News from ELF Miniatures

Summer comes and goes here in the UK but we still hope for warm sunshine to last more than a few

days – so far a typical English summer! We are busy with bespoke orders, making new items and

responding to our customers’ needs. Some of Elizabeth’s new items are a direct response to customer

requests.

New items from the ELF Store

We are delighted to have sourced several new items for you, from modern furniture to 1950s diner sets

to kitchen equipment, and to be re-stocking some of the popular Japanese designer chairs.

As we have said before in the Newsletter and on the website, most

of the Japanese designer chairs are no longer in production, but we

have been able to buy more stock of the Zigzag chair and the

Wegner wide chair. We also have stock remaining of some others:

please see the section ‘12th scale Designer Chairs’ on the website.

New kitchen equipment includes an iron for a great price of just £3.85, a rice

cooker/slow cooker, a bucket for £1.20 in a choice of colours and some new

chopping boards, from the retro to the flowery (think Cath Kidston!).

We also have bathroom scales, coat hangers and a couple of new ceiling lights. One of the new lights is a

glitter ball that changes colour!! You can see it in action on our Facebook page.

NEWSLETTER

Summer 14

New modern furniture in

white or lightwood includes

shelves and a variety of tables.

Use the low table as a coffee

table or TV table, as shown

here.

A practical set of display shelves is available with storage boxes in a

choice of colours. The shelves are only £13.45. For £20 buy the shelves

plus a set of four boxes in pink/lilac or white/red.

We have some great booth sets for a 1950s diner or

kitchen. Choose from red, black or green; just £32.75

for a set of the two benches and table. You can buy

the wallpaper from us too.

Finally, if you’re a 1/24th or 1/16th collector do remember to look at those sections to see what we’ve

added. In 1/24th we now stock a number of dogs and cats, while in 1/16th we have succulents in a pot,

vases and more!

Please ask if there is anything you would like that we don’t already stock. We can’t

guarantee to find it for you, but we’ll try!

New items from Elizabeth

We have just launched a choice of wall units to go with our compact kitchens, either ready-built or kits.

There are two options for the corner compact kitchen: you can have wall units over the hob with an

extractor or wall units over the sink with a shelf.

For the straight compact kitchen there is just one option, again

with an extractor. (NOTE: if you already have the extractor, you can

have the wall units without the extractor).

We have some coloured

pan sets to suit the

modern kitchen; choose

from white, orange or

green. Also a non-stick

frying pan and a kettle

(also available in 1/24th (half) scale).

Away from the practical, how about an eyeshadow and mascara set for your

bedroom or bathroom – for just £6.95?

We haven’t forgotten our 1/24th and 1/16th dolls house enthusiasts either!

For 1/24th there is a desk and

occasional table. Use the

table as a coffee table or TV

table – we can supply the TV!

We can also supply the laptop that sits on the desk, as well as the

chair.

Elizabeth has made a modern kettle, wall-mounted TV (with choice of image), and heated towel rail and

scales for the bathroom.

We now take a selection of 1/24th items

with us to fairs, so come and see us!

For the 1/16th collector, you can now buy a shelving unit in white acrylic or a more colourful option. To

accessorise your room, Elizabeth now makes a laptop in 1/16th scale.

Featuring this month – Open storage/display solutions

From the workshop to the office to the dining room to the sitting room, ELF offers a wide choice of

storage solutions from basic slatted shelves to sideboards with glass doors. Prices start from less than £4

from the economy range going up to £120 for an ELF designer bookcase in walnut or mahogany.

Starting with the basics, for the workshop or garage we offer ELF utility

shelving kits for £6.50.

With slatted shelves, these would also work in a utility room, bedsit or a

display shelves in a shop.

We offer a wide range of basic bookshelves.

This one even comes with the books for just £3.45.

For a child’s room or classroom this

display bookcase costs just £4.75 as

a kit (or £12.50 made up).

We also offer low height bookshelves in the EAZY Living kits range.

For taller options, there are these in lightwood or white for £10.90, which

look good in the office, sitting room or bedroom and would also allow

you to create a library room (look for ‘Economy Shelves’).

From the EAZY Living range of kits,

you could use this display unit for

a mix of books and ornaments.

For a really luxurious, high end design option, go for this bookcase

hand-made by Elizabeth. Made originally for an advertising

campaign, this is based on a design classic by George Nelson.

ELF offers a number of open shelves, more suitable for displaying ornaments or using to display goods in

a shop. Our very popular chrome and glass shelves are just £9.00 each. We’ve also shown them here

used as bathroom storage – and here’s another set of shelves which

work well as bathroom storage, but would also suit other uses.

This is the cube storage

unit, starting at just £9.50

ready-made (photo, left).

An alternative finished in

white (photo, right) is this

one for just £4.90.

From the same range a larger unit is also available with optional storage boxes that slot in – this was

featured in the New Items section. The unit would work well as a room divider, while the room divider

below was designed by Elizabeth specifically for this use. Based on a design classic, these cost £65.00.

For a more economic alternative, ELF makes the 4by4

starting at £15.00, which you can also use as shelves

against a wall.

ELF offers shelves with lighting if you want to highlight a collection of special ornaments. All these are

made by Elizabeth.

These full length shelves cost £45 or these narrow shelves,

designed to fit into small spaces are from £30. The photo

shows two units side by side.

Another way to make the most of

items on display is to use a mirror-

backed shelving unit for £35.

To protect your precious ornaments, put them behind glass. Two options are shown above and there

are also these.

Display unit with sliding panel from £60 for a plain panel to £70 for

the etched panel, as shown in the photo.

Or this sideboard from the EAZY

Living kits range for £25.85.

We have only featured a

selection of our shelving

options here. All the shelving

options for the dining room,

sitting room and office can be found here. Look in these locations for Kitchen shelves and bathroom

shelves or bathroom shelving kits.

If you can’t find what you want from our extensive range, please

contact us as we often make items to order. Examples which are now

available to everyone include the contemptorary circles shelf kit, as

well as the designer bookshelves, already mentioned. Elizabeth

recently made these shelves

and display unit (see right) as a

bespoke order.

Finally, some of these 1/12th items are available in other scales or

could be made in other scales. Please look in the relevant sections

on the website or contact us for more information.

You may already have plenty of items to fill your shelves; if not, ELF has books, vases, plants and more.

Just look in the Accessories section of the website.

Readers Houses This month we are delighted to feature Jill N.’s house. This is what Jill writes about her love of

miniatures, focusing on how kitchens have changed through the centuries:

My father made me a dolls bungalow when I was four years old and started my lifelong love of

miniature homes. I now have five 12th scale houses and several 16th.

My oldest house, built, furnished and decorated by my father and me 35 years ago, before we

knew other grown-ups considered it a hobby or knew that one could buy things for it, is

Georgian style. A few years later he presented me with one he designed loosely on my home

and I’m still making and collecting for both. These were followed by a 1930s general store and

two 2010s homes, all still works in progress.

I find it fascinating to see how homes have changed over the years and to try to recreate rooms

of the era. By far the biggest changes seem to be in kitchens.

Georgian kitchens

were often in the

basement below

street level, as mine

is, with a blazing

fire for cooking and

a small oven for

baking bread. Dad

made the range and

all the copperware.

There is a washing

boiler in the corner

with a dolly tub and

posser. The sink

was a very basic

lead lined bowl.

Because of the heat

in the kitchen most

food was stored in a separate room and only brought in when it was needed for cooking. The

Georgians believed blue was a cool colour so most kitchen were painted blue or white and had

stone floors.

Surprisingly kitchens hadn’t changed very much in the intervening years to the 1930s when my

mother was small. The Ascot

heater provided hot water for

washing up and for washing

which in mum’s home was done

in a metal tub, rubbed across a

washing board, hang wrung and

fed through a mangle. Grannie

had a fold out ironing board and

two flat irons which she heated

on the stove. Cooking was done

on the black leaded stove and

there were no fitted cupboards

for storage. My Grannie used a

dresser for most of her china, tea

caddy, biscuit barrel and

condiments and had a pantry and meat safe in the cool adjoining passage leading to the back

door.

By the time I was a young mum fitted kitchens were in most homes and designer kitchens had

become very desirable. This oak kitchen housed absolutely everything a woman could want.

Breakfast and the children's

meals were served at the

big kitchen table but other

meals were taken in the

dining room. Everyone had

washing machines, tumble

driers and freezers but they

were hidden away from the

kitchen in the recently

popularised utility room.

My two up to date kitchens, created for my younger two granddaughters for when they are

older, were realised with a lot of help from Elf and give exactly the look I wanted to achieve.

Both of the kitchens, the

white goods and some

accessories came from

Elf. Dining rooms have

gone out of fashion with

many people so the big

kitchen is used more

than ever for family

meals and entertaining

alike – I guess the now

defunct dining rooms

are now studies, TV

rooms or games rooms.

Jill started off by ordering the Compact Corner 1-CLICK kit, plus island for this kitchen and then added to it

using individual EAZY kits items, such as the wine rack. We now offer wall units to go with the Compact

Corner kitchen but Jill ordered hers from the EAZY kits range.

The zebrano kitchen is the

ELF Minimalist kitchen,

available as a kit for £60 or

ready-made for £155.

If you would like to have your house or project featured in a future edition of the ELF Newsletter,

please email us at elfminiatures@hotmail.co.uk