Wiring a House: I started mine on the side right near the back edge. I put my little connector piece on the base of the dollhouse, which meant splicing right away, but I imagine you could start up higher so you wouldn't have to do that. I started out by running wire tape all along the wall about an inch to 1 1/2" above the floor. (Remember you will put in baseboards and you don't want to cover your tape with them.) I went up and over the doorway and on around. Then I went up the wall (where you may want a wall light on either side of the wall) over to the back edge near the side, around the wall again and so on. If you want a ceiling light in, say the kitchen, run a tape from the wall in the room above to the center of the floor and make a hole and bring the wire from the ceiling lamp below up and fasten it to the electric system above. Much easier. Cover floor with carpet or whatever you choose. Just don't fasten it down permanently in case you ever have an electrical problem with your light. Where I wall papered over light connections, I cut a piece of wallpaper to go over that connection that can be peeled off without destroying the rest of my wallpaper job. I stuck that one little strip of wallpaper on with the tacky stuff. Good way to go for porch lights and sconces. I wired them on the opposite side of the wall they were mounted on and did the wallpaper trick in the room where the wire was. If you are going to paint your walls before you wallpaper, you can paint first then wire. If you are leaving your walls painted, then wire first, then paint. You will have to think of other ways to hide any wiring of lights on the wall then if they are up high, like hanging a wall hanging or picture or mirror over them. When you have to splice, just cut your wire tape, lay the other piece on it and put your brads in, taking care to make sure the outside wire is matched with the outside wire on the other piece. I used Cir-cut. The wires (tapes) are different colors now, which helps. When I did it, they weren't. Used two brads on the connections as the instructions say. Keep using your tester whenever you join two tapes. I kept testing and testing. Otherwise, when you get done and it doesn't work, you won't know where to begin to look. Just go slow and think about where you want your lights.

Linda

Joining IGMA: Yes, joining IGMA is well worth it! Some of the benefits of membership include focused study programs in such wonderful places as New Orleans and Williamsburg, discounted tuition to the Guild School in Castine, Maine, which is held every June (your tuition includes room and board and 36 hours of instruction from your choice of over 20 different instructors, all of whom are either Artisans or Fellows of the Guild -- no better way to learn than from experts! My DH ... who is a mini newbie ... and I just attended for the first time this year and loved it, and we both had such a wonderful experience that we've already signed up to attend again next year!) -- there are a limited number of scholarships available to the school for those who can't afford the tuition and meet the necessary criteria. Also, you get discounted admission to the IGMA Show in New York in April and a wonderful newsletter called The Cube.

There are juried levels of achievement (Artisan and Fellow) which are recognized worldwide -- and there's no better way to sharpen the skills you already have along with the opportunity to learn many new ones. But *everyone* is welcome to join The Guild as a General Member - from those who simply have an appreciation for miniatures and don't create them themselves, to those who create miniatures for their own personal enjoyment, to those who sell their work, and those who wish to have their work evaluated for elevation to Artisan and possibly Fellow status. The goals of the Guild are to promote miniatures as an art form and to increase awareness and appreciation of high-quality workmanship through public education.

For more information, please visit the IGMA web site at: http://www.igma.org

Bev Gallerani

Article Index: How did I find this information so fast? Well, I bought the "E-Z Search Index to How-To Projects" by Sylvia Hansen. This is one of the handiest books I have ever bought. Sylvia prints an index to all the miniature magazines ever printed and you can buy just the ones you want, for the magazines you have. I just LOVE mine, no more searching for hours for projects you KNOW you have seen somewhere, just go to the index. Her email is: sylhansen@cs.com.

Patty Adamson

Magazine Indexes: I posted a while back regarding magazine indexes. I recommended Sylvia Hansen, 12 Scott Drive North, Broomfield, Colorado, 80020. Phone: (303) 404-0054. Email: Sylhansen@cs.com. She has E-Z Search covering all the miniature magazines. With 25 years plus of miniature magazines, it's the only way I can find what I want. I highly recommend them.

Ruth Grass Valley, CA

I do not think the importance of eBay as a tool for the miniaturist can be underestimated. So many of us are in isolated situations due to location or health. With eBay, SS, and a few chat rooms, we are able to feel a part of the miniature world. With this in mind, I have a few observations:

**It is important to remember that eBay, just like any store we may shop has both good and bad merchandise, steals and deals. The old expression, "Buyer beware" still applies.

** It is our responsibility to ask the right questions and read the posted terms of sale. Keep asking questions until you have enough information to make an informed decision. This is not a place for impulse buying, even if it is an auction site.

**To blame eBay for our own errors in judgment seems a bit harsh. We are each responsible for our own actions. I doubt that any of us refuse to eat a hot dog, ever again!!!! just because we were served a bad one from one vendor.

**If items are selling for an idiotic amount of money - quit bidding. Wait for another day and another opportunity. On the same line of thought, remember that one persons trash is another's treasure. Do not belittle or degrade what is irrelevant to you. Another may feel it is the most important find they have ever made. If my great grandmother had a tiny white glass hen and rooster that she allowed me to play with as a child and I found a similar set on eBay, they would be worth a great deal to me. The memory they would represent would outweigh the price. To another they might just be a piece of plastic hardly worth the price of shipping.

**If we can find the item offered for sale in a store near us, consider the individuals who do not have that store near them but would like to have the same opportunities we have found. The potential buyer may be from a country or a part of the USA that does not have the same retail opportunities. Because we have easy access to some items does not mean that another individual in another part of the world would not pay double, even triple just for the opportunity to join in the fun the rest of us talk about. The Michael's hutch's are a good example of this.

**The seller can not offer it for no profit irregardless of how dedicated they may be to furthering the cause of miniaturing. If the seller is starting the auction at 4 or 5 times the retail value of an item, consider emailing the seller and discussing the matter. To email the bidder may risk your right to buy or sell on eBay. I would read their guidelines carefully.

**To refuse a seller because you find a negative comment in their feedback is not very realistic. Even eBay goes to great length to discuss this point. A negative response on a sellers feedback could indicate a lack of judgment, inexperience or just plain bad humor on the part of the complainer. View the negative as a part of the whole. I for one, have never known a business that didn't have one or more cranky customers looking for a reason to fuss.

**Be aware of the confusion you create for the seller when you have one name as your eBay User ID, another name for your email address and a third name for your true self. Some of you have a fourth business name. ALWAYS refer to your eBay User ID and the auction number. Remember to add this information to your check or money order. This is how eBay records all information about a sale for both the buyer and the seller. This confusion can play a large part in slow communication on the part of the seller. It is entirely possible they don't know who you are.

**It is best to wait until you have corresponded with the seller before making payment by PayPal or any other means. It is very easy to forget the shipping costs or other charges. This makes double bookwork and ample frustration for all.

**Gail and Bobbie have a very good idea if Noella and the gang approve. I too would like to add "member of Small Stuff - order with confidence" to all my future eBay auctions, but will refrain from doing so until the ladies make a judgment call.

**To suggest that SS be used to validate items offered for auction seems problematic to me. I don't think eBay would approve of being juried by any group. I think Anne, Noella and Joy would have to make an executive decision on that matter. I'm not sure the ladies would be willing to become a judge and jury. They carry a very heavy load now. I can see emailing an SS member whose judgment you trust and asking them to view an item for you. I just have a problem with SS becoming a forum for eBay.

Becky Holliday

Mini scenes as gifts: I learnt last Saturday that my 7 year old's teacher was leaving for a college position, and between my daughters she has been teaching them for 5 years. Saturday evening I had the brainwave that I could use the left-over gift bag room from my elder's party in January and make a classroom scene from printables. I had till Wednesday morning but I made it. My daughters identified the important elements of the classroom and then we set out to find them on the web. I think we found everything from just 4 sites, Jim's printables at http://www.printmini.com, Eileen's printables at http://members.home.net/eileenmorgan/printables.html, http://miniatures.About.com and a site I only just found with a huge range of stuff, Boop Mini Printables at http://www.geocities.com/boopmini40/

I used a table from the dollar store and painted it the right colours, backed a clock face of Jim's with a button of the right shape and colour, made a flag from a fabric cutout and a fancy toothpick, mitred a window frame from balsa, made coloured pencils from 1/2" nails with the heads cut off and painted, and everything else was paper. The school has been undergoing construction to add more classrooms and this teacher's windows had been blocked by a breeze block wall, so we even found a printable stone floor that looked pretty realistic behind the window frame! That touch went down really well. Boop Mini's had the critical snack food containers and bookcases, somewhere else had the ubiquitous tissue box, to which we added a real bit of tissue, Jim's TV, computer and dictionary (exactly the right one!) were perfect. We also found manila files and envelopes, graph paper, tiny word puzzles, books (including a Dr Seuss with inside pages), 12" and 36" rulers, a file box, maps and posters. Paper sample books rescued a while back from the garbage provided construction paper and even a blue rug. Finally, my daughters painted and drew miniature artwork for the classroom walls.

The teacher loved it and did spend quite a while looking at and commenting on the details. My daughters then showed it off around the school. The art teacher was very intrigued and may well want more information later, and the principal liked it too. Another parent also got talking to me about it, and one thing led to another and I might get some more work (real life) through her. So all in all it was a very positive experience for all of us. Don't let this one disappointment stop you from making other miniature gifts.

Wendy in Clinton, NJ

Old Abandoned House Finished! I've been silent for so long, but been busy
completing the old, abandoned Depression era house. It has taken me so much longer than I thought it would due to making so much "stuff" for the attic! These people had to just move off and leave the accumulated stuff in their attic...as well as the rest of the house...and it took lots of research, thinking, and *time* making stuff to fill that attic! The daylight was fading pretty fast while taking the pictures today, but I think these will show you what I did with the project. Pictures with better lighting will come in about a month, as I'm expecting company and don't have time to redo right now. I'm pleased with the way it turned out...and so *glad* to write "the end" to this rather large project! It contains just about everything I've wanted to do mini-wise. An old house, pond, garden (copied Joann Swanson's scarecrow from a NN mag), cemetery, cellar, outhouse, clothes washing area, rabbit hutch complete with rabbits, treehouse...in the large size tree I made, old toys indicative to the era, old rusty mailbox...complete with bullet holes, and lots of other things here and there. There were several who wrote saying you were using this for ideas for something similar of your own. Well, now you won't have to look at green and purple striped pictures! The old pics were done on a scanner gasping its last breath...I gave it a decent burial in the back yard!

Rita Pierce

Vegas Wedding Chapel: The gaudier the better!!! Some have podiums, pews or chairs, an alter of sorts, depends on the chapel. The ones inside the major hotels are just like a church and very elaborate. There is music, sometimes canned, sometimes someone is playing. You need to make the "preacher" an Elvis impersonator - or are you duplicating where the couple got married?
If you do a search for Las Vegas wedding chapels I'm sure you'll come up with lots!

Marsha, Newark, CA

Vegas Wedding Chapel: I was married in the Candlelight Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Bette Midler and Whoopi Goldberg had been married there and it was across the street from Circus, Circus, I think. The outside looked like a motel, very tacky with flickering neon candle flames. Just inside the door was a lobby where one could make selections -- like from a Chinese menu or at a fast food outlet. Did the Bridal Couple wish audio or video tape? Live music or taped? The small bouquet for $29.99 or the large for $49.99? Will the Couple need rings? Witnesses? There were a couple of nicely dressed folks sitting in the lobby, willing and able to be witnesses for a mere $25 each. The saleswoman prompted these decisions in a whispery rush, marking our choices on a form which she presented to the cashier. We paid in advance.
At this moment, the tawdry, mercantile aspect of the experience was giving me cold feet. But, ever professional, the staff, having encountered this reaction before, whisked me into the "Chapel" itself. Oh, it was perfect! An ideal, romantic, little country church. The walls were paneled with dark, shining walnut. Lovely stained glass windows were recessed at intervals along the walls. The ceiling was vaulted with sturdy polished beams. Large bouquets of fresh flowers sprang from wicker baskets between the windows. On either side of the blue/grey carpeted aisle, were pews with gothic wood carvings. Behind the carved podium, instead of religious symbolism, the brass pipes of the organ were framed by a gothic arch. It was amazingly tasteful, really lovely...

Sally Cook-Thomas

Vegas Wedding Chapel: I had a friend actually get married in a chapel in Vegas in March. It was called The Chapel of Flowers I believe and the inside seemed to be pretty normal. It was white practically everywhere, and had only 3 pews on either side of the aisle that were also white. My friend had flowers at her wedding but it was very basic, maybe two or three small arrangements.... There was no organ there it was just a sound system that was piped through and you brought whatever music as a mix tape or cd to play during the ceremony.... I do remember though that for $100 extra she could have Elvis marry them!!! That could be a neat and fun thing to add to the traditional look of a chapel..... Hope this helps you some!!!

Julie