British Style: I would advise anyone interested in recreating British style to seek out the book Suburban Style The British Home 1840-1960 by Helena Barrett and John Phillips ISBN 0-356-14054-7

Helen Cottrell in York, England

The 1950's:I have an incredible book called "Inspiring 1950's Interiors" by C. Eugene Moore (A Schiffer Design Book) available from Amazon.com. It has kitchens, as well as every other room in a house, and boy, does it ever take me back! Basket chairs...sunburst clocks, Danish Modern and, conversely, Early American Maple. And the colors: reds, rust, oranges.

The bathrooms are interesting, very little in the way of 'Pullman' sinks, mostly free standing.

Projects for children: I just purchased a book called Tiny Treasures that is part of the American Girl Library. It has the greatest projects for kids and us big kids too. It is a small book (hard cover, 7in. x 7in. x 1/2in.) but the pages fold out. In the back of the book is a fold out room for them to set up their miniatures in. You could make up kits ahead of time and be all prepared for the visiting grandchildren. My 6 year old grandson is very interested in my miniatures so now I will be prepared for his next visit. I purchased the book from Chapters Online.

Maureen in London, Ontario, Canada

Furniture and Accessories of the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's. Written by Robert W. and Harriett Swedberg. Published by Collector Books, P.O. Box 3009, Paducah, KY 42002-3009. ISBN # 0-89145-332-6 Price US$19.95.

Thorne Rooms - You can purchase the book about the Thorne rooms from the Art Institute of Chicago  http://www.artic.edu/aic/books/subminiature.html

Emily in MD

Food - I bought Meyers Homemade Meals from HBS online a few months ago. It has a lot of easy projects. Most of them call for bread dough, but I use the polymer clay instead. I did finally spring for Sue Heaser's book, though. Boy am I glad I did! Her ideas are fantastic, the directions are easy to follow, and the results are wonderful! I just ordered her book about making miniature people with polymer clay.

Lauren in Baltimore

Books by Colleen Moore: The title is "Colleen Moore's Doll House" by Colleen Moore, photographed by Will Rousseau. It says that it was printed in Japan by Doubleday. There is no ISBN number, but the inner front page says that it is Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79-125881. The original price says $9.95, it's a hard back book with all color photos, and has 96 pages. I got my copy at a used book store last year.

Tere Perry in Texas

Back Issues of Miniature Collector: You can get back issues of magazines from Tom Berkner at Earth and Tree Miniatures http://www.dollhouse-miniatures.com/index.html

Jane

Miniature Collector: Miniature Collector is indeed a good magazine. I just checked my last issue and it is 32.95 for 10 issues (1 year) or 59.95 for 20 issues. You can call 1-800-458-8237 to order (they take MC, Visa, Disc) or send to: Miniature Collector, Scott Publications, 30595 8 Mile Livonia, MI 48152-9905

Sue Helm in Dallas, TX

"Small World" by Tabatha King: Tabatha King's Book is called "Small World". It is definitely not a children's book but it's a very good read. The book is at least 10 years old. The evil, greedy collector is a Mother-in Law named Dolly and the incredible house is a replica of the White House she grew up in when her father was President! Wonder if Tabatha saw the one on tour?

The house is beautifully described as are some of the techniques used by the miniaturist heroine.

Marcie Cumberland

A Reference Guide To Miniature Makers Marks: It sounds like the book that you are looking for is "A Reference Guide To Miniature Makers Marks." Description: Do you have a treasured miniature that you would like to know who it was made by? This reference guide will solve your problem. Price: $65.00. The book is available online from NAME at http://www.miniatures.org/sales/c0003.html This is the direct link to their Merchandise For Sale page. The link for NAME's main page is http://www.miniatures.org/

Tere Perry in Texas

Swedish Magazines: You might try the magazine 'Miniatyr V=E4rlden' - have a look at their website : www.miniatyrvarlden.com

Sara Hansson

Miniature Collector - Winter 1992: I have been successful in obtaining a complete set of Miniature Collectors. In my quest to complete the collection the Winter 1992 issue was illusive to me as well. I have heard back from several contacts who have subscribed since the beginning of time, that there was NO Winter 1992 issue. Several people have checked and confirmed this. This is just an FYI for anyone else who is trying to complete a collection and are pulling out their hair looking for that issue.

Margie Schaffeld

Rocky Mountain Miniature Journal: I don't know anything about the Journal, but do know who to contact about it. I'm sure that it must have been written by the owner of Norms Dollhouse in Denver. Their phone # is 303-290-0049, Email is norms123@aol.com web site is www.normsdollhouse.com. I'm sure someone there can give you more info!

Gabrielle in NC

New Doll Book: For those interested in making, dressing and wigging Polymer clay dolls, I have just been sent a book for review, that I absolutely love. It is called 1/12 Scale Character Figures for your Dolls House, by James Carrington. The instructions are not only clear but detailed, covering every aspect of creating a character, including facial expressions, hands clothes, wigging etc. The photos are also beautiful. I am not certain if Tom Berkner carries the book yet, but you can call the publisher at: 01273 488005. This is in UK) e mail is: pubs@thegmcgroup.com

Mary Kaliski

Texturing Catalog Pictures for Art: Photoshop has some filters that allow one to make a photo look like painting, including watercolor, charcoal, several forms of brush painting, etc. It's one way to go. Also, your idea about the gesso is close, but I'd use something that leaves the brush marks on the print, and is not opaque white...perhaps Elmer's glue, or "Mod Podge" (just a guess there, never used the stuff myself). Also, there is a product by Grumbacher called acrylic texturizer. It comes in a tube, dries crystal clear, and is used to basically do what you were talking about doing. It can also be mixed with acrylic colors.

Dave Pierce

Protection for mini ebook authors/publishers: Everybody who writes mini how-to books and ebooks. I have found the greatest system to protect ALL royalties, prevent piracy and unauthorized pass along copies, while providing excellent service to the reader. This system also works on audio and video files.

I just reformatted all my books. You can see how it works here:

http://joanbramsch.com/books.shtml

Or read more about it here:

http://www.joanbramsch.com/royaltylock.shtml

I know losing control of miniature intellectual property is a real concern for the writers among us.

Joan

Brooke's Books: Brooks latest book    "Golden Christmas" has 26 colored pictures of other room boxes of hers. There is an older book titled "Interior Design in Miniature" written by Anne Day Smith--96 pages of Brooke's room boxes.  Mine is a soft back copy - I don't know is it also available in hardback. The Golden Christmas also by AD Smith is bought from Amazon.com.  The older one I bought at a mini shop.  BTW the bulk of the "Golden" has all the directions for building your own Brooke room box, including patterns.  Both of these books are great.

Elise

How to make & decorate those beautiful old hats: On my web site under Books, Needlework is a book on making miniature hats.

Tom

Books on Food: Quite a few books that qualify, including Meyer's, etc.

Crochet books: Regarding the crochet books - including Dover – you can find a lot of books on crochet and other miniature needlework

Jenny