So I figured I should probably do a little introducing of myself and share a little about how I got started making dolls. Really it all started a long time ago (in a galaxy far far away….just kidding). I grew up in a family that was super creative, starting with my grandmother, down to my mother and even my two older sisters. All four of them were always creating things. My grandmother could sew just about anything and was always making little aprons and dolls and blankets and things. And I can remember my mom, even from a young age spending most of her time in her sewing room. She was always sewing quilts or knitting one thing or another. My sisters quickly followed in her footsteps and learned to sew, and knit, and crosstitch. I on the otherhand, always felt like an oddball. It’s not that I didn’t have a desire to make stuff, it’s just that whenever I tried to it really sucked, so I’d give up. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned I mostly just lacked discipline. I actually had all kinds of wild dreams as a kid. For a long time I wanted to make puppets, and become like Jim Henson. I loved everything he made. But without discipline, I didn’t get very far. So I dropped the dream, decided I was the ugly duckling in the family and moved on with my life.
Years and years later, as an adult I started to rekindle my love of art. With the encouragement of my husband I began to dabble in drawing and painting. I learned a few things, even got pretty good at drawing, but I still really lacked something. It wasn’t until later that I realized I just hadn’t found my niche yet. I pushed on even though I didn’t find drawing and painting to be all that fun, assuming that something was wrong with me. Eventually I stumbled upon needle felting. I had started to see little needle felted creations on Etsy and I just fell in love. So I ran out and got all the supplies and had a go at it. From the very beginning there was something wildly different about this medium. I wasn’t very good at it in the beginning but it was so much fun. And it was then that I realized I really loved working in 3D. There was something so amazingly magical about taking a ball of wool and turning it into a sweet little friend. I loved seeing little creatures come to life on my work table. I got pretty good at needle felting, and started selling my creations on Etsy under the shop name Cinnamon N Spice. But I always told myself and others that someday I would learn to sculpt.
For a long time sculpting in clay was something I really only dreamed about. I started following other doll artists and sculptors for inspiration and began jotting down ideas and sketches whenever they came to me. It was actually way before I ever sculpted that I came up with the name Dark Manor Dolls. It just popped in my head one day. I loved how it sounded, it rolled right off the tongue. I imagined some giant old manor, filled with sad little orphans, and that name was so perfect. I thought for sure that I had heard it somewhere, but when I googled it nothing came up. So I happily tucked the name away to use someday when I finally felt brave enough to follow my dream. Eventually I started doing some homework, I started to read up on how to sculpt, how to make dolls, and how to sew. I gleaned as much information from the internet as I could and finally, one day, I obtained my first block of clay. Clay is not as forgiving as wool so I did find it to be extremely hard to learn. But one thing was for sure, I wanted to do this, I wanted to learn, so l pushed on and worked hard. There were some crazy frustrating times in the beginning, times when I would spend hours and hours working on a doll only to have it completely destroyed in the oven. But eventually, I began creating dolls that made it out of the oven alive. Dolls that made me smile, made me giggle. Dolls that were unique, that felt like tiny parts of me, and before I knew it I realized I was actually doing the things that I had dreamed about. I’m so happy that I get do what I love. I really love sculpting and doll making, and I hope the dolls I make will spread some of that happiness to others.