Karen Mom of Three's Craft Blog: A Dolly Neighbor Visit With Lisa Neault, A Miniature Doll Enthusiast, Collector and Diorama Designer

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

A Dolly Neighbor Visit With Lisa Neault, A Miniature Doll Enthusiast, Collector and Diorama Designer

My name is Lisa Neault. I have been a doll or rather a dollhouse miniature enthusiast all of my life. It started when

I was quite small, encouraged by my mom, my dad, my stepdad, and then by my husband, who encouraged me to get into the 'business' of customizing and building 1:12 scale- teaching workshops, and so on, until I stumbled into the world of 1:6 of the fashion doll and dioramas, and then I was hooked.

King William Miniatures was started in 2004 when I began to re-vamp my old dollhouse for my stepdaughter's 7th birthday and my husband noticed I had a flair for it and asked me how I knew how to do it...I just began to dive back into creating again after having been away from it. Soon, a website was born, and I was invited to be a dealer at a Molly Cromwell productions and Tom Bishop shows

as well as N.A.M.E. (National Association of Miniature Entusiasts) state days. I also became a member of one of the local miniature clubs.

This lasted a couple of years, selling at shows and online, and always one for new challenges, I was interested in a miniature friends' interest in Barbie and began searching for Barbie on the internet. What I found in 2006 enthralled me. I was hooked. I had always collected Barbie but not really seriously and usually always had dolls in my dollhouses. What I saw with the dioramas of some doll collectors completely had me bowled over- the modern take, with the miniature items were things I had never seen, even on a dealer perspective and it intrigued me.

My first purchase back into the doll collecting world was Learning to Cook Barbie, a reproduction of the vintage doll. I adored her since I remembered my aunt having that same outfit and doll. Then it was onto other dolls- such as Integrity toys High Tide Vanessa, a wonderful articulated doll with such

versatility. The dolls caused me to be frustrated with the lack of furniture and accessories available to collectors in this marvelous scale. 1:12 Scale miniatures had so many wonderful pieces available to them in whatever periods they wanted, why not 1:6? So I talked to my dealer, Pitt Ginsburg, who owned Bespaq International Corporation and helped me solve this problem. I was able with his help to invest and have my own wingchairs in 1:6 scale manufactured /designed for my company and also to sell some of his previous 1:6, 1:4 and 1:3 items as well. It was a great period of time, when our shop was open, from 2009 to 2011, but regretfully had to close in early 2011 due to the overhead costs.

My doll collecting has never been just limited to 1:6 scale, though- I have been just as enthralled with American Girl- Felicity is my favorite with Rebecca another favorite because she can wear anything! I have quite a collection of mini american girls who live in my 1:6 scale doll town in my doll room. As well as bjd's- I own an MSD soulkid as well as several tiny bjd's too. I also have a Sybarite as well a 12 inch reproduction French fashion doll that I love to sew for when I have the time- these were the original 'barbie' doll of the early 1800's .

Right now, the focus of my collection is 1:6 scale Collectible Barbie, Fashion Royalty dolls and Action figures I customize for my dioramas that are temporary and permanent that I build in my doll town. My business , KingWilliam Miniatures, has come to an end because my life has taken a different turn and my husband's business, LeoPaul and Associates, a commercial boiler company, takes up most of my time in the home office, so I limit myself to commissions occasionally. I no longer build custom dollhouses, or furniture, like the Bespaq furniture my company used to have , but I do create the various scales of miniature foods for the dolls and sometimes I do them. I am best known for the miniature cakes on the various doll boards .