My Vintage Spring Nest Has Arrived ..

Hello my dear friends,

I am over the moon because my 'Vintage Spring' nest has arrived!

 It is so beautiful and it holds amongst so many lovely and pretty things, one of my little 'Flutter~Bys' which has now returned home to me.

 

What can I say other than Vicki's just has a magical touch to create these beautiful nests!

 

Every time a nest arrives, I feel like a child at Christmas when I unwrapped it. Of course I took many photos to share with you again. Some closer ones and some from further away so you don't miss a thing.

And here it is ...

 

 

... take a look!

 

There are so many beautiful bits and pieces that make this nest what it is ...stunning!

 



 

And there it is ... my little Flutter~By , all dressed up so pretty with glitter and a sparkling body ... just perfect for this nest.

 

 

I had seen this little fellow with another one slightly different and couldn't resist buying them. One lives with me in my Vintage Spring nest now and the other one has now found a new home with my dear friend Vicki.

 

 

 Just BEAUTIFUL!

 

I have said this before but I just have to say it again ... I am so happy that I was able to be a tiny part of this magical creation.

 

Thank you for stopping by and visiting me here at Todolwen today and do come back sometime soon again and see what I have been up too.

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day. 

Wedding 'Leftovers" ..

Hello my dear friends.

I think I now why my studio has taken a back step in getting ready.

My deep down de-cluttering and organizing has now progressed all over the house and I am not concentrating on one thing first. And this is how my newest creation came to be instead of my organizing and putting stuff away but maybe that was needed ~ 5 minutes of creating time.

 Whilst I was looking through some boxes that contained wedding 'leftovers' from my daughter Ashleigh's special day which she didn't want or need anymore, I came across some pieces of old glassware. 

 

 

There was a plate, ...

... a shallow bowl ...

... and a glass.

 

All of the pieces were beautiful and they were all used at the wedding. I didn't want to part with them really but I unfortunately also didn't have any use for them as they were. My daughter Caylagh told me right away what to create with them.

This ...

 

... a tiered stand.
Doesn't it look quite posh?!

I will be using this lovely piece in my studio (once it is finally done) to display neat things on.
And that is what I am going to work on today again ... my studio. I have so much planned for it and I can hardly wait until it is done and for the time to come so I can finally share it with you.

Thank you so much for visiting me here today at Todolwen ~ it is always so nice when you do.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Decluttering My Studio ~ Total Chaos ..

Hello my dear friends,

I hate when things start to drag but I sort of knew this would happen. I started full steam ahead with my studio and working on reorganizing it but I have been climbing the mountain very slowly. Keep in mind I am very busy otherwise but I also think I am just I need of a little more sunshine to get myself out of the hibernation mode I seem to be stuck in still.

 Unfortunately I haven't made many 'as I go' photos because I didn't even think of doing so when I first started this 'project'. I don't really think I am going to share too many along the way neither. Why? .. I would love to surprise you all when it is done! You know with photos before and after. That's if I can find any before photos (fingers crossed).

 I am actually planning on sharing my 'new' studio on this year's 'Where Bloggers Create' and I am so excited about it already! I have wanted to take part in this event since a few years now but never made but not only that, it also gives my more time to work on the little things until then.

 

(Unfortunately I still am having slight problems with my camera's focus.)

Instead of getting better, things had gotten much worse to my dismay at one time but it is looking much better than in the photo above already. I didn't think that this would be a walk in the park but I also didn't think that starting from the bottom would be so intense. I do know though at the end of it I will be very happy with the result.  

 

 

After I pulled everything out all at once I took my new boxes from Michaels and placed them onto the floor in a row and placed piece by piece inside the box it was meant to be in. That done, I made tags for the boxes so everything would able to be found right away and easily.
Everything needed a proper 'home' to live in.

My vintage linen and doilies found theirs in a drawer of my old dresser ...

 

...as did some of my old bits and pieces of treasures.

 

 

.

My stage coach trunk from the 1800's now houses all my lovely wool and yarn.
 I bought it in England many years ago and it only cost 7 GB Pounds which is about $14 and would you believe it ... nobody wanted it! All the better for me ~ it is a true treasure.

I don't know if I am going repaint the inside or not so a plastic bag will do for now to keep my wool protected. I never had thought of using my old tins and chests to store my supplies in instead of just showing them off  but it was the perfect solution. Again I am giving something old and unused a new life and not only that, I also am surrounded by my treasures in my studio. Like I said ...perfect!

More old boxes from rummage sales were covered with music sheets and some of them got neat chalkboard type labels.

I again re-found more things I had forgotten I had or just forgotten where I had put them ...

... like these bottle brush trees I had bleached last year ...

... or these pieces of old jewellery that I found hiding away in a box under some large books ....

... or these unfinished little 'Cupboard Mice' that were sleeping in an old tin.

This just tells you how unorganized I really was and didn't notice it because I would always (most always) know where everything was. I think that I what you call 'organized chaos'.

And it wouldn't be any fun ...

... without at least one of our cats helping out a little.

Iris decided to play in the unused pieces of my daughter's wedding dress but luckily didn't tear any of it. I am working on what I could create from it but so far I haven't come up with anything just yet.

Overall the best bit of advise I can give you is to find a home for everything ...

 

... so everything has it's place ~ it will make you feel that tiny bit happier in the end.

Another thing is to be firm with what you decide to hold on to.  I always make three piles when I de-clutter. One is to keep, one is to sell or donate and the last one is trash and I did so with this project too. I must say that so far there was very little for the trash pile but a nice amount for donating. Some of it went to a charity store and several bags went to my daughter Caylagh's school for the younger children to craft with. The thanks I received was so nice ~ a big hug and many smiles ~ again perfect!

I am still not at the finish line but working towards it.
My German Grandma always said " Gut Ding will Weil haben" meaning ... good things take time.
I am just hoping not too long and in time.

I would love for you to visit me again some time here at Todolwen and until then ...

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Now Listed ..

Hello my dear friends,

just a short note to let you know that my creations are now available for sale in my Etsy shop.

 

Wishing you all a lovely Sunday.

 

 

New Listings Coming To My Etsy Shop ..

Hello my dear friends,

the time has come again to part with some of my latest creations and find them new homes so I will be listing a few of them in my Etsy shop for sale.

And these are the creations that will be listed ...

 

... my 'Easter Blooms' creation ...

... my ' Pussy Willow' nest ...

... my 'Other Half' Nest ...

 

... and finally my 'Little Yellow' shoe nest.

My creations will be listed this coming Sunday morning ...

... May 4th at 11 am EST.

 

If you are interested why not stop by my shop then and take a look.

 

 

And last but not least ...

 

... have you all noticed my new thing here on Todolwen at the end of my posts ... my new neat signature?! Karen Valentine designed it for me and I love it. 

 

So nice that to visited me here today again and I would love for you to come back some time again.

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day.

 

 

Silk Embroidery ~ Something New To Learn Again ..

Hello my dear friends,

I just love to learn new things like so many of you. I had come across silk embroidered butterflies on the Internet a while ago and feel in love with them and I so wanted to learn how to make them. All I needed was the book and kit which I found on the eBay but ...

 

 

... to tell you the truth, at that time I didn't want to invest $40 for the kit and shipping so I didn't purchase it and after a while the thought of learning this craft sort of faded away somewhat until last weekend.

I was out and about doing my shopping with my older daughter and we made a short stop at one of my favourite stores ... HomeSense. Walking around the aisles I came to the small crafting section and looked around but didn't see anything I was interested in. I returned 5 minutes later because my daughter wanted to take a look and then something in the far back part of a shelf, behind boxes of cards, caught my attention. At closer looking there it was ... the silk embroidery kit I had wanted to buy and at an amazing price of ...$4.99! Well, that wasn't a hard decision to make ... to buy or not to buy?...SOLD!

 

 

The kit includes the book, a marking pen, some needles and also some silk ribbon in 5 colors ~ everything you need to try this amazing art out.

 

This is the butterfly I saw and wanted to learn and now I am finally going to do so.

 

Perfect! ... Snowflakes which I love so much! Maybe I will make some pillows for Christmas using this technique but on a larger base with Hug Snug seam binding?!

 

I was very eager to try this out but my first attempt was a total failure and ended up in the trash (and no photo taken of it) but I didn't give up that easily and tried something I already was familiar with ... spider roses and together with another creation I love to make ... my little 'Heart~Felts', I created this.

 

My second attempt with silk ribbon embroidery, a new 'Heart~Felt' ...

 

... 'Spring Roses'. 

 

 

 

 

It is far from perfect and I need to practice more and hopefully soon so I will get better at it but first I will have to purchase some more silk ribbon, so I am off to Etsy to do some shopping now.

 

Thank you for visiting me here at Todolwen and I hope you have enjoyed my newest creation.

It would be so nice if you were to stop by soon again.

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day.