2014 - Marilyn Driscoll

For a brief bio of this Camper CLICK HERE

2014 - Lamp base project

This was my first year at Camp and the first time I ever made a room box.  We were provided with the wooden parts that formed the outside structure of the lamp base and Wayne Dieleman instructed us on how to put it together.  While those pieces were clamped and drying, we started on the insert to the base.  We were provided with gator board for the bottom and the back of a room, with the intent that you could view the interior from the top, front and both sides.

Of course, even though I had never made anything like this before, I had already decided I wanted a side wall because I was making a corner in a New Orleans loft.  Wayne made an additional wall for me (2 actually because I had an angled piece as well), and I was off to the races.

I had brought with me a print out of a balcony view looking over a New Orleans street and was determined to have French doors leading out to a balcony.  I wanted the walls to be brick or stone and I found a wonderful textured brick wallpaper on Liz Dieleman's sales table.  I think it worked perfectly.  After installing the angled wall and applying the brick wallpaper, I also installed a textured linen wallpaper to the one short wall and started laying coffee stirrers for the wood floor, which I later sanded, stained and sealed.

I had also brought a brass,  smiling demon or gargoyle-like face that I wanted to hang over the top of the doors.  To do that, the door opening had to be smaller than your standard commercially available doors.  I still remember Iris [Sutherland], who knew I was brand new to minis, pointing this out to me and I said it was okay because I would make my own doors.  She did look rather skeptical, knowing I had no skill sets yet at all but, since I was too stupid to know I shouldn't have been able to do it at my level, I just jumped in and did it anyway.  In the end, it all worked out great!

After installing the picture to look like a balcony, I did my best to make the balcony floor in the picture run into the balcony floor on my room box.  The colour could have been better but it's not too bad.

Here are the infamous doors in progress.  I made a wooden door frame so I could pin-hinge the doors and I used 3 layers of mat board for the actual doors, then I glued a narrow strip of card stock around the edge of the doors to hide the layers.

The finished product is full of lots of little things provided as "tidbits" from the other Campers - the Mardi Gras masks were from a few different Campers, I remember the little drink on the side table was courtesy of Liz, and the Ferraro Rocher chocolates were made by Rhondalynn Clements from Prince Edward Island.  I wish I could remember who made the voodoo doll because he is one of my favourites.  Perhaps another Camper could help me out and remind me who made it?

I learned how to wire the lights and also added a hidden light in the balcony area.  Being brand new to this world of miniatures, I learned so many new skills at just this one Camp - - and ate WAY too much chocolate!

I do remember, and will be forever grateful for, all the advice I got from my seatmates - Linda Schubring and Roberta Emms, who were very helpful whenever I had a question.  All in all, I had the best time and the lamp is still one of my favourite projects.  Here it is in its finished form: