Meta tags:
description=Jane Laverick\ s online porcelain doll shop and art gallery;

Headings (most frequently used words):

what, the, spring, min, new, janelaverick, com, to, do, when, you, are, worried, is, it, art, or, craft, difference, ants, box, clever, newness, shoe, smalls, redemption, something, underhand, afoot, smallest, yet, dolls, for, 2026, search, categories, tags,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (470), and (200), you (155), for (99), are (87), have (84), that (80), dolls (77), they (74), with (56), all (52), can (50), miniatura (47), was (45), which (44), doll (41), this (41), from (37), there (35), were (33), because (33), very (32), will (30), art (29), make (29), one (29), had (29), them (28), could (28), not (28), out (28), about (27), would (26), your (25), like (25), see (24), made (23), new (22), these (22), years (22), what (22), posted (21), people (21), porcelain (20), just (20), some (20), show (19), time (19), been (19), but (19), world (18), house (17), get (17), their (17), artists (16), many (16), she (16), skill (16), making (15), here (15), when (15), into (15), worry (15), scale (14), has (14), put (14), know (14), more (14), who (14), her (14), craft (14), leave (13), 2026 (13), bit (13), only (13), few (13), good (13), something (13), then (13), knickers (13), miniature (12), look (12), how (12), much (12), may (12), way (12), own (12), two (12), say (12), still (12), round (12), stuff (12), love (12), ants (12), comment (11), where (11), live (11), first (11), long (11), clothing (11), over (11), any (11), buy (11), real (11), life (11), last (11), full (11), did (11), cupboard (11), miniatures (10), tagged (10), going (10), without (10), shoes (10), head (10), think (10), admin (10), well (10), being (10), other (10), www (9), find (9), ago (9), day (9), does (9), under (9), tudor (9), anything (9), every (9), hobby (9), spring (8), card (8), part (8), now (8), hair (8), wig (8), down (8), lot (8), end (8), feet (8), need (8), size (8), old (8), never (8), work (8), exhibitors (8), boxes (8), year (7), miniaturists (7), box (7), person (7), dressed (7), fourteen (7), after (7), three (7), quite (7), legs (7), stand (7), whether (7), small (7), march (7), sewn (7), anyone (7), days (7), next (7), several (7), having (7), hand (7), might (7), various (7), visitors (7), than (7), change (7), things (6), table (6), though (6), want (6), why (6), same (6), min (6), lady (6), charlotte (6), often (6), room (6), through (6), paint (6), start (6), yourself (6), tea (6), leather (6), used (6), away (6), found (6), sometimes (6), shopping (6), don (6), thing (6), hall (6), doing (6), always (6), packaging (6), garden (6), cards (6), dementia (5), victorian (5), tell (5), forty (5), wanted (5), thought (5), twelfth (5), each (5), takes (5), ask (5), difficult (5), course (5), right (5), someone (5), together (5), pretty (5), before (5), large (5), five (5), inch (5), jointed (5), tall (5), half (5), makes (5), front (5), pieces (5), necessary (5), collection (5), again (5), brush (5), even (5), artist (5), couple (5), mother (5), done (5), station (5), garment (5), question (5), once (5), also (5), fair (5), money (5), expect (5), lie (5), difference (5), getting (5), currently (5), books (5), enough (5), paper (5), items (5), pot (5), medium (5), worried (5), worries (5), com (4), gardening (4), 24th (4), won (4), should (4), coming (4), cost (4), great (4), off (4), further (4), came (4), really (4), frozen (4), sell (4), museums (4), parts (4), most (4), original (4), body (4), until (4), sit (4), inches (4), tiny (4), move (4), his (4), glue (4), else (4), everything (4), cup (4), our (4), week (4), wear (4), father (4), wore (4), silk (4), best (4), actually (4), turned (4), reason (4), online (4), second (4), bath (4), top (4), however (4), less (4), nature (4), myself (4), shop (4), ladies (4), item (4), remember (4), already (4), happy (4), picked (4), sure (4), exhibitor (4), different (4), working (4), between (4), nearly (4), wrong (4), exhibiting (4), dies (4), cutting (4), goes (4), car (4), themselves (4), picture (4), back (4), ant (4), bait (4), bulbs (4), lilies (4), giant (4), applied (4), imitation (4), design (4), health (4), events (4), janelaverick (3), 48th (3), houses (3), book (3), search (3), looked (3), problem (3), ten (3), internally (3), articulated (3), hundred (3), probably (3), brushable (3), try (3), dress (3), descendants (3), clothes (3), little (3), looking (3), arms (3), china (3), went (3), either (3), said (3), known (3), piece (3), rub (3), child (3), space (3), gathered (3), ribbon (3), string (3), both (3), woman (3), bare (3), toddler (3), far (3), cap (3), let (3), mean (3), absolutely (3), gone (3), bring (3), hundreds (3), materials (3), started (3), glued (3), human (3), future (3), details (3), properly (3), too (3), cut (3), fit (3), proper (3), while (3), substantial (3), ended (3), got (3), dusters (3), centuries (3), come (3), vests (3), present (3), situation (3), loved (3), plenty (3), costume (3), brought (3), area (3), survived (3), underwear (3), true (3), designed (3), cannot (3), keep (3), incredibly (3), somewhere (3), answer (3), huge (3), job (3), matchbox (3), die (3), bags (3), talking (3), collectors (3), case (3), its (3), sundries (3), gallery (3), occupy (3), bottom (3), moved (3), enamel (3), bad (3), left (3), along (3), nice (3), rest (3), april (3), wish (3), learned (3), skilful (3), effort (3), con (3), produce (3), view (3), dictionary (3), process (3), sized (3), cheque (3), hobbies (3), control (3), jane (3), writing (2), tree (2), nec (2), sculpture (2), mrs (2), beetroot (2), moulds (2), stoneleigh (2), dealing (2), site (2), older (2), posts (2), click (2), below (2), thousand (2), visiting (2), twenty (2), fourth (2), glad (2), living (2), taken (2), thirty (2), redress (2), stuck (2), wire (2), pictures (2), shoulder (2), regency (2), mary (2), welded (2), white (2), glazed (2), didn (2), worst (2), called (2), tale (2), proud (2), ride (2), everyone (2), arrived (2), solid (2), able (2), earth (2), surviving (2), quantities (2), awful (2), amount (2), families (2), afford (2), tray (2), although (2), 1930s (2), history (2), simple (2), shape (2), means (2), areas (2), rope (2), looks (2), those (2), turn (2), foot (2), women (2), face (2), inspired (2), leonardo (2), met (2), bedroom (2), composed (2), felt (2), baby (2), era (2), lad (2), boy (2), point (2), him (2), use (2), removable (2), photo (2), standing (2), balance (2), despite (2), 1st (2), wigs (2), brushed (2), soft (2), hurt (2), flat (2), heels (2), shoe (2), balanced (2), choose (2), spent (2), remnants (2), girlfriend (2), willing (2), breeches (2), believe (2), age (2), purpose (2), cloth (2), rubbish (2), textiles (2), bits (2), survive (2), cloths (2), holes (2), told (2), eventually (2), past (2), winning (2), police (2), children (2), disposable (2), fashion (2), easy (2), inherited (2), feel (2), value (2), museum (2), trying (2), times (2), selling (2), shift (2), usually (2), become (2), reverse (2), bear (2), designer (2), undergarments (2), grandmother (2), warm (2), queen (2), victoria (2), embroidered (2), existence (2), pair (2), purchase (2), antique (2), extremely (2), whole (2), labelled (2), suggest (2), recall (2), layers (2), expensive (2), orange (2), cloves (2), hanging (2), slightly (2), air (2), quality (2), around (2), visit (2), guide (2), given (2), smalls (2), home (2), filled (2), contact (2), wonderful (2), meanwhile (2), wrote (2), interviewed (2), interesting (2), begin (2), showing (2), ways (2), lovely (2), reality (2), visitor (2), collector (2), hour (2), tee (2), shirt (2), toothbrush (2), 12th (2), seem (2), 10th (2), 11th (2), october (2), tickets (2), finish (2), fence (2), garage (2), ready (2), troubles (2), big (2), take (2), deal (2), 19th (2), matchboxes (2), near (2), machine (2), hard (2), decided (2), strong (2), instead (2), third (2), realised (2), entire (2), wheeled (2), such (2), stands (2), display (2), leaning (2), purchased (2), weekend (2), possible (2), fall (2), especially (2), depressed (2), wave (2), crafting (2), clock (2), activity (2), took (2), foil (2), packet (2), extreme (2), cleared (2), everywhere (2), doubt (2), corner (2), wall (2), nothing (2), dishes (2), kettle (2), gets (2), repotted (2), thinking (2), list (2), artwork (2), carnationcrafts (2), kits (2), variety (2), brain (2), required (2), practice (2), happen (2), kind (2), exhibits (2), desired (2), watercolour (2), knew (2), wet (2), using (2), printer (2), computer (2), reproduction (2), involved (2), outcome (2), seasoned (2), experience (2), selection (2), talk (2), knowledge (2), word (2), unmade (2), bricks (2), reasons (2), muriel (2), hopwood (2), founder (2), respect (2), piles (2), members (2), public (2), reading (2), junk (2), journal (2), stamperia (2), qualified (2), another (2), send (2), regular (2), parents (2), knows (2), noticeably (2), drink (2), worrier (2), likely (2), reaction (2), personal (2), soon (2), least (2), demented (2), proudly, powered, wordpress, felling, tim, holtz, configurations, radio, play, qvc, pouring, mould, naec, milliput, kilns, humour, care, comedy, christmas, cats, cancer, busy, builders, bereavement, poem, aggression, tags, werse, uncategorized, parrot, landed, information, nostalgia, household, mismanagement, lost, novels, knickerbocker, glory, diaries, astronomy, ancient, egypt, categories, wishes, simply, says, sign, saying, please, collectable, played, amazing, strung, sandwich, aren, decide, prices, fossilized, obligation, fancied, confuse, polymer, clay, bodies, wrists, swimwear, twenties, dresses, intend, collect, housekeeper, renaissance, shrink, originals, sizes, outstretched, weld, enemy, cautionary, sleigh, shawl, invented, meant, finally, nightmare, clean, prior, firing, slip, scalpel, enthusiastic, dead, bin, historical, aspect, slave, labour, factories, cheaper, kiln, painted, remained, saleable, cheaply, lace, pedlar, particular, timing, type, throughout, hole, admit, form, stringing, works, larger, shrinking, reasonably, faithful, historic, miniaturise, recent, gorgeous, aerobics, easiest, uffizi, night, attire, quarter, suddenly, crawl, teenage, mediaeval, apprentice, modern, kid, baseball, backwards, ruler, behind, smaller, residents, processes, ceramic, artefacts, heirlooms, material, traditional, dubious, rely, transitory, articulating, sculpted, floor, build, marvel, crikey, lobster, finger, nail, wigged, wow, owner, managed, pea, smallest, yet, gentle, therefore, inner, raise, iron, beat, backs, hammer, weeks, school, sticking, plasters, bleeding, forefinger, maker, soles, comfortable, toes, toe, nails, quieter, draws, nearer, 6th, underhand, afoot, pants, nicely, lacily, clad, knockers, deserve, john, donne, romantic, flea, bet, popinjays, rocks, striding, stuffed, stringy, previous, paramours, panties, eighteenth, century, wasting, energy, resources, insane, earlier, disintegrated, rags, shreds, bombast, sold, traded, inflated, term, puffed, bombastic, closer, unlikely, escape, blasted, rigours, valuable, hoard, throw, polishing, interestingly, handed, developed, inquiring, held, polish, anyway, desirable, colouring, competition, ww2, donate, winnings, shoeless, fund, run, country, wide, textile, rich, almost, capitalised, industry, persuade, via, catwalk, absolute, necessity, season, roses, understand, attraction, pre, cousins, badly, expected, passed, corsets, worn, must, resale, personally, shrunken, interests, research, roman, onward, mineral, springs, supposed, efficacious, relieving, ailments, sickly, relatives, cure, defray, unexpected, corpse, individual, hence, became, centre, trade, breasts, housed, tubular, linen, breast, corset, straps, placed, upper, torso, laced, examples, filthy, historians, tendency, outer, arrangements, due, relevant, context, engineering, decisions, fragile, partly, responsible, robust, intact, liked, fire, lounge, winter, skirt, knees, danger, exposing, directoire, pink, obviously, direct, born, 1888, surprising, separate, leg, tied, waist, monogram, pairs, offered, genuinely, hers, stout, band, knee, voluminous, pale, cream, resemble, plus, fours, halves, unmentionables, situ, disinterred, corpses, state, elizabeth, famous, needed, bodily, fluids, overskirts, bodices, provide, evidence, sleeves, ventilated, carried, hung, belt, pomander, aunties, 1950s, withers, shrinks, holding, tightly, decorated, loop, elizabethan, airing, give, pleasant, citrus, freshener, festooned, pomanders, recorded, property, informed, certainty, brushing, immediately, escaped, shoelessness, 7th, redemption, shopper, failed, regretting, budget, afraid, seller, lay, plan, month, class, lots, forget, invest, brochure, aspects, caters, hobbyists, levels, ability, pockets, write, advice, shows, magazines, artisans, overpriced, topic, collecting, upset, grabbed, cheapies, dinners, valued, single, moving, side, priced, accordingly, 40p, luckily, reasonable, factory, heirloom, remove, surface, wash, enjoyed, cared, tumbling, moves, rooted, stitches, dry, flyaway, spray, hairspray, bristles, wasn, gluing, directly, sewing, results, superior, scruffy, lads, teenagers, annunciation, written, bvm, newness, mention, better, place, meets, hugs, amazement, frequently, disappointing, baddies, savviest, packing, packed, carefully, order, putting, inevitably, wandered, exhausted, weather, sunny, painting, repack, trolleys, awfulness, uplifting, shops, hugging, brave, smiling, minded, minimise, focus, specifications, rather, family, funds, horrible, backstory, doesn, gives, breathing, equanimity, fairs, wonders, defines, anywhere, perfect, invisibly, spend, hours, researching, faster, measuring, knife, replacement, stick, gladstone, light, weren, bought, postal, perfectly, slim, whatever, important, safe, importance, travelled, journey, waiting, built, displayed, rotation, began, rehomed, wares, choice, example, ancillary, containers, safely, propped, range, devices, metal, tripods, bullet, wooden, covered, eye, level, pick, complains, ache, viewer, friendly, easels, arrangement, base, deck, chair, rake, varied, easily, volkswagen, wiggle, passenger, nevertheless, exhibition, paraphernalia, mild, compared, vans, boards, extend, accessories, partitioned, baskets, since, cases, assorted, 28th, clever, whoever, vouchsafed, sweat, pet, aardvark, urge, six, bothered, prima, donna, bras, edinburgh, spotted, drained, terms, four, stage, proceedings, kill, kitchen, predictably, increased, seemed, enthused, dwindled, crawling, flattened, dire, warnings, dangers, pets, forms, encountering, poison, casually, stations, teabags, result, trip, dump, 1970, enamelled, cookware, seventies, casserole, pans, outsides, interiors, save, international, bonfire, saw, whizzing, counter, maybe, rarely, emptied, formica, formicarium, chilly, difficulty, rescued, spot, prizes, except, feeling, ineffable, smugness, powder, daily, intervals, filling, gigantic, lifting, mildly, wedged, sent, shoots, rim, passing, asked, lily, bulb, ever, beside, fought, ages, wondering, nest, anty, neighbour, opined, surprised, street, hadn, depressing, 3rd, pursuit, promised, blogs, shortly, creating, isn, arrives, scroll, header, bar, makers, food, translate, sale, judging, judge, emulate, wishing, embellished, cuts, downloadable, annagriffin, easel, precious, manufacturers, composition, producing, taxing, enjoy, specifically, latest, consists, convincing, representation, lasting, steps, particularly, tried, commissioning, field, assessing, suitability, produced, vision, assembling, finished, sweeping, plates, dining, cereal, tub, brings, notable, absence, represents, acquiring, splash, earned, cash, unless, describe, skills, object, gave, dried, paints, dug, blocks, hammered, dust, unaware, paintbrush, block, colour, apply, sheet, understood, entailed, transfer, image, sufficiently, beginnings, eyes, fleeting, english, summer, sunshine, majesty, sailing, ship, turning, assist, finding, truth, fewer, words, cunning, guile, branch, skilled, crafty, dextrous, ingenious, linked, photograph, reproduced, demonstrate, programme, enabled, photographer, knowing, argue, replicating, convincingly, notice, replicate, moment, version, existed, apparent, exactly, insufficient, ensures, visibility, minutes, depth, intellect, nitty, gritty, certain, branches, learning, intellectual, instruments, continues, relation, exercised, esp, opposed, qualification, rule, objects, pass, ferrying, bed, studio, crowbarring, urinal, toilet, delivering, hods, building, consideration, logistics, intended, whilst, intention, irresistible, rehome, speak, firmly, opinion, grade, expressed, paid, deserved, motto, add, questioned, perhaps, sort, enormous, wafted, direction, questionably, cliffs, wrapped, plastic, urinals, beds, balloon, animals, sprayed, stencils, coils, early, current, iteration, representing, america, exhibited, remarkably, similar, remarkable, goodness, hoping, consider, shoppers, mostly, pocket, reporter, fortunate, interview, mouse, companies, papercraft, press, shapes, stickers, scissors, hottest, ones, engine, free, downloaded, demonstrations, none, highly, learn, advanced, yes, inside, heads, outside, browsing, mental, hardly, shattering, realisation, conclusion, soothing, strikes, viewed, correctly, acquired, anticipating, happened, handicraft, possibly, greetings, recommend, cardboard, recycling, grateful, reader, main, miniaturising, occasionally, diorama, fully, shelf, definitely, self, younger, mind, completely, worrying, eating, fattening, running, rain, seen, awfully, develop, sorts, behaviours, attention, load, gamble, temporary, relief, followed, worse, guess, practised, hot, frying, pan, mop, adverse, coloured, favourably, eventuate, similarly, moreover, cheerful, expectations, influence, behaviour, sphere, young, unpredictable, dangerous, ending, source, disastrous, outcomes, power, tip, predicting, tricky, benefits, miniaturist, greater, idea, drawn, totally, beliefs, differ, believes, alcohol, sixty, benefit, disagree, investigation, persistent, pain, covid, booster, injection, telling, opportunity, poorly, differs, withdrawal, screaming, matter, apart, idiot, powerless, readers, hello, help, workout, noticed, habit, common, morning, sitting, belief, blood, whooshing, treated, ends, account, links, checkout, cart, laverick, skip, content,

Text of the page (random words):
that word again skill it s a very good word in relation to art it goes on thing in which skill may be exercised then it gets right down to the nitty gritty certain branches of learning designed as intellectual instruments here you can see exactly why i like miniatura so much if the artists have insufficient skill they won t be there the selection process ensures the visibility of skill applied to imitation and design you only need to talk to some exhibitors for just a few minutes to be left in no doubt of the depth of knowledge and intellect brought to bear on the world in miniature you could argue that the whole of miniatures is about skill applied to imitation and design because the hobby is about replicating something in miniature convincingly notice i say something because it can be anything you could replicate a real house everything in it and all the people at a moment in time or you could make a miniature version of something that never existed seasoned miniaturists and people with no experience of miniatures at all could tell you whether it was good enough by looking the skill that had gone into the reproduction could be apparent up to a point if you use a 3d printer linked to a computer on which you can bring up a photograph which can then be reproduced in miniature is that art does it demonstrate skill or does the skill lie with the person who wrote the computer programme that enabled the reproduction does the skill lie with the designer of the 3d printer does it lie with the photographer is the skill involved in knowing how to put the process together to produce the desired outcome turning to the dictionary to assist us in finding the truth if we look up craft we find fewer words which are skill cunning guile a branch of skilled hand work and crafty dextrous or ingenious i would describe craft as the necessary skills in any medium to make the medium work to produce the desired object if i gave you a box of watercolour dried paints and you dug the paint blocks out and hammered them into dust i d suggest you were unaware of the craft required to make the medium work if you knew to wet a paintbrush and rub it on a block to produce colour and then used the brush to apply the paint to a sheet of watercolour paper i d say you understood what the craft entailed if after many years of skilful practice you could stand before a view and using the medium transfer an image of the view on to the paper i d say you had learned the craft sufficiently to have the beginnings of art if you could paint the picture to show us something more than we could see with our own eyes say the fleeting nature of english summer sunshine or the majesty of a tall sailing ship i d say you were an artist this brings us back to the notable absence of con artists at miniatura you can tell not just by looking but by talking to the exhibitor if it is good of its kind and how much effort has gone into it and whether the effort represents years of acquiring the necessary skill but there is no way you will splash your hard earned cash unless it exhibits skill applied to imitation and design miniaturists are particularly good at this because they themselves have tried to make art in miniature this could be anything from commissioning artists in every field assessing the suitability of the items produced for the end vision and assembling the finished display to sweeping the plates off the dining room table to make room for the collection of cereal boxes and the big tub of glue and anything in between i love miniaturists they know what they re on about because they ve had a go themselves for myself i do both art and craft the art you know about it consists of getting a convincing representation of a person in a difficult and lasting medium out of my head and into existence by the practice of all the skilful steps that are necessary to make it happen i also enjoy paper crafting specifically making cards here are some of the latest very pretty easel cards with precious little to do with me i buy kits and dies from various manufacturers and put them together i like the composition and variety of producing something pretty without much thought it s a nice change from the brain taxing effort required to make an original porcelain doll in case you wish to emulate me the wishing well cards are from www annagriffin com and they are further embellished with die cuts made by dies cutting out downloadable artwork from www carnationcrafts co uk as to judging whether what you see at miniatura is art or craft or learned craft so skilful it has become art you can judge for yourself at www miniatura co uk scroll along the header bar and click on all the makers you ll find a great deal of food for thought which may well translate into a list of artists you wish to visit at the next show which is 10th and 11th of october 2026 the tickets are on sale from may day as always i ll see you there in further pursuit of what is art and what is craft and can you do it yourself i will as promised begin a few blogs on all the different ways of making a doll shortly i m just going to finish having a lovely time creating without much thinking it isn t my art it is art done for me so i can craft and it makes a nice change for a while until my head will not let me rest again until a new doll arrives posted in about artists miniatura tagged art in miniature artists at miniatura is it art or craft the difference between art and craft leave a comment ants posted on 3rd april 2026 by admin i ve got ants it s very depressing i do live in a very anty area a neighbour once opined she was surprised the entire street hadn t been moved several feet to the left because of the ants usually however they re in the garden i have fought them in the garden every year for ages always wondering where their nest could be i found out do you remember my giant lilies in the front garden this picture is from several years ago when there was still a tree beside the giant lilies in their giant pot last year a lady passing by asked if she could have a lily bulb if i ever repotted the lilies this year i repotted the lilies lifting the bulbs was difficult to put it mildly they had wedged themselves in sent shoots under the turned in rim and nearly filled the pot which was huge some of the pot filling was new baby bulbs some was old gigantic bulbs the rest was ants so with difficulty i rescued all the bulbs down to the last third which was ants and then spot the bit where i went wrong no prizes except a feeling of ineffable smugness i moved the pot from the front garden to the fence near the house to make it easy for myself to put ant powder into the pot at daily intervals and as it turned out for the ants to move out of the chilly garden into the nice warm house first we saw them whizzing along the counter top maybe coming up from the rarely emptied bottom corner cupboard somewhere under the formica is a formicarium it took a couple of days to move all the stuff out of the cupboard the end result being a trip to the dump with a car full of 1970 s enamelled cookware by the look of it i did nothing in the seventies but buy casserole dishes pans and dishes with enamel outsides and enamel interiors i did save the kettle in case the international situation gets so bad the only way i can make a cup of tea is to balance the old enamel kettle on a bonfire of anything that is left although the tea is in doubt because once the corner bottom cupboard was cleared out the ants made their way to the wall cupboard where i keep the teabags so once all the stuff from that cupboard was cleared out and put everywhere else i purchased a packet of bait stations and put one in the cupboard instead it took them a couple of days to find it then the cupboard was crawling with ants i wanted to put the bait station in the cupboard in a flattened disposable foil tray because there were dire warnings on the packet about the extreme dangers of people pets and other life forms encountering the bait station poison the oh however said casually it would be all right and moved the station out of the foil and put it on its own in the cupboard for a couple of days activity dwindled i decided to leave it one more day to be sure predictably activity increased which is when i put the second ant bait station in the cupboard which very many ants seemed enthused about by this stage a week after the start of proceedings i was quite depressed i don t want to kill anything but i don t want ants in my kitchen either i was coming to terms with it all and then at four o clock we had a cup of tea and at five o clock i spotted an ant in the bottom of my drained tea cup i m very depressed again and if i have the urge to lie on my back and wave all six legs in the air i leave the dolls to my collectors my crafting stuff to anyone who can be bothered to take it and my new extremely expensive prima donna bras to smalls for all in edinburgh whoever first vouchsafed that we should not sweat the small stuff either did not have ants or did have a pet aardvark or just never had an ant in their tea posted in about artists tagged ants leave a comment box clever posted on 28th march 2026 by admin it is the second weekend since miniatura and i still have a hall full of wheeled cases and assorted exhibiting stuff my paraphernalia is mild compared to other exhibitors some have very large vans especially if they are showing houses as you might expect some have huge boards to put on top of the table to extend it especially if they have a lot of very small sundries and accessories to show in partitioned baskets i only can have what i can fit in my car which is a ten year old volkswagen up as there is only me i do have a bit of wiggle room without a passenger nevertheless the exhibition sundries occupy more room in the car than the dolls some of the sundries are items you might expect such as table cloths and stands i spent a long time working out how to display dolls so that they could be picked up and put down again safely leaning in a box is the answer so that the boxes themselves have been propped on a range of leaning devices for years they were on metal picture tripods inherited from my father s antique shop and picture gallery until i bit the bullet and actually purchased wooden stands for artists to paint pictures on these stand on boxes which i made and covered so that some of the dolls are at eye level visitors like to look at a doll often before they pick it up and everyone complains of back ache at the end of a long weekend so i like to get as much as possible into a viewer friendly area the art easels have an arrangement at the base like deck chair feet so that the rake can be varied so that dolls can fall back into the boxes easily all of this ancillary stuff takes up space in the car going in various containers but the packaging takes up an entire wheeled case of its own when i began dolls were rehomed in paper bags many exhibitors still do sell their wares in paper bags which would be the packaging of choice if you were selling ribbon for example over the years talking to collectors and being a collector myself i have realised the importance of packaging at the fair for a start many miniaturists have travelled a long way to get to miniatura i know my dolls live all around the world the packaging has to be strong enough to survive a journey i also know that many of my dolls live in packaging waiting for a house to be built for them to live in some dolls are part of a collection without a house and can be displayed in rotation whatever the reason the packaging is important to keep the doll safe sometimes for years i make most of my own i spend many hours researching dies to make various boxes i am so glad to have a die cutting machine which is so much faster than measuring and cutting card with a craft knife which i used to do years ago it still takes a few days of hard work to cut all the replacement boxes after a fair and stick them all together for a while i had gladstone bags in light card for the twelfth scale dolls but i decided this fair they weren t strong enough and instead have bought white postal card boxes for the twelfth scale dolls anyone under three inches tall goes in a matchbox made by me i have just found a third size of matchbox dies which i am very happy about they will fit the new lad perfectly being long and slim i think matchboxes are just the right thing for the dolls even if they never get anywhere near a dolls house it is perfect to have a real articulated invisibly jointed original artist porcelain doll in miniature living in a matchbox that s what miniatures should be about i think if you never get further than a collection a collection of wonders in matchboxes pretty much defines the hobby i would say what do you think posted in dolls miniatura tagged exhibiting at fairs exhibiting dolls getting ready for a fair leave a comment spring min posted on 19th march 2026 by admin i love miniatura i used to love it because it is the best show for dolls house miniatures that there is it still is i loved it because all the exhibitors are hand picked and i was proud to be one of them i still am but most of all i loved it because of the people both visitors and exhibitors miniatura always was and will be a huge hall full of like minded people people who choose to minimise their troubles and focus on the tiny world they make to their own specifications rather than big world troubles which they cannot do anything about you still have to live them if you have a problem body a difficult family wrong funds wrong job and a horrible backstory miniatures doesn t take any of that away what the hobby does is it gives you a breathing space so you can deal with the awful stuff with equanimity to be in a hall full of wonderful people who don t let the awfulness of life get to them is incredibly uplifting it s not often you see people in shops hugging each other but you see it at the min all the time it s a hall full of brave people smiling as always i was the last exhibitor to finish packing up and go a thousand porcelain things have to be packed carefully i try to do reverse order from putting out but inevitably dolls have wandered round the table i am still exhausted but the weather is so sunny i ve been out painting the fence and gardening after the next bit of gardening i will do the garage and all the books and then i will repack all the trolleys with boxes ready for next time 10th and 11th october is the next show be like the savviest visitors and book your tickets now some people do you know like me for the last nearly forty years they live from show to show reality is rubbish and frequently disappointing currently in large parts of the world the baddies seem to be winning miniatura has always been good and is getting better it is the place where the miniature world meets for hugs for love for amazement for a great day out i love miniatura did i men...