Fairy Cottage

I’m so excited, it is our first project together. Your going to love making this cute fairy cottage. SVG Cuts does an amazing job designing these paper houses..

This fairy cottage was created for a special birthday girl. I specifically choose the paper colors and theme with her in mind. I had a lot fun putting this together and hopefully you will too. The finished size is approximately 12" wide x 12" length x 12" tall.

Here is the supply list (of course you can change the color and theme to fit your style).

1. SVG files: Fairy Cottage at SVG Cuts http://www.svgcuts.com
2. Paper (all paper is from bazzill fourz stock with the exception of vellum and graphics 45) www.acherryontop.com for bazzill card stock and www.scrapbook.com for Graphic 45 paper. Once you start cutting the papers, you will easily recognize the names of each cut.

• Vellum (one 8.5” x 11” piece)
• Cinnamon Stick: wood panels; wood 1, 2, 3; base 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; stump panel liner; and roof 1, 2 (12 sheets)
• London Fog: stair treads (1 sheet)
• Raven: trim, chimney panels, door, house (3 sheets)
• Red Rock: window roof trim, roof (2 sheets)
• Truffle: roof panels 1 and 2, window roof panel (2 sheets)
• Graphic 45 Love Notes Collection-lovely lyrics: House 1, stoop panels, turret panels, panel side,, panel back, trim, roof panels (4 sheets)

3. Embossing Folders:

• Waffle cone: that roof panels
• Wood grain: Tim Holts by Sizzix wood panels and steps

4. Embellishments:

• Distressed inks: walnut stain (all brown areas) and barn door (red areas)
• Twigs
• Pumpkins
• Mushrooms (my garden friends available at www.hobbylobby.com)
• Moss
• Bird
• Butterflies
• Baker's twine
• tree stump
• Poly-fil (in the sewing/fabric section of your craft store)
• paper flowers (black and pink)
• String of mini lights (I bought this set at Hobby Lobby, but you can get these on Amazon too)

5. Most important, a die cutting machine like Cricut, Silhouette, Sizzix Eclipz, Brother Scanncut, etc.

6. Adhesive: Scotch tacky glue (to glue the pieces together) and tombow adhesive runner (glue the vellum on the windows).

Now that you got all your supplies, you can now create. Cut your pieces as shown on the Fairy Cottage Menu provided by SVG Cuts when you purchased the files. Go to the SVG Cuts link on supplies list #1 and watch the tutorial on how to put the project together.

Before gluing the panel pieces to this house, I embossed the thatched roof with a diamond shaped embossing pattern and the wood panels around the bottom including the stair treads with a wood grain embossing patter. Then applied distressed ink to these pieces to give it extra dimension. It also looks pretty cool. Here is a picture before I added all my embellishments.

                        

Now for the finale. Decorate the assembled fairy cottage. You can decorate it however you please. But I decorated the fairy cottage with moss, mini pumpkins, mini pine cones, fun mushrooms, a miniature dog, tree stump, twigs, baker's twine, paper flowers, a bird, and butterflies. (All these items can be found in the miniature garden section or the doll house area at Hobby Lobby. Oh yes, and don't forget poly-fil for the smoke coming out of the chimney. You can even rub some black ink on it to give it that smoky color. 

Below are photographs of all sides of the finished project. I didn't really decorate the backside too much since it will not really be seen.

           

                    

I am so excited to see your finished project. Please post them in the comment section of this blog so I oh and awe at them. 

Well we made it through our first project together. I had such a good time. Join me for the next project, a toucan happy birthday greeting card. Hopefully, I can post that by next week.

Ta ta for now,

Christie (aka Bubbalina)

My Favorite Supplies-The Basics

I know your anxiously awaiting for a project tutorial to give you inspiration. However, for those of you new or revisiting paper crafting, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my favorite  basic supplies and where to buy them. For those who are seasoned paper crafters, you may already use these supplies or have your own favorites. Let’s go shopping! Yah!

Paper: We can not move forward with any paper craft without the paper, right? This favorite item of mine is broken down into two categories; card stock and patterned paper.

• Bazzill Fourz: It has a grass cloth texture (linen) and a solid core card stock, so when you cut it, the inside still shows its color (non-solid core you will see white in the core of the sheet). I use this paper for all my paper structures. It is durable and strong and the color palette it endless. I buy my sheets of this paper at www.acherryontop.com. The more you purchase, the price reduces per each sheet.
• The Stamps of Life: I will be mentioning this company quite often. I use this paper for all my greeting cards. Their paper is thick, sturdy and comes in a variety of colors. Their website is www.thestampsoflife.com
• Pattern paper: This one is difficult because there are so many companies who create such beautiful artwork on paper. But, I seem to gravitate to Graphic 45, Authentique and Prima Marketing. I love the vintage feel, bright colors and foil accents. This makes the projects I create pop even more. I usually order these online at www.acherryontop.com or www.scrapbook.com

Stamps and matching dies: This is pretty obvious. The stamps of life...I am a Gold club member, which means I belong to their Die Hard Club and their Card Kit Club. Two times a month I get goodies from them, on the first and the 15th of each month. I love Stephanie Bernard’s designs and enjoy using her stamps and dies for creating greeting cards. You can purchase online at www.thestampsoflife.com

SVG Files: To make cute 3D projects using your die cutting machines (Cricut, etc) is SVG Cuts. Mary Bonk’s designs are super cute and fun. All the projects I have created using her designs are a big hit. You can buy her files at www.svgcuts.com

Stamping ink: Color Box archival ink pads are what I use most with stamping along with an embossing powder and Tim Holts distressed ink for all structures. You can purchase any of these from A Cherry on Top (see website above) or your local Michael’s store (online at www.Michaels.com)

Adhesive: Scotch tacky glue for structures. This is the only glue I have tried that doesn’t warp the structures. Tombow permanent tape runner for greeting cards. You can buy any of these at your local Hobby Lobby store (online at www.hobbylobby.com) or A Cherry on Top (see website above).

Miscellaneous: Copic markers, ribbon, a sturdy glue gun and embellishments are good to have on hand at all times. Each one of the websites above have some or all of these items.

I know this a lot of information, but my next blog will be a project that will use some of these supplies. Also, if you have some favorites, write them in the comments, I will give them a try.

Enjoy shopping, Talk to you soon.

Christie (aka Bubbalina)

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. Before we get started, I would like to introduce myself. 

I am married to a wonderful man for the past 13 years and the mother of 5 children (only one left at home, yah!), work full time as a print consultant (graphic design and consultation for the creation of internal and patient/member facing flyers, brochures, booklets, posters, banners, the list is endless) for a large healthcare company, and I am the biggest paper crafting nerd. That was long winded!

I have also loved (painting, embroidery, needlepoint, etc.) making birthday and Christmas gifts for my family since I was a teenager. So, it was only natural after having my last child that I would start creating greeting cards, the new chapter in my crafting book. This would then lead me to sell my creations online. My eyes opened real wide when I discovered the world of Etsy. Check out my shop at www.bubbalinas.etsy.com 

I opened my shop in 2009, just selling greeting cards using stamps, embossing powder, paper and ribbon.  With the invention of Cricut and Sizzix die cutting machines, I have expanded to creating banners, boxes, tags and 3D type items. I am having a blast!

This summer with the inspiration of my cousin, Alyssa Hunt (check out her blog www.TheLifeHunt.com) decided to create a blog for just paper crafters. I will be sharing my latest projects, the inspiration behind them and best of all the materials used and where to buy them. How fun is that? Again, I am the biggest paper nerd of all. 

Oh yes, I will be posting shortly my favorite things and why. Hopefully, this will help you in your paper crafting journey. One final suggestion...have fun, relax and unwind from your hectic day with one of my projects (you can also have a glass of wine, if it helps).

Enjoy!
Christie (aka bubbalina)