Sturbridge Minatures Festival.Part 1

I had a great time at the Sturbridge Miniatures Festival today! I have no photos because my camera is dead but I can tell you what I bought (today's posting) and what I saw (in my next posting) . . . in no particular order:

• While waiting for the doors to open, I chatted with another woman in line. I was thrilled to learn that Teresa Layman was at the show and made a beeline to her display!
• I chose one kit, Bees and Trees, which  Teresa said was good for a beginner. My intuition matched her advice: Do not make your favorite pattern the first time out of the gate, because once you build your skills, you will want to do it all over again.
• I also picked up a (magnetic) needle keeper. Had I realized how many other items I would buy today, I might have skipped this indulgence.
• Carla Gaustad was a lucky find because she has neither a website nor a store. I bought:

• Green pitcher made in France
• Quimper style bowl (1) and plates (2). I think they are painted metal. They are thinner than the ceramic plates that are often sold in dollhouse stores. Excuse the blurry image, it was made on my scanner and since the bowl is deeper than the plates the image is out of focus.
• Basket of raspberries. Ordinarily, I make my own food but this looked like a level above what I think I can do. Again, had I known how many other items I was going to buy, I might have skipped the berries but they are well done.
• Robin Betterley was at the show! She had so many wonderful items I almost bought nothing, but I was pretty sure I'd be sorry later. I decided on one of her secret books, Castle Spells, and the matching interior kit. I could not believe how small these are! They say the scale is 1:144 or smaller. When I got home and looked at the pieces I was blown away my the tininess! Apparently, the laser has completely changed the world of miniatures. Many people are switching to 1:24, 1:48 -- and 1:144 scale. It was nice to see some items that have not yet made it to the website including a bookcase to hold the full set of 13 secret books.
• For month's I've been drooling over anything that looks like a gypsy caravan, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered Michelle's Miniatures!

• I decided I need to walk before I crawl so I chose one of her very simple kits, the Arts and Crafts Bench kit which was sold for less than the online price. I figured it would be a nice way to display some of the things I already have.
• You have to check out her 1-inch scale (1:12) caravan which she based on photos of a real caravan. It comes in 1/2 inch scale (1:24) and quarter-inch scale (1:48), too. The 1:24 scale has lots of detail inside. Love it!
• I'm dying to see how the laser stuff works! What I've heard is that these designers have their own laser machines! How cool is that?!
• I was tempted to get many other kits such as the briefcase, plate shelf, market cart, and many more. Check out the Art Deco house; which has really fine interior details (and I'm not even an Art Deco fan)!
• Look at this Tree of All Seasons Room Box.

Well, that's enough for now. Later this week, I'll tell you about more of the vendors and what else I learned!