AIM mag issue 31 February 2011

Contents… February 2011: Issue No 31 Cover Image: Béatrice Thierus

Regular Features… 5

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Artisans In Miniature

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Editor’s Note: Read Bea Broadwood’s introduction & welcome to this month’s fabulous edition of the FREE AIM magazine! 12 AIM Gallery - ‘Shabby Chic’ Compiled by Jean Day. 36 In Season This Month: This month Vicky Guile and her fellow AIM food artisans take a closer look at ‘Country Kitchen Cuisine’. 50 Through The Keyhole: This month we take a peek at the workspace of doll artisan, Cristina Caballero. 63 10 Things You Never Knew About Me!: Learn unusual facts about our talented members! This month we feature Hazel Dowd. 64 Aunt Anastasia: If you have a miniature dilemma, then why not write to our very own agony aunt for her well considered advice? 66 New On The Web: This month we take a look at Viola Williams’s new website. 68 A Visit To Bear Cabin: Regular ‘fantasy feature’ compiled by Celia of Oberon’s Wood. This month Celia explores the world of AIM members, Julia & Hywel Jeffreys. 74 Blog Of The Month: Featuring AIM member Melanie Navarro. 82 Cross Over Crafts: Featuring AIM member Jeannette Fishwick. 94 Getting To Know You: Get to know more about AIM member Janet Dowling. 98 Smaller Scales: This month Jean Day takes a closer look at ‘Shabby Chic’ in smaller scale miniatures. 120 Sew Retro: New regular feature by Kathi Mendenhall. 128 The Knitting Basket: This month, ‘miniature knitting in the round’ by Frances Powell 133 The Miniature Grapevine: Catch up on all the latest news and announcements from the international world of miniatures.

Features… 6

Cover Story - Les Miniatures de Béatrice: AIM member, and miniature Artisan, Béatrice Thierus tells us more about her wonderful miniature creations. 26 Stories: Doll artisan and professional illustrator Jill Bennett shares her ‘miniature interpretation’ of “Once upon a time…” 30 Margie’s Petite Palette: A showcase of AIM member Margie Paruszkiewicz’s beautiful miniatures. 40 The Basket Weaver’s Shed: We take a closer look at the stunning creation of AIM member and basket maker Lidi Stroud. 12 46 Janet Granger Designs: Find out more about talented miniature ‘stitcher’ and designer Janet Granger. 56 Make Do & Mend Miniaturists: AIM member Jane Laverick explores why miniaturists tend to always ’make do’. 79 Calling Cards: Viola Williams finds out more about the role they played in Victorian times. 86 Everlasting Wrought Iron: A potted history by AIM member Louise Win. 114 So You Want Me To Make What?: AIM members share their more unusual commissions. Compiled by Sally Watson.

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Free Projects… 21 22 54 60 76 90 105 106 110 113 118

1:12th - Refurbished Shabby Chic Chair: By AIM member Kerri Pajutee. 1:12th - Shabby Chic Chair: AIM member and author, Christine-Léa Frisoni brings us realistic chair project. 1:12th - Lacy Knitted Shawl: By AIM member Helen Woods. 1:12th - Lets Make A Quilt: By AIM member Ana Anselmo. 1:12th - Two Crocheted Winter Blankets: Marianne Colijn teaches how to create these seasonal winter warmers. 1:12th - Headboard Project : AIM member Ana Anselmo shares another of her fabulous tutorials. 1:12th - Knitted Hooded Cape: A pattern for a toddler doll by AIM member Jeannette Fishwick. 1:12th - Rusty Worn Kitchenware: By AIM member Ernesto Baldini. 1:12th - Nature Lovers Hutch: Guidance and tips by Maia Bisson 1:12th - Duck Head Towel: An adorable simple project by AIM member Jeannette Fishwick. 1:12th - Glazed Pottery: We know you will just love Ana Anselmo’s technique to create distressed pots.

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CLICK…on Artisans In Miniature How did you find the Online Magazine?? Did you follow a link? Did a miniature friend tell you about it? ...and do you already know about the Artisans In Miniature Website, and the talented members who have all helped create this Online magazine.? If not, copy, paste and CLICK now – www.artisansinminiatures.com and come and meet us all. Founded in 2007 by Bea (Fiona) Broadwood of Petite Properties, the website has been created in order to showcase the fantastic work of the individual professional international artisan members who create beautiful and original scale miniatures for sale to the public. Together they form the Artisans In Miniature association. Since its launch the AIM association has rapidly grown and now boasts membership of around 300 professional artisans, including some of the most talented within the miniature world! On the website you will find further information about them and their work; however, please note new pages are constantly being added and there are many members who are not yet included on the site... If you are a professional artisan who is interested in joining the association, you will find all the information there..... We have lots of links…to Fairs and Events Organizers…Magazines…Online Miniature clubs….Historical reference sites…..Workshops…and more… it’s all there!

If you’d like to contact us, copy, paste and CLICK... we’d love to hear from you!

www.artisansinminiature.com Artisans In Miniature Artisans In Miniature

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The AIM Magazine’s Editorial Team: Bea Broadwood (Editor) [email protected] Vicky Guile (Assistant Editor) [email protected] Celia (of Oberons Wood) [email protected]

Dear Reader Once again it is my pleasure to welcome you all to the February edition of the ground breaking AIM magazine! With Christmas now nothing but a dim and distant memory and with even the most stoic of New Year’s resolutions having fallen firmly by the wayside, the onset of February can often bring with it a renewed sense of creativity and energy.

It is true, that for many, the days of February remain short and cold, with only Janine Crocker [email protected] the merest tantalising promise of a spring that is yet to come. Here in the northern hemisphere most gardens currently serve only as an icy view, Jean Day [email protected] framed by our windows. It is therefore no surprise that thoughts and John Day [email protected] Peiwen Petitgrand [email protected] Sally Watson [email protected] New Editorial Team Members: Barbara ‘Babs’ Davis Janet Smith Kathi Mendenhall Kim Murdock Lesley Shepherd Pamela J Shelly Norris Freelance Members: Agnes Turpin Catherine Davies Eileen Sedgwick Jennifer Matuszek Julia Jeffreys Julie Lawton Lidi Stroud Marianne Colijn Mo Tipton Nancy Keech Stephanie Kilgast

Please note AIM is an active association to which all members contribute …

attention turn to the interiors of our warm and cosy homes and within the miniature world is certainly no exception. Behind the scenes over the last few months, the February edition of the AIM magazine has grown into a celebration of comfortable homely style. For our 31st edition, ‘Shabby Chic’ is the order of the day, with AIM members have come together to share fabulous creations, all of which reflect ‘in miniature’ the comfortable ease of this ever popular interior design style. So if you want to bring some ‘Shabby Chic’ nostalgia to your dolls house look no further! The February edition has 140 pages, all packed back to back with inspiration for you to enjoy. Love projects? Then this month you will be in heaven as you meander through all 13 of the fabulous tutorials that we have shoe horned in between our virtual covers. Finally, the days of February may still be short, the weather might be cold, but spring is just around the corner and until it knocks politely on your door why not immerse yourself in all that this month’s fabulous AIM magazine has to offer!?

Bea Broadwood Editor (& General whip cracker) February 2011 www.petite-properties.com


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By AIM Member, Jill Bennett


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nce upon a time – that’s a lovely sentence. It has been the start of so many glorious tales. Old stories and new. I doubt if there are many among us who can dismiss a good story, true or fiction, without a shred of curiosity about it. Dolls houses - they are stories in themselves, aren’t they? Whether they are made for the romance of lost times, Georgian or Tudor, or they are little homes for families of mice. They all contain the owner’s imagination. So, I got led into making the people for these houses after quite a long history of drawing people for stories in books, and the memory lingers on.


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here is one Georgian house I know – about 1725 – which it has given me such pleasure to help to fill with the owners’ playful stories. A tipsy butler, a timid wife, and in one room the grandfather, plagued with gout, holding a vast ear trumpet, awaits his port, and many others. In an Oxford pub no end of people from many a period vie for attention. Shakespeare is sharing a conversation with Dylan Thomas! At another table Hackney Lil, ex music hall artiste, shares her good nature and her equally splendid bosom with the local peeler who cannot help but smile!


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Danish client asked for Sherlock Holmes and Watson – great fun, but then wanted Hans Christian Anderson himself! Scary! But she sent me a book of his stories with his own drawings for them in them. Dickens – ah, there’s a story teller. I had the good fortune to illustrate his work in ‘Stand up Mr Dickens’. This contains excerpts from six of his books which have children in them. One was David Copperfield, and another was Pip in Great Expectations. So, for an example of what I’ve been speaking about, here is a drawing of Pip’s first meeting with M

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Haversham, a formidable lady, and wonderful invention. Being besotted with her,

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also did the meeting in our familiar scale with a young Estella. There are many more characters of his I would love to make. I actually made the man himself. I believe he is probably in that pub as I write, chatting to Shakespeare, and Dylan Thomas!

Jill Bennett

There are many more characters of his I would love to make. I actually made the man himself. I believe he is probably in that pub as I write, chatting to Shakespeare, and Dylan Thomas! Jill Bennett. www.jillbennettdolls.co.uk

To see more of Jill’s stunning dolls, why not visit her website…

www.jillbennettdolls.co.uk Text & Photograph © Jill Bennett 2011

Formatted By Bea (Fiona) Broadwood


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Cottage Room box by Malcolm Smith Www.malcolmsminiatures.co.uk


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idi Stroud, owner of Nambucca’s Little Shoppe in New South Wales, Australia shares with us the tale of of her love of weaving and paper clay... I am guilty as charged! I belong to an on-line mini group known as GSOLFOT. In January 2010, Rita Beninde was kind enough to provide the group with some plans to make Rita’s shed. Of course, I fell in love with it immediately and after making a few adjustments to room sizes, work began. The majority of work was completed by April 2010 and it was exhibited at the Sydney Miniatures Fair in May 2010 as part of our club’s display. I still have work to do on it, especially the internal room and back and side walls – but I also weave miniature baskets and these tend to get in the way of doing many other things mini!

I was introduced to paper clay many, many years ago while doing a Rik Pierce workshop and have never looked back! The majority of my buildings are finished in paper clay because it suits my style so perfectly. I love that it is so forgiving and enables me to achieve the rustic look that I love. I have to admit that I just don’t do pretty – well only under protest… Lidi.

Naturally, when we saw picture’s of Lidi’s shed, we knew we had to find out more about this stunningly realistic miniature building…! Artisans In Miniature

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! .. e l a s r o f s t e k s a B

What scale is your shed? And is this your favourite scale? My shed is in 1:12th scale and this is my favourite as it allows a lot of detail with ease. It also makes baskets a little easier to make, although I do make them in 1:24th scale on request – and sometimes just for the hell of it or in my madder moments!

What did you find the hardest to do when you were making it? Getting Peter (her talented husband – she didn’t say this bit!) to cut the timber for me fast enough! And make the flickering lights and fire. He does all my electrics for me and, believe me, getting him to do it “now” as opposed to “I’ll get to that next” is hard work!

What did you enjoy creating the most? I would have to say 100% working with the Creative Paperclay – which is my most favourite medium in the whole wide world!! All my buildings are finished using it as it is so forgiving and gives the “rustic” look I so love. So, all the brickwork, roof shingles, stone work was enjoyable for me.

Did you make baskets especially for it? Not consciously! I just make baskets, and if I think it might sit right in the shed, I put it in – then it gets sold – and so they tend to rotate in and out!

What are your favourite elements of it? I love the well! I got the idea for that from a picture of an old homestead built in 1793-4 in Parramatta, NSW. It just appealed to me and I thought it would look good in front of the shed. And I think it does! I like the stone wall too. It’s really hard to pick anything in particular – I just think the whole thing comes together well.

What did you enjoy doing most during its construction? Most of all I enjoy working with both Peter (best friend and husband) and Jessica (other best friend and daughter) during the construction of any of my buildings because we all get involved and it’s always fun. Artisans In Miniature

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How long did it take you to build? It took me 4 months from start to finish. I started it in January 2010 and completed it in the last week of April, just in time for display at the Sydney Miniatures Fair held during the first weekend in May! I was cutting it fine!


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Do you plan to build any more similar buildings? The next large project I have planned is a Dartmoor Long House. Pete is working in Afghanistan at present – expected home at the end of February – so I will wait for his return to start on this project. I have been doing all the research in readiness and can hardly wait to start! I am also going to New Zealand in February to do yet another Rik Pierce workshop. I really am a sucker as far as working with paper clay is concerned. And I also have a room box

A peek inside...

planned in my brain – but don’t know if I’ll have the time to do it in the very foreseeable future!!

(The sleuth is awaiting this development with pen poised!) To see more of Lidi’s fabulous baskets & miniature creations why not visit her website…

www.littleshoppeonline.com (still under construction – hopefully ready mid Feb) Photograph & Text © Lidi Stroud 2011 Formatted by Bea (Fiona) Broadwood


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For some folk make do and mend went out of fashion sixty years ago. For many modern miniaturists it’s the meaning of making and the well spring of creativity. As AIM member Linda Master says, ‘My motto is: necessity is the mother of invention! I am always rigging things!’ When Linda’s 21 year old pick-up truck, Tony, needed a new exhaust pipe she fixed it with a couple of soup cans she found in the trash. Perhaps she should

By AIM Member Jane Laverick

change her trading name from Miracle Chicken Urns to Miracle Chicken Soup exhausts. I have great sympathy with her automotive dilemma. For many years I had the kind of cars you associate with circus clowns. There was the one bought in the dark in a rush; that had doors that swung open every time you went round a corner. Then there was the one that, as it aged, would only start with a push from the top of the hill. It was O.K. if there were two of you, one to push and. the other to steer and let the clutch out. The real problems came when travelling solo. I was much fitter in those days, there’s no exercise to equal racing your car down the hill to the main road. Many meld the make do and mend with their miniatures. Virtuoso arctophilist Josephine Parnell is also a champion maker do. The small jet beads she uses for teddy bear eyes are all from an eight strand necklace she bought from a car boot sale fifteen years ago for 20 pence Twenty-five years ago over a coffee and donut Viola Williams noticed her wooden coffee stirrer was a potential floorboard. At this point Viola showed extreme class; instead of stealing the stirrer she bought

Jane Laverick...

a box of them from the coffee shop. She glued them to the mini floor, sanded them level with

Linda Master...

an electric sander and gave them a coat of varnish. The resulting maid’s room is still played with by her grandchildren using the lovely dolls that Viola now makes professionally, after her stirring start into miniatures. Josephine Parnell is still thriftily stuffing bears with quilting off cuts bought by husband Colin years ago when his job took him to a quilting factory one day.

k... Jane Laveric

When this sort of reputation gets around it can earn you a “name”. Janet Granger had one of those; it wasn’t Janet Granger Designs as much as Mrs Cardboard. Other stand holders at fairs called Janet and her husband Chris, Mrs and Mrs Cardboard because they knew that Janet’s stand that looked so nice from the front was constructed of carefully draped supermarket chuck out cardboard boxes that all fitted inside each other to go in the car. Janet only trades online now; can you spot any cardboard in her web photos? Web photos take us back to Josephine Parnell. Her photography studio, which was nicely propped up, as usual, on the water butt in the back garden, was upended by a sudden gust of wind, instantly drowning her digital camera. Fished out and dried off, the camera sulked for a couple of days before it began working. It’s still in use and took the pictures you see here. Make do and mend working conditions are fairly standard for miniaturists; if you lived in the home of your dreams why would you need a dolls’ house? I began miniaturising when my husband got a new job and we put our house up for sale. Nothing says: Please don’t employ me, quite as much as a “For Sale” sign in the garden. I had the house pin neat early in the

Josephine Pa rnell ...

morning and then spent the day with minis on a quickly clearable tea tray. Ten years later the Artisans In Miniature

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house hadn’t sold which might by then have been attributable to the miniature porcelain

Viola Williams...

doll business filling every room. 18 years later I’m still doing my ‘make do’ job in the same house. Bea Broadwood, AIM’s founder doesn’t just miniaturise dilapidated dwellings; she actually lives in one. Her aged stone cottage under its old pantile roof is like a draughty icebox in the winter. During the recent record breaking cold spell the water pipes froze solid for days on end, there was sheet ice inside the windows and the conservatory door kept freezing shut trapping Bea and her husband Tony inside. Whilst the cottage could be updated and insulated Bea thinks it would be a crime and is intent upon making do with things just as they are, no matter what it costs in heating bills and thermal bed socks. Now you know why Bea’s Petite Properties look so very authentic: she’s ‘living the dream!’ So is Carol Smith. Her fantastic minis are produced with the help of her oven. Sadly, sometime ago, the outer, closing, oven door dropped off, smashing the glass. Undeterred, Carol props the inner oven door to

Janet Granger...

with a shoe last, as you do, and carries on. That’ll be why they’re such lasting minis, no doubt. Miniaturists are skilled at adapting what they find. Josephine Parnell, skilled at gleaning from charity shops and fur already on other teddies, has her eye on a furry baby suit in the local supermarket, once the price has reduced a bit further...... Meanwhile Jean Day had a lovely food processor that worked with the aid of her chin.

Carol Smith...

You had to keep the button depressed with the spoon you were holding under your chin in order to have your hands free to add the

ingredients. These days Jean is using her mother’s vintage iron to flatten her miniature books and it works really well. For many years I used the variation in my own porcelain dolls as a selling point. This was mainly due to them being rubbed down on a three and a half legged metal green house bench that I was making do with until we moved. If I rubbed furiously as the table sank in the west, I got a thinner doll. I couldn’t afford to replace it so I did the miniaturist thing and kept using it. Like Josephine Parnell who had two televisions. Together. In one room. Side by side. One was capable of producing the sound for

Jean Day

a television programme. The other one did the pictures. Making do is not just marvellously miniaturist, it’s making the best of resources in a green and modern manner. It celebrates and appreciates the joy of owning something

Bea (Fiona) Broadwood...

and best of all, it’s hilarious.

Many more marvels at: www.JaneLaverick.com www.dollshousebears.free-online.co.uk

www.miraclechickenurns.com www.violasdolls.com www.janetgranger.co.uk www.etsy.com/shop/STARSGEMINI3 www.petite-properties.com www.jdayminis.com Photographs © 2011 by the individual AIM artisans accredited Text © 2011 Jane Laverick Formatted By Bea (Fiona) Broadwood) Artisans In Miniature

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Artisans In Miniature “An association of professional artisans,

dedicated to promoting a high standard

of excellence in original handcrafted scale miniatures…”

www.artisansinminiature.com artisansinminiature.blogspot.com The way in which AIM Association membership is offered has changed! Due to an overwhelming uptake of membership over recent months, as from July 31st the AIM Association now has limited memberships available…

The AIM Association was set up in 2007 in order to provide a global platform for professional miniature artisans who wish to actively promote their work and actively take part and support the opportunities and promotional facilities which AIM uniquely offers for free: notably including...  The AIM online forum  Monthly FREE AIM magazine  AIM Member's online directory  AIM website  Aim’s facebook & social networking pages  The AIM blog.

AIM membership is only available for professional miniature artisans, selling quality handmade miniatures to the public. Membership is reserved for artisans who wish to showcase & promote their work, through active participation within the AIM Association. Please note; A waiting list has now been introduced regarding new membership applications.

AIM is completely FREE to join and completely FREE to be part of. So… if you are a professional miniature artisan and you would like to find out more about joining the AIM Association, please email AIM’s Membership Secretary: Tony for more information:

[email protected] Or alternatively visit our website… www..artisansinminiature.com


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Sew R The Jet Set a War Y

"Jet set" was used by journalists to describe a social group of individuals with the wealth and means to travel internationally by jet. The wealthy could participate in many activities worldwide that were unreachable by the ordinary folks. Though air travel was initially a past time of the rich, by the early 1050’s, the middle classes took to the skies to see the world. Jet set today would probably mean those who own or are able to lease their own private planes. The rich and famous probably are the only people with the means to travel at will for extended periods of time. Wouldn’t that be a joy! In the 1930’s and 1940’s hundreds of Austrian skiers left their homeland when faced with the German takeover . Many immigrated to the United States. Skiing became popular in the US during this time. The Von Trapp family arrived in Stowe, Vermont in 1942. Ski resorts and lodges were founded in much the same way.


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Retro! and the Post Years!

In the post war years skiing grew in popularity. In 1949 the quilted parka was Introduced which had insulated layers. New nylon fabrics were fast drying and the use of wool declined. Color reemerged and designers made colorful ski attire often with fancy geometric designs. In 1952, Maria and Willy Bogner introduced stretch pants to the world. They were instantly successful. Suddenly, skiing became elegant.

Today many improvements have been made with lighter, warmer fabrics. A colorful ski jacket is at home on any street, anywhere. In this issue my jet setting woman is off to meet her friends at the Olympics of 1952 in Oslo , Norway. There, 694 athletes from 30 nations will parade at the opening ceremonies on the 14th of February. There they will party and then jet their way to Chamonix and Paris. But first, let’s get some ski clothes ready. Kathi Mendenhall


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This issue would not have been possible without the generous contributions from the following AIM members… Many thanks therefore go to...

Amanda Speakman Ana Anselmo Barbara Stanton Bea (Fiona) Broadwood Beatrice Thierus Carol Smith Celia Of Oberon’s Wood Christine-Lea Frisoni Courtney Strong Cristina Caballero Ernesto Baldini Frances Powell Francesca Vernuccio Hazel Dowd Helen Woods Helena Bleeker Jane Laverick Janet Dowling Janet Granger

Janet Harmsworth Janet Smith Jean Boyd Jean Day Jeannette Fishwick Jill Bennett Jill Harmsworth Josephine Parnell John Burley John Day Julia and Hywel Jeffreys Julie Dewar Kathi Mendenhall Kathy Brindle Kay Brooke Kerri Pajutee Lesley Shepherd Lidi Stroud Linda Master

Liz Mcinnis Louise Win Maia Bisson Malcolm Smith Margie Paruszkiewicz Margot Ensink Marianne Colijn Melanie Navarro Mo Tipton Naomi Machida Oberon's Wood Pearl Hudson Peiwen Petitgrand Robin and Shawn Betterley Sally Watson Silvia Lane Vicky Guile Viola Williams

See you next Month.!

www.artisansinminiature.com Please Note: The projects included in this publication are not suitable for children under the age of 14. The miniatures featured in this magazine are collectors items and therefore unsuitable for children under 14. All projects are undertaken at your own risk. AIM does not accept responsibility for any injury incurred. All articles and photographs used in this magazine are copyright of their authors. The AIM magazine’s content is for private use only and it must not be reproduced in part or in full for commercial gain in any form. Each artisan contributor is responsible for their own work / contribution to the AIM magazine and retain full responsibility for their published work. The authors/self publishers cannot be held legally responsible for any consequences arising from following instructions, advice or information in this magazine.

www.artisansinminiature.com http://artisansinminiature.blogspot.com/


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AIM mag issue 31 February 2011

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