3/8 " Plywood: You might try Lone Star Models in Lancaster, Tx. Their web site is: www.lonestar-models.com. I have ordered wood from them and I was very satisfied with both the wood and the service.

Joyce in Houston

Scenic Water: I just wanted to let everyone know that the Scenic Water that was featured on page 34 of Dollhouse Miniatures will be coming to America soon. I have been chosen as a distributor and will be covering the Northeast US for stores and anywhere in the US or Canada for Internet or personal sales. If anyone is interested, please send an e-mail to this address: dollysminis@cs.com. I will mail out information and an order form for you. If you belong to a club or know of others who would be interested, let me know and I can either mail extras to you or if I get the addresses, I will mail information to them. I am really excited about this product and I would love to send you information.

Dolly Osman

Soapy Water: I have been experimenting and trying to make something that looks like soapy water. I think I have found something that would be nice for you to try at home. You need two kinds of glue. I used water based PVA also called wood glue. ( I had tundra brand from Ikea) and clear all purpose hobby glue. The stuff I used contains acetone and ethanol. The best thing to do is , get some old bottle caps from your collection and use them for experimenting. Use two thirds of clear glue (pour it in the bottle top) and add one third of pva glue. Give it a good stir with a toothpick or similar. At first it will look like a white blob but soon you will find it gets clearer again and you will see air bubbles too. Now stop stirring and put your container in a warm place. Sunny windowsills are great for this or a windowsill over a radiator. Leave overnight. But be sure to the have a look every now and then to see what happens, it is great fun. If things go well there will be lots of bubbles etc. You will find the whole thing shrinks quite a bit while drying but you can extra layers on top if you like. If you want to put fabric pieces , dishes or sponges in , do so in the top layer or they will be invisible under the soapy surface. It takes a long time to dry out completely. ( up to a week) and it can still shrink a little even after that. But you can still add more layers if you want to. Have fun with the soapy water for the dishes and the washing

Marianne

Flower Gel: I use the flower gel, too. The brand I buy is called Everlasting Elegance and is sold at most of the usual chain hobby stores......Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc. You could probably find it anywhere they sell dried or fabric flowers. I like it better than other resins because the smell is not as strong. It still smells, and you need ventilation. I have used it for fish ponds and it works very well. I pour mine in 2 or 3 layers, depending on how deep the pond is. And, I have let it partially set up before pouring to simulate a water fall. Works great!

Sloan

Terra Cotta Pots....they're wonderful! If anyone is looking for a great source for all kinds of thing, these people are great....fast service, great quality. They are T D Miniatures of Fenton, MO, their email is: Tdminiature@gateway.net Their phone is 636-296-3818. I'm not sure if they have a web site...but you can't beat their pots....best scale I've found.

Debbie Noland California

1/144th Bricks: Have you considered wood bricks? Use the narrowest "scribed" siding that you can find (I use 1/32 or 3/64"). Sharpen an old jewelers' screw driver into an appropriately wide ",chisel to poke in the staggered vertical grout lines. If you paint your micro-scales, spray overall with a light gray for grout then dry daub brick color onto surfaces. Easy and quick (for 1/144) and very convincing.

Mel K

Twinfirs Dolls: Joy was very easy to work with. Please be sure and look at her site if you haven't yet. http://www.twinfirsdolls.co.uk/

Jane in Arkansas

Cool dioramas! While researching the tenements of NYC (just for my own interest), I came across the following website which features eleven dollhouse dioramas of a particular tenement. I found it very interesting! http://www.thirteen.org/tenement/logcabin.html

Molly

Efficiency Kitchen/Gardenscape: maybe you could use the fridge magnet appliances which are in slightly smaller scale -- that would make them compact versions for this scene. I remember a college friend who had such an apartment, basically a long room with dining/living and sleeping zones separated out. Pairs of louvered doors ran the length of one side wall and the efficiency kitchen, a tiny bathroom (shower, no tub), and ordinary closet were hidden behind them.

For ideas on using sculpted foam as garden materials, check the recent books on DIY miniature gardens by Frieda Gray and Lionel Barnard. Should still be in print.

Loretta.Sniarowski