Jeanne Atkinson, of Allentown, never thought it would come to this.
Her enthusiasm for miniatures started with collecting.
“I started by simply collecting things and putting them together in an appealing way to me,” she said.
On Aug. 7 at the 43rd annual Lehigh Valley Small on Scale Miniatures Club Show and Sale, held at Delta Hotel by Marriott, Fogelsville, Atkinson displayed a quarter-inch scale house she built from the ground up including all furniture and landscaping. The tiny home, Pickett Hill by name, fits on a table top but is a world onto itself.
“I loved the look of the house. It really did speak to me,” Atkinson said.
“I was able to do what I feared the most,” Atkinson said of the project.
Working in miniature holds a charm to which many club members, vendors and shoppers attest.
Marina Neff, of West Chester, started working with miniatures during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, purchasing a little dollhouse for her daughter to fix up.
“She didn’t want any parts of it,” Neff said. “I got addicted.”
Neff brought her new line of contemporary dollhouse furnishings and fixtures, a style she describes as modern farmhouse, to the Aug. 7 show. She specializes more in interior design, she said, and has done custom interiors for clients who found her through social media. Her business, Marina’s Miniatures, also now offers a kit for a modern farmhouse featuring her aesthetic. The kit is new, she said.
Neff and her husband are seasoned house flippers, she said.
“It’s a much better budget when it’s little so my husband loves it,” Neff said of her new business. A former medical technologist, working with miniatures is now Neff’s full-time job, allowing her flexibility in her family life and relieving stress.
Mary Breidinger, joined Small on Scale 15 to 20 years ago, echoed Neff.
“It’s so satisfying,” Breidinger, club president, said of her work in miniatures. “It’s forever. You can pass it on,” she said. She has made miniature masterpieces as gifts, including a liquor store her son, who works in the industry, displays in his office and ballet-themed miniature scenes for her daughters.
“I love the camaraderie when we have our play dates,” Breidinger says of her club members and meetings. “Everyone is so generous about sharing ideas.”
Press Photos by April Peterson Lehigh Valley Small of Scale Miniatures Club hosted its 43rd annual show and sale at the Delta Hotel by Marriott, Fogelsville, Aug. 7. ABOVE: Shoppers browse items offered for sale at the show. “I should have brought my glasses,” one shopper was overheard to say.
Jeanne Atkinson stands with Pickett Hill, a quarter-inch scale house, she built. She started in miniatures by collecting and displaying items she found appealing.
Atkinson built and landscaped Pickett Hill in her basement. Her husband builds miniature trains in the same space. “We love working in our basement on small things,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson is surprised by how much she enjoyed landscaping the tiny residence. “I had just as much fun doing the landscaping as making the house,” she said.
Exhibits at the show include the Franklin Lloyd Wright Library featured in the Allentown Art Museum rendered in miniature, a project by the club dating to the early 2000s. “It's exquisite,” Mary Breidinger said of the project. “I contributed nothing except awe.”
Vendor Marina Neff is new to miniatures and brought her work to Small on Scale for the first time.
Neff offers her first dollhouse kit through her business Marina's Miniatures. She describes her aesthetic as modern farmhouse and her collection includes everything from dried flowers to mattresses.
Vintage mid-century metal dollhouses are displayed during the show and sale.
Members of Small on Scale build and decorate a specific project each year for the show. Members built and decorated miniature porches, including this Halloween-themed display by Melissa Schwartz, for this year's show.
Marilyn Health Lauffer holds an apple tree she has for sale at her table during the 43rd annual show and sale. Jo Rosberry made the apples on the tree. “They've come a long way since the first ones,” Lauffer said of her tree creations. She started 25 years ago, she said.
A friendly Corgi appears to wait for its master in this porch scene created by Small on Scale member Krista Jones.
A recent Small on Scale project was a push cart. A detail of Jeanne Atkinson's Christmas-themed push cart shows tiny treats.
Decorated Christmas trees are offered for sale at the Mini Maniac Miniatures table. The festive trees light up.
Shoppers browse the tables at the 43rd annual Small on Scale show and sale. The event included raffles, bargain grab bags of miniatures and a workshop for children to build a miniature campground. Lehigh Valley Small on Scale is a chapter of the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts.
Jeanne Atkinson shares her strategy for transporting her miniature creation to Fogelsville by car. “I put it in the box and pray for all green lights.”
