Software:  Paint is probably one of the worst pieces of software I have run across and I only use it if I absolutely have to. There are a lot better, and also free, programs for opening, viewing and printing pics. One that I use a lot is "Irfanview", developed by Irfan Skiljan, a graduate of the Vienna University of Technology, I believe as a university project or thesis. It can be used to view all sorts of still or motion picture files and is very useful. It is free at this address:  http://www.ryansimmons.com/users/irfanview/

You may also find that some of the images are not the correct size for the scale you wish to print, or you may want to change them to a different size. You can use a program such as "Oscar's JPEG Thumbmaker", another free program, download at the bottom of this page:  http://www.mediachance.com/free/thumber.htm

Using that program, you can rescale any jpeg image to whatever size you want. Remember that 100 pixels equals one real inch (thanks to Jim of Jim's Dollhouse Pages for that info), so with a calculator you can quickly make a picture exactly the size you want. I also use that one to make some of my oversized scanned or digital camera pics a standard size, often to reduce the size of the image or the file. You can run a whole folder of images through it in a minute or two.

While I'm on the subject of software, there is an Internet searching utility that I use almost every day to find all sorts of things for work or whatever. It is called WebFerret and again, it is a free download, but you do have to put up with a bit of nagging about buying the Pro version. I do have Google as well, but I much prefer WebFerret. You can download it here: http://www.zdnet.com/ferret/download.htm

David in Santiago

Searching on ebay: Try these. Use the star and put a space between the words.
mini* Doll* book*   Came up with just 2 pages of items (80 Items).
mini* Doll* magazine*    Came up with 1 short page.
Dollh* Book*    Came up with 3 pages.
Dollh* mag*   Came up with 1 page (25 Items).
Some that came up were the actual 1:12 scale books for the dollhouse. You can see those from the title and skip looking at them.

The * after the word means any letters after that. For example mini* will pull up mini, minis, miniature, miniatures. etc.

I like to use it.  Sellers have been know to misspell, so with the example above if a seller spelled miniature as miniature, it would still come up in your search with the mini*. And you will get the plurals- miniature or miniatures.

Kerrie, KMC-Minis

Downloads and hard copies: This is a friendly reminder for everyone who wants to keep the information they find on the internet. These are not in order of importance!

1. Save your bookmarks. There are instructions in the Small-Stuff archives.

2. Back up your hard drive(s) to either another hard drive on your computer or an external drive.

3. Save files on a CD. But remember CD technology can change too. It is not invincible. The old 5 1/4 " floppies went out, too. A CD can also become scratched and damaged so please take good care of them.

4. If you absolutely have to have it! Both, download to a CD and PRINT it out.

5. Keep all these lovely wonderful hints and tips in either a three ring binder type of file or a file cabinet with file folders. You can use the cardboard box type from Wal-Mart or wherever and get a box of files to put in it.

The reason for a hard copy is this: Computers fail, hard drives crash, and ISPs go out of business all the time! We lost an entire website and everything on it with no hope of ever retrieving anything. The only thing we got out of it was our domain name and that was only through major effort. We have also 3 hard drives, a motherboard crash, and more over the years to various and sundry viruses, defective products, etc.

Just because you bookmark a site so that you can go back there is no guarantee that the site will be there next week, next month, or whenever you get around to it. The internet is a relatively new and changing thing. I know everyone on this list has gone to more than one site and found it not there. If you really want the information on that site, copy and paste it into your word processor and print it out! You can print it from the screen if you want the pictures, too, and many times that is necessary in our "profession". Yes, you will have a huge paper file, but that is better than no file at all. :)

I think that everyone who has a website with information or products for sale understands that their server could go down and hope that the ISP won't bail out. They hope but there are no guarantees! Which brings me to say, please don't count on your bookmarks to save the information you "gotta have".

Marcie, Kalispell, MT 59901

Scenic water in doll mold:  What would you get if you poured something like Scenic Water into one of the molds for a tiny porcelain doll? A miniature ice sculpture? A ghost? The Ice Queen?...hmmm... If anyone's tried it, I'd love to hear what happened.

Kai Alimayu

Scenic water in doll mold: Using the mold for scenic water would not work. The scenic water that i have used does not go hard stays quite soft compared to resin.

*** Note from Anne: doll makers correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it important for porcelain molds to retain their porous properties? Wouldn't Scenic Water clog the plaster pores? ***

Sharon

Scenic water in doll mold:  *** Note from Anne: doll makers correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it important for porcelain molds to retain their porous properties? Wouldn't Scenic Water clog the plaster pores? ***

You are correct on this. The mold needs to draw the moisture from the porcelain so clogging it with another material is throwing away the money spent on that mold.

Laurie Sisson

Scenic water in doll mold: Someone wanted to know about using scenic water in doll molds, and Anne pointed out that it shouldn't be in plaster molds that you make porcelain doll parts with. (True!) But I think the person who originally wrote was referring to some kind of rubber or plastic doll molds used with resin. In that case, it might work as long as the medium you're pouring hardens enough to keep its shape. I'm interested to know if anyone winds up with "see-through" people or "ghosts."

Paulette in IN

Scenic Water in a doll mold? Did I miss something? It conjures up all sorts of weird ideas. Why would want anyone want a jell-o face or body unless for a Halloween surprise or an alien? SW is not suppose to be hard or replace resin. It is another way to approach an effect. In the case of ponds and other water type projects, it may be more realistic. I can't see that I'd possibly want to ruin a doll mold by unmolding the SW from it. I usually take a Mickey D stirrer and run it around the edge to loosen it. That may harm a plaster mold. I usually use molds that are rigid plastic, ceramic, metal or hydrocal. You can also use the fish jell-o molds and put SW over like aspic. SW bodies?????? I'm going to have to get some better samples on my web site. http://www.scenicwater.com

Deanna from beautiful downtown Thiensville

How to Put Together a  doll kit: Go to http://www.happinessisminiatures.com then click on Miniature Tales & Tips.

Lynne

Cloth dolls: Magic Cabin Dolls has a variety of dolls appropriate for a child's dollhouse.

They have modern and pioneer style dolls that are premade in 1/12 scale by the Kathe Kruse Doll Co. I ordered a pattern from them last year to make my own posable soft dolls for my daughter's dollhouse. The pattern has boots or shoes made from modeling beeswax (I'll substitute polymer clay) so the dolls can stand up, very much like Laurie Sisson's "Foot". They also have kits for a variety of "fairy folk"- smaller dolls made from natural materials or inspired by nature. http://www.magiccabin.com

Kim in Las Vegas