Happy 4th Of July ...

Hello my dear friends,

again just a very short note today.
 I just wanted to wish all my American friends ...

... a Happy 4th of July!

 

Have a great day!

 

Many hugs,

 

 

Karen B.

A Sad Change To Todolwen ..

Hello my dear friends,

a lady from the States recently replied to an comment of mine which I made to her about my thoughts that she copied one of my tutorials. A part of her reply was that when you make a free tutorial people would make the creations from it and post about them. And I agree that is what is meant to happen with free tutorials. I absolutely love seeing my free tutorials used and the creations made from them but I have issues when they get copied and someone else claims my designs.

 (This is still an on going thing for me unfortunately!)

A few days ago I found another pin on Pinterest which led to a blog in Italy that had an almost perfect copy of my 'flutter~by' design, namely the drawing, which was almost identical as if it had been traced. It was just too much the same for it to be a coincidence in my book. I commented on the blog and received an answer that didn't make me any happier due to what this lady said, which was the following:


"The butterfly is a simple little idea that I had a month ago, the net is full of butterflies are very similar and no one can lay claim to copyright, the copyright is valid on photos, drawings, texts and all those who are in my blogs are created by me and definitely not stolen from other blogs, I do a lot of attention to these things."

Therefore ...

 ... it makes me so sad but I have decided not to display anymore new free tutorials on Todolwen.

 If  and when I might do so again, I will do it differently in the future.
 I will share that I have created a new free tutorial and if you wish to have it, all you have to do is drop me a line via e-mail and I will send it to you. Each tutorial will include a clause stating that the tutorial itself may not be shared on the web in part or in full. Of course I would love to see all of your finished creations that may result from my tutorials ~ I always have and that is something that won't change for anything!

 After you have read this I am sure some of you may think I am being a little touchy or over sensitive ... the only thing I can say to that is: Yes I am, but right now this is how I feel and I hope you understand my decision because I did not make it lightly.

It is such a shame that some people out there just can stop themselves from doing this and their attitude that goes with it.


Many hugs to you all, my dear blogger friends.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B.

 

I Wish You All..

Hello my dear friends,

I would like to wish all of you Canadians all over the world ...

 

 

... a Happy Canada Day!

 

Many hugs,

 

Karen B.

It Has Amost Happend .. Google Reader Is Almost Gone

Hello my dear friends,

just a very short note today.

 

As you all know Google reader is shutting down first thing July 1st ... early tomorrow morning ... for good.

If you wish to continue to follow me here at Todolwen you can to follow me via bloglovin' starting right now! Just look at my right side bar  (all the way down past my tutorials) there is the bloglovin' button you can click on to follow me. If you don't wish to use bloglovin', you can also follow me via facebook or e-mail and just as with bloglovin' ... my right side bar has my facebook and e-mail button so you can use it if you wish.


 Also don't forget to transfer all your other blogs that you love to read too so you won't lose them. I was worried I would forget to do it today and so I transferred all of mine last night already.

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B.

My Outdoor Project 2013

Hello my dear friends,

most of you have followed me through my outdoor project 2012 and went along with me on my journey of transforming our front and backyard. Weeks and weeks of backbreaking work of weeding, leveling the ground and not to forget shoveling huge amounts of crushed stone and moving over more than 200 wheelbarrows of it all on my own but also the joy at the end of that journey.

For this year I have a new project that I am going to be working on again.

At the back of our backyard we have a false riverbed which hides a draining system underneath it that leads to the storm drain. You see our property is the lowest on the block and all the water from the other properties ends up in ours and without this draining system we would be under water every time it rains a little heavier.

Anyway ...

... my project this year is to dig up about at least 2 tons of river rock, weed the riverbed and surrounding area and replace the landscapers cloth underneath the rock too and rebuild the riverbed.

 I don't think it looks like much really when you look at it but it is. I have neglected this area of the garden for a little while now and the weeds are high and there are many of them too. On top of that unfortunately my right arm still hasn't fully recovered from all the work from last year so I will do this project much slower that I did the one last year.

 



Here are a few before photos to share you how it look right now.
 I did little weeding this Spring and we have had lots of rain and hot sun and this is the result but I almost prefer it this way because I can grip all the weeds right and get them out of the ground easier.

 

Our riverbed is almost completely overgrown now with all sort of plants and weeds.

 

As you can see ... it is a mess!

 

 

Even our bridge is need to being rescued from branches that I have already gathered.

 

I am thinking this might take me 3 or 4 weeks but in the end it will so be worth all the hard work and

I am hoping to start some time next week if everything goes well. I will again take before and after photos so I can share them with you as I am going along.

I would love to have the same experience I had last year because then I can't wait to do this project.
What is your 'big' project this Summer? What ever it is, I hope it is something that will bring you lots of joy!

It was so nice for you to stop by and visit me again here at Todolwen and I would love for you to return some time again!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B.

 

Sweet Decorative Baby Shoes ...

Hello my dear friends,

I am working on my full shelves in my studio, hoping to find new homes for some of my creations and so I have listed some more of my early creations in my Etsy shop.

And this is what they are ...

 



... sweet decorative baby shoes!

 

 

I enjoyed creating these little shoes so much and I have treasured them for some time too but it is time to part with them so they can hopefully bring joy to someone else and a little more room for new creations.

 

If you have a spare moment ... why not go and take a peek in my Etsy shop?!

 

And last but not least ...

 

... I am now working on I think 4 or 5 more little fabric pouches. Every time I embellish one I find another way to embellish another one and so one ~ that's why I am working on more than one or two. I am hoping they will be done soon so I can share them with all you lovely bloggers again.

 

So ... don't forget to visit me some time again!

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B.  

My Little Something New ...

Hello my dear friends,

today I would love to share my finished creation that I told you a little about yesterday.

I am happy the way this creation worked out because I am not a sewing machine person and for this creation I had to use my sewing machine but as I said it worked out well.

 

And this is what I have created ...

 

 

... a lovely small fabric pouch.

 

 

 

 

 

Having completed this little pouch successfully I am now working on a few more of these fabric pretties ~ I have a few different styles in mind already. Of course once finished I will share them with you lovely bloggers again.

And until your next visit ...

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B.