Q. How can you sell your items so inexpensively?

A. We here @HOME have joined  with Fortune City.com, where they offer FREE internet hosting.  With no physical overhead, and no expenses that have to go toward rent/mortgage, utilities, taxes or insurance we can pass this savings on to our customers.  Why should you have to pay for something we don't pay for?

Q. The item I ordered doesn't look like the item in the catalog.  It's close but not the same, the invoice lists the right order number Why the difference?

A.  Hand painted and/or hand-crafted items may vary slightly in color and size when compared to photographed samples shown in our catalog.  Figurines, carvings and other hand painted items of porcelain, alabastrite, ceramic, wood, stone, glass, etc., are created by various artists and artisans.  Each brings an individual and personalized talent to his or her work making these products truly one of  a kind collector's items.  Manufacturing design changes occur from time to time. Although we contract for the specific models, designs, etc., as shown in our catalog, we have no control over minor variations, and reserve the right to fulfill orders with the merchandise of equivalent value as received from our suppliers.

Q.  What materials are used in the making of your products?

A.  Alabastrite: @Home's Product line name for poly resin items. Alabastrite is made from oxylite and polystone which forms a stone based material that can be intricately molded and will allow paint to adhere.  Cold-cast. Clean by dusting; do not wash with water as they are painted with water soluble paints.

    Bone China: White clay with bone ash added. Bone ash content must be at least 25% by U. S. guidelines. Fired at 1800 degrees. The translucent material is finished with a glaze or underglaze (matte). Lighter, stronger, more expensive than porcelain.

    Porcelain: Fine ground white clay, molded and fired in an oven for eight hours at 1200 degrees. Finished with a glazed, underglazed, or "bisque" finish. Glazing produces a high gloss; underglaze produces a matte finish. Bisque is a matte finish without glaze. After finishing, the item is "cooked" for six hours at 800 degrees.

    Jade Porcelain: Jade porcelain is a type of porcelain made with a finer clay.  Usually no glaze or only a colorless glaze will be applied at the final firing to show off the very smooth surface and to preserve the translucency. Jade Porcelain is used for night lights because of its high degree of translucency when lit.

    Stoneware: White clay with fine ground stone.  Working with stoneware demands great expertise, and is in fact becoming a lost art. Stoneware is safe to use in microwave and conventional ovens.

    Patchwork: European designer fabric is stretched over Ceramic figurines, then coated with twelve layers of lacquer. Each application of lacquer is hand polished, for a rich shine and an ultra smooth finished texture. The texture of the fabrics can only be seen in the final pieces, not felt, because of the twelve layers of lacquer covering them.

    Cubic Zircon:  The most successful simulated diamond. Properties such as refraction, hardness, and specific gravity are remarkably similar to diamonds. Cubic zirconia are very hard to distinguish from diamonds; sometimes a jewelers loop will be needed to see the difference.

    Diamond: Extremely hard, highly refractive colorless or white crystalline of carbon. Diamonds, like all gemstones, are judged in terms of Carats, or weight (different from Karats, as in gold purity).

    Gold:   The ultimate precious metal. Virtually indestructible, amazingly malleable, doesn't rust or tarnish. Graded by purity; in the U.S. a scale of 24 is used, so 24 Karats (24K) is 100% pure. 18K is 18 parts gold and 6  parts alloy (other metals), and so on. 10K is the legal minimum for Karat graded gold. The word  "Plumb" indicates the exact purity of the piece.

    Gemstones:   Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, often treasured as birthstones. Gemstones are priced and graded by Carat weight.

    Pearl:  Smooth, lustrous, variously colored round gemstone originally formed as a deposit around a grain of sand in the shells of certain shellfish. Pearls may be formed naturally or "Cultured" through an artificial implanting process.

    Sterling Silver:  To qualify as "sterling" a given piece must be composed of a least 92.5% pure silver.

    Hong Tze: Items are created using a special stone found in China, and known for its deep red color.  The stone is pulverized, mixed with a binding agent and molded, much like alabastrite. Hong Tze pieces are highly polished, further               bringing out the intense deep red of the stone.

    Frosted Acrylic: Acrylic items are given the French Lilac process, (used on glass), to achieve the distinctive frosted look. The drama of frosted glass without the weight.

    Gypsum:   Gypsum is made for a white mineral which is usually used to make Plaster of Paris.

    Dolomite:   Usually gray, pink, or white mineral, essentially used as a construction and ceramic material, a furnace refractory, and infertilizer. A magnesia rich sedimentary rock resembling limestone.