Kabrina has always had a love for dollhouses and everything miniature. She had plastic dollhouses and Polly Pockets which are how many young women get their passion. Her favorite part of Barbie was her furniture and food.  The first time she saw a real wood dollhouse being built was in middle school.  At that point, she had no idea there was such a thing as a wooden dollhouse kit. She was in awe. One of her friend`s mothers was building one and she was very protective of her house. She was afraid that if Kabrina touched it, she might break something. She told Kabrina that she was too young to understand. Kabrina always hated that because at that age she was already crocheting, painting, and doing a million other crafts on her own. She did not even think of dollhouses until her junior year of high school. She was dragged kicking and screaming to a Christmas party by her family and she was glad that they made her. In the living room was an unfinished dollhouse. Built but not painted or stained. Just minimal furniture displayed. Kabrina was hooked. She begged her parents to get her a dollhouse.  They finally broke down and Kabrina picked out a Beacon Hill.  When she started to build it, she was filled with anticipation and excitement.  She spent a good solid two years building that BH. She realized as she became more knowledgeable in the hobby that she had made some big mistakes and she was disappointed in how it was turning out. She had built the whole thing in hot glue. Kabrina is kicking herself now because she had her Mom give it away. She knows now that she could have taken it apart and put it together the correct way. I think we all have had those moments in the building process.

  After the BH, Kabrina took a break from building. That did not stop her from looking at eye candy online and deciding on other kits. She built the Adams kit in memory of her Irish honeymoon.  Her favorite house is her Gloucester. She found it after she had gotten married. It is not the fanciest looking house or the most expensive but she loves it above all the rest. She was pregnant with their daughter when she was building it. Her son helped paint the trim and her father helped build the base for the house. It has a lot of sentimental value.  Her second favorite house is her Pickett Hill house. She loves it because it is so cute and because it cost her a mint. Kabrina has so many kits stashed away like many of us. She cannot decide which to do. She really wants to spend this year finishing off the Gloucester. She also has an Arthur to finish and she has started a Seaside Villa. Her parents have already bought her Christmas present for this year. It is a Holly Anne kit. She gets it on the condition that she finishes up some of the other kits she has sitting around unfinished.  Kabrina had made a New Year`s Resolution that she was going to clean the decks and get rid of many of her full scale house kits that she has stashed away. She only wants to keep the ones mentioned.  She works in all scales now so it will not hurt as much to lose all the full scale kits.  She has been working in 144th scale and has been selling them in her Etsy shop, DawningLightCreation.

  She really loves building the micro kits. She can get them done quickly and she feels an instant sense of accomplishment when she is done with them. Kabrina says that she is definitely a builder. The reason is because she hasn’t gotten to the stage of decorating any of her houses yet. Her favorite part of building is when you open the box for the first time. It has that certain smell. Then you pull all the pieces out and see what kind of puzzle you have to put together.

   Kabrina has a mini dream of one day recreating Louise May Alcott`s Orchard House from the novel Little Women.  This is her favorite book and she has seen every movie version there is. Last year, she was able to tour Alcott`s home in Concord on a trip to Boston.  One thing she would love to try is paperclay. She loves the results that she sees from other people but she gets a bit intimidated by it to try. I asked Kabrina if she had any advice for all the new kids on the mini block.  “The only advice I could give would be to have fun! I build for myself even if I plan on selling something. If I'm not happy with it how could I think anyone else would be. If you aren't happy with something or get frustrated just take a breath, a break, make a cup of tea and browse the Greenleaf forum. This forum has been a lifesaver on my mini adventures and the people I have met through it have been so caring and supportive of each other whether it be a mini predicament or a personal crisis they are always there with encouraging words and an ear to cry to or vent. It has never failed to put a smile on my face when I'm having a bad day to pop in and read what others are up to.”

 You can see all the examples of Kabrina`s work at Greenleaf in her Gallery blog, Kabrina`s miniatures. (http://kabrinasminiatures.blogspot.com/)

Kabrina will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Greenleaf store for her participation.

Happy Spring!!

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