Reader project: Rosalind Emberton
Take a look Rosalind’s projects featuring her love of kits.
With help from Dolls House & Miniature Scene, Rosalind Embleton has been making miniatures since 1995 and with lockdown proving to be the perfect time, she has delved into the world of kits – a move which has since added to her substantial collection!
I started my hobby in miniatures in 1995 when I spotted a ‘leather’ settee in a dolls house shop and loved it so much I decided I needed a dolls house to put it in! Most of my houses I have built myself, from flat pack. Others I bought ready-made and decorated and furnished with the help of your fantastic magazine!
The grand house with the dual staircase at the front and the red door is the first house I built from flat pack, I even managed to put lighting in. I bought it from a shop in Newcastle which sadly isn’t there anymore. The house with blue door, a beautiful Edwardian style house, was from Streets Ahead and is called Highgate House, one of Sid Cooke’s houses. It consists of four rooms and a basement area with side gates, the front opens in one piece and it has a hinged roof. It is the last one I built in 2019 before the virus started. There is actually a third house built from flat pack, from Dolls House Emporium and a ballet boarding school I built from a kit, all MDF.
I started delving into miniature kit work while in the first lockdown and have continued until now. The kit work has added to collection and I now have, at present and not including my new beach huts, 13 houses and shops completing the collection. When the lockdown came in March I already had a beach hut to start and was so pleased at the result I decided to fill my sideboard. It took quite a while but, as I was going nowhere, I ordered them from a lovely man in Edinburgh who cuts them and posts out. They are great as they come plain and you can paint them whatever colours you wish. They have pride of place in the room. When the outside of the beach huts were finished, I bought the café. The rails on the upper floor were very fiddly, they were the size of matchsticks and had to be painted first, glued, then inserted into grooves of rails. I have arthritis in my hands so found it a bit awkward but I got there in the end. I also recently built the café, purchased online from Hobby’s, with open top dining and filled it with people. Every night while watching television I do miniature knitting for my little people. I’ve been doing this since the very beginning. Some of the patterns are from your magazine, quite a lot are made up and some are from friend. The people themselves I get from fairs, friends and Ebay.
I have also built a shop in the past year, well, it is more of a department store as it has four different shops inside, and an
antique shop, both built from kits from the man I mentioned previously in Edinburgh. My collection also comprises of a tea room with upper living room I built from a kit.
My favourite piece is the little Victorian shop with the perspex top. This took me the longest to create as I was new to the hobby at the time and I wanted to make a wooden floor from strips of wood not just floor paper. I wanted to make the food packets and food too.
Now apart from needing to furnish inside some of the beach huts, I am now getting itchy fingers and needing another project to start. However I do admit I am running out of room, I’m sure I can squeeze one in somewhere though!
When I stated this hobby I found an article in a dolls house magazine asking for pen pals who were miniaturists who were interested to get in touch. I decided to take part and I still write to the two ladies I connected with in the very beginning. One is in Canada, the other is in Scotland and we share ideas. Could it be an idea for an article in your magazine? I love looking back on all my old mags of yours when I need tips for certain projects.