How Miniatures Helped Me Rediscover Creativity and Joy

Life, as we all know, can be rather unpredictable.

As some of you know, I've spent the past 7 years caring for my parents. My Mom was diagnosed with dementia and my Dad with stomach cancer. It was a challenging time for our whole family, who all pulled together to give those two amazing people we loved so much, the very best care possible. Fast forward several years, my father passed in November of 2022 and my mother passed in December of 2023. I can't tell you that it wasn't hard and that I wasn't broken and that I don't still miss them every day. But it was creating miniatures that helped me find my way through. I've always been creative, and had my hands in more mediums that I can count. My love of miniatures dates back to childhood, where I'd make furniture for my Barbie dolls. Fast forward to the early years of my marriage and my wonderful husband came home with a massive handmade dollhouse he found in an antique shop. The passion was rekindled and I created most of the furniture and decor by hand. Life intervened once more and it was another decade before the mini call took hold. This time was different. I turned to making miniatures to stay afloat, to keep my over-worried mind occupied and to lose myself in a little world where I was in control of everything.

That's when my miniature making went to another level. While creating by hand, as I always had I began designing templates for myself to use. Then one day I discovered that there were cutting machines I could use to cut wood! I was immediately  hooked and my passion for the Cricut Maker was born. But it didn't stop there. I started using Adobe Illustrator to design my furniture. And as my collection of SVG files for my minis began to grow, I decided to open an Etsy shop so others who might be interested could use my designs as well. This was just prior to the lock-downs and well, needless to say my little shop took off, because so many people were home and had extra time on their hands.

From there the passion only continued to grow exponentially. I was invited to participate on a dollhouse miniatures TV reality show. Not at all within my introverted comfort zone, but I said yes, and I'm so glad that I did. It was an amazing (and stressful and exhausting, and did I mention stressful, lol) experience. I learned so much about myself and my skills. And the best part is I made life-long friends who share my passion. Hobbies can be quite isolating, so having a community is such a blessing. It's part of why I created the Mini Membership, but more on that later. I upgraded to a laser, thanks to xTool (I might be their biggest fan!)

So now, here I am with a thriving mini business, corporate collaborations, and the best part... thousands of happy customers and miniaturists who have found my designs helpful. What more could a girl ask for? I'm also a USA Today Bestselling author for young adult 'romantasy' (Faerie realm fantasy + romance) so I'm working on ways of bringing those two passions together. And I feel very blessed to be able to do what I love.

Anyway, I'm so glad you're here! Please take a look around, and feel free to message me anytime with questions, requests, or just to chat with someone who totally gets your mini obsession. Kindred spirits have to stick together!

Hugs,

Michele