Joining the club

In the beginning of March (2008) I joined the Swedish miniature-makers' discussion group, Miniatyrforumet. This was the first discussion group I joined outside my profession, and I was quite anxious about it. I had looked at the pictures and felt inadequate: here were all these people doing these wonderful things, and there I was with my amateurish attempts. I had uploaded my pictures on Flickr, mostly for myself to be able to watch in a sequence, but also for some close friends to share with. There are typically two reactions when you share a picture of a dollhouse (or show them in real life). Some people say: "How nice" and that's it. These are people without miniature eyeglasses. But there are people who immediately start asking how you made this ot that, and then you recognise a soul mate. (The most enthusiastic observer of my dollhouses was a young man who makes miniature railways). So the reason I wanted to join the group was to share my work with someone equally engaged. I swallowed my pride and wrote a self-presentation on the forum and posted some pictures. And guess how much response I received! Dollhouse people are surely the most friendly people in the world (but if you are reading this you know it). I even got acclaim from my role model Eva Malmsten. This boosted my energy, and I have ever since read and posted on the forum regularly, getting ideas and sharing ideas.

There are hundreds of dollhouse communities in Britain, but I have never tried to find any. It's far too intimidating.