Mini Hold: As I fly to all the shows I do, holding my plants and flowers securely in the plastic boxes is a major concern. I have tried all the products discussed but the one nobody has mentioned works the best for me.....plain old Rubber Cement! It is available at hobby and office supply stores for around $1.50. If you want to move something the old cement just rolls off and doesn't stain paper. If it holds my plant pots in their containers after they have been thrown around by the airlines it should hold minis in place in roomboxes etc!

*** Rubber Cement can damage some finishes. Use with caution or test first. ***

Jennie, MrsArt Minis

Mini-Hold: Just wanted to add a word of caution about Mini-Hold. If you live in a climate that gets hot in summer, above 25C (about 80F), the wax will melt and your pictures will go sliding down your walls. Yes, this is the voice of experience talking.

Pat M, London, ON

Architect's Scale: It’s a ruler that has three sides instead of two, and is triangular shaped. That is, it’s not a triangle per se, it’s more like a bar of Toblerone chocolate. Each side has two edges, and there is a different scale on each edge. I hope I’m making myself understood! Anyway, there are scales for 1” = 1’, ½” = 1’ and ¼” = 1’. There are others, too, but they aren’t relevant to us miniaturists. Usually, there is a regular ruler in inches, too.

To use the scale, find the side marked 1” or 1” = 1’. You will see that starting at 0, it is broken up into increments of inches, each of which stands for one foot. On the other side of 0, there is an inch that is divided into 12 smaller increments (instead of the usual 16 of a standard ruler), each of which stands for one inch, and is marked as such. You will also see that the ½” scale starts at the other side of the ruler, and the two sets of numbers crossing each other on the same edge of the ruler can be a bit confusing at first.

Anyway, if you have a 1/12 scale dresser, and you want to see how tall it would be in real life, you can measure it with the scale, and see exactly what it comes out to be. Conversely, if you scan a book that is 14” wide, you can reduce it and print it out, and then check with the scale if it is 14” in scale.

All of this works with ½” and ¼” scales, too.

I don’t think you will easily find a metric 1/12 scale, as they are divided in tenths. However, a miniatures store might have something for you. Architect’s scales can be found at office supply stores, in the drafting department.

Jonathan in Israel

Inch rule with metrics; I have a 6" pocket steel rule that has inches and metrics on the same face only along opposite edges. These can be found in any store that sells drafting supplies.

Drbob...Delray Beach FL

Measuring info as well as place to buy rulers:

http://www.lollypop.nu/otherstuff.htm

http://www.draftingdealsonline.com/index2.htm

http://www.tjtrains.com/page46.htm

http://miniatures.about.com/library/101/blscale.htm

http://www.jubileerose.com/8115.htm

And this site has printable minis in 1:24 and other scales:

http://www.printmini.com/printables/ph.shtml

Nursemini

1 inch scale ruler: In looking through my tools I came across a ruler which was made by New England Hobby Supply. On the face of it are regular inch marking on one edge and 1"to 1' marking on the other edge. On the back are decimal equivalents for number drills; reference table of tap drill sizes for small screws; and a measurement conversion chart. This is all useful information.

New England Hobby Supply has a web site at: http://www.nehobby.com I didn't find the ruler on the site, but I am sure that any good miniature store can get them - at least I hope so as it is a great tool.

Ann Hendricks

Paint Storage: I wanted to buy the white plastic covered wire paint carousel at Michael's but even on sale at $39.99 it felt a little too expensive for me to hold crafts that I've already spent too much on!! So I started saving my empty toilet paper rolls (cut in two) and empty paper towel holder rolls (cut in three pieces). Then making sure they sat flat on a surface, glued the sides all together until you have enough to fill a sturdy box (covered mine in contact paper). The bottles of craft paint stand up nicely in these and as suggested by SS'er) I put a little dab of the corresponding paint on the lid of each. Works great for me & I can see all the colors, too many :) at a glance!

Darlene/NJ-SP

Organizing hints: I am in the process of organizing yet again. Paper work, kit instructions, magazine cutouts, and business cards, etc., in three-ring binders in plastic pages. Label the books and I really try to keep them up-to-date. Not always successfully, of course.

Then I use plastic shoe boxes for mini items which won't break easily. I label each box with a sticker, and it works for me. The hardest box is of course the "misc" box which also holds "stuff." But I also use larger plastic boxes for the furniture I have - by category, like "kitchen," "bathroom," or "dressers," "Beds." It works for quite a while, and then I find I may have been in a hurry and stuffed an item in the wrong box. Or I got a new supply of something and didn't file it at all. I have been collecting/saving minis for years and so I have, umm, lots.

But I find the plastic shoe boxes and larger boxes an excellent way to store - - on shelves and in stacks. Also, the divided boxes for teeny tiny items which might get lost or broken in the larger boxes. As for books, I am starting a data-base for all my dollhouse books and catalogs so I can find the one I want easily. Helpful, too, when I KNOW I have a book and it turns out I don't - I borrowed it from the library and returned it! God bless my senior moments!

Gail Green (no 'e')

Storing beads: I have really gotten addicted to glass beads and findings. Golly, they are like gold. Pour them in the tub and I'll bathe in them!

My friend, Marja, just sent me a batch of glorious beads and findings from England. I was running out of space for easily reached containers so this is what I did. I purchased a small computer desk on wheels. I assembled it. When finished I placed two plastic containers (like a fisherman uses for lures) on the pull out tray that would normally hold the keyboard. I got some short screws and screwed them into place so that when the tray is pulled out the box lids can open upright.

On the table top itself I placed more plastic containers and screwed them into place. Now I can sit at my work table, pull the computer table over to my side and have all my beads easily at hand. If the cats, God forbid, should jump up there, the containers will not go flying and sending beads all over the house.

Kate Henry

My advice to all who request work, custom or otherwise, is to ask for signed agreements.   If the agreement is conducted by email, print out every piece of email and keep it on file.   If the amount involved is small, one may not care to do that, but if the amount is large, be sure to do it.  Ask for such a dated statement with the contracted service clearly stated, the total amount to be paid and when with any deposit noted.  If interim payments are made, be sure to get signed and dated receipts for them. The case might be reversed and your heirs would be entitled to the contracted service or return of deposit and payments if any. A friend of ours bought a gun from an older gentleman who wrote on a scrap of paper the agreement and tossed it on his desk as he did for each payment.  When there were only a couple payments left, the gentleman died and his widow demanded full payment as stated in the original agreement on the scrap.   Somehow she found that scrap, but not any of the subsequent scraps noting the payments. Without any proof of the payments because he never got copies of those scraps, our friend was legally forced to pay in full the amount in the original agreement.

My advice to artisans and crafts people is be fair to your customer by giving   them all such documentation.  It is only professional. And customers do your heirs a service and keep records.  It will be a very difficult time for them and their emotions will be fragile; they will not need complications which you can avoid for them. None of us will live forever and none of us knows when our time is up so we should for the sake of the customer and for the artisan/crafts person and survivors leave records that clearly show the status of transactions.  We all like to trust others and that is good, but after death when others become involved proof is needed.

Another precaution I would suggest is record some place whenever an expensive   item is sent out to an artisan/crafts person for something to be made for it or something done to it.  Otherwise your survivors will not know where it is and in fact, may not even know that it exists.

Mel - Mass, USA