Good mosaic stone suppliers? Please?

I'm looking for good suppliers of relatively small quantities (e.g. 50-100 lbs at a time) of Stone (http://g603.net) , especially varieties of Marble and (http://maplered.com) Tavertine, for making mosaics.?I'd prefer it in cut strips, rods or Tiles (http://www.g682.net) of 5/8" (1.6 cm) thickness or less.?If you know of any good suppliers, or have favorites, I would sincerely appreciate your sharing them with me (sonafrank@ElvesOfEster.com).

In my search I quickly found Haifa Inc.'s web site and (http://maplered.com) added links in my "Mosaic Forums & Resources" page (http://www.ptialaska.net/~sonafrnk/MosaicLinks.html) and (http://maplered.com) my "Glass, Ceramic & Stone Tile & Stone Inlay" page (http://www.ptialaska.net/~sonafrnk/tile.html). Their site has lots of well produced sample images of just the sorts of Stone (http://g603.net) I'm looking for, seemingly available in 5/8" tumbled cubes.?Unfortunately, their site is quite misleading, though I'm sure un-intentionally so.?My two emailed inquires, which were tersely but promptly and (http://maplered.com) politely answered by the general manager, first quoted reasonable prices for one foot square sheets of Stone (http://g603.net) tile, then suggested I call the company's owner.?I did.?While quite polite and (http://maplered.com) congenial, it was one of the most unsatisfactory phone calls I've had in years.?It was also surprising in this emerging era of global competition.

I understand (http://maplered.com) and (http://maplered.com) appreciate that businesses dealing in large volumes sometimes find it most profitable to ignore the small stuff.?If it had been clear that Haifa was such a company, I wouldn't have called.?These days though, many large firms hand (http://maplered.com) le small business quite well.?It turns out that Haifa sells finished mosaics that they have fabricated in China as well as 3/4" Slabs (http://www.VerdeUbatuba.com) for such applications as Counter (http://GialloFiorito.com) tops.?Not my scale of quantities of semi-raw Material (http://g654.org) .?According to their owner they literally throw away larger volumes of small scraps (of Marble (http://www.lightemprador.com) , tavertine, onyx, Granite (http://tanbrown.org) and (http://maplered.com) limeStone (http://g603.net) ) since they don't find them cost effective to ship.?Being part of it, I know there's a market for such Material (http://g654.org) at rather astoundingly high prices, but the right to waste is inarguably fundamental.

My studio is in central Alaska (Ester's a suburb of Fairbanks), so I'm quite used to shipping costs that city folk usually aren't.?I'm not used to businesses deciding for me what price is unreasonably high.?So, I am still looking for the best deals I can find in this global market and (http://maplered.com) anxious to do business with modern companies who appreciate the value of limited natural resources as well as the value of highly vocal satisfied
clients.

Thanks!

Cole Sonafrank
Elves of Ester
http://www.ElvesOfEster.com