SIMP 2009

So this is summer...we had a bit of a lie-in following yesterday's SIMP and on opening the workshop this lunchtime we were greeted with an oven-like waft of hot air slapping our faces. A quick check of the thermometer revealed that the workshop (basically a closed veranda) was baking in 46°C (115°F). So we closed the door and went and had breakfast...

It's the evening now and most of the leftover miniatures from yesterday's SIMP show are safely packed away.

So before settling down in front of the TV with some stuffed tomatoes (real, full-sized, edible ones - woohoo!) , we just wanted to give a shout out to a few people we met yesterday...

We arrived a good hour before the show opened which is unheard of for us. We have built up a reputation for always arriving the last, with a few minutes remaining before opening, but not this time! However we still weren't ready as the opening time arrived, no pieces were stickered up with prices, but we were delighted that Stéphanie (who is obviously much more organised for her first show than we are after 5 years!) took the time to come and say "Hi!" before the show got under way. It was a pleasure to finally meet face-to-face.

With that, the doors were opened and, braced for the rush, we were pleasantly surprised when our stand neighbour whipped out a thermos of hot water, some coffee and some delicious chocolate filled cookies and offered us some. Breakfast at last! Thank you MamiBlue!

Coffee and cookies behind the scenes!

We were also delighted to meet Christel Jensen who had a stand. Apart from a very small number of photos on the internet, we'd not seen much of Christel's work until yesterday, so it was lovely to see her romantic stand.

But star of the day has to be the completely crazy Rosanna, who made the round trip from Genoa to Paris in one day just to attend the show! How on earth she managed to be so bubbly and chirpy after a night spent on a train, I've no idea! That's a passion for miniatures for you!

We made a few purchases, of course. The one which surprised us the most is this miniature angel sculpture which measures just 2cm (3/4") high.

Miniature Angel Sculpture from Maria Victoria Heredia Guerbos

Not usually the kind of thing I go for, but I couldn't resist! (I can't find a site for this maker, so if anybody knows of one, please leave a comment and I'll add a link to it here...)

The day seemed to fly by and before we knew it we were on the way home, happy to have met new people, seen new work, and added a few more pieces to our own collections!

Roll on next year!