Sue Cook: Sue Cook is online - go to http://www.dollshouseworld.com/adlinks/suecook/index.htm

Lynne Payne

Hinges: Position first side of the hinge in the usual way and glue in place using a small amount of gel superglue (CA glue), making sure that you keep it away from the hinge join.  With a very fine drill, make pilot holes for the nails through the holes in the hinge.  Pick up a nail with forceps and dip it into the superglue and insert it into the hole, pushing firmly into place.  Repeat with the other nails, and allow to dry.  Then, using a needle file or something similar, file off the domed tops of the nails so there is just a thin sliver of metal left. Repeat this whole procedure with the other half of the hinge. I have fixed furniture doors box lids and room doors in this way, and they have held in place well, and the doors have stayed shut.

Ronnie

Architectural Etc. makes nice quoins in 1/12 scales. They come in stone and block looks. You can also get extra pieces to fill in if the corner piece is not long enough. If you can't find them at your local miniature shop, I carry them in my shop.

Deanna Spanjar

Hinges: before installing the hinges cut out a thin piece of wood from the door edge and frame which matches the size of the hinge, then install using superglue and nail heads. I usually do the door first, then work on the frame.

Judy

Chimney Finish: If your chimney is wooden, you can coat it with a fairly heavy coat of spackle, and before it dries, score it in a brick pattern using a used ball point pen, crochet hook or similar. Then when it's dry, use acrylics to color it however you wish. This worked well for me on my chimneys and also the front of my townhouse.

Linda

Ceiling Medallions: Full scale large doilies work great when layered in thickness for a decorative Victorian ceiling treatment. Glue several thicknesses of paper doilies on a piece of card stock. When dry, trim the excess card stock away  and paint to match your ceiling. For more dramatic effect, dry brush it with a slightly lighter color. Glue to ceiling!,/p>

Anne Gerdes

Chimney finishes: I had a quantity of real rocks - tiny ones that had been used in a 55-gallon aquarium. I scooped up a 5-gallon bucket of them and washed them silly. Then I got my chimney form and glue out and spent literally 2-3 days gluing each rock into just the right place. When dry, I got out grouting and gooped it on, making sure to fill in all cracks. (My advice is to do a small section at a time or you'll go crazy). Then before it dries, I grabbed a damp sponge and started "uncovering" the rocks until they looked the way they were supposed to. Needless to say, the water "melted" some of my glue and some of the rocks just fell off. This meant starting over at point one and re-gluing, etc. It also ate up 11 large sponges (rocks can do that) before I was done. And I will never tackle anything like that again without gloves!

But when all is said and done, I have a truly unique chimney which, if I had to price it based on work, etc, would be worth a small fortune! But it's all mine and looks great!

Jenny

Chimney Placement: I would notch out the roof line of the house and build the chimney on the outside of the house.

Rita S Pierce

Southwestern style: there are two main styles of windows and doors here in Santa Fe, both look beautiful with thick adobe walls. One is "Pueblo," with big square rough-cut wood beams exposed across the top of the doors and windows. and the plaster rolled right onto the edge of the wood, so that only a little of the casing shows. This type of door can just be a solid vertical plank with big iron strap hinges in the most primitive style. The windows are usually smaller and may not even open, just have glass.

The other style is "Territorial" in which Victorian-style windows and doors were inserted in existing adobe walls. This gives a very lovely effect. In this case the windows and doors are usually the vertically tall openings with Victorian moulding painted white.

One of the most important things to me about southwestern style is to have the walls appear very thick, at least a foot, and many old buildings have walls up to 3 feet thick. The depth of the casings is an important part of the effect, almost creating window seats inside.

The other wonderful thing about southwestern style is that doors (either Pueblo or Territorial) are often painted a turquoise blue. They often have carved designs in them, or cut-outs. A simple lace panel is frequently the only window treatment.

JJ

In the south, chimneys were often located on the outside of the house because of the warmer climate, and in the north inside the house to help with additional heat. You also have to consider the locations of fireplaces inside. If you want the chimney coming through part of the mansard, I think it would look more realistic to really have something coming through, not just stuck on. And you might want to add some copper flashing too!

Beth

A few years ago, one of my minis clubs decided to make our project a shopping mall. We all had to use the same basic size, shape, dimensions, etc. for our individual stores, so that they could be lined up as a mall for group exhibits.  We decided to use 12" x 15" CARDBOARD mailing boxes!   They were 10" tall, giving us a nice height, and made for good sized shops and restaurants.  We could do whatever we wanted - we had 2 restaurants - - one being an old-fashioned soda shoppe, and another being a BBQ place that the member had owned for many years.  We did all sorts of finishing to the exteriors - I applied brick to my garden center store; one was all stucco, another used clapboard siding.  These exteriors really strengthened the cardboard, and the boxes were terrific when completed.   We put alot more $4 into finishing them than buying the boxes - they cost each of us less than $2.

Laura

How to add interest to a slanted bathroom wall: I have no idea if I can explain this idea or not... but here's one way you can decorate the slanted wall.

Build a wall part way down the slanted wall. Build part way down the slanted wall and to the floor. Build  a cupboard into that wall. Ok.....are you with me? Now, wallpaper the ceiling and the slanted wall  using the same paper. Then paint the cupboard doors a contrasting color and the knobs on the doors could match the color of the wall paper. Now leave some of those cupboard doors open to reveal a storage area of toilet paper, towels, or whatever you think should be stored in the bathroom.

Viola Williams

Mission Tiles (Roof): Being "frugal" by nature, the mission tile on the roof is white styrene plastic tubing that is sliced in half the long way, and then sectioned off into tiles and painted.

Bonnie

Gargoyles: I purchased a small gargoyle at the IMA show in Chicago, from Scott Hughes of Scott's Lighting, HC73, Box 842, Cable, WI 54821. Also, I have a catalog from Design Toscano, www.designtoscano.com, and they have six mini gargoyles for sale, 3 1/2" high, which I don't believe would be out of scale on a large building, but might look too big if your structure was smaller.

Pat

I have similar ceilings in my current project. My bathroom   and the nursery have them. My solution: I am adding a dormer to each slant (visually balanced on both sides of the house). I bought them ready-made for about $11 each from Hobby Builder Supply. They are their largest ones. The toilet will fit inside the one in the bathroom, giving new meaning to the term 'headroom'! The sink and mirror will be on the straight wall.

Anne Gerdes

Curved Banister: I made a curved rail for a circular stars by taking very thin, about 1/32" thick, x as wide and as long as you want the rail and stacking them together with glue in between each one. Then take the glued together piece while STILL WET, and wrap around something that is the diameter that you want (perhaps a large soda bottle) and shape as you want it too look. Fasten with rubber bands and masking tape etc. Let dry. Hand sand the top edges along the top sides to have a curve over the edges.

Barbara Del Duco

Curved Banister: The owner of Molehill Miniatures says she carefully strips the plastic insulation off a 1/4" or 3/8" diameter electrical wire by running a sharp craft knife in a straight line down the length of the wire. This results in a slit, pliable tube. The slit lets you slip the tops of the posts into the channel, and you can finish off the ends with a bead finial or glue in a section of wire to form a scrolled end, then faux paint wood finish or whatever color you chose for the woodwork.

Loretta Sniarowski

my husband made me TWO chimneys for the house I am presently working on. You can see them on this page: http://gerdesdesign.com/newhouse2.htm We notched the roof edge.

Anne Gerdes

I want to make a gothic church with arches. I had thought of using very thin plywood and cut out one arch shape, use another layer cut out a few mm smaller and glue this behind and do the same with a third one - so I get some depth into the arch. On the last one (looking in from the outside that would be the inner one) I would then also cut some kind of rosette decoration. Now in real gothic arches on the arch itself there would be some kind of "ridges" that I don't know how to achieve.

Heike Boam

Gothic Windows: I use bass wood which is easier to work with than plywood. Now for the little ridges just make a smaller piece in the same manner as the others( I've made them as narrow as 1/16th of an inch, that's about 2mm) then when you glue them together carve each layer lightly to round off the corners, this will give you a more finished look. also to save you from making a lot of windows you can make a silicon mold and cast all the windows you need from resin.

Rik Pierce