A Neat Wreath Kit ..

Hello my dear friends,

you all know how much I love to create.

And it is so nice to be able to find neat things that just 'talk' to you once in a while.  A few evenings ago I saw this neat kit and I just couldn't resist. It is a wreath kit from Lisa Mcilvain. Her blog is 'Tarnished and Tattered' but you will find her on facebook more often these days.

And this is her kit ~ just take a look!

Felted Wool Holiday Wreath

Isn't this such a lovely wreath?! It is made from small pieces of felted sweaters and blankets. Of course I had to have one of these neat kits because I just love the look of it. Now I can't wait for it to get here and for me to make it! I am already looking for the right ribbon to create bow for it. If you are interested in making one too and want to purchase a kit, just click on the link above, it will take you to Lisa's listing of the wreath kit.

Once mine is done, I will for sure share it with all you Lovelies here on Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

The First Day Of Work ..

Hello my dear friends,

work has started on our willow tree and I am surprised that I am not more upset about it. I think it is because I am telling myself over and over again, that it is this or the tree will have to go and it is working. Today I am sharing a few photos of what happened yesterday.

A few days before work started I took a photograph of our daughters under the tree, it is the only one believe it or not since we have owned this house.

 The evening before I took quite a few photos,sat on our deck and just looked at our beautiful gentle giant and a few tears did flow. I think, I was just stressed out and worried. After all it is a huge tree with very heavy limbs, something could go wrong. I am one of those people that always worry before things happen you see.

One last picture of it's lovely canopy.

The tree went from this ...

... to this.

 A lot smaller in volume already. 

Day one went without any big problems and a lot got done. The crew will be here most probably for three days due to how big the tree is. With all the lower branches now gone, you can see how tall our willow stands. I will take more photos as the work progresses and share them with you soon again.

Apart from running around and ensuring that the protective ground mats were always in place at all times, I spend my day inside at my dinning room window. I choose be a little creative to take my mind off things. I worked on a new little making for Christmas but it is not quite done just yet. Hopefully it will be later on today and if I get a chance to take photographs of it, I will share it maybe tomorrow with all you Lovelies.

Last but not least ...

... it is now November 17th today and tucked away, hiding from the colder winds ...

... my little rosebush is still sharing it's last little blossoms of the year and putting a smile on my face and maybe yours too.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

My Little Poppy ..

Hello my dear friends,

I thought you might like to know how my tiny crochet poppies are made and since I love to share, I am sharing a little how~to with all of you Lovelies today.

As you can see ...

... they are quite small and one fits perfectly on top of a penny.

As always, there are written instructions and a drawn pattern with crochet symbols so you have either to work with, depending which ever you prefer.

And this is how it is made ...

Make a magic ring and in this ring crochet the following ...

... *3 chain stitch, 3 double crochet, 3 chain stitch, 1 slip stitch.* Repeat this * two more times and finish by pulling the thread through the last slip stitch and now you have your first poppy!

A little something to know about wearing poppies for Remembrance Day, is to know what the colors stand for ...

... a red poppy is to remember all those who have fought and lost theirs lives and those that are still fighting for their country,

... a purple poppy is to remember all the 'war animals' that have supported mankind in war times.

And finally ... a white poppy is the symbol for peace.

I hope you like my new free little how~to and maybe one day it will come in handy for some of you. If you have a few spare moments, why not stop by sometime soon again, I just might have something new to share with you.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Our Willow Tree Salisbury..

Hello my dear friends,

I have talked about our willow tree that we have named Salisbury many of times before. I also told you how she was hit by lightening which happened about 5 years ago now.

Two years ago we were told that the tree damaged worse that we first thought and that to give her a better chance of being with us longer, we will have to have it cut back. We were looking at loosing about 30% at least of her canopy size. Two weeks later a crew came out to start the work.

This is the willow just before she was trimmed ... 

A very large gentle giant of a tree.



And she does stand tall and beautiful.

This little fir tree was/still is growing right underneath her in between the large roots and had to be covered by a metal pail to ensure it wouldn't be damaged. When we bought our house it was only 3 inches tall and a tiny green brush tree and now it should be able to grow tall and strong.

Four workers were busy working on the willow when ...

... it started to snow quite intensely. One of the men kept working up high at about 50 feet, but

in the end had to stop because the winds were picking up and it became to dangerous. In the end they worked on our tree for two days to make her safer and smaller.

This is what the willow looked like once they were done.

  That was as I said two years ago and this was our willow tree this summer.

She is about 90 feet or so tall now .. give or take a few feet and I can't believe how much she has grown in the past two years.

Stunning!

After an inspection we decided with our arborist, that it would be the best to have our tree worked on again but this time the treatment would be intense. It might not look like it but the damage had gotten worse and a date was set for this November. Yesterday I received the call to confirm when the work would start.

Since I knew for a while that the tree wouldn't be the way it is for much longer, I had started to take more photographs of  it to remember her being so tall and stunning.

These were taken about ten days ago, the leaves had just started to turn colors.

This coming Monday is the big day and I can  promise you it won't go by without many tears of mine flowing. I know it's the best thing for the tree and the safest to do but it still breaks my heart that she will be cut back over 70% this time and that very harshly.

Over the years we had many critters living in our tree, from squirrels to wild turkeys to our raccoon litter of 5 babies. It will take years before any of that will happen again but it is either taking the tree the back or it will have to be cut down completely. I know that in the end it is the right thing to do and I will be OK with it. I love this tree very much and my husband seems to understand this since the bill for the work is very high. I am  hoping we will have it for at least several more years to enjoy. I will be sure to take photographs on Monday to show you what has been happening.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting me here at Todolwen ~ it is always so nice when you do.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Never Forgotten ..

Hello my dear friends,

I have been a little under the weather these past two days with a terrible headache. I had designed a creation for the special day of remembrance but then wasn't able to get it ready in time. It is now done and I would love to share it with all of you. I named it ...

'In Flanders Field'

  

I made over 100 little tiny red poppies. Each poppy has a small dark Swarovski crystals in it's center, and the little field is wrapped with a band of vintage pale gold lace. The poppies shine bright to remember all those that have served and still are serving, and those who have given their lives. The gold lace represents King/Queen and country.

We shall never forget them and what they have done for us.

Lest we forget!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

On The First Day Of Christmas ..

Hello my dear friends,

as some of you know, three years ago I was very fortunate to be asked to make a tutorial for a Christmas publication of a craft magazine. I had shared some photographs of it but not so that it was usable as a tutorial. That is until today. The magazine is unfortunately no longer available in stores but I found a link and I will share it at the end of this post, where you might be able to purchase a digital copy of the magazine if you are interested.

I have scanned the pages that contain my tutorial for you so you can now actually view and use it as a tutorial. If you right click them a window will open. Click on 'open link in new tab' and you will be able to view the tutorial in a larger window.

(All photographs are courtesy of Stitch, Craft, Create.)

As promised here is the link from where you might be able to purchase a digital copy of the magazine in which I was one of many featured with their creations.

Stitch, Craft, Create Holiday 2012

 I would like to thank 'Stitch, Craft, Create' again for choosing and publishing my work ~ I am so grateful for this.

It was so nice of you to stop by today and visit me here at Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

My First Poinsettia Christmas Stocking Kits Are Now Listed ..

Hello my dear friends,

I am so excited today!

 I just wanted to let you know that the first kits for my Poinsettia Christmas Stocking ...

... are now listed in my Etsy shop.

 With this kit you will be able to make my ...

... Poinsettia Christmas Stocking.

At the moment I have three different colors available which are peach, cream and pink.

This is how you will receive your kit in the mail ... all wrapped up neatly in brown paper and tied up with a lovely seam binding bow.

And when you open your little parcel you will find this ...

(this is the cream colored kit)

... all the bits and pieces that are needed to make my poinsettia Christmas stocking which is approx 18 inches long and 5.5 inches wide at the opening.

I just couldn't stop myself from making a few little neat things to make this kit a tiny bit neater.

A little bag made from a dryer sheet, stamped with a silver snowflake that holds ...

... the pearls.

I also made little tags ...

... for the thread.

And last but not least ...

I made little sweet piece!

It is a needle book in which ...

... you will find the needles and pins tucked away in it.

The kit contains the following ...

~ 3 pieces of a felted vintage woolen blanket 

~ 6 yards of Winter White seam binding

~  4 white pearls

~ 2 skeins of embroidery floss 

~  10 yards of sewing thread 

~ 4 yards of stronger white sewing thread

~ 1 embroidery needle

~ 2 sewing needles

~ Some pins

~ 1 bamboo crochet hook

The tutorial itself will be e-mailed to you. 

You won't need a lot once you have the kit.

 All you will have to do is print the pattern off and gather a few things ... a quilter's marker, scissors, a glue stick, a piece of cardboard for the pattern, and your time! That is really it! You won't have to run around trying to find a vintage blanket and felt it, no looking for seam binding, embroidery thread and any other bits and pieces that are needed. You will have it all together in this kit.

And now the best thing ... shipping within Canada and to the USA is FREE!

I have worked very hard to put this kit and tutorial together and I hope I haven't forgotten anything. One last little thing to keep in mind is that these kits are made from vintage woolen blankets that have been shrunk and each blanket shrinks and felts differently, some more dense and some not so much.

If any of you Lovelies are interested, why not pop over to my Etsy shop and take a look.

Thank you for taking the time to visit me here today at Todolwen ~ it is always so nice when you do.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.