MLI Designs

My name is Michele but most know me as Mish. I am 52, a mother of two boys (21 and 25), married for 26 years, and owner of two pugs (one fawn female-Sahara, and one fawn male-Mojo)

I've been into miniatures and dollhouses all my life. My parents owned the miniature company So-So Creations. My childhood was spent helping to make miniatures to fill orders and being at miniature shows because I was too young to be left home. 

I have owned several custom dollhouses rough out my life, always selling them when interest went elsewhere.

I had two dollhouses as a wife but sold them recently when we were clearing out the house to move from New York to Tennessee.

Homestly,  I never thought I would get back into miniatures, much less building dollhouses. My sons bought me those tiny 1:24 kits from Japan for Christmas and my birthday. The first to arrive was the Tiny Trailer. Oh my! I was hooked and I know how bad that could be. So does my husband. I still have a cute cabin and artist studio in boxes to build at a later date. 

So here I am, back into it. I wish I had know that there was even a remote possibility that I would jump back into miniatures. My parents followed us to Tennessee a few months behind. She still had boxes of miniatures that she didn't know what to do with. She sold some on EBay, some on Etsy, some in a garage sale too. Ultimately she ended up throwing several boxes of miniatures in the trash. She asked me many times if I wanted them and I said no. I can kick myself now. I guess that is they way life happens.

The sugarplum dollhouse was for sale on a local swap and shop site for $15. I just couldn't pass it up. I came upon the greenleaf forums while researching ideas to build and decorate it. I have been away from miniatures for so long that I didn't realize how much the community has evolved. I was in awe looking at the gallery photos of all the forum members. This is what truly inspired me.

So now I'm ready to try my second house as a bash. I love the process of building and decorating. I can't imagine this will be short lived. I just have to deal with display, storage, and hubby issues along the way. 

The people who work at our local Hobby Lobby know me well and have asked me to teach some classes. So shortly I will be starting a series of Miniature Enthusiast series classes. I'm kind of excited to share this with others. 

I'm also going to join or local Nashville Miniature Club. This is fun and what more is there to do in retirement years. 

So there ya have it. Only other detail I left out, I'm a yogi, and owned and designed MishogaWear Custom Yoga Couture. 

I'm looking forward to building friendships on here and sharing my somewhat thrifty DIY tricks. Thanks for motivating me.

Mishy