I Just Couldn't Resist

Hello my dear friends,

after my last baby dress creation I just couldn't resist making another one, but different this time. I had this antique little dress in my cupboard and unfortunately it had some stains on the front so I decided I would tea stain it hoping the stains wouldn't be to obvious anymore but it didn't work for one stain. OK, I thought - I can still work with this. I just wasn't sure how yet but I was hoping it would come to me sooner or later and after not being able to do anything at all on Friday and Saturday since I hurt my right hand, I was more than willing to try anything out. (I had spent many hours in the garden and my right hand had swollen up so bad I couldn't even bend my fingers and my palm was bruised as well).

As with my the last canvas - which I covered with book pages - this time I covered this entire one with old music sheets. As I was looking through the sheets, one of the titles jump right at me and I knew then exactly what I wanted this creation to look like. All the bits and pieces I needed like ribbon, wire, pearls, lace and everything else were on hand in my craft room ~ no need to head out at all which was great since it was very hot again.

The title that inspired me was:

"The Modest Violet"

This is my finished creation!

I just love it!!

I tried to make it quite different than the last one and I think it really worked out.

This little dress was speckled with tiny stains all over the front, but it would have been such a shame to just throw it in the trash ~ it still is so beautiful ...

... and it has so much detail!

Tiny embroidered flowers ~ so delightful!

Now you know why the title of the music just spoke to me.

I used just one of my own made little violets ...

... it was the modest one!

Right now whilst I am writing this post I am looking outside my dining room window which is a very big and I can see the fireflies playing in the dark in my garden. It is such a beautiful and also peaceful sight ~ I wish you could see it too.

I hope you are all well.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.



Little Violets and Sweet Baby Dresses

Hello my dear friends,

it has been such a busy weekend for me again. Yard work, decluttering (yes, I am still at it) and treasure hunting were only a few of my tasks I had given myself over the week and ... I did get time to create, which was great.

I crochet more of my little violets and tea stained them again.

Little glass beads made the center of these pretty flowers.

Now they were complete wee flowers ~ what to do with them?

And after looking through my craft room I found what I was looking for ...

baby dresses !!

I had bought this set last year or maybe even longer ago. It is a vintage christening dress with a matching coat. These pieces are beautiful as they are but a little something was missing ~ tags!!

This is such a lovely dress with all the details.

And this is one of the tags I made for it.

The quote says:

"Wonder of wonders,

so soft, sweet and small".

I think that the tag complements the dress with the delicate colored violets.

And this is the other part of the set - the little coat.

This tags quote says:

"Babies are such a sweet beginning".

These would look so pretty as a wall decoration in a baby room.

Like with my other little baby dresses, I made the hangers myself and embellished them with ribbons that drape softly down but don't cover anything too much so you don't miss any detail on the dress or coat.

I have more violets left over after this creation and also a few new ideas of what to do with them but I am already thinking of which others flowers I could make too. We will just have to wait and see!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

My Busy Weekend ~ Part 1

Hello my dear friends,

the weekend has been nice and busy for me. I got a lot of work done in my yard since it didn't rain which was great. I cut my lawn and fixed what needed fixing after our flood.

We did have a few visitors while I was out there. We have a bunny family that comes to stay and eat and this is one of the parents and the baby. I hope you can see the baby, since it is small and I couldn't get any closer without scaring it away. (It's behind the rocks next to a tuft of grass)

This is the view of my back yard seen through my dinning room window.

I did get a little time to work on a few new ideas I had. Remember my post on Friday about me crocheting my own little flowers? I did make quite a few of them and then I looked outside and remembered my little wild violets on my lawn, so I decided to try and make some.

These are my little violets in the beginning ...

here they are freshly tea stained ...

 and these are my wee violets after!

Aren't they just darling?!?!?! I didn't want to go out and buy purple yarn, so I decided to dye or rather tea stain my flowers. Can you believe it? I just used raspberry tea and a few drops of blue food coloring. Some of them I just dried as they came out of the dye, and some of them I rinsed out which ended up giving me more than one shade of purple. Other ones I just tea stained with regular tea for an old look. I really like these and I think I already know what I am going to use them for.

I also tea stained some of the pansies I made.

This was the first part of my weekend ... I have more to share with you later.

See you at part 2!

What's On My Worktable At The Moment

Hello my dear friends,

These are some of the items I have on my worktable right now - new boxes from the "Bath and Body" store in our mall and this time they have 6 compartments to work with. It's so nice I found them again. I wonder what they will turn into this time?

Right now I am thinking of painting them a color less bright ~  off-white, beige or maybe a pale blue (I am not a bright pink or green person).

'New' old baby shoes. I picked them up yesterday at an antique store and they just look so neat and worn - just the way I love them!

My collection of pansies that I have gathered from old doilies in the past, in all their colorful glory!

I am also working on crocheting my own pansies and other flowers in more subtle colors. I do have a pattern from a book but I am also trying to design my own right now. Hopefully they will turn out OK.

I plan to be very busy in my yard this weekend if it doesn't rain again but hopefully I will have a little time to create something new as well which I will share with you next week. There are a few ideas in my mind that I will have to note down in my little booklet so I don't forget them. Maybe one of them will come to life this weekend.

And last but not least ...

This is our cat Alexia. She is one of our two cats. Lexi is a "real" cat with everything that comes with it and she is so precious to all of us and we love her dearly.

Have a peaceful and create weekend,

Karen B.

New Additions To My Pincushion Family

Hello my dear friends,

first of all I wanted to show my lovely giveaway gift I received from Tiffany at "The Cranky Queen". I won her Mother's Day giveaway!

What a pretty creation!!

Of course I would like to show you all a few of my new creations as well. Between fixing my back yard and still trying to get ready for my garage sale that will hopefully finally happen in the near future - I did get a little time to create something.

Here are the two newest additions to my pincushion family.

The base for this pincushion in a tiny cup holder which I found in a second hand store.

This time I didn't use pansies but little pink crochet flowers which have been tea stained.

This pincushion turned out so elegant again ~ I just love the look!

No wonder I just can't stop making these. They are so much fun to make and they turn out so so beautifully!!

And last but not least ...

do not forget to enter my first giveaway. Just click on the link below the picture and it will take you where you need go to leave a comment.

And this is what you can win!!

http://todolwen.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-very-first-wee-giveaway.html

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Baby Dresses and A Treasure To Share

Hello my dear friends,

I am very happy that you liked my felted nest tutorial and it would be great if I would get to see some of your creations! My wee bird will be the next thing I will be working on, so just give me a little time to write up the instructions and get the photos taken and I will post it as soon as it is done.

I would like to share some of my makings with you today again.

Since I have two daughters, girly things are a must in our house and I am always on the lookout for any new ideas and treasures. On one of my outings I found two little cotton dresses in a thrift store and I knew right away what I was going to do with them. My thoughts were directed toward a little girl's or baby's room decor.

I wanted the dresses to have a vintage look so out came the hot water and teabags.

 Once that was done I needed to make hangers for the dresses, which I created from old wire and pieces of broken wooden coat hangers. I painted and distressed the wood and for the hanging hook I twisted the wire and formed it around the wood.

Now I wanted to embellish the dress. I decided to make a hanging tag for each dress. I used a tea stained manila tag and decorated it with bits of muslin, an old crochet pansy with a pearl center and a small quote that I love. Using lace and delicate ribbon I strung the tag over the hanger and dress.

This is the other dress, this time a sleeveless one, but none the less just as pretty as the first.

Yet another sweet quote. Just imagine these two little dresses hanging on the wall in a little girl's room. I think it would look just lovely!

And last but not least ...

My treasure I would like to share with you.

This is an old Victorian infant school locker (long name). I bought this cupboard about 10 years ago back in England off of eBay. It came from an old school that was being torn down and I was so lucky to happen to see it on eBay, bid on it and WIN!!

 It is from the late 1800's and has three compartments. You can see the old airing holes in each door and each door has also a name tag for the student's name.

It took me weeks to hand strip it and clean it up. The hooks are the original ones but the numbers are replacements since only the outline was left from the originals and that's how I knew the number for each locker.

I am so in love with this cupboard! I have it standing in my hallway, so everyone can see it's beauty as they come into my home!



I only have a few pieces of Victorian furniture, but the ones I have are really special. I will have to show you my biggest treasure one day. It is a 45 drawer cupboard also from the late 1800's.

I wish you a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.