Graphic 45 ~ Fairy Cottage

I purchased this Graphic 45 "Springtime Collection" paper recently to use on a paint can I made for a swap I was in over on the Cricut message board. I love all the Graphic 45 lines, but I think this fairy paper is my favorite, and since I had a little leftover after making my paint can.....I thought I would put it to good use and make this Fairy cottage for my Grandaughter Willow. Willow is ten years old and her favorite thing is "all things fairy" including but not limited to Tinkerbell! It warms my heart that she still has the innocence to "BELIEVE".

So I set out to gather supplies: A Shoebox, Graphic 45 paper, sticky backed Cork paper (for my floor) Hot glue gun, Flowers, beads, some twigs, elephant ear seed pods, acorns, pine cones, birds nests, and a bag of Moss and I started this little project. The base of the Fairy cottage is just a Shoebox turned sideways and glued to it's lid, painted and then decorated. One of my favorite Elements is the Tim holtz bird cage....I made this by printing a picture I found online onto shrinky dinks paper and then cutting it out and heating it with my heat gun. I then blinged it up a little with some misc findings I had laying around to make the hanger.

 I also made the little table and benches.....I used white chipboard, inked it brown, then stamped with my woodgrain rubber stamp, and hot glued twigs on the underside for stability and the little legs. The bowl in the middle of the table is an Acorn top turned upside down with fake berries glued in. My "chandelier" is just a beaded pic I wired to the ceiling.

when Willow was a baby we nicknamed her "Bug" because she was no bigger than a little bug! LOL! And she has collected Lady bugs her whole life because of her nickname.....so of course I had to add a few ladybugs hidden here and there for her.

As you can see......I basically covered the whole roof, back and sides of the cottage with various types of moss, seed pods, pine cones, flowers etc.
I took the Fairy Cottage to Willow this morning and she fell in Love with it! She was so Excited that I had made this just for her! She immediately took it into her room and put it on her dresser.....and then set out to find a seashell to use for a bowl , so she could gather food and supplies to leave in her cottage for tonight when the "fairies" come to visit!
Willow will know they stopped by to visit........because as we all know.....the fairies will take the food and  leave behind a glitter trail that she will find in the morning!
This may not be the greatest most artisistic thing I have ever created with my scrapbook supplies..........but it Is one that I am Most proud of......and one Willow will Cherish for a long time to come!

And as the seasons come and go, here's something you might like to know. There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day. So listen, touch, and look around - in the air and on the ground. And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing. ~Author Unknown