From The Bottom Of My Heart ...

Hello my dear friends,

I would like to say a huge "Thank You" from the bottom of my heart to all of you, who have left me so thoughtful, kind comments and emails after I told you about my recent health scare. I will get back to each one of you hopefully soon. You are all so very sweet and have yet again touched my heart with so much love that it brought tears to my eyes.

I am feeling much better these days. I am taking it easier and I am working on being much much calmer too. My stress levels have gone done quite a bit already which is doing me the world of good.
I have been out more often walking which is such a lovely thing and I have shared some of my photographs on Instagram already.

I have also started to be creative again without feeling any pressure from myself. This is the first time in a while now and I am enjoying it so much. You never know, I might just have something new to share with all of you soon.

Unfortunately I won't be sharing any gifts this Christmas with my dear friends which makes me sad but there is next year to return to one of my favorite things to do. I am still working on getting my Christmas cards out by the end of today and some of them might arrive late this time but that doesn't mean that they are not filled with much love and the best wishes ever!

And just in case I don't get back here before December 24th ...

... I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

May 2018 bring you everything you dream and wish for my dear friends!

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

Hugs.

Please, Take Care Of Yourself ...

Hello my dear friends,

today's post is to ask all of you to take care of yourselves and not just physically but also mentally. A sudden and very recent visit to the ER for me was a wake up call and a very scary one too. 

I have been stressed out for weeks and weeks now and every little thing would just make it so much worse. Worry about my health after a recent scare, my family, our cats and other things were so intense these past few weeks if not months and unfortunately I tend to take things to heart which has now really started to effect me. 

Apart from all of the above things, I have also been putting a lot of pressure onto myself lately about not being able to be creative like I used to be. The more I thought about it, the worse it got. You might think it is silly that I did so, but I love to create and when that doesn't work for a long time, it can really get to me. I was getting upset that I couldn't come up with a gift idea for my friends for Christmas because I so love to gift at Christmas. I was overall unhappy with not having any idea to share on Todolwen for the festive season and in the end it bothered me a lot. Especially because being creative is meant to be fun, it is not meant for me to put myself under pressure to "produce" something.

With everything that was already going on, I would also stress out over so many really unimportant things like bad drivers on the road, rude people and so much other stuff. I would tend to concentrate more on things that had gone wrong instead of good things that happened and would go over them in my mind again and again. It just got too much and I wasn't even aware of it. I went to have my blood pressure checked several mornings ago at a pharmacy and it was at a very dangerous level and I was told to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Next stop ... the ER.

 I was scared, actually very scared because blood pressure that high can cause a heart attack or a stroke and I didn't want either to happen to me. Thankfully it went down quite well in the hospital, still somewhat high but better.

 What now? ... Change!

I am going on medication to keep my blood pressure at a good level while I am working on myself. The first thing I am working on is my stress levels. Taking deep breaths and actually telling myself to not let what ever bother me seems to be working for me most of the time but there is more work needed. More exercise and a better diet is also something I have to work on now. I went for another check up a couple of days ago with my doctor and my blood pressure is already at lower levels which is so great to hear. I am also taking little breaks through out my day, just to sit and breath for a minute or two and when it comes to being creative, I am just going to play it as it comes as they say. So hopefully all of this will make me feel much better in the future.

And for you my dear friends, I wish you all good health and please, take good care of yourselves.

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

Hugs.

I Tried Something New ...

Hello my dear friends,

I love trying out new things. 

New techniques, how-tos and different things interest me quite a lot but I don't often tend to go past the "being interested" stage for whatever reason. This time is different though.

I found this really neat tutorial just by chance as I was browsing Pinterst and just had to actually try it out. That now turned out to be a few months ago and I never got around to sharing it with all of you but today I am. 

This is the tutorial I found ...

(Photograph courtesy of Welcomecrafts.)

It is a how-to on how to make these cute little bunnies!
And here is the link to the tutorial on welcomecraft's website...

Little Clay Bunny By Kevin K.

And this is my little bunny I made! ... I made one only to see if I could do it or not.

It's a he and he stands happily just under 1.5 inches tall next to a larger acorn. 

It is not perfect at all and a little rough on the edges and I so need to practice quite a bit more but he still is just too cute in my eyes!

It is always nice to try something new and I do love a challenge too. It might not work out right away or at all but that is not the point. The point is that you did it! This way life always stays that tiny bit more interesting and a tiny bit more exciting too.

Have you tried something new lately?

I wonder what will come my way next to try out? ... Whatever it might be, I will make sure to share it with all of you.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

My Little Christmas Boxes ...

Hello my dear friends,

I think it was some tome in 2011 when I found a little antique box at a flea market. 

It spent a lot of time in the far corner of one of my drawers until I "found" it again in 2012 and turned it into something very neat and lovely ... a little Christmas box.
 And this is that little box ...

You can read all about it here ...

A Little Old Tattered Box

Last year, several weeks before Christmas, I was contacted by a lovely gentleman from the UK who had seen my little box. He wanted me to create him such a little box for his girlfriend. I was to make it personalized and so that he could place sparkling earring inside the box, as if they were hanging  in the skies and looked a little like sparkling stars. It took me a little while but in the end I was able to do exactly what he had asked from me. I couldn't share it with all of you when I was working on it because I didn't want the recipient of the box to possible read about it because then the gift Christmas surprise would have been ruined. Unfortunately I then forgot all about it until now. Thankfully though that I taken photos before I mailed it to England and that is what I am sharing with all of  you today ~ my second little Christmas box.

I named the little box after the one that was going to receive it at Christmas time ...

..."For Miss Lucy".

I was told that Lucy loved it and that made me very happy.

Shortly after I had listed the little box (last Christmas), a lovely and sweet lady contacted me about making her a box like this too. I hate to say but for some reason it took me until now (almost a year later) to actually sit down and make it. I am beyond happy to say that it is now finally done and ready to be mailed to it's new home. But before it goes on it's 'merry' way, I wanted to share it too with all of you today as well. It is a little different than the others but not by much but it still is just as pretty as the other ones and it too just "shouts out" Christmas time.

 I named this one again after the person that is receiving it ...

... "For Miss Mary".

I hope you have enjoyed my little Christmas boxes and I will let you know if Miss Mary likes hers.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me here at Todolwen. It is always so very nice when you do.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

A Little Something I Found ...

Hello my dear friends,

you know when you are out and about and you see a little something and think ... 'I could so use that!' and an idea forms instantly in your mind?! 

Well,  that is what happened to me a few weeks ago. I was out and about junking a little, looking for spoons and forks for my Winter pumpkins when I came across this lovely old doily. Right away I knew what I wanted to make using it and just had to buy it.

It was this little old doily that I had seen in a shop.
There is was laying amongst other crochet bits and pieces and I fell in love with it.

Two days ago I sat down and took the time to turn my idea into something real. 

And this is the little doily now ... it has become a part of a new needle!

I named it ..."Vintage Little Blooms".

From the moment I saw the little flower doily, I saw this in my mind.

I am so happy with my newest creation. 

There is something about being creative, there really is. It is calming (yes, I stay calm even when it doesn't turn out the first time), it is rewarding and it is fun too. No wonder I enjoy being creative so much.

So this new creation is now listed in my Etsy shop and if you are interested in it, why not pop over to my shop and take a look. I am still busy creating and right now I am working on a custom order again. This time it is for a little Christmas box. It is something I have made before but I will share it with all of you again, once it is finished.

So do stop by again some time and see what I have been up too.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

These Past Weeks ...

Hello my dear friends,

life at times throws you lemons and sometimes you are just not able to make lemonade from them.

I have become quite sensitive when things go wrong over the past year or so. When something happens I tend to get worried and stress very easily. I can't be creative because my mind is filled with all sorts and that is what has been happening over these past weeks. They were filled with things going wrong but also thankfully, with a few things that were very good. 

It started with our washing machine broking down and unfortunately it couldn't be fixed so we had to buy a new set of washer and dryer.

Then 5 days later my car started to break down whilst I was out driving with my daughters. Thankfully it happened only about 100 yards away from where my dealership is located. There were no signs of something wrong, just all of the sudden and out of the blue, my car started to jolt around, making weird noises it normally doesn't make, it then started to loose power and finally it smelt like it was burning. Needless to say I was very happy to make it to my dealership where I just left it. After it being fixed or rather what we and the dealer ship thought was fixed and I picked it up. I didn't even get 100 yards before the same thing happened. I was annoyed, upset and somewhat stressed because no one had any idea of what was wrong with it and the thought of having to buy a new car was scary. I was given a courtesy car and sent on my way. Three days later my car was fixed again and the dealership actually was so great and paid for the repair! How kind of them, don't you think?! And ... my car was driving OK again and I felt a bit better but my worries continued though.

 My younger daughter ended up in the ER due to intense headaches, dizziness and nausea but again thankfully it wasn't something serious. She was diagnosed with fluid behind her eardrums due to a very mild cold she had weeks earlier and she was now suffering from vertigo. She received treatment and she is feeling better again.

And then there was a thing that was a huge worry to me.

 I recently had a health scare and had to have tests done. I had to wait 4 very long weeks for the results to come back and I have now received them. I am so very grateful to say that they were all negative! I have been so scared, stressed and worried. Every time the phone rang, I was worried to hear someone on the other end of the line to say that my results were positive but it didn't happen. I prayed everyday for good results and I was granted my wish.

Thank you God for hearing my prayers!

Right now I am trying to get into a better place within myself. I am also trying to become calmer again. I am finishing a few orders of my Winter pumpkins and I am also working on a few Christmas gifts and one or two new creations too which are coming along slowly but surely and it is helping me to feel a little bit better every day.

And finally ...

... I would like to apologize to any of you for not replying to comments, messages or emails. I was just not in a good place. I will try and answer them in the next week.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today and visit me. I am so grateful that you do so.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

A Different Kind Of Winter Decoration ...

Hello my dear friends,

it seems that I am just not getting away from pumpkins just yet!

Today I am sharing a different kind of Winter/Christmas decoration that I have created.
 Well, I have made it before just not like this if that makes any sense to you but you will see what I am talking about in a moment.

The idea of this was born a several weeks ago at my daughter Ashleigh's last tattoo appointment when I showed my pumpkin trio to her tattoo artist. All of the sudden the talk was about Christmas pumpkins and how beautiful they would and could look all in white and other "cold" colors, with crystals, snowflakes and kissed by the frost. Of course that idea got stuck in my mind and I could almost see how this neat idea could turn into something beautiful. I started to think about how I could create these beautiful things. My thoughts were with with snowflakes, jingle bells, holly leaves and the glistening of the frost floating around in my mind. Oh, the possibilities were almost endless.

I started "small" at first with a single leaf, not a holly leaf as I had planned at first but a simple pumpkin leaf made from my favorite pale green velvet ...

... to see if I would like the way it would look on my pumpkin.

I made a first attempt for the pumpkin not long after that but it went really wrong and I took it apart right away and didn't even take a picture of it. My second try out was exactly what I was thinking of.
Once I was happy with my idea there was nothing stopping me. It took me a little time to finish but I did it and today I am sharing my first Winter pumpkin with all of you.

And because I am a big softy for little happy stories, I thought it would be nice if this pumpkin creation had one to go with it.

~ The Little Winter Pumpkin ~

There was once a little pale pumpkin that been all forgotten about at Halloween time. It sat in a dark room in the basement of a house for weeks and weeks. Snow had already started to fall outside when the owner one day stumbled over it again. The little pumpkin had turned from pale orange to a pure white in the darkness. It's stem had fallen off at one time but the little pumpkin itself was still firm after spending all that time in the cool gloominess of the basement room. The house owner being a kind soul and not wanting to be wasteful felt a little sorry for the pumpkin not having it's "big day" or rather night on Halloween and decided to make it up to the Autumn fruit. Placing the pumpkin on the kitchen table and gathering lovely bits and pieces together, the homeowner went to work and shortly later, the pale pumpkin was transformed. It was now all festively dressed in sparkles and shiny things. It looked so beautiful like the Snow Queen had just kissed it and Jack Frost had done the same. Now the pumpkin was going to  have a special time after all because now instead of seeing lots of ghosts and ghouls on All Hallows Eve, it was going to see the wonder of Christmas.

And that is my short story for my Winter pumpkin and here are some more photos (actually a lot of them) of my creation for you to see.

 

I hope you have enjoyed my creation and the story that goes along with it. I thought that it is rather lovely. It is a nice thing to be able to imagine things having a happy ending in my eyes, it just makes you feel so warm inside.

 Dana and Ashleigh, thank you for giving me a neat idea and inspiring me to create it.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.