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Thursday, May 31, 2012

A Little Preview For You


Hello my dear friends,

today I would like to share a little preview of my newest making. I did not design the original piece but I did a 'remake' of it in my own way.

At first I saw a picture of another 'remake' of the original on google and I loved it so much I decided to try to create my own piece.


This is the 'remake'  of the original I saw first. It was made by Cindy at 'Artgirl Island'.


The original design was made by Cynthia Thornton who designs beautiful jewelry. She made the necklace called 'Woodland Wings' which can be found in her book called 'Enchanted Adorments'.



 'Woodland Wings' by Cynthia Thornton ... so enchanting!


And here are my two little 'remakings' of these most beautiful creations ...


... in my own way.


I love how my little 'remakings' have turned out but this is not the final creation I have planned for them, which I am already working on. I will hopefully have it completed very soon.

So, don't forget to stop by in the next few days and visit me again, here at Todolwen!


I hope  you are well and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day,



Karen B. ~ Todolwen

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A Gift To Me Myself and I


Hello my dear friends,

since I have been working very hard on my outdoor project I had decided to gift myself with something little. After looking around I found the perfect treat for 'me', where else would I find it but on Dawn's blog ~ The Feathered Nest ~ in form of one of her beautiful needle books and yesterday it arrived!








A kind and sweet message!


Isn't it just perfect ~ so much detail and beauty!
I am so happy to now own one of Dawn's creations!

I don't gift myself usually with wonderful creations but once in a while I do tend to find something small and very neat that I just have to have. I am sure  most of you know Dawn's creations but if not, then you should definitely pop over to her blog and check out all of her neat makings!!



And last but not least ...


I am still working hard in my backyard. Our pool is going to be opened today and I am so excited ... now I can work outside and then jump in the pool to cool off!

These past few days I have been able to take some time to create a little since the weather has been very hot here in South- Western Ontario. I will share it with you as soon as I have to time to get the post together which should be in a day or two.

I am so glad that you took the time to stop by here at Todolwen and visit me again. Please come back soon and don't stay away too long now!!


I hope you are well and life is treating you kind.


Have a peaceful and creative day,



Karen B.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Very Little Time To Create

Hello my dear friends,

I can't believe I haven't been able to work on Todolwen in over a week again and I also really miss all of you!

I have been so terribly busy these past weeks with my outdoor project that there is almost no time at all to sit down and be creative for Todolwen. I have a few new ideas , one I am trying to work on  a tiny bit every other day and others waiting patiently for their turn to end up on my table which I can only say ~ I hope will be very soon.

On the other hand I am getting a bit closer every day to finishing my outdoor project/challenge and today I would like to share a few pictures with you showing you my progress. It is very hard work and I am determined to do as much as I can on my own but these last few days I only managed no more than 4 or 5 hours a day because of the heat.

Please remember that after we had our pool put in last year it was so late in the summer and I did almost nothing at all to maintain our yard really but just let it go, until now...


... and here are a few before and after pictures again.



What once was a 'weed bed' is once again a ...


 ... flower bed.


The side of my house ~ a mess with weeds and other garden stuff ...


... now again tidy and waiting for the next step.


And the path to the lawn and pool which has more weeds than anything and is missing a few stepping stones ...


... is now all fixed again. (I might have shown you the last two pictures before)

It is taking me much longer than I would like and I can't wait for my challenge to be done and then once again I can donate more of my time to creating and Todolwen.

Don't give up on me when I don't post for a longer time, keep stopping by here at Todolwen to see what I have been up to ~ I love it when you do!


I hope you are well and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B. 

Friday, May 18, 2012

My Mothers Day Gifts

Hello my dear friends,

today I would finally love to share my wonderful gifts with you which I received from my two daughters Ashleigh and Caylagh for Mothers Day. They both were so sweet and thoughtful with their gifts for me and I love them both so much.

This is Ashleighs, my older daughters, gift to me ...



It is a canvas with a picture of my Mom who is not with us anymore since January 1st this year.




It is a copy from the original which is hand colored and so beautiful. I remember as a little girl I was always kissing this photo of my Mom. She was only 17 years old when this was taken.






I love all the details this gift has ... the little white clips ares actually one my old cafe curtain clips from my first appartment.





I love this so much for more than one reason!

And this is my younger daughter Caylagh`s gift to me ...




I love her little letters she writes to me!

But that wasn't all ...


... there were many coupons which were beautifully drawn for all sorts of things ...
bed making, sweeping the floors, washing dishes ... but the best ones are the 'hug coupons', they are really my most favourite!







I love my gifts so much and I hope you have enjoyed them as well. I hope that you had a very wonderful Mothers Day and that your gifts were like mine ... priceless!


I hope you will come and visit me here soon again at Todolwen and until then ...


I hope you are well and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day,



Karen B.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

A 'Tarnished Harmony'



Hello my dear friends,

I was planning to work for hours in my backyard/garden yesterday but it was just too hot. I even got our little sun umbrella out and sat underneith it to keep a bit cooler but in the end I just had to stop and head inside.




 But ... on the other hand this gave me time to finish my latest creation instead. 

After making my 'tarnished get~together' I just had to make another one of them. This time I decided to use pieces that were not as tarnished as the last ones and I also decided mainly on white ribbon, fabric and lace to make a change and it worked out very nicely I think. But I will let you have a look now ... I hope you like what you see and again many pictures to make sure you can see everything.

And here is ...

... a 'tarnished harmony'.

 











 
I am so glad you decided to stop by here at Todolwen and visit me and I hope you have enjoyed my newest creation.

My next post will be about something I didn't make but received for Mothers Day from my daughters. So ... if you have a moment pop by and take a look ... I am sure you are going to love it just like I do!

I hope you are well and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B. 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Slowly Getting There..


Hello my dear friends,

I have been working very hard in my backyard/garden and I think I am slowly but surely getting there. Every day I take a photo before I start and every day I  take one when I finish my work for the day too. Mainly because I always think I haven't done enough work for one day but when I look at the before and after pictures  I normally change my mind in the end.

Today I just wanted to share a new set of before and after photos with you lovely bloggers because I am happy with the way things are going with my outdoor project.


This is the 'before' picture of the side of our house where the stone steps go down towards the lawn and pool ... pretty ugly I know! Because of not having proper plans for the yard until earlier this year everything just went bad and then when I did start, I had that incident with my foot and had to stop for almost 4 weeks which didn't help either.




And this is the after picture ... what an improvement!!



 I can tell you the large stepping stones were so heavy but in the end I took my time and did it! I love it when I give myself a challenge and I work hard and things go well but I am not done yet. I still have so much more work to do.


Last but not least ...


I have also been doing a tiny bit of creating in the evening too. I am hoping to have my newest creation ready to share with you tomorrow or very soon after that so I hope you will stop by and take a look.

It makes me very happy when you stop by here at Todolwen ~ your comments fill my heart with so much warmth and you all inspire me to work harder and create more! Thank you so much!

I hope you are well and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day,



Karen B. ~ Todolwen

Monday, May 14, 2012

Mail From Denmark

Hello my dear friends,

there is nothing like a surprise no matter how old you are ~it is exciting and fun! Last week I received my surprise all the way from Denmark from the sweet Tina (The Tinybear Studio) in the form of a small package. I felt like a little kid again and I couldn't wait to open it up and see what was hiding inside to be discovered!





 Isn't this just beautiful!!!
 Lace doilies given a new life as a delicate banner/bunting with little vintage images of children!





And here it is ...



... my lovely gift from Tina together with my other lovely gifts I have received last year. I would like to thank all of you lovely ladies once again for your very kind gifts.

I know that I haven't been posting very often lately due to being very busy with all sorts of things including our outdoor project but please keep popping by to see what I am getting up too.



I hope you are well and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day,



Karen B.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Happy Mothers Day


Hello my dear friends,

this is just a short wee post in which I just wanted to wish all you Moms, Mothers, Mamas, Muttis, Mums and all others ways it is said in the world ...


... a Happy Mothers Day!!
Bless you all!


And ...

 

... I would like to wish my Mum a very special happy Mothers Day.
I hope that where you are now you are without any worry, pain or fear.
I love and miss you very much!!



I hope you are all well and life is treating you kind.

Have a wonderful day with much love and happiness,



Karen B.