Pumpkin Patch Lane was born from the imagination of creator Veronica Mihalopoulos aka “Dinah Heartburn”.

 With a tenured career in the toy industry, Veronica is best known as one of the original designers behind the cult-classic Begoths the groundbreaking line known as “The Toys That Refuse to Conform.” Long before alternative culture found its place in mainstream retail, Begoths celebrated the worlds of Goth, Punk, Metal, Industrial, and Rockabilly, earning a legacy as a toy line that was truly ahead of its time.

After stepping away from the industry to devote herself fully to motherhood, Veronica never lost her passion for creating. The same imagination that once fueled her design work continued to grow quietly evolving alongside her life.

She worked as a master floral crafter at Asmar Studios, contributing to large-scale floral installations for the film and entertainment industry as both a painter and crafty fabrication artist. Her work most notably included a Scream 5 Ghostface floral wall, and a Hunger Games floral photo-op installation featured at the Las Vegas Hunger Games Exhibition—among many other large-scale projects.

At 41, Veronica chose to chase another dream: roller derby. With the unwavering support of her partner, David Ybarra, she stepped onto the track and began practicing with a local team. Through resilience, determination, and a nearly two-year pause during the pandemic, she pushed forward, passed assessments, and began living a dream she had carried for years. Though not an all-star, she loved every minute of the camaraderie and fierce competition.

While searching for athletic wear that reflected her identity, Veronica recognized a gap in the market. Not every athlete connects with soft palettes and minimal design some are drawn to the dark, the bold, the spooky, and the rebellious.

So she returned to her characters… and brought them to life.

 Among her many ideas was a bold vision: a line of 7-inch action figures inspired by roller derby cryptids… fierce, feminine, and unapologetically unconventional.  

Though production realities placed that dream on pause, the characters never left her. She got to work designing ghoulish concepts and building the foundation that would later become Pumpkin Patch Lane.

Her derby dream, however, was short-lived. In an instant, her life shifted.

In August of 2023, her firstborn son was diagnosed with T-cell leukemia. Her focus turned fully to his care, and her roller derby journey was put on hold.

In the midst of that fight, Pumpkin Patch Lane became something more than a creative outlet it became a lifeline.

 Through design, Veronica found a way to process, to cope, and to keep moving forward. Each character, each piece of artwork, carries not only her signature style, but also her resilience, her love, and her determination to create light in the darkest moments.

There is magic in that kind of creation the kind born from survival, from love, from refusing to let the darkness win.

 Pumpkin Patch Lane is the fusion of her legacy in toy design, her love of subculture, and her journey through motherhood, resilience, and reinvention. It is a brand built for those who embrace individuality, strength, and a little bit of the macabre.

We hope you feel the magic in every piece.