MY BLOG

Minnie, my little Shi Itsu has gone ‘elsewhere’.  After years of dogging my footsteps between my office, studio, house and workshop, patiently waiting while I did all my stuff, she finally got to her last page.  She suffered from Cushings Disease, was nearly blind and very deaf, over the last three years but that didn’t… Continue reading Little Minnie has passed away

It is easy to stay buried in the studio making little things but it does the soul good to be out and about going to Miniature Fairs.  The latest, in Sydney, gave me lots of new inspiration and good material for the June Issue of the magazine. I have featured Ray Powell and James Dowdall… Continue reading Big Picture Stuff

I set myself a busy miniature schedule this year. Finish my wrecked and refurbished villa, complete two room boxes for the LHMM convention in October, and furnish and fill  two 12th scale  shops for the same convention. Along with maintaining my ‘real’ job and publishing the magazine.  One of the joys of doing the magazine… Continue reading Holidays? Who has those?

That was a hard weekends work. Who said this miniature stuff was a HOBBY! After tasking a saw to my villa (sawed it in half) I am working on turning it into a Victorian Terrace House, viewed from the side.  So I save my bay window that I was so proud of.  I have added… Continue reading Villa morphs into a Terrace House

I met Bruce Mudrovich last month in Auckland. He has had a break from ceramics but is now back hard at work. He is running an ad in the Feb Issue of the magazine for his cute little shelf pukeko. He also makes some other very topical pieces. For miniaturists making modern kitchens, Bruce has… Continue reading Going Potty?

I woke up yesterday morning and thought  ‘I am going to do something about my humongous villa that is taking up space in my workshop.’ I made it as a faithful copy of our old villa. This means it is sprawly,  (a new word!) and can only be properly viewed from the front and the… Continue reading Thinking is a dangerous pastime

One of the grand children’s Xmas treats is a walk through my studio in the dark.

No! No mistletoe. No Snow. Not down here in New Zealand anyway. Here is my ‘down under’ Christmas dinner. See other related articles in the December Issue of Miniature Time Traveller and find out how to make a crayfish dish fit for a King.

What would miniaturists do if they didn’t have children or grandchildren?This is time to dust off the Christmas scenes and put Christmas Trees in all the houses, 1/12th scale ones of course. Tonight the grandchildren get their moonlight Xmas walk through the studio.  Where did those lights go from last year?  I’m sure I had… Continue reading Christmas Eve 2017

Just right for lunch; shrimp and salmon starter, NZ Scallops in  their shells, and a NZ Crayfish, accompanied by a salad and fresh bread rolls. Yum!  Just not in twelfth scale like the food above. The big difference between a Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere and one down here in the Pacific must be the… Continue reading A Down-Under Xmas

While compiling the December issue of Miniature Time Traveller Magazine I put together a few summery things to share.  My wee blue Crocs for example And Some summer food made by me and a friend.  The Fimo workshop on the crayfish dish features in the December Issue coming out in the 2nd week of December.

Lots of interesting interviews this month, and a Steampunk project to do. There is also a pattern for a Spring dress to go with these little gems. To subscribe to the magazine, bi-monthly and NZ $45 for a year, buy on ECWID store on this site or our facebook page. Our December issue is a… Continue reading Nearly out there – the October Issue

I am always striving to create and maintain reader interest in my blog pages. That requires lots of new material. To that end I went to the North Shore Miniaturists Exhibition in August and met some amazing talented members and have covered this extensively in the Spring Issue. The theme is Spring.  We are waiting… Continue reading Gearing up for next issue

This seemed like a natural development for me. One of the English Miniature Magazines amalgamated with another, and I thought “no-one really features Down Under Miniaturists from Australia and New Zealand”.  I know a lot of these clever people, have a background in commercial art and design and put together countless monthly newsletters for associations… Continue reading New Miniature Magazine now published

It’s hard to know which comes first with me.  Inspiration that springs from little figures I make or the houses that inspire the making of little figures. Over the years they have been many. Muriel, the housekeeper in the Arts Movement House.   Albert the painter from the pub. Or Edna the laundress who called… Continue reading Line-up of Stars!

The Art Deco era, coming after the 1st World War and even perhaps as a response to it, was a time of change.  Women found a new confidence to dress and behave as they wanted to, found jobs and changed the furniture! It was time for a change.And as he was spinning through the years,… Continue reading Decadent or Deco that is the question

Our little time traveller Mac has been busy. Well to us on earth several weeks have passed but to Mac time has been measured in minutes. Nay, seconds. He visited the Victorians and was invited to a soiree at Dulcie Turner’s residence. And shortly thereafter appeared in William Norris’s (cousin to the other William) Arts… Continue reading A Dance through some Decades

One year the witches were IN. Apart from witchery projects at the club all sorts of magic was created at home.  We have Perspicacious’s Cottage. What Perspicacious has for Dinner. Herself Her friend  Dame Agatha Where they shop

The husband won’t allow steampunk deco in the house – hurrah for miniatures. This little table I made was the inspiration for a room box. In it lives a bachelor accountant. Surprise, surprise, he likes Murdoch James wines. There were a lot of firsts for me in this little room.  First leather upholstered Armchair. First attempt… Continue reading Steampunk Account

As part of a club project we created shops and of course mine had an Arts Movement theme.  The inspiration for this was a collection of miniature porcelain ‘Famous women through the ages’.  A wealthy patron just cannot choose which one she likes.   Mac is fascinated by the glass fruit closely watched by the… Continue reading Shopping for Art