2019 - Kathy Novak

For a brief bio of this Camper, please CLICK HERE.

2019 - Kitchen in an armoire

I finally finished my Kitchen Cupboard. It is a “collection” of memories of my mom’s and aunt’s kitchens from my younger (after all, I am NOT old!) years. And because they remain very fresh memories, I purposely did not do any aging.

I made the kitchen stove (except for the burners which I found on Etsy) using the parts from the kit that would have been in that spot and covered them with that foam stuff for crafting. While it doesn’t open, it is lit and inside the oven is a batch of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. 

A fresh plate of cookies is on the table next to a pretty accurate replica of my Aunt Hattie's strawberry cookie jar that she had for years and I remember well. BTW, I made the cookie jar from Model Magic rather than Fimo.  My friend, Linda, and I discovered it through our miniature club at the first meeting Linda and I attended. It’s soft, easy to mold, air dries, and is paintable. The project that night was cinnamon buns, and Linda made then in bakery  boxes for tidbits the next year.

I also recreated my Mom’s 1946 Betty Crocker cookbook, a cookie book, and our church cookbook. The pages are blank, but the covers are recognizable to our family.

 Every Christmas, my Aunt expected someone to give her a calendar towel to hang on a door in the kitchen. This one is from 1957. I found it on eBay, photographed it down to scale, and printed it on fabric computer paper.

The sink full of dishes started as a restaurant peanut butter container. I used Triple Thick and microbeads for the dishwater and stuffed dishes & silverware  in while it was setting up. The countertop is needlepoint canvas painted red and glued to the counter. I found chrome detail tape on line for the counter’s edge.

Inside the under-sink curtain are yellow gloves tucked in a pail and ‘50s-era Rinso and bars of soap. Kitchen towels are in the drawers underneath. To the left of the drawer is a mouse enjoying a banana. Left of that is a Kitchenmaid mixer and below that, a potato bin with potatoes from Liz’s table [Liz Dieleman of Grandpa's Dollhouse]. The tall sliding cupboard has cleaning supplies and wine. The cannisters above the sink were spray painted to look like the ones we had when I was about 10. The sign on the left door says, appropriately, “Oh my God, my mother was right about everything!"

All the upper cabinets are lit with LEDs. At Camp, Wayne [Dieleman] raised the base for me to accommodate a battery box that slides underneath and holds 8 AA  batteries to power the cabinet lights. The oven is on a separate coin battery gizmo.  

The backsplash and floor are  individually-laid real ceramic tiles from a site I found online. If you look closely, in front of the “leg” of the table is a doorstop. One of the last gifts my mom gave me before she passed away was a heavy, foot-wide doorstop. I photographed it, reduced it down to a little over an inch, printed several of the pictures on cardstock, cut and glued layers of the houses to give them the same 3-D depth as the original. The “street” in front is also made from Model Magic.

The very toughest and frustrating part for me was the hinges, but I got there. While the table is hinged, it is also glued to never fold up! The separate table at the left was a strawberry jam canning workshop I took at a Tom Bishop show in Chicago in the early ‘90s. 

All together now......

Next — I’m going to finish the 1/2 scale Fairy House from 2018!!! - - but, for me, it’s a witch’s house!

 - Kathy N.

Giftie Exchange September 2020

 Camp Mini Ha Ha 2020 - the theme was supposed to be pirates, the project, a captain's cabin.  Even though covid-19 forced the cancellation of Camp this year, that doesn't mean this crew of scurvy-riddled shipmates wouldn't find a way to get together anyway!!!  

One of the highlights of Camp is our nightly get-togethers where we exchange "Gifties"  Each person brings 5 items which, at retail value, would normally sell for $20 to $25.  Most Gifties are hand made but it is not unheard of for commercial gifts to be provided.  Each of the 5 nights we are at Camp, our names are drawn for a Giftie to take home.  So, we come with 5 Gifties and take 5 different ones home with us.  People are free to follow that year's theme with their Gifties or to come up with something entirely their own.  We all look so forward to our evening exchanges.

With the covid-19 change in plans, a Giftie exchange was organized for what would have been the week of Camp Mini Ha Ha.  Although not everyone was able to take part, those who did were paired up for the exchange which meant only one Giftie each had to be made.  On the Saturday after the originally planned Camp, a Zoom call allowed everyone who wanted to open their gifts together to do so virtually.  These are the results.  Great job everyone!

Carolyn B. managed to get a couple of screen shots of the Zoom call which she has shared with us.  Of the 17 Campers who took part in the exchange, 11 of them were captured on-screen.  Nice pirate hat, Patricia!

So now you can scroll down and see all of the lovely gifties that were exchanged.  

Be sure to click on the pictures if you want to see a larger view.  

Also, anytime you come back to the blog, you will find the pictures by clicking on the label "Giftie exchange Sep 2020" in the label section of the column on the right - always accessible!!  

Exchange pairings:

Shelley A. and Adrian C:

Made by Adrian and received by Shelley - a wonderful stained glass, 3-panel screen

Made by Shelley and received by Adrian - a set of beautiful shelves ready and waiting to display all those wonderful treasures "liberated" by the Captain's crew!

Kelly P. and Lynn M.:

Made by Kelly and received by Lynn - a pirate's treasure!  Don't you love the little details, including the antique map on the inside of the cover?

Made by Lynn and received by Kelly - a fabulous pirate sock monkey, complete with peg leg, eye patch, hook and, of course, a parrot on his shoulder!

Louise McS. and Mary Sue A.:

Made by Louise and received by Mary Sue - something to bring back memories for most of us - a 1970s era portable record player complete with records and, of course, the plastic milk crate to keep them in!

Made by Mary Sue and received by Louise - a pirate navigator's dream - including the compass, hourglass and candle used in ancient navigation, and a chest to hold them in!

Jo-Ann S. and Bridget M.:

Made by Jo-Ann and received by Bridget - a chest perfect for all that pirate booty!

Made by Bridget and received by Jo-Ann - A definite theme has emerged in these wonderful treasures that Bridget made for her Giftie partner, Jo-Ann.  Most of us know of Jo-Ann's love of horses.  Jo-Ann goes on to say that included were some extra bits like horse photos, bookmarks and extra horsey wallpaper.  What a thoughtful giftie to add to Jo-Ann's collection.  Plus, you gotta love the booklet sticking out from the top of the leather-handled book bag:  "Covid-19 legal issues for the horse community".  Great touch!

Myra T. and Kelly P.:

Made by Myra and received by Kelly - a beautiful, nautical carpet to keep those pirate toes cozy!

Made by Kelly and received by Myra  - pirate booty galore!!!  These have been very busy pirates with lots of gold and gems in their treasure chests.  Maybe they'll share some with us???

Audrey M. and Debbie P.:

Made by Audrey and received by Debbie - a beautiful clothes cupboard for a resident fairy!

Made by Debbie and received by Audrey - a hand-woven rug made on Debbie's own little mini loom, a terracotta mini pitcher directly from Portugal, two pieces of hand-turned wood (probably by Debbie's talented husband), and a beautiful tiny hand-painted seashell.  All items any ship's captain would be proud to display in his or her private sanctuary!

Iris S. and Carolyn B.:

Made by Iris and received by Carolyn - a lovely chest overflowing with pirate booty - and, sadly, perhaps the skull of one unfortunate shipmate!

Made by Carolyn and received by Iris - a beautiful needlework casket with petit-point covered lid (30 stitches/inch).  Sides are covered in silk ribbon and trimmed with fine lace and hand-made tassels.  Accessories:  DMC thread box (Mariella Vitale) with different coloured embroidery skeins, circular thread bobbins, miniature knitting using 1 thread of DMC ecru thread and knit on entomology pins for needles, shell pincushion with 32 gauge wire pins. 

Liz D. and Patricia S.:

Made by Liz (and Wayne) and received by Patricia - how wonderful is this?  Patricia told Liz she was planning on a pirate-themed restaurant so Liz provided her with a hostess podium, adult menus, kids' menus/placemats - accessories every great pirate restaurant could ask for!  Of course there is a lovely parrot supervising it all.

Made by Patricia and received by Liz - so, from Captain LaGartija's Galley Restaurant, Patricia gifted Liz with a wonderfully rustic table and sign/picture of the scurvy-riddled, yet adorable, Captain LaGartija.  Make sure you take a close look.

The sign under the table:

Yes - that does say beware of the Smiling Lizard....  Wait for it.......

Did you get it??/?  Yup - that is indeed the face of the smiling LIZ-ard superimposed on the Captain's body.  How cute an idea was this???

Also included were a few scrolls with information every self-respecting pirate needs to know:  how to relocate their treasure and . . . the fact that they are wanted by the authorities - as if they could ever doubt it!!!!  Such a well-thought-out collection!

Brandie P. and Brenda R.:

Made by Brandie and received by Brenda - perfect for the modern pirate to soak up some sun on the poop deck. And, it even folds up so it won't take up too much room below-decks either!

Made by Brenda and received by Brandie - a stylish entry bench with cubbies holding very fashionable accessories.  What mini fashionista could resist that purse and matching boots?? And from the look of the other little accessories - perhaps this is Harry Potter colours?  I believe we see a snitch and also a couple of those flying keys Harry had to fight through to move ahead in his quest?

What wonderful Gifties, all!  Thank you to all who participated and I know we are all anticipating the next giftie exchange which is slated for February 2021.  We'll make sure to have these up for all to see as well!  Thank you everyone!!