Miniatures Have Always Been Part of My Story by Laurie Ann March
Miniatures are one of my passions and they always have been. This is long, but you might find it interesting. Grab a cup of something warm and get comfy.
When I was in kindergarten, I had a rather serious wee accident with a Crazy Carpet. Remember those? Nothing like putting a smooth piece of plastic under your ass and flying down a double-terraced hill that was covered in ice-crusted snow… right into a pine tree! Face first! It was kind of epic! But… there I was, a half dozen stitches later to reattach my eyelashes back to my eyelid, feeling devastated that I couldn’t be outside having winter fun with all my friends.
My mom’s solution was to dig out all kinds of things that she had saved and a whack of construction paper. We built a Hawaiian island together. Of course, my Mom did most of it. She made little animals out of the paper and tiny little flower leis that were dimensional and from a distance almost looked real.
My First Dollhouse and Learning Miniature Craftsmanship
Fast forward a few years and my father bought a kit for me. It was a three-story dollhouse. The kit was just the wood and some instructions to assemble it. The stairs were the hardest part.
Mom, Dad, and I spent the following years looking for miniatures in places like St. Jacobs and other little communities. We made a lot of the things ourselves. My mom used the tiniest crochet hook to make little hooked rugs. My dad cut veneer to make hardwood floors. They even collected old wallpaper sample books that the paint shop was tossing so that I could wallpaper the rooms.
Dad taught me how to wire lighting.
The scale was 1:12. This means that what is 12 inches in real life, is 1 inch in the miniature world.
Becoming a Teddy Bear Artist
Later on, I became a teddy bear artist and I would, on occasion, create a miniature teddy bear and sometimes a little diorama.
One of them was a little teddy bear in a galvanized wash tub. I made bubbles that looked realistic and I used an eyeliner pencil to put a little bit of dirt on his face, paws, and ears. I even made a little poof for him to wash with and created soap out of air dry clay. Mom hooked a mini bathmat for the scene.
That particular scene went to a fellow collector who lived in the USA.
Losing Everything in a House Fire
In 2001, all was lost when our home burned down. All of my supplies and all of my passion to make both teddy bears and miniatures was gone.
Rediscovering Creativity Through a School Diorama
Then.. when Tobias was in grade one he had to do a diorama for school and parents were asked to help. He had already drawn the plan in class.
I searched the pantry to see what we could use as a base and noticed a wooden box that a piece of smoked salmon would have come in. Perfect. He wanted to call it Wolf Town (I think if I go through some old backup CDs, I might even have photos).
I sent him out to the driveway to find the tiniest gravel to make the edging on a pond. He and I made cattails and lilypads. I would do the fine cutting when he needed help. I cut a little wreaths and tombstones and he glued them together and made stands out of toothpicks for a cemetery with a Remembrance Day theme.
We trimmed corn husks to make them tiny and create a little field of dried corn ready to be harvested. He made a little house and drew mortar lines on it. I made a porch light from a crystal bead. He made an old-fashioned red barn. I cut a teeny little piglet and Tobias made a trough out of paper.
We worked for days on this project and it turned out so well. It was mostly construction paper and glue and a whole lot of imagination.
The best part was that we had fun and it reminded me of that time with my mom and the Hawaiian island.
Tobias’s first model build with the original very old photos and A.I. representation of the final full build.
Discovering Book Nooks
Knowing my love for miniatures, my husband bought me a book nook kit for Valentine’s Day in 2023. Then last year he bought me a Christmas themed one for my birthday.
I started the first one shortly after receiving it but then it got placed on a shelf.
As you know, I helped Kaia with her snowflakes last year and the year before. It was my adaptation from my university days and the work is quite tedious. Last year she wanted to add bookish ornaments to her offerings… iinspired by the miniature books in the unfinished kit that was collecting dust.
They were a huge success and she made plans for even better versions this year.
Life happens and this Spring I had the avulsion fracture so I finished the kit! Finishing that helped me throughout the healing process and kept both my mind and hands busy.
This kit was roughly 1:24. I also binge-watched a CBC production that had come to Netflix called Best in Miniature, where extremely talented miniaturists competed against one another. Talk about inspiring!
Connecting With the Book Nook Community
As I became more interested in the book nooks, I connected with some really cool and like-minded people in a group or three on Facebook… including a man named David.
I posted in one group about kit that Bryan brought back from his trip to Xiamen, China (Time Magic Club) and David directed me to his website which has valuable information to help me complete the build. This particular one has gears and things that move and the information was appreciated. (That’s me folks 😀)
I ordered another kit that is even tinier than the 1:24 scale that I had already worked with. It’s tedious and reminds me of working with the snowflakes, but I love it.
A Different Perspective on Manufacturing in China
About that trip to China…
Bryan was in China for almost a month and he was able to tour some manufacturing facilities there related to his work.
North Americans have some pretty negative preconceptions about what manufacturing and working life is like in China. What he found was cleanliness, attention to detail, great working conditions, and happy employees.
We won’t get into the political side. Bryan has witnessed worse conditions in North America and that says a lot about how we perceive the world. I’m sure there are places that are awful in China, but that was not his experience.
His company has an office in Shanghai and they deal with all kinds of companies and see the working conditions first hand. For the most part, those preconceptions are dead wrong.
You are wondering why this is related to miniatures? One thing… it opened my mind!
Discovering ETKVR and the Magic Wardrobe Kit
And…
A few weeks ago, an employee of a company named ETKVR posted photos of their shop and how their designs are made, in one of the groups.
I did some research and found out that they have many environmental certifications including the Forest Stewardship Council.
I connected with a lovely lady from the company and I am going to build a few of their kits. If it weren’t for husband’s trip to China I wouldn’t have considered this at all.
ETKVR has great attention to detail and we have had some great discussions about our differing cultures.
Yesterday the first kit arrived for me to build. It is named Magic Wardrobe and it has a Narnia vibe to it. I’m going to document the build and post it in several places, plus I believe David will be featuring it on his lovely web resource.
I won’t be getting paid for this which allows me to remain objective if there are any issues, but I did receive the kit as a sample.
Returning to the Miniature World
So… it seems I keep getting drawn back into the miniature world.
Kaia and I are building kits that we purchased to help raise money for her trip to Greece and we are going to make more miniature ornaments to sell at her vendor shows for Christmas.
The surprising or maybe not so surprising thing is I feel like I should design and create a miniature world from scratch… without a kit. I think that’s where I’m ultimately heading with all of this.
And now, here I am delving back into the miniature world that I loved so much.
I have always believed that life is a series of moments that often direct you on to a path that you never expected you would take.
Follow Lauria Ann on her Instagram account @lauriethewriter
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