Floor plans: I am building a mini replica of an old family home. The house doesn't exist anymore, but I wanted to share where I got the floor plan and specs for this project. I am trying to make it as accurate as possible. The Library of Congress has a web page at http://www.cr. nps. gov/habshaer/

If you are looking for a particular building or a family name, there are many ways to search through this web site. I was very lucky to find photos (taken in 1940) of inside and out of the home as well as detailed floor plans for each floor.

Dorothy

fairy / angel: I found a polymer clay fairy, with very clear instructions, on the following website: http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/pcc/suefairy. html I'm sure you can adapt her to be an angel, and she is just the right size for a baby angel.

Betsie, South Africa

Making Porcelain Dolls: If you want to learn to make porcelain dolls using commercial molds, "Dolls & Miniatures" magazine had a very descriptive article on how to do so in the Winter 98 issue. It tells you what supplies you need, and then takes you from casting the mold to removing and cleaning the greenware, to detailing and firing, then on to polishing it and painting and ends up by showing you how to assemble the finished doll - ready to be dressed & wigged. There are also several other how-to projects in that issue.

You can order it from me, and learn more about it by going to my web page http://www.dollsminiatures. bigstep.com and clicking on "Dolls and Miniatures"

Viola

Arts & Crafts Style: We have a shop in Victoria called Charles Rupert that has been selling wonderful tiles and reproduction wallpaper, small furniture and accessories for many years. They have the best selection of Arts and Crafts movement books that I have ever seen. They also have a very good web site with William Morris, Victorian and Arts and Crafts other reproduction wall papers. Their web site is: http://www.charles-rupert.com/index.html

Jean Day

Civil War Minis: Try Miniature World at www.miniworld.com

Marsha, Newark, CA

Jenny Dahl (April Showers) was a dealer at the show (a first for her) and her cloisonné flowers are really wonderful. These are not dipped, people. She paints the glue mixture on each leaf and petal, and then paints it with acrylics. Unbelievable. I think she will be applying to teach her apple tree at Castine next year.

Jenny's website: http://www.miniflowers.com

Debbie Burville (Montacute Miniatures) was there with her ceramics. I especially admired some Della Robia style fruit bowls.

Debbie's site: http://members. home.net/montacute/

LadyBug (Sue Thwaite) was there in top form, telling her stories and demonstrating techniques and products. Sue's site: http://ladybug-fairies.com

Jean and John Day were there - and Jean is a charming, warm person who is always smiling. Jean's site (her wonderful photo albums are there) is at http://jdayminis.com

Debi Kolenchuk (Embraceables) was there with her friend Linda. It is always good to see her. Debi's site is http://www.embraceables.com

Vicki Horiuchi was there -- the new kid on the block. She brought samples of her work and several wholesalers were very interested. Vicki's site: http://www.SmallerAndBetterThings.com

Jim and Carol Olinger, owners of Country Store Miniatures in Vancouver, Washington. Their site: http://www.CountryStoreMiniatures.com

Pat Boldt Dolls - http://www.patboldtdolls.com

Anne Gerdes

Cigar Boxes: You have a wonderful source for whole houses in a cigar box! I remember a old issue of Nutshell News featuring a club that did these. . . each member did whatever house they wanted to, and created a whole town, in quarter inch scale I see that you don't want to cut the 'good' wooden ones up, creating windows and doors and such. . . but, the old Dutch cabinet dolls houses were of beautiful wood, looked just like furniture, and when opened, showed a second door that did have the windows and doors, as if it were a real house. Perhaps you could do something like that.

Here is Pam Scott's Little Enough News URL. She puts out a newsletter once a month on quarter scale, and has a site with tips and kits and such, plus links to other quarter scale sites. . . At least this might give you some ideas to get you started:

http://members.aol.com/daisy21/pam/index. html

Kaye in LA

Screen windows: Karen’s Minis has some screening, you might want to check her out. I don’t know if her website is up and running yet or not. The Phone number I have for her is: Karen (505-532-0939).

Joni

Sharpening Chisels: Joy had a question on sharpening a set of new chisels. Since there are whole volumes on the subject, I will only touch on the basics here.

The side of the chisel blade that is flat from the tip up to the shaft does not get sharpened. The opposite side, which has a relatively short bevel is the face that gets all the sharpening attention. This bevel usually gets "ground" on a machine grinding wheel. This produces a concave bevel which is far easier to hone or sharpen, because there is far less steel being removed by the honing process.

The bevel has two components; the "toe" and the "heel". The "toe" is the very tip of the working end, the "heel" is the rearmost end of the bevel. Even if the bevel has not been previously ground, the same sharpening principals apply.

Ideally, the stones used would range from moderately coarse to very fine in texture. The idea is to obtain finer and finer "scratch-lines" as the sharpening proceeds.

Use a light lubricant on the stone, I've seen everything from spit to specialized honing fluids used- so you can be creative. ( I personally recommend just a little soapy water) The idea is to "float" the particles of steel from the stone, preventing it from getting clogged.

With the face of the bevel flat on the stone (toe and heel always touching) and both hands on the chisel and out of the way of the business end, attempt to "slice" the stone in a slow steady stroke the full length of the stone. This may take a few minutes of stroking the blade to get it sharp and usable. We take our chisels to 6000 grit and they are shaving sharp.

Use a light lubricant on the stone, I've seen everything from spit to specialized honing fluids used- so you can be creative. ( I personally recommend just a little soapy water) The idea is to "float" the particles of steel from the stone, preventing it from getting clogged.

With the face of the bevel flat on the stone (toe and heel always touching) and both hands on the chisel and out of the way of the business end, attempt to "slice" the stone in a slow steady stroke the full length of the stone. This may take a few minutes of stroking the blade to get it sharp and usable. We take our chisels to 6000 grit and they are shaving sharp.

Brian, Roundwood Studio

Miniature level: Island Crafts makes one. We carry it.

Tom Berkner

Mini Levels: Betty Dann of Designs by Dann sells a mini level that is about 1 1/2" long and about 1/2" high. Works great, especially in quarter scale. I have had one a long time and my club was wanting them, so I know Betty has them. Her email is DesignbyDan@aol.com

Betty in Ky.

Levels: To people are looking for a real level, small, but definitely not a miniature one. Have you tried an RV store. I have one (someplace) that is less then 2 inches and round that I got when traveling.

Dawn Weaver, Belleview, Florida

Levels: There is a small level, the base is a little less than 1 inch in diameter, the bubble is perhaps 1/4 inch in diameter. We used to sell these in a camera store, would assume they are still available. Probably would have to be a large store catering to professional photographers, doubt if small shops would have them, though perhaps they could order them. I have no idea if they are still in business, but you could ask your camera shop to look at the Kalt or Dot Line catalog. As I remember, they were only a couple of dollars.

Dean Jenson

Levels: There is a round/disc bubble level that is perfect for leveling things like tables. About 1-1/2" in diameter.

Then there is a line level, which is used to level cement blocks, etc. , and is about 2 or 3 inches long.

There is a pocket torpedo level, about 4" long, used for leveling pictures on the wall, etc

There are a couple more in the same price ranges - depends on what you want to use them for. . All are available in any decent hardware/tool store. Sears has them, OSH has them, and I would imagine most lumber yards that sell tools have them.

Jeanne, San Anselmo, CA

Gas Station. I haven't done one, but I have created something similar. a maintenance area for a friend who maintained the FedEx vehicles. The best discovery I have found and have shared it with many mini folks is the *chainlink fence*. I bought all sort of things hoping to replicate chainlink since the area that held the hoses, pipes, fan belts, etc were locked up behind this 10ft high fencing. Much of the things, I thought would work, like painting plastic canvas just didn't look right. I came home one day and DH had changed the air filter on the car and the old one was sitting there. just sitting there! The mesh like material looks just like 1/12 chainlink. I have also used it to create fencing for my old neighborhood playground.

Pearl Jordan

"Weldbond". It "dries crystal clear" , just like their label says. It is a thick, tacky, white glue that holds & holds. I have glued paper to wire & plexiglass to wood with it. I paid under $5.00 for 8 oz. at my local hardware store. If you can't find it, E-mail the company at ftross1@resonet.com and they might tell you what kind of store carries it in your area.

Ann Bramlet

Mother's day project: A lot of times I have taken a simple idea of what someone likes most, and built on that. What does your mother like to do? Is she a gardener, a needleworker, a golfer, avid outdoorist, tea drinker? My mom is insistent on grandchildren (married but childless couples here may know what kind of insistence I mean...) so I made her one in miniature.

I followed a very simple pattern (from an old Dollhouse Miniatures project) for a nursery made out of an embroidery hoop, a piece of foam core, lace, paint, some posterboard and some wallpaper I had left over. I added some furniture, tea and cookies, a dog (Chihuahua, model of her current dog) some greenery and a little dressed baby (all in a pink knitted outfit, used one of those anatomically correct dolls -- she even had a little blanket to carry around.

I believe I had dated it using a little needlework sampler. To see what I did, go to http://www.bulback.com/personal/kim and I think it is under "finished projects". I don't think this project took me more than a week and a half totaled to make, so it is relatively quick. It also won first prize at a fair last year, and my mom intends on taking it to others next year, so yes, she likes it and is quite proud of it;).

Kim From Canada

Mother's day project: Just sit down and think about what she likes -- favorite colors, music, pets, fancy cooking or baking (vs. every-day chore cooking), gardening, or any kind of needlework, bingo, or cards? What is she proudest of accomplishing in her life? What do you admire about her most? Does she have any unfulfilled dreams? How many children/grands/great-grands does she have? Once you've "interviewed" yourself and written down some of these ideas, you'll have a list to work from. Then use a few pieces of DIY or ready-made furniture (table and chair, maybe) and add accessories to remind her of the things that mean something special. Examples: Copy and reduce family pictures to frame and hang. Clip, frame and hang pictures if she likes art. Roll some balls of single-strand yarn, put in a basket, stick pins into one for knitting, etc. Also, once you get a list, use Dogpile or Google or another search engine, type in one of your categories (say, she likes Van Gogh -- type in Van Gogh) and see what kind of printables you come up with.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Velvet Curtains: I too wanted velvet curtains for my Victorian drapes. I needed very specific colors though and ended up purchasing silk velvet for the valances, since I couldn't find the antique gold in the less expensive stuff.

Serena Johnson made my drapes - she also supplied the chocolate brown velvet. I wouldn't shy away from velvet if that is what you really want to use.

Kathy in TX

Working Fountain: I went to the railroad shop and bought a pump for a train engine car that blows steam. 12.99. It was recommended and it works! Need to be a bit creative. I drilled a hole, (carefully), through a garden like urn and set within a circular base I found at Hobby Lobby. A real water fountain!

SuLin