Good day to you all. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Darius Robottom, known to many as ‘Doc’ (something to do with resembling a character from some old film, I gather).
I have been – between vital experiments aimed at bettering the future of humankind – watching the twin ventures of Mrs S and her team: The Steampunk Dolls House Etsy shop and the monthly craft stalls in Somerset where she trades as Steampunk – Shrunk. It occurred to me that it might be advantageous to join their community at the awkwardly names Steampunk-Shrunk Towers, but I wanted to assure myself that this was a suitably classy establishment for a gentleman of my immaculate credentials before making any commitment.
What better place to look than at the present month’s reviews for the shop? Well, they were charming, and most complimentary.
A customer called Sarah sent a photo of three items she had purchased, along with the following five star review:
“I was surprised by how much detail and writing there was on every page! Very well made, looks amazing and realistic!”
That impressed me. I’m rather a stickler for detail myself.
The next review came from a lady by the name of Diane. She had purchased LG, one of the Offcut Robots, for a very particular – and quite splendid – reason. Here is her photo of LG in position and her review, again with five stars, is as follows:
“Beautifully crafted item for displaying in a printers tray to represent items that my son enjoyed as a child.”
I was gratified to discover that craftsmanship is evidently valued by the group at Steampunk-Shrunk Towers.
The emphasis on craftsmanship is echoed by the third satisfied customer – clearly a person of considerable talent herself, which adds value to her review. To her five stars, she added this photograph and the review below:
“I am so thrilled that I found this shop and this piece! The chestnuts roasting over a trash can couldn’t be more perfect for my Italian family’s shops at their farmhouse. Can’t wait to display it in my fall set up. It just adds so much ambiance. It is really beautifully made and was shipped timely and packaged for safe arrival. I will be looking for more unique things at this shop!”
Who could resist visiting Carmela’s family farm shops, when that much trouble is taken with the display?
The final review (at the time of writing) is from a purchaser of a bundle of the printable miniature books available from the Etsy shop and craft stalls. She gave the five stars which seem to be awarded to virtually all the shop’s items and commented:
“Great Print, quality item, super cute!!”
All in all, then, I have decided that this establishment meets my very high standards and I am delighted to become part of this community. Thankfully, there are other creatives to chat with and I am very much enjoying my sojourn at Steampunk-Shrunk Towers.
Not your typical pretty-pretty Disney-type fairies of course, but then you wouldn’t expect those from Steampunk-Shrunk! These faeries are darker, edgier and strange.
It started when our gardener found a cache of beads on rusting wires – remnants from a long-forgotten craft project – buried beside the swamp (which was a pond until the badgers discovered it and lacerated the liner with their claws, but that’s another story) in the grounds of Steampunk-Shrunk Towers. The beads had a certain patina of age and once they had been removed from their old wires and threaded on to new ones, a variation on the Offcut Robots started to take shape, with the beads rather than rusty nails for arms and discarded macrame beads for heads and bodies. Chains and curled wire made their locs and the plastic lids used as paint palettes were cut up to create the wings. Torn paper clothing completed the ensemble. There were images of moths on the first one’s paper robe so she, obviously, had to be called Moth, while her copper, gold and yellow companion is Mustardseed. Peaseblossom is drying in the workshop as I write and Cobweb, Puck, Oberon and Titania will follow. Mrs S loves her Shakespeare!
By the end of Day 1, these had emerged.
By the end of the second day ON and LC were finished, with KC well on the way. To be honest, they’re not too steady on their pins, and prefer to lean decoratively in corners, but they have a certain rustic charm.
I opted to stand on the highest point, beside my wonderful astrologium, and we received many admiring glances. One lady almost paid to take me home, but finally decided her funds were not sufficient.
My name is Molly, but since there was a previous proprietor of this little bookshop who went by the same name, the inhabitants of Steampunk-Shrunk Towers call me Molly II, which sounds rather regal, I feel. Apparently the first Molly was enticed to head off to live in a beautiful home in North Wales with someone everyone here calls ‘Her Ladyship’. I’ve read 
Of course there are customers who take an interest and engage. Most are charming, mildly apologetic that they won’t be buying, but enjoy looking closely at the wares and asking questions. The smiles on the faces of small children allowed to turn the handles of the wobbly mechanical things and make the birds, balloons etc twirl around made up for the lack of takings. Then there was the gent who was walking past and did a double take, recognising Mrs S from quite different circumstances. Having greeted her, he stopped to take in the the stall’s contents. His eyes moved slowly along the six foot table, then he stopped and stared at Mrs S.
Steampunk - Shrunk! 