In my Diorama Dos and Don'ts section, I mention getting your friends and families involved in the diorama process, if they are willing. This is because I've been amazed at how people have opened up to my hobby when they finally figure out what it is I'm doing.

It was actually my friend, Mary, who got got me started on dioramas.  She had seen my collection of Barbie size furniture and goodies, and my 7 foot tall Barbie house, and heard my complaints about being unable to fit more than a small part of my collection in the house.  She had also seen dioramas on the internet, so she suggested I look them up and, lo and behold, I was hooked!  Mary had no 11 1/2 inch dolls, but she was interested and now has two Poppies, a Lilith and a Momoko- and I see others in her future!

When I was setting up the 7 rooms for the Grandville Library Display  and got overwhelmed, it was Mary who came to my rescue.  She had never done dioramas before, but as we worked on it, she really got into it and was tremendously helpful with her ideas and suggestions.

And then there are my friends, Rick and Linda.  Linda has never played with or owned a Barbie, but like a lot of people, she is fascinated by small objects that look like large ones.  When she saw the little rooms on my website, she was delighted.  I was just as delighted to have her like them.  We started talking about what I was doing and a whole wonderful dialogue has come about.

Linda is one of the most creative people I have ever known and she began making suggestions and giving me ideas almost faster than I could absorb them.  When we talked the other night, I told her I was having trouble finding plants and miniature ivy for a diorama I was working on, she suggested using live plants when possible.  When I stopped at her house the next day, she had a row of lovely little floral arrangements sitting in her window sill to show me how it could be done.  They were all in little containers she had found around her house and were done with the flair and style she brings to all her creations.

Meanwhile, her husband Rick, had stopped by a place that makes signs and saw that they were discarding a number of signs printed on foam core (foam board.)  The one above was the one that caught his eye.  He has probably not done more than glance at my website, but he remembered that I did something with Barbies and thought I might be able to use the sign and also the foam core.  (The sign will hang in my doll room, of course.)  So he got permission to take it home and brought me the whole pile.  As anyone knows who has read my Diorama 101 course, I use foam core a lot.  This was wonderful quality stuff.  It all has signs on one side and is white on the other.  The pieces are about 1 1/2 X 4 feet, making it perfect for Barbie rooms.  I thought this act of kindness was above and beyond the call of duty!

My daughters, who stopped playing with Barbies when they were 11 or 12, have started showing interest in the dolls and furniture again.  Katie especially has been tremendously helpful in papering the Big Doll House that they used to play with when they were kids, and helping me set up the Grandville Library Display.

Recently, one of my daughters' friends, a college student who had seen some of my dioramas, showed up with some wallpaper border.  He'd seen it at a garage sale and thought it might work for my dioramas.

All this is really just to show that when people, who started out thinking you are a little crazy, begin to understand what you are doing they will get excited about it, too.  They may never feel quite the passion for your dolls that you do, but you may find that you have acquired a whole new set of helpers and confidants to share your joy with.

By the way, when I was visiting Linda I gave her a fashion doll because she'd never had one.  She called yesterday to tell me she'd set up her first diorama!!

There is a standing joke in my family about my way at looking at things.  It started when my daughter and I were in Nordstrom's one day and she walked over to see me examining an object.  She said, "Is that supposed to hold glasses?"  I looked at her and said, "It's a Barbie couch.  Don't be stupid."
We both cracked up laughing and now whenever the girls see me looking at something at a store or yard sale with a certain look in my eye, one of them says, "It's a Barbie couch.  Don't be stupid!"

I've been collecting one sixth scale furniture for longer than I care to admit, and I was always looking for things that looked like they might be used as Barbie objects, but once I was introduced to the world of dioramas several years ago, I started seeing Barbie items everywhere.  Boxes become footstools, napkin holders become benches, all sorts of things turn into side tables.  I actually see the world a little differently now because I'm seeing the possibilities everywhere.

I never thought of myself as a person who could do crafts.  I crocheted a little in High School and had to learn to knit for a play I was in.  (By the end of the rehearsals and performance, I had the world's longest scarf with all sorts of dropped and added stitches since I couldn't really perform and knit well at the same time.) I also did a little cross stitch when my daughters were young.  But I was never anyone who made potholders or cute handmade Christmas ornaments.

So it has surprised me that dioramas have brought out in me a creative side I didn't know existed.  When I look at things that might be Barbie objects, I now think in terms spray paint, hot glue, or cutting things with my Dremel tool, or how to paint an object to make it look it is made of marble.  For a very uncrafty person, I have also accumulated a huge amounts of trim, wooden craft pieces, paint, and box cutters. 

The truth is that my brain loves all this.  There is actually a small high off picking up some piece of junk for 49 cents at the Salvation Army and turning it into something I can use in a diorama.  I don't just mean having a wonderful object when I'm done.  I mean the creative burst that takes place in your brain when you see something that could be created and how to go about creating it.  I suppose any artist has known this for years, but for me, not being very artistic, it's a real rush.

It's kind of wonderful that I will never see the world quite the same again and that I can look forward to enjoying those exciting moments in the future.  Who ever would have thought playing with Barbies would get me here?

I had someone tell me once that I was living vicariously through my dolls.
Well, duh, obviously.
But if you think about it, I'm also living vicariously every time I pick up a novel, go to a movie, or watch a television series. 
Through those mediums, I have:
Watched the burning of Troy and Atlantis, flown with Superman,  been stranded on desert islands numerous times in numerous ages and survived, traveled to other planets, performed magic, performed surgery, and hidden  inside other people's heads listening to their thoughts and dreams.  I have loved living all those vicarious lives!

The fashion dolls introduced in the last half of the 20th century allowed a new way of living vicariously. Not only were they beautiful and had great clothes, but through them you could imagine yourself in numerous careers, drive hot sports cars, and be independent.  It was a great thing for a girl's imagination.

As an adult I'm still enjoying them and, yes, still living vicariously. Through them, I can experience the joy of a real silk gown, the luxury of an enormous bed covered in throw pillow and satin sheets. I can own rooms full of furniture and still have room to store it. For me one of the joys is vicariously being the designer I've always wanted to be.  And owning clothes I could neither afford nor fit in. I can enjoy careers, visit other countries, have the perfect Norman Rockwell celebration, all of it limited only by my own imagination. 

The mink pictured above was one my friend purchased when we were room shopping at the GAW convention.  It is soft and luxurious and the only mink either of us will probably ever own.  Lilith has allowed us to enjoy not only this diminutive piece of finery, but a chance to enjoy posing her for her Blackglama photo shoot.  Frankly, I've always loved those ads with their black and white photography and all those famous people draped in black mink. I've always wished it was me being photographed! 

I've also always wanted to own an antler chandelier.  Don't ask me why. One  of my latest projects was to make one for an upcoming diorama.  Now I can own it without having to figure out how to store it or whether it goes with my decor.

I am all about living vicariously.  "Had I but world enough and time", I'd love to experience everything I've read about or watched in a movie.  As it is, I'm grateful for all those vicarious experiences that have allowed me to enjoy much broader horizons.