The Autumn Miniatura Show was another enjoyable and successful event with Saturday seeing bumper visitors streaming into the NAEC Stoneleigh Hall 3. There was an atmosphere of eager anticipation for visitors and exhibitors alike. For the newcomers to Miniatura there was some added nervousness as to how they would be received. But I don’t think they needed to worry!

There were eight new exhibitors, although one, Flea Dea Designs has been a regular, for a number of years, displaying her dolls houses such as her Motorcycle Mansion and her novelty Miniature Flea Circus. Dee decided that for the Autumn Show she would exhibit her work for sale. She thought hard about what she could add to the Miniature scene that wasn’t already being done by other makers.

She came up with a range of highly detailed 3D pieces of furniture such as beautiful hinged, fold-up bedroom screens, ornately decorated tables and delicate ornaments. The result was a stand displaying some lovely items, all very high detailed and ornate. “There was a lot of trial and error,” said Dee and it was difficult to know what other people might like. For example, take my psychedelic table – not everybody has a 1960s style dollshouse do they?”

For Dee, she is brimming with ideas, working with her 3D printer Fimo and paints as well as experimenting with electrics and motors to make things move. Can’t wait to see what she creates next.

Another newcomer was the Beth Bridge Collection. Beth and her husband Anthony from Southport specialise in handmade soft furnishings and miniature wooden furniture including fitted kitchens; they also make small houses and beach huts. Anthony makes the 1:12 scale furniture and she makes all the soft furnishings, hand stitching the delicate cushions, curtains, tablecloths and bedding; as well as upholstering bought in pieces of furniture. Knitted items are made by her aunt.

Beth worked as a nurse for 20 years and Anthony also worked at the hospital as a painter and decorator. Following the pandemic when Anthony turned his hand to building Beth and their daughter dolls houses, the couple then took early retirement and decided to turn their love of making miniatures into a business. As for their first time at Miniatura, they thoroughly enjoyed being there.

Morphology in Miniature

Morphology in Miniatura sounds intriguing – the meaning of Morphology being the branch of biology that studies the shape, size, form and structure of plants and animals. And that is precisely what Holly Collins does as she creates her felted animals.  Her stand at the show revealed a fascinating display of 1:12 scale felted animals plus stags and boar heads on wall plaques – perfect to decorate a grand mansion or castle. Also, butterfly displays in cases – the sort of thing you might find in a Victorian parlour. Holly is fascinated with taxidermy and has some beautiful taxidermy items in her own home. They inspired her to create them in miniature. She also loves Victorian curiosities and natural history.

Surprisingly, Holly has only been making her felted animals since last summer although she has loved all things miniature since being a child. With support from husband Nathan who also makes the butterfly display cases, and lots of practical help from daughter Kitty, she makes her felted animals from her garden studio and says that she is learning all the time.

Holly gave us a demonstration of how she goes about shaping an animal from felt threads. She explained, “You start with a little bit of fluff, then you poke and poke using different sized needles until it becomes quite hard and solid then you get more detail and add colours. It is really therapeutic until you stab yourself! But I’m getting better at not doing that! As for her first time at Miniatura she added, “This has been a brilliant experience.”

And now for something completely different

The Rebel Badge club – not miniaturists but open to anyone over the age of 18 who wants a break from everyday life and enjoy all the carefree things they did as kids – particularly if they were in the Brownies and Cub Scouts.  Many of us will have sewn on badges earned by the kids for their achievements and good works when they were a Brownie or Cub, so imagine if you could earn a badge for being a builder of miniature things, or for being a model maker.  And imagine going camping with your friends and doing all the wild fun adventurous things you did as a kid. Well Rebel Badge Club offers that and more.

We met up with Naomi, Dawn and Tina. Their club, founded by Charly Lester, have members all over the UK and the USA. “This is Brownies and Cubs for grown-ups,” Naomi said. “We have summer camp. adventures, all manner of events and get togethers, we have a badge book, a quarterly A5 glossy magazine packed with photos of events and club members, plus we have around 8,000 followers on Facebook.”

We spoke to founder Charly Lester about how it all began. Here’s what she said: “I used to be a Brownie and Guide leader, and was also involved in Scouting for a number of years. During lockdown I was mowing my lawn and remembered that as a child I would happily tick off manual tasks around the house in order to get merit badges – so I decided to see if any existed for adults. When I realised they didn’t, I wrote the first of our 3 badge books – containing 52 merit badges, spanning a range of topics created by looking at historical badges for kids, and also getting inspiration by asking my friends what they wish they could do more of in their spare time. Over the last five years that has become almost 500 different badges, and monthly events, as well as annual competitions and challenges, and a set of awards similar to the Duke of Edinburgh scheme – but again, just for adults.”

Cate explores a conspiracy theory or two – in miniature!

Cate Rae of The Tiny Absurdist creates miniature worlds, sculptures and dioramas exploring a wide range of themes, stories, scales and materials, including a look at some conspiracy theories – for example her take on the moon landing being just one big film set! Another of her mini worlds featured a railway track going through a hexagon shaped diorama depicting the famous flight path that Luke Skywalker flew through in Star Wars. She hopes this will be part of a much bigger project with numerous hexagon worlds all eventually linking together! While Cate wasn’t selling any of her work, her models made for a unique and interesting display, and she loved her first experience of Miniatura.

The Pocket Forge

The Pocket Forge was at Miniatura for the first time too. This self-taught bladesmith specialises in miniature swords and other tiny armaments. His inspiration comes from different periods of history, films, TV, games and his own imagination. Everything starts in the forge, on the anvil and under the hammer, using full-sized blacksmith’s tools. His skills started as a hobby back in 2015 and he has been honing his craft ever since.

Minimum World brings quite a crowd

Crowds formed around Minimum Worlds’ extensive stand at the show. This family run business based in Norfolk are the official stockist for several well-loved miniature brands including Prestige Ceramics, Barbara’s Mouldings and Reutter Miniaturen of Germany (previously Reutter Porzellan).

The three women behind Minimum World are mum Karen and her daughters Rachel and Hannah. Karen explained: “Rachel runs the business, Hannah is the buyer and designer of our own brand of pictures and wallpapers which we have printed in our local village. We have customers all over the world. We sell popular, budget and the real high-end miniatures such as Reutters – we are their only distributor in the UK.”

In addition, they have an ever-growing range of their own brand products designed and curated by themselves and made by their trusted partners, also furniture and accessories. While the family business has been running for 20 years, this was their first time exhibiting at Miniatura – and if the constant crowds around their stall were anything to go by, it was a successful venture.

Weird and wonderful are long-time best friends Hazel and Mandy, who create 1:12 scale weird and wonderful miniatures which are totally at opposite ends of the scale. There is Hazel’s dark and gothic creations and Mandy’s pretty pastel décor and furnishings. Hazel who is a radiographer by trade is quite new to miniatures, while Mandy – an expert cake maker has been making ‘pretty’ miniatures for many years.

Mandy said, “I’ve had dolls houses since I was a child and have always made things for them. However, I’ve had my eyes opened coming to Miniatura.”

Hazel has found inspiration from her own home, which she describes as darkly atmospheric. “My own house has inspired me to make dark and moody miniatures. I did woodwork and metalwork at school and really like the hands-on approach. Also, at home I have a big Queen Ann’s dolls house decorated in my own particular style.”

On their stand which was distinctly in two halves, they create 1:12 scale pieces spanning darkness to light – or from Weird to Wonderful!”

Thank you to Rob Tysall Pro Photography for the images.