Back in the saddle again!

 First I want to thank you all for the best wishes and words of encouragement when I was very much under the weather.  I'm so glad to say I have gotten over the hump and am getting things back to normal.  

Now I would like to show you a little more of the wonderful gift Louise made for my birthday last month.  My new little baby, made by Aleeta Kent from Alberta at Louise's request, has a name!  His name is Pakak.  This is a northern indigenous (Alaskan, Inuit, Eskimo) word which, loosely translated, means "one who gets into everything".  With that cute little face, he just looks like an adorable little imp so it does seem to fit.

Here are some better pictures of the sled itself.  Louise did an amazing job and I will treasure this forever.

This picture below shows the lacing on the side of the sled and the real leather padded seat and back cushion Louise made.  

She included so many details including the textured foot pads on the back of the runners where the sled driver would stand while holding on to the rounded handle at the back.  Isn't it amazing?

I'm such a lucky lady!  Another gift I received was a gift certificate from my son and his family to my friend Liz's miniatures business, Grandpa's Dollhouse.  Using the certificate I ordered two prep tables for future projects I have in mind, plus a few small pieces of jewellery findings which I hope will work for making a couple of 1:24 art deco-style outdoor lights for a project Louise is working on.  I sent Liz a picture of the inspiration we are using for these lights and Liz was able to come up with a couple of globes which should work perfectly.  I think I may have shown you the inspiration picture before but here it is again:

I know I will never be able to get the lamps to look just like this example but it is the art deco feeling we will be going for, not exact replicas.  Here are the tables I purchased from Liz as well as the findings and the globes we will be using for the lamps.  Wish us luck!

The last thing I wanted to show you today is some of the progress on my 1:48 shepherd's hut kit I purchased from Petite Properties.  This has been a lot of fun to put together so far and I look forward to moving ahead with it.  A couple of posts ago I showed you the pieces of the kit as well as the little wall cabinet I had put together from another tiny kit I had purchased at the same time.  I started by cutting very narrow strips of Bristol board, applying them to the floor and painting them with a watered-down burnt umber paint which I immediately wiped off to make it look stained and aged.

 Then I painted and aged the pieces for the inside of the hut as I figured it would be much easier to do this before I put it together.

Next I painted and aged the lamb box that also serves as a crude bed platform inside the hut and started to put the whole thing together.  And look what I found in my "stash"!  After all, the shepherd needs more places to sit inside then just the bed, right?

I was also able to use the little wall cabinet I had made.  It fit perfectly just to the right of the little shelf that came with the kit.  The tiny wood stove on the opposite wall also came with the kit.  I'm loving how this little gem is turning out.

Now I will be moving on to the outside of the hut before I tackle the landscaping of the base for the whole little scene.

I really am enjoying this little scale.  I think everyone should give it a try at least once.  You might be surprised with how easy it really is to do, despite how small it is.

I leave you this week with another of my DH's kitty contributions - because we all need a chuckle now and then,  Until next week, take care and stay safe!  TTFN! - Marilyn