The art of laser cut kits
Moi Ali talks to the talented Melissa Sipma, creator of multiple scaled and five star review kits, popular with minaturists around the world!
Being made unemployed was a turning point for Melissa Sipma, a Dutch miniaturist from the little town of Drachten in the northern Netherlands.
Melissa took what could so easily have been a major setback and turned it to her advantage, as she explained: “I lost my job so I decided to turn my hobby into a full-time job. I like being my own boss and earning my living doing work I love!”
I was intrigued to find out how Melissa got into miniatures in the first place. “My love for miniatures started more than 20 years ago with a visit to the supermarket! There I saw the first issue of the Del Prado part-work, a magazine series where over 125 issues you could make your own dollhouse, including all the furniture.” Melissa bought that first issue and has been hooked on miniatures ever since! Now her taste are much more sophisticated, and her miniatures are truly exquisite.
She has a growing personal collection, which includes three 12th scale houses, five 24th scale houses and five 48th scale houses! She’s quite the miniature property tycoon! They vary in style and encompass Rococo style, Art Nouveau, Tudor and also what Melissa terms “timeless cozy houses”. On top of all that Melissa also has room boxes full of the lovely furniture that she makes for her company, Melissa’s Miniwereld. The collection
is growing all the time.
Drawing on inspiration from all around her, Melissa quite often sees a nice cupboard in someone’s home and out comes the camera: “I take pictures of it and later I recreate it in miniature,” she exclaimed. “I get my inspiration from the internet too. Suppose I want to make a chest of drawers, I go Googling or I look on Pinterest for ideas. I then collect different pictures of chests of drawers and I create my very own design inspired by all the different images I have gathered.”
Her talent is awesome yet Melissa is entirely self-taught: “I've always been creative, though,” she explained. “Since I was a child I have loved making things but I have no formal training in the arts, woodworking or other skills that are used in miniature-making.” Despite the lack of training, there is no doubt that Melissa has a strong innate talent for all things small, and her attention to detail makes her kits simply adorable and very realistic.
Melissa’s skill in recognised across the globe. She was once commissioned to make miniatures for a theatre company in Canada and recently made furniture for a youth series on Belgian television: “There was a dollhouse in one episode and I was asked to make all the furniture for it.” In addition, she occasionally does tutorials for a Dutch dollhouse magazine. I am always open to commissions,” she explained.
I wanted to know about her favourites: “That is a difficult question! I am very proud of my Art Nouveau shop box, and my also my treasury cabinet, but I also think the conservatory is very beautiful. I really like the Art Nouveau style, so anything from that era is always a big favourite.”
I looked to see if there was a definite Dutch feel to Melissa’s range of items in her Etsy shop, and I noticed her scale cross stitch embroidery download of Dutch artist Vermeer’s famous Girl in a Pearl Earring painting. Most of her pieces, however, have a very international feel and would fit into many interiors styles right through to modern homes.
Her Etsy store stocks mainly laser cut kits in all three popular scales: 12th, 24th and 48th. You will find kits for French Rococco beds, sofas and chairs; modern shelves and drawers; traditional dressers and tables; sweet little cribs and garden benches... the range is immense and all are designed and manufactured by Melissa.
What makes Melissa happy, I asked? “Many things. Good customer reviews always make me happy. I love it when I finish a little room, put all the furniture in it and turn on the lights. That makes me smile. And, of course, my work makes me very happy – and I am lucky to have a job that combines my passion with one that also enables me to pay my bills! That is true happiness.” Who would have thought that losing a job could ultimately lead to such happiness.
“I love it when I finish a little room, put all the furniture
in it and turn on the lights. That makes me smile"
Make sure you get a copy of the
April edition to for the change to win one of Melissa’s favourite kits, her treasury cabinet, when Moi reviews it for her
Kit & Caboodle feature!
INFO
To view more of Melissa’s work visit www.etsy.com/uk/shop/melissasminiwereld
You will need
Materials required 1.5mm basswood 3 small nails
2 knobs
Glass sheet
Piece of paper
Tools required
Tacky glue
Wood cutter
Sharp hobby knife & ruler Scissors & glue stick Printer 1 Print out or trace part ‘A’ from the template provided and stick it with glue stick on a piece of basswood. 2 Cut the pieces out and remove the paper from the wood. Place the lines in the right place and poke the wood where the wholes should be.
Patterns at 50%