A long time coming ...
Make Mine Mini on Etsy has been a long time coming ... 10 years passed between the launch of my blog Make Mine Mini in November 2009 and launching Make Mine Mini on Etsy but my creative journey started long before that.
Some of my earliest and happiest memories are of spending time on all kinds of creative endeavours from embroidery to making new clothes for my much loved paper dolls. I also have very fond memories of creating scrapbook pages with my mother using pictures cut from magazines, I didn't realise it at the time but she was teaching me the elements of design - the balancing of shape, shade and colour. This early love of fabric, texture, paint, paper and visual creativity has stayed with me all my life and now finds its outlet in my world of miniatures.
My passion for all things French in miniature was ignited when I discovered the online world of miniature blogs in 2009 and found that the dollhouse world was not confined to 'olde worlde English' which while often beautiful just didn't make my heart sing. I spent two days blog hopping finding a new world of miniatures beyond anything I'd ever imagined, I was hooked. And then along came Pinterest bringing fingertip access to more real world decor inspiration for miniature projects than I could ever have dreamed of. I certainly have more ideas running around in my head than there are hours in the day!
Working outside the 'traditional' miniature world presents challenges though especially finding the right style of furniture and accessories, especially in the early days. The only solution was to get creative with sourcing suitable furniture and playing with wood, paint, paper and fabric to produce what I couldn't find. I was transported back to my childhood happy place again, blending paints to get just the right colour, playing with washes and glazes to get the perfect patina, and as an added bonus technology brought the wondrous opportunity to create fabrics and papers just as I want them by creating and printing my own. My happy place just gets happier!
The last 10 years have been a wonderful journey, including making to sell through various avenues for the last 5, but now it's time for the next step and I'm looking forward to my Etsy adventure. I hope you'll come along with me, sharing my happy place, as I create miniatures for you.
