Something a bit different!

This is another of my new dolls houses in Bathurst. The house itself is fairly recent, and I don't know who made it, or even what it's made from (mdf? pine?). I bought it for the decorations - it has been painted inside and out by Australian artist Janine Daddo, and I love the details on it, especially all the cats!

There's a black and white cat on the front left, like my Harriet, and two white dogs with black spots on the front right. 

On the inner left front, there's a ginger cat, like my sister's cat Treasure.

 On one side there are two white cats:

 and on the other side, there's another ginger cat, as well as several kennels:

The roof doesn't open, but the attics are accessible through the dormer windows and the round windows at each end, so the space is usable.

Three more dogs are on the back:

 The house came with furniture, which is painted as brightly as the house itself:

The bedroom:

 The bathroom - lots of fish!

 The kitchen:

 And the living room (not many chairs - I wonder if there were more once? I might have to add some):

 

 Who will live here? I don't know yet, but they will certainly have lots of cats and dogs!

 

My buys at (and before) the Sydney Miniatures Fair 2014

I thought I'd take a photo of everything I acquired at the fair (and before) - and then realised as I was photographing them individually that I'd left out everything from one stand! So there's a little bit more than in this photo.

At last year's fair, I saw a magazine with an article about Dolly Mixture dolls houses. It wasn't by Marion Osborne, I'm pretty sure - it was by someone else who compared features of the various models known as "Dolly Mixtures" that they knew of. The magazine seemed a bit expensive - either $5 or $7, and my luggage was already overweight, so I didn't buy it. Stupidly, I didn't make a note of the magazine title or issue number, either! So this year I decided to look through the magazines offered at the fair, in the hope of finding it again. Of course, I didn't! I looked through magazines on at least 3 stalls, and bought quite a stack - including some I already have, as I didn't have my lists with me, and couldn't remember what I did and didn't have, but at least these were quite cheap - 1, 2 or 3 dollars, and only 50c for the small ones.

Before the fair, on the drive up to Bathurst, I stopped at Blackheath and did the rounds of the antiques gallery there. I didn't find lovely dolls house accessories like I did two years ago, but I did find some nice things, including a tapestry bag, with a brown background rather than the more usual black:

I intend to take this apart and use it for rugs, of course, which led my sister to comment on how upset I get when I see vintage and antique dolls houses changed! I pointed out that this is probably homemade, and has a couple of holes in it - but I wouldn't think much of those arguments applied to old dolls houses!! Double standards, I know ....

Also from Blackheath were two sets of miniature clogs, which will be furniture for a shoe house, and these three gorgeous miniature oil paintings:

They are signed A. Müller, 72. I will hang them in one of my 1970s or 80s houses. I don't want to keep the frames, but I'm not sure how easy it will be to find frames that fit, and are the kind I would like for these. I'm thinking I might try to cut off the curlicues (the frames are made in Hong Kong, and plastic, I think) to leave plain ovals, and then repaint them - or use the inner ovals as moulds.

So then, at the fair, soon after I arrived, Anna-Maria pointed out a stand which had good vintage miniatures. This was one I had bought items from both last year and the year before - Diana Simms' stall 'Diana's Gifts'. She had a box of Britain's lead pieces, and I bought several, mainly for my Walther & Stevenson farm (I haven't shown it yet, but you can see catalogue images here), and the roller and ladder for my Hobbies farmhouse:

I also bought a little Halfpenny girl, and a small bookcase or cabinet handpainted and signed (I think) SS in 1990:

 

I am not sure yet where the Halfpenny girl will live. The cabinet will probably go in a house by Armin Kod, which I haven't shown yet.

Diana had other vintage and some antique miniature dolls, too. Hers was about the only stall that had any vintage pieces - there were fewer than last year, when there were fewer than the year before ....

I am thinking that next year, I might try to do a display of one or two of my vintage dolls houses (from Bathurst; I don't plan to transport any but the smallest or lightest from Darwin to Sydney!) to increase awareness of the appeal of vintage. Of course, that can lead to more competition between collectors - but when fairs have no vintage dolls houses at all, and hardly any furnishings or dolls, it seems more a case of people just not being interested, or not realising their value. Anna-Maria bought a tub full of Europa and Jean furniture on the Sunday morning, from a stall which had had no vintage items at all displayed on Saturday. We think they probably had them to fill gaps as their main stock sold, rather than keeping the best for later .... She was very happy, though, as there were some great pieces in the tub (as well as quite a few that had been overpainted, probably to make the Jean and Europa match).

So, the rest of my buys are new, artisan-made miniatures. I bought more flowers, this time from Dianne Cottrell (I think she had the name Miniatures to Die For on her stand - not sure. You can see a picture of her stand, with two of the arrangements I bought, on Basketcase Miniatures blogpost.)

 A beautiful bunch of anemones:

 A gorgeous arrangement of blue irises and ranunculus (I think, although some look a bit like poppies? but she had some poppy arrangements too, with the characteristically kinked (and hairy) stems of poppies, so I don't think these are ...):

 And nasturtiums in a swan, which will go on the balcony of Swan House:

Diana packed these all so carefully, each in a separate container, with the vase stuck to the underside of the lid, and a plastic container or drinking cup placed over it.

I bought some food - yummy pizza and macaroons, from a stall with a sign saying $3 each, or 4 for $10 - but I don't know the name, as it wasn't prominently displayed!

 These will go in one of my contemporary houses - the Ikea, I think.

I visited the Miniature Supermarket again, and bought some modern groceries, again probably mostly for the Ikea house:

I discovered that Ann also has vintage groceries, although these are not yet shown on her website.

I was thinking of Diana's House when I bought these, but perhaps some of my other 1930s or 40s houses could use some of them - I don't think people living on a dairy farm would need powdered milk! I'm glad to find a source of period Australian groceries, and will contact Ann for a list of her vintage products.

I bought two more tea cosies by Win Garside (last year I bought a cottage cosy):

I think the koala cosy will go in my Hansa house - I'm not sure yet where the pedlar doll cosy will go.

Norma Bennet of Make Mine Mini was selling her own creations, and also Glenda Howell's hand-knotted rya rugs and hand woven mats. I bought several:

At the end of the fair, Norma offered me a reduced price on one of her sinks, the one I liked best, and I couldn't resist! I don't know where it will go, but I love the worn paint, the lining on the shelves, and the blue and white vintage French tea towels. Norma's photos are much better than mine, but here are mine anyway:

Norma was selling these with a dish drainer and some crockery, but as they alone cost $20, she kindly offered me the sink without them. I am sure I can find some plates in my stash, and perhaps a dish drainer too!

Right at the back of the photo of all my buys, at the beginning of this post, are a little kitchen cupboard and sink in bright yellow, red and blue plastic. These were a gift from Anna-Maria, who had received them as a gift herself (and was (perhaps?) feeling just slightly apologetic that she had had the good luck to buy the Europa stash ...)
I didn't know who had made them, but now I am thinking they might be Modella Mini pieces, as the sink seems to be identical to the one in diePuppenstubensammlerin's photo of a boxed Modella Mini Küche.

So, that's the fair for another year! Looking at other bloggers' photos of the fair, I see stands and displays I didn't notice when I was going round - too late to go back now, but perhaps some of the makers will be there next year too.

My Buys at the Fair, 2013

The first day of the fair, I looked at stalls but didn't buy anything. I did note that several stalls had bargain boxes, and I headed back to them the second day. The woman I had bought most vintage pieces from last year was not there this year, but there were some vintage items on a few stalls.

A woman named Joanne was selling her mother's collection, including the boxed Barrett's aquarium (she threw the empty toaster box in for free). Joanne also has a couple of boxes of 60s and 70s dolls house furnishings, from her mother, which I hope she will email me and Anna-Maria about when she's ready to sell them. The Jean roll-top desk was on another stall.

I loved the Scot Tissue toilet rolls in pastel wrapping paper - I remember similar wrapping from when I was a child. (I may even have some in a scrap book still - I remember pasting a piece in, as I thought the colour and design was beautiful!!!)

The little doll was on Diana Simms' stall, Diana's Gifts, where I found some vintage pieces last year too. She also had my best find of the fair, another doll:

 

All she could tell me about the doll was that it was from an old dolls house. Does anyone recognise her? She has a wooden head with painted features, metal hands and feet, and her legs and arms are made of plastic coated wire.  I like her expression, and her clothing! I don't know yet where she will live ...

The cutlery and jars of preserves shown on this table were also from Joanne. (The table itself is not from the fair.) I was delighted to buy an African violet in a pot - my grandmother kept a row of them on her bathroom windowsill. I have to admit I have forgotten who I bought it from, though!

The wonderful tea cosy was made by Win Garside, of Baulkham Hills (NSW). She also had Paddington Bear tea cosies, cosies with bees on them, rabbit-shaped cosies - it was quite hard to choose!

The wire mesh food and cake protectors were, I think, made by the woman from Victorian Dollhouses and Miniatures, from the ACT. She also had tiny boxes of Coats crochet cotton which she had made, handwinding the rolls of cotton.  I took a card so that I could look online, but their website features mainly their dolls houses and dolls house components. From that stall, I also bought some sheets of wallpaper - 3 embossed designs, and one that could be used for flooring or 50s/60s textured wallpaper:

3 more artisan-made pieces: a tiny knitted vest by Helen Palenski from New Zealand (Anna-Maria bought a tiny 1/48th scale tea cosy and a knitted 12th scale sock monkey of Helen's); a cloth doll by Marilyn Halcomb; and a beaded cover for a milk jug by Faery Fantasys:

More bargain buys, between 50c and $2:

I've included the cutlery here again, as it was only 50c! Joanne said she thought it looked rather crudely made, and it certainly is larger than 12th scale, as many dolls house items for children to play with were ...  

The little dolls (Liddle Kiddles?) could do with a wash, so I might experiment with using denture tablets to clean them, before I try on more valuable dolls (the Dolly Darlings, for example) ...

 

The purple table was from Anna-Maria's stall - a half-price offer I couldn't say no to (besides, I like the colour - it's the same purple as in the Kaleidoscope House!) The vases of carnations will go in 1960s or '70s houses, I think. The red, white and black vase was another of Joanne's mother's items, more recent than the cutlery and Barrett's accessories. I couldn't resist the box of Cluedo, complete with coloured game pieces - we had great fun playing Cluedo when I was growing up, and we still have our set, that looks just like this one!

Also from Anna-Maria are these two beautiful pieces:

A herb garden and a waterlily pond, both made by New Zealand miniaturists. I bought these when I visited Anna-Maria in Canberra, and saw her collection - and her stash! 

And from an old wares place near Bathurst, some more wallpaper:

The flowers on the middle pattern are too large for a dolls house, but I hope you can see the embossed columns in the white part, which I will be able to use.

Sydney Miniatures and Dolls' House Fair 2013

I was able to go to the fair on both days again this year.

On the first day, I said hi to Anna-Maria (The Shopping Sherpa), and she took photos of me in my dolls house T-shirt made for me by my sister:

"Rebecca's Collections" on the front, with a photo of a mini me in a mini dolls house room/study. (I think I must have been saying something to Anna-Maria!)

And on the back, Dolls Houses Past and Present, of which I am the site owner and magazine editor:

On the left of my T-shirt is a Walther & Stevenson farm house, ca 1930s, and on the right a Blue-Box plastic kitchen. You can see The Shopping Sherpa's amazingly colourful stall behind me!

I wandered over to look at the exhibits, and was taken with this dolls house, made by 9 year old Ella Fraser:

Yes, that's a bucket. She writes:

I really love the book The Borrowers and this miniature house is inspired by it. My little people live in a forgotten bucket in the back of a laundry cupboard. No-one knows they are there. Their home is full of old things and packaging that humans have thrown away, but they don't give back so that is why I called them The Takers. But they are good because they recycle everything.

A closer look:

A little further on I noticed this striking roombox:

A Milly-Molly-Mandy room, set between two volumes of Milly-Molly-Mandy stories! Nearby was a group of people, and I recognised the name tag of one of them: Margaret Webster from Tamworth, who had sent photos of her mystery dolls house to Dolls Houses Past and Present a couple of years ago! I was delighted to meet her, and it turned out that she had made the Milly-Molly-Mandy room!

To one side is the entry, with wellies, scarves and overcoats. On the other side is a scullery:

Milly-Molly-Mandy, in her pink and white striped dress, stands by her grandmother near the range.


Just near Margaret's roombox was another one in book form:

The clock face swings open to show:

a long corridor through a library, which opens to show:

A young man sitting at a desk, by shelves of old, leather-covered books - but on the wall in front of him are ... posters - of Bob Dylan! I think Margaret said that the creator of this room was also from Tamworth. I would have liked to hear more about it.
[EDIT: I was asked to remove the photos of this creation, so I will leave the description for your imagination ...]

Another striking exhibit:

Davidia Williams' new creation! This deserves a post of its own, so I'll show that, and my buys from the fair, in the next couple of posts.

Unexpected Treasures

After finding dolls house furniture at the Mitchell Road Antiques Centre in Alexandria, I didn't really expect to find more at other antiques and collectables shops. On Tuesday, I went to Recycling Works, in Annandale (another Sydney suburb). I had been there once before, and found some interesting bits and pieces, though nothing actually intended for a dolls house.

I had a pleasant surprise this time - there were two vintage dolls houses for sale! They weren't cheap (more than I would expect them to sell on ebay for), and I thought about them for a while.

This is one of them:

I think it's a Toy Works house, made in the UK in the 1960s or 70s. It's hardboard with paper litho, and as you can see, it's not in great condition. It's missing 3 lots of window shutters and the front door, and it has some small areas of damage. Although the guy in the shop tried to convince me that it had not had a front door at all, he did knock $50 off the price because of the missing shutters.

The house came with some furniture:

All the furniture is wooden, and it's mostly the chunky, simple pieces made nowadays for very young children.
Some furniture is missing a part:

Some seems rather out of scale (not that that usually worries me too much):

I'm not sure what this is meant to be - a bread box???

On first glance, not very exciting ....

But then I looked more closely, and got quite excited - and decided I had to buy it! Can you guess which pieces of furniture I'm excited about?