In sunny Italy, in a big house near enchanted woods, there lives a miniature thread artist with her collection of unusual, fantasy funny animals. Very very TINY fantasy funny animals.

Better known as MUFFA, Mariella Vitale is a goddess with a crochet hook. From her talented fingers come the teeniest stitches known to man, all arranging themselves neatly into tiny monkeys, bears, goldfish and all sorts of funny creatures.

"I've had a passion for miniature things for as long as I can remember. When I was a child I did not have a dollhouse to play with so I used to draw miniature people, furniture and things. There still must be some drawings somewhere in the attic!" she admits with a laugh.

At the tender age of five her grandmother placed a crochet hook in her hand. But it took a few years before she combined her love of miniatures with her love of hook and thread.

"One day I put the word "miniature" on Ebay Search and found an artist who made crocheted micro-miniature bears. She was a member of CDHM (Custom Dolls Houses and Miniatures) so it was easy to take a peek at all the other galleries!"

It took an entire evening ooohing and aaaahing over the wondrous works she found before she realized she was hooked.

"I beat the dust from my hook and started my adventure. Now it's a challenge for me to crochet the smallest I can. I've grown up but I still love to play with miniatures!" she said.

She sells her creations in her CDHM Gallery, on Ebay and Etsy for between $30 and $100 USD. Besides CDHM, she is a member of WOWO (WhirledOvWhunOwnlees) and Love Japanese Bearies Group and looks forward to attending MIT (Miniaturitalia).

"It is the most important dollhouse miniature exhibition in Italy," she explained. Her most important tool is without a doubt her size .50mm crochet hook.

"I love miniatures - the smaller the better! But I'll be blind by the time I turn 50!"

Explore the Animals Galleries here on CDHM.