This month I would like to re-introduce an original member of the forum, Charlene. Charlene has been a member of the Greenleaf forum since August 4,2005. She started around the same time I did. I stumbled upon her one day here last month. I had to find out how she was doing. I think this is the perfect way to find out!

 Charlene is originally from Pittsburgh where her family still lives. She moved to the DC area after graduating from Pitt. She met her husband and they settled in Northern Virginia and raised their family. She earned a second degree in Accounting and had a career in various CPA firms in Virginia. Charlene`s husband retired in 2004 and they relocated to Southern West Virginia where his family lives. She is now semi-retired. She manages an H&R Block tax office part time. They have two handsome sons, two beautiful daughters and the world`s greatest grandson. They also have two fur babies. Callie, a large mixed breed dog and Jasmine, a very haughty red tabby. Charlene and her husband spend a lot of time traveling, gardening, and just enjoying the spectacular scenery there in Almost Heaven.

 Charlene had a wonderful metal dollhouse with plastic furniture when she was a child. She loved it. She hadn’t really thought about dollhouses for years until she worked at a CPA firm that was located near a dollhouse store, Miniatures from the Attic, which is now closed. She spent hours looking at the window displays until she finally decided she had to have one on her birthday. She purchased a four room Colonial and she was hooked from then on. Charlene really enjoys the building aspect of dollhouse making. The decorating is okay but one can really let their creative juices flow when one builds!  Decorating is only really fun or interesting to her if the idea is whimsical or imaginary. Her favorite part of the build is landscaping the exterior of the dollhouse. Charlene says that a house is not complete without a yard. She, like many of us, dislikes sanding. It is probably the worst part of building a dollhouse and nearly all builds require that you do it. One thing that Charlene would love to do is to learn Doll making. It’s a thing to try sometime but getting them "right" is a long, torturous process and not one that she is willing to go through just yet.

  Charlene cannot remember specifics about her first dollhouse. It was nearly twenty years since she began. She just sort of attacked the kit. There were a few pieces left over when she finished but it did not seem to affect the overall look of the dollhouse. She does have one horror story though. She has made only one attempt at a 1:48 dollhouse. She purchased four 1:48 kits. They looked so easy compared to 1:12 or 1:24, that she figured it was a one evening build. She can honestly say she HATED working in that scale. Her sister is now the proud owner of all four and yes, she did complete and decorate them all. She can only conclude that either her sister’s eyes are much better or that she has really small fingers!

Charlene would love to take a class with either Rik Pierce or Ray Whitledge. Unfortunately, neither has ever offered a class within her driving range. She would love to get together with Tracy Topps (Minisontheedge). Not just for minis but because she just seems like such a super nice person, who would be well worth getting to know personally.

Charlene has a couple mini plans for the end of this year. Right now she is working on completing her daughter-in-law’s mini tattoo parlor. She has to finish up the furnishings and cut Plexiglas for the front and top. Then she is on to two of her dream projects. The first is the Clifftop Abbey. This is an abandoned Abbey complete with a bell tower, deserted scriptorium, and haunted wine cellar (containing a ghost which will appear and disappear at a whim). The second is a secret but if all goes according to plan, it will be terrific. She has already gathered all of her supplies and once all the leftover projects are done, she will be able to devote all her mini time to the Abbey.

Charlene has one mini that she loves above all the rest. It is a handmade mini quilt which she received from a favorite mini friend who is now deceased. It`s absolutely beautiful but she has not yet placed it. It needs a special display in her honor.  If Charlene had to choose one dollhouse to keep, it would have to be her Fairfield. She built and decorated it for her Mom, who died suddenly last winter. Charlene never had the opportunity to give it to her so she supposes she is going to hang on to it for sentimental reasons.

I asked Charlene if she had any advice for the newbie dollhouse builders out there. She says that since she puts very little emphasis on realism, that she might be a bad advisor on the subject. Most folks new to the hobby want everything to be right, realistic, and perfect.  Her approach always has been that miniatures are art. A well done mad Scientist`s roombox has much more appeal to her than a realistic Victorian. She does not think there is a right or wrong way of decorating, building, or finishing. It`s a lot more interesting to just let your mind run wild and do something creative, rather then worrying about how someone else would do it. Sometimes, when you don`t know how anything is supposed to be done, you get better results through experimentation than through advice. It`s a hobby. It`s supposed to be fun. It`s art. It`s supposed to be creative!
I think that is the best advice you could give, Charlene!

You can drool all over Charlene`s eye candy by going to her Gallery here.

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

Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain to all!

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