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The NAME Kitchen Work Table Event
October 2011

Quarter Scale
(1 inch = 48 inches)

Once again, NAME, the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts, had an event where members in the US and other countries worked together on the same day in October to make a kitchen work center, available in three scales. I belong to a quarter scale group, the Quarter Connection, which offered a kit for an entire quarter scale roombox to go with the work center.

I like the clean, crisp look of black and white, and the bright sheen and crisp taste of apples. It might be a bit much in my own house, but this tiny little kitchen which is only 4 inches wide allowed me to indulge myself.

Although not designed for a particular season, it does have a seasonal element here because of the (removable) turkey on the table.

The wooden window with deep sills has a vague either snowy or white blossom covered tree branch showing outside so as not to tie the setting to a specific season. I moved the window over a Christmas card until I got the look I wanted, cut out the piece and then covered it with plastic before gluing the window on top.

The plates were part of a packet of purchased cane slices. The herb pots were quarter swap plants. In case you wonder, I designated these rosemary and parsley. lol

The apple wreath is very thin wire painted black. I never throw away a tiny piece of wire; I usually wind it around the nearest little round object and keep it until I need it for a wreath or some other purpose.

I made the apples and the greenery was in my stash.

The window itself was a laser wood scrapbooking piece that I ordered after seeing it mentioned by Alice Zinn in the CAMP online group. I ordered three sizes; this was the smallest. I had to cut away the peaked top and sand it to fit.

I would forget to water any plant that is on top of the refrigerator, so that's why this one is a cactus! The metal coffee pot was a gift from Janet Smith; I painted it with metallic pens. The plate at the back is a printie.

I made the biscuit dough, board and roller. The bowl is a finding painted with a green metallic pen. These are all extras that I made for a quarter scale swap some years ago.

The decorative casserole dish on the left bottom shelf and the red striped bowl on the shelf above are beads, as are the tall glasses. The copper tart pan is a finding painted with a copper pen.

Here's a good closeup of the turkey. I ordered this one from someone whose name escapes me at the moment; I also have one in my stash that I ordered from Laura Miller that I plan to use in another setting. (She has taken her shop down for the moment.)

The towel is made from one ply of a piece of thin paper cocktail napkin. The tiny black striped bowl is a bead and the checkered edge plate is another cane slice. The silver vase on the bottom shelf is an actual tiny vase that I had in my stash. The books are cookbooks.

I decided to leave off the knobs for the two drawers. They just looked too obtrusive.

This is the right side of the roombox. The apple clock and poster are printies. The face of the clock is given dimension with a drop of Triple Thick Gloss Glaze.

I just noticed that I have knocked off the knobs on the oven hood! I also lost some kitchen tools that I had hanging over the stove because I glued them in place too early in the process. They were laser pieces from Debbie Young but incredibly tiny and delicate. I need to remember to add these tiny things only after EVERYTHING is finished.

The dried apple wreath was a swap gift. Aesthetically, it might have been more pleasing hanging lower on the wall, but then it would have been in the way when the oven door is opened!

It was so hard to get a good picture of the stove top. The olive oil and wine bottles, along with a salt shaker and pepper grinder and a spoon, are glued atop a sequin tray. The red and green chilies were a swap; the bowl is a tiny shallow bead or button.

The iron skillet and stew pan from Debbie Young were painted with felt pens while they were still on the sprue. They are really neat little pots and pans. Unfortunately, I lost the wonderful little teakettle that was part of the set. I think I inhaled it or coughed it into infinity. lol

These chairs and table are BPF, for Brown Plastic Furniture, painted with gloss white paint for a shabby chic look. I wanted the table legs to look like white iron and finished the table top to look like the top of the work table, although it looks a bit lighter here.

The cups and saucers are so miniscule that I was scared to death I would lose them like the tea kettle before I got them glued in place, which was quite fiddly to do with my hands the way they are right now. They, the apple plates and the apple teapot were purchased at the Chicago Bishop International, and they look really good in real life. The little plate of goodies in the center is not very visible here; it was a swap from some years ago.

The cushions are also made from another cocktail napkin, this one with a paisley design. I found one spot that worked for the seat and cut it out from the folded napkin. I used all the plies here for a cushiony effect.

This is a flour canister that sits on the counter top. I had a sugar and coffee canister, as well, but they proved to be too much for this small space. My theory is that they now reside underneath the kitchen island. lol

NOTES:

I assembled and wallpapered the box and added a wood paper floor and made the NAME work table on 2011's NAME National Day along with others who were working on the NAME work table and kitchen. Next I put together and stained all the cabinet pieces, and planned to use them that way until I happened on a picture of a real life kitchen that I really liked which had a black and white tiled floor. That photograph and other black and white kitchens I had seen became the impetus for my 2011 NAME kitchen theme.

So, I made a checkered floor and installed it atop the previous wood floor and also painted all my previously stained wooden pieces black.

Unfortunately, I have difficulty cutting things these days and had problems using my craft knife to cut out the opening for the sink in the tile. I messed it up with an off-kelter slice, which made that section of tiles look like a right triangle! 

In disgust I put the white tile countertop piece aside and looked again at the kitchen pictures and printies I had saved and decided that I would use a smaller version of the black and white tile printie as my countertop; sort of a Mackenzie-Childs-ish look.  I fiddled and fuddled with my graphics program and printer and finally came up with an acceptable size for my countertop. I made a backsplash and trim for the front and covered all the pieces with clear adhesive plastic so they would have the shiny tile look.

When I set my sink in place in the roombox, all I could see was CLASH.  It was just too much with that floor; multiple MC may work for some people but in this scale, it did not work for me! I also discovered that I did not like the look of the wooden strip with my new sink and decided to change it to a wallpaper border design, as well.

What you see above is the counter before the stove top was added.

This little stovetop was part of the Quarter Connection NAME kitchen kit. I used a fine-tipped felt marker to paint the burners.

I printed out another wood floor, which proved to be much more appropriate with that rather loud tiled black and white countertop, and glued it over the checkered floor, which had already been glued atop the original wood floor that I did back on the National NAME Day in October! 

Grumbling to myself, I picked up the original white tile counter piece with the intention of saving it for SOMETHING later on and decided to break off the scored edge of the messed up part.  Lo and behold, the proverbial light bulb went off.  Why in the world didn't I think about just scoring and cutting off the end next to the refrigerator, which would make it a lot easier to cut out the other three sides, then glue it in place afterwards?  After all -  that's what tile IS; pieces glued together. Heck, I thought, I could always set a cutting board there or drape a dish towel to cover the glued line.  And that's when it hit me - I could've done that NOW to cover the messed up slice and still HAVE the white countertop and my checkered floor, too! But by that time I had a checkered countertop and a wood floor ....

It was one of those moments when I looked around sheepishly, glad that no one was in the room with me as I said out loud, Good grief, Wanna!   Well, actually, this happens to me all the time in twelfth scale; why should it be any different in quarter? 

Anyway, from this painful experience I have learned that if I need to cut out a sink or other such opening in future I will score and cut away one end or one side and cut the other three sides and then piece it back together, come what may. 

On the other hand, I figure after all this that if my original kitchen image needed to prevail, it would have, and have concluded that this is the way it was supposed to be anyhow - black and white and with apples! 

...

I still need to add the lighting and glue on the frame. Hopefully, I will get that done before too long.

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