My Little Yellow Shoes ~ A Re~Creation ..

Hello my dear friends,

I had created these little neat altered baby shoes some time ago and liked them very much. I had kept them as baby shoes then but ...

... with Spring finally approaching and all the little feathered critters outside singing in the sunshine and  flying around, I thought it would be the right time to re-creating them into something I love so much, namely little nests and I am so happy I did so because I just love the result in each and every tiny way.

The small shoe I worked on was left as is and I chose not to stiffen or paint it because it would have taken away from the so lovely shade of pale yellow which is so appealing. I tried to make the little nest appear very natural as if a little bird had actually gathered bits and pieces it found here and there, like a piece of twine, a snippet of lace and ribbon, a strain of wool, some dried grasses and of course a few feathers ~ just like it would happen in nature. Two tiny wooden eggs were given a subtle shade of off white, nothing more or less which now live in the their new little home. The final touch I added to this creation were two of my vintage velvet violets for that little hint of color and this creation was then done.

(Yes .. I know a lot of photos again but I almost never can make my mind up which ones to share or not that's why I just share all of them.)

My 'Little Yellow Shoe' nest ...

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed my newest making. It was a lot of much fun re-creating it. 

I have the second shoe still here to work with but I am not quite sure what I am going to do with it ... maybe another little nest? No, not maybe ... most probably. 

 

It would be so nice for me to visit me here at Todolwen again sometime.

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day.

 

Nature At It's Finest ...

Hello my dear friends,

I have been keeping something amazing from you which I should have shared as soon as I found it a little while ago. I first head about this on CBC News where it was featured and since them I watch it every day. It is not a sit com or movie but a reality show in it's own unique way.

Did I make it sound interesting yet?

This is what I am talking about ..

 ... an amazing person has set up a live stream camera in their backyard across from a humming bird's nest which right now has two babies living in it. All this takes place in a rosebush that lives in a backyard on Vancouver Island, Canada.

The first time I tuned in, the babies were only 3 days old and oh so tiny that the were tucked away in the tiny nest. Now they are I think 2 weeks old and they have grown so much that their little heads are always sticking out of the nest and they now have their feathers too. 

 

There is a whole story to all of this about Phoebe and her babies Crystal and Lola and you can also find videos on YouTube from their hatching and growing until now.

 

(Photo courtesy of Phoebeallens)

 

This is link to their website where it gives you all sorts of information ...

 

 http://phoebeallens.com/.

 

And if you would like to see nature close up at it's finest right now just click here ...

 

http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam

 

I am so happy I have shared this with all of you and I hope it brings you as much joy as it does me.

 

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

 

My Ups And Downs ..

Hello my dear friends,

my 'Up' ...

... a few days ago I received an e-mail from a company named 'Build Direct' telling me that they liked and have featured one of my creations on their website!

 

http://blog.builddirect.com/29-unexpected-uses-for-kitchen-items/

Their article was called " 29 Unexpected Uses for Kitchen Utensils" and features some really neat ideas of using kitchen utensils in some very different and neat ways. My creation that was chosen to be featured is no. 21 and it is this one ...

 

 

... my little pincushions that I made by using the tops old of salt and paper shakers.
I was over the moon about this because everyone enjoys it when their worked is liked.

I would like to thank Build Direct for choosing my creation ~ you are so very kind.


My 'Down' ...

... when you discover that another crafter has taken the concept of one of your original creations, tweaked it a little here and a little there to give it a somewhat different look, published it in their book and make it sound as if it was their idea without the tinniest mention that they were inspired by a fellow creator and crafter. (No names needed ~ just saying that would be enough and the right thing to do.)

"Nothing personal ~ just business".
I got this quote from "You've Got Mail" and it fits but unfortunately damage and hurt is done.

Who did it doesn't matter, so please do not ask me for the name because it will not be given ~ it matters that it was done!


Life is full of ups and downs~ some smaller, some bigger and some times it's easy and sometimes it's hard to deal with them. Right now I am working on letting the 'up' take over the 'down'.

My wish to all of you is ... many 'ups' and very few 'downs'.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.  

 

This Is What I Was Talking about ..

Hello my dear fiends,

 this is what I was talking about with being a 'no-reply blogger' and not having your contact information set up.

I received a question  a day ago about my violets and I am unable to answer this person because none of their contact information isn't available to me. The only way I might be able to get in touch with them is this way now .. so if you are the person that had a question about my crochet violets please contact me again with an e-mail address so I can reply to you and answer your inquiry.

 

Have you all checked that you are not a no-reply blogger yet?

It might be worth it.

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,
 

So Very Far Behind ..

Hello my dear friends,

I can't believe how far behind I am with all sorts of things, especially my project of de-cluttering
and creating, writing and sharing posts here on Todolwen.

(I forgot to mention that this photo was taken a few weeks ago and I just wanted you to know how bad it had been.)

 I think that this long and dark Winter has taken all my strength and my mojo and placed them into hibernation mode because I am always tired and just can't seem to get anything done these days. I am just hoping this will get better very fast since the sun is starting to come out more and more every day.

I had taken some amazing photos these past months of snow and ice, many of them and never shared them so far but I will do my best to get into gear and share them in several posts hopefully soon.

I have also been spending very little time being creative.
I have had some ideas but not worked on many of them ~ it seems like there is a cork in my bottle of creativeness. Oh ... I am not a happy camper now. Creating is a big part of me and when that isn't there, I don't like to come out to play.

 

The only thing that comforts me is knowing that I am not alone with this.
 I know all of us get this down point once in a while and then I see you all bloom again filled with beautiful creations and amazing ideas and  that is where I want head to right now.

I just need a little more time to get there.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

 

Are You A 'No Reply Blogger' ? ..

Hello my dear friends,

have you ever wondered why you don't receive an reply to your comment or an answer to a question you asked a blogger?

 

At times it can be a little frustrating when you are trying to reply to some one's comment  or contact them and they are a 'no-reply blogger' and on top of it, they haven't ensured that their 'contact me' / 'e-mail me' settings on their blog are working properly!

Lovelies ...

 

... how are we meant to talk to you, answer your questions or just send you some love?!

 

There are so many tutorials out there on the world wide web that will help you sort this little hick-up out and then you will receive replies to your comments or questions.

 

How can you check if you are a no-reply blogger?

Again just search and you will find what you are looking for.

 

Here are a few links that I have found that might be useful to you ...

 

http://www.flusterbuster.com/2013/02/are-you-no-reply-blogger.html

 

http://morefromyourblog.com/no-reply-blogger-how-to-fix-this/

 

... and there are so many more out there.

 

So why not make it your little task this week to check if you are a no reply blogger and if your e-mail setting are working?! I m sure it will make you that tiny bit happier.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day. 

 

My Tiny Part ..

Hello my dear friends,

You all know the wonderful Vicki by now or as I love to call her my dear friend or 'the amazing nest creator'! At this moment in time she is putting the final touches on her newest designer nest which is the 'Vintage Spring' Nest and it is beyond beautiful.

Last year Vicki was so sweet and asked if I would like to do a little something for this nest and I jumped for joy when she did. I actually wrote a short post about this already s ago but I never showed you what my tiny part of this beautiful creation was going to be.

My contribution is my little crochet 'Flutter~By". 

 

 I made 60 of them in two sizes and within a day or two they were on their way to Vicki.

Now I am just so excited to see the completed nest.

Vicki shared a preview of it on her blog last year and you can find it here ...

 

http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.ca/2013/05/vintage-millinery-prelude-to-spring-nest.html

... and read the story behind this beautiful piece of art.

Vicki is an amazing lady with a huge heart of gold that does so many amazing things for others just because she wants to help and give. She is a true angel and I am so honoured to be a tiny part for this great cause ~ thank you my dear friend for asking me ~ you have made me very happy by doing so!

Now all I have to do is just like several others of you, is to wait for the e-mail or post letting us know that they are on their way and then start getting very, very excited. I know for sure that I am going to be!

It was so nice of you to stop by today and visit me here at Todolwen and I would love to see you here some time again.

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

Have  a peaceful and creative day.