Well I gave up on my fairy garden, after I found out that moomin mama wouldn't need a ladder for cleaning the second story windows. I'm really amazed at nack you've got for this, Purple. Even if I'm not commenting every time, I really enjoy your pictures. Keep 'em coming! For the bricks, you would have to make sure that you use a VERY thin paint if you go by the "shake'n'bake" method. Otherwise, I fear it would run down at the bottom while drying, in a way that would create a small tip on each brick. spray paint would be possible, as long as you keep a good distance to the bricks. Perhaps you could dry them on one of those plates, that little girls use for making pearl plates? -After they have dried you could "effect" paint them with a thin layer of slightly different colour pigment paint (not acrylics) on the sides that face out: put some thin paint on a flat surface (a lid or something) then dip a piece of sponge in the paint, then dap it on a piece of paper to get the worst excess off, and finally dab it onto the brick. You could also use this technique for the burgers. -For the illusion of searing, it's hard to get a brush that is thin enough... even a no 2 could easily make too fat chunks of paint, but perhaps if you take a string of hair, and strech it out between your fingers then dip it in: a: thin paint, and run it along the direction you want the line (still stretched out), or b: use a thicker paint, and remove some of the excess paint on a piece of paper, and run it along where you want the line on your burger (also with the hair still stretched out). Perhaps it could be done with cheese cutting wire, which is a bit thicker. I have yet to see a no 1 brush in an art supply store, but perhaps they would have it in a hobby supply store (I always wonder how people who paint tin soldiers makes those small dots for eyes). VG

Dan, Linda, I am not sure how soon I need to start a new thread like a 2nd thread for this month's swap posts. If you know of when I should do this please let me know. Here is how our swapping is going so far: Serenity_lane_ga (Amy) mails to Sharon first - received then Sharon mails to (Amy) Serenity_lane_ga - received Lorilynngardens mails to Linda first - mailed then Linda mails to Lorrilynngardens Bev mails to Sandra - received Michelle mails to Bev - received Sandra mails to Michelle - received I want to encourage everyone to do a GardenWeb Rate & Review post once you have received your package from your partner. I put a link at the bottom of this post for the GW R&R's page. Some of our members do not yet have a Rate & Review post so this would probably help them with their trading here on GW. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!! :-) Best to you, Sandra Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb Rate & Review

My arguments were not against Bluestar. My reaction was to the claims and to the reasoning/marketing/promo when a poster asked for specific points of comparison between 2 ranges. I won't have an opinion until I test it myself, side by side with the others -- and it will happen early in the summer. I do know is that heat distribution has a lot to do with the configuration of the burner, the number of gas jets and their relationship to pan size. No one mentions the distance between the top of the grate and the surface of the burner or any degree of adjustability on those -- all of which could affect heat distribution as well. Clearly the star shape of the BS burners puts a higher percentage of the underside of a pan in contact with heat than, say a burner with a single ring of jets. For me, sealed/open burners is more of a cleaning issue though it certainly affects the height of the burner. But in theory, if a sealed burner were well configured, the heat distribution should be excellent. As good? Let's see. I've seen Trevor's very admirable videos which come with his conclusions. To be fair, they may be perfectly valid and correct. However, it's undeniable that he has a vested interest in those conclusions. I have no problem with that and I totally applaud and admire his willingness to do objective side-by-side testing of the various ranges in his school where several are available and anything needed can be called in. However, what did come out of the discussion was the issue of the oven as a significant component of the range. Otherwise, we're just talking about rangetops. Meanwhile, I love that all the Bluestar and Wolf folks are coming out for their pianos. Passion is a wonderful quality in life. Your infrared photos are super and movajean's photos yesterday were a hoot. Made me think: more please!

Love the thread. I'm almost 66 years old. My tree is decorated entirely with my grandmother's and my parent's shiny bright ornaments and the ornaments I made in the late 1960s when I was newly married. These were the ornaments that are made on velvet balls, or spun silk balls, decorated with braid, pearls, sequins, little crystals, etc. Each time I decorate my tree it's a wonderful trip down a lifetime of memories. I've always wondered what will happen to my ornaments when I'm no longer "up" for doing the tree. Many of the shiny brights are in the original boxes. Many of them look exactly like the OP -- the ornament with the indenetation that's beautifully decorated. I LOVE these. I'm so glad there are others out there who think the same thing. Igloochic....I really liked your trees.