Birthday Surprise

Hi everyone,

I have been very busy with a project over the past couple of months. My eldest son is an avid D&D gamer and commissioned me to make scenery for his miniature models. Well my mind went into overdrive. You may recall I made a fairy house a while back which was a big hit with everyone who saw it. I thought why not make a multi-tiered scene.

I adore trees especially old ones because, as I have said before, they have witnessed the passing of time and generations. How I wish I could pick their brains and find out what they have learned over their lifetime. Also, I love Lord of the Rings and was inspired by Lothlorien, a beautiful woodland valley where the Elves live in harmony with nature. The thought of living amongst majestic trees with the spiralling staircases and bridges linking the different levels, just got me thinking. I could use wood from my garden. We just trimmed our trees and I had some awesome branches drying out for such an occasion like this.

After many sleepless nights thinking about how I was going to do this, I finally came up with a plan. It involved card from empty cat food boxes, clay, paper mache, twigs, leaves, sawdust from my sons wood work projects and last but not least fairy lights, thanks to Christmas. As usual my husband bless him helped me with the foundations, then left me to it. The whole project took just over two months to complete. I have to say I was happy with the end result.

I learned a lot from this experience, for instance, do not agree to do anything like this for my eldest son again as I now have a long list of projects to do for him. Moreover, under no circumstances use tacky spray glue to secure artificial grass, made from sawdust, as it will never dry. Also, a glue gun deserves more respect otherwise you end up burning a hole in your hand. Lessons learned time to move on….

Ok folks enough of my rattling on, here are the stages of development. I have to say the pictures do not do it justice, but, oh well I presented it to him for his birthday present. He was overwhelmed with happiness. His face was priceless when I switched the lights on…. Will they ever grow up?
 
Much love
Samira 😊

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