Meet our Members - Kate Pinsent

I grew up surrounded by miniatures made by my mother, Jill Bennett. I have always loved making and designing clothes and after my marriage decided to stop working as a theatrical agent and embarked on a dressmaking and pattern-cutting course. I made clothes to order, specialising in women's tailoring, until the birth of my son and our move out of London. It became impossible to have large amounts of beautiful fabric in the house, especially after my daughter was born, so I scaled down and started dressing dolls for mum. She encouraged me to think about my own business and after a trip to Miniatura I became very excited about the 1/24th scale.

The dolls are cast in pewter with twisted steel joints, so that they are fully poseable and robust. They have painted faces and hands, shoes and hair. I enjoy making all periods and will happily make any doll to order. I use a variety of materials and am surprised at how adaptable the scale is. I try to make real people, capable of having a story all of their own, who look as if they live in their clothes.

Accessories
I now have a small range of accessories - cats, babies and some baskets - and hope to develop more in the future.

I love the 1/24th scale - it has a special charm all of its own.

Contact details

Contact: Kate Pinsent

Telephone: 01225 722685

Email: kdesigns@btinternet.com
Website: http://www.kdesignsdolls.co.uk/

Meet our Members - Linda Master

I specialize in hand carved/hand painted wood miniature animals 1:12 scale and smaller. Fully detailed with carved eyes, toes, paw pads, birds fully feathered. Each is carved entirely from one little block of wood, meaning nothing is glued on later.
I carve "your pet" from your photos, for the personalization of pet cremation urns, or for the dollhouse. Have your pet residing in your dollhouse!
I also make functioning dollhouse miniature accessories. Hand made, many different mediums used.
I make very realistic drawings and paintings that look like a photograph, full size or miniature.
I named my little business after my beloved Miracle Chicken. I hatched her, she was my child. You can read a short story, The Story of Miracle Chicken at http://www.miraclechickenurns.com/.

 

About me
My first memory as a baby was loving tiny things. I began collecting miniatures, then as a teen, I was thrilled to discover I could make minis. A friend gave me my first carving set, x-acto knives. I still use them to this day. I began carving animals from people's photos, and then when my rabbit died, I made him an urn and the business was born.

Contact details

Linda Master
Miracle Chicken Urns
37716 County Road 18
Dexter City OH 45727
U.S.A.

Tel: 740-732-0185

Website: http://www.miraclechickenurns.com
Email: urnartist@miraclechickenurns.com

Meet our Members - Robin Britton

Coombe Crafts was originally established in a small village in Wiltshire in the mid eighties … although we have moved around a bit since then …. To produce unusual and original craft items in a variety of natural materials, with an especial interest in small dolls. A chance encounter with Pat Cutforth and the Marlborough Dolls House Fair, led us into our first real miniature work, and me to polymer clay. We have not looked back.

 

A bit of background  

 

We try to juggle our time to attend a limited number of fairs as it is important to stay in touch, while allowing us to fulfil mail order and commissions, as well as continuing to develop our work. It is still fun and challenging and with the advent of the internet, we can reach even more enthusiasts and make new friends.

Our original and individually-sculpted character dolls in both 1/12th and 1/24th scales, often elderly, with a bit of personality about them, add to the story of any miniature house. We are happy to costume in all periods, and to discuss individual requirements and characters, so that can we produce the little people you have been looking for. 1/24th dolls are priced from around £13 and 1/12th from about £23.

We also make ‘interesting things’ to go with them – unusual pieces of furniture and small accessories that bring a house to life. Again, the original and handcrafted items are in both scales and we can work in 1/16th if that is what you are looking for, or craft something to your specification.

We are always happy to undertake commissions and enjoy the challenge of bringing to life someone else's ideas...

Contact details

Email:  robin.britton.uk@btinternet.com
website:  www.coombecrafts.co.uk

blog:  www.coombecrafts.blogspot.com

Meet our Members - Martin and Hilary Pearce

Willow Models was established in 1984 by Martin Pearce and is based in Golcar, a village in the Pennine Hills of Yorkshire, approximately half way between Leeds and Manchester. His experience and background in model making goes back to the very early 1960s when an "apprenticeship" was started with Airfix kits, Triang trains and then scratch built models.

Originally the business concentrated on architectural and museum model making but over the years the type of work undertaken has expanded and we have made a wide variety of models for many different clients and uses. These have included architectural models for both development and exhibition, historical models for museums, scientific models for educational and training purposes and prototypes for product design. More unusual items have included a ventriloquist's dummy in the form of an apple and grub.

Although we still work in many fields of model making, we have become more and more involved in the world of miniatures and have even made dolls houses and room boxes for use as teaching aids in schools. Martin is assisted by his wife Hilary who, as well as helping at fairs and detailing many of our accessories, makes our pewter plates and trees for architectural work. With our background in model making, we can usually make anything a customer wants however strange, obscure or difficult and in very small scales. Much of our work on the miniatures side is commission based.

In the miniatures field we make a very wide range of items. These include furniture (using mainly English hardwoods), shop & room boxes (the latter often finished and detailed), woodturnings, pewter items and an ever-growing range of accessories. Although we do make houses, apart from the occasional cottage in 24th and 48th scale, these tend to be made to order. Our range of accessories includes walking sticks & shepherds crooks, kitchen items such as wooden potato mashers & cabbage presses, and nativities. Some of these such as the nativities include our own castings.

Although we started out in 12th scale, we now specialise in 24th and 48th scales. Most of our woodturnings are available in 24th and 48th and we are slowly (as time permits) making our range of furniture available in quarter scale. New items are usually directed at the smaller scales and this is reflected in the range of 24th scale lighting that we now retail.

Martin has written for the dollshouse press including a piece (for an internet based magazine) on making a cottage in 24th scale. We exhibit at Miniatura and the Kensington Dollshouse Festival plus one or two other fairs. Full details of these are listed on our web site where many of our pieces can be seen.

Contact details

Martin and Hilary Pearce
4 Willow Grove
Golcar
Yorkshire
HD7 4RX

Tel/Fax 01484 658832

Email info@willowmodels.com
Web site www.willowmodels.com