Since it is less than a week since I have had abdominal surgery, I borrowed my mother's wheelchair and my wonderful husband pushed me around all day. Poor thing is feeling rather sore today! He carried the shopping bag and took photos for me as well, so he was really handy to have around. Apart from that I really enjoyed his company. He isn't interested in minis at all and doesn't usually come with me but this year was special - Peter was with me, and Jan, a friend from Bundaberg also visited Sydney for the Fair. It was really tiring, but I had a wonderful day - even though I kept hearing 'Sandie, stop pulling the wheelchair forward with your feet! Wait for me to position you!' I had a list of things I wanted to look for, and managed to get most of them. I also have 'favourite sellers' and like to visit them every year.
This year I wanted to see what delights Rhonda McDonald had created - she is a talented artist and does beautiful folk art on furniture. I was torn between several items of kitchen cupboards with old-
I was pleased to find two Jia Yi display counters with clear shelves and mirrored rear doors for my wedding boutique, along with a smaller display unit. And a single black and brass bed with buttoned mattress and pillow, handmade by a couple in Nambucca, in north NSW.
Things that weren't on the list but will fit perfectly with on-going projects are a round 'bentwood' table with glass top and two chairs with faux cane seats - generic, but I would rather buy them from local suppliers than pay shipping from overseas and have to paint them myself anyway. A strawberry cheesecake on a glass cake stand. A mug with a teddy bear on it to add to my Teddy Bear roombox. 'Muddy' gumboots.
Some quarter-scale furniture and plants (at the front) were on the list and I was happy to be able to get some items by an Aussie quarter-scale enthusiast, Judy Moras, to add to an upcoming project.
Bill and Irene Cook specialise in items that are different from the usual 'pretty' things, and he is a 'must visit' table. Bill feels that 'men's stuff' is sadly neglected (which is true) and is trying to fill that niche a bit. He is a retired engineer and a talented artist. He got in to miniatures when he built his wife a dollshouse - and did everything himself. One of the British magazines came out and interviewed them and did a feature article on the house. I have visited them and saw the house 'in the flesh' and it is wonderful. Next year when Jan comes down for the Fair I hope to arrange a visit for her to see the house too. Bill does not take commissions, he makes according to what he feels like doing, and he doesn't do many of anything, so I never know what he will have.
This year I scored a telescope on a stand; a pair of guns (45s) in a felt-lined case with gun grease and ammunition; a pipe box with pipe, matches, tobacco - both those boxes ornamented on the outside; and a Samurai sword that comes out of the scabbard and has its own 'ebony' stand. I keep dropping hints about another working music box (grin) - maybe one day I'll be lucky! And I'm going to ring him and buy the rack with a rifle, powder horn and bag that I passed over yesterday too.
Lidi Stroud is a brilliant Aussie basket weaver. She makes authentic baskets using the same techniques as those used for life-sized baskets and I was hard-pressed to choose which ones to buy from the wide variety she had on offer. I will definitely be adding to my collection of these lovely items every year. I need fishing-type accessories, picnic baskets, ................
Each year I see what is on offer from a talented porcelain artisan from Tasmania, Margaret Crosswell. She wasn't there last year, and I was worried that she might not be coming any more, but she was there again yesterday. I stocked up on a collection of hand-crafted porcelain figurines, a set of three 'flying ducks' like the ones I remember from my childhood friend's house and a vase, as well as two more Santa figurines to add to my collection.
And from another lady from Tasmania, yet more snowmen, Santas, Nutcrackers and a tiny tree. My collection is growing quite nicely. This second lot is not porcelain, but my collection contains figures made from all different materials. She doesn't think she will come again next year, the cost of the car ferry and the price of petrol makes it very expensive. I hope she changes her mind, she specialises in Christmas things and I would love to get a lot more from her.
There are other favourite sellers that I didn't get to visit this year - the interest was there but the energy was lacking and the money was gone! There's always next year, and I already have the first three 50cent pieces to start my saving for next year's Fair. Every 50cent piece that comes into this house is kindly donated by my son and my husband to go in to my big money box, and I also add whatever else I can; it gets me off to a good start.
Jan and I met online. We are members of the same miniature needlework group, called Petitpointers - when I joined, Jan contacted me to say 'G'day' from one Aussie to another and our friendship has grown since. We are also both members of the Australian branch of the Miniature Needlework Society and we exhibited some of our miniature needlework as part of the MNS display at this year's Fair. Once Jan returns home I will ask her permission to publish a photograph of her gorgeous needlework - she showed two items: the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Exquisite work. I had various items, from designers such as Margaret Morgan of Thumbelina, Janet Granger, Felicity Price, and other sources, some of which I had adapted to suit my own requirements.
We had also each constructed a 1:48 scale cottage - our first attempts at this scale, and both done by ourselves since we don't belong to a Miniatures Club. We had each bought the kits a long time ago, before we became friends and decided to take on this new challenge to display this year. So it was a steep learning curve for us. To add to the challenge, the cottages were different. I started mine slightly earlier, and since I don't work and my kit had all the different components, I was able to work on it solidly until most of it was completed. Jan works part time, she had to order and wait for most of the components and the landscaping items, and she also lives in a Regional town that doesn't have the range of stores that I have access to here in a capital city. So I had finished my cottage earlier and tried to pass on the lessons I had learned through the mistakes I made. I am sure I will make a whole new set of mistakes with the next 1/4" (1:48) scale project I do! This cottage was really much simpler than the next one I plan on doing - and much simpler than Jan's is too, so there's a whole range of undiscovered hazards out there just waiting for me to find them.
There were such a lot of wonderful displays at the Fair - many people having more than one. I don't think I have seen any of them before, either. That is a bit sad really, it would be nice if people would display their things for more than one year, it is really enjoyable to admire them more than just once.
Highlights for me: a multi-storey 'dollhouse' with a difference: a clockcase-type structure, with glass sides and front, each level a different room, filled with truly beautiful furniture. Several attics made in a class taken by Rhonda McDonald and each completed in totally different ways. A fisherman's cottage adapted from a Witch's Cottage made in a Rik Pierce class. A stage coach displayed with 2 horses, alongside a car and a motor bike. A canal boat. A crofter's cottage. A bakery, which measured about 2' square, and had several rooms and showed the complete baking process and selling area. A 'street' of tenements based on an actual inner Sydney suburban street in the 1950's, including backyards. Three Asian settings in glass boxes by a delightful chap who works in ChinaTown. His three brothers live and work in Hong Kong and send him things from there as well. And so much more! Tomorrow I will try again to post some photos - it won't accept them tonight.