Organizing Part 3: by Connie Sauve
Now, let's get started on your organizing! The hardest part to organizing is getting started. It can be overwhelming. Most people make the mistake of starting, getting overwhelmed by not knowing what to start with and finally giving up. The whole key to getting organized is to make lists - very detailed lists, by breaking down the tasks into small manageable jobs. It's a great feeling (for some of us) to be able to cross off a task when finished and slowly step by step you'll be done in no time!

Here's a list of steps to get you started:

1. Decide how your going to break down your collection (i.e. by project, by room, by similar artisan, etc.) and write up the list of your = projects for use later. This will give you an idea of how many inventory forms you will need to copy and also how many tabs you will need to buy.

2. Get your notebook set up. Obtain a 3-ring binder and as many tabs as you will need ( I have about 48 - I heard that WOW from the peanut gallery!). Use the tabs that can be customized with those little paper inserts. Label the tabs with your project names.

3. Get inventory sheets copied and titled with the appropriate project.Another good tip is to take a picture of each room or project and mount it to the tabbed dividers in your binder.

4. Start by either gathering all your minis and taking them one at a time and writing down all the information you know about each item. Or for finished projects, go project by project, room by room (in a dollhouse) and write down each item in the room. Again write down all the information you know about each item. Either look up receipts or go by memory and guess all the information listed on the inventory form. You can either write it directly onto the form (pencil only) or on scratch paper first and transfer the information to the form when completed. I have mine listed in chronological order for each project, by date when I purchased them. Easy to keep up since I started this when I first started mini collecting in 1979 ( I was in high school - do the math).

Take your time. Your probably not going to get this done in a day or even a week unless you don't have many minis (is that possible?). Set goals for yourself, like "today (or this week) I'm going to record the items in my dollhouse's living room."

When doing your inventory it's a perfect time to go through and get rid of unwanted items. Make sure you also write down your closetful of unfinished kits too. You could even start a list of your unfinished kits (I'll bet you'll be surprised at how many you have), then when you need = a new project to work on you'll know what you have available. I keep all my kits in a box so they're all in one place.

Happy Organizing!

Quick tip: (Not mini related but it's been such a great help). I seem to be always taping shows on TV. I number (in pen) my tapes on the paper label on each tape. If it's a 6 hour tape I number the label 1-6, one for each hour. If it's an 8 hour tape I number those 1-8, one for each hour. Then when I tape something, I write the name (in pencil only) of the show under the "hour" where it's been taped. Example: 1. Friends / Will and Grace (1/2 hour shows) 2. and 3. Casablanca 4. Antique Roadshow, etc. Then you know about how much time you need to rewind or forward to find a certain show.

Connie Sauve

Organizing minis: I have developed a system similar to Connie's with a three ring binder with tab dividers. Each project has its own section and I have developed four forms to use. Since it is a binder, I can use as many of each form as needed for each project, small and large, electrified or not. All pages have a line at the top to identify the project.

1. First page is for "Notes." It has lines to note date project started and ended, then is basically a page of blank lines for notes. This is where the project can be fleshed out.
2. second page is for "Components". It has two columns of lines to use to list components needed to complete the project. "Let's see, I'm making a Mother's Day dome, so I'll need a dome, table, chair, tablecloth, flowers, vase, etc." This is a kind of shopping list, too. Handy, because I get confused at shows and shops and forget what I need for what!
3. Third page is for "Inventory". Here is where I list date acquired, description, dealer (or artist), and price.
4. Lastly, I have a "Wiring" page. The first half has lines for notes, the bottom half is blank for a diagram.
Now, I have only just developed this system, so I haven't really test-driven it yet! I used to use a recipe box with different colored cards for accessories, structures, furniture, etc. That works well, too, and I'll probably use that for 'homeless' items that won't be a part of the project book. Now, all this is well and good, but will I use it...?

Lynette in WNC

Inventory Records: I keep a miniature inventory on Excel. I have kept it in a notebook until this year, when someone on this list suggested Excel. I have columns for all of the things you describe. One feature I love about having it on Excel: I can click on ARTIST and it arranges everything on the list alphabetically with the artist's name. Or I click on a project as in Greystone Inn, and it again groups everything that is in this project. You can then click on the cost and it will total each project. This is the only column I DO NOT LEAVE on all the time. For obvious reasons!!! No one cares but me. But...........it tends to make you queasy! I took 3 weeks to transfer everything from the book to the computer, but now that's it done it will be easy to keep up.

Fannye in TX

Hundreds of mini links sorted into precise categories for "speedy" surfing
http://members.tripod.com/Kalron/

Karolyn (Plymouth Ma)

Internet Abbreviations: The "DH" abbreviation for "dear husband" or "darling husband" -- along with many other similar abbreviations -- did not originate with dollhouse enthusiasts. They were first brought into use, along with emoticons, when instant messaging and chat rooms became a part of the Internet because many new internet/computer users were VERY novice typists, and abbreviations were much quicker and easier to type. Some of the most commonly used online abbreviations are:
DD - darling (or dear) daughter
DS - darling (or dear) son
MIL - mother-in-law
SIL - sister-in-law OR son-in-law (confusing; have to figure it out by the context of the note)
GD & GS - granddaughter & grandson
TTYL - talk to you later
TTYT - talk to you tomorrow
TIA - thanks in advance (often used in postings to mailing lists where info is being requested, thanking all who reply in advance)
LOL - laughing out loud
LMAO - laughing my ass off
ROFLMAO - rolling on the floor laughing my ass off
The list goes on and on, people coming up with new ones all the time.

Maggie

Doing searches on the web: Searching the web for unusual items can be very rewarding. There are many search engines, and each has its advantages and its biases. However, there are also search engines that search the other search engines, so you get it all in one deal. For years I used www.dogpile.com as my search engine, until I read of google. Yes, google. To get to google click on http://www.google.com and there you are. What I like about google is it seems to sense which 15th century looms I am interested in, in order yet, or what companies are best at helping order a wheelchair, etc. Google is highly rated by the computer magazines that I read, and I think I first learned of it here, not sure. So, when you have a question about something, try google and see what happens. Any subject, any time.

Barb Jones

Scanner: I have an HP ScanJet at home; however, I removed it as Adobe would cause Windows 98 to freeze intermittently. I put my pictures on my web page and/or PhotoPoint by:

a) my digital camera

- or-

b) have my pictures developed on a disc. Makes it so easy to call them up.

When I really need something scanned I use the one at work.

Marsha, Newark, CA

Scanner: I recently bought an HP scanner and it came with software and instructions. Get out your scanners, hook them up, install the software, and just go to town! The best teacher is experience, and YOU can do this! I used to be more intimidated by technology, then it occurred to me.... what's the worst thing that can happen? Don't worry about your things being perfect on your first try... experiment. Most scanners come with some sort of imaging package for trimming, improving the picture quality, saving to your hard drive, etc. Just play around a little until you start to get the hang of how it works. I started with pics of my kids...before long, I had gotten the hang of the darn thing.

Sloan

Scanner: For an excellent scanning tutorial go to:

http://www.scantips.com/

Barbara B.

General Protection Fault Error: I believe you were the one that asked what a “General Protection Fault” error meant. This error usually happens when a program has corrupted your RAM (Random Access Memory) resources. The key word here is “resources”, not the actual RAM. When this happens close everything down (programs), then shut your computer down the normal way. After you shut down wait a few seconds and then reboot. This should take care of your problem. It’s irritating, but at least can be fixed, which is not true of all MS Windows 98 problems.

Lynn (Arkansas)

JPG cruncher, web sites: I'm a little late posting because I have been working on my site. I would recommend the Homestead sites. Very easy to do, free, and none of those annoying pop up ads. Also, recently they had a link to http://www.spinwave.com/dem/ which has a free downloadable program to easily "crunch" jpg files. Doing so has really speeded up my site. The pictures download much faster and I think the quality is ok but since my vision is so bad I would appreciate it if some of you would look at it and let me know what you think. Also, please let me know if you want to be added to my LINKS page.

Marie in San Jose, Ca

How to save bookmarks in case your system crashes:

For Internet Explorer: Within Internet Explorer, click on "File" in the upper left corner and scroll down to "Import and Export" and click on it. A window will open up that says "Welcome to Import and Export Wizard", click on the word "Next". The next screen will ask you to choose whether to import or export etc., click on "Export Favorites" which will highlight it and then click on "Next". Another screen will open and will say "Export Favorite Source Folder". At this point you could export (save to the hard drive) any one folder or all the folders in your browser's "Favorite" file. In this case we are going to "export or save" the entire "favorites file" and you will see the directory of "Favorite" highlighted. If it is nothighlighted then click on it once and highlight it.

With the directory "Favorites" highlighted, click on "Next". The next window will say "Export Favorites Destination". There will be two little buttons to check, but only the last one should be usable. It will say "Export a file or address". It will allow you to choose where to place the favorites file. Windows will choose for you: C:\My Documents\bookmark.htm You can change it to another file but I suggest you leave it as is. Click "Next". A window will then tell you that you have "CompletedImport/Export Wizard" and all you have to do is click "Finish". A tiny will appear indicating "You Have SuccessfullyExportedFavorites". Click "OK" and your are done.

To find this file, "bookmarks.htm", go the Windows Exporer and look for the Directory "My Documents" and double click on it. You will need to look for the file "bookmarks.htm" All you need to do is double click this .htm document and a list of all your bookmarks will be brought up. Save the file to disk too in case of future system problems.

For Netscape: The process is a bit easier and faster in Netscape. Open Netscape and click on "Bookmarks". Scroll down to and click on "ManageBookmarks". A bookmarks window will open and you need to click on "File" in the upper left corner. Scroll down to "Export Bookmarks" and click on it. A "Save" window will open. Next to the "Save" button a file name has been filled in called, again, "bookmarks.htm", just like in Exporer. Click on "Save" Go to Windows Explorer. You need the directory of Netscape, it may be under the "Programs" directory. Double click on "Netscape" and look for "bookmarks.htm". Double click it to open and view bookmarks. You can save to disk or cd also for safety sack. From this point it works much the same and Explorer.

NOTE: If the file already exists in Netscape or Explorer, Windows will ask you if you want to replace the existing file with the new one and you just say yes. This will enable you on a regular basis to update this file with your latest bookmarks

Darlene/Somerset, NJ

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

Saving Files to Disk: Do you know where the folders are which have your saved mail? If not, you can do a Find Search. This will tell you where your folders are. Once you find your folders, you can drag them to your desktop. Once you see the Icon for your Zip Disk, you simply have to drop the mail folder icon on the Zip Disk icon and it will copy all your e-mail. I too have Outlook Express 5 which I believe Noella indicated you have. In the future, it'll be easier if you save each digest to the Zip disk. You can do "Save as" for each Digest saving it to your desktop. Then all you need to do, is copy it to a Zip disk.

Dee in MA

Printables: Do you have an inkjet printer? If so, try Presentation Paper by Great White. It's acid-free, a little heavier than regular bond,and has a special coating. The copies are very crisp and clear. Someone on the digest recommended it a while back and I've been using it ever since. It isn't the cheapest paper on the market, but I save up projects and print as many as I can on a page. Then I usually glue each piece to cardstock using a stick-type scrapbooking glue. When dry, I give it a couple of coats of ModPodge. I had trouble with some other finishes smearing the ink.....but that may have been due to my impatience in waiting for the ink to dry. As for fading.....time will tell, but I keep copies of everything I print and if they fade during my lifetime, I can re-do them :o}}} Watch the glue you use. Regular stick glue may yellow or cause other problems over time. I believe serious scrapbookers have developed glues that are also archival.

Jude in ND

Decorating Ideas: Dolores from Illinois wrote:  I have a beautiful San Francisco dollhouse that my husband just finished.  It's already for decorating.  The sad part is that we live in Illinois.

If you have questions about types of furnishings appropriate for a particular period like Victorian (or anything else you can possibly think of), the best thing you can do for yourself is to learn to make good use of all the Search Engines available to all of us lucky people with Internet access.  For example: I went to my favorite SE, http://www.google.com/   clicked on the "Images" tab at the top, and typed in Victorian furniture.  The result was 2,160 images (on many pages) of rooms and individual pieces of furniture.   You can click on any image and be taken to the site where that image originated.  A week later (joke), after you have explored all the images and sites, you should have all the knowledge and ideas you need to furnish your San Francisco house.

I think search engines are one of the MOST valuable resources we have.  I use google at least once a day for something or other.

Bobbie Schoonmaker

painting Chrysnbon: Certain of the Chrysnbon sets are made with a different type of styrene than the paper packaged dish sets for four and the chamber set. The white dishes that are plain and come with wine glasses have the slippery surface as are the cake stand candlesticks.

There are a few ways to deal with this. One is to lay down a base coat colour (if you want a mottled, marbled affect in the background) and just keep dabbing until the paint dries enough to stick. Then you can paint flowers or what ever with no problem on top.

Another way is to spray a thin layer of gesso onto the pieces. Has to be the spray on kind. I guess there's something in the aerosol can that helps to melt the surface of the plastic so it can grab? This method is one of hit and miss though.

Third way is to get some ultra fine, wet/dry sandpaper and give the surface a very light sanding under water.

On my web page http://www.embraceables.com/accessories.htm , Chelsea 4 and Lilac Time 2 show the troublesome pieces painted along side the more cooperative ones.

Debi in Quesnel

aging brass: Here's a website that carries a antiquing chemical, http://www.rufkahrs.com/hardw4/darken1.html but I bet a local store would carry something like this.

Also, there is a website that has a different method http://www.hgtv.com/HGTV/project/0,1158,DEID_project_4668,FF.html that may work even better yet!

June