Tuesday - The Great Mini Get-Together

What a fun day it was today!  We picked up Susan and met her charming husband then went to another place only half an hour's drive to visit another miniaturist, Lidi.  I usually only see Lidi at the Sydney Fair, and am slowly getting a collection of her wonderful baskets together.  You can see more of them on her blog Basketcase Miniatures  Lidi learned to weave baskets the traditional way from a weaving teacher Helen, who we also met.  She applies all the methods of full-size basket weaving to her 1:12th scale (and also 1:24th scale) baskets!  The patience required to create these works of art is incredible, just as it is for Susan's crochet.  They leave other baskets far, far, far behind.  Here are the ones I bought from her today.

Aren't they delightful?  I had a really hard time choosing even though I knew Lidi was giving me good prices.  I will treasure these and the others I have bought over the years, they truly are Craftsman pieces.  The little birdhouse is sitting on a tree stump that Lidi's husband Peter has cast.  They collect interesting pieces of timber that are suitable and cast copies of them, for the different size birdhouses to sit on.  Then you 'plant' flowers and vines around them.


And here we are - the three of us.  Susan on the left, Lidi in the centre and me at the end on the right. We had been enjoying a cuppa (in my case a hot chocolate) together on the verandah in front of Lidi's shop, which we are standing in front of.  The cafe just down from her shop in the same building does the best hot chocolate.

It was the most beautiful day - we have had wonderful weather all through this holiday and today was no exception.


I do try hard to persuade Lidi to try a simple basket in quarter scale.  I won't tell you her response, or the look that goes with it  - and she is being polite in front of me lol!  People don't understand that there is as much work in a half scale item as in a one inch scale, and it is more difficult because it is more fiddly.  So I well know that there is as much work in a quarter scale item but many times more difficult simply because it is so tiny that there isn't anything much to hold on to!


And please! If you are ever at a craftperson's table do not ever , and I mean ever comment that you could 'do it myself'.  If you think you can - don't say it, just go home and try.  You might well find that that 'simple' looking item is much, much harder than you think and you'll gain a new respect for the person who made it.  And if you hear someone else say it - tell them too.  It is so insulting to a craftsperson for someone to say that to their face.  They charge little enough for the time and work that goes into an item.  It never pays properly for what is involved.  And of course if you are successful and can do it as well, then you have discovered a new talent.


Now I'll just step off my high horse lol.  But when I see such gorgeous work and know that people just don't think it is worth paying for, it makes me cross.


Tomorrow we move on, so we can meet up with another miniaturist friend, this time in Queensland.  Jan and I have been friends for some time now, and she has come down for a couple of Sydney Fairs.  Last year I came up for a visit before the Fair and did the English Cottage ( find out more about it here ) and Jan was working on Tuscan Villa.  I will post about this year's minis on Snippets from my Studio.


So keep an eye out for the latest - on both blogs vbg
Blessings
Sandie