Slate Roofs: Carol down under: the problem with slate even in the best of circumstances is that it is very brittle and splinters in full size let alone mini size. It needs to be cut when it is newly "mined" while it is still moist. As it dries out it begins to disintegrate and shear off with the nail holes being the first to let go. Here in Vermont (and I'm sure any place that still has homes with slate roofs), you can go around the base of a house and pick up bits and pieces of slate after a big storm and at Fort Ethan Allen near me ( from the 1800's) whole slates fall off every storm where they crumble in your hand when you pick them up. I have some slate pieces that came off of my apartment house, when they did a roof repair, that I can break up with a hammer to use for garden flagstones, foundations of houses etc. and it looks great. Black is the most brittle with red seeming to be the toughest with gray and green somewhere in between. But to roof a mini house with slate you would need new pieces cut to shape (The New Jersey dh supply shop - can't remember it's name right now - was one of the few places that supplied it) - they are heavy... and brittle... and expensive... and you need to get twice what you need because of the breakage. I saw one house done with them at Fred's Miniatures in Vermont - he used to do custom houses and told me that he would never do another with real slate because of all the problems and headaches and cost of the project. It looked great but I found another solution. Handley House was my supplier for my shop here and I found that they carried (actually were able to order it) a molded slate roofing that could be cut to shape. I haven't had any call for it so I don't know if it is still available but maybe your local shop can look it up ... I seem to remember the name Ross but this is hazy. It looked great -you can't tell it from the real thing!- and none of the headaches!

Ana

Deer Heads: Deer heads are not hard to find! I make them, as well as other mounted heads...as to other artisans and manufacturers. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=1001199&Auth=false

Alice Zinn

Deer Heads: The deer heads are easy--Lawbre makes wonderful animal heads all mounted and ready to use. They also have a moose, lion, big-horned sheep, and a couple of other animals.

Dottie in Tucson

Deer Heads: While I like Lawbre's pieces, Falcon Collectibles has a decent range of these and priced quite a bit better than Lawbre. They're not mounted but I don't see the difficulty of getting a piece of wood and staining it for mounting. I have a couple of the Falcon pieces on my site at http://www.spminiatures.com/weapons.htm Falcon has other ones that can be ordered.

Carol

Table Risers: And last but not least a hint for all those that take exhibits to shows and other places and need a riser for them. I found that the collapsible crates from the Miles Kimball catalog or IKEA store and catalog are FANTASTIC!! The crate folds up to transport to show. Pops open to be used for the riser for the exhibit. Prices run from $5.00 each [IKEA] to $9.00 each in the Miles Kimball catalog. They look very good with a fabric cover over them. Very Sturdy and you don't have to go looking for a cardboard box. Plan to have the tailor shop sew up six slipcovers soon for mine [neater than wrapping the fabric around and over the crate.]

Patricia / Redwood City, CA

Packing Tiny Items for Shows: I have a tip for those of you who do shows and bring small, delicate items. We have a lot of porcelain, pottery, glass etc. and it was taking forever to unwrap each piece individually to set up and rewrap unsold pieces at the end of the day. We went to a medical supply place and bought a foam rubber mattress pad with the deep indentations and cut them to fit plastic bins. We get 2 layers in each bin. I don't wrap anything, I just place a piece in each of the indentations. We have used these for a couple of years now and have had no breakage and have saved about 1 1/2 hours in set up and take down time at shows.

Carol

Custom Orders/Mail Fraud: To the person who is waiting for their doll. If this has been paid for, it is to be mailed within 30 days they advise you otherwise. I suggest that you check this site http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/GetWhatYouOrdered.htm. At this point, the person has broken the law and can be cited for mail fraud. If I were you, I would write her a letter stating that if you don't receive your merchandise or a refund within a certain period of time that you will file a complaint with the post office, which you can do online.

Carol

Custom Orders/Mail Fraud: If you pay for an item that will be mailed through our US Postal Service, the shipper/sender/manufacturer/artisan (whatever) MUST be able to deliver the item within 30 days of receiving your payment. If they cannot, they MUST inform you, in writing, that the item will be delayed, and MUST offer you the option to continue waiting, or offer you a refund. This applies to credit card orders too.....the shipper cannot charge your credit card, and then delay sending the item ....if your credit card bill arrives, with the charges, and you have not received the item, you are entitled to dispute the charge. Your credit card company will back you up on this. It may sound a bit 'tough' but if you do not stand up for yourself, no one else is going to. And in fairness to smaller business, many don't know what the regulations are regarding mail order...I sure didn't...until I stumbled across the postal regs myself.

Laura in OKC

Shipping/Customs Brokers: This is my experience: When I began importing viscose from England I started with fairly small orders, and they automatically came through the mail with no problems. Sometimes I'd get charged an import tax and sometimes not. It seemed to be at the discretion of whoever was overseeing mail coming in from England. Then I decided I might as well get a lot of viscose at one time, and ordered about 30 lbs. After waiting awhile to get my order, I was surprised to receive a note saying my order was stuck in customs and I needed to hire a broker to get it out! So I had to make a trip to downtown Louisville, Ky. (which I hate driving there) to meet with a broker and pay them $100. (Apparently that was the going rate no matter how much your package was worth - - it wouldn't have seemed so high if I'd been importing thousands of dollars worth of stuff.) Then after they did their job, I had to drive outside Louisville to the backside of the airport and hunt down some little office where I finally was able to pick up my order. After that, I learned to order only a certain amount at a time, and not go over that money amount or weight amount. I don't know what you can do to get around this. It is maddening. But that's what a broker does - gets your shipment through customs for you, at least that's what they do here in the US.

Paulette in IN

Digital Camera: We have one, the Intel pocket camera that is 'pretty good' for close up work, and it didn't cost a fortune. If you look at...ahem...a little publicity here.. my brand new web page ... (and, be sure to drag your cursor through the "Kaye's Garden" sign), you will see close ups taken with the camera of quarter scale plants. http://home.pacbell.net/kjmel/KGardens.htm Not bad pictures for a cheap digital camera!

Kaye in L.A.