We were lucky to catch up with Alison Wheeler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alison , thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Idk if this really falls under this category, but I would really like to talk about how I lost my entire career after a brain injury in Feb 2017 (just had my 8 year anniversary) and had a menty b (for real). At the time of my accident I co-owned a tattoo shop with my husband, I worked as a tattoo artist, and I also had a massage therapy practice. I also had major mental health issues, PTSD, panic disorder, issues with alcoholism, and my brain injury forced me to give up everything and focus on healing. At the time the pandemic hit, I had been trying to “make it” as a fine artist, shipping paintings all over the country, and of course all of that shut down, and I found myself in my basement, fussing around, and started making little things.
Does this sound interesting?

Alison , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

At the onset of the pandemic, our tattoo shop was closed down, and I had been making a little bit of money selling paintings on the side, with the last little bit of money I had to spend I bought a scroll saw and I started making little cutout paintings. I had a gallery show coming up, I can’t remember what the theme was, but I built a house. It was a 3D painting, with layers creating a relief, if that makes sense. The first layer was the base, the roof formed another layer, bushes, window, etc. I found tiny hinges on the internet so the shutters could open and close. I really loved it, and it sparked something in me. After that, I decided to make a dollhouse. It was pretty small and simple, based loosely on the vintage little people A-Frame. I didn’t know anything about scale or making small things. I watched a ton of Youtube. Then, I bought a dollhouse kit. I discovered that there were other people making modern dollhouse stuff, that it wasn’t all old ladies with stuffy victorian builds (I love those too!). The more I got into it the more I found that, really, the photography was the end of the creative process for me, and I got more and more interested in figuring out creative ways to light my builds. I also got really into watching movies to help inspire my photos.
In the past year I have really chosen to focus on learning photography and film making, and use my miniatures to make short format internet content, and have launched a long format, instructional, YouTube channel, where I help other miniaturists hone their craft. I also have an Etsy shop shop where I sell weirdo stuff that I feel like wouldn’t otherwise exist in the mini world, like a tiny pregnancy test, bag of weed and 3D printed lighter, tiny pill bottles, that sort of thing. A lot of it is quite vintage, and definitely has a subconscious link to my childhood and growing up poor, but I haven’t really figured all of that out yet… it has a lot to do with shame tho.
My main focus is generally 3D design and printing and laser cutting, but I will make miniatures out of anything I need to… polymer clay, random bits, fabric… Ive also gotten really into using AI to help generate things I need for minis or photos… things like, an illustration of a window for a diorama or a gothic cathedral backdrop to digitally insert my 1:6 coffin into.
Aside from all the photography and film stuff I have been focusing on, I also make short format stop motion animations, and I have made some content for brands. I’d like to do more of that in 2025. Last year I got to work with some truly lovely makers.
I am most proud of my resilience and my recovery, I am still not fully healed, but I am so proud of all the hard work I have put into healing both my physical body and my emotional self.
Work-wise, I am probably most proud of my YouTube channel. I had giant hurdles to overcome in order to be seen and feel safe and not give a fuck about what people think of me. Beyond that, they are an INSANE amount of work, and I still feeling like I don’t have my sea legs, but I love editing and learning, and the joy my work brings to people. It doesn’t matter how old or curmudgeony a person is, they light up when they see the magic that miniatures create.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

At the time of my head injury, Feb 2017, I was “successful” by some standards. I owned two businesses, I made money, I had just bought a home, I had a great and loving partner, and my life was a mess. I suffered with panic attacks, I had major childhood trauma and PTSD, I was barely keeping my head above water, and my health was really in a bad place. I didn’t even understand that anything was really long, as this had been my “normal” for basically my entire life.
I fell snowboarding on Feb 1, 2017 and should have fully recovered in two weeks, but never did. The fact that I wasn’t recovering, and had truly abhorrent medical support, which basically blamed my lack of recovery on anxiety, stomach issues, one doctor told me “concussions don’t last longer than 2 weeks”, all of this lead to me having a mental breakdown. I went days without sleeping, I got super paranoid to the point of even asking my husband if he was drugging me (he wasn’t), and somehow I just kept trudging forward, mostly because I didn’t have a choice. I kept searching out new practitioners and tried tons of alternative healing modalities. Finally, after 6 years (!) I finally got a diagnosis… I have a traumatic brain injury which caused Dysautonomia (a condition that dysregulates the part of your nervous system that controls things like heart beat and digestion). The dysautonomia causes me to have low blood pressure and POTS symptoms and issues with digestion. I also deal with migraines, pain, all that good stuff.
Despite all of this I have continued to commit to my healing. I studied healing like I would any other subject, listened to podcasts and books. Learned to recognize triggers and become introspective about them. Began journaling and learned astrology. Got LOTS of therapy and body work.
I have gone from a terrified, codependent, people pleaser, to entering a new era of personal power…(its still work and its still scary and hard, but its always improving)
I am so fricken resilient now… life’s troubles just don’t even phase me. I practice surrender and acceptance and continue forward, its really the only thing you can do.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I guess the goal is to create an intersection between miniatures and healing, but make it funny too. LOL. To create a container to share my own healing journey so others don’t feel so isolated in their own struggles. I went through SOOO much shit, and I feel like, if I can help another person suffer a bit less by sharing what little wisdom I have, then that makes it not for nothing.
…and also help them make minis too! I feel like so many people got into it over the panini, my 73 year old Mom has started renovating a giant dollhouse, and has no skills, so I always kind of think I am making these videos to help her… even tho Im 99% sure she doesn’t even watch my videos. HAHA

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fezziwigtoysonline.com
• Instagram: fezziwigtoys
• Facebook: fezziwigtoys
• Linkedin: fezziwigtoys
• Youtube: Alison Wheeler // Fezziwigtoys
• Other: Bluesky // TikTok // Etsy Fezziwigtoys

Image Credits

Head shot by Jennifer Breton
All other photos by me