Kaitlyn’s Kutters

April 25-26, the permanent village of Koroneburg (in Corona, CA) will be turned into our Pirate Village. This is our 5th Annual “Cutthroats of Corona” Golden Age Pyrate Festival. We’ll be open from 11am till 9pm on Saturday and 11am till 6pm on Sunday. The night time faire on Saturday is especially magical. For more information go to: discoverlore.org

I’m back in California. We’re trying to sell the Huntington Beach place – not the best time to be trying to sell. We’ve got Pirate Faire coming up in April. The 25-26 weekend is when Koroneburg becomes a pirate village and I like to make skulls and crossbones, pirate ships and, of course, lots of mermaids… It’s a fun time!

I’m getting together with my son to find out why I can’t seem to upload my pics to the web site. I’ve got some beautiful cookie pictures from Monrovia Bakery – you’ve just got to see them to believe them. The fairy was made with a new design of mine, a kneeling fairy. Then you don’t have to worry about legs breaking off.

The Cookie Cutter Collectors Club is getting ready for their big convention in California in 2010. I’m really excited about it. I missed the 2008 convention in Wisconsin last year and they only have them on even numbered years.

I’ll get back to you with lots of pics.

The beautiful village of Koroneburg opened its gates to visitors, Mother’s Day Weekend and will be open every weekend thru Father’s Day. We will also be open all 3 days of Memorial Weekend. This is our 11th year at the permanent site in Corona, CA and the village has evolved into wonderful and distinctive neighborhoods. Our street is called the Way of the Bells – you can find out why whenever our parades come by. The cottage has grown up too, with a new canopy and new snail vines planted to replace the ones that froze in 2006.

The Arizona move is still going on schedule. It looks like we really will be moving out there by August of this year. But, rest assured, we will still be coming out to the festivals in Corona. It’s a wonderful place to relax and play.

Hope to see you all there. You can get more info at renaissanceinfo.com

January 26, 2008 was the date for the most recent Cookie Cutter Collectors Club meeting. The cookies were phenomenal, as usual. What is even more amazing is that the cookies were as delicious as they were beautiful. The California chapter met to plan for the upcoming National Convention in La Crosse, Wisconsin in June. I’m excited about it, never having been to Wisconsin. And, I’ll get to meet the other tinsmiths who actually still make cookie cutters. According to CCCC members, there are about 20 in the country. I’ve also heard that I’m the only one who makes cutters with pliers, rather than a jig. It will certainly be interesting to see how others practice the craft.

The weather was amazing all the way up the coast for the meeting. I took the 101 instead of the 5 from Orange County to Northern California. The 5 was actually shut down due to snow. A lot of water fell on the 101 and 60 mph winds had trees down on the road between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara on the way back.

We’ve been taking elderberry extract (available at health food stores), and it really makes a difference with colds and flu. Especially if you start taking it the moment you suspect you might be catching something. I’ve given bottles of it to friends and relatives this year and it is getting raves.

We are still moving forward with the move to Arizona. The goal is to be living in Camp Verde, AZ by August of this year. I will have my own office in the new place and my husband will be relieved NOT to have cutter clutter in the rest of the house. I just love soldering and flattening cutters on the kitchen counter and my office will have the counters I need. Please know that I am working on building up my depleted ebay stock. The CCCC members were quite enthusiastic about my unique cutters, and I thank them. Thank you also for the delicious cookies, the art of cookie making and decorating displayed, was truly amazing.

June 17 was the last day of Koroneburg Renaissance Festival. The weather was perfect, the people were wonderful and gnomes started coming out of hiding. It was great to see new people visiting and hear their reactions to our village. There really is nothing like it.

Yes, there really is an organization for collectors. You can check out the website at www.cookiecuttercollectorsclub.com.
I have just joined the California chapter of CCCC and will be going to the chapter meeting, which is being held in Monterey (actually Seaside), California on January 13, 2007. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone. Marty Pemberton, the national president and a wonderful customer, found me on ebay. I’ll post pictures when I get back.

We had a great time at the postponed Galactic Playground. Tom and Patty provided refreshments. Black angus burgers with all the trimmings and great beverages. Even greater were the friends who showed up to play and a few sci-fi fans who seemed to have fun. Dishes were broken – it was a good time. I haven’t built up the courage to put my pic up in my little Jane Jetson getup. We’ll see when the next Galactic attempt is made. I’ll make sure you know about it.

The fun thing about the Galactic fair is that I can display things from the future (or the future as science fiction sees it). So, I can put out cutters shaped like rockets, or shuttles or anything else that says space…

The Enterprise is one of those shapes that just doesn’t work at Renaissance events. As of 11:25 today, it is on ebay. We’ll see what happens.—–

Unfortunately, Tom Wilson was forced to postpone the Galactic Playground indefinitely, due to a lack of interest from vendors. That’s the bad news. Now the good: he is opening the site for free on Sunday, October 8, 2006 to anyone who may be disappointed and wants to come play. Some of us still like to do that. Kaitlyn’s Kutters and Fairapy will be there disguised as “Milky Way Kookie Kutters” and “Flying Saucers”. (thank you Susan and Doormouse) I will be wearing my fun Jane Jetson type outfit. Hubby will be a hitchhiker with his guide and a towel. So put some aluminum foil on your head and come on out to Corona. Refreshments will be served.

San Diego’s Comic-Con was amazing, as always. The “Superman” kutter set (Superman & his logo shape), “Wonderwoman” & logo and Cat Woman all went home with people at the Art Show. I didn’t get to meet them. So did “Batman” (& 2-piece logo). I did meet the darling girl who bought it and asked me to autograph the back of the frame. That was a first. Thank you.
Meeting the people who buy each cutter has always been such a joy. It is something I miss in situations like the con, where I set up my kutter displays and just leave them. But, I did meet a huge number of other people – record crowds! The picture below is just one of the many intersections used by conventioneers.

Well, we survived the 100+ temperatures for the last weekend of Pyrate Faire. At least it wasn’t as humid as the weekend before. Our next stop will be beautiful San Diego, California for the International Comic Convention. There will be fantasy cutters plus some comic and cartoon characters displayed in the Art Show at the Convention Center. I will be setting up the display July 19 and the cutters will be there through Sunday, July 23. In August, we’ll be back in San Diego for the San Diego Renaissance Faire. It’s a fun one if you’re in the area.