Small Wonders Miniatures

Dolls House for Sale in aid of Diabetes UK

2012-01-23T20:28:00.000Z

I have recently been contacted by Clair Boyd of the Regional Fundraising Team of Diabetes UK,

She tells me that this 7 room Tudor Dolls House has been donated to them to raise funds

They are looking for offers over £120. The house is currently in Darlington, Durham UK.

Anyone interested in discussing this further should contact the office on 01325 488606 or northyorks@diabetes.org.uk . The onus would be on any purchaser to collect, or arrange collection, of the house.

Clair Boyd
Regional Fundraising Administrator
Diabetes UK
Northern & Yorkshire Office
Sterling House
22 St Cuthbert's Way
Darlington
DL1 1GB

Tel 01325 488606
Fax 01325 488816
www.diabetes.org.uk

Muriel Hopwood Porcelain Miniatures

2011-11-25T16:22:00.000Z

Muriel Hopwood is well known as one of the organisers of the World renowned Miniatura shows in Birmingham UK.

However did you know that Muriel started off her 'life in Miniatures' as a maker of superb quality miniature ceramics pieces? Sadly for us collectors she has a very limited output of pots these days...... BUT I have been fortunate enough to acquire a small selection of her work. A rare chance to add one of her special pieces to your collection.

Available now on the website www.smallwondersminiatures.co.uk under Muriel Hopwood Porcelain.

Best wishes to you all,
Doreen

Pudsey, Leeds fair this Saturday, November 12th

2011-11-09T22:54:00.004Z

I am a bit late getting this post on the Blog, as it's a busy time for me. This Saturday will be my show at Pudsey Civic Hall, Pudsey Leeds Yorkshire LS28 5TA. It is open from 10.30 to 4.00. This show will complete 30 years for me organising Dolls House Shows and makes it the Oldest Dolls House Fair in Britain. I am very proud of this, as, unusually for shows in the UK, I have been the organiser for the whole of the shows history. Many other fairs have changed hands, some several times. Little did I think we'd still be going strong after 30 years when I did my first event back in 1982! We always have a good selection of sellers, with all sorts of accessories, furniture, houses, Shops, DIY - the list is endless. We also have a special stall selling items raising money for the BBC Children in Need Appeal - over the years we have raised over £20,000 for this wonderful cause. The mascot of the Appeal is Pudsey Bear, and the Appeal was originally launched at Pudsey Civic Hall!

Check details at www.doreenjeffriesdollshousefairs.co.uk

It would be lovely if you could join us on Saturday!
Doreen

See me at Nantwich Fair this weekend, November 6th

2011-11-01T22:05:00.000Z

Just a quick post to let you know I will be exhibiting at the dolls house fair at the Civic Hall, Nantwich Cheshire CW5 5DG this Sunday, November 6th. The show will be open from 10.30 to 4.00 and admission is £3. It's a really nice fair, if you haven't been before and can get there, do give it a try.

I have lots of new things in stock - most is already up on the website. My new selection of Tudor & medieval miniatures is proving popular - there's some really unusual items there. Even if you haven't got a building of that era, those items could be used in later buildings or antiques shops etc! Lateral thinking needed here!

I also have some lovely new dressed ladies to add as soon as I can. All these are quality UK hand made dolls...

Finally if you are doing a christmas related scene, there is a huge selection of items on the website or see them at Nantwich.

Take care all
Doreen.

New arrivals

2011-08-18T12:13:00.002+01:00

I just love finding lots of new miniatures for my customers and am always adding new things to the site - in fact there is a huge tray of items on my work table right now waiting to be photographed and added! Will work through them as I get time! However I did manage this week to list a new selection of dolls individually sculpted and dressed by Sue, and at amazing prices for totally hand made dolls. This is just a selection. Prices from £12.95 to £19

Also from Sue are some lovely bridal pieces - brides and accessories

I also recently got some beautifully made little toys - expertly crocheted by talented Sara. her sister Kate makes all my really fine baby and children's finely knitted clothes. These have to be seen to be believed! Here are Sara's new toys. £7 and £7.50. Just too cute!

More items as I get them onto the site.
Enjoy the rest of the Summer...
Doreen

Amazing work

2011-03-31T18:30:00.000+01:00

Just had to show you this fantastic tin opener and moving corkscrew by the mega talented Laurence St Leger. I have known and bought from him for over 20 years and am still amazed by his skills and new ideas. Photo shows the tin opener with the corkscrew out and stowed away. It measures about 1/2inch - 12mm, More of his work on my website now.

Miniatura and Easter giveaway

2011-03-23T15:35:00.000Z

It's an absolutely glorious warm sunny day today which makes me sure Spring is now just around the corner.

I spent last weekend at the wonderful Miniatura show in Birmingham, helping on my husband Bob's stand there. We were kept busy all weekend and were exhausted by Sunday night but really enjoyed ourselves. It was lovely to meet some Blog followers and webstore customers during the show. Although it was a busy weekend I did manage to find a little time to search for new products for my Online Shop. I will be getting them on as soon as I can for you all. Among other things I got more of the always popular Veronique Cornish's wonderful porcelain pieces, and some amazing detailed quality miniatures from Laurence St Leger including a minute tin opener with moveable corkscrew in the handle - just as in the real thing. I haven't photographed this yet but will post when I have.

To celebrate the onset of Spring - I hope!! - I am having a free giveaway on my webshop. All orders received between now and midnight GMT on April 23rd, Easter Sunday, will qualify for an entry into a draw for a lovely Easter Chair filled with easter goodies, worth £19.95. One lucky customer will be the new owner of this lovely item made by my friend Steph.

I'll be adding new items to the webshop over the next week or so, so it's worth checking back....plenty of time to enter the draw!
http://www.smallwondersminiatures.co.uk/ Good luck!
Doreen

Got my new Website!

2011-03-02T14:21:00.000Z

I am really happy that, thanks to a lot of hard work by my technical guru Chris, my new design website is up and running again. Still needs the odd minor adjustment but my online shop is again 'Open for Business'! Thanks to my loyal customers for their patience.... hope you like it as much as I do. It's as straightforward to use as the previous site and all my registered customers details are still there - no need to register again! I have been busy getting more lovely miniatures while the site has been off and will add them to the store just as soon as I can.

Hope you'll have a few minutes to pop over and have a look http://www.smallwondersminiatures.co.uk/
Doreen

Website problems

2011-02-16T21:22:00.000Z

I have been really lucky with my website since it was set up 6 years ago and only had minor problems with it. But just over a week ago that all changed. The host company had a major problem and are having to install new servers... which I now find won't support the On line store software I was using. There's no way round it but to have a new store programme installed and move over all 1600 products currently available. A massive job but underway. Because it has been 'off' for a while people are worrying I have gone out of business. I HAVE NOT!! I've been in miniatures since 1975 and am not planning to drop out just yet!!!

If you know anyone who uses my site - http://www.smallwondersminiatures.co.uk/ or can pass the message on, I will be up and running again as soon as possible and can only send my apologies to anyone who has been inconvenienced by this problem which was out of my control.
Many thanks
Doreen

A beautiful gift from my talented friend Nikki

2010-12-03T16:10:00.000Z

I had a lovely surprise earlier in the week when an unexpected parcel arrive here, with strict instructions written on the outside 'Rip open do not cut open.' I had no idea what it was..... so opening carefully as instructed, I slowly began to pull out the most beautiful hand made silk scarf in my favourite lavender and purple shades... As soon as I saw it I knew it was from my friend Nikki Rowe, one of the most talented and creative people I have ever known. She can turn her hand to so many different crafts. Well known to many for her wonderful Witch & Wizard Miniatures, some of which I have been privileged to sell in my on line store in the past, she has this year discovered 'Felting'. A mystery to me I am afraid but I understand this particular masterpiece was created using Nuno Felting. However it was made, I am really looking forward to wearing it, knowing it is truly unique and created just for me. How lucky am I? Thank you Nikki.

Shop early for Christmas!

2010-10-19T18:12:00.000+01:00

Well it's not THAT early!! I just had to show you some of the wonderful new filled Christmas trees I have just got in stock. Made by the talented Janet Goodrick here in Yorkshire, these trees are just gorgeous. The trees are already on my site. I also have lots more of Janet's Christmas items to add soon.

New bonnets

2010-09-30T10:21:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to share with you these gorgeous bonnets which I have just got in stock. They are beautifully made from silk, decorated with tiny flowers and ribbons and have a little bow on the back. You can just see this on some of them on the pictures.They are also lined with either pleated silk or lace. So pretty.

These two are my favourites! You can see the pleated silk lining in the green and pink one.

I won't have time to load them onto my site until after Miniatura, but thought I'd give you all a little sneak preview.

Large dolls house to be raffled for the RNLI in UK

2010-09-03T20:19:00.000+01:00

I wanted to let everyone know, and ask you to pass on in any way you can, the details of a very special dolls house raffle being held in the UK.

Maureen Evans has donated and is raffling this lovely big house, Montgomery Hall, which is decorated, wired and completely furnished, total value £2500 to raise funds for the RNLI (The Royal National Lifeboat Institute) which is completely funded by public donations but which we all expect to be there in case of emergency at sea.

Here are some pictures supplied by Maureen:

Tickets cost £1 each. To obtain them send a cheque payable to Hartlepool RNLI, and posted to

Maureen Evans, 48 Mariners Point, Marina, Hartlepool TS24 0FB and include an sae for return of your tickets.

The draw will take place on November 28th 2010 at the RNLI Hartlepool Cleveland and the house will be delivered free to any address on the UK mainland.

We hope to have the house on show and tickets for sale at my Pudsey Fair in Leeds in November too.

Hope you will feel able to help and pass on details to your friends. Thank you and good luck!

Giveaway and news

2010-07-29T22:53:00.001+01:00

You don't want to miss this! My friend Debie Lyons of Piskies and Poppets is a very talented doll sculptor. To celebrate 200 followers on her Blog she is having a giveaway. Anything she makes will be a wonderful addition to your miniatures collection. Here's the link http://piskies-and-poppets.blogspot.com/

Remember I mentioned the polar bear rug in my last post - well I took it out to a fair a couple of days later and it was the first thing to sell. I knew it was unusual! And the gallows are causing quite a stir too - people haven't seen similar before. At the show on Sunday I was tempted to buy a set of stocks to go with them. The stocks really work so you could fit a doll in them to add atmosphere to a scene! On the New items page of my website

I met two lovely sisters at the show, new to selling their work, which includes beautifully knitted items. I can't imagine how they do it so fine and neat.

A range of their things are now on my site too.

Don't forget to rush over to Debies Blog and leave a comment to be entered in her draw.

Bye for now

Doreen

And now for something completely different...

2010-07-22T17:58:00.000+01:00

Ever since I started selling miniatures back in the mid 1970's, I have always tried to have something unusual to offer. I thought you may like to see a couple of recent additions to the website.
The first is a gorgeous polar bear skin rug, which I shudder to think about us using today but so very right for a wealthy Victorian gentleman's study. Priced at £14.95

The other is a set of gallows - great if anyone is building a street scene. The wood is really aged and broken in places and moss is growing in nooks and crannies. The hangman's noose is there ready for the next poor lawbreaker. This sells at £20

Both available now on my website.

I don't attend many dolls house fairs these days, but if anyone is in the area, this Sunday, July 25th I will be exhibiting at a new one at Alexander House, High Street, Askern, Doncaster DN6 0AB South Yorkshire. It's open from 10.30 to 4.00 and admission is £2.00

Must try Harder!

2010-07-16T15:28:00.000+01:00

When I was teaching if anyone had done as I have done with this blog I would have written in their report 'Must try Harder'!! I last wrote when we were on our way to Las Vegas in May, and haven't added anything since. For that I apologise. We had three fabulous weeks in Vegas with amazingly hot weather, as high as 115 degrees. Our good friends we usually travel with decided not to go this time - or so we thought, and then appeared at our Hotel half way through our stay,which was a lovely surprise. Imagine when Bob opened the door and they were standing there! We loved having them there with us. After we got home we found the jetlag really hit us this time. We managed to struggle though and get out the orders received while we were away, but both found we couldn't get 'motivated'. Bob did better than I did at coming round, and I finally went to the doctors, and was sent for exhaustive blood tests, but the results showed nothing out of order. We had a few days away last week in our motorhome in the lovely Herefordshire countryside, which lifted my spirits, so am slowly getting back to normal now.

I thought you'd like to see a couple of photos. from Las Vegas (I always take loads of pics...!!). This one is me and my friend Janet under the famous Las Vegas sign. I am holding a shopping bag from the Kensington Dolls House Festival. Charlotte the organiser asks people to take them and be photographed in unusual locations. So I did it and sent this to her. The people in the queue behind us to have their pics taken by the sign gave me some strange looks when I held up the bag!

This one made us all laugh. It was the licence plate on a car in the car park of the famous Bellagio Hotel. I said they must have known I was coming!!

Back to work now after all our travelling. I have a lot of new miniatures ready to go on my website when I can get them photographed and uploaded. Will keep you posted...and really will Try Harder!!

Viva Las Vegas!

2010-05-24T09:59:00.001+01:00

Getting ready today for our trip tomorrow to sunny Las Vegas. We are travelling via New York, so hope we are on the correct side of the plane to catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty! We so need a rest - and a time away from the phone and packing orders. I am not a gambler - in fact I get bored so quickly...I don't know how people sit there for hours on end playing slot machines - all day and all night some of them. We are intending to do some travelling out from Las Vegas, but not sure where to just yet. Will see how we feel. We usually travel with friends, but they can't go this time. We are SO going to miss them. We are taking a laptop with us so hope to add to the Blog while we are away! For my English friends, hope you are enjoying this lovely weather. We booked this trip to get away from the cold damp British Spring, and look what it's done now!!! Never mind, it might be just the same to come back to!

Bye y'all for now.
Doreen

Kensington Festival report

2010-05-17T13:53:00.000+01:00

It was great to meet Michelle and her mum at the show - they are really good customers, and I have written their address on parcels many times!!

Back home now and shattered after 4 hard days at the festival. Thursday we travelled down from Yorkshire and in the evening went to the Town Hall and set up most of Bob's stand. Nikki arrived a little while after us with masses of stuff to fit on her 3 foot stand. When we saw how well it looked she'd finished it we were amazed. As we looked at all the treasures she had made we just knew she'd have a fabulous fair.We helped with bits of advice where we could and tried to calm her when we saw panic starting. There's nothing like 'In at the deep end' by doing Kensington - one of the worlds largest dolls house shows - for a first show!!! Friday we went into London very early to beat the dreaded congestion charge, then off to the Hall again to finish set up. Once we were ready I began my much enjoyed walkabout. I am always looking for new things to offer on my website. This time I bought lots of wonderful real silver miniatures. Just a selection shown below.

I am so pleased with these. The photos don't really do them justice. Not a set, just shown on the tray are a delightful cake basket and detailed ewer/jug.

A customer has been wanting a nice champagne bottle for ages. I found this one for her. I know she'll be happy with it. She already has fabulous champagne glasses so this will complete her set.

I have known and bought from Angela and Laurence St Leger for over 20 years and love their detailed work. Here are some of the items I got from them this weekend. Long handled Tilt dustpan and brush and fabulous brass pan and brush. And look at the tiny tortoiseshell (substitute) hall brushes on brass stand. Exquisite!!

I am a real enthusiast of miniature shops and have xxxxxxx of them in my collection (daren't tell you the number!). So it follows that the shop accessory section on my site will be one of the biggest.

Even so I had to have more new ones at the weekend didn't I!!??

Will be getting all the new items on line as soon as possible.

And finally........did I find any wedding cakes (as in previous posts). No........so the hunt continues!!!!

Kensington Dolls House Festival

2010-05-09T19:53:00.000+01:00

I am sure many of you know that my husband Bob also has a miniatures business. Thought I'd just mention that I will be at the Kensington Dolls House Festival next weekend with him on his Country Contrast stand. For a number of reasons, we don't take both businesses to the fair. However I'd love to say hello to anyone I've been in touch with but never met! Do stop by if you will be there. I will also be hoping to find some time for buying new stock for my site, and perhaps locate some traditional wedding cakes as in my previous post. The lack of replies to that confirms what I have found - there aren't many around. Hard to believe. Will try to get some pictures for you. For anyone who is visiting the show, have a safe journey to London.
Doreen xx

Can anybody help?

2010-05-05T22:58:00.000+01:00

I have been trying to source for resale on my site nice quality tiered traditional wedding cakes with pillars between the tiers. There are so many modern wedding cakes out there, but I can't find nicer quality vintage style ones. Can anyone suggest/recommend anyone to try please? Bob, my husband is a food maker, but won't try anything like this!! Any help appreciated...

New miniatures on my website

2010-04-24T11:32:00.002+01:00

I managed to do lots of buying at last weeks show, and thought I'd show you a little selection of the new miniatures I now have up on my site. I love the watercolour paintings and the little tray of currant teacakes and the buttered crumpets. They look good enough to eat! The witchy things are just a few of the many new things I have. The brain has made everyone go 'Ughhhh!' They just don't think like us do they?

We are having a few days off next week, we need a rest! So may not be Blogging for a while. Off to enjoy the sunshine and my garden. Hope the weather stays like this.

Doreen xx

Update - this'n' that

2010-04-21T20:54:00.000+01:00

Well the fair is now over - another busy day but one which passed smoothly. The hours just seem to fly by. And for only the 3rd or 4th time in its 29 year history, it didn't rain at unloading and loading times for our exhibitors. In fact the sun was really shining! I managed a shot of the queue in the morning, but never got time to do any more during the day.

I did manage to spend a lot of money on stock items for my website and will be getting these on in the next couple of days. The witchy enthusiasts among my followers may like some of the new witchy things I got. will put some pics up here later.

Treating myself to a day out shopping with my friend tomorrow!

Tomorrrows show

2010-04-16T21:22:00.000+01:00

Well all the reminder notes have been ticked and thrown away, so all is prepared now for the show tomorrow in Leeds. We spent today setting everything up ready to welcome our exhibitors at 7.30 in the morning! The pics below show me checking I'd done everything on my list, Bob my husband laying power cables to provide all stands with power access and a shot of part of one of the halls we use. Hope the Volcanic ash cloud coming our way doesn't scare off our visitors!!! Going to try and get some sleep now, but my mind won't close down!

A busy week ahead

2010-04-10T19:53:00.000+01:00

I have a really busy week ahead of me, with final preparations for my Pudsey, Leeds Show next Saturday. Lots to do that can't be done until the last minute. This is my 29th year of organising this show, and I still get nervous that I have done everything. The house will be littered with reminder notes all week!! A week from today and it will have been and gone - it's like a wedding - months of preparation and over in one day! Back to the paperwork for now.

My first follower!

2010-04-09T21:47:00.001+01:00

Welcome to Lori!

Welcome to my new blog

2010-04-09T21:14:00.001+01:00

Being a miniatures retailer and dolls house fair organiser I hope to share news of my involvement in this wonderful 1/12th scale world! As I am new to this I hope all you established Bloggers will have patience with me and offer help when I need it!