(Kelly Havens – Cottage by the Sea)

A Seashore Hideaway 

by Pam North

When Kelly Havens was 12 years old, she read The Borrowers, by British author Mary Norton, and fell in love with miniature things. A catalyst to seal the deal came as an old cabinet given to her by her grandfather that she filled with four floors of dollhouse miniature furniture; it has become her prized possession. 
As a retired kindergarten teacher, Kelly now has much more time to spend on miniatures, and she enjoys going to miniature shows; especially Chicago International, to expand her knowledge and contacts, and as a source of inspiration. “I love to study other miniature artists and learn from them. I really miss having a dollhouse shop in our city. While I get excellent service ordering online, I miss browsing in a miniature store.” She makes a little bit of everything herself: dollhouses, flowers, rugs, bedding, stitchery, some furniture. Her creations mostly have been for her own enjoyment rather than a venue for sales. “My projects so far have been sentimental to me, and fulfill a purpose.”
Kelly’s workplace is a small room on the lower level of her house where she keeps all her dollhouse things. “Like most collectors, I have several projects going at once,” she said.”I love to read, and books give great inspiration in the fascinating world of miniatures. What I love most about miniatures are the tiny details in each piece.” She has no formal training, and has slowly built up her expertise largely through experience and experimentation. She cites her tweezers as her most valuable tool. Her architect husband, Hal, is very supportive of her hobby.
One of her latest projects is her Cottage by the Sea. which was created from the Craftsman Cabin kit featured in the 2017 Hobby Builders Supply 24th Creatin’ Contest, and which resulted in her being the Grand Prize Winner that year. Her cottage has a warm, comfortable ambience about it that, barring the obviously insurmountable size disparity between human size and miniature, invites one to just move in and stay forever. Kelly came up with the idea from the clerestory windows, which reminded her of a house by the ocean that she recently had seen. From there, the ideas began to accumulate. Materials used were wood, air clay, and fabrics. She described her process: “I altered the kit, adding wood pieces to fit the picture in my mind. This dollhouse was a first for me in many ways: first time to totally rebuild an original kit; first time to build and decorate a garage; first time to make all the flowers and bushes; first time to make all the rugs, stitchery pictures, curtains, bedding, and pillows; first time to make the roof shakes from air clay; first time to build the front door and mullions in the windows. I designed the house to fit some dollhouse pieces in my collection, as well as purchased pieces from Hobby Builders Supply, including the retro kitchen. The garage tools are from Sir Thomas Thumb; the table from J. Getzen; the rug and pillow kits from Janet Granger Designs; the wicker from Vicky Sanfield; the pottery from Jane Graber. I had a picture in my mind of how I wanted the piece to actualize. A few things changed throughout the process, but the final piece was just what I envisioned. It is a fun challenge to take a basic kit and design a new piece. My favorite part about this piece is that I can picture myself sitting in the front garden, looking out at the sea. The flower gardens and landscaping also were delightful to create! Making the curved roof over the garage was the most difficult part of the entire project. I used very thin wood, which I scored with an X-Acto knife. I glued and clamped the piece to the roof overnight. By using air clay for the roof, I was able to make more of a sweeping curve.”  
Kelly doesn’t plan to sell this piece, but rather to display it at home.
She is optimistic about the future of miniatures, saying, “There is something magical about miniatures!  I am hopeful that more people will be drawn to miniatures by seeing different works in publications such as American Miniaturist.”
As for what’s next for Kelly and her creations, she was quick with ideas. “I have a fabulous neoclassical wall house in my mind, and the Hobby Builders Supply 2018 Creatin’ Contest Three Gables House kit looks very fun!”

Contact Information”
Email: nanahavens@gmail.com		
Phone: (913) 961 0183
Address:  20004 W. 89th Street, Lenexa KS