|
Member of the Month - Meet Kelly! (kellee)
By Heidi Cleveland
July is almost over. As I write this, I have to say that my part of the country has not had much of a Summer. I cannot say that I do not enjoy the cooler breezes but the rain has got to stop. It is way too damp inside to get any real dollhouse or miniature work done. This is probably true for most of you. This time of year can make it difficult to get glue or paint to dry. We can always do some mini cleaning and re-arranging though. That is always fun.
I would like to introduce you to our July Member of the month, Kelly (kellee). She has been a member of the Greenleaf forums since May 28, 2005. Kelly is a really nice person to know and talk to. She does beautiful work on her dollhouses and she find ingenious ways to make miniatures on a budget.
Kelly and her family are from Columbus, OH. She works at Old Navy working in the Logistics department. She is the one that makes the store look the way it does when you enter. She sets up the displays and stocks all the merchandise. She has been married to her sweetheart, Tim, since 1994. They have two sons. Timmy is twelve years old and Zach is eight years old. Timmy was born with congenital heart defects and had heart surgery when he was six days old. She is happy to report that he is doing great now. She also has a Chow Retriever mix named Maddie and a Quaker Parrot named Ruger. She also has many fish babies.
Kelly was sneaky when she was a seven year old girl. One afternoon, when the family was putting up the Christmas tree, Kelly told her Mom that she could put up the tree while Key put up the dollhouse that was under her Mom`s bed. I did the same thing with my first tricycle. Kelly`s first dollhouse was that Fisher Price model from the 1970s. She still owns it. Eight years ago Kelly purchased an Ashley dollhouse and from then she has been addicted.
Kelly loves to build and decorate her houses. She does say that the building process from the moment she opens it to the second it is considered done. Kelly is like many of us. None of her houses are really ever done. Only done for awhile. She always ends up going back and doing little things to the houses that are supposed to be done. She enjoys putting in hardwood floors. She uses popsicle sticks and has just learned a new way that she will be trying on her next house.
Kelly is a shingle hater. I have to agree with her on this one. She has the same way of dealing with them that I do. She hates to do them but once she gets started, she cannot stop. It must be done! She cannot seem to walk away once she gets started. A house does not really look good until their hair is done. Shingles make the house.
The first time Kelly started working on her first dollhouse she was scared. She loves working with wood but she felt overwhelmed with all the pieces. She kept working on it until she finished it. She says that she has learned many things and is not longer afraid of dollhouse kits. All those pieces do not intimidate her anymore. They actually intrigue her. Kelly loves rehabbing a house that has not been loved. She loves to make it beautiful again. She currently has six dollhouses that are in need and she sees the beauty in every single one of them. She does not think she will make all six of them happy but she will certainly try to get them started this summer.
Kelly has a big miniature dream. She would love to own a little dollhouse shop. She wants a place where she can build and decorate. She also has many plans this coming year. Kelly has the six rehabs to work on plus many other houses that are crying to be worked on. She wants to work on her Franklin, San Fran, a saloon, and two Pierce dollhouses that she would like to connect. She wants to learn many things in the dollhouse world. She wants to learn how to sculpt with clay, make food, and how to make flowers.
Kelly has two miniatures that she loves the most. The first is a small Pomeranian dog that she purchased at a miniature show for one dollar. The other is a Sun Conure Parrot that her mini friend sent to her. They are special to her because they are in memory of their family pets that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. She is most proud of her McKinley dollhouse. She babysat an entire month to get that house and the child was horrible. That dollhouse was her reward. Her other favorite dollhouse is her Alexandria. She purchased it at a hobby store for only $17. The manager had told a clerk that all the dollhouse kits that were left in the store were marked down 80-90%. The manager figured that the only kits left were ones that were already opened and had parts missing. He was wrong. Kelly found the lonely Alexandria hiding behind some mirrors in the clearance section. She almost fainted when the clerk told her how much she owed. I would have fainted too!
Kelly wants to let all the new explorers in the world of dollhouses to just have fun. Try to be patient. People on the Greenleaf forums are always nice and helpful. Do not be afraid to try something new. And above all else, putty and glue can always fix it!
You can take a visit to all of Kelly`s wonderful treasures in her gallery here.
For participating as Member of the month, Kelly will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Greenleaf Store.
Return to newsletter home...
|
