Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2023 i Dolls House & Miniature Scene

Happy new year! Your first issue of 2023 awaits, and we have a treasure trove of inspirational ideas ahead for you! From seeing in the new year in small scale with Sadie Brown as she celebrates Kathleen Holmes’ new year scenes, to looking at the wonderful idea of bottled gardens in terrariums with Dene Bebbington, we have plenty to get the year ahead off to a cracking start, if you’ve been looking for some new ideas. For those who love to explore architecture, Deb Weissler looks at Mark Turpin’s custom suburban home which has grand proportions. It could certainly be viewed as a dream house! Still looking at dolls houses themselves, we travel to the mountains and find a cottage steeped in Eastern European folklore and what an ornate cottage…

Cologne-based miniaturist Pipi Turner makes the kind of furniture and accessories I adore full-sized, and they‘re even more adorable in 1/12th scale! Influenced by 18th and 19th century Scandinavian Gustavian style and Danish antiques, she finds images of real pieces on the internet – chairs, tables, desks, cabinets - then masterfully recreates them in miniature using basswood and walnut. “This era was probably the most wonderful time in terms of architecture and design,” said Pipi. Gustavian furniture is a great choice, as it fits so well in a period interior, but sits equally comfortably in a modern room set. It really is a timeless style that can be both elegant and casual and informal, depending on how the rest of the room is dressed. Pipi’s tools of the trade include…

Moving house is stressful enough without having to move a dozen of them all in a day! But that’s exactly what I’ve just done. Yup, I moved big house and so had to move all of my little houses too, into my new home. It’s quite a worry moving treasured miniatures without damaging or losing precious objects en route. But it can be done! Whether you’re moving a solo dolls house or an entire miniature property portfolio, here’s how to organise a trouble-free mini move, based on my own recent experience. First of all, well ahead of the big day, start collecting small boxes into which you can pack your treasured items. If possible, try to find boxes small enough to fit into the rooms in your dolls house, yet…

The Chinese and Japanese have long practiced the ancient and beautiful art of making miniature gardens and landscapes with penjing and bonsai. In Britain, a Western take on the idea began in 1829 when Dr Nathaniel B. Ward noticed fern and grass growing from the soil in a sealed jar that he stored insects in. His accidental discovery led to the terrarium in which small items of the natural world are grown and displayed in a glass container, creating a tiny ecosystem. Being a natural type of diorama, a terrarium (not the glass tank habitat for reptiles) brings a connection to mother nature indoors and has many creative possibilities. They range from gardens in small jars or bowls to Wardian cases which look like a miniature greenhouse. Before making a…

Friendly and me Every miniaturist will invariably tell you the same thing: “I’ve always loved little things!” But if you dig a little deeper, there was for each person a unique catalyst that turned that initial love into a lifelong passion. For Narcissa Thorne, of the famed Thorne Rooms, it was a favourite uncle who travelled the world always bringing her back exquisite tiny pieces of miniature furniture or accessories. A tour of the White House in Washington, DC (USA) inspired the Zweifels to create a miniature version that could travel the country so thousands could visit the White House in miniature. Sir Neville Wilkinson’s young daughter’s fairy citing in Ireland inspired Titania’s Palace, a 15 year labour of love in the Italian Renaissance style. For me, it was The…

When I visited the ‘Small is Beautiful’ exhibition in London last year, I was particularly captivated by some Japanese (or so I thought) miniature buildings. They were so accurate in every detail. Little did I know that the maker, known as @tokyobuild on Instagram, was Swede Christopher Robin Nordstrom, who lives on the southern island in Stockholm called Södermalm. That’s an awfully long way from Tokyo! When I spoke to Christopher, I had to start with the obvious question: why urban, slightly grubby Tokyo miniatures? Surely a Swede would opt for quaint Scandinavian interiors inspired by Karin and Karl Larsson, or even mass-produced IKEA chic? Christopher explained: “It all started after my first visit to Tokyo in 2018, a city I had wanted to visit since I was 12 years…

The family connection As a visual and literal storyteller, Carol Kubrican’s beautiful 1/48th scale three storey Carpathian Cottage kits, brand new to the True2Scale collection, are steeped in the history and folklore of Eastern Europe. This century old cottage is home to a single occupant, Babka, who looks forward to a visit from her city dwelling grandchildren each summer. Here they spend idyllic days in the country, making memories to last a lifetime and discovering the traditional skills passed down through the generations. For Carol, whose husband Tomas is Slovakian, the design of the Carpathian Cottage has deep meaning, with foundations built on her own memories and the experience of being lucky enough to explore this wonderful culture and style of architecture in person. “Over a period of 25 years,…

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One of these days I plan to treat myself to a grand dolls house, full of antique-style pieces – especially those with a bit of a French, shabby chateau type of look. The go-to maker for such pieces is Alison Davies, whose French-inspired kits are well designed, affordable and yet very beautiful indeed. I have built up quite a collection in anticipation of that grand miniature home! I’ve previously made up some of her beautiful tables and chairs, so this time I decided to go down a very different route with this gorgeous swing mirror kit complete with an opening drawer and candles. It was oh-so-easy to put together – glue the bottom to the base, and the sconces and mirror to the frame, prime/paint, make the candles and job…