A Nostalgic Little Arbour in a Vintage Garden

It would be hard to think of a more fitting and beautiful venue for our all day workshop on April 7th than Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire. 'Underneath the Old Arbour' was perhaps the perfect choice of projects to create in  a truly nostalgic vintage garden, even using one of the original classrooms first used nearly eighty years ago when the garden school for young ladies was established by Miss Beatrix Havergall.

 This was the project for the day......either a 1/12th or 1/24th scale old fashioned arbour with vintage and well weathered furniture plus accessories.

The room just before everyone arrived....with our posh new spotty table cloths!

Celia...wondering if everything is ready.....

Then the fun started!

Very quickly the little arbours began to take shape.

 Everyone began to get their hands dirty!

Getting down to the serious business of making a table!

By the end, everyone had achieved magnificent creations.

It really was a lovely, lovely day - hardworking but such fun - and to judge by the smiles on the ladies as they departed with their rustic arbours entwined with flowering climbers, extra flowers to 'plant' later, instructions for a unique water feature, their handmade well-loved and much aged garden furniture in the boxes -  we think they enjoyed it as much as we did! 

A big thank you to everyone who participated and for making it such a special and happy workshop day.  Thanks also to everyone for yet again contributing so generously to our small raffle in aid of Breast Cancer Campaign (a magnificent £44.00 was raised)!! The prizes this time had been chosen from the delightful selection in the plant and gift shop there.

A selection of handmade and vintage items on offer.

 On show for inspiration and also for sale we put together a small table of our own handmade items and also some genuine vintage or antique pieces which seemed to fit well with the theme - it's always fun for us to choose some of our own treasures to 'dress the set' for this corner.  By the end of the day, with some of the purchases added to the scenes  as well, each one was truly orginal and beautifully made.

We are looking forward to seeing some photos of the many finished creations in the near future...(don't be shy ladies)!!


So now.............with more than half the places already booked, we are already looking forward to our next workshop on Sunday 1st September, which will also be held at Waterperry Gardens.

'Let's All Play in the Little Back Garden Workshop'
will be a gentle reminder of those summery days, decades ago, when Mother made a tent  from an old curtain and the toys were brought out to play with on the lawn.  This workshop will be different again from the others, can stand alone, butt into an existing house or be joined onto an earlier garden scene. It will be available in both 1/12th and 1/24th scales and enjoyable whether you are experienced or new to creating miniatures. Details and a downloadable booking form are on our website click HERE and do get in touch if you have any queries.

If you go to the website you'll also see the title for our winter workshop............

'Oh No It Isn't.............Oh Yes It Is!!

Haha....should be another fun project....have you guessed what it will be yet?

Celia and Robin
PS. The Nostalgia In Miniature Website has now undertaken a little bit of spring cleaning and at last  there are galleries of ALL the projects undertaken to date since our workshops began.....hope you enjoy browsing through them all. 

All Is Ready For Our Workshop On Sunday 7th April.

Underneath The Old Arbour Workshop
We have been beavering away in preparation for our impending workshop this coming Sunday 7th April at Waterperry Gardens. Kits have been created and instructions put together. We are looking forward to it very much. 

Molly has been keeping an eye on things....putting instructions together is tricky work!

You will be given various extra's to complete your unique vintage scene.

One of those "little extra's" will be instructions to make a weeny water feature with a difference!

Another "little extra" is material and instructions to make bunting-why not turn your little arbour into a celebratory scene!

If you are booked to come on Sunday, you will already have been given all the necessary information in our newsletter. Just in case you need reminding on how to get to Waterperry, here is a quick link:
CLICK HERE

We shall be starting promptly at 10.30am on Sunday.....and you are welcome to come along to the classroom from 10.15am onwards. . However we strongly recommend you grab a quick coffee in Ms H's Tea Room first  (it opens at 10.00am)  Their homemade cakes are to die for!

Oh yes....and there will be a raffle in aid of Breast Cancer Campaign as always but this time they will be life size goodies from the Waterperry shop. Plus we hope to have a small sales table of relevant items to the project, for you to purchase.
See you on Sunday!
Celia & Robin

BRAND NEW WORKSHOP FOR SEPTEMBER- BOOKING NOW OPEN!

We are delighted to announce that booking is now open for a brand new workshop in the autumn.............

LET'S ALL PLAY IN THE LITTLE BACK GARDEN WORKSHOP

Sunday September 1st 2013
At
Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire
ALL DAY WORKSHOP!
10.30am - 4.30pm

Do you remember when you were ever so small and all those summers just seemed so sunny, warm and endless fun?

How wonderful would it be to try and recapture just a little bit of that childhood magic in a unique miniature scene.

In our little back garden, "Mum" has tied the old clothes line to the top of the bird table and anchored it into the ground with an old meat skewer, as far down the lawn as it would reach. An old curtain has been flung over, weighted down at the edges with whatever came to hand. It has has made such a splendid tent for the afternoon!

Mr Golly and Miss Dolly are out in the back garden with their assorted little friends from the toybox, for a picnic!! While Mr Golly runs around the lawn with his wooden truck, Miss Dolly is preparing tea for her much loved guests, with old pans from the kitchen and the remains of a toy teaset.

Why not come and join us for the day and recreate a little bit of childhood nostalgia in this unique project - have some fun making the toys and some simple landscaping, including a very old fashioned bird table and a hedge.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS INCLUDING DOWNLOADABLE BOOKING FORM

BOOKING TO CLOSE VERY SHORTLY!

Booking is to close very shortly for 

Underneath The Old Arbour Workshop

 that is taking place at Waterperry Gardens on Sunday April 7th.

TWO LATE UNAVOIDABLE CANCELLATIONS MEANS THAT WE NOW HAVE 2 SPACES AVAILABLE ONCE MORE! 

Please get in touch with either Robin or Celia by email or phone if you would like to come. Full details can be found on the following link:
http://www.miniatureworkshops.com/Underneath_The_Old_Arbour_Workshop.html

 (CLICK HERE ALSO FOR CONTACT DETAILS)

We are delighted to see a feature on Nostalgia In Miniature Workshops in the latest issue (April) of Dolls House & Miniature Scene magazine. 

If you turn to pages 60-61, you will see a double page spread on past projects etc.

Booking for the April workshop will be formally closing on March 7th- soon after that  we will bring news and open booking for our autumn workshop.

Work In Progress....The Little Old Arbour etc....Can We Tempt You?

As January is well and truly progressing, we are turning our attention to the next workshop that is taking place on April 7th at Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire.  

 

As with all our projects, we plan every detail down to the last dot.....but one of the hardest aspects of any project is not the ideas or the making, but the planning on exactly how to put each project together in the easiest and most practical way for you all, within the workshop environment. We have great fun working it out ... often with several sessions for each project.

 As you can see from all these photos, work is most definitely in progress! When the prototype is complete, more photos will appear on here.

Meanwhile, we do have a few spaces still available for this next workshop but you will need to book very soon as spaces are limited.

Before Christmas several people enthusiastically enquired about the possibility of coming but unless we receive your booking form and deposit, we cannot guarantee you a place. The booking form can be downloaded from the promotional page or if you do not have a printer, we are happy to post one to you. This project, like all our projects, are offered in both 1/12th and 1/24th scales.

http://www.miniatureworkshops.com/Underneath_The_Old_Arbour_Workshop.html

Have you never been to a workshop before, want to come but feeling shy? 

Please don't feel shy about our workshops....we are a friendly bunch indeed and it can be a very rewarding experience. Everyone is very supportive of each other and a lot of enjoyment can also be gained from each others achievements. Our workshops are suitable for beginners and more experienced alike and you can simply work at your own pace. Everyone is given a folder of detailed instructions and components, so if you are not able to complete the project on the day, you can finish it at home at your leisure.

So folks, if you would like to come to this all day event.......meet new friends, learn new skills and have fun creating an absolutely unique little garden scene in a beautiful setting at the famous Waterperry Gardens, then please go to the promotional page for more details.

http://www.miniatureworkshops.com/Underneath_The_Old_Arbour_Workshop.html

We look forward to hearing from you.
Celia & Robin

You can also see many examples of past workshops on our Nostalgia In Miniature Workshops website:
http://www.miniatureworkshops.com/index.html

Christmas Comes Early...On a Rainy Saturday

Saturday 24th November was one of those really rainy days - awful weather!!  However, everyone attending our last workshop of the year at the Thame Guide HQ, made it safely and we started the day with coffee to the hugely happy sounds of the Zumba class in the next hall.  It was a great start to a hardworking but fun-filled day.

When Father Papered the Parlour...The Week Before Christmas 

This was the theme for our all day workshop and it really did enthuse everyone; the room boxes took on their owners'  individual touches as the day progressed, which is particularly pleasing for us to see. 

Our workshop participants learned a new way of creating a lovely wooden floor, built a beautiful tiled fireplace with a unique tiled hearth specially created for this workshop using a vintage tile as the starting point for the design. 

Lots of fun was had deciding how to design the wallpaper! Presented with a series of suggestions, options, printing sticks, paint and pens, each lady produced her own individual wallpaper by embellishing and enhancing a simple craft paper. The results were stunning!! Then of course the wallpapering and pasting began....and finally some Christmas decorations that poor 'Mother' was hoping to hang up....

One of the stunning wallpapers that were created in 1/12th scale, and the start of the fireplace

No Christmas event would be complete without chocolates, mince pies and mulled wine (thanks Jennie) - LOVELY - and a Christmas Raffle!!

She looks happy with her Christmas prize!

This is the second year of Nostalgia in Miniature Workshops  - and attendees to our workshops always so very generously support our fundraising for Breast Cancer Campaign, through our small raffles and refreshments. We'd both like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone who has so kindly contributed and are delighted to tell you all that the total raised at the November workshop was £40.40, which brings the total raised over the four 2012 workshops to a rather wonderful....£163.65. 

A cheque will be sent off  to the charity shortly.

And now....the two of us are getting on with the business of detailed planning and building of the next project Underneath the Old Arbour which we will show you in the New Year. Booking for this all day workshop at the prestigious and wonderful Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire has already opened - half the places are filled - so if you are tempted to treat yourself to an early Christmas present, do hop over to the website for all the details and a downloadable Booking Form without delay.

   

A Happy Sunday Making.....The Other Room!

Where could you have more fun - productive fun at that - than in Thame on a rainy Sunday afternoon?

Last Sunday was spent at our final half-day workshop of the year.  Another lovely day with a group of enthusiastic and talented ladies of varying abilities who were there to create our unique project of 'The Vintage Hall.....The Other Room'. This additional little room  was designed to butt onto the hall from the previous workshop undertaken earlier in the year.

In each workshop we endeavour to introduce new techniques and original ideas - all designed to inspire the participants to go on to create their own original projects using the different skills they've learned.  So this time we had more new features such as a super arched window- components supplied by Malcolm's Miniatures. Each of our ladies painted a wonderful landscape behind and added some real foliage to suggest trees or bushes outside, which created a vivid 3D effect. To complete the project, other unique features were introduced including.....sliding doors and authentic 1930s lino!

That wall is coming along nicely! We love seeing earlier projects that may have had the finishing touches added later. Can you see Janet's little old shed on the table...magnificent!

 It was the first time that some of the ladies had ever painted a landscape - they were all really good (and they enjoyed it!)

 

Didn't they do well!!!!

The participants built on their previous experience to age the walls of the room, adding skirting and dado rails.  They also had the option to make either 1930s lino or floor-boards. Finishing touches were curtains and windows prepared for a wartime setting if required, a slatted bench or shelf and vintage posters.

At each workshop we raise funds for Breast Cancer Campaign by offering refreshments and a small  raffle featuring our original work as prizes.

Prizes this time consisted of an aged cardboard box of books by Celia of course (in her very distinct KT Miniatures style)! Plus a teapot, cake  and a special catering size WI teapot by Robin (in her also very distinct Coombe Crafts style)! All prizes were offered in both 1/12th and 1/24th scales. 

Congratulations to the prize winners and we are thrilled to tell you that at this last workshop a grand total of £48.00 was raised from the raffle and refreshements. Thank you ladies for your generosity...it is very much appreciated.

When our final workshop of the year is over one very big cheque will be sent off to the charity on behalf of all our ladies who have attended our workshops this year.

Our November Workshop...

Our next workshop is our Christmas 'extravaganza' ......which is now fully booked, but you may enjoy seeing the video of this project and details of future workshops on our Website.

Finally.........We Are Pleased To Announce That Booking Is Now Open For Next April 7th Workshop To Be Held At Waterperry Gardens!!

 

Our 2013 calendar of workshops begins with 'Underneath the Old Arbour' - our venue is once again the inspirational and popular Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire. 

We are very excited about this project and it appears that so are many of you too, as already 13 places have been definitvely booked. Therefore that means just 7 possible places remain so please get in touch if you would like to come!
For full details including exactly what we will be making plus a downloadable booking form can be found on the following promotional page:

http://www.miniatureworkshops.com/Underneath_The_Old_Arbour_Workshop.html