getting to know you

[madhatter]

Hello To Everyone,

It's been great fun reading everyone interests.

Hobbies, hum what dont i love?

My most recient hobby is my son Ben who is 13 months, I spend most of my time watching him explore his world. I live with Ben and my husband in Toronto, Canada.

I love to of course play with my dollhouse, and all things mini. Im planning on trying to make as many pieces as i can for my dollhouses. So im always wanting to learn something new.

Cross Stitch, Love to do this when im in the mood for some realy quiet time.

I love to garden, ive worked in the gardening indrusty for many many years. It's so good for the soul.

I collect Fashion Royalty and Silkstone Barbies, and some vintage Barbie Clothes and Dolls. I also make stuff in 1/6th scale, that's my favourate part. Most recent I entered a contest and won for my diorama. I even had a small pic of me in a magazine. My husband was so proud of me, he's so amazing.

I love to draw and paint, but have not done this for some time.

Reading, well I have to confess, I love Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings.

I love to decorate, and find great deals and reuse old pieces and mix and match.

I like to shop too, but I usually end up buying something craft related. And i already have too many projects.

Just like to say that it's great to be able to talk to other miniature artists and share idea's. Thanks to everyone.

That's all I can think of for now,

Jenn O

[MicroJivvy]

Nutti -- I have to say this is my all-time favorite thread.

I'm married and hubby and I are like many of you -- avid readers. We actually met online in a Literary Forum. We both have a strong interest in poetry, but we read anything and everything.

My current book is Mark Twain's Joan of Arc, but I love Stephen King (more so his earlier works) and JK Rowling. Grisham, Koontz, and Robin Cook are my "airport staples".

I was appalled by the DaVinci Code, but only because the author insinuated his "facts" were actual facts.

Fortunately or unfortunately, we can never part with a book... so when we were looking to buy a house, this was a significant issue. We have 20 full-sized bookcases and STILL have books in boxes.

As you may have guessed from other threads, we're Cat People.

We're also hermits... or strive to be. We prefer home to any other place and Going Out seems like a huge chore. We dearly love our close friends and family, but it's a small group of people.

Our Hermit Status increased dramatically when we both left the Corporate World. I left in 2001, hubby in 2003. We have our own business which centers around online advertising and marketing.

Previously, my favorite jobs were Graphic Artist and later, Web Developer.

My least favorite job was a temp job where all I did was print requested copies from rolls of Microfiche. I got in trouble for working too quickly.

I have a bacehlors degree in theatre which I have never used, but have never regretted.

I love digital art and I love 3-D work (for those interested, I use Pov-Ray/Moray).

I love video games.

I love novelty songs, broadway musicals, and the Blues.

I'm a HUGE Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan.

I think The Green Mile is the only movie better than the book it was created from (though I like both).

I've never dyed my hair even though it started being noticeably gray in my early twenties.

Okay, I did dye my hair with silver and copper streaks at one time, but that was in college during my New Wave days (when I also wore a watch that was missing both its hands).

hmm... I think that's about enough.

[prariegurl]

Nutti, best of luck with your surgery!.

My husband and I have been married for almost 14 years. He is sweet and wonderful and just perfect for me.

We are childless, kids just didn't happen for us, although I would love to be a mother.

We have three dachshunds, all rescues. I can't imagine my life without a dog.

Aside from minis, my husband, and my dogs, my faith is the other major part of my life. I look forward to retirement just so I can attend mass every day!

I like needlework, find it hard to find time to do it. I have unfinished quilt, needlepoint and counted cross stitch projects. I am finishing one of Janet Patacca's petit point rug kits, and can scarcely believe it but the end is in sight! I only wish I had discovered petit point BEFORE I needed reading glasses!

I love to read mysteries and true crime, and anything else that interests me. I have a one hour train ride to work each way, and that is my reading time. I work in a library, but believe it or not, I DO NOT have many books at home. My books are mostly reference works that I use again and again. Anything that I would read once I borrow from the library, or buy it and later donate it to the library. Isn't that what libraries are for? : )

Since there are only two of us, I only cook dinner once or twice a week. I do love to grill, and I grill almost every weekend when the weather is nice. I also enjoy baking.

Our home is small, so there isn't much room for collections. These days I don't collect much expect for minis, and because of space I am selective about which minis I collect.

We have a Netflix account and really enjoy it because they carry lots of things you can't find at the local video store. Right now we are watching the Combat! tv series from the 1960s.

I enjoy watching television, but admit I have strange tastes. I like watching polka shows and antique tractor shows on RFD tv, American Chopper, My name is Earl, Lost, CSI (any of them but especially the original), King of the Hill, Sell this House, and Dancing with the Stars.

I have a class M license but do not have a motorcycle right now. I hope to get one in the next couple of years. I had a small Honda bike when in high school.

I like travel, but my budget only allows a nice vacation once every few years. I love my country and hope to see as much of it as possible, maybe even all 50 states! I have visited 30 already. I have visited three Canadian provices, Hong Kong, China, Macau, Bahamas, and Italy.

That's about it for boring little me!

Jeri

[Missymew]

I only wish I had discovered petit point BEFORE I needed reading glasses!

Jeri

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've often thought about how unfair it is that as we age our interest in crafts increases, but some of our abilities - sight and dextirity - diminish. We also usually have more time as we age. Children have been raised and left home. We're either retired or working less at our jobs/careers. We usually have less money being delegated to needs, and can better afford our wants.

Nutti - this is such an interesting thread - getting to know each other a little better.

Susanne

[havanaholly]

I only wish I had discovered petit point BEFORE I needed reading glasses!

Thank God for magnifying visors! Last trp to the eye doctor I noticed my eyeglass Rx for the os (left eye) is changing, but when I asked him if he wanted to change it he said no, that was the catarct & it's still growing extremely slowly. Since it doesn't seem to effect my needlework, I'll stick with the visor.

[Shakyshaky]

Okay about me...well I collect dolls and teddy bears and minis of course. I like to read but do not get to much at the moment. I like to read when it is quiet and that does not happen much with four kids. I do cross stich, quilting,sewing and make cards and I am starting to make my own mini furniture. I love to bake especailly at christmas. I decided last year I was going to start doing things for myself or my head was going to explode. I think that is why I have dived onto minis so hard. That is also why I made the resolution to try to slow down because I have this fear that if I stop I will not be able to do it anymore and that is just not true. Oh, and my favorite colors are purple and green.

As for my family I have four children. Ages 6,4,3 ( in two weeks) and 1. My husband Scott is not fond of minis, but has atleast stopped making comments. I think as long as I have room for them where he will not run into them he is okay.

[LPCullen]

Wow! What a wonderful topic Nutti! And good luck with your surgery! You must keep us updated!

About me, well ...

My favorite colors are blue and white (you didn't think I could have just one did you?)

I also love to read...mostly love stories

I love the sun but I don't like to get too hot since I have a tendency to heat exhaustion (scared a few people pretty well by passing out on them), but I am solar powered so I get pretty groggy when the sun goes away for more than two days

I also love photography

Before I collected dollhouses, I collected breyer horses. I also collect victorian things, especially the victorian porcelain figurines which are in my curio cabinet in the Charlotte house. I also collect all the horse books that I used to read during my youth. Actually, I got my son hooked on those when he was little so when he was in the second grade he was reading on a 7th grade level ... I have a very old Black Beauty book.

I used to draw when I was a child, but I don't anymore. I was especially good at drawing horses--I used to be a horse freak, so to speak.

I used to sing but I don't anymore. I sang in school choirs, also duos (but never a solo--too chicken) in junior and senior high--used to be first soprano. My sister and I used to sing in the choir in Handel's Messiah every year, and which was nationally televised one year that we were in it (been on TV a couple times singing) but we don't do that anymore either. I used to sing to the kids when they were little, and we all used to sing together when they were little. But I still love to sing, and I love music. You can remove every TV in my house and it won't bother me a bit, but I must have music.

I too enjoy learning new things but will panic and/or get frustrated VERY easily.

I am not a very good housekeeper, but I am a very good house cleaner.

I love to grow/plant flowers about the yard. I'm not an expert, I just love playing with it and seeing what I can grow. Also do houseplants.

I used to be shy until I had kids. Then I had to teach them and lead them, so I became more of a leader. I am not a follower, although I will follow. I love to talk to people, which may be part of why I love my job ...

I am a very loyal, very dedicated, and very driven person, and I am also very protective of those that I love. I'm also the person that people call upon when they want something handled. I do the dirty work, so to speak.

I had no hobbies before miniatures.

[hydroped]

And I realize that some of that sounds negative, and it is, but primarily I am a very happy-go-lucky person.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey now Sis! I don't think of any of that sounds negative at all - just very forthright, honest, upfront and wonderful.. and for the record I'm told I have a terrible temper.. can you imagine that???? Moi? :lol: though most of the time my temper comes from spending to much time in public.. sometimes I think I was born to be a hermit - I love quiet and can't stand the sound of yelling or dogs barking - strangely listening to coyotes or foxes yipping doesn't bother me though... go figure huh?

:lol: David

[Missymew]

I like quiet too! In our home we seldom have any background noise. TV isn't on, no radios, stereo. I've never even vacuumed because I don't like loud noises. Ray does the vacuuming. Even when I'm working on the computer, I never put the sound on .... it's very quiet and peaceful.

Susanne

[Color Me Holly]

I looooooove Anne McCaffery.  I started reading the Pern books when I was in high school and have grabbed each new one that came along.  Her characters  seem like old friends.  I was devestated when she announced her retirement and I was dubious about her son taking over, but so far, he's done pretty well. 

Deb

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree I love the characters. I have read the books several times. The last I read in the Pern series was the Skies of Pern. I didn't know that she had retired. Is that why her website is down? I knew that there was a book from her son, but I haven't read it.

Nutti, I haven't finished Eldest. So far, so good. The first chapter had a lot of trouble holding my attention.

[Shiney]

It's so nice to get to know everyone! This and the "Gift" thread are my favorites, so far.

My favorite colors are: blood red, all shades of gray, black, gold, and cream.

I collect tatting shuttles (my most prized is a genuine tortoiseshell antique), decorative daggers, and skunks.

Brent my husband, is my best friend. We have known eachother since high school and eloped 2 years ago.

I want to become a foster parent when the right time comes.

I always keep the secrets of others.

I love to try all kinds of exotic foods. Even if I end up disliking something, my curiosity has been satisfied, which is the point of it all. Weirdest thing I've tried? Probably sea cucumber. Not as bad as say, escargot, but wouldn't order it for my last meal.

Novels I enjoy are sci-fi, horror, thriller, and the classics. I have the habit of reading several books concurrently. Right now I have going on: Cryptonomicon, Crime and Punishment, and Little Women, having just finished reading Ender's Game. I also enjoy non-fiction, mostly in the area of astronomy, cooking, or arts/crafts.

I love to discuss topics in psychology, theoretical physics, and movies. I am highly opinionated but also throughly open-minded. This leads me to frequently engage in rather lively discussions, though being an introvert keeps me from doing so with anyone other than a few close people.

I never had a dollhouse as a kid. I think if I had received a dollhouse when I was little, I would have fainted with happiness. I remember having to stretch my imagination pretty thin while using my plastic pink lunch box as the bedroom for my Barbie. When I imaginge building and decorating my very own dollhouse as an adult, I can feel that childlike joy.

[Minis On The Edge]

Nutti, I am sending positive thoughts your way and I know you will have a sucessful surgery! I can feel it. :lol:

Wow I have been thinking about this one and it sure is a GREAT Topic!

Let's see, My favorite colors are Blue Red & Yellow (In that order) I LOVE to bake (Especially anything chocolate) and I love trying new recipies for dinner. I like to draw, I write short stories and poetry and songs. I collect dolls and LOVE building dollhouses (of course).

I love musicals and my favorite one is Evita (Not the movie but the real play). My dad and I stayed up late one night when I was about 7. They had the play live on a radio staion and I had school the next morning and we stayed up very late that night and listened to it (Cause we did not buy the tikets before they sold out). About 8 years ago the play came to Chicago and my dad and I went out on a "date" to see it together because my mom hates opera and musicals and so does my husband.

Hubby and I LOVE to go look at houses and will spend a entire Saturday just looking at old buildings and going to open houses just to look. I collect Blue and red and yellow bottles (I have too many green ones). I also love blue & white tea pots & cups.

I Love to watch black and white movies and I LOVE music. (All of it) country, rock, r&b, jazz, classical, very little rap, "house" music, tecno, disco, music from the mid 40s & 50s & early 60s. My Grandmother always said I had an "old soul" LOL.

I Love to make rag dolls and love to do craft projects with kids. I feel they watch too much TV and forget "how" to be creative. I LOVE to read and love history. I am reading Memoris Of a Geisha right now because I saw the movie and LOVED it. I have only 30 pages left and I don't want it to end so I am reading it very slow now. I Love Grand father clocks. I love the "tick-tock" sound of them and the Chimes.

I do volunteer work on the weekends with my family and it brings a since of joy knowing I am helping others. I love to do Bible research and have so many different Bibles and my favorites are the Living Bible (I love the way it reads) the Student Bible (It has questions for you to ponder) and The New Worlds Translation (It is written in everyday language we use now).

God & Family are things I MUST have in my life. I feel empty without them. I have learned that you can find friends in the most uncommon places. I try to suround myself around people who have traits I admire so that maybe, they will rub off on me. I have found that even online, I still lean towards those I admire a lot.

I enjoy working out and trying new workout classes with my best friend which is my husband (This comes from someone who would have never stepped foot in a gym just 2 years ago). I also LOVE to talk to older people. I learn so much from them because they have so much knowledge. They are not as petty and always seem to look at the "big picture". They are so discerning too it seems they never miss anything.

My favorite painters Are Monet, Van Gouh, Gauguin, Manet, & Gustav Klimt. I also LOVE stained glass and have taken a class to learn how to make some myself. I have 4 tiffany styled lamps and 3 fireplace screens

I admire my kids for the different things and talents they have. Rachel loves to help people and has been taking sign language at school since kindergarten and. She loves to talk and wants to learn 5 languages by the time she is 20 yrs. old. Because Rachel has a big interest in it, my interest has grown again in sign language so I signed us both up to learn it more in depth in April. David has a gift of being able to use illustrations in a way that make the most difficult thing seems simple. Sarah is just a big bundle of Love and is so forgiving.

I also have a temper but my husband has learned how to make it go away. We have a secret thing we do to make the other laugh and even when I am VERY Upset, he manages to make me smile so I just say forget it and walk away and play with my houses :lol:.

This is a little bit about me and I am enjoying getting to know everyone else better.

[smallhouset]

My turn, I'm basiclly a home body. I'd rather be home than any where else. My boyfriend and I met when I hired him to work at my store 16 years ago and have been together since the first day. He got another job and I left my job to go work for him. We are together 24/7. Now we own our own business ( custom picture framers) and work out of our home. We live in the counrty and have a big yard, and enjoy taking walks with the cats through the yard and woods.

We have a small but close group of friends who know our door is always open and drop by frequently. Neither of us like to go visit but love to have people here. The more the merrier.

I like to cook and try to feed as many visitors as possible.

I love to laugh and make people laugh.

I like to have the neighbor hood kids come to visit,because they have fun here.

My favorite color is sage green.

I don't own a dress -I prefer jeans, sweat shirts and boots

I used to do all kinds of crafts, (I used to manage a craft store) but I lost interest in most of them when I became a mini addict. Except when I can use them in my dollhouses.

We collect antique cars, we have 3- A 1963 Triumph, a 1977 ford ltd, and a 1969 rolls royce. We also collect antique furnature.

I'm usually very easy to get along with, it takes alot to made me mad, but I will not argue, I just get quiet. The madder I get, the quieter I become until the anger passes.

I hate to excercise. And don't do it often.

I love old 50's and 60's B horror movies. Especially the old space monster movies.

I smoke way to much.

Fall is may favorite season and love having a fire going in the fireplace.

I'm a chocolate addict.

I hate to do housework and only do enough to keep the board of health from condeming the place. My motto is a clean house is a sign of a misspent life.

I like all animals except snakes, and feed all of the wildlife that pass through.

Thats about it for me. Not very exciting but happy and content.

Nutti, I know everything will be good with your surgery and you will breeze through recovery with no problems.

terri

[Josi]

This is a great topic. Learning so much about everybody. Nutti, good luck with your surgery.

Let's see now, I am also a homebody, and have often used the term hermit. Fortunately, I found someone who feels the same way and we have been married for almost 17 years. I have always read, mysteries, suspense, historical fiction, and before I was married I read volumes of love stories. Now I seem to only have interest in historical fiction, such as the Earth Children series, the Outlander series by Diane Gabaldon, or the Rome series by Colleen McCullough. Collecting books has become secondary since finding the dollhouse building hobby. Actually anything historical attracts my interests even in movies. Give me a good period piece to watch. Those old black and white film noir movies are good too.

My husband and I love to travel and camp in our trailer. We expect to spend a good portion of our retirement traveling the US. We anticipate moving out of California when we retire although we don't know which state we will end up in yet.

I am currently unemployed but spent the past 30 some years working as a production planner and inventory control manager. Finding a job has been difficult and I often think it has to do with my age. (That and the fact that I no longer want to commute in Southern California traffic for an hour at a time!). And if truth be told, I am not unhappy being at home all day. I am more patient now than I was when I was younger, and I don't lose my temper as easily. I will not back down from a confrontation if I feel it's justified.

I have always had cats in my live. Trixie is a calico/tortie mix that we adopted from a rescue shelter a year ago and she is a sweetie, but stubborn. Before Trixie, Boomer and Lucy lived with us for over twenty years. My husband and I have no children by design and our cats have filled that function.

I accidently ran across dollhouses as a hobby about a year and a half ago. I never had a dollhouse as a kid, never felt the lack of one. But in looking at the task of putting one together it combines a lot of my interests. I have always loved puzzles - jigsaw, crossword, and isn't building a house like fitting puzzle pieces together? I love history, and it takes some research to get a dollhouse in period. I love tiny houses, I have collected David Winter Cottages as well. Painting and wallpapering on a small scale is so much easier than in real life.

[MicroJivvy]

I have a request -- can the powers that be "pin" this thread? It's such a great thread, I've read it several times (trying to get names straight with hobbies and interests) and I think it should be kept alive and available for new people who join us.

[smallhouset]

I think that is a good idea.

terri

[Minis On The Edge]

Done

I have a request -- can the powers that be "pin" this thread

[nuttiwebgal]

hey yall! wow Im so excited about meeting yall and getting to know you a little better! I saw so many shared things in all of us....sooo funny how people really are simuler!

nutti :lol:

[Missymew]

hey yall! wow Im so excited about meeting yall and getting to know you a little better!  I saw so many shared things in all of us....sooo funny how people really are simuler!

  nutti :lol:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree that often there is more commonality than we realize. What makes us unique are our differences, but what makes us comfortable is our similarities.

Susanne

[Deb]

I agree that often there is more commonality than we realize.  What makes us unique are our differences, but what makes us comfortable is our similarities.

Susanne

We're a big box of chocolates!!! :lol:

Deb

[Deb]

I agree I love the characters. I have read the books several times. The last I read in the Pern series was the Skies of Pern. I didn't know that she had retired. Is that why her website is down? I knew that there was a book from her son, but I haven't read it.

I meant to answer you sooner, but I had a senile moment. :lol:

I think there was a problem with the Anne McC website and they're redirecting now to http://www.annemccaffrey.net/ The Skies of Pern was the last Pern book she wrote on her own. She co-wrote "Dragon's Kin" with her son Todd, and they have another book written together coming out later this year, "Dragon's Fire". He's written one Pern book on his own, "Dragons Blood" that should be out any time. I'm glad there is at least one more Pern book written partially by Anne McC. She's definitely a MasterHarper in our world. Maybe she'll ease into retirement gently and give us a few more books here and there, even if they are co-written.

Deb

[annamommynous]

I like this thread. I have been wondering how many dollhouse crazy rock n' rollers are here. Two weeks ago on Saturday night after my daughter went to bed, I found myself bashing my Primrose and rocking out to the Darkness. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone else was doing the same thing. It is a small world after all.

[Deb]

I like this thread. I have been wondering how many dollhouse crazy rock n' rollers are here. Two weeks ago on Saturday night after my daughter went to bed, I found myself bashing my Primrose and rocking out to the Darkness. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone else was doing the same thing. It is a small world after all.

Oooh yeah......I'm a die hard rocker. :lol: I've got music playing no matter what I'm doing. For me, life requires a soundtrack. Southern rock first and foremost, but I'm also very into the harder 60's and 70's and heavy metal/hard rock. I may have grey hair, but I'll still crank up Motley Crue or AC/DC and rattle the windows.

What's really weird tho is that when I'm in the studio, I listen to music from the 40's and early 50's. It's the only time I do, but I love hearing Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, Andrews Sisters, etc while I'm creating. Oh, and Patsy Cline. I can listen to her music any time.

Deb

[LPCullen]

I'll still crank up Motley Crue or AC/DC and rattle the windows.

Deb

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Glad to know I'm not the only one that rattles the windows, LOL! Before my stereo got eaten by the infamous ice storm, you could hear it all the way down the street. If I had a really bad day, I came in and put on some Skid Row or something like that .... Now my stereo is not that good ...

[Deb]

I don't have the stereo set up I used to have either and I'm sure the neighbors appreciate it. B) I'm with you Linda......the best mood-modifier is music and I've modified half the street from time to time.

<giggling> The only time I've used the stereo to deliberately annoy the neighbors was when a party had gone on just a bit too long. It was into the second *day* and by that time, the participants had reached the really sloppy drunk stage. I got tired of listening to them either brawling in the driveway or slurring to each other, "You guysh are the bess friends ever. I love you man." So I set a couple of speakers in the window facing their house, put in a cd of Flatt and Scruggs and cranked 'er up. There's nothing like blasting bluegrass banjos to break up a party. They were all gone in 30 minutes. :angry:

Deb