Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2022 i Dolls House & Miniature Scene

Although Angela Kinnunen lives in Finland, close to the Arctic Circle, she is originally from South Wales and is very patriotic about her roots. So much so, that when expecting her two children, she went back to Wales to give birth to them to ensure they were born Welsh. Angela has lived in many different places around the globe. She moved to Mexico City in 2005 with her job as HRD site manager for Latin America and it was there that she met her husband. She was already a keen collector of dolls house miniatures in her spare time, following in her aunt’s footsteps, who had been into dolls houses since the mid-70s. Back in the 1990s Angela only collected, but never made miniatures. Her aunt built a Tudor house…

Back in the May issue, I shared an exclusive first look at our exciting new quarter scale kit; Turrim Castle, and from the response it has received ever since, this epic kit appears to have really captured our customers’ imagination. Initially, I thought the castle’s design would naturally lend itself to historical or Harry Potter inspired miniature dioramas, but since the castle’s launch back in March, we have heard of plans to turn it into a hotel, stately home and even the home of King Arthur! “Turrim Castle is an epic design, inspired by my most favourite full-scale place; Corfe Castle… so I knew from the very start of the design process, that its display base would have to be pretty epic too!” In April, we were delighted to follow…

Glues I use water-based glue whenever possible, for its easy clean up. Weldbond gives a bit of work time for repositioning as needed, yet it gives a strong hold when it is set. Waxed paper releases well from a glued piece and is also good for holding small pieces steady on a speck of glue, so they can be stained or painted. As I mentioned last month though, it’s essential to weight wooden or matt board pieces that are layered together with a water-based glue, to prevent warping. When I must, I use superglue – we have a love-hate relationship at best, but there are some situations where it’s a must, e.g. adhering metal. Water-based glues work best on permeable materials like wood, paper and leather. I also use double-sided…

YOU WILL NEED MATERIALS REQUIRED White, translucent, sunflower yellow, red, fuchsia pink, orange, brown, dark blue and spring green polymer clay Golden ochre, dark cadmium orange and brown pastels Sculpey Bake & Bond (or similar) Black acrylic paint 1/12th scale oval blue ceramic plate 1/12th scale fork Matte and gloss varnish Faux foliage or dried parsley 1/12th scale lemon cane (optional) Small piece of cellophane Patterned paper suitable for making 1/12th scale paper bags Craft glue Tools required Small paintbrushes Needle tool or sewing pin Small ball tool or bamboo skewer Old butter knife Craft knife Scissors Small square shape cutter HOW TO MAKE THE ICE CREAM 1 Mix white polymer clay with sunflower yellow to make pale cream, rolling out the mixture to around 1mm in thickness. 2 Cut…

Moi’s says… “Use a Sharpie permanent marker to colour the window frames quickly and neatly.” I love micro scale dolls houses because you can complete them in a day or less, including decorating! And if you like 1/12th scale, as I do, the 1/144th scale micro houses are the perfect proportions to be a 1/12th scale house in a 1/12th scale house! I’ve placed my little house by MyMiniatureRoomBox in my 1/12th scale dolls house workshop. This kit is simplicity itself to build, despite the daunting number of parts. It all fits together easily and quickly, and the level of detail is impressive – with decorative windows and etched roof slates and brickwork. The house is highly unusual in that it has windows at the sides and back, as well…

The Bald Eagle, with it’s exceptional wingspan of up to 2.3m, is brought down to size into 1/12th scale by the award-winning artisan and IGMA Fellow, Fanni Sandor. This wonderful bird has been the emblem of the United States of America since 1782 but it is also a symbol for the eye-watering skill of mother nature, herself a magnificent artist with a colour palette of bright feathers to rival any paintbox. Fanni’s eagles, created using a base of polymer clay, are notable not only for their high quality and magnificent ‘featherwork’, but for their settings. The Bald Eagle, which can achieve speeds of thirty miles an hour in flight, mates for life and two of Fanni’s birds can be found in their extremely well-built nest, complete with eggs. Meanwhile, her…

I have a thing about miniature shops with living accommodation above. Perhaps it harks back to my childhood, growing up in a flat above my mum’s clothes and haberdashery shop. A couple of months ago I showed readers my corner shop and this time I’d like to invite you inside my hardware and ironmongery store. The building is a cheap MDF one I picked up years ago at a dolls house fair in Scotland. Although anything but artisan, I could see its potential so I carted it off in my car and got straight to work. First, I spruced up the externals by painting the walls and shopfront woodwork; adding gold lettering to the facia, a metal Juliet balcony to the upstairs window and wooden bargeboards to the roofline; slating…

At the beginning of March 2020, Covid 19 lockdowns were being put in place here in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, so I decided I would need a project to keep me busy. I own quite a collection of 1/18th scale diecast cars from the 50’s era, so I decided to have a go at building a 1950’s American style diner to display them. Originally, I was just going to display them in cabinets in my ‘Man Cave’ which I share with my wife Joanne’s 1/12th scale miniatures. However, I had seen some 1/12th scale roombox diners at shows we had been to, and knew I would need something bigger to show some of my car collection. Thus, the plan to build one big enough to display a lot of cars, came…

After great success in Paris last year, Small is Beautiful arrived in London in April, and I was amongst the first to get to see what has been billed the most important European exhibition to compile the work of 34 local and international miniature artists (from countries including France, UK, USA, Belgium, Sweden, Bosnia, Germany, The Netherlands, Ukraine, Italy, Peru, Iran and India). Over 140 miniature artworks are on display. The organisers said: “After the undisputed success of the #MiniatureArt phenomenon on social networks, the exhibition offers exclusive access to the magical and sometimes unusual worlds of some of the greatest artists in the movement, offering behind-the-scenes access to small-scale universes full of artistry and poetry. Attention to detail is paramount at the exhibition, and fans of the mini phenomenon…

After the first episode of More4’s eight-part Great Big Tiny Design Challenge, hosted by Sandi Toksvig, I’ll admit that my money was not on Dom winning. He clearly had talent in spades, but hadn’t at that stage managed to get his head round 1/12th scale. Quickly blossoming, Dom – who rightly earned the moniker‘The Dominator’ – took dolls house scale in his stride. Suddenly my bet was that Dom could well win… and he did! But how did this young man from Yorkshire, who graduated in Industrial Design, get into miniatures? He said: “Every time I’m asked this, I always find myself reminiscing and travelling down Memory Lane. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house as my mum worked full-time as a midwife.…

Sam Blackwell from Huyton, Merseyside is a charity shop manager by day and a miniaturist by night! We share something in common: a Mountfield House by Dolls House Emporium. When I found his Instagram account (@mountfield_dolls_house) I just had to find out more. Sam’s house is very different to my own, and his creativity in stamping his own unique style on all his projects certainly comes through with his Mountfield. But first, how did Sam get into miniatures: “It all started with a newspaper advert for Dolls House Emporium that my father showed me when I was around seven years old. I remember my parents ordering me the catalogue. I’d spend hours and hours dreaming of one day owning my very own dolls house. Fast forward maybe 12 years, I…

PART 2 YOU WILL NEED MATERIALS REQUIRED 1/16in (1.6mm) thick sheetwood 1/16in (2mm) by ¼in (6mm) stripwood Round wooden cocktail stick HO stripwood Wooden knobs Matt board Foamcore Black 1/8in (3mm) beads Black, white and silver shiny card Silver metallic heavy scrapbook paper Silver eyelet Miniature faucet set ‘Rippled water’ sheet ( Clear plastic packaging sheet Clear plastic packaging bubble*, approximately 1-3/16in by 1-3/8in by ½in (30mm x 35mm x 13mm) Black, silver and white acrylic paint White polymer clay Wood stain Satin varnish White glue Superglue Glue stick Transparent and double-sided tape Museum wax (Source: *Common packaging at a discount, hardware, or sewing notions shop. TOOLS REQUIRED Knife and steel ruler Small saw and mitre box Coarse sandpaper Ball stylus Small hand drills Needle tool Needle file…

YOU WILL NEED MATERIALS REQUIRED Books to embellish Thin gold or copper metal sheet Self-adhesive gems and pearls Embossing powder TOOLS REQUIRED Embossing pen Heat gun 1 Cut a metal circle to an appropriate size for your book cover to make the corners. 2 Using a dotting tool or knitting needle, emboss a line of dots around the circumference of the circle. Moi says… I used ready-made books but this technique works just as well on the plain covers of home-made dummy books. These embellished books look super in all manner of settings: old libraries, churches, witches’ towers, Gothic settings, Harry Potter rooms… the list goes on! 3 From the centre of the circle, emboss lines in a starburst formation outwards towards the circumference. 4 Cut the embossed circle in…

YOU WILL NEED MATERIALS REQUIRED 18 count canvas Size 24 tapestry needle Fine two-ply crewel wool in three colours ◯Masking tape Moi says… “Following on from the June issue, Ingrid Thomson and I agreed that a fitting way to mark the late Elizabeth Leslie’s contribution to the exquisite needlepoint rugs in Glamis Castle, Scotland, would be to allow one of her beautiful carpet designs to live on in dolls houses across the globe. For that reason, the Castle has agreed that we can exclusively reproduce a design from the archive – the dining room carpet – so that you can make your very own regal rug. This is a project best suited to someone with experience of needlepoint. If you’re a novice, try a few small kits first, until you…