Ever get that shrinking feeling? The marvellous miniatures on display in a doll's house




This is the house that Karon built. With 12 rooms, it seems quite large - until you realise everything inside is actually very, very small.

The furniture, human figures, flooring, wallpaper and food are all delicately crafted miniatures, made to a one-twelfth scale.



And each is painstakingly created by some of the most talented artists in their field.

Karon Cunningham, owner of a miniatures shop in Bath, uses the doll's house, below, to showcase some of her wares - each with an amazing attention to detail and period design.

Twelve rooms, illuminated by tiny LED strip lights in Karon Cunningham's show cabinet in her Bath shop, show the various ways miniatures can be displayed

The minute marvels include a rococo-style mirror just 6.5 inches high, on sale for £85, a tiny light bulb (£9.80) and shrink-sized platters of food (which start from £12.85).

Many of the items are either one of a kind or are only available in limited numbers.

The exact technique used to create the miniatures is a closely guarded secret for copyright reasons.

Karon calls them the 'tricks of the trade' - and she and the artists want them to stay that way as poor imitations have arrived en masse from the Far East in the past.



She was, however, willing to share some of the general methods.



Dentistry tools - designed to work on tiny areas - are often used to sculpt the miniatures, while furniture makers work with scaled-down versions of their regular implements.

Fingers gingerly hold a tiny light bulb, complete with period packet and copper wire detail for the screw fix end, £9.80

Miniature aficionado Karon Cunningham holds a tiny £85 rococo-style mirror that is only 6.5 inches high, made by John Hodgson A mini pair of fully working hinged brass scissors on display at the Karon Cunningham Miniatures shop in Bath, £5.75



A platter of cheese and biscuits with fruit, wine, silver cheese scoop and wine glasses, made with real glass. Platters on show in the shop sell from £12.85

For some of the items, such as the central column of the rolling pin (seen on the food table above), clay is fired up in an oven and then tweaked with cotton buds or cocktail sticks.

And the food is most certainly not edible - it's made using a special polymer clay known as fimo.

Karon, who travels from her gift shop in Pulteney Bridge to exhibit her collections around the world, said: 'There are so many wonderfully talented makers out there with miniatures you do not find in England and vice versa.'



And for gaming enthusiasts, there is even a tiny Monopoly set on sale for £12, complete with houses, hotels, dice and money, created by Klaas Schultz from South Africa.

It can take Schultz up to two years to research, design and build his creations.



Like many artists who work with miniatures, it was something he just 'fell into' - up until a few years ago, he was a bank manager.



A miniature Monopoly board complete with houses, cards and money, made by Klaas Schultz of South Africa, which sells for £12; right, David Greenwood's minute apple, £1.35, has unbelievable detail and realism, with him painting each one separately to show natural colouring topped with a realistic stalk



Hands reach in for a miniature butter-pat in a kitchen scene at the shop. Table, £69; pie board, £14.50; cheese tray, £45; rolling pin, £13; raspberry punnet £6.40 - the punnet effect achieved using a cocktail stick to sculpt them