Kitty Litter Gravel(using the Self-Clumping type):   I think it's great.   I spread some thin glue on my surface, sprinkled the litter and then "spritzed" it with water.   It sets up rock hard.   I've also put it in planter containers, inserted the plants or whatever, and then dribbled in a little water to set it.  Almost instant concrete -- only with texture.   Any self clumping litter will do -- although your cats might be a little confused.

Leigh Hill in Delaware

Flower Tip: Here's a tip for anyone experimenting with flower making: I seal all of my flowers. I coat them with a sealer...usually using a tiny paint brush and matte sealer. Just get a tiny bit of sealer on your brush and barely touch the petals with the tip of the brush.....The paper absorbs the sealer, so there's no reason to actually "brush" it on.  The sealer makes your flowers sturdier and allows you to dust them lightly as they need it.

Sloan

Which technique to use, quilling or tape and wire:  depends on the plant variety you're trying to make.  Some look better in one style than the other.   Sometimes mixing both techniques works best (daffodil:  tape leaves, quill flowers, or tape and wire vines for quill morning glories). Experiment and have fun.  You don't have to invest a huge amount in supplies to get started.  If you already have various shades of green acrylic paint (or one shade of green and some yellow and white to mix your own), masking tape works just as well, and if there's a computer network at your day job, you can probably talk the techs into donating their scrap wire.  Similarly, scrap paper can be cut into quilling widths if you're patient and can cut a straight line.

Loretta Sniarowski

Floral tape: ...may be tinted with Design Master Floral Spray Paint a translucent material thus yellow could become orange.

Becky Holliday

Cotton/rayon grass: For grass, I have found that hand woven cotton or rayon chenille works wonderfully for grass.  It's very drapable & can be over flat or rolling hill areas.  Besides that, chenille is so "touchabIe".  I have several shades of green...or, how about a straw color for the barn area ??

Lili

Moss for side of Pond:   I assume you want to add moss to the side of your pond. The quickest way is to grind USED floral Oasis. I grate it on my cheese grater. It must be floral Oasis to tolerate the liquid. I paint diluted white glue on the surface, sprinkle oasis on the glue and  allow to dry. The resin will absorbed and move up the oasis, changing the color and making some of it appear wet. I also sprinkle some of this around the edge of my pond before I pour the water. When I apply this to rocks or other surfaces above the water line, I antique the item I have mossed with dirty paint water then seal it with a matt varnish.Becky Holliday

Crayola model Magic: http://community.webshots.com/user/katt8003 I just read about suggestions for Rusty's Wizard of OZ poppy field and thought I would type my suggestion and a great hint for anyone who has never used it before. Crayola model magic........wonderful stuff. I use it for Landscaping all the time--it is light weight, it air dries over night, and you can add things to it, paint it, glue it, and plant your wire plant stems in it after it is dry because it is like styrofoam after drying. I also used it as the base of my pond, which can be found on my site in the Pond Album.........I used a large Tomato Juice can cut down and molded the model Magic around it and even on the bottom of the pond part where the water went, I painted the bottom of the pond and then I glued the entire area with green flocks, added the accessories, and then added the water and the boat before the water firmed up.

Kathy in Cedar Springs, Ontario, Canada

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Leaves: You can get wonderful brass leaves from http://www.scalelink.co.uk for laser cut paper, try http://www.marykinloch.com

Lesley, South Africa

Tiny Shells: I saw a brilliant use of tiny shells at the Columbus Ohio show, making "living" souvenirs. Snip a fine fringe of green plastic bag or quilling paper, roll into a tube, and glue inside the shell for instant bromeliad just like the life-scale shell-filled air plants!  Really quick and really cute.

Loretta_Sniarowski

Haunted House Plants: Check out the work of Beverly Gallerani at http://www.miniplants.com -who at my request developed some dead plants for my project and has since added a line of "Haunted Houseplants (tm)" to the amazing 'living' plants she already does. Her dead plants are fabulous and so real (for being dead).

Patricia Paul

Clay Flowers: I use polyclay for certain flowers - roses, iris, orchids, fox gloves, poppy's etc - but I never use it for leaves strangely enough - even the thinnest clay leaf looks clumpy - just my opinion / technique

Lesley, South Africa

Paper punches for flowers and clay shapes: A site for "craft punches" is http://www.alpineimport.com/    they have quite a few manufacturers of the punches used by scrapbookers.  They have some inexpensive punches and several great leaf and nice petal punches. Lots of other neat stuff too.

That being said, there is an internet site http://www.carolinastamp.com/holepunch.htm    that still offers all of the standard dies and the catalog is on the net.  However, they are more expensive--I think $45--and they are quite heavy so shipping to Oz would cost a major fortune.  Check out Oz sources for "ticket punches" and your better office supply stores.

Diane Foster, The Colony TX

Paper for Flowers:   I use large rolls of a thin paper I get at a drafting store. It's thicker than tissue (which I also use) and thinner than most tracing paper, which you can use.  You must paint your papers.  I use Design Masters paint for everything but the leaf paper, and that is only because they don't make the shade green I want.  I buy custom mixed latex wall paint (I'm allergic to latex which is a major reason I've discontinued the kits) and I spray it on the paper with a large paint sprayer using an air compressor. You can use a foam roller for small projects and it won't create such a mess.  I go to Sherwin Williams for my paint.  I even paint the tissue paper.   I know you can get it in colors, but they fade.   Painting is a mess, my garage walls look like a modern art project gone wild.   When using these paints, ALWAYS wear a carbon mask filter rated for the paint, you're asking for serious lung troubles otherwise.

Diane Foster, The Colony TX

Scrub pad vines: Make up three plastic coated throw away plates --1st one with assorted green paints, 2nd one with white Aileen's glue thinned down with a little water.   3rd one with the green foam material we use for making grass, bushes, and other greenery.

Now pull your pad apart into pieces about 6x6"  swish around in the green paint, then lay on waxed paper to dry  (do several batches, as it won't spoil, and you can use it in so many places)  When dry, swish around in the diluted glue until it is pretty well covered. Then roll it around and around in the green foam plate until it is covered and again, let dry on waxed paper.

When completely dry, you can stretch and pull it to make vines as thick or as thin as you want. Apply glue to the surface where you want the vines, and hold just a minute until it stays where you want it. (For this part I change to Bond Gr-r-rip, which is wonderful for all gluing when you want a fast set, and it dries completely clear).

Now you can be as creative as you please by adding roses for a rose vine or climber, or morning glories, or even tiny bits of colored foam to be a whatever flowering vine. These turn out great on a trellis, the side of a house, a gazebo, a fence, or anywhere else you can think of. Try it, You'll like it!!!!!

Jan in Indiana

Yard for a large house:  I am building the Thornhill (48 x 24). What I plan to do is, yes, plywood for the yard, but I don't intend to "attach" the house, but the landscaping will be. That way, the house can be picked up and moved, then the "yard" can be picked up, turned any way it needs to be to get through the doorway. When you get to where you are taking it, place the yard, then the house in place on the yard. You could even have pegs or something at each corner of the house for proper placement and to keep the house from shifting with movement.

Rusty in Ky

Water, water, everywhere!: I have been experimenting with a "new" water by Woodland Scenics.  It is called Realistic Water.  I have made ponds for three or four tree trunks so far and am pleased with the results.

Realistic Water is a one-part product. It is used right from the bottle. No heating or mixing. It is important not to pour more than 1/8 inch at a time.  It will dry in about 24 hours, depending on humidity and temperature.  It can be layered which makes it nice to add greenery or fish at different depths.

It does change the color of paint so you should experiment on what color you put on the bottom of your pond or creek. The bottle does not mention this. I often put in tiny stones, gravel and "moss" and that looks good under the Realistic Water.

I have not tried to get this out of a mold. That might not work. I make rocks and earth for the edge of the pond. I paint and apply the grasses and mosses to look natural. The water usually continues visually off the edge of the base so I use a children's non-hardening clay to make a form to hold the water on the edge of the landscaped plywood base. I pour the water and let it cure. Then I carefully remove the clay, leaving an interesting, clear edge that raises above the landscaped base edge. Does any of this make sense?

There is also a companion product called Water Effects. I have not used this yet. The bottle says it is a heavy-bodied product that is moldable and will hold its shape to create pond ripples, water falls or rapid water. It suggests using a paintbrush or toothbrush to shape the texture of the water.  They say it dries clear in about 24 hours. It sounds great and I am going to give it a try one of these days.

Joyce, Toad Hollow Farm

More on vines...Here's the revision on the vine projects!!!  Buy steel wool available at hardware stores or even Wal Mart ---Outside, pull and stretch pieces to be used, then spray-paint with some cheap green spray paint. When dry, roll into the plastic plate with full strength Aileen's tacky glue (the gold bottle) Now roll it around in the green foam on another plate and place it on some wax paper to dry.  When completely dry, you can pull and stretch it to get it as thick or as thin as you want it.  Then apply to the surface you want covered, and add roses or other flowers....Good Luck!!    

Jan

Lichen. In the spring when the Lichen first start growing and is still soft, we gather a 40 gallon leaf bag full of lichen. We had a large cooking container and filled it almost full of water (gallon) and a pint of glycerin which we purchase at a drug store. We brought it to a boil and added the Lichen plus some light green food dye. Turned it off and let it cool. After it cooled, we took the Lichen out and dried it on newspapers. As it cools in the water, the Lichen absorbs the glycerin which makes it rubbery. Again, we brought to boiling and added a darker green dye. We also did some in tan and added darker colors to get brown and all the shades between. That was in 1976 and I still have a half bag but it's losing some of its rubbery feel. I plan to soften it up again in the future when I set up my trains and build scenery. In Upper Michigan, there were no weeds in the woods, just moss, blue berries, pine trees and Lichen as far as you can see. It's not hard to do, just like dying a "T" shirt.

Dan B

Fill-in greenery:  Just browse the aquarium section of your nearest pet store.   The plastic plants can be made more realistic by cutting up and spritzing with matte acrylic to dull the shine a bit.   Dollar store florals will also yield silk greenery that can be reshaped.   A few weeks ago I found a huge bouquet of plastic Queen Anne's lace at a yard sale for a nickel.   Repainted and sponged, the blooms make great mini azaleas, and the matte-sprayed, trimmed greenery will make perfect scale leaves for anemones and cosmos.

Loretta_Sniarowski