Miniatures make me happy

Today my mum and I took a trip to a dollshouse and miniatures fair in Maidstone. Organised by Wendy's World , the venue was new and we had high hopes of picking up some goodies. Sadly when we arrived it was a lot smaller than we'd hoped with just nine exhibitors. Fortunately Shepherd Miniatures , one of our favourite sellers, was there and we spent a long time hovering over their beautifully crafted items. Just a small section of Shepherd Miniatures' stand Note the blue bowls and tweezers which are there for buyers to select their items easily without knocking the entire display over. When you hand over your bowl to the exhibitor and they start totting up the cost of the tiny items you've selected, it can be a bit of shock. A sweet bag is exchanged for crisp £20 notes but it's worth it. One of the things I really enjoy about this hobby is how friendly everyone is. I suppose it's the same with football or book clubs (the first two hobbies that came to

Today we took our annual trip to Tonbridge Model Railway Club's exhibition. As it's held less than half a mile from our house, we normally make it every year - and it's worth going as the layouts do change from one year to the next. I must admit this wasn't a vintage show in my book. The actual trains will always be secondary for me but I love the scenery, my favourite setting being the English countryside from times gone by. This year there seemed to be more industrial and urban settings, or (heaven forbid!) those that concentrated purely on the trains and hadn't bothered much with the rest of the layout. That said I did take a lot of photos so will share a few of my favourites. This is close to my favourite type of scene, although it's in a larger scale than I usually prefer. I have an N gauge layout myself, so I tend to lean towards trains in a smaller scale but the one above was done really well. I like to be able to look at a photo and not be qui

I've been totally spoiled for Valentine's this year. Last week I had flowers and sweets delivered to work and today I received some lovely music and also a miniature Valentine. One of the projects I have in progress is a pub - The Rachel's Return. It's been 'in progress' for some years but before too long, I'll be able to show you how far I've got. Today Tim gave me the two bar stools on the left which will fit perfectly in my 'old man's pub'. I can't wait to see them in situ. The chocolate heart is really just for scale - by the time you read this it will have been gobbled up. I've been collecting bits and pieces for my pub for more than six years now but I could never decide exactly how I wanted to decorate it. Now the decision's been made and I can't wait to see it finished. I say finished but I'm not sure a miniature project is ever truly complete - you can always squeeze an extra little thing in there if

I love this question. I have the picture below as my wallpaper on my computer at work. When people visit the office and get a glimpse, they'll often ask "Is that your house?". The library - my favourite room in my 1:12 scale Tudor dollshouse Of course, the answer is "yes". It is my house - it's just not full size and not the one I live in. When you look closely, there are things that give it away (that plant doesn't look too well) but I think it could easily pass as full size if you don't linger too long. My favourite corner of my favourite room I think the desk and its surroundings are my favourite part of the whole house. I love finding new things to buy - the half peeled fruit are fairly recent additions and add a little life to the house. The map on the wall is one the many things I've bought from Shepherd Miniatures , a shop I would highly recommend. Nothing beats seeing miniatures in person but if you want or need to buy on

This is my Tudor style dollshouse which was built for me by my dad when I was about 13. If it's possible, I adore it more now 20 years later. My beautiful Tudor style dollshouse Every single piece of wood was hand crafted, exactly to my specification. I drew on a scrappy piece of paper what I wanted and my dad built it for me. He made the lights, the fire grates (out of pineapple tins), the servants' bells, the doors, the beams, the roof tiles - everything. Each of the tiles was made and put in place individually. They started life as cereal boxes, were covered with different types of sand and then mixed in a bucket to ensure the selection was random when they were stuck to the roof. I still think that's amazing. Actually, this wasn't my first dollshouse. I had a lovely chunky wooden one when I was small - the kind of thing you'd get in the Early Learning Centre. It was my first introduction to a miniature world where I could decide exactly how things