At the top of my Miniatura list this year was the purchase of a witch from Julie Campbell of Bellabelle Dolls http://bellabelledolls.co.uk/myth_and_magic.htm. I particularly wanted the friendly, rosy cheeked variety and not the wicked, ugly type for my current project. It was lovely to meet her and chat about the commission she has agreed to undertake. I look forward to bringing my new witch to her house later this year.
These fantastic flower kits are made by Bonnie Lavish and available in England from Kathryn at Templewood Miniatures http://www.fineflowersinminiature.co.uk/. They are very easy to put together and look beautiful. I was very reluctant to buy flower kits having had a number of disappointing attempts but even I can follow these instructions and handle the tiny pieces without turning the air blue!
These great pieces were from Little Homes of England, but I can't find a web site for them. This company hand build the most gorgeous Tudor style homes and cottages which are pure inspiration. They also have smaller pieces like this great pump with running water and the very detailed chimney pot. I have learned that it is all these individual pieces that really make a project come alive and that no project is ever finished!!
Here is the collection of tiny animals I managed to find. As you can see rats and mice were also on my list! I couldn't resist the frogs and hedgehogs from Pride of Plaice http://www.prideofplaice.com/. I usually only have cats in my houses but have recently come around to using other animals. While I was looking at the larger rats from Pear Tree Miniatures http://www.peartree-miniatures.co.uk/ a lady went past and said to her companion, ' Eurk! Animals, I could never have an animal in my house. Too creepy!' accompanied by a huge shiver of revulsion. I know what she means I feel this about some of the dolls and my witch from Bellabelle will be my first 'person'.
And lastly, some more fab potion jars, unfortunately I am not sure which stand I purchased these from, so if you recognise them please let me know. I was becoming slightly cross-eyed by the time I bought these! Luckily I now know which seller, thanks Ros, these really detailed jars come from. They were hand made by Helena of http://www.solwayminiatures.webs.com/ which I have just looked at, have a peek too there are some lovely pieces.
We left Miniatura earlier than I would have liked but hubbie was desperate to get home for the football and as he had been generous with his time and wallet I was inclined to let him have his way. Time now to save up for Kensington in May where a visit to Nikki Rowe's stand, of Witch & Wizard Miniatures, is exhibiting for the first time. It was this blog http://nikkinikkinikki72.blogspot.com/ that first introduced me to Blogland and her work is superb. Sometimes I can understand when my husband complains that life was much simpler when all I bought were shoes!
