Miniature Gifts, Guinea Pigs, and More!

Hi Everyone! I think you all know how much I love guinea pigs, especially my little Rufus, right? Sarah K., aka The Mama Pirate, of sayruhk.com blog knew I did, and she emailed and asked if I could provide a good home for a dollhouse miniature guinea pig. :-) Sarah's downsizing her miniatures collection and has consolidated her blogs. You may have followed her previous blogs, including A Little Dollhouse and The Mama Pirate. You can check out her new blog to see her work on finishing her dollhouse.

It looks like the new guinea pig from Sarah (made by Magda of 1717mk on Etsy) is going to live with Strawberry Shortcake:

Here's a close-up photo of the sweet little guy. Isn't he cute?

The real question is, will he be able to get along with the others? It looks like he might have to throw his weight around to get to the food:

Sarah generously sent some other mini treasures with the precious guinea pig:

The lid comes off of that metal teapot, and the frames will be so useful. The needlepoint rug is gorgeous! Already, the cute teddy bear book, which has pictures inside too, has found its way inside Dad's Dollhouse mouse house:

And all the other cute items will find their spots over time. Thank you so much for your thoughtful gifts, including the sweet guinea pig, Sarah! I really appreciate them. And thank you for following my blog too!

Speaking of guinea pigs, little Rufus was the lucky winner of a blog giveaway hosted by Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola, the three guinea pigs who write the blog posts at Cavy Savvy blog. To celebrate their 300th blog post, they gave away two prizes. Rufus won the second prize, a bag of Oxbow Organic Barley Biscuits, which he loved. Thanks Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola! You're the best, and your blog is so fun! Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola do a lot of product and fresh food reviews, plus they educate humans on how to care for their guinea pigs--nice!

Everything has shut down here in Portland, Oregon since a big snow storm hit us a few days ago. We have at least six inches of snow with a layer of frozen rain on top. I'm so grateful to have greeting card design, miniature making, and blogging to keep me busy while I'm housebound. I hope the rest of you aren't too buried in snow. ;-) I took this photo before we got more snow plus ice--yikes!

Finally, I can hardly wait to show you the handmade Valentine's Day gifts Jane of Minifanticus blog has sent me. You're going to be amazed! I'll show you later this week, but before that, there may be one more post. Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Big Guinea Pig, Mini Guinea Pig Plus Gifts

Here's the latest photo of my little Rufus, the new guinea pig we added to our family. He's in his 6 foot by 3 foot pen, now lined in green tie-dye fleece.

He loves to snuggle and purr and adds so much joy to our lives. My husband says that his front feet look like little stars. Awww!

My friend Pam made a miniature version of Rufus, but try as I might, I can't get a good photo of him. I'll keep trying and show you later. :-)

Look! I received some lovely advent gifts from Irina of Narina Napertaa blog--a total surprise! So many cute, colorful, cheery things that I can use in Cupcake Cottage and elsewhere. Thank you so much, Irina! Your gifts are really beautiful and thoughtful.

Until next time, keep the fun going! xoxo Jennifer

Guinea Pig Love

I didn't realize that when I bought Gino the dollhouse miniature guinea pig from LugArtPetit that I would fall in love with guinea pigs so much. Gino is a real sweetheart:

And so is my little Rufus:

I just got Rufus a couple of weeks ago. He is a year old and the most adorable thing. He trills when he hears the rustling of plastic bags (he thinks it's time for food!). He runs around the huge, luxurious cage my husband built for him. He curls up and sleeps in his little hut and hides in his tunnel. He takes carrots from our hands too!

His pen / cage is near our dining room table, so we can watch his antics while we eat. We laugh and smile so much while we eat together. A big thank you goes to Ines of Liliput Things blog, who answered many questions about guinea pigs before I got him. He's keeping me busy these days, but not too busy, which is good.

I couldn't resist his sweet face!

You see, I've been trying to carve out more time in my schedule for creating. So far, I think Rufus is a little inspiration for me. I hope to show you some new creations soon! xoxo Jennifer