Ever yearned to step into the world of your favourite books?  Popularised on the internet, a book nook is a decorative miniature diorama or shelf insert that brings alive those magical worlds by recreating the settings and scenes from the pages of those well-loved tales. Ridmi Pitumpe has embraced this niche hobby with her arts [...]

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A miniature world within your bookshelf

Having learnt the craft of decorative dioramas online, Ridmi Pitumpe enjoys creating customised book nooks and shadow boxes
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Ever yearned to step into the world of your favourite books?  Popularised on the internet, a book nook is a decorative miniature diorama or shelf insert that brings alive those magical worlds by recreating the settings and scenes from the pages of those well-loved tales.

Ridmi Pitumpe has embraced this niche hobby with her arts and crafts business, The Little Card Store.lk.

A biology student, after taking her Advanced Level examinations from Holy Cross College in Gampaha this year, Ridmi started making miniature dioramas having watched videos online. She also makes gift cards, book nooks and shadow boxes; the latter being a three-dimensional miniature diorama which can also be displayed as wall art. Her work has been available online since May this year.

It’s a labour-intensive passion; a single creation takes close to a week to complete. The process is meticulous as some of the behind-the-scenes videos posted on her Instagram page detail how she hand paints, carves, stitches and glues most of the individual elements in her dioramas using materials found in and around her own home. Dried wild flowers and leaves from her garden are given a fresh new look as she paints them in vibrant colours and situates them in the scene as houseplants or wild foliage; mini rugs sit snug beneath homely armchairs upholstered with leftover printed fabric that is carefully hand knitted. Wooden items such as an archer’s bow and quiver filled with arrows nestled at the back of one of her book nooks are carved and sanded using twigs and branches.

Ridmi Pitumpe

An avid fan of the Harry Potter books, Ridmi’s latest customised book nooks feature hand crafted items from the popular fantasy series such as miniscule potion bottles, newspaper cuttings detailing events from the movies, framed pictures of characters adorning the textured walls and mini bookshelves lined with tomes and scrolls. A book nook is usually 22cm in height and 13cm in width, though she has on occasion,  made larger ones. A shadow box is 24cm in height and 30cm in length (across).

Other book nooks she has created are of mini vintage themed libraries filled with her customers’ favourite book titles while the shadow boxes and gift cards depict inviting living spaces complete with small scale family pictures provided by her customers and miniature renditions of their personal belongings made with clay and other materials.

Ridmi has always been creative, balancing her interests in in art and music –  she taught herself vocal percussion by learning how to beat-box. She learnt how to create book nooks and shadow boxes, familiarising herself with the process from sketching intricate designs for each of her dioramas.

Ridmi’s business was initially focused on her custom-made gift cards that she would make for her family and friends, though she now finds book nooks and shadow boxes are greatly in demand.  She says, “I never thought there were many people in Sri Lanka who loved book nooks to be honest. After I added them to my page my followers were so excited and I got a lot of texts saying that they were searching for a store which sold these kinds of things. I really love making these things and I feel happy making each and every order.”

The Little Card Store.lk is on Instagram @thelittlecardstore.lk

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