ltd123, I do lots of foam carving and if you don like the mess then you can use a hot knife. It will only work on EPS foam not urethane foam. HereÂs some pics of my foam carving projects: Cartoon Trees Theming for Water Parks - 3D Trees Themed Water Park Attractions - Six Flags 'Ship Wreck Splash' Water Park Carvings - 'Ship Wreck Splash' Artist Carving 3D Foam Ship Wreck For a Themepark Themeing for Water Parks - Six Flags Over Georgia Skull Splash Water Park Props - 'Skull Island' Water Park Attractions - Skull Splash Roof 3D Foam Props for Water Parks - 'SKULL ISLAND' Six Flags Sculptures for Water Parks - Three Dimensional Skull for Six Flags' Themed Waterpark 'SKULL ISLAND' Water Park Theming - Bell Tower for Six Flags Water Park Themeing - Bell Tower Water Park Sculptures - Carving Bell Tower Three Dimensional Signage - Calloway Park Sign Three Dimensional Signs - 3D Sun Carving 3D Water Park Attractions  Mermaid Playground Themeing - Toddler Town Facade House Facade 2 Giant Clog Canoe Theme Park Attractions Theme Parks Exhibits - Cartoon Snake Slide Exit Amusement Park attractions - 3D Pirate 3D Sculpted Pirate Ship Amusement Park Sculptures - Octopus Sign IAAPA Booth IAAPA Themeing - Eel Slide Exit Theme Park Props - 3D Pirate Amusement Park Props - Pirate Head Sculpture Chipmonk Head Sculpture Softplay Corvette Soft Sculptures Playground Sculptures - 3d Shark Faux Marble Sign Tree Houses Tree Bases Robin Cat Relief Carving Skull Chair Movie Prop Moon Relief Sculpture Parrot Window Relief Sculpture Alien Window Relief Carving Picnic Basket Props for Water Parks - Cartoon Birdie Cartoon Bird Foam Sculpture Cartoon Butterfly Professor Window Foam Relief Carving Treasure Chest Window Relief Sculpture Snake Window Flat Carving Alien Robot Flat Sculpture Clay Dragon Maquette Lion Window Low Relief Lion Height Restriction Sign Low Relief Sculpture Snake Head Slide Exit Sculpture Pizza Pooch Head Movie Props - 3D Space Pillars Space Medallion 1 Space Medallion 2 Skunk Softplay Dinosaur Chipmonks Clubhouses for Kids Octopus Slide Exit Dragon Slide Exit

Hey Josh, Thanks for the the tips, but I hope not to be doing much shooting other than quilts, plants & architectural details. I'm still am looking for work (15 months later, thank G_d for Unemployment Insurance extensions) & trying to prevent Quilting from upstaging my job search efforts. So pix will largely have to keep, it's really to be a vehicle for my Quilt Blog, you'll are invited to come on by for a visit & drop thoughts, comments, critiques, etc.; all are welcome -- ("karenthequilter" (no spaces)). I'm trying to start selling my Quilts as folks have been asking me for years if I sell them. I hadn't been interested in doing so 'til now, & have a larger enough body of works to get started. Also I haven't known how to before, am trying to figure this out, so had my friend of Ceropegia fame take some pix so I could start having an online presence (a quilt forum to get feedback) & there's a handmade art site called Etsy where I hope to be posting for sale (my stuff is kind of pricy for there, not sure it'll work; I do more Art Quilts & one of a kind work rather that more traditional type quilts). Hiya Christoula, Yes, I'm in NYC, actually Sheepshead Bay, all the way at the other end of the Coney Island Boardwalk (approx. 3 miles away). You bought your camera in Coney Island? How bizarre, small world, didn't even know it had camera shops; hope you got a receipt. Maybe we can meet on the Boardwalk sometime, say hello & grab a coffee somewhere. What pls. is "shooting in raw"? I've spent some time w/ the manual & have now cleared out sufficient room on my hard drive. Patron St. sent me some freeware editting stuff I still have to check out. As to getting it on the page, I'll confess, going thru Photobucket as intermediary. So far I've shot to the build it-in memory card & the removable one & played back from each to my PC. But I didn't know how to upload to here w/out copying the salient lines of code from Photobucket. Anyway, lots to learn, have just spent my first batteries, got to go buy more & a recharger. Bummer that I've discovered is my built memory card holds 3 pix -- 3???? Whose brilliant idea was that I ask you ...? Hey John, Thanks, nothing wrong w/ dinosaurs, if it ain't broke ... as long as you can take nice pix, I wouldn't hurry. Anyway, sorry to be sort of OT, but I will be shooting more plant pix SOMETIME & besides, it's my thread right, so I can't sort of veer it in a semi-off T direction? We'll blame it on new camera delirium!!

Hi! Welcome to the Hoya Forum. I grow several Hoya Ropes myself. Like the last post suggested they grow best in a small pot with loose soil. I use potting soil and orchid mix 1:1 ratio. Keep them a little on the moist side but not wet! Even putting a bag over them once they are repotted to give extra humidity may help. Hope this helps and I'm sure others will add more advice. But I wanted to try to help before you lose your plant.

The hardback books you're describing at B & N are graphic novels. They're very popular with kids, especially the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and Captain Underpants. Some adults find the Captain Underpants series silly, or downright stupid, but kids like them and more importantly, read them. (In another post someone was talking about their grandsons loving the fart gun they'd just gotten - it's all about the audience!) One good thing about a series, is once the reader is hooked, there's more books to read. Graphic novels are also not as simple as you might think, as you need to read the words and look at the pictures to get the whole idea of what's going on. Roscoe Riley Rules, by Katherine Applegate, is another series which a lot of 3rd graders like. It is NOT a graphic novel series. The books are short and funny. Kenny and the Dragon, by Tony DiTerlizzi, has a storyline which hooks a lot of kids. Here's a link to take a look at the book. I'm not suggesting you buy it, but wanted you to see what the book is about. I'd really suggest instead of putting any money out, that he and his mother go to the public library. They have all the books I mentioned. And the best thing would be to read with him. "Working on his reading over the summer" doesn't mean handing him books, telling him to sit and read, and walking away from him. Read aloud to him, take turns reading aloud. Ask questions that make him think, such as what do you think will happen next? What would you have done differently? Which character do you think you're most like? If you and your grandson don't live near each other,or even if you do, what about you both getting a copy (from the library) of Kenny and His Dragon and talk about it together on the phone every couple nights. Again, making predictions, talking about what you like and don't like, etc. Apologies for writing such a long answer.