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.
That was a close shave! Just as daylight was fading on Friday night, Mrs S pronounced Ginger Jenkins, our latest arrival, fit to travel with us on the Saturday morning, to the Craft & Vintage Market in Glastonbury Town Hall.
“Just a nip, my dear, to keep me alert,” she insists, but she slid from her chair on numerous occasions. Rather unseemly.
Obviously Valentine goodies will be featured – from steampunky stuffed velvet and leather hearts with keys, clocks, chains and more or less anything else that came to hand, to heart-shaped pendants decorated with cogs or crystals.
Perhaps under the cover of those mists we mentioned last time, a selection of tiny bottles has washed up on our banks. (Avalon is, after all, an Isle, if only in name at present.) Each contains a couple of sparkles or tiny gems and a mysterious message, intended only for the eyes of its new recipient. That’s if they can manage to get it out of the bottle… not easy but possible. We’ve tested them.
No peace for us. We’ve been busy replenishing stocks – trying hard to remember just how we made those lines that sold out last year and, obviously, inventing new ones. Once again, we’re happy to announce, there are over 100 lines for sale at the 
The first of those is fast approaching – Saturday 12th February (so just in time for Valentine’s Day!) at the Craft and Vintage Fair in Glastonbury Town Hall, Somerset from 10.30.
We have a brief respite now until our last sale of 2021 at Glastonbury Town Hall on December 18th, then a winter break until February. The 
Mrs S has enjoyed herself thoroughly and is kept busy creating new stock in between all the sales. Here she can be seen showing off the Case of the Apothecary’s Shop and some of the Clockton-upon-Teas buildings. We have a very few of those left for the next stall, then we’ll be raiding the recycling box for more packets and bottles to upcycle ready for next year.
Having been gifted many boxes of vintage Swiss watch parts – from the days before batteries, back when the clockwork mechanisms were wound by hand – Mrs S spends many happy hours at her desk, picking out one tiny piece after another and deciding what, in that strange mind of hers, they look like. Here, for example, you might be able to spot a gecko driving a combine harvester, Rudolf the wonky reindeer, a flying griffin, a bird on wheels and a turkey… or not! It’s very much in the eye of the beholder. 
Our current favourite is this little horse. Odd that watch parts lend themselves to such an interesting range of designs, including animals. Mind you, we’ve recently been asked if there’s an otter… even watch parts have their limits!
“Ah,” they say, “but when you finally arrive and are unpacked – then it’s all worth it! You’ll be placed ever so carefully in just the right spot to display your fine costumes and intricate details. Fairy lights and spotlights will illuminate the stall and people will come to stare, to gasp, to admire… and sometimes to buy and take you off to a new home.”
We had almost given up hope of experiencing a fair ourselves, but now we have FOUR to look forward to before the end of the year!
Some of our favourite finds are the little packs of boot and shoe eyelets we pick up for a fairly modest price (and an excellent cause) from the local children’s hospice charity shop. They are leftover stock given to the charity by Clarks – the famous shoe manufacturers a mile or two down the road.
There are all manner of fancy designs, though. It didn’t take us long to realise that they would be ideal as miniature candlesticks.
Steampunk - Shrunk! 