Some of the best details in miniatures are the emotions that flow thru us when we’re lost in our little world.  Sometimes it happens when we’re creating and sometimes it happens when we’re sitting back surveying our little kingdom.  Regardless of when it occurs, those emotions are a little bit of heaven touching our lives each and every day.  They can range from pure bliss to sheer frustration, but even the frustrating parts are looked back on with affection in time.  It’s all a part of creating miniatures and we embrace each one.

Happy Toes—Happy toes occur when something is so cool that it makes your toes wiggle spontaneously.   Most of the time it happens when you find a new mini treasure that gives your heart an extra bump and makes you gasp out loud the first time you see it.  You quickly snatch up this new prize, clutch it gently to your chest and murmur, “My precious, my precious”.   It’s about that time that you realize your toes are wiggling and you know it’s because you’re happy all the way down to your feet.  Miniatures can do that!

Hmmmmmm Moments—We’ve all had these at one time or another when we’ve been working hard at something and finally lean back to take a look at it……….and discover that the end result doesn’t look at all like we expected—it looks better!  We’re not sure how it happened, or why it happened, but it definitely happened!  Sometimes it’s something simple like your carefully selected paint coming out a darker shade when it’s on a large wall and then deciding that it looks a lot better than you thought it would.  Other times it might be working with clay or dressing a doll without realizing that you’re moving to the left instead of staying centered—and then discovering that the asymmetrical design is lots better than your carefully balanced plan.  That’s the moment when you get a little chill down your spine and think, ‘I’ll never tell anyone that I didn’t intend for it to look like that!” 

Wow Moments—These may be some of the best emotions of all.  You’ve planned it, you’ve designed it, you’ve carefully gathered all your supplies and set aside uninterrupted time to do it.  And after all your work and time and energy, you realize that you’ve just exceeded your own expectations.  Yes, you’ve raised your own bar and taken your work to a whole new level!  You whisper, ‘Wow’ under your breath and for just a few minutes, you gaze in complete awe at your new creation.  Oh, you’ll share it with others soon, but for this one special moment, you simply savor the joy of realizing how wonderful you are.

Mini McGyver Moments—These are the moments when you suddenly feel as if you have a PhD in physics and no challenge is too difficult for you to take on.  It’s you against the world and you are riding high on the waves of self confidence, for you have already done the impossible!  You’ve seen where the top edge of the wallpaper doesn’t reach the ceiling and created a new way of installing crown moulding to cover it!  You’ve studied the slightly crooked dormer for days and then in a burst of inspiration, you carefully apply the shingles at just the right angle to give the optical illusion that everything is perfectly straight!  Yes, you have accepted the challenge and devised a solution so creative that McGyver himself would kneel at your feet in admiration.  This is elation at its finest.

Fits of Giggles—Sometimes it just happens when you least expect it.  You’re right in the middle of a project and suddenly when you look down at the mini in your hand, it reminds you of something funny and you start to laugh.  Sometimes it can be giggling at a silly mistake you’ve made and sometimes it’s because the mini simply looks funny at this stage in its creation.  Best of all is when you’re just having so much fun that the smile on your face gets bigger and bigger until it’s a grin.  The grin reaches all the way into your belly where it turns into a chuckle and then the chuckle changes into a laugh.  There’s nothing better than laughing out loud because you are having so much fun doing what you do!

G-r-r-r-r-r-r Moments—The least enjoyable of all mini emotions is the G-r-r-r-r moment when frustration overtakes you because that one stubborn piece just won’t go into place properly.  The more you try, the more obstinate it becomes until you are wrestling with it in a battle of wills.  Hot and sweaty, you tersely whisper, ‘I brought you into this world and I can take you out’.   Finally you drop what you’re doing and walk away in a high state of frustration and anger.  Hours later, after tempers have cooled, you come back and try it once again.  It slips together perfectly.  You lean back in relief but allow yourself to call it one more bad name before letting go and moving on. 

Complete Satisfaction Moments—These are the very best of all.  In fact, they’re so good that they’re even included in dollhouse kit instructions.  At the very end, the instructions tell you to sit back and admire the beautiful dollhouse you’ve created.   I think that’s the most important part of all and a step to be followed repeatedly, every day for years and years.  Whether it’s a dollhouse or a tiny detail you’ve made to go inside, the satisfaction rating is 100% every time you look at the beautiful creation that came to life in your heart and was built by your hands.  It just doesn’t get any better than that.