Umlat: On my PC I can make an umlat (2 dots over a vowel) by pressing the quotation key and then the letter. I don't know why this is so. I found it out by accident. Try it and see if it works for you.

June in London Ontario Canada

Typing special characters: If you run Windows, you will have access to a thing called a character map. If you highlight a character on this map, it will show you the alt numbers to use in the bottom right corner. They don't always show up in emails or in .txt files, however.

Kay in Ottawa, Canada

Typing special characters: Hello saw an interest in this topic. Here is a link to typing those funny characters.
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/reference/special_characters/

Nursemini

Costumes: This is a great site for those of you who like to dress your own dolls...loads of ideas to work with and loads of links too. http://www.costumes.org/

Sheena Cain

Miniature Knitting & Rug Supplies Homepage: This is a site with lovely patterns, materials and very fine needles as well. There are also some very sweet tiny dolls. I ordered from this site before and the service is very quick. I think it is worth having a look. http://www.minknit.freeserve.co.uk/

Marianne

Thin knitting yarn: I find wool easier to use than cotton, since it has more stretch, and DMC makes a very fine crewel embroidery wool called Medici.

Kay in Ottawa, Canada

Wallpapering: I have never applied glue to a wall. I always apply it to the paper. This is the only way I get the glue evenly spread out. If I apply the glue from the left to the right of the paper, when I attach it to the wall, I move my brayer in the opposite direction - top to bottom. Why don't you experiment with postage size squares made from the scraps cut off of your JLB paper? Final thought, did you seal the walls? I always prime the surface because the texture of the woodgrain can vary the way the glue adheres. Check the label on your glue bottle for recommendations.

Becky Holliday

Stucco: I want to stucco my new dh, a creamy white colour. Now my way is to get some powdered filler, and then mix water and powder paint to the colour I want before mixing it into the Polyfilla with a bit of pva (for stickability). This is satisfyingly messy and keeps me busy for hours! Does anyone know of an easier way of doing this without expending vast sums on new stuff? I'm thinking that this method is OK (and strangely satisfying) for big projects, but it would be nice to do it for small projects too.

Lynne Connolly

Stucco: I made up stucco with paint, a blob of white glue and some fine sand. for a finer stucco paint, talcum powder and white glue, and for a rough Mediterranean look paint layers of tissues and more paint. let dry between layers then add more.

Julia, Crafty Lady

The stucco method that has worked very well for me is -
1) latex paint a primer coat the color of choice.
2) using same latex paint, mix small amounts of paint and plaster-of-Paris to a frosting consistency.
3) use a 3/4 inch "trowel" for texturing. Keep the thickness of the mixture to a minimum. All you want is the trowel marks. (its easy to let the mixture build up to an 1/8 inch or more thickness. Keep it thin).

Prime some scrap wood and play for a while before starting the house. An old table knife, the metal or plastic lid of a coffee can or just about anything can be formed into a trowel. Suggested length would be 3/4 to 1".

Jon