Sculpture in Progress: Kathy wanted to know what to use to make a female sculpture appear it was in progress. You might use some kind of Sculpey to build up around the statue. Most likely you would need it to be rough-hewn, which you could do by cutting chunks away from the outside with your exacto knife. Then you could paint it to match the sculpture (or paint both with the same paint and then add streaks to marbelize.) HOWEVER, no matter what you do, this effect is not going to appear realistic, because sculptors don't finish just sections at a time. You would never have a perfectly finished torso or half of the body sticking out of the chunk of rock. Sculptors roughly cut out the whole figure and then work on it. It would look more realistic to have it sitting in a studio with a tarp partially over it and lots of marble chips and flakes on the floor around the bottom.

Paulette in IN

Sculpture in Progress: [ The surrounding block of "marble" needs to be a material that can have small "chisel" marks. Do you have any suggestions as to what material I should use and how to do this? Kathy ]

I think you are in luck. Fimo has new colors they call granite. White with black flecks would give you what you want. I have worked in marble (not my favorite medium) Be sure you have the piece in progress sitting on a pillow of sand. (Absorbs the shock of the tools.) There should also be chips on the floor and around the piece.

Laurie Sisson

A good place for bicycles: As my BW and I were looking thru the toy area of our local Kmart, we found a set of bicycles in the toy section that seemed to be about 1"=1' scale. I based this on the fact my bicycle was rated as a 24" bike. The "toys" I saw were very close to that scale. I think they would work with anyone who wanted a 'bike in their display. There was even a "Bike Shop" set that had a lot of bike pieces that could be used in many ways for a room box

Dave Brazelton

Keeping the cats away:
1. Encase the house in Plexiglas and put house on a stand that cats can't get up on to get up on top of the house.
2. A run to keep the cats in while you are not at home
3. Spray the house with a "bad" odor (which to felines is usually citrus)
4. Keep everything in your very own room, under lock and key (keeps out the
yahoos who need to "find something" or to "store something, you have enough room in there") and you control who goes in or out.
5. Distract kitty. Buy cat furniture, liberally spray cat nip on them, and
show the cats how much better it is to sleep on and scratch their own stuff
(keep the cat's nails clipped, it reduces the need to rip into things)
Some of the ideas are less feasible than others. I think the Plexiglas solution would work best if you have room for it, but I would combine that with the distraction of the cat furniture. Mine used to go fiercely after furniture until we started buying cat furniture, and they exclusively sharpen on their stuff now, not mine. The fur on the shingles may be as simple as a hot day and excessive shed hair floating about, cat hair seems to go everywhere.

Kim From Canada

Keeping cats off: I would like to offer my suggestion for keeping cats off your dollhouse. My cat will not jump on anything that has an irregular surface or edge, so I lay crumpled newspaper on top of it. She cannot see to get her "footing" to jump and so stays off. It is lightweight and so won't damage anything, and if you're worried about ink transfer, maybe try crumpled white paper instead. When I don't need the paper it's easy enough to push the paper away (for me, it usually goes under the nearest armchair that has a skirt on the bottom to hide it.)

Sandra

Keeping Cats off: I have been told cats can leap to the top of a refrigerator from a stand-still. A Plexiglas cover would be very expensive, but plastic sheeting is not and it comes in many thicknesses or plys (plies??). It will keep the dust off the shingles also and I wonder if the slippery plastic would prevent them from clinging to get as good grip.

Only you cat owners can say for sure if their claws would poke right through the plastic.. You can remove the plastic when you plan to show your house(s) off cuz the plastic sure does not pass any interior design criteria.

Jeanette in Wisconsin

Keeping Cats off: Jeanette suggested using a plastic sheet over a dollhouse to keep the kitties off. Might work if the cats have been declawed, otherwise, the plastic sheet will also become a toy. They might do more damage to the dh by dragging the sheet around then simply sleeping on the roof.

Molly

Decals in foreign languages. If you can use your printer you can make them yourself! Go to a language translation website such as http://www.babelfish.comto translate (if you don't know how to say 'flour' etc. in German) then type in whatever font and size you want and print out on decal paper available in WalMart, Staples etc.

Alice Zinn

German Groceries: The German word for "cookie" is a little tricky. I lived in Austria for almost a year, and it seems you don't see the word "cookie" often, but usually the recipe name, like "Lebkuchen" or "Pfeffernusse". The two words I have seen used are "Platzchen" (with the umlaut--or two dots--over the "a") and "keks". I found "Platzchen" in my German cookbook and think that it is probably the "high German" word, so don't know how many regions use it. Could be kind of like trying to use the English word "biscuit" to refer to American cookies. I would use "keks". I remember when I was learning German that "keks" sounds like "cakes" but means "cookies", while "kuchen" sounds like "cookies" but means "cakes"! Sauerkraut IS the German word for sauerkraut! Means sour cabbage. Pickles are Gurken. Check http://www.germandeli.com for more.

Lynette in WNC

Charitable Donations: It is much better to give the item you want to donate to charity to an organization and let them raffle it off. In that way they have a much better chance of making more than you would probably sell it for! Make sure to get a receipt for whatever price you could have sold it for so you can deduct it as a charitable donation.

Alice Zinn

Padded Hanger: You will need some pipecleaner, thicker rather than thin. A piece of gold or black wire, about 1" long and some satiny fabric. I used bathing suit fabric which was stretchy, it made this a bit easier. First coat the back of a piece of the fabric about 1" x 2" with tacky glue. Let dry. Cut a piece of pipe cleaner 1 1/2" long. Lay the pipe cleaner on the fabric, lengthwise. Cover the pipe cleaner with the fabric using Fabritac glue, sparingly. Fold over and tuck in the ends as you go.

Let dry. Slightly curve the fabric covered pipe cleaner. Bend the piece of gold or black wire into a hook shape with a slight extension at the bottom of the hook. Use an awl to make a hole in the center top of the fabric on the pipe cleaner. Glue the hook in the hole!

Alice Zinn

Microbrush: Very very fine plastic applicators with a minute bit of fuzz on the ends. Ends taper into a needle point. 10 applicators in pkg. for $1.49. Handles are dead ringers for 1/2 scale bed posts.. They have a web site: http://www.microbrush.com I haven't used them yet, but did open the package and finger one. Neat thing! I think they'll work just fine. Washable too if used with washable stuff.

Judie

Styrofoam cups: The tops to a lot of glue bottles (Tacky comes to mind) look a bit like Styrofoam cups when you sit them on their closed ends.

Janet in Baltimore

Bottle Caps: plenty of ways to use bottled drink caps. They make good planters; different flavors are different colors so you can coordinate them to room decor and to the type of plant. Glue one to the top of the wire cage used to secure champagne corks for a tall planter. Painted white, their grooved sides they look like the classic Corning casserole or soufflé dishes, so they make good containers for Fimo food. Find a clear plastic shank button that fits across the top for a lid, glue bead feet on the bottom, a sequin and bead control, and you have a mini crock pot. Many people also use them as the base for cakes, frosting with spackle and adding Fimo frosting flowers; you can also spackle and insert a sequin confetti "Happy Birthday" or "Congratulations" standing up on top. A bunch of them glued together and stood on end would copy the stacks of tubing others use to store brushes, mini lumber, etc., if you wanted to do a mini workshop. Start saving those caps and more uses will come to you!

Loretta Sniarowski

Bottle Caps: Take a pair of thin tweezers, and slip out <carefully> those little round inserts they put in the covers. They make marvelous picnic dishes. And I'm wondering if you couldn't paint and decoupage them for platters, being they are on a bit of the larger size. other then that ..make cakes. Put them on a platter... get some good puff paint, and go to town.. they are perfect cake size.

Beth in NH

Balloons: Clear, pearlized nail polish applied to the plastic balloons used on cakes will make a very realistic balloon. I clean the seams of the molded plastic with an emery board. I also replace the wire with a string. You can make wonderful patterns with your string by dipping it into Porcelain Dip then shape it as desired. This also works well with kites you wish to fly.

Becky

Commissions: To the person asking about commissions, I can think of several points which might help. Firstly, this is probably pretty obvious but make sure you have seen samples of their work first. Choose someone whose work you already know and are happy with. Any commission is likely to be of a similar quality, don't expect it to be any better. Be very specific about what you want. If it's an item of furniture for example agree the size, finish, type of wood etc. and provide photos and measurements of the full size item if possible. I don't usually accept commissions unless I have sufficient information to make something reasonably accurately and if I don't have sufficient information I make it clear that a lot of it will be guess work. Ask for samples of finishes. If I'm not sure what color someone wants something I always offer to provide samples of different finishes, and I would think most makers would do the same. I don't ask for a deposit, although some people insist on giving me one. I take the view that if someone changes their mind then someone else will buy it anyway, and no one has ever changed their mind. That's just me though and I suppose a deposit of around 20% would be reasonable, with the rest payable on completion. Most makers will probably require payment in full before sending the item. One way round this is to pick it up at a fair if that's convenient so you can see it before paying. If you're really not happy with something then don't be afraid to say. I will always give a refund if someone really isn't happy with something, and most people like to keep their customers happy. Be prepared to wait and don't try to pressure someone into giving you an earlier date. Most makers work from home, on their own, sometimes in their spare time and are very busy, so bear in mind dates are likely to be approximate, but do ask to be kept informed if it's likely to take much longer. You shouldn't be kept waiting for ages without a reason.

Colin Bird

Turntables: Consider the larger turntables by Rubbermaid, sold in better household supply stores such as Linens & Things or Bed, Bath & Beyond. They are built to hold weight. I've also used the turntables sold in hardware stores in the kitchen cabinet section. I cut the lip (if there is one) off the turntable with a hot knife. I usually use Contact cement to attach it to a wood platform. This platform is the base, topped with Velcro for my miniature set. The miniature set has Velcro on the bottom.

Becky

Backyard items: How about a sandbox with a canvas cover to keep the sun of the children, a swing set a small tree house, a small, inflatable pool with toys. There was a How-To, in Nutshell News, for the sandbox & swing.

Linda B

Sculpture in Progress: Kathy might want to use casting plaster, perhaps a small milk carton or a smaller cardboard container lined with waxed paper, a tiny screwdriver such as comes in eyeglass repair kits could be used for the chisel marks and there are several painting techniques that simulate marble.

Olegator