Miniatura

Hello, we’re Neil and Ellie and we create handmade miniature books, framed artists’ prints and miscellaneous items. The books are available in different formats to suit all budgets. They are hand stitched, just like the real thing, and are bound in leather with blind tooling or leather effect. They date from 1050’s to 1930’s and are mostly illustrated as this can be more accurately reduced to suit a miniature that, when photographed, looks like the real thing. We also make bookcase fillers which are solid books with printed covers that look beautiful on a desk or in a bookcase.

Ellie first learned how to book-bind on the internet. Then she found a semi-retired bookbinder who is now living in France, Richard Norman of Eden Workshops, who mentored her and helped her to source miniature tools and leather. The internet is an awesome source for learning new skills. Ellie spends most of her evenings watching tutorials on YouTube about the different types of bookbinding techniques.

There are now over 250 different book titles, including Bibles, one being a limited edition of the Gutenberg Bible incorporating over 50 pages.

Neil focuses on the artists’ prints. These range from Tudor to Windsor. The prints are printed on high quality textured paper and finished to give the effect of an oil painting and mounted in various different types of frame.
Neil was approached by the National Trust, Upton House to provide a print or two to fill the walls of a 1/12th scale version of the house. He ended up donating 11 prints that now hang in the dining room of the miniature house.

The couple usually attend four fairs a year, Kensington and Miniatura, and Ellie says she has made many friends from all over the world, through the fairs. “People bring along photos of their dolls houses with our miniatures in them, which is lovely to see, so we decided to create a Gallery page on our website for customers to show off their dolls houses free of charge.”

Here’s a quick link to go direct to our shop

And for fans of Ellie’s paintings there’s a new page (made in 2021) for that too – Paintings by Ellie