Hi there, We are Val and Sadie and we're so pleased that you're here! My lovely, talented daughter Sadie, 27, sculpts the most amazing doll's house miniatures. She really loves to do food best of all but sometimes she's inspired by something else. When an idea gets hold of her she just won't stop until it's done. She says she at her happiest sculpting and I think that joy shows in all she does! I know that, watching her work, I am in awe of her!
We live together in the Outer Hebrides a necklace of islands set in the mighty Atlantic and on the very edge of Europe. We walk daily on white beaches either, depending on the time of year, serenely lapped by a magical Caribbean turquoise sea or buffeted by the awesome power of a steely grey Atlantic when the waves froth over even the highest cliffs. There are wild moors and mountains where wildlife is a part of our everyday life, a glorious stag by the side of the road, a golden eagle soaring above your head or a salmon leaping.
By their very remoteness these islands seem to have escaped the destruction that mankind has caused in other places and life goes on pretty much as it always has , the peat is cut and brought home each year, the people caring of each other and always ready to help. As my friend Betty once said to me "You are expected to be nice and it's nice to be nice!"
I've heard it said that you come here to listen to the silence but that is not quite true! There's the sound of the sea, the rustling of the machair, the heartstopping songs of the birds and other of natures tiny noises that bring peace to the soul. There is also no sense of time and here there is always another hour or two or three where you can become absorbed in what you are doing, time to take pride. It is in this atmosphere that Sadie thrives. In fact in the summer when the endless satin blue and apricot twilights blend into uplifting dawns so beautiful you don't want breathe in case you spoil it, she is often found to be still working in the wee small hours perfecting her art and it is certain that her workshop is also her laboratory. Here she spends hours, days, even months sometimes, working out how to get the effect she wants, how to make that tiny piece she is working on look, when it is magnified, as if you want to sink your teeth into it!!
To watch Sadie sculpt such tiny things with such concentration and determination to make them perfect leaves me feeling very proud but also brings a feeling of how the world should be! She uses Sculpey and Fimo clay, whichever is the most suitable for what she is doing because clays are different, but almost anything else can be used to create the effect she wants. Her joy is seeing the sparkle in someones eyes when they see her work. We recently sold four items to a lady who was giving them to her aunt for her 92nd birthday. When the niece rang her aunt in the evening, after she got home, it was to find that her aunt still had the items on her knee, still touching them, playing with them, if you like. Now, anyone who knows doll's houses and miniatures understands that's exactly how it should be!!
On a more practical note, these are difficult times for all of us and it's important that we join as a community to help each other. Therefore, for our wee bittie, all our postage is FREE, no matter how large the parcel. Remember, if you want a bargain which was fashioned with love come and see us!
Finally, if you have any ideas about the type of food, from medieval to modern, that you would like to see in our shop we would love to hear from you!
In the meantime to use the Gaelic -
Ceud mile failte to Homewardflight
(A hundred thousand welcomes)
