With Easter In Mind ..

Hello my dear friends,

it seems that I am doing it yet again ... working on more than one project at the same time but I am happy so far because nothing has gone wrong ... so far.

I thought it would be nice to create another tin egg creation for this coming Easter.
 Last year I made a tin egg with some Lily of the Valley that I had crochet and another with felted pussy willows and a nest. This year I went with a little flower that you all already know ~ my modest violet. 

I made them from white crochet yarn and then using Easter egg dye, I dyed them a rich purple. A little Swarovski crystal lives in the center of each of them. (You have actually seem them before on my 'Little Posey Heart~Felt') I used black wire as stems and lovely green velvet ribbon was turned into little leaves.

All together they have turned out to be this ...

... my little violet 'plant'.

That is how far I have gotten with this creation so far but I am going to continue work on it soon and hopefully I will be able to share it with all you lovely bloggers in the very near future.

Another little thing I would love to share with you is a little something I picked up, not in a antique store or thrift store but at Walmart. I don't often buy things there but this time I couldn't resist.

And this is what came home with me ...

... a little white china rabbit.

I saw him and just couldn't walk away without taking him home with me and I am so happy I did.

I wish you could see his little face a little better ~ it is the cutest.
 He always looks at me so curiously.

Looking outside it sure doesn't look like Easter is on it's way with all the snow on the ground and right now new snow falling. I will have to take a few photos again and share them with you so you can see how wintery it still is here in Ontario.

Thank you for taking the time to visit me here at Todolwen and I hope you do come back 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.

My Little 'Flutter~By' ~ A Tutorial

Hello my dear friends,

this past Sunday morning was not very nice when it came to the weather. We had quite a storm that started in the middle of the night which woke me up at 4.15 am and kept me up for a few hours. Fortunately everything went well the rest of the night/early morning but we still had high wind warnings all day. So... what does a girl do when there is no point heading outside? ... she makes a new tutorial to share with her lovely, sweet and thoughtful bloggers! And that is what I did.

I love my tiny crochet little flowers and my modest violets a lot because of their beauty and because they are so quick and easy to make and they can be used in so many ways. That's why I thought that it would be nice to create something little that will be perfect to pair up with either of them and that would be ... a little crochet butterfly. After a few tryouts and one of them went terribly wrong, I was happy with the look of the little flying fellow that I created and I was ready to share him with you and here he is ...

 

 

... my little 'Flutter~By'.

 

 

 

You will need the same things as if you were crocheting my tiny flower or the modest violet ...

~ a crochet hook ~ I used a 1 mm hook 

~ crochet yarn that is right for the strength size for the size of hook
~ scissors
~ a black marker (I will show  you what for further down)

...that's all!

The little butterfly is very easy to make and it is again only one row.
 I have given you the instructions in the written form and again as a chart so you may pick which one you prefer to use. 

 

And this is how you make the little critter ...

... make a magic ring leaving a little tail, it will be needed later.

Now crochet the following into the ring ...

... 6 chain stitches, 1 double treble, 2 treble, 1 double crochet, 3 chain stitches, one slip stitch ...

next ...
3 chain stitches, 1 double crochet, 1 treble, 4 chain stitches, 1 slip stitch ...

now ...
4 chain stitches, 1 treble, 1 double crochet, 3 chain stitches, 1 slip stitch ...

and finally ...
3 chain stitches, 1 double crochet, 2 treble, 1 double treble, 6 chain stitches, 1 slip stitch ...
and that is it!!

Leaving a thread 'tail' for pulling ~ cut your thread now. 

 Take both of your thread 'tails' and pull them very tight to make the butterfly form.
 

 

Then tie a knot in the thread 'tails' and pull very tightly again ...

 

 

... then cut them off short leaving about half an inch. These are now your little critter's antennae.

 

This is a neat little butterfly ~ just over the size of a penny.

 

And this is where a black marker might come in handy.

 

 

If you prefer your little flutter~by to have black antennae ...  

 

 

... then using your marker, very carefully dye them black but make sure you don't get too close to the body so that you don't accidentally mark it.

And that's all that's to it ... you are done! 

 

 

 

I decided to use a small earring as the butterflies body, but you can use anything you would like really or leave it just as it is. I hope you have enjoyed my latest tutorial ~ it was really neat to make it!

 

It is so nice when you stop by here at Todowlen and visit me, so maybe I will see you here soon again.

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B.

 

The Modest Violet Tutorial

Hello my dear friends,

today I would like to share a new little tutorial with you. I made a creation a while ago with a baby dress called 'The Modest Violet'. I made a small crochet voilet which I tea stained with a raspberry tea to give it just the right color. Lately a few of you lovely bloggers have asked me for the pattern, but until today I had never made a pattern for it ~ I just made them from memory.

My first little modest voilet.

This is a very easy pattern just like my tiny crochet flower. The violet has only one round to crochet and only a bit for the second one so you will able to make many, many of these in a short period of time.

I almost always use white or off white cotton yarn to crochet my flowers and once done I normally tend to stain/color them. I use raspberry tea to give the voilet in my creation it's color but you can also use food coloring or easter egg colors to do so. The final touch for me is when I add a tiny vintage pearl to the center of the voilet ... finished!

 

 

Little voilets unstained.

I hope you will enjoy this little tutorial ...

Make a magic ring with your wool and crochet the following into the ring ...

Round 1 ... 3 chain stitches, 2 double crochet,* 3 chain stitches, 3 double crochet* ... all in all you should have 5 sets of these when you are done.

Round 2 ... crochet a slip stitch into each of the first three double crochets. Now crochet the following into the 'hole,loop, opening' ... 3 chainstitches and then 9 more double stitches in the same place.
Next stitch a slip stitch into the middle one of the three next double stitches and again in the next 'loop,opening' crochet 10 double crochets, loop off and done. ( Boy ... I sure hope this makes sense to you, it does to me!)

But that is not all ...

I have also drawn up another graphic quickly with with the crochet symbols as well. 

 

I hope I have written this tutorial without any mistakes. I try to do my best with my tutorials.  Please, drop me a line and let me know what you think about this or let me know what you have used the modest voilet for in your makings.

And don't forget to come back soon and visit me here at Todolwen!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,



Karen  B.

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.