My car is all loaded and I’m ready to go this afternoon and set my table up. I’ve got three hours to do it this evening and two tomorrow. I have redesigned the stand incorporating what I hope are safer backs to lean the doll boxes on. For many years I’ve been propping them up on some metal folding easels inherited from my father’s antique shop. Whilst great for supporting one picture, they were never very good for a pile of doll boxes precariously stuck on with Blu-tack, with the gaps in the back filled in with metal rulers all tacked on too. One sneeze…
So this time there are solid wooden easels supported on big boxes that raise quite a lot of the display up to eye level. I’m hoping to have a little void space at the front for shoppers to interview dolls on. (This is not very likely, but I’ll try.)
We are in a different hall. This time we are in Hall 1 at Stoneleigh showground. There is a restaurant actually in the hall. I have been there as a visitor, it is a wide, shallow hall, in theory less easy to get lost in, or for the person you came with to wander off and get lost. In practice it will be the same as usual, if you want companions to stay anywhere near you, you should tie the elastic to their ankle before you let them wander off.
I am on stand K1. I will be taking the stuff that is in the car.
What got left this time were the dolls’ dolls, including the much requested Tudor dolls. I am going to offer these as dressed dolls or kits and ran out of time for designing the kits. New things that will be there are a new 12th scale glass eyed man, a new 12th scale glass eyed child and a new 24th scale lady. There are just two new internally jointed six part, under one inch 24th scale babies. Stringing the five that came all the way through the processes took a whole 24 hour day and a lot of language. There are men in a garage in 24th, there is a brand new 12th scale articulated horse to paint yourself, and the cats. There is a whole box of cats to be 24th house residents, dressed and un and that don’t need doll stands because they have tails.
All the usual boxes are chock full, I feel confident in saying there is massive choice. I have also a little box of woven carpets, bought a million years ago when I fleetingly thought I might turn out to be a dealer, there are not many, at ancient prices.
AND, of course, every shopper buying something from me will get their free gift to celebrate the 100th Miniatura.
Even though we are in a different hall, it is right next to the other hall, everything will be signposted and the visitor car park is still free as air and right next to the hall. The venue staff are lovely, Miniatura staff are always lovely, so please ask if you need any help.
I’ll see you there!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~