My Miniature Hobby: How it Started

Debbieminiatures
Miniature animals in 1:12th scale

I have always loved miniatures since I was little. I remembered sculpting a mini figure using clay when I was in grade 5 in the 90’s. I enjoyed it and I was so proud of it, that I still remember till this day how it looked like.

As an adult back in 2014, I collected vintage Barbie dolls from the 60s and it’s when I came across 1:12th scale miniatures. Everytime I looked on the internet about doll stuffs, these tiny realistic cute miniatures in 1:12th scale always catched my attention! Then I bought some miniatures and I liked it!

I always considered myself to be crafty and I love making my own stuffs. I thought, why not make my own miniatures? And pling! I remembered that mini figure from clay that I did when I was little! Then I bought different kinds of polymer clay for sculpting miniature, sculpting tools and even books on how to sculpt miniatures on ebay. I started sculpting miniature dolls and babies, but then I was more into making miniature animals.

So I watched on youtube, read the books, searched on google, tutorials etc. on how to sculpt miniature animals and techniques on how to make them realistic. So I started to make miniature animals with a lots of trial and error. I made different kinds of mini animals. I thought I made a dog but it looked like a rabbit! Hmm but hey! We are not born with skills! Practise makes perfect, right? So I tried and tried until I did a mini cat that I was satisfied of. So I wanted to put in on auction on ebay and someone bid on it! I was so happy and even put on my facebook page and facebook’s miniature groups.

I got a message that someone wanted to order a mini version of her Rabbit, I was doubting at first if I wanted to accept it. I didn’t even know how to measure 1:12th scale? What if she would not like it? And lots of what if? I didn’t know where I got the courage but I accepted the first commission order. I did the mini rabbit and guess what? She liked it! It gave me self confidence and courage to make more.

And then came the second, third, fourth… custom orders. That trust that people gave me to make their pets in mini format, they were happy to receive and gave feedback, were a realization for me that I have a talent that I never thought I had – making miniature animals!