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Monday, March 25, 2019

A Porcelain Fairling ...


Hello my dear friends,

I had such a lovely weekend this weekend, spending my time with my two lovely daughters and doing what we three love to do ... junking!

The sun was shining, the skies were blue and it was just nice to head out and visit a few stores to possibly find a new treasure or two. I was looking for a two specific things. Something I needed for a piece that I am working on which was a pair of old scissors and the other was something for our house and that was a piece of  Hostelton art. I did find the scissors but not the the art piece that I wanted. I was in a good mood but I got even happier when my daughter Ashleigh opened her hand and showed me what she had found for me. Then I was buzzing with joy!

This is what she had found!


What a neat and unusual piece, don't you think?







I just love finding things that are rare and different and I did a little research on this piece and this is what I found ...

By the "look' of it, it is a Victorian piece and it was made in Germany in the mid to late 1800"s by a company named Conte and Boehme. It is a so called porcelain"fairling". A "fairling" is a piece that was made specifically for fairgrounds to be given out as prizes for the winners of fairground games. That make this piece was a prize that someone once, over a 100 years years ago won!
Again how very neat!

At one time it would have most probably been painted/colored with what looks like pale blue and gold in places but over the many years it wore away. This piece is actually incomplete because it is missing it's little lid but I don't mind that at all, I think it is perfect as it is. I can't wait to start working with this "fairling" and I am hoping to get to it this coming week some time. So do stop by in a few days or so and see what I have been up too. Not only that but I also have more finding to share with you that I had recently won at a online auction.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by here at Todolwen and I hope you enjoyed your short stay.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Spring Is Here ...


Hello my dear friends,

Happy Spring to all of you!

This morning the sun was shining, the skies were blue, most of the snow is gone and life is just good right now.

Things have been busy these past weeks with working on our kitchen and me having started my Spring cleaning early this year. I had decided to work on our basement and basically the rest of the house aswell again and go through every single drawer, cupboard, box and what ever else there was. Two carloads later I am beyond happy with the results of my efforts so far. I am not done just yet but the first part is finished. 


Talking about Spring ...

I have little daffodils and tulips in pots growing on my kitchen windowsill and ...


... I can't tell you how much joy they bring me every time I look at them. Doing dishes has now become so much nicer. Once they are all bloomed out, they will be planted in our backyard near our willow tree Salisbury and I am already excited to see them bloom next Spring.

I haven't been able to work too much when it comes to being creative in my studio but there was a little time for a new pincushion and it is perfect for today. It is simply cheerful and sweet.

And this is my newest creation.

 I named it after today ...


... "First Day Of Spring".

The white represents the snow in Spring and the flowers are the first blooms of Spring.


The vintage beauty of a broach is either made from ceramic or porcelain, I am not quite sure but it just looks so pretty and bright in all it's colors.



I have used raw silk for the pincushion itself and then topped it with a piece from a vintage doily to give it a little more detail and it works just nicely together.




I hope you have enjoyed my newest making.

This pincushion will be also one of the ones that I am going to be listing for sale in my Etsy shop this weekend. I am trying to work on one or two more new ones but I am not sure if I will get them done in time. Do stop by again and see what I have been up too here at Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Room For Improvement ...


Hello my dear friends,

when I am creative I always try do my best to make an idea of mine come to life and I am sure that I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to it. It could just be a stitch or two out of place and if I don't like it, it just doesn't happen. I have taken apart and redone some of my creations several times. What I have realized these days is that with some things I have made it takes a while for me to see that there is still some room for improvement even though I do like my design overall. It doesn't have to be an entire redo, but just something that gives a piece that final touch or more detail. That is what happened with the piece I am re-sharing with you today.

I had made two pincushions and I was quite happy with them at first. I don't know why but a few days ago I was looking at these particular pincushions and my thoughts went with the 'there is always room for improvement' thing and maybe a little more detail is the right way to go, and in my eyes these two piece did need a little more work after all. So I sat down, thought for a while, and started to work on the first one of the two pincushions again. I finished adding a few more details to the first one and I am much happier with it now.

Adding more detail was all that was needed to make this pincushion that tiny bit better and prettier to me and I think that when it comes to enhancing the look of this creation, the small improvements I made really complete it now.

Here is a photo of one of my berry pincushions before ...


... and this is what it looks like now!


What do you think?

 I added the green cap (little leaves that live on the top of it) to the strawberry. I used the same beautiful green sari silk ribbon to make it and hand stitched them. Looking at the strawberry now, I realize that is actually something that I missed adding right from the beginning of making this pincushion.





In my eyes, my berry now looks even more like a strawberry than it did before and I am so much happier with it too. I am working on my other berry pincushion as I am writing this and hopefully I will be able to give it that special little touch to make it that tiny bit nicer than it already was. So do come back and see what I have done to it if you would like to know how it ends up!

I am planning to relist this pincushion and a few other ones in my Etsy shop this weekend if nothing comes in between.

Thank you for taking the time to visit me here today and I hope you have enjoyed your short stay.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.