Back To 'My Basics' ..

Hello my dear friends,

I am going back to basics .. 'my basics' for my newest creation.

 My basics are a piece of lovely fabric, bit and pieces of lace and seam binding, a little sparkles and a bit of tarnished. Then I do my little magic and turn my basics into a new making Can you maybe guess what I might have created? Sure you can!... At times there is nothing nicer for me to do than to create a new pincushion.

I had bought some fabric dye some time last year in the color pearl grey and tried it out on some seam binding and some old lace. It sure is funny how different things take to the dye. They both turned out a little purplish color and not really a true grey and they weren't even the same shade neither but still very nice. 

For the base I chose an old tarnished and very well used little heart shaped backing form. It must be many years old and just looks so appealing to me. Oh, how I love old things ... (sigh). The pincushion itself I made from a beautiful piece of grey velvet that was one of my buys on one of my previous visits to Michigan.

Of course every creation has it's final touch and for this one it was a small piece of sparkle in the form of a vintage earring that was perfect in every way and completed this new pincushion.

And this is it, my newest pincushion ...

... 'A Heart Of Grey'.

Again I just love the way this creation has come together ... shades of grey that just hug each other,
the old tatty metal heart form and seam binding also favorites of mine. What more do you need in a creation other than all pieces that belong together?!

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you have enjoyed your visit. It would be so nice if you come back from time to time and see what I have been up to, here at Todolwen.

'

'Grow Your Blog' 

Don't forget that if you wish to read my post just click on the button above. It will take you there right away and you can also enter my giveaway on this post only!

I hope you are well my dear friends and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Grow Your Blog 2015 ..

Hello my dear friends,

welcome to all of you, old and new to Todolwen and welcome to 'Grow Your Blog' 2015 which is an amazing event had is hosted by my lovely friend Vicki from ...  '2 Bags Full''.

For all of you that haven't visited me before, I am Karen B. of Todolwen.

I started to blog 4 years ago after I met a few very lovely ladies in Blogland in 2011, and ever since then I have been taken in by it.

My blog is Todolwen which is an anagram that I created when I was looking for a name for my blog. It was made up from the words 'old to new' because that is what I love to do; take old tattered, tarnished, broken and unwanted pieces and give them a new life.

I just love being creative ...

... and this is where I do most of my creating.

These photographs were taken last year for the event ...'Where Bloggers Create'. 

And these are only some of my past creations and there are many more ...

As I already said ... I LOVE to create!

I also love to share my ideas and how to make them with others and that is why right now I have 23 free tutorials which you can find on my tutorial page and a few more in my Etsy store.

You might have seen one or two of them on Pinterest ...

... like my Hymn Page Feather, which is my most viewed tutorial ...

... or my little Flutter~By ...

... or my seam binding roses ...  just to mention a few.

One of the nicest things someone has ever said to me is that I inspire them ~ I was so touched and it meant so much to me to know that my creations have an impact on people.

I have many passions and a few of them include my family, anything old, and Todolwen.

I have always been making things ever since I can remember and as my husband would say, I am a ' Jack of all trades'. That is a saying they used in the army (I am the wife of a retired soldier of 24 years). It basically means you can do a lot of different things.

 I love restoring antique furniture, photography and I also sew, knit, crochet, quilt, paint in large or small scale and so much more. I thrive on making new treasures from things I find in second hand stores or garage sales and I always am on the lookout. I always want to learn something new. Years ago I actually used to teach classes and enjoyed it very much when I was an army wife but unfortunately I haven't done so in a long time, and thus I have my tutorial page instead. You will find it by going to the top of my blog and by clicking on the button 'Tutorials' which will then take you there and I am sure there is something little for everyone.

Since this event is all about having fun I am having a little giveaway!

It is so nice to see others being creative and that is why I will be giving away a pattern of your choice that are listed in my Etsy shop to three of you lovelies.

These are the patterns you could choose from ...

 ... there is my millinery head tutorial, my velveteen rabbit tutorial, my scissor pouch tutorial or finally my newest one, my music sheet poinsettia tutorial. 

All you have to do is to leave a comment on this post to enter your name and include which pattern you would choose and why you picked it ... I would just like to know! Please don't forget one thing: ... Make sure you are not a 'no~reply blogger and you have an e-mail address that I can get in contact with you if you are one of the winners. (So check your settings!)

I will announce the winners here on Todolwen on Feb. 15th.

And now please take a look around Todolwen and see what you can discover.

Thank you so much for visiting me here, and I hope you enjoy your stay.

Oops, almost forgot ...

... if you wish to follow me on my journey of creativeness and a little part of  my life you can do so in several different ways; You can click on my 'follow me' button which is located on my right sidebar, slightly down the page. You can also follow me by e-mail, Facebook, Bloglovin', Linky or Pinterest ... which ever way is the best for you and it would make me very happy if you decided to do so.

And last but not least ...

... I would like to thank my dear friend Vicki for putting this party all together again for all of us.
Vicki, you are such an amazing person and artist!

I hope you are well my dear friends and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day.

From My Favorite Rummage Sale ..

Hello my dear friends,

I have told you about the London Orchestra many of times before and that it holds an amazing rummage sale twice a year here and that I have always found so many lovely treasures there. Today I am sharing my newest treasures from what seems to have been their last sale last Autumn.

I was very fortunate to find many very lovely treasures again. What I am going to do with them is still a little mystery to me though right now but I am sure something will pop into my mind in the future.

Unfortunately the Orchestra was suddenly shut down late last year. That is something so sad and just says something about our cities finances really. The statement said that they were not going to perform until at least the end of 2015 and maybe even longer. Saying that, this also means that it seems the largest rummage sale event in our city has also has come to an end and for me that is sad too. I will miss visiting it a lot. Hopefully they will be back some time again as a orchestra and as a rummage sale too.

Thank you for stopping by here at Todolwen today and visiting me. It means so much to me when you do.

I hope you are well my dear friends and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day.

It Is Your Turn Now ..

Hello my dear friends,

I have shared so many or even all of my creations with you now since I have started to blog just over 4 years ago.

I have also written over 20 tutorials and shared them with all you lovely bloggers.

The one thing I haven't done is seen almost any of your creations that you have made using my tutorials and I would so love to.

Today I am asking you to send me photographs of your creations that you have made using any of my tutorials. I would love to see them and also share them with everyone in blogland some day, that's if you don't mind. So ... get your cameras out and tell your creations to pucker up and send me a photo or two. I can't wait to see what you have made!

I hope you are well my dear friends and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Christmas Mail From 'Down Under' ..

Hello my dear friends,

 I didn't have time to share this until now but about a week ago I found an envelope in my mailbox that came all the way from Australia and was sent by lovely Suzy.

I was actually awaiting it's arrival a little impatiently already and with a little worry too because I knew it was on it's way and the possibility of it getting lost in all the Christmas mail that gets sent around the world was there ... but it was here now and I am so happy.

After carefully opening the envelope ... 

... this is what I discovered!

Wrap carefully there was one of ...

... Suzi's beautiful and stunning handmade cards ...

... the neatest little thing about it is that she added one of the little silver flowers I had sent her for Christmas.

Even the inside has been embellished so nicely too.

So many little treasures just kept appearing ~ take a look ..

Stamped papers ...

... vintage postcards ...

... lovely napkins ...

... stamped strips of fabric ...

... beautiful lace ... it was like never ending.

Just look at this little vintage crochet pouch ~ so beautiful!

And last but not least ...

... a handmade gift tag with a little Christmas message ... again beautiful and a true treasure and keepsake just like the beautiful card Suzy had made for me!

Thank you so much Suzy for being so kind and making me feel like a little child at Christmas again in that moment.

I will be sharing a little more about Christmas in the next few weeks since I didn't get to do so in time, so if you have a few spare moments, do stop by sometime again.

I hope you are well and life is treating you kind my dear friends.

Have a peaceful and creative day.