A Wintry Warm Pincushion ~ No. 2 ...

 Hello  my dear friends,

my newest pincushion is done and I couldn't be happier with it.

It is simple but sweet, just perfect in my eyes with it's wintry warm feel. I was actually inspired by one of my own pincushions that I made last year. 

It was this pincushion that inspired me ...

And this is my newest pincushion!

This time I used a beautiful antique pocket watch casing as the base and the same sweater as the pincushion. The pinecones and the yarn were a must again well. It's almost like I created a little sister for my last one and I love that it turned out the way it did. Just lovely. Not too little and not too much, just right.

This pincushion is now listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

 I am already searching through boxes and baskets for some new supplies to create my next pincushion and I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. Being creative is to me is like warm hugs, snowflakes fall, birds singing, flowers growing in Spring or my family ... something I need in my life.

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Craving To Be Creative ~ Making Snowmen ...

 Hello my dear friends,

it seems like it has been almost forever since I woke up in the morning wanting to spend my day being creative and that is what happened a few days ago. I just had a 'craving' to make something and spend hours puttering around. The best thing was that I had something in mind that I wanted to make! So that is just what I did - I spent hours sitting at our dining table with our Christmas tree in view being creative.

And this is what I made! Four sweet cotton snowmen and each one as lovely as the next.

Let me introduce you to them ...

This is Flurry ...

... my first little snowman.

Then there there is Robyn...

My first one with traditional colors decorating his scarf.

And this is Jingle ...

Last but certainly not least ...

... this is Tinsel.

I love them all because they are so sweet in my eyes and they have their own 'personality'.

In case any of you might be interested, they will be on sale in my Etsy shop today 11 AM ET this morning.

I am just a applying the final touch to my newest pincushion which I will share with you tomorrow and when it will be up for grabs in my Etsy shop. 

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

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Festive Christmas Tassels ...

 Hello my dear friends,

I am enjoying being creative again so much these days and today I am sharing something new that I have just finished, a new set of Christmas sari silk tassels.

They are just so much fun to make and you can make them with all sorts and in so many colors. This time I made them in traditional Christmas colors. Sari silk and seambinding in red and green with little golden jinglebells and a golden pinecone all held together with hemp twine make they tassels just perfect for Christmas. I just love how festive they look! 

And here they are! ... All ready to be hung on a Christmas tree or even as a decoration on a gift. 

They are now listed in my Etsy shop along with a few other sets of my Christmas tassels.

Why not head over and take a peek? I am already working on a few other things right in between shoveling snow and I will hopefully share them with you soon.

Thank you for taking the time and visiting me here at Todolwen. It is always so nice when you do.

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Lovely Mistletoe ...

 Hello my dear friends,

as you know I love to try new things!

 This time I tried make mistletoe using felt and pretty glass beads. After a try or two it worked out perfectly in my eyes! Now where to put that mistletoe? Well that wasn't a hard decission for me, a needle book of coure would be just right for it and that is what I am sharing with all of you today. 

And this is it ...

My favorite drop cloth, seam binding and cotton batting made the base for my lovely little leaves and berries.

This little needle book is alreay sold but since I enjoyed making it so much, I might just make another one again. Hmm ... I wonder if this would work on a pincushion?  Well, only one way to find out ... my next project possibly?! I can already see it in my mind. Unfortunately you, my dear friends, will have to wait a little until it is done.

But until then, I hope you are well my dear friends and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Something Christmassy ...

Hello my dear friends,

I don't do a lot of shopping ever really.

 A new cushion here or there once in a blue moon or a new throw to add to my collection. Unless I find something really neat that just jumps right at me, I don't buy it. With the way things are right now I don't go out that often but I did this morning. 

Michaels has a 50% sale for their Christmas stuff and I went a little shopping. I didn't go crazy and I didn't even spend $55 but to me was enough and I did get some beautiful pieces! Of course I needed to do something right away with all my new goodies so I did. I made a Christmas display for our living room table using my newest treasures combined with some pieces that I already had at hand and it has turned out so lovely and festive. 

Take a look! ...

The church is meant for candles which I bought at a church rummage sale a few years ago for $2. The silver tray came in a box of tarnished bits and pieces from an auction and was not more than a dollar in cost and the lights are from Costco last year when the were on sale for $8 for a box of three. My new treasures from this morning, in the shape of Christmas trees, were an amazing deal too. The large glass one was not even $14 and the smaller one was $11 so I got two of those of course. The pale green bottle brush trees were also $11. How nice that you really don't need to always spend a lot to make something pretty.

When I say this, I mean this honestly and not being full of myself ... this is the first time I actually made something that looks like something that I would admire on Pinterest and I can't tell you how happy I am with it.

And this is what it looks like when the light are off ...

I am already looking forward to my next project for our home eventhough I am not sure what it is going to be just yet. So that means if you want to know what it is, you will have to visit me sometime again. Hopefully by then I will have discovered what I want to do and until then ...

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Something A Little Different For The Christmas Tree ...

 Hello my dear friends,

do you remember my bundles of blowy flowers?

If you liked those, you might just like my newest creations too. I have been working on them since a little while and I had already shared them on my Instagram page but not yet here on Todolwen.

At the beginning of the year I had bought some vintage/antique candle clip holders from Germany in the colors silver and gold and I wanted to turn them into something really neat and my blowy flowers came to my mind and today I am sharing how my idea turned out and I hope you will like what you see.

Unfortunately not everything works out that I make.

In my first attempt I had made my first ornaments with the silver candle clips holders and just loved how they turned out until a few days ago when I discovered that the glue that I had used made the metal rust, yes RUST! I had made a set of 4 and now I am taking them apart again because they look so 'unpretty'. The glistening glass glitter has now a dirty look which I am not happy with.

Can you see the ugly rust in the picture? 

I was and am so unhappy about this.

So then I made a set with the golden candle clips ...

... and those didn't rust thankfully!

I know it's very very short notice but these will be listed in my Etsy shop today at 2 PM ET (that's in about 30 mins. I had looked at the clock wrong but couldn't go back then after sharing it on Instagram.)There is only one set of them as of right now but I am happy to make a few more of them.

Thank you so much for stopping by here at Todolwen, it is always so nice when you do.

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

My Mini Crabapples And Pears ...

 Hello my dear friends,

just to let you know that I have just listed some of my mini crabapples and pears in my Etsy shop if you are looking for a little something for your Christmas tree and I have also listed some other bits and pieces too.

The spool is there to give you an idea of the actual sizes of my minis.

And a spool so you can see how small my little crabapples are in this set.

As of right now I will have 3 sets available and each set has 3 pears and 3 crabapples. There will be possibly more to come but it all depends on how much of my vintage velvet I have to work with because I am slowly but surely running of it.

So ... why not pop over to my Etsy shop and take a quick peek at what is there?!

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Little Winter Apples And Pears ...

 Hello my dear friends,

... They are back!!

Last year I designed crabapples and pears made from cotton batting with velvet leaves and glistening with glass glitter. I enjoyed making them so very much that I decided to make them again this year. I will be making some of the same again and some a little different too. This year there will "mini me's" from last years ones and this year they will be also listed in mixed sets too! Oh and have I told you that they are just so neat when they are little?!

The smaller pears are approx. only 3 inches tall without their stems ...

... and the mini crabapples are just the sweetest in my eyes!

I will be listing my Christmas fruit in my Etsy shop in the next few days and they will be a custom order item. I am also working on a few other neat Christmas things but they still need a bit more tweeking before they are ready before I share them, so do come back again 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, safe and creative day.

Coldstream Conservation Area .....

 Hello my dear friends,

as promised I am sharing photos with you of an Autumn walk my daughters and I recently did.

We have lived in London, Ontario for almost 15 years but only now found this beautiful place that is not even a 10 minute drive outside of the city. It is the Coldstream Conservation Area and it is such a beautiful place. The day we went, the leaves on most of the trees had changed colors from green to all sorts of pretty shades of pink, orange, yellow and more and the little stream was shiny like a mirror, reflecting all of Mother Nature's beauty.  

(I took the photos with my phone and not my camera this time.)

 Come walk with me ...

My beautiful babies.

Just look at all those beautiful colors! 

This tree was the biggest one in the entire forest and it was such a giant.

I could sit here and just look at this all day long but we had to move on after a little while.

We walked along the board walk and came across this ...

Isn't this so amazing?! It's the roots of an old tree that is still growing but all it's roots are above ground. it is actually hollow and big enough to have a person inside it, if the openings were big enough for one to get in but critters can happily get in and out of this creation of nature.

I hope you have enjoyed the walk and you were able to see all of the beauty we saw on that day. 

We have been back again since then and it has already changed so much. Now we are waiting for snow to fall again so we can go to see how it looks all dressed in white.

Right now I am working on making some neat Christmas ornaments which I will share with you very soon but until then ...

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.