For my first Member of the Month in 2012, I would love to introduce you to Tracy (Minis on the Edge). Tracy has been a member of the forums since April 20, 2005.  Tracy is our go-to gal when we need help on the forums but she is so much more than that. Tracy is a wonderful person. She is super talented in all things miniature. And she is a great friend to have in your corner. I am happy to say that she is one of my dear friends.

Tracy hails from the Midwest. She is fortunate that she gets to experience all the Seasons. She says that her favorite is autumn. Crunching leaves under her feet and all the smells of the season really make her happy. She has two brothers. She and her younger brother used to play with Fisher Price little people when they were children. Tracy thinks that is when she was really first introduced to and played with dollhouse miniatures. One day when she was five years old, her Mom let her stay home from school to go shopping. They went into one store and she spotted a miniature school room with little people. There was snow on the ground and everyone else was shopping for Christmas. They left the store without purchasing the toy but the following week, Tracy discovered it on her bed when she came home from school. She was beyond excited about it. She says that she think she and her younger brother drove their Mother crazy with constantly ringing the school bell.

Tracy was not confident at all when she started her first dollhouse project. It was the Duracraft Farmhouse and she didn’t know where to start. She never finished that project until she purchased an Arthur and Tiffani dollhouse kits off HSN. She saw a woman build a dollhouse right there on the show and she decided she could do that too. So she did. She did not even look at the Farmhouse until she had completed those two houses first. She built several Greenleaf houses before she finally did finish the Farmhouse. It was hard and the instructions were confusing but she did it.

Tracy considers herself a total builder. She gets much pleasure from the whole process. That is why when she is done with a house, she sells it. So she can go on to the next project. Plus she has no space to store everything she builds. She loves when she starts to add some color to a house. It comes to life for her at that point. Like many of us dollhouse builders out there, Tracy hates shingles too. It does not matter if it is wood or paperclay. She dislikes it through and through. It is the most boring part of the process for her.

I asked Tracy which of her houses are her favorite and which would she want to keep above all the rest. Her favorite is the Dungeon that she did in a Rik Pierce class. It was not always her favorite because every time she looked at it, all she could see were the flaws. She loves it now. She is also in love with the lighthouse she built in another Rik Pierce class. She loves it because she built it with another friend from Greenleaf. Those were the good old days.

Tracy has some mini dreams that she would love to fulfill. She would love to build herself a castle. She would like to meet Deb Roberts in person.   She wants to cook with me (Really? Awww!)   She would love to fly to other side of the pond and meet Jo Med. And she would love to go to NYC and workout with Dean in person. Tracy would love to learn how to sculpt her own mini dolls. She has wanted to try it but has not had the proper time to devote to learning. Lastly, she would love to meet Julie Bell of Bellabelle dolls. Tracy`s plans for the coming year is to build her own workshop.

Tracy has a bit of advice for all the newcomers to this wonderful hobby. “Don’t be afraid to do anything in miniature. Every failure leads to a new invention of how to create something.”

You can look at all of Tracy` lovely photos on her website, blog, and her gallery.

Happy Valentines Day!

Heidi

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