July, 2026
Featured Artist 

Carey Appel is a self-taught miniature artist living in Santa Barbara, where she creates handcrafted dioramas inside vintage cigar boxes and shadow boxes. Her whimsical scenes often feature chickens and other animals in delightfully unexpected situations, blending humor, storytelling, and meticulous craftsmanship.

With a background in retail design and more than three decades of owning a chain of home furnishings stores, Carey brings a designer’s eye for composition and detail to the miniature worlds she creates.

Her latest collection, The Japanese Way – Scenes from a Gentle Land, was inspired by a recent journey through Japan and celebrates the quiet beauty, craftsmanship, and everyday moments that make the country so unforgettable.

website: onceuponastorybox.com
social: @onceuponastorybox