HomeAbout MeMy EtsyTutorialsContact Me

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Shopping Therapy Does Help!!

Hello my dear friends,

I must say it is true when somebody tells you that shopping is a therapy. I felt a bit down a few days ago so I visited a few antique stores with my daughter Ashleigh and I must say, I did feel better afterwards. Maybe it's down to all the neat things and one weird thing I found.





I found this lovely baby dress and the price was just shouting out to me to buy it. It is a bit stiff and has an old dusty smell to it, so I am still deciding if I should wash it or not?? What would you do??


Next in line are some neat old metal buttons. I am thinking of using these as the center of flowers, once I decide on what kind of flower to make.


I also found these three different pieces of cutlery. Not sure what they are really, but that won't stop me making something out of them. Now what that will be ~ no idea yet!!


An old pair of glitzy earrings.


More vintage lace. I really love this lace ~ I used it in my "little pink box".



A bunch of old small brass curtain rings.
 I think they look a little bit like miniature frames, don't you?

And last but not least ...

... the "weird" things!!




These are coffin studs.

Yes, I did say COFFIN! These came from a funeral home that no longer is and they are new and unused! I was taken by their beauty and how delicate they are. They are made from very thin tin. You certainly don't find something like this every day. My daughter was a bit unsure about these because of what they are. I think they are great.

And the best thing of the entire shopping trip was, I didn't spend a lot of money. So it is a win~ win situation for me and that makes me happy. Let me know what you think about my findings!!!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Every Grey Cloud Has A Silver Lining

Hello my dear friends,

I believe there is a reason for everything. This past weekend just proved that this saying is true. I was going to have my garage sale, since it was meant to be sunny with no rain ~ well that didn't happen. I spent all Friday pricing  everything and getting ready to wake up on Saturday morning to see what but RAIN!! I wasn't too annoyed about it because my weekend was very busy without the garage sale so without any delay I packed things away and headed back inside for a coffee (it was only 6.50 am).

I had been having a hard time getting myself to sit down and create anything these last weeks. There was just nothing there inside me and I was getting frustrated about it, so I went into my craft room and decided to pull out an old  make-do project of mine from my primitive days which I never finished and it had been lying around for almost a year now.

It is amazing when all the sudden it's back ... the urge to make something and then everything just almost falls into place.

I had designed a dress form pattern like I said almost a year ago and then just left it ...until now. I had not worked on her because I just couldn't figure out how I wanted the dress form to look like in the end. I couldn't believe how fast I finished her off and for my first piece I think she turned out nicely and it didn't really take much to make this dress form.


I used some muslin, fibrefill, a wooden oval and a larger wooden drawer knob. For the stand I just used one of my antique spools.





I tea-stained the dress form after it was sewn and then added some nails and writing to make her more authentic looking and ...



... she was done!!
 All she needed now was decorating and/or dressing.


Here I only added on old doily and brooch for a very delicate look ...


and in this photo my daughter Caylagh dressed her in one of her antique baby dresses.


I am not really sure now if I like the dress form with or without the antique spool as a stand. Either way I think she looks lovely! As my first attempt she has turned out well but I am now working on a few more of  these dress forms that I had presewn last year. The next thing I have on my to-do list is to do some fine tuning on the pattern and maybe a few changes to give the dress form a different style. I will share them with you once they are finished.

And now you know why every grey cloud has a silver lining ... no garage sale but a lovely new creation instead!!!

I hope you are all well.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

It Might Be Raining Outside, But Not In My Heart

Hello my dear friends,

even though it is raining outside right now the sun is shining in my heart for more than one reason.


Firstly I am very happy because Lisa from Tarnished and Tattered is working on a few new tutorials ~ YAY!! For those that don't know Lisa, drop by her blog and take a look at all her neat creation and her tutorials.

And secondly ...


 ....I am a winner in Liz's giveaway!!!!

The lovely Liz from " Lululiz in Lalaland" in the UK had a wonderful giveaway and I had just talked to her yesterday via e-mail and this morning she let me know I had won!! What a wonderful way to start the day!! Thank you so much Liz!


And this is the beautiful gift I won ~ I am so happy and excited!!


And last but not least ...

... because I have the chance to meet so many lovely people here in blogland I would like to take this post to thank all of you lovely bloggers and followers that have been so kind with their words and so helpful with their advice since I have started Todolwen. You have welcomed me into blogland and made me so very happy. My heart is touched by your kindness ~ thank you!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

My Newest Findings

Hello my dear friends,

despite being very busy the past couple of weeks, the past weekend ended up being great for treasure hunting. I went to a big rummage sale and found a few things:



Isn't this a neat little cup and saucer? and it's PINK!!


And it's so petite and very pretty ...


... and I was lucky because I found 7 of them!


I also found a few new glitzy pieces. I am sure I will find something to do with these broaches.


This is a first for me ~ decks of cards.


And these have little angels/fairies on the back of them.


More crocheting yarn with a little surprise inside one of them. I already know exactly what I am going to use this little piece of half doily for ~ but that will be for one of my future posts.


A few new books, since you can never have too many of them ...


... and this one has such a beautiful cover. I think I will scan it soon properly for you to use.
 (another thing for my to-do list)


Aren't these pressed flowers just lovely??


I just couldn't resist buying this! I love how delicate the dried flowers look.
 It's faded charm appeals to me so much.

I still haven't had the chance to have my own garage sale *sigh*! I am really hoping to have it very soon. My need to 'declutter' is big, and now everything is sitting in boxes waiting until the right time. I am also hoping that I will be able to get into my craft room in the next few days or maybe even this evening?! I am just not sure what to create when I finally do get in there. I sometimes envy some of you lovely creators out there in blogland. I follow your blogs and you would have made the most beautiful creations from one day to the next and I am sitting here not knowing what to do *sighs again*. I will have to wait and see what happens, and if I do manage to come up with anything I'll be sure to share it with you all!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Where Did My Week Go?

Hello my dear friends,

I can't believe it ~ it seems like I have lost a week! It feels like just yesterday I was telling you about my baby girls birthday and now it is already a week later!!! From working in the yard to having a birthday party with 7 girls with all sorts of activities seems to have made me not realise how fast the last week has past. My husband came home for 10 days and there was so much to do. We stripped, cleaned and restained our deck which took 4 days!!(our deck is 320 square feet) Now all I have to do is paint all the spindles in an accent color and it is finished.

My daughter Caylagh had her birthday party with 6 of her girlfriends having a sleepover aswell. We did cupcake decorating and spray painting t-shirts amongst other things. I finally got to bed at about 2 am in the morning to wake up the next day at 8 am again to make breakfast for the girls which was pancakes with fresh strawberries and cream!!


These goodies were part of the cupbake docorating ~ from jelly beans to choclate chips and from purple sugar to mini m&m's.

Unfortunatly I didn't get any creating time for myself at all this past week. I do have a few ideas floating around inside my head but for some reason actually creating something right now is just not happening. It's like there is a link missing between thinking and doing right now and I don't know why and it bothers me a bit. Has anything like this happend to you before? Drop me a line and let me know! I am hoping that this week will be more peaceful for me and that my creative part of me will return slowly.

I hope you are all well.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Time Flies

Hello my dear friends,

it has been such a very busy weekend for me in preparation for my daughter Caylagh's birthday. She was 11 years old on the 13th.


My beautiful baby girl Caylagh 1 hour old on June 13th 2000.


I had my work really cut out with giving her a room makeover as a birthday present. I have been shopping for weeks finding the right things for her and this morning I got everything together and did my "magic".



As a special little gift I decided to make Caylagh a rose pillow from an old summer dress of hers that she had out grown. It can now sit on her new chair. I might try and make another one with old lace or muslin.


And can you believe it she received a vintage piano from my neighbors as a birthday gift!!!! How generous and kind!!!


Caylagh's birthday cake was the way she loves it ~ homemade by my older daughter Ashleigh and me  with lots of strawberries inside and a huge peace sign made from jelly beans (water melon, green apple and strawberry flavors) to top it off. And she really liked it!!

The day was such a wonderful day ~ my baby is growing up ~ how the time flies!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Friday, June 10, 2011

I Tried Something New

Hello my dear friends,

my eldest niece is going to get married this July in Germany and I won't be able to go to her wedding which is very sad. The next best thing I could think of is to make her a wedding card. I would be able to put my heart into it and make it something special.

I wanted this card to be pretty and elegant, not loud or colorful, just very lovely and subtle. I knew straight away how I wanted the card to look.


I picked several pieces of card, all in neutral tones (some textured, some with patterns and some regular) and I also used some vellum to create my card.


I found a vintage wedding picture from the 1920's on the internet which was just perfect! My idea was coming together slowly. I also decided to use crushed white ribbon and half pearls to add the finishing touches to my design.


I think all of the different items I used really compliment each other and this is the finished card...


I used my flower and a butterfly punches for the embellishments.




I added two small butterflies (to represent my niece and her husband to be) and I punched them from vellum and folded the wings a little to make them stand out from the rest of the card.


This is the actual picture.


For the inside I printed this lovely quote:


Two Hearts,
two Lives,
one Dream ...
together Forever.


I hope my niece will like it!

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

I Have A Dream

Hello my dear friends,

I am sure everyone of you has one of these ~ a dream. Mine is a little store just off a main shopping street in our town. It is nothing special, believe me!! I am sure there is no electricity or heating in it. Looking at it, it seems that the back of it has been bricked off some time ago and where the new wall is there is a long crack in the corner all the way down to the floor. I drove down last month again to look at it and it is in a bad state. There isn't even a washroom or a storage room  ~  it really is just one room!

The shop has a front door and a wonderful large window and it's just around the corner of a street called Richmond Row with all neat stores and coffee shops. Right now an old lady uses it to sell over- priced antique and vintage things. You can't even get into the room because everything is just stuffed into it and everything is so dirty and grubby. It makes me sad to see old things just tossed into cardboard boxes and then thrown into a room.

I have a picture in my mind of this shop and how it could look ... I wish I could let you look into my head to see it!! I would have it painted a pale cream color and the floor would be wood. I would have antique furniture to display my creations. I think my favourite part would be the window. I would have the name of my store painted onto a sign and hang it in the window and a small table would display a few items. There would be flowers boxes outside and everything would be bright and pleasant with little pieces of loveliness would be displayed every where inside. (Next time I go there, I will try and take a few pictures of the place.)

Well that's my dream! Reality is that I don't even know if it could be rented in the state it is in. Maybe I will make some inquiries about it, find out who the owner is and maybe even talk to them. You never know, something might come out of it. Maybe if I believe in it my dream might come true one day.

Never stop dreaming my dear friends!!!

Please leave me a comment and tell me what your dreams are!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

New Babyshoe Pincushions

Hello my dear friends,

isn't it lovely what you can do with an old pair of baby shoes? These were my latest find  a few weeks ago. Needless to say I already knew they would become pincushions. What can I say ~ I am addicted to making them!






This time I used the pansies and violets that I had crochet and tea stained a few weeks ago to embellish the shoes. I also added some cotton ribbon that I had thrown into the stain before it finally had to go down the drain and it came out in two colors ~ blue and purple ~ how neat! I hope you enjoy!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.