Monica was never exposed to dollhouses in the traditional sense as a child. She did have friends that had Barbie Dream homes but none had the wooden dollhouses that have bitten many of us. She was not exposed to the gorgeous collectable dollhouses like the ones from Greenleaf until she was an adult. She had no desire to have or build one, until one day she decide she needed to have a haunted dollhouse.

Monica loves to decorate her dollhouses. She has absolutely fallen in love with interior and exterior facades. She loves doing stucco and stone work exteriors because it is so rewarding to her when it is completed. It always makes her say “Wow!”  Monica also enjoys all the extra little “somethings” that go into decorating interiors of dollhouses. She loves wallpapering and shingling. Each application gives that house its own story. Monica decided to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about what she hates about dollhouses. Building the shell of the house! Thank goodness for Russel because that is the part of dollhouses that he really enjoys. A match made in mini heaven! She says that if she were to try to glue and assemble the houses, they would fall apart in ten minutes. Someday maybe her hubby will teach her how to properly use clamps.

Monica`s first foray into dollhouses was her Lily.

When she first started to build it, she could not have been more excited about anything. She had no idea how long a house took to perfect, so most days she was jumping out of her skin to finish her up. Monica`s horror story in the dollhouse world also has to do with the same Lily. She had purchased her with the intentions of making her into a haunted house. That was the reason she had started this hobby. She was almost finished with her when things started to stall. Monica kept looking at the doors and they were screaming that the house wanted to be an Old Western Saloon.  Monica didn't even like that style of decorating but the house gets what the house wants! She totally redesigned the house and its decorations and the Lily is now a haunted western saloon. Great compromise! Monica feels that the Lily is a Grand Dame and she will never part with her.

Monica`s dream in the future is to take a few Rik Pierce classes. She would also love to learn how to paper clay, master landscaping, and make her own furniture from scratch. She would also love to learn how to make dolls from clay. She will have to wait to see how much time in her life will allow her to learn these things.  Out of all of Monica`s miniatures her most favorite is something she made herself.

She participates in swaps and for the last one she made a pile of three Magick books stacked with a glow in the dark Fimo candle that has a working candle flame in it.  She loves it because it is the first lamp she ever made, or for that matter anything electrical. I have participated in swaps with Monica and her items are my most coveted minis by far!

Monica`s plans for the rest of 2008 are to finish her Arthur, finish the interior of the saloon, work on her Adams, and start work on her Newburg. You go girl!

 Monica has some advice for the novices of the miniature world. It will take you longer then you think to get your home to completion. Be patient and enjoy the ride. Plan on being fully addicted to this art! 

You can enjoy looking at all of Monica`s dollhouses and miniatures by looking at her Gallery here.

For participating as a Member of the Month, Monica will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Greenleaf store.

Happy Haunting!

Heidi Cleveland

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