Thursday 16 July 2009

Mad About Tableware

I love tableware and have a large collection of vintage plates (full-sized) which I've amassed over the years from brocantes, flea markets, family clearouts etc...

When I say vintage, I just mean "old"! Many of them have chips and blemishes, but knowing that some date from the 19th century, regardless of the fact that most are worth next to nothing, it gives me a warm buzz knowing that I'm now their "guardian" and they remain very dear to me.

Sadly many of them are confined to boxes having been carefully packed away in newspaper when we moved house three years ago. One day we'll get them hung up somewhere...right Neil?!

So when I'm not making miniature food, the other great passion I have is for making services in miniature - both complete settings for dining tables and individual pieces, on a whim. (Commissions undertaken - hint, hint...!)

Here's one I finshed today which has quite a vintage, nostalgic feel to it.

Hand painted miniature plate with a vintage nostalgic imageI love the decal image of the three happy girls but didn't know what to do with it, until today!

I handpainted the border of the plate in black with with dots and painstakingly added gold beading. I knew just after starting the beading that it was going to be difficult to do, but thankfully it turned out nice and regular and even - phew!

Filled with some cookies, I think this would be great for placing in a girl's nursery...

Hand painted plate with miniature cookies - Paris Miniatures - Emmaflam and Miniman
The cookies helped to keep young Martine busy (the daughter of our neighbour...). Only two weeks into her summer holiday and the poor thing's bored to tears at home. So we let her "help" with the last photo. So here it is...

Tiny miniature butter cookies shown with a pen nib
Bravo Martine!


7 comments:

  1. i love how all your mini works of art have a background story to them, this is just lovely!

    thanks for sharing ^ ^

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  2. Thank you so much for stopping by - would you believe that before I spent an extended period of time in France I did some research on where I could watch the races in Paris and most of the Irish pups do play them as long as there isn
    t another really popular American event on!!! And, though I have never been able to find it since I even found a French NASCAR fan website!!!
    Love your blog!!!!!

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  3. i'm in love with this dishware n cookies and hope to win it on ebay! :)

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  4. Except the photos of the mini food and tableware you made, I also enjoy reading your articles.

    I went to Vieux Lyon and visited le musee des miniatures et decors de cinema yesterday. That was the first time I saw your works on site. Sooooo nice!

    I'd like to ask if you could give lessons in minicture. If yes, I must go to Paris. :)

    Bon week-end

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  5. Thank you for your comments! It's nice to know that you're enjoying the words as well as the pictures!

    Thank you 'ilovelittlethings' for doing the promotional work for us! This piece is now on eBay here. Good luck if you bid!

    'Oiseau' - Can you believe we've never seen our display at the museum in Lyon...?! It's been there for 4 years now and I'm sure what we do now is a lot better - we'd probably be embarrassed to see it! We don't have enough time to do lessons, but you should go to Paris - there's a really big tower that's worth having a look at!!! :p

    'Parisenne Farmgirl' - Finding it on TV is not a problem here, but you just don't get the noise, the smell, the atmosphere - give me the real thing!

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  7. Oh pretty!It's almost a shame to cover it up with food!

    Chris Verstraete
    Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery

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