Search Engines: I finally have something I can add to this thread. For search engines try http://www.webplaces.comHarriet Copyright

Online Dollhouse building: For those of you who want to build your dollhouse on the computer, have fun with a game called "The Sims". In it you can build and furnish a house, pick the occupants and their personalities and run their lives. This sounds easier than it is! They need to use the bathroom, go to work, water their plants etc. to be happy! I was really enjoying it until the stress level got to be too high when neglected the baby and the house burned down! But it is fun, and a great responsibility teaching tool for kids! Just like having a "living" dollhouse!

Alice Zinn

Pipe cleaner teddy bear site: Here is the site for the pipe cleaner bears. They are so easy and fun to make. http://www.pipmin.fsnet.co.uk/teddy.html

Wendy in Clinton, NJ

For anyone who has ever been interested in castles, there are wonderful paper models of just about every major castle in Germany, England, Spain and France. These models could be used as patterns for larger ones, if you have the space and the time to do them! Here are a couple of sites to look at: http://www.ExpressPages.com/p/papermodels/This is a U.S. distributor of many types of paper models. http://www.instantdurable.com/VE/indexVE.htmThis is a French paper model company...wonderful models! http://www.moduni.de/ The largest catalog of them all, THE German catalog. I have more bookmarked, so if you have a further interest, you can contact me.

Kaye in L.A.

Needlepoint/petitpoint site, basketweave stitching: Just came across this site http://www.needlepointfun.com/welcome.htm#9a

As well as some charts and kits for dollshouse rugs it also has what seem to me some very interesting tips and comments about doing needlepoint. They advocate doing basketweave stitch the opposite way from the usual way if you are using a frame and "stabbing" rather than sewing, i.e. going from the lower left rather than the upper right.

Since I gather that most silk gauze work is done framed in mat board, do any experienced petipoint stitchers have any comments on this? I have three kits that I am looking forward to doing, including a Janet Granger footstool and a fantastic medieval lurcher of Bobbie Schoonmaker's from my dog loving daughter. I would like to do my best on them.

Wendy in Clinton, NJ

Script error message: For those having trouble with the script error message: If you're using Internet Explorer, go to Tools - Internet Options - the Advanced tab. Under "Browsing", find "Disable script debugging" and check the box next to it. That should make the messages stop.

Christine in SF

Search Engines: Just a little contribution on the search engines discussion. I have not read any reference to a site called "All the web" (www.alltheweb.com), so maybe it is not so popular as AltaVista or yahoo, but it is by far the best engine I've tried besides Google, both at work and for personal use. Fast and accurate. Just wanted to share it in case anybody finds it useful.

Ali from Spain

Fast Surfing / Referencing Small Stuff Information: I'm not the type who's going to take the time to make a reference index for all the wonderful ideas I see in the Small Stuff digest. That would be too daunting a task. But I think I've figured out two different tricks for a fast look-up for any topic that might be of interest to me (or you). The first is my preferred method. 1) I copy the entire newsletter into a Word document I have saved this document as SSCompendium. As each new copy arrives, I copy it and append it to the bottom of this Word document. Each SS is about 80 KB; in a month's time, you'll have a file about 800 KB. You could save it as SSComp4-00 for April, 2000, and then start a new one for the next month, if you want to keep your file sizes modest. Then, when I want to look up any web sites, all I have to do is hit the control key and the letter F, and enter "www" for Word to search for anything that matches it. Word will take me to the first web listing I have in the file in the blink of an eye. I can press the Alt key and hit F simultaneously and go the next www listing, and so on through the entire piece. Let's say you want to look up Fimo, you can type "fimo" in the find and it will take you to the first listing. Or, let's say you read a mention that Robert's site wasfantastic, but the writer didn't include the Web location. You can do a search for Robert and will likely find another mention earlier in the SS digests that gives the URL. It certainly can speed up your look-up, and save a lot of thumbing through old copies, trying to reread old editions, or asking, "Where's that site again?" 2) The alternate search system is to use Outlook to "find" a topic such as what I've listed above, but then you'll have to open each SS and read through it to find the item listed. Not nearly as fast as the above-mentioned way. Hope this is helpful to you all.

George Held

World Of Miniatures: http://worldofminiatures.org Lee Frank has started a web site on miniatures.

Karen

Search Engines: Just a little contribution on the search engines discussion. I have not read any reference to a site called "All the web" http://www.alltheweb.com, so maybe it is not so popular as Altavista or Yahoo, but it is by far the best engine I've tried besides Google, both at work and for personal use. Fast and accurate. Just wanted to share it in case anybody finds it useful.

Ali from Spain

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

Flaming: Anne found this interesting URL: http://songweaver.com/netiquette.html - it basically describes flaming as attacking people on a personal level. It is the difference between disagreeing with someone's opinion and countering it with your own, or attacking the person for having that opinion.

Noella

Inventory for Doll House: A Daunting Job; However I have friends who had to up-date real house inventory. They did it all with a Video Camera. Did not take that long and is fantastic.

One filmed and one talked. went through each room describing the contents as it was pictured. (This painting is by so and so painted in 1765 to 1780 in France.) etc. I believe this would work on a miniature house and contents. Then they had 2 copies of the Video made and placed one in their Safety Deposit Box.

Paddy

Inventory: What I like about using Excel for my inventory is that:

1. I change around things in the house and I can easily change the location on my spreadsheet and

2. I bought some of these things as a dealer after I went into business and they are for sale and are easily removed from the spreadsheet. In fact, it's a good way to sell things as people can see them "in situ".

3. Email your list to a friend or back it up on one of these storage websites. It does no good if the computer gets burnt up with the collection.

Carol

Bidville - free auction site

http://www.bidville.com/listings/index.cfm?category=908

Gail

Dollhouse Inventory: Last week or so, someone on this list mentioned that they had listed their minis on their Excel program. So I thought, "I can do that".

I am starting into my THIRD week. I kept all of my mini purchases in a journal type book forever. Anyhow most of it. The last few years I haven't been so good at it. Anyhow, I have transferred everything in the book and then started what you were talking about: Going from house to house, room to room, roombox to roombox and recording where each of those purchases NOW resides. Auggggghhhhhhhhhh!. One of those projects you wish you hadn't started, but I'm really excited that it's going to be so great to get it on the computer and out of the journal.

I can automatically sort the list any way I want. I have 6 columns. DATE-DESCRIPTION- SELLER-ARTIST-COST-LOCATION. If I want a printout of say everything in the Greystone B&B, I sort the Location column alphabetically, and they're all together. I've also found that one interesting move is to click on total of cost column. You DO NOT want to do that EVER. Heart attack in the making. Anyhow a big Thank You to whoever mentioned using Excel for this. I had been looking for a software program everywhere to make my inventory in. By the way, that's true with a lot of programs I've wanted. I find that somehow I can do the same thing with what's already in the computer. Have fun. And I do hope to finish this project sometime this century.

Fannye in TX

Fannye in TX

Rugs: I am probably the last person to figure this out, but I found a nice way to make a rug last night. I had a leftover piece of cream-colored suede scrapbook paper that I had used for carpeting in one room. I printed a rug from Eileen's printable site onto T-shirt transfer paper. In spite of my doubts, when I ironed the transfer onto the suede paper, it turned out beautifully and has a nice weight to it. Just what I wanted.

Judy

Shopping: For those of you who want to find mini stores in various cities, use the online yellow pages: http://www.yellowpages.com

Just type in the city and state, making sure you have the radius surrounding the city big enough to incorporate the suburbs, and you will not only find the stores listed, but often maps too!

Alice Zinn

Ann in CA

Printers: I thought I would let you know I have had both an HP and an Epson. They are both the better of the printers out there but both have their flaws. The HP feed rollers after about a year to a year and a half (unless they've replaced the rubber/polymer feed rollers) dry out and the rubber hardens which means you must manually feed the paper. You can usually re-hydrate them, but they are never the same once they go. The Epson’s are ink hogs but that is mainly because they use so much more ink than most especially depending on what you are doing with it. My current printer is an Epson Photo 870 it is a 6 color printer with a roll paper adapter. I can print photos or regular printing on draft mode. My suggestion for anyone looking to buy a new printer is to a) make a list of what you want to do with a printer. (High quality photos of miniature work, or general text, web pages or low quality work) b) price limits both on equipment, special papers, and ink cartridges. Then take these and search for reviews, especially on message boards as they are consumers they are more realistic.

Jeanette in Spencerport