Monday, June 27, 2016

Saying Hello: Minis and Writing

Hi everyone!



Let me say I’m happy to be here. Following up on Joanna Slan's post last week on getting caught up, I’ll start my post with an introduction.

I’ve been crafting in one way or another most of my life. As a kid, I liked to draw; I strung beads and did macramé as a teen (remember that?); I tried all kinds of crafts and then I discovered dollhouse kits in my 20’s and never looked back. 

Between working as a newspaper reporter, I started building dollhouses and miniature rooms. I’m now on #00000. Let’s say I’m still under the 50 mark, but I have many ideas and lots (and lots!) of kits to assemble. I’ve also gone smaller, now loving the idea of building in half the size in half or 1/24th scale. (That’s 6” to the foot compared to the standard 1” to the foot measurement.)

If there’s anything that crafters will agree on, it’s this: I became a packrat. Maybe I only have “one” hobby, but it encompasses many, many things: painting, building, woodworking and finishing, model making, soft goods: clothing, linens, curtains, rugs, etc., animal furring, oh, the list goes on. And it takes a lot of stuff to do all that.


But I love it.

Writers being the creative types anyway, I think it’s natural that we also do crafts. It’s another creative outlet. And it's fun. If you're not having fun, why bother, right? It’s like we have to keep our minds—and hands—busy 24/7. My mind is often working on a story, of course, with my writing for newspapers and magazines, plus working on both fiction books and short stories. And how often is it you get to do your hobby and write about it, too? So I enjoy writing nonfiction books on dollhouses including In Miniature Style II and the new Dollhouse Décor & More, co-authored with Joanna Campbell Slan.


When I’m not writing, I’m doing minis (and spending the money.) When I’m not doing minis, I’m writing and making money (to spend on more minis.) Yeah, it’s a vicious cycle. 


You can see some of my projects and other stuff at my website, http://cverstraete.com or my blog, http://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com so feel free to stop on by and say hello!

5 comments:

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Chris, I hadn't seen a lot of these. Did you make the shoes?

CA Verstraete said...

Yes... and... they're paper.... (I'm making a witch pair for our project...)

Linda O. Johnston said...

Hi, Christine. Enjoyed your post! You sound like one busy crafter/writer.

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Oh, then you'll show me how?

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