Horses: Don't forget that D'Leprechaun, Denise Pritchett, makes wonderful horses. Her e-mail is dleprechaun1984@yahoo.com Her phone # is 301-262-2210.

Grace Shaw

eBay: There *are* some really nasty sellers out there, but Please believe that most are honest and good. (Especially in the miniatures categories.) I have some rules that I go by when making purchases on eBay that can save a lot of grief for the newbies:

1.) ALWAYS read the feedback; not just a quick look at the net number! Watch out for a lot of "weak positive" feedback where the buyer said "item as described". or "packs well". Hmmmmm. If that's all they could say about the seller, it must not have been a great experience for them.

2.) Never buy from anyone with "hidden" feedback. There's a reason it's hidden.

3.) Always ask *specifically* what the shipping charges will be BEFORE you bid. Some dealers mark up the shipping price at the end, if the auction doesn't go as well as planned. Many add exorbitant handling fees.Read the fine print or ask ask ask! If a seller is unwilling to weigh the object or give me a rate in advance, then I will not do business with them. Period. It's quite easy for them to go to www.usps.com and get a rate for you, or to call 1-800-ask-usps. If they ship UPS, then they already have a rate chart anyway. By the way, one of my pet peeves is sellers who say "see auction description for shipping charges" and then get so excited with posting their auction that they completely leave it out.

4.) Ask for measurements before you bid, if there is not an object in the photo such as a coin or ruler for reference. I, too, have seen some very interesting judgments from sellers as to what they consider "perfect 1:12 scale".

5.) Finally, never ever assume anything. Ask the seller all the questions *before* you bid. If they don't return your email before the auction ends, they are probably not going to ship you item very promptly either. (Unless the auction states that they are out of town or whatever.)

Debbie Jones

Sales Tax: Well I ended up calling the MN Department of Revenue Sales Tax Division and asked about charging sales tax on orders to be delivered at a later date. He said I need to collect taxes from orders if I have a sales tax license from the state the customer is from (i.e. I have a sales tax license from IL, NY, WI, MN so if the customer is from those states, I need to collect sales tax and declare it on each states sales taxes.) I hope this clarifies things for everyone. It sure complicates things for me though, but then I should have expected that from the Government!

Connie Sauve

Macromax camera: The Macromax camera costs $149.00. It uses 35mm film. It is suitable for photographing a single mini object, or a room or room box. Gary had sample photos which were taken with the camera, one of a 1/2" scale room, and another of 1" scale minis. The photos were very clear. The quality of the shots really showed up in the room scene--foreground, mid-ground and background were all in focus. The only drawback I saw is the fact that this a range finder camera, not a reflex camera. In a reflex camera, the image passes through the lens, is bounced off a mirror and appears in your viewfinder. In other words, when you look through the viewfinder, you see what the lens sees. In a range finder camera (most instant 35mm cameras are range finders) The viewfinder is not connected to the lens, so you see a little bit different image than the lens is seeing. For midrange and distance shots in a regular camera, this does not make any real difference. It can make a difference close up in small scale. The Macromax does have a solution for this. It comes with a framing attachment. I must say this is one of the strangest camera attachments I have seen, but it seems to do the trick. The attachment is a flat piece of plastic. At one end it holds a thick wire frame upright. The opposite end inserts into the bottom front of the camera. It may take some practice getting used to looking through the wire to frame your shot instead of the viewfinder. Gary did use the wire to frame his shots, and it does work. I would say that if you have a serious need to photograph your minis, this is a nice mid priced camera that could do the job.

Jeri

Close Up Rings: Those "close up rings" (3) come in what is called diopters of ;+1;+2;+3. If all 3 are screwed together and put on the camera lens, you can focus down to about 3" from the subject. BUT the depth of field, everything in front of and everything behind the subject will be out of focus. You are correct in that they cost a heck of a lot less than a new camera. These close up lenses come in various diameters to fit a particular diameter lens, I.E. 42 mm 49 mm, etc. There are rings called adapter rings which permits you to use close up lenses that do not have the same diameter as your particular camera. I.E. if your camera lens is 42 mm and your close up lens is 49 mm. You use an adapter ring for 42 mm that permits 45 mm lenses to be used, then you put a 45 mm adapter into that one and go up to 47 mm and so on. So all you need is one set of close up lenses and adapter rings (which are very inexpensive) and you can use the lenses on just about any camera. This way I use my polarizing lens and special effects lenses on my telephoto lens. Buy the close up lenses for the largest diameter lens you own and use the adapter rings to get them onto the smaller diameter lenses. That way you can use any and all your lenses with the close up rings or any other special effects lenses you may have.

Dr. Bob

Swaps: Try MiniShopAndSwap. They have swaps all the time.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MiniShopAndSwap

Grace Shaw

Image Copyright: As the owner and editor of an e'zine, I can tell you that if you own a clip art program, then you own those images and can do with them what you want. I have a great one with tons and tons of fabulous artwork that I plan to use for paintings in my dollhouses. If you want to use something you find on the web, the best thing to do is email the web person for that site and find out if they will allow you to copy the image. 9 times out of 10, it won't be copyrighted -- and if it is, I bet telling the owner you want to use it privately in a dh will get you permission.

Check the small print on those clip art copyright notices. Dover, for example, frequently states "These images belong to Dover Full-Color Electronic Design Series. You may use them for graphics and crafts applications, free and without special permission, provided that you include no more than ten in the same publication or project." And there is more... Some I have seen limit it to only four in the same project!

Teri

Doll Molds: You also asked for where you could buy mini doll molds: House of Caron has a huge selection, and their web site is http://www.houseofcaron.com

Paulette in IN

Doll Molds:
http://www.houseofcaron.com/

http://www.lovemedollmolds.com/index.html

http://www.jannajosephdesigns.com/

http://www.jps.net/pardinas/

http://www.jeannordquistdolls.com/

http://www.swallowhilldolls.com/

There are many more!

Marilyn, MI

Doll Supplies: Someone was looking for knitting patterns and I saw that the House of Caron had Period Patterns by Lesley Roberts. She also has the hand blown glass eyes in sizes, 2,3,4,5,6, and 8mm's. There is also a miniature eye sizer set. There are all kinds of molds for making dolls and pottery and she has Paulette Stinson's molds and pattern books. If I was a doll maker...I sure would start here first. The address is House of Caron, 10111 Larrylyn Drive, Whittier, Ca 90603. Inquiries 562-947-6753. Fax 562-943-5103 or http://www.houseofcaron.com

Jan Haring