Cabinets of Curiosities

Posted on by janonlife

Continuing with my series on what’s available at Steampunk-Shrunk, this week I’d like to highlight the Cabinets of Curiosities.

Of all the things made here, I think the gadgets and gizmos are my favourites.  I love scouring charity shops, discount stores, eBay and so forth for tiny weird bits and pieces I can upcycle, combine and transform in wild and wonderful ways.  Inevitably, I was ending up with a mass of very fragile tiny steampunk gadgets, whose purpose I could only guess at.  A few found their way into the room boxes or the hands of my characters, but Charles Tradescant here decided to collect the rest together into wooden cabinets.

The ones available at the moment are all this style (left and above) – about 8 inches/20cm tall and 6 inches/ 15cm wide, freestanding and made of wood, with a perspex window, ten compartments and a decorative fastening catch.

Charles displaying a smaller cabinet – currently out of stock

I suppose they would fit into a tall dolls’ house, but they really look their best as freestanding ornaments on shelves or mantelpieces, where the intricate and eclectic contents can be viewed.  Each is completely unique, with a glorious mixture of books and letters, art works, specimens in jars, skulls, shells and other natural objects as well as the intriguing steampunk contraptions.  All are glued down, to preserve the sanity of the owner, but with moderate pressure they can usually be detached.

There will be three cabinets available at our next stall (Thame Dolls House and Miniatures Fair on Saturday 17th Feb 2018) at £45 each.  They can also be purchased online, with postage and packing extra, although a few items may need to be glued down again on arrival, so have some superglue handy.

Please use the contact form at the bottom of the HOME page on this site if you’d like to know more.

Book a Bargain

Posted on by janonlife

When I’m preparing stock for my stall, I like to have something to suit every age and every wallet.

Certainly the poseable porcelain figures, with all their clothes hand stitched and their tiny accessories and (often) new wigs all hand made, come out relatively expensive.  Likewise the room cases, which can take me weeks to create.  These items are not really suitable for children either, being fragile, with some sharp edges and a plethora of what health & safety people refer to as Small Parts.

That’s why I make sure some lines are child-friendly and always have a range of items for under £5.

The cheapest (and of course the best sellers) are the DIY miniature books.  For a mere 50p, customers can buy an A4 sheet containing a ready-to-make printed book, with full detailed instructions.  All they will need are scissors, a glue stick and considerable patience!  One enterprising lady at a sale just before Christmas bought one of these for each of her dinner guests instead of crackers, so that they’d spend a happy hour making them and each have a tiny memento to take home.  Construction needs a steady hand, so I hope not too much wine had flowed during the meal!  These are also popular pocket money purchases for children.

each page individually agedFor those who have less time and patience, there’s a range of ready made books, from tiny blank-paged notebooks and pencils to thicker, fully illustrated printed volumes.  The text of each book appears in this blog, in case the print is too difficult to read.

Here, for information, is a list of the books currently in print with links to their blog posts:

  • The Alarming Clock (available as a DIY book for 50p or a ready-made volume for £2.50)
  • Grimoire (ready-made book with each page carefully ‘aged’ for £4.50)
  • Molly – by Herself (DIY book for 50p)
  • The Magical Mechanical Bird (DIY book for 50p)
  • The Vital Chapter (The text is printed in blue towards the end of the linked post.  The ready-made book costs £3.50)
  • Journal (this ready-made book contains a few pages of her Ladyship’s notes.  The rest is blank and it costs just £2.50. The journal entries are based on the linked story, and the Case of the Withdrawing Room is also still available for sale at £48)
  • Heart of Glass (a ready-made book which was serialised here – Part 1 and here -part 2.  It costs £3.50)
  • Diary of a Tinkerer (My personal favourite!  A ready-made book which costs £3.50 and was serialised in four parts at these links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.)  Note: Young Henry was last heard of piloting an airship somewhere, although an older and wiser version of himself – such things are possible with time-space anomalies – resides with me and is not for sale!  His original engine room, however, is still available at £58.

People who come to my stalls keep complaining that they find my 1/12 scale books difficult to read :) so with the help of my miniature tinkers, I put together some illuminating manuscript readers, with magnifying lens and lamp. Come and try them at the Thame Miniatures Fair in mid February. www.steampunk-shrunk.com #steampunkshrunk #steampunk #modelling #miniatures #manuscriptsHappy reading, and should purchasers still wish to try reading the original volumes, we do have a few Illuminating Manuscript Readers, with magnifying lens and bright lamp for £14.  (It’s pictured here on a centimetre square grid, to give an idea of scale.)

All the above items are also available for mail order, with postage and packing extra.  Please use the contact form at the end of the HOME page on this website for any enquiries.