Member Spotlight

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT..."CW Poppets"

2010-03-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

Meet Christine, whom you all know

Christine, known to those in the miniature world, and on Etsy as C.W. Poppets, is a busy girl...working on at LEAST four projects at any given time, she also likes to stay active; playing tennis, dancing, cross country skiing, and hiking! She always works on at least two dolls, currently the Bird Woman:

...and her Inuit Woman. It always fascinates me to see works in progress, and Christine is allowing us a peek into her world!

Besides her Doll and Mini work, Christine loves designing and making the costumes and apparel for her creations, and wants to start selling her own miniature clothing line soon. I asked her if she's ever made anything that she liked so well, she couldn't bear to part with it:

"I have a lot of dolls I don't sell. Most of the time, it's not because I want to keep them, but because my husband does! Unfortunately, I promised him to have the last word about a doll going for sale or not. Sometimes I need months convincing him to sell one. ;-)

But these are my two favorites: The Puppeteer

and Sir Archibald Pimblett"

Christine sells her creations on her personal website, http://www.cwpoppets.net/, E Bay and Etsy, and has been featured in "The Doll Crafter". Her Venetian Carnival Doll also appeared at Adele Sciortino's "Costumes and Trims" in the summer of 2009. The following is a little bit of the conversation we had regarding her work:

Me - What get's your Creative Juices Flowing?
Christine - Everything! Really, it's horrible ;-). No matter which movie I watch, which book I read, or even if I just walk through town, I see something that I would love to make into a miniature. I have to run to my studio immediately!

Me - Who inspires you? (Famous or otherwise?)
Christine - There are a lot of ordinary people who inspire me, whether it be that they are good at sculpting, needle-felting, sewing, parenting, working longer hours, etc. I intend to make a link list at my blog and website, and "collect" these people.

Me - You just finished a project. You have a hard time looking away from it because:
A. You're so proud and excited (or)
B. You keep wanting to add or change things.
Christine - Ninety percent of the time, it's A.

Christine lives in Germany, and has recently moved. She now has a lovely studio of her own, which overlooks both her front and back yards, and spends what little free time she has furniture shopping for it. Here's to many happy and productive hours spent creating there!

Check out Christine's Website, and get the lowdown on CW Poppets, along with all her amazing dolls! Or, go to her Etsy shop: http://www.CWPoppets.etsy.com

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT..."WONDERWORKS"

2009-06-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Meet Angee, whom you all know as "Wonderworks"

Angee makes an amazing variety of things,

from Whimsy Homes

to Sculpture

Roomboxes

and more - and every one of them is meticulous in it's detail and imagination, so Wonderworks is definitely the perfect name for Angee's Etsy shop!

Inspired by a German-made three dimensional wooden wall picture of a miniature kitchen table that her mother had when she was small, she would imagine that she was tiny enough to climb right in and eat from the miniscule place settings. From there, her love of small things grew. She visited the White House display at the Smithsonian Institute, noticing that a lot of the items didn't seem to "fit" into the display, which is why "I'm such a fanatic about Scale now."

Through a friend and customer who had a huge display of perfectly scaled village..."a silver shop, a hat shop, a toy store, a market, etc." she learned much about the hobby and began measuring everything around her. For her own pleasure she would like to finish the 1:12 scale bakery that she's working on. She even commandeered her brother's scale train set when they were kids!

Angee is a member of several Etsy teams, among them the DAM's, Team Mini-makers and our own TeamMIDS, and before finding Etsy, she sold through a local artist's co-op. She was also offered a feature article in a national Miniature Magazine, but declined, preferring not to mass produce her items. She'll be attending school soon to become a licensed nail tech, so she'll be able to "paint teeny mini things on peoples nails!

Angee's dining room is her office, and her table doubles as a workbench ("I obviously never have anyone to dinner!") and one of the items that Angee specializes in is her Whimsy Cottage series; absolutely adorable limited edition series of Christmas and Halloween sculptures.

Angee is currently creating her latest Gingerbread Whimsy Cottage, but we have to wait with baited breath, because it's not ready for unveiling yet.

I asked Angee what she's made, that she absolutely could not bear to part with:

"Actually I have two items. A 5" x 5" x 3.25"d brick floored patio scene with a fountain that has clear water that looks like it's running and a tiny duck floating in it. I can't find the glaze I used to make the water anymore so I have to keep it for myself. :)"

Check out Angee's Website, and get the lowdown on her Whimsy Cottage Series, along with all the other amazing items she has! Or, go to her Etsy shop: http://www.wonderworks.etsy.com

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT..."DALE'S DREAMS"

2009-03-03T20:30:00.001-08:00

Meet Dale, whom you all know as

"Dale's Dreams"

We all know and love Dale of dale's dreams. She has a wicked sense of humor, and she's been an intrigal part of TeamMIDS since it's inception.

And I hear she LOVES pot pie!

Miniatures have always been a love of Dale's. From a very young age, she remembers playing with her mother's old renewal furniture at her grandmothers house, and that love continued through her adulthood when she began making and selling her mini's on CDHM, and also to a local shop. That shop is closing now as the owner is retiring, but happily you can still get dale's miniatures through her Etsy shop.

Her interest in dollhouse furnishings extends to all home decor. Her "life size" collection of perfume bottle displays is the inspiration for the mini size ones she wants to make, and she has been working on foot stools and ottomans. She's also planning on making upholstered furniture (perhaps with her famous throw pillows as accents?

From her studio at home, Dale does a lot more than just Minis. In her words: "I have as many interests as the day is long; most all things domestic. I love to garden, mostly flowers. I have a ton of house plants. I love animals and we have a small zoo here, three cats, one dog, two guinea pigs, and one gold fish.

I love to cook, but I hate making dinner. I’ve made all of the drapes and pillows in my home, we have a lot of pillows. I’ve faux painted furniture and upholstered some stools and benches. I love needlepoint and vintage fabric like bark cloth. I love tole painting, I have a collection of trays that I can wallpaper the walls with. They are all black with roses and most were made in the 50’s. The first one I bought for $5. it is now worth over $300.

I’m a frugal shopper with champagne taste. I love to travel, have been all over our country and this past spring, I took my family to Paris, a lifelong dream. My family interests me too, I have three children, Adeline 17, Grace 16 and Lorenzo 15. My husband is my best friend, we’ve been together since 1984 and will have been married for 19 years this May. I care for my 80 year old mother who has dementia. Oh, and I love ballet and have studied it off and on most of my life. I knit and crochet a bit, counted cross stitch, jack of all trades, master of none."

Currently her goal is a line of oriental style rugs in muted tones of sage and rust to peach and gray-blue. We get a sneak preview here!

Dale plans to make her store into a "one stop shop for all of your dollhouse decorating needs from the floor to ceiling, with a designer edge, and champagne taste."

If you'd like to see more of dales work,check out her Etsy shop:
http://www.dalesdreams.etsy.com/

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT... "FAIRY GARDEN"

2009-03-03T17:12:00.001-08:00

Meet Candy, whom you all know

as "Fairy Garden"

Fairy (whose name is Candy) is fun. She's off the wall, she makes us all laugh, and she keeps us on our toes. She's also one helluva artist!

Working from her home studio, Fairy creates...well......................Fairies!

Whimsical little fae, who reside, not in a dollhouse, but in cages, old clocks and other places around the Victorian home that she is restoring.

When not working on her fairies, she keeps busy with her "real job" as a graphic designer, as well as her three Etsy shops, and her other interests including etching acoustic guitars and dulcimers, making jewelry, bookbinding, cake decorating, bleaching designs on denim, drawing and painting. If all this weren't enough, she's also a licensed massage therapist! Of course, no one will be surprised that Fairy is also a certified clown. In her words: "I actually went to clown school... it's not just some peoples opinion of me."

I asked Fairy what kind of project she was just drooling to complete, and her answer is so cool, I'm going to copy it word for word:

"In the small town where I live, there is a very old park with huge trees lining a small creek. The roots of the trees have been washed away by the water, but they are usually exposed so that you can see the intricate tangles. I sometimes spend hours there alone, taking photos, drawing or just meditating. I have always wanted to build little faerie dwellings amongst those masses of tangled roots. Little doors, steps, windows, etc. out of natural materials that would blend in so well with the natural surroundings that they would be seen by only the most observant. I would never tell a soul that I was doing it... I want to see how long it would take for the word to "leak out" that there are faeries living in the creek bed, down at the old park. Someday I will do it.

Me? I have no doubt she will.

To see more of Fairy's amazing artwork, go to her shop: http://www.fairygarden.etsy.com