My Secret Garden for Aurora Wings

I can hardly believe it's our 50th challenge at Aurora Wings and I've been there since the beginning.  Well, time certainly flies when you're having fun and I have enjoyed every minute.  Our new theme is My Secret Garden and I've made a (rather large) wall hanging using the gorgeous new(ish) Lady Blossom available HERE on Etsy and HERE on AW.com.  Believe it or not, I actually chose my Copic colors prior to choosing my DP.  Gotta love that K&Company.  The gorgeous hand dyed crinkle ribbon is from DL.Art.

I was particularly thrilled with the theme of My Secret Garden.  It brought me back to my childhood where I lived across the street from my grade school and part of the playground was an incline wooded area left to nature.  I loved to play there, especially during school breaks, imagining fairies, elves and trolls living among the plants and in tree hollows.  I was particularly fond of the wild Jack in The Pulpit plants, thinking they were great places for magical creatures to live and hide and even dug some up to replant in my own Secret Garden behind my playhouse.  I still remember a little song about them, suggesting that they were actually little men themselves.  OMG, I can't believe I found it.  You can actually listen to it HERE, but I digress...

  
What I'm really getting at here is my Secret Garden lived (and still lives) in my imagination.  In the closeup of my project you can get a better peek at some of the magical creatures who live among the gorgeous flowers of the mind.  All are colored with Copics.

The garden gates are die cuts by Heartfelt Creations that I've used over and over.  The lock is a resin embellie from Melissa Frances.  Of course the garden is enchanted.  How sad if it were not.

Tucked among the flowers is Hydrangea Fairy 2, available HERE on Etsy and HERE on AW.com.  I printed a portion of Lady Blossom's floral crown to color and fussy cut to make a pocket for her.  She's also colored with Copics, but in slightly less vibrant shades so she could blend into her surroundings.

Finally, whispering in Lady Blossom's ear is a Pixie, available HERE on Etsy and HERE on AW.com.  She's fussy cut and popped because at only 1 1/2 inches tall, she really got lost in her surroundings.  She holds the key to the Secret Garden and reminds Lady Blossom she can unlock the gate wherever and whenever she wants to.  The more often the better, I'd say.

Well, I sort of got a bit carried away here, but it's easy when entering the magical fantasy world of Aurora Wings.  Be sure to scoot off to the Challenge Blog to see the lovely inspiration from my Aurora Teamies.  Hope to see you join us in My Secret Garden and also on the FB Group page where the May Contest is in full swing.  If you're not already a member of the Group, please ask to join.  (I happen to know there might be a party coming up very soon... shhh!!)

Here's how to keep up with what's happening at Aurora Wings.

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop (newly revamped!)

Aurora Wings FB Group

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the DL.Art May Linky challenge, Crafts Galore Encore May AG, Classic Design Team Open May #14, TTRCD May 9-15 AG, Craft-Dee BowZ May AG w/Handmade Bow, Create and Inspire #62 AG/optional Flowers, Crafty Calendar May Flowers, World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #22 AG, the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge(choose 3 of the 5, blue, purple and pink), the Corrosive Challenge May AG, Allsorts Week 415 Ring a ring O'Roses, Crafting-With-Friends #43 AG, Morgan's Art World#9 AG, A Perfect Time to Craft May AG, Crafts and Me May AG, Your Scrapbook Place May AG, Crafty Purple Frog May Fabulously Floral, Creatalicious AG, Crafting With Dragonflies #80 Lots of Flowers and/or Mother's Day, the Corrosive Challenge 5 May AG and Fussy and Fancy Friday #187 Pink Pearls and Posies.