Miniatura, 2nd & 3rd April 2016

Miniatura is held twice a year at the National Exhibition Centre , Birmingham - April being their Spring Show.  Make a date in your diary for the Autumn one to be held 1st and 2nd October.  This is a show not to be missed if you can get to it.

There is a general feeling that shows are getting smaller but with over 130 traders to go at; many of whom have more than one table and all of them showing hundreds and sometimes thousands of objects you will find it a challenge to cover the show in a day.  It is plenty to go at and well worth a weekend.

Being a couple of hours away we always leave early enough to get to the opening on Saturday and I trawl the arena for the whole day while my other half occupies himself - usually at any local NT place (mostly for the lunch!).  We then stay over night so we can repeat the process the next day.

I confess 'old age' kicked in and I only managed something over three hours each day this time, so I only just about covered it.  More energy and I would certainly have done double that.  I honestly only managed to get round once in that time.

Very few shows are 'day returns' for any of us but I think that if I build a visit to a show into a short break/holiday of some sort it helps validate the cost of going.  There is certainly enough to do for a few days in and around Birmingham - as a Brummie born and bred this is not just bias on my part.  The city is worth a visit whether your interest is in its new parts or seeing the Victorian underbelly.  The Art Gallery is a gem.  Gas Street basin and the back-to-backs are worth a trip.  History buffs (or looking for inspiration for your project) can 'fill their boots' visiting Ironbridge.   There is a ton of stuff when you start looking and of course only a skip and a jump to Stratford or the Cotswolds.  I commend it to you heartily.

The show is a good mix of the basics for beginners or people who are really working on collecting for a dolls house 'proper'.  For anyone seeking something more unusual and even quirky that is there too.  Best of all, for me, beside the joy  of 'shopping' at a zillion dolls house shops, there is also the element of artists showing work which will always be beyond my budgets but it is glorious to be able to see it.  So at a show you get shops and mini art galleries and museums all rolled into one.

Beith Miniatures is the first to come to mind.  I spent an age drooling over the most wonderful square piano.  It is fully strung, keys move, has a sound board and the 'volume control' opens and closes.  The construction and finish is incredible.  Please take a minute to look at the link here at some of the very best work you will ever see.  I am also a huge fan of Mike Sparrow's silver.  Traders like Stokesay Ware and Ray Storey are there for the day you treat yourself and there are many, many others.

Here are photos of a fraction of the work of just three of the vendors.... a fraction of a fraction of the show:

Mini Mcgregor

Little Trimmings

Criss Cross Miniatures

The parking is free, although we were given a 'get out of the car park free' ticket at the show so I was confused by that.  You can get a shuttle bus from the car park to the show but if you park in the car park nearest the show building it is not too much of a step there - as long as its not raining!

There is a cafe in the show itself and some eateries within the atrium so you are OK for a snack or lunch.

This year the organisers added a 'sitting room'.  This was an area with tables, chairs, newspapers and even 3D puzzles to have a go at.  Probably not used much by the actual hobbyists as they just keep going and going not wishing to miss anything, but it was decidedly used by quite a few chaps who, like mine, may well have been the chauffeurs rather than the enthusiasts.  Mine didn't use it as it was within the showroom and so you would have to pay an entrance fee.  My other half would rather stick pins in his eyes than enter a mini domain.  Maybe this area could go on the other side of the checking-tickets-desk for all the weary souls who drop off and pick up mini nuts?  

On Sunday there were many other events in the halls so there might well be something to occupy anyone who has come with you who is not interested in the game.  Mine toddled off to the Gadget Show but, on discovering it cost £25 to get in he toddled back again.  Little does he know what money leaked through my fingers.

There are a couple of workshops.  On this occasion neither were useful to me.  I wish we had this as well organised as the shows in the USA do.  Some of those run workshops for as long as a week, wrapped around the show!!  At the larger shows there are these and a ton more on offer during the show days themselves.  Tom Bishop's Chicago show, for example, is offering 69 workshops so far for his November show.  Almost all are booked out well in advance of the show so I have only managed to get to one, but it was absolutely brilliant. I learned a load of things, came away with a finished project and lots of extras.

You might think all this is a bit much for one UK venue but when you hear that someone travelled from South Africa, mostly to attend this show and I know someone in the States who is beginning to organise a trip for a group to visit the Autumn one, there must be a market for it?

So - Miniatura is held at an easy to find venue, motorway, airport and railway connections to it.  There is plenty of good free parking.  In the hall itself there is somewhere to rest, somewhere to eat and a large well lit, carpeted, spacious and neatly arranged arena, what's not to like.

There are thirty photos over on my Dalton House blog (click on the name) showing what I bought - assuming you are a glutton for punishment.

I hope to be adding a postscript to this post soon as I am looking forward to getting a press pack from Miniatura.

York Dollshouse and Miniatures Fair, 22nd November 2015

As I have pretty much stopped writing for the magazine, when I go to shows I won't be taking a lot of photos, if any.  There's a couple of reasons for this.  Generally a lot of artisans don't want their work photographed as they don't want their creations copied or promoted in ways they don't control.  If I am covering a show for the magazine I always ask permission and explain who I am; even then there may be one or two vendors who refuse the 'free publicity'.  So as a 'member of the public' it would be hit and miss as to what I could share with you.

The second reason is a more selfish one: this process takes up a good half of my time at a show and 'gets in the way' of my shopping and actually seeing everything, so if I am not compelled to do it I would prefer not to.

It does raise issues for this blog though as I won't have anything visual to share with you other than a general shot and photographs of what I bought.  I am hoping that if I just share my experience of the day it may help towards your deciding whether this is a show you want to do or not.  I am always happy to get emails from my blog readers so if you do want to ask anything specific or want a more private opinion please just ask.

The York Show is held twice a year - Spring and Autumn and is courtesy of Dolls House and Miniature Scene Magazine and their publishers Warners.  That said the magazine hasn't had a presence there at either show this year.

York always has a good turn out of customers.  It may have been just a little thinner than usual this time as the weather had chosen to have its first cold of the year (ice on roads) the very same weekend.

Even with a lot of buyers it isn't nastily crowded like some shows can be.  You can usually get to see what you want and get served reasonably quickly.  There were about ninety vendors so there is certainly enough to go at.

Whether you enjoy a particular show or not will depend on so many things, not least of which is your previous experience of them.  The first show I went to was about half the size of this one and I thought I'd died and gone to doll house heaven having all those shops under one roof.  Five years and four projects into the game I am a little jaded and even with ninety vendors I spend my time wishing for more and different.  This will only apply if that's your usual temperament - this is a woman who keeps wishing 'they' had invented a new animal when she food shops!  There really is a huge amount of stuff to go at for normal people.

Most certainly vendors like Jennifers of Walsall and J & A Supplies are my go-to people for all my build stuff and more when starting a project.  Scanning the list of traders I really do think everything else you could want is covered too - there is food, curtains, furniture, glass, lighting and a zillion other specialists.  Dolls, figures, fabric is also well catered for.  I thought too that there seemed to be an increase in vendors adding 1/24ths and 1/48ths to their ranges if you look carefully and sometimes ask.

The show is easy to get to (road or rail) and is easy to find as it is held at York race course.  There are a ton of places to stay if you want to make a short break of it.  I really do recommend it if you can afford a little holiday with dollhousing built in.  We did an extended weekend for the Spring Show and did some touristy things.  York is bursting with things to see and do.  This is also handy if you travel with someone who doesn't want to do the show as they have a mass of things they can do instead.  

I have a favourite eatery (nearby) to adjourn to after the show if you can manage to leave around lunch time.  It is cafe style and can be packed and noisy but worth it for the best Scicilian food off the island.  My husband haunts it every trip for their outstanding ice cream - a 'breakfast' ice cream this weekend!  Trinacria

Back to the show.  It is spread out over three floors and there are always a couple of demos/classes held during the day on the mezzanine floor.  There is a main restaurant right alongside the show so very handy - the food is OK and not expensive so no need to leave the room if you decide you need lunch and a sit down.  There is an additional eating area on the top floor where you can grab a drink or cake or snack of some sort if you don't want to give up too much time to non-shopping needs.

Parking is fine, even better if your 'driver' drops you off as mine does.  Unless you really must be the first person over the threshold just sit in the car until the show opens.  There is always a very long queue and unless the weather is perfect that's not a fun way to start.  I buy the preview ticket which lets you in half an hour before pay on the day folks but don't leave the car until ten o'clock when the door opens.

One caveat, and it applies to several shows, phone reception is almost non-existent inside the building so you need to make some clear arrangements (that's not phone dependent) with anyone who is not at the show with you.

I stopped at many, many stalls but only purchased from five.  If you are pernicikty about what you want where it will always slow you down (my problem).  If you are freewheelin' and are just enjoying making a dolls house in the truest sense you will have a ball at any good size show and have trouble hanging on to your money.

Here's what I bought.  If you want to see them itemised you'll need to go to my purchases album:  Purchases

Mini Mcgregor

The Ironworks and Black Country Miniatures

The Craft Pack Company

Delph Miniatures

I also bought some lovely silks from Maria's fabrics for just £1.80 a piece and in a good size of 11 x 13 inches (28 x 33 cms)   Not pictured here is the cotton fabric I got for 90p and some lovely chenille trim for 40p.  What great prices and huge choice.

Maria's Fabrics

Email me if there is anything more you want to know.

Atlanta Miniature Society's 36th Annual Show and Sale, 18th-19th September 2015

After much faffing about how to get there - road trip two days each way? or flying? - we eventually flew out of Fort Myers on Friday arriving in Atlanta an hour and a half later.  Lovely 'bus ride' by air.

The show was held at the Wyndham Galleria hotel which proved to be a delight.  Good looking place following a ten million dollar renovation.  That's a lot of room letting to recoup that!  Nice staff and restaurant - an all round very pleasant stay and all for a silly low deal price of $74 a night - incredible value.

We arrived in plenty of time for the 'kick-off'.  The show began with a Preview evening on the Friday for two-day ticket holders.  At 6.15pm we were eating our complimentary desserts (brownie to die for) and then looking around the wonderful exhibit room.  There must have been something like fifty exhibits there each more inspiring than the one before.  This is truly a show as well as a sale and would be worth the entry price alone just to see these pieces.

There was so much to see and do during the two-day event that I need to make a list rather than write about each thing, otherwise you will be stuck in my blog for ages:

• Exhibits open throughout the show and preview times
• Friday 6.15pm complimentary desserts and welcome to the show
• Friday morning classes
• Friday 7- 9pm two Sales rooms are open for preview ticket holders ($12 for two days)
• Sat 19th 10 - 12am Demonstration
• Saturday 10 - 4.30 pm two Sales rooms open for general public ($6)
• I counted over forty traders and most of those had more than one table
• a silent auction was held for lots of lovely pieces
• there were door prizes given throughout Saturday
• there was a 'work the room' give-away
• a raffle for several very nice houses and other pieces: the proceeds to charity 
• a children's make and take table on Saturday

The vendors were all of a high standard with an eclectic mix on offer.  It wouldn't be possible to leave the show empty-handed.  I hope they all did well.

Sadly this was a show where two long-time and exceedingly important figures in the miniature world said their farewells.

Fred Cobbs has decided to retire from travelling to shows but will work on the occasional commission - and has three already in the pipeline.

I was personally even more sad to know that I wouldn't see David Krupick and his work at any more shows.  He is having difficulty with his hand and is retiring after thirty-six years of creating true masterpieces.  He is the most charming and erudite and gentle man and will be greatly missed by anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting him.

He reminded me that there is something like 3,600 or more of his pieces out there so there may still be a way to acquire a treasure in the future.

I saw a couple of old favourites, new favourites, a lot of new-to-me and in the flesh versions of people I had heard of so it was a really interesting show for me.

Picking a sample for each is difficult........

One old favourite would be Clara's Cuties.  I wrote a profile piece on her maybe two years ago (?).  She is an astonishing lady of some 83 years who is still making the tiniest most perfect flowers petal by petal. 

Clara's tray of pick your own individual blooms

A new favourite for me is Talley's Turnings where I bought these:

In the new-to-me category were 

Gingerhouse Antiquities' Paper (!) dolls

I am in love with these dolls and hope to write a profile on their creator - I am pretty sure the vendor said they were just $32.

Another new-to-me was Lynn McEntire's incredible work.  The absolute tiniest of dolls beautifully wigged and dressed - crochet, knitting, sewing etc etc

She showed me a piece she had made for a lady who was collecting it from the show:

inside a very small (1930's?) lady's gold cigarette case

As for 'in-the-flesh' I managed to meet Bradley Meinke whose name I knew from N.A.M.E. (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) and who I had seen working on their Facebook.  Now here was the fruition of one of his pieces  .......

such detail in the crazy quilt

This year was the club's 36th Show and Sale and it was just astounding.  I want to shout my thanks to the two show co-chairs, Linda Backelant and Margaret Jones and, of course, their zillion helpers for giving so many people so much joy.  Remember all these ladies and gentlemen are simply members of a club and volunteer their time, energy and many more things to make all this happen for those of us lucky enough to be able to get to their show.

As a testament to their success they had to turn away vendors this year but (the lovely) Margaret promises an additional room next year so it will not only be as fantastic but bigger!!

As a footnote...  if you are ever lucky enough to get to this show build in some time to go to the Botanical Gardens for another blow-you-away experience. 

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Please take a look at the wonderful things on offer in my photo album for the show:  Atlanta Show  

To see what I bought at the show:  Dalton House

To read an account of my trip to Atlanta and follow a link to the Botanical Garden photo album:  My Clavering

There will be a published review of the show in Dolls House & Miniature Scene magazine at some time.

Atlanta Miniature Society Annual Show and Sale

Hurrah it seems like I am off to another show!  We are flying out of Fort Myers to Atlanta and back next weekend for this show:

Annual Show and Sale

Click on it and take a look.

If I understand it correctly it is run by a miniature club - the Atlanta Miniature Society - who are also a chapter of NAME.  It appears to be being run as any commercial one is with classes before the event and a desserts and preview evening for those so ticketed.  I am just waiting to hear if I can buy the ticket on the day or need to do it in advance and if I can take photos for the magazine.

Watch this space.

Bought at the Orlando Show

If you want to see the few items I bought at the Orlando show click here:  Purchases

Orlando Miniatura 2015 - 4 - 6 September

When I was typing the date of the show I realised it isn't strictly accurate.  American shows are much more than just an opportunity to sell/buy things.  This show really began on the 2nd.  Rather than just prattle on about the heap of things to do, I thought I would bullet point what was on offer at this show:

• reduced hotel rates at the venue itself
• complimentary tickets to a Disney park
• you can pick any thing you want to do separately from anything else - all a la carte
• special exhibits
• 14 workshops from the 2nd to the 4th
• tour of the President's Hall of Fame
• themed luncheons with artisans sharing techniques
• banquet
• 3 hour preview Friday night with hors d'oeuvres and bar
• one hour preview before opening to the public on Saturday
• three huge raffles, pick what you would like to win
• buses from the resort to get around Orlando
• airport pick-up
• east or west coast beaches just over an hour away
• back to back sunshine
• charming vendors/artisans to buy from and chatter to

What's not to like!

As a 'grumpy' English person I don't take advantage of most of the things on offer but I do understand their appeal.  I also imagine that if you were travelling on your own to the show you would still have a great time from the minute your feet touched the floor as you are surrounded by like-minded people who are overjoyed at the prospect of talking minis with someone who's eyes don't glaze over at the mere mention of them.

We arrived on Thursday so I was 'rested' for the shopping and chattering on Friday.

Rested was vital as the convention centre was huge

thank heavens for directions

We were Mickey tagged on arrival.  You get a band (with your name on the back) which electronically opens gates, hotel room and allows you to pay for anything any where within Disney.  Clever marketing - painless spending.  

The preview, as always, was a delight and the four tables of food on offer stupendous.

one of the best crab cakes ever in the centre dish

The organisation and labelling of the whole show is superb; an absolute newbie to the game can find their way around and know what they are looking at.

There must have been a dozen (?) exhibits of people's lovely work such as these two

detail of a complete house and garden in 48th

front of a lovely house built from plans

From that table I wandered off into the show proper and found a couple of my favourites:

Michael Reynolds

Michael Reynolds always has a new piece of magic.

Tom Walden

I hope to be able to get to a show next year where I can do a Tom Walden class. His work is incredible.  I would like to do some 'finishing' with him.

Tom again

I wanted to show you this piece in particular.  I was blown away by the fact that this is not stained or painted wood - just lightly varnished ebony and holly.  I was especially in love with some other holly pieces.  His selection of wood not only for their intrinsic qualities, but then further selecting for the finest of grains so they are in scale, is stunning.  The time and patience needed for that alone wows me.

Two 'blow me away' vendors who were new to me though not to the mini world - were:

Elle Piccolo Dolls

This lady's creations are the best I have seen bar none.  She is a painter so, in addition to her unsurpassed modelling skills, beautifully sourced fabrics, immaculately made clothes, she is able to make their faces so life-like.  A huge amount of their credibility lies in their eyes.  They positively look back at you, full of life.  Check out this link:  Elle Piccolo

My other 'find' was Talley's Turnings.  This photograph, in no way, does the pieces justice.  There are quite a few people doing this sort of work now but you can see that he has an extra something even from this example.  The work is very thin (when it should be) and the colours glorious.  They cry out to be held and admired.

Talley's Turnings

I am particularly cross with myself that I came away without buying a couple of pieces.  I have tried to find a site for him but can only find an email.  I will email to ask what other shows he will be at and cross all my fingers it may be one I can get to.

I am sorry this has all been 1/12th related, I know how frustrating that is for other scales.  In my defence, because this was the birth of a show it was a small trader base and yes, there were quarter scale people there but they were onew we already know and love:

• Desert Minis
• Jill Castoral
• Robin Betterley
• Young at Heart
• The Quarter Source
• Stewart Dollhouse

The next morning I went back to the show (during the preview) and bought ten dollars worth of raffle tickets for each group of prizes.

Members of the Miniature World of Central Florida and Lakeland Miniatures Guild had donated some lovely work for raffling.  For my twenty dollars I had twelve tickets for each of the groups.  It is done in a brilliant way in that there is a box beside each item and you drop your ticket in the box belonging to the prize you would like.  Those twenty-four tickets took me a very long time to post.

I did choose this one (among many) for my grand-daughter.  Perfect gift from a few days in Disney.

I will never know which I won!  Yes, I did win one.  I had an email from Kim on Sunday saying I had won a prize and to go and collect it.  Unfortunately we had to leave the show early on Saturday so I never got to do that.

If you would like to see more of these prizes and other stuff from the show there is a photo album, just click here:  Orlando Show 2015

Kim also always give you a plan of the floor and list of vendors with their contact details.  I can not tell you how much work that saves me after a show.

If you didn't make this one, there are three more due up:

Philadelphia Miniaturia, Nov 6 - 8th 2015

Venice Fun in the Sun, Jan 16th -17th 2016

Orlando Miniatures Festival, Feb 13th -14th 2016

Orlando Miniatura 2015

This is just a link to the photos from the show as I know a couple of people are waiting to see them.

Orlando Show

We have only just about got to the condo and are in the throes of getting set up again for the season so I haven't had a chance to write it up yet.  I hope to do it tomorrow.