May Member of the Month - Meet Heidi!
By Teresa Martens
Heidi (heidiiiii5) has been a member of the Greenleaf Miniature Community since January 31, 2006. With 4,220 posts (and counting) Heidi makes us laugh with her wry sense of humor and puts us in awe of her compassion for animals and children. In fact, she has owned so many animals that she could write a remake of the movie “The Truth About Cats and Dogs”!
Heidi has always loved dollhouses and miniatures since she was a young child. One of her favorite memories is taking Sunday trips to the museum so she could look at the dollhouses on display.
Heidi’s first venture into miniatures started about three years ago when she found a ‘Greenleaf Pierce’ at a garage sale and paid $20 for it! The house had been put together with hot glue and it was a mess. At the time, she had no idea what to do with it, so it ended up in the trash for bulk pick-up day. Of course, that was before she found the Greenleaf Miniature Community!
In January of 2006, Heidi won a 1978 Skilcraft Colonial kit on eBay for $19.99. As she was doing research for the house she found the Greenleaf forum and has never looked back!
The best part of mini-ing for Heidi is the whole aspect of building and decorating. She can build a house that she wishes she could live in and decorate it in the fashion that she wishes she could have in real life. She can’t afford a real grandfather clock, but she owns two mini ones! She also likes the fact that mini-ing calms her down, taking her to another place so that she can forget all her troubles, if only for that hour while siding or wallpapering.
Heidi’s favorite project, when first asked, would have been her Duracraft Marquam Hill Mansion. She drooled over this model in the store for years, and when they offered to sell it to her she “jumped” at the chance! But she says it is the Skilcraft Colonial , aka the Hud house, aka Beana’s house that has since become her favorite. Once Heidi finally decided that she was going to give the house away to her little friend (Beana), she went full steam ahead to get it finished. Heidi was so proud of the results and she hasn’t regretted giving that house up. She knows it will be cherished and played with for years to come.
Heidi is currently working on five houses, all in different stages of building. The house that has moved onto center stage is a house that Sears used to sell by a company called Kozbro. She is making it into a turn of the century (19th-20th) summer cottage. Heidi says, “where I live, many people own big homes closer to the city center, but they also own big mansions in the Pequot Colony section of town that they refer to as their cottages”. She hasn’t decided on a name for the house yet, but you can rest assured... inspiration will strike!
Another house Heidi is working on is the ‘White Orchid’ by Greenleaf. You can view her progress her. She is also working on an ‘Emerson Row’ which will become ‘Miss Audrey’s House of Ill Repute’.
You can also view some of Heidi’s other great projects in her Gallery, like the roses made from coffee filters, or the cardboard dollhouse, or the bee hive oven and mini furniture (in Mini Mini’s). There is nothing this girl can’t do when she puts her mind to it!
When asked what advice she would like to pass on, Heidi says “don’t give up! No matter how complicated a kit looks, or your wiring won’t light, or the glue won’t dry right... you can do it”! Heidi started this ‘hobby’ with no idea what she was doing. She was very frustrated at times but pushed forward. Now there isn’t one dollhouse kit that scares her. Not one!
One of Heidi’s goals is to learn how to make her own dolls for the houses that she owns. She has read about it, taken books out of the library for it, but hasn’t actually jumped in with both feet yet. But she will... eventually!
Heidi has always loved dollhouses, but didn’t actually own one until her mid-30s. If you would have asked her five years ago if she would have built six dollhouses and is still looking for more, she would have thought you were crazy! For her to find the Greenleaf Miniature Community and the Company to turn to in her hour of need was priceless. Every single person from the hard core dollhouse owner to the lurking newbie has helped her in more ways than they will ever know. Ditto... Heidi... Ditto!
When Heidi isn’t playing with her dollhouses or miniatures, she enjoys gardening, folk art painting on just about anything, yard sales and eating out at great places where cloth napkins are used!
As our 'Featured Member of the Month', Heidi will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to the ‘Greenleaf Store’. Congratulations, Heidi!
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