Doll artist Karin Smead had a problem - two dollhouses and no dolls!

What else could she do but break out the clay and sculpt some?

"I have two dollhouses, one is decorated in a Christmas theme and the other Halloween and I created miniature dolls to fill them both. I make contemporary style dolls. I think you can always find Victorian dolls, but contemporary or modern dolls are harder to come by," she said.

Her original inspiration for the miniature world was more Medieval in character.

"My passion for miniatures began in the 60's when my family and I went to Chicago to see the Museum of Science and Industry and I saw Colleen Moore's Fairy Tale Castle exhibit. I stayed in that dark small room lit only by the lights in the Castle for hours, admiring every bit of it. That's when I fell in love with miniatures," she said.