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Member of the Month - Meet Julie!
By Heidi Cleveland
It is the first full day of Spring and it is chilly. At least it is for me right now at this point in time. Hopefully there will be some balmy temperatures by the time you read this. This old New Englander is just going to have to be patient, I guess. Spring is my second favorite time of the year. Unfortunately the allergies are starting to creep into my nose! Time for a medicine stock up so I do not sneeze all over my mini projects. I am also patiently waiting for a Fling. Nothing is better this time of year for all of us miniaturists then the beginning of Spring. I hope all of you enjoy both this year.
I would love to introduce to our March Member of the Month, Julie a.k.a Jujurodgers. Julie has been a member of the Greenleaf Forums since January 7, 2010. She does some amazing work and I hope you enjoy her story.
Julie has lived the better part of her life in and around California. After her father passed, she moved to the high desert of New Mexico where she has been for the past eleven years. She is married and has five children, three of which still reside with her. They also have a couple horses, goats, dogs, cats, and guinea pigs. She milks the goats and makes cheese. Oh Julie! I am jealous!
She attended some college. She thinks that because of the fact that she was a young mother of 20 years that is partly the reason why she never immersed herself into any career. She has worked in art in subtle ways. She worked along side a famous cartoonist, Phil Yeh, in making art jackets to promote his literacy program. She also spent several years creating a logo for her hometown`s annual festival. Julie has worked in fabric stores, sold and repaired sewing machines, owned a sportswear business, and yet has always been involved in trying to make and refine her own art to make a living off of. For the past fourteen years, she has primarily worked as a writer and researcher online. That job will end in May 2011 when she will devote all of her time to miniatures and large dolls.
Julie says that she hated most dolls when she was a kid though she loved dressing those troll dolls. It was not until she was an adult in her 30s that she really desired a dollhouse. Her first one was bought from a gift certificate her brother gave her to a hobby store. She purchased the GL Arthur and it is the only one she has completed to date. She still remembers immersing herself in making the house and it quickly led to making some furniture. She still has the little kitchen hutch she made twenty years ago using an exacto knife. Since then, Julie has purchased smaller houses to give as gifts, and a McKinley that has yet to be finished. She says if she had more room, she would have more GL houses.
Julie loves every aspect of miniatures and dollhouses. She loves to build the houses from kits but she also builds things like Gypsy wagon kits. She is also working on making some lamps that are also dollhouses & roomboxes. She does not really get the time to really decorate houses as much as she would like but she still does love immersing herself into that part of the process.
Because she loves to decorate, she is also a slow collector. She will usually pick up a few things here and there when she is selling at miniature shows. Then she will put those things away for future plans. Once she was fortunate enough to be able to trade at one show with Acquisto Silver. She has a few little but very special silver pieces. I have to agree and concur with Julie that if she were rich, she would have a major problem with buying, building, decorating, and serious collecting. Oh but it would be a fun thing to do! She thinks the only part of miniatures and dollhouses that she dislikes is not having enough room to really spread out. Oh, she also cannot stand sanding and dry fitting. It is a tediously messy job and she would rather not do it all at once. She stages this job as she goes along to make it less bothersome. Making miniatures is her primary income and will become her only income after May 2011. Her main projects are hand sculpted dolls but she also makes gypsy wagon kits, gourd wagons, and gourd houses. You can see all her creations on her website and Etsy store here.
Julie was very excited when she started her first dollhouse. She felt like she was blessed with a very wonderful gift. She became surprised rather quickly at how many hours it takes to build a dollhouse. She thought it would be far quicker than it was. She remembers being so shocked that there was so much to a dollhouse. She has a recent dollhouse horror story to tell. She has a McKinley that she purchased with a gift certificate that she won at a show. She does not have room in her house for another house so she was thrilled to have a wall house. There was only one wall it would fit on, or so she thought. One day the kids got a little hyper, bumped it, and it went flying all over the floor! She has since found the only other wall it can fit on, where it cannot be bumped. She has not found the time yet to repair it and finish it. Thankfully it was not completely done with it was thrown!
One of Julie`s biggest miniature dream would be able to live in one of her Gypsy wagons that she has created. A realistic dream would be to teach miniatures on a cruise or to travel overseas to a grand show. She is lucky that she gets to do a couple of shows a year. She does the 3 Blind Mice show in Chicago in April and then she does the Denver show in September. She has met some wonderful people, including some members from the Greenleaf Forum. Her other plans for this year are to continue developing different ideas with the miniatures she makes. Julie has plans to work on her Advent calendar which is a half scale design. It will look something like an apartment building with balconies and door on each balcony that will open to a little room that will be lit and decorated. She is really excited about this project and her 24 yr old has already said that she wants it! Aside from the projects she has in the works, Julie has many things she would love to learn. She wants to learn how to make molds because she would love to make animals like goats. She also wants to make a castle from real stone. Perhaps she would make a hobbit hole with real growing grass. She would also love to learn bookbinding so that she could replicate that in miniature. Julie wants to build a lighthouse some day and also to learn how to age things.
I asked Julie if she had any advice for the new miniaturists out there. "The first piece of advice is to have fun! I know there are so many people who are very hard on themselves, are perfectionists and this can be really hard for a beginner. I am not a perfectionist but know that many are and know this can stop people from even beginning something. So many little or even big mistakes can be fixed with trims, decorations, and furniture. Take your time and do not be hard on yourself. I also think it is important to think about things you love. Just buy things here and there, make things, and slowly acquire little bits and bobs for a house. When it comes to a dollhouse, you can always change the colors and furnishings later. I think it helps to have a forum like at Greenleaf to discuss worries, ideas, and successes. Miniaturists are so spread out, I think people can have a tendency to feel they are alone in their love of Miniatures. So relax, play, and have fun!"
You can enjoy all of Julie`s eye candy by going to her gallery
For participating as the Member of the Month, Julie will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Greenleaf Store.
Happy Spring! Happy Fling!
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