to make for such a long time now and with that in mind,  I've been collecting bits and bobs -  mostly vintage and antique, including a beautiful antique wooden smoking cabinet with bevelled glass...just for this very scene.

The stunning wallpaper used is antique and I currently do still have a little available to purchase on KT Miniatures - it' really is so pretty. The centre piece is the beautiful bisque doll, probably early 1900s and German, she has such an enchanting face!!! The other dolls are mostly antique and vintage, including the slightly odd Caco boy in a beret and the 1950s celluloid cook (who has mislaid his hat). The rocking horse is pre-WW2, minus its back rest but looks perfect in this setting.  I tried to create a magical illusion that the dolls are actually alive and having a jolly good time when us humans aren't looking...haha! A friend dropped by the other day and saw this sitting on my kitchen table.  After muttering all sorts of lovely comments she finally concluded that the dolls almost seemed to be alive....hmmm so job done then methinks...haha!
 
Behind this tiny door is a little bit more magic....

This little scene is called STORY TIME, another little scene that's been a long time in the making. The wooden 1930s clock encasement was stripped of all its internal mechanism, then filled with a Victorian chaise lounge and various vintage and antique dolls of all shapes and sizes.....plus a duck and other oddities.

I used a precious scrap of some early 1900s wallpaper to line the back wall - the patina of this old wallpaper is simply gorgeous. Tucked away in the corners of the encasement are more bits and bobs, including a blackboard, KT Miniatures vintage style books, antique lace etc. Big Dolly is reading a story from her rather well thumbed Golden Wonder Book, to all her attentive friends!

And finally...the third and tiniest of them all, is purely bonkers and made on a whim inside the redundant little drawer that was stripped out of the smoking cabinet! It is called....LET'S PLAY AT DRESSING UP! It is lined with the remaining scrap of early 1900s wallpaper, and the centre piece is another vintage 1950s doll that I have had simply ages. As I put this vintage crotcheted hat on her head, it slipped in such a way that immediately this scene took on a life all of its own and was great fun to do.

I hope all three of these little scenes have made you smile!

These creations will be available to purchase at  
Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair . 
What is not sold at the event, will then be put up for sale on  
KT Miniatures Little Handmade Emporium.
Celia

Two Books By Barbara K Davies....

If you are familiar with KT Miniatures "Old Dolls House Gallery", then you may well recognise the name of Barbara Kendall Davies....some of her lovely old dolls houses feature as Collection Three on there. Through the world of miniatures, I have known Barbara for many years now and we discovered long ago that not only do we share the same maiden name of "Kendall" but we also both originate from a long line of "Kendalls" from Birmingham, UK!

Barbara lives in Jersey and is a retired opera singer, but is now concentrating on writing. In November 2014, two of  her books became available to purchase on Amazon Kindle and for those of you who have a specific passion for the 1930s-40s era, I thought you may enjoy the first book particularly....

The Food Of Love: Letters And Diaries Of A Soldier

By Barbara K. Davies

The Food Of Love is based on letters and diaries belonging to Barbara's father from the Second World War, including a picture of life on the Home Front.  Barbara's father was a singer and the book details his experiences of entertaining troops as a member of Stars in Battledress (Norton Follies) and of the aftermath of war up to the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Life Is Everlasting

By Barbara K. Davies

The second book - Life is Everlasting,  has been thirty-two years in the making because of its unusual content. It requires the reader to suspend judgement on what we normally consider to be reality.
Many people have unusual inner experiences but refrain from relating them as they do not wish to appear crazy. However, it appears that all human beings are potentially multidimensional. This book invites you to come on a journey of discovery not only in this world but also in the next.

 If you CLICK HERE, you will see that the first two books to appear on the page are Barbara's. Simply click on each of the main book images to view the relevant information. If you explore further, you will find that you are able to take a peek inside and read a free extract.

In fact, I have already taken a peek at the free extracts of both books, and have found them quite enchanting and equally fascinating. For a while now I have been pondering on treating myself to a Kindle....so finally I have a REALLY good excuse to go and buy one! Am looking forward to reading both of Barbara's books in full.

Celia

At Last...A Spot Of Creating & Fantastic Workshop News!

With Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair less than 5 weeks away now, am relieved to say that at long last I've been able to get down to a touch of creating!

Followers of KT Miniatures' website will have seen that at the beginning of the year I did away with my old Exclusive Handmade Items Section...and replaced it with KT Miniatures Little Handmade Emporium. Interest has been rather lovely these past couple of weeks, I've been kept well and truly on my toes and already stock is a little slimmer. However, with the big Thame Fair event looming on the calendar, it does mean that as always this time of year,  ALL handmade stock will have to be held back for Thame Fair stock. I am planning on listing some more vintage dolls house items to the website in January but again, the bulk of vintage stock will also have to be held back for the fair. (This is why I rarely undertake fairs nowadays - I have to really go some to obtain/make enough stock for a fair stand, so Thame Dolls House Fair is really the only one I attend now).

Today I have been creating more of my vintage 1930s style packaging and shelving for the scullery. These have been designed to look old and authentic so can be used in both vintage and modern reproduction dolls houses.

And....here is the beginning of a few bits and bobs made for an old attic....

Any completed  items will be put aside for Thame Fair Stock.
If you click on the following link: Thame Dolls House Fair you will find all the information you need.....hope you can come! The date for your diary is Saturday 21st February and it will be taking place at Thame Leisure Centre, Oxfordshire.

Meanwhile, if you are interested in seeing what is currently available in KT Miniatures Little Handmade Emporium, please CLICK HERE.


And now, news of our June Workshops....

The Little Vintage Toy Shop Workshop

There was an unprecedented amount of names added to the June Workshop Reserve List, in the run up to Christmas.  This left us with a logistical problem as there were so many, but what a lovely problem to have!! In the end my workshop colleague Robin and I decided to run this workshop twice in June.....on Saturday 13th & 20th. Invitations went out to all the people on the Reserve List at the beginning of January and uptake of those priority places was huge, so that by the time booking went live officially yesterday morning, the first workshop had already been filled and there were only 2 remaining places for the second workshop. By mid-afternoon, all places were filled.

Therefore, we are considering running this same workshop for a third time on Saturday 19th September, but only if there is enough interest to warrant running this again.

If you would like to add your name to our 
SEPTEMBER WORKSHOP RESERVE LIST, 
please get in touch with either Robin or myself asap. All information with regards to the workshop and our contact details can be found on our 
Nostalgia In Miniature Workshops Website.

New Beginnings......KT Miniatures Little Handmade Emporium!

First up....Happy New Year to you all. 

I hope you've had a wonderful time over the festive period - we certainly have here.  But now all trace of Christmas has been cleared away for another year and it is with great pleasure to deem KT Miniatures open for business once more. Is hard to grasp that as we enter 2015, KT Miniatures is now in it's 19th year of trading!! It only seems like yesterday that I' d started creating tiny miniatures off my kitchen table to sell but here we are, all these years later...and am still loving every single minute!

However, 2014 in the end proved quite a memorable year in many ways with lots happening. My working practices have changed so much just lately due to simply not having enough hours in the day, that the Exclusive Handmade Items section had become quite static.  With so many pages within that part of the website to maintain....it made sense to move into a slightly different direction once more. So......I have bid a fond farewell to the many Exclusive Handmade Items pages and instead, offer you  a warm welcome to step inside my....

KT Miniatures Little Handmade Emporium! 

It has a Ground Floor & Upper Floor of handmade items that I have purposely created to look old, so can be used in both vintage and modern reproduction dolls houses, with a particular focus on the 1930s and 1940s eras.

So please...click on the following link and step right inside:

KT Miniatures Little Handmade Emporium

CeliaX
PS. I hope to begin listing more vintage items from Marion Osborne's Dol-Toi and Tri-ang Collections later this week. 
www.ktminiatures.com