Faith, Trust And Pixie Dust

Hello my dear friends,

I am one of the last people to that would try to design something on the computer ~ you see I know the very basics only really but today I wanted to try it out. With a little help from my daughter Ashleigh I managed to make these neat little signs. Can you believe it, now Picnik is shutting down, I finally try it and love it!

I love the story of Peter Pan and this is one of the quotes from it, that I think is so neat and that's why I chose it.

As you can see I got a tiny bit carried away not knowing which color is the nicest so I made more than one and the same with the stars and butterflies ~ I like them all and I hope you do too.

(as you can see I have already added one of these to my sidebar)

If you would like to use these signs you may do so but please credit Todolwen for the design.

(unfortunately I am only a beginner to this type of creating so there is no code for these)

And last but not least ...

... if you have a new idea, or if there is something you have never tried before but you want to, then just go for it!!! Sometimes it turns out a lot better than you might think it will, and it is always worth the try!

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,

really ... I tried ... but I just couldn't resist making this creation. I made it a few weeks ago now and I just hope that  I am not boring you with it. It is part 'in a nutshell' and part 'cigar box' creation and on top of that it is ... yes, another Wynken, Blyken and Nod creation!! I have had so much fun making this and I am more than happy with the way it turned out. It was a bit of a gamble the way I had planned to create this piece but it worked first time!

And here it is ...

... Wynken, Blyken and Nod's wee little boat floating on a cloud on a star bright night.

It really isn't touching the bottom of the box and looks like it floating on a little cloud ~ just the way I had imagined it would look!!

     

I hate to say but I am sure this won't be my last Wynken, Blynken and Nod creation I will be sharing with you! ( ... hate to say ... no, I love, love, love making these creations and I know for a fact it is not my last one!!)

I hope you have enjoyed my latest creation as much as I have truly enjoyed making it!!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

Karen B. 

Antique Store Findings And More

Hello my dear friends,

like the most of you I am sure, I too just love to go hunting for something neat that I can use in one of my creations and it doesn't have to be anything special and it doesn't have to cost a lot either ~ sometimes something very small or plain is just right.

On my last outing over the weekend to an antique store I found two things ...

... this old tattered and torn lace doily ...

... and this small very neat shaker.

 It is from 1912 and from London but I am not too sure which London ... London, Ontario or London, UK - it doesn't matter either way because it is beautiful where ever it is from!

On my way home we passed a fabric store and I just had to pop inside to take a look of course and I didn't come back out with empty hands ...

 

I found this ...

... gorgeous lace!

At it was buy 1 meter get  4 FREE!!! What a great deal!!!

Continuing my hunt I found these pieces at Value Village ...

... a very nice pair of shakers made of brass ...

... and these two findings!

 I already know what I am going to do with these two ... can you guess what they might become?

I think I have enough for the moment now to keep myself busy for the near future - my studio/craft room is full to the top! And it is time that I start using all these wonderful things I have found on my little outings to create with instead of just buying them and then storing and leaving them. Time to get to work! I will of course, as always, share my creations with you once I have completed them!

Do any of you have any neat findings you want to share with me? Leave me a comment and tell me about them!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

I Am Hooked!

Hello my dear friends,

seriously ~ I am hooked! Hooked on crocheting mini flowers from a pattern I made up this morning  and now I just can't seem to want to stop making these tiny blooms. It takes not even 5 minutes to have one done. Right now I have no idea what I am going to use them for but I am sure something will pop into my mind.

I first learnt how to crochet when I was 8 or 9 years old in school (yes, in those days we were still taught how to sew, knit, crochet and cook at school, something I think they should bring back, I actually learnt how to sew when I was about 5 years old and my Grandma taught me how to ) and I have always loved to crochet. When I was a teenager I would crochet large doilies or tablecloths and sell them to make a bit of extra pocket money. These days I still like to crochet but nothing too big but I do love making smaller pieces like snowflakes, little hearts or like these little flowers now.

Take a look ...

 

 

... aren't they just so neat and tiny?!

These could be made plain and then you could dye them any color you would like either with food coloring or even Easter egg colors! They could be used to embellish tags or pincushions or anywhere you would like them to be! And you can use them to make these ...

... an old idea with a new twist ... 

 

 

 

... instead of using little flowers of paper or book pages you can use these to make your little flowers pins!

And because I love to create and I think I am a happier person because of it I would like to share how to make these tiny flowers with you today.

I am sharing the instructions two ways ...

 

...once as a graphic with the crochet symbols and secondly as written instructions as well .

How to make a tiny flower ...

... you start off with a magic ring/circle ~ if you don't know how to make a magic circle you can find many videos on 'how to' on the net.

There is only one round you need to crochet for this flower ...

... form a magic ring ~ into this ring crochet

 ... 3 chain stitches, one double crochet, 3 chain stitches, one slip stitch.

 Repeat this 4 more times ~ making the 5 petals for the flower ~ finishing with a slip stitch.

Now just fasten off, tighten the magic ring by pulling the tail of the thread, cut off and you are done with your little flower.

I hope my instructions are written so you will be able to make this little flower and now all you have to do is find something you want to embellish with them.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Yesterday's Post

Hello my dear friends,

this is just a short, short post today to say that I hope I haven't upset or offended anyone with what I said in my post yesterday. If I have, I am sorry because that was the last thing I had in mind. My intentions were the best really in asking for the right person to be credited for their work ~ I just didn't want any misunderstandings. I hope everybody understands.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B.

Please Get It Right

Hello my dear friends,

this is just a short post mainly directed to all the lovely people that use Pinterest and view my blog and work.

Please, please get it right when you pin something onto Pinterest. Make sure you that you read on who made which creations. In the past few weeks I have had several beautiful creations pinned under Todolwen which I did not make even though I have credited the creator for their work by name and blog name under the pictures so everybody is aware who made it (if this all makes sense?!)  So all you lovely 'pinners' out there please make sure you give the right creator credit for their work in future!!

And last but not least ...

I would like to thank all you 'pinners' for your interest in my creations and your kind words about my work ~ it means so much to me! Thank you!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B.

Better Late Than Never

Hello my dear friends,

believe it or not but I have had a box of 2 part resin sitting in my cupboard for over a year now and not tried it out yet until today ~ well yesterday and today. Yesterday to start and today to finish my newest creation! At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the resin but after looking through my studio I found exactly what I needed ~ vintage glass furniture coasters. I decided to turn these into beautiful paperweights to embellish a desk or where ever one was needed or would look nice. And I was so spoilt for choice as to what to use to put into the paperweights ~ from pearls to glass beads and from dried baby roses to vintage charms ~ anything really would look just lovely.

My dried tiny roses from last year.

Oh dear, I bumped into this one and the resin started to flow over the top edge of the glass coaster!Thankfully I could still clean it up before it was too late. Unfortunately I must have stirred the resin a bit to harsh because it now has lots of teeny tiny bubbles in it but it's not too bad because it almost looks like very fine glitter inside the paperweights. And something else I have learnt is if your item is light like little dried rose buds, you must glue them down otherwise, like the one in the above picture, they rise to the surface of the resin! I will remember this for next time for sure.

And now all I have to do is wait ......

 ... the next day ...

...  at last ... my paperweights are now fully dry and I can move them to take photos!

I made three of them and for my first try of making these paperweights they have turned out not perfect but nicely I think!  Here they are ~ what do you think?

I don't know if you can see but the tiny roses sticking out every so slightly.

I love this combination of bits and pieces. Where you see 'nothing', that is where a crystal from an antique chandelier is ~ a shame it can't be seen better.

Everything in this paperweight apart from the pearls I found on the beach last summer.

I have a few more of these glass furniture coasters in my studio and some resin leftover so I can still practise and learn more on how to pour resin, so keep stopping by to see what I have been up to next time.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.