The Spring Miniatura Show 2025 was another fabulous success with more than 120 exhibitors taking part, over 20 of these making their debut appearances at the show. And of course, it was wonderful to see all the regular, familiar faces, bringing along their new creations and popular favourites. As always, we also had workshops, demonstrations, book launches and new projects on offer, providing our 2200 visitors with lots to do, see and experience.

Chatting to many of the newcomers they commented on what a great atmosphere there was at the show, and how welcomed they were made to feel by the regular exhibitors. Some of our new crafts-folk had never exhibited before, so were naturally nervous as to how their work would be received by the buying public. Luckily for them our visitors are the best in the world! They are always supportive and showed a great interest in the new miniatures on offer.

Amongst the newbies to Miniatura was Kuo Kuang Chen, who had travelled from her home in Taichung City, Taiwan, where she has her own studio and also runs workshops. This was the first time she had travelled outside of Asia, coming here especially for the show. Accompanying her were her sons Luke and Jack.

Back home Kuo belongs to the Taiwanese Branch of the Japan Dollhouse Association (JDA) and they were all very excited to be here for the Miniatura Show. Kuo Kuang Chen makes 1:12 scale bakery products, plants and Taiwanese food, such as bubble tea – also known as Boba tea, which is a sweet milky tea that has tapioca pearls at the bottom. After the show, they were staying on in England to do some sightseeing.

From Taiwan to Tudor

Another newcomer to the show was Rachel Penman of Preston who makes hand-carved period furniture and accessories, concentrating on Medieval, Tudor and Elizabethan times. Rachel loves to find an actual historic piece of period furniture on-line or in a museum and then tries to recreate it in all its detail.

As well as making miniatures, Rachel is an actor, appearing on popular programmes such a The Bay and Coronation Street, and in a number of movies. And if that’s not all, she also works with special educational needs children. For the Spring Miniatura, Rachel built a Tudor merchant’s house in Chester which many will have seen on her stand. She’s hoping to get it fully furnished in due course.

Chatting to her on the Saturday morning about her first experience of exhibiting at Miniatura, Rachel said: “It has been lovely. I have made my first sale – and people have been so lovely. The amount of people who have stopped by to have a chat has been amazing. And of course, it’s good to see and talk to the other exhibitors.”

From Tudors to Teddies

Who doesn’t love sweet little character bears? So, it was a warm welcome to Miniature Teddy Bear Artist Maria Blee and her Blee Bears stand. Maria of Banbury, Oxfordshire, hand-makes all her cute character bears, something she’s been doing for the last 20 years. She originally started making the bears as little gifts for her daughter to mark specific milestones in her life, such as when she first learnt how to swim. Maria enjoyed making them so much, she began to sell on eBay. Further inspiration came from visiting bear shows, and visits to Miniatura where she would buy her supplies. This developed into a little business for herself.

She is inspired by films and loves to make her cute 8cm tall bears as recognisable characters, visit her stand and see who you can spot.

From Colourful Bears to Bright Design

Bringing along her new range of miniatures with a circus animal theme was Lianne Kilroy of Big House Mini House. Lianne from Macclesfield, Cheshire makes modern miniatures in 1:12 scale including handmade rugs, mirrors, tables, sofas and cushions as well as 3D printed lighting. Her stand had a colourful circus theme to compliment her new range of miniatures.

Lianne explained how she first got into dolls house miniatures.  She said: “I was originally based in London and worked as an Art Director, I lived in a rented house that was completely beige, and I wasn’t allowed to decorate or add any colour to it whatsoever – I wasn’t even allowed to hang a picture on a wall. I’m all about colour so I bought a dolls house to take my frustrations out on! I shrunk my own home and made that a riot of colour!”

After making her first item, a chandelier made from multicoloured jewellery beads, she was obsessed! Since then, Lianne has ‘shrunk’ a number of well know people’s homes down – which she highlights on her Miniatura Page.

From Interior Design to Industrial Charm

From interior design to reclaimed metal and corrugated iron! A very different style of dolls house was Chris Moody’s work – shepherd’s huts, full sized and to scale. The Shepherd’s Hut England based in the Cotswolds makes 1:12 scale cast white metal miniatures, such as Agas, benches, brackets, staircases, working sash windows etc., and of course, shepherd’s huts.

Up until six years ago, Chris was a Graphic Designer, then during lockdown he saw that people wanted shepherd huts for offices to work in. He began making these in full size, using the off-cuts to make smaller versions.

Chris said: “The dolls house ones are made using the exact same processes as the full-sized ones – timber framed, cast metal wheels, elm doors and windows, real corrugated metal sides and roofs and workable turntables. The exact same procedures, but there is less strain on the body with the smaller ones! You find that people want them for their kids or for a dog kennel, while some people have always just wanted one.”

From Sturdy to Delicate

While glass artist Amanda Glanville doesn’t work from a shepherd’s hut, she does work from a red shed in her Coventry garden. As the owner of Maker of Tiny Glass Stuff, Amanda hand makes glass miniatures which she describes as ‘Art with a big smile on its face.’  The system she uses to make these beautiful and fun creations is called lamp work, it’s not glass blowing – which she hates.

“With Lamp Work,” explained Amanda, “you use a kind of souped-up Bunsen burner to keep the glass soft and malleable.”

Early interests saw Amanda making jewellery at Uni and would go to auctions to find glass beads. She also did a bead making course but then veered away from beads to make her own variations of little glass creations using a flame to make shapes and colours. “Not many people use this technique, and feedback has been very good!” added Amanda, whose creations are delicate, quirky and brimming with fun.

An Illuminating Stand

Glass in a very different form comes in the shape of Craft Lighting. Established by Richard & Kyle in 2023 to bring LED lighting into the creative market. They had acquired a company and were considering where they could take it. After starting off with just a few LED Battens and Highbay lights, they ‘stumbled’ across the craft and miniatures world and saw that a common theme was a need for better lighting.

“We have gradually developed our products through talking to people and finding out where better lighting is needed,” explained Kyle. “We now make a wide range of high quality, full-sized lights suitable for the miniature and crafting markets.”

With table lights, flexible lights, half-moon table lights, head-mounted magnifiers and many more lights and systems, suitable for a huge variety of craft and miniature work, their stand at the Miniatura Show attracted a lot of interest as well as generating a number of sales.

We’ll be putting more of our newbies under the spotlight next time.

Photos by Rob Tysall.