HerdwickLandscapes

Case StudyPeter andKate Kelsall

CorelDRAW takes thefret out of fretwork
A fondness for miniatures and an appreciation of
the rugged beauty of England's north-west Lake
District provided the inspiration for Peter andKate Kelsall to form Herdwick Landscapes, acompany that creates dolls' houses modelled on
the classic stone buildings found in this uniquepart of the country.
Working in 1/24th and 1/48th scale and producing
every minute detail by hand is extremely timeconsuming and presents a number of challenges,
particularly when it comes to items such as fretwork, windows and doors. To enable them toperform more intricate and detailed work, Peter®
and Kate decided to make the move to CorelDRAW
Graphics Suite.

Elaborate homes that
capture a place in time
Dolls' houses have been a sourceof aspiration, self-expression,
intrigue and fantasy since
the sixteenth century.
They freeze time in a
mirrored display ofnostalgic perfection
and can be passed on
as a keepsake throughgenerations, preserving
family history in atransient world.

“CorelDRAW has opened up awhole new world of possibilities,
as we are able to do so many things
which would be impossible toachieve by hand.”Peter and Kate Kelsall

Herdwick Landscapes' true-to life-dolls' houses embody thecharacteristic features of a period house, right down to panelled
or wattle and daub partition walls, removable floorboards,

OVERVIEW
NAME:Peter and Kate Kelsall
ORGANISATION:
Herdwick Landscapes
LOCATION:
Staffordshire, UK
INDUSTRY:
Arts and Crafts
PRODUCT:
CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite
PROJECT SUMMARY
Herdwick Landscapes is using CorelDRAW to design periodstone dolls' houses which were previously arduously craftedby hand. Despite their honed model-making skills, it was
physically impossible to produce some of the finer details,
particularly at 1/48th scale. The graphics software has
enabled them to produce much more intricate work,
making their dolls' houses even more true to life.

flagstone floors,
wooden or stone
stairs, fireplaces
and inglenooks.
Kate also designs
her ownminiature
furniture fromthe medieval period
through to the midtwentieth century
and ages it to show
the appropriate
wear and tear.

Customers are inspired by the attention to detail of Peter and
Kate's work, much of which is made possible with CorelDRAW

The Kelsall's range of traditional stone dolls' houses includes
buildings based on the tales of renowned author Beatrix Potter –another frequent visitor to the Lake District – as well as a numberof commissions. Most dolls' houses come with their own deed ofconveyance providing a brief history of the building and a
description of the type of residents it would have housed.

Intuitive and easy to use
Making every piece by hand was very labour intensive andsome parts – like windows and fireplaces that light up – were
just too small to make in 1/48 scale, so Peter and Kate
decided to take the plunge and go digital.
“When we made the move to CorelDRAW, people told us
we'd have to go through a big learning curve, as we had
limited computer skills. But we actually breezed through it,and were up and running within a week,” said Peter. “Theintuitive page layout and tools that do exactly what you'dexpect them to do make it really straightforward to use.”
The Kelsalls use CorelDRAW for their house plans, windows anddoors, engraving, furniture design and to simulate carving.
The Toolbox with its vector shapes and drawing tools is mostuseful for this, while the Color Styles docker lets you add thecolours you've chosen for a particular project as a colour style,for consistency. The transformation tools are also very helpful
The inspiration for the company name is the herdwick sheep, a breed unique to England's Lake Districtfor positioning, skewing and rotating objects.
and symbolic of the rugged beauty and charm of this special landscape.

A small world with big possibilities

More detail, less production time
The addition of an HPC laser cutter allows them to output CorelDRAW
files directly and benefit from precision-cut pieces such as individualdraws that slide open, fireplaces and lights that illuminate – evenat the minute 1/48th scale. The laser cutter interprets the fill toolin CorelDRAW as an engraving, enabling even finer touches to be
put to their work.
The Kelsalls are especially pleased with the amount of timeCorelDRAW has saved them. Peter explains: “In the past, I had tomake all the windows by hand, which could take me up to fivedays. Now I can do an entire batch of windows in just one day.”And for Kate, items such as the panelling on a four-poster bed which previously required each individual panel to be painstakingly
cut out by hand - can now be created as a single piece andproduced within a couple of hours. “I can also expand the rangeof styles so, for example, it is much easier and quicker to create
the tiled fireplaces characteristic of Victorian houses,” she adds.

For Herdwick Landscapes theattention to detail is evident
both inside and outside theirdiminutive properties.

Down House, the residence of Charles Darwin, is among the morequirky commissions that Herdwick Landscapes has secured, alongsidea Norwegian house and the Black Pig coaching inn, which wasproduced for a large model railway set in Wales. These miniaturehomes may be small in size, but they certainly aren't small instature, captivating people from all walks of life and across all
corners of the globe.

“The intuitive page layout andtools that do exactly what you'dexpect them to do make it reallystraightforward to use.”
Peter and Kate Kelsall“CorelDRAW has opened up a whole new world of possibilities, as
we are able to do so many things which would be impossible toachieve by hand. It's really helped us carve our niche!” remarks Kate.
So, it's not just the feisty breed of sheep after which the company
is named that makes it so unique.

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