Sunday, May 27, 2012

My First Fair!

This year, I managed to get to the Sydney Miniatures and Dolls House Fair - 3 weeks ago now, on the 1st weekend in May. I went on both days - Saturday from about midday, and Sunday late in the afternoon.
Here are some photos of things that caught my eye.

Right inside the door, DolArtistry had a pumpkin or gourd house, with a turtle moving house just to the left of it:


On the maroon cloth, a miniature gourd lady making gourd houses, with other fictional and historical characters nearby:



A great display by Bill Maguire of Leprechaun Models:


Bill was displaying these, not selling them, and he told me that he is also shows them in schools (especially the Tudor houses), and explains to the kids what houses were like then, and where we get words like 'threshhold' and 'chairman'. His card, B. & V. Architectural Models, mentions scale models for things like development applications and architects presentations.


I would have loved to buy one of his houses - they're made of cardboard, so they're light, and they're small scale, so wouldn't take up much room. The Queenslander at the end of the display did not have an accessible interior, but look at the detailing in the interior of some of the other houses:


The roof and the upper storey lift off in this house, giving access to both floors.




An A-frame house with just one floor:


Here are some other exhibits - a garage with a sports car (if this had the name of the exhibitor, I didn't get it, sorry):


A 1/48th (quarter inch) scale tower by Elizabeth Barnes, and a room by Dawn Watson:


A scene by Marion Hesketh:


Jody and Sarah's Rainy Day, by Rhonda McDonald:


A multi-storey building housed in JazWare's Room by Room, which was made by Felicity (aged 12) and Emma (aged 10), and includes the Pendington-Smythe Bakery and the Willow Tree Tea Rooms. Some of the dolls and furnishings are vintage - can you see the little costume dolls in the central room, and the larger one in the bakery?


Diva's display houses deserve a post of their own, so here are some shots of miniaturist stalls.

Right at the back, Geoff Nott and friend were making trees:


I don't know if Geoff Nott has a website - I found some better photos of his work online, though.

Elizabeth Barnes' stall:

(At the back, on the right, is a stall I bought some flowers from.)

And a closeup of her 1/48th or quarter inch scale Senrabe miniatures:


On Adelaide's Miniatures' stall were these great displays:




On Kim's Miniatures' stall was some fabulous miniature marquetry:


The Shopping Sherpa posted about Kim's Miniatures' scrumptious food - you can see the tables with chocolates being made in the middle of this photo. My sister bought some potatoes here - I bought some Nana crochet rugs and some cake tins, which I will show in another post ...

And here is The Shopping Sherpa's stall:


Yes, Anna-Maria and I met, in the flesh! (Thank you, Norma of make mine mini, for taking photos of us!)
I'm oohing and aahing about the towel in the bathroom of her Tomy Smaller Home (which went home with me ...)

More soon - my buys, and Diva's houses!

8 comments:

  1. fantastic! great to see so many wonderful tiny treasures that I missed cos I only got there late on the second day.
    and I love the Hills' Hoist in the backyard of a Bill Maguire house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, a lot of them were packing up - but also on the first day I concentrated first on taking photos, and did most shopping when the crowds thinned out.
      I love Bill Maguire's houses! One day maybe I'll see if he'll make one I can buy :-) That Queenslander with an interior would be great! (Or a model of a Myilly Point house, maybe?)

      Delete
  2. oooh... i'm just a tad jealous.... a big tad !
    so much to look at and take in .. there really are some clever people out there. can't wait to see what you bought.. xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'm really sorry you didn't get there, Christine! Fingers crossed for next year that we both get there!

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Rebecca
    Thank you for your nice comments and pictures of my A-Frame and Cliff Drive have been following your blog for a while and would have loved you to have made your self known and I could have taken the plastic cover off so you could have taken more pics Please keep in touch and glad you got Anna Maria,s Tomy I have one and if you need to swap the front I am happy to do that as I have one I intend to kit bash and paint. Anna-Maria mentioned that it was faded. All the best and thank you again and keep up the great blog I do enjoy it Bye for now Diva from Downunder

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Diva, Thanks so much for commenting! I didn't think at all to ask you to take the covers off - never mind! Perhaps there'll be another occasion to see them - and I would love to see your other houses! I'm glad you enjoy my blog - I'm trying to get back into it now.
      Anna-Maria mentioned possibilities for swapping the Tomy fronts, and I've given her my sister's address. It's very kind of you - I will be very glad to have a less faded front! Best wishes, Rebecca

      Delete
  5. Wonderful pics and links! Almost as good as being there in person! Flo

    ReplyDelete