Trading Creations (A Gift For A Gift) ...

Hello my dear friends,

I have totally forgotten to share with you that I am now also on Instagram since a few weeks and I should really get in touch with the lovely Karen Valentine to put a little link button here on Todolwen for it so you can follow me there if you wish to do so.

I must tell you that I am following some very talented people from all over the world already. From photographers to homemakers, farmers and creative people, just like me and many of you. One person that I am following is a lovely lady name Makiko from Japan. She does what Michelle Palmer does, she creates the most beautiful ink drawings and is an amazing artist. I had come across a photo of  her of work on day. It was a ink line drawing of London, England and it was so stunning. I was very interested in buying a  piece of her art and therefore contacted her about it. She is the sweetest and kindest person ever! She told me that her art is her hobby and she doesn't sell it but she offered to gift me a drawing! I was really taken by her kindness but wanted this to be a two way thing, so I thought of how it could be done and then I had it! We could trade creations (a gift for a gift). I would make her something that I do and in return she would make me one of her amazing drawings. She was happy to trade, which again made me happy too.

 Now my mail from Japan has arrived ...

... and this is my drawing the lovely Makiko made for me. 

I love it!

Makiko's Artwork

If you would like to see more of Makiko's art, just click on the above link.

Isn't it just so beautiful?!

 Just look at those delicate lines. Makiko often uses a link well pen with a very fine tip do her very detailed and beautiful line work. My drawing is of Salisbury Cathedral. The city of Salisbury is close to where we were stationed with the army in the UK. If you are ever in the UK and in Wiltshire, you should go to Salisbury and visit the town and it's cathedral ~ you won't regret it!

This is what I created for Makiko in return ...

... it is a tiny garden of buttercups that grows in a vintage pocket watch.
Two little white butterflies live happily among the tiny pretty yellow flowers.

My little garden is now on it's journey, all the way to Japan and I so hope Makiko will like it.

I have taken a liking to making these little gardens and have created a few more of them that I will be sharing soon with all of you. Most likely they will be placed for sale in my Etsy shop in the near future. So ... if you would like to see my other little pocket watch gardens, do come back and visit me some time again here at Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Now Listed ...

Hello my dear friends,

just to let  you know that my latest creation is now listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

My Little Old Needle Book

Just click on the link above if you are interested.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Two Vintage Fabric Doilies ...

Hello my dear friends,

yesterday morning, being a Monday morning and with nothing to do really, (no school! no work! YAY!) my daughters and I decided to go and do a little junking. I don't tend to do so too often these days. I seem to have become very comfortable just being at home and not driving all over town all of the time anymore. Not only that but I have a little "shop" upstairs. My studio is filled with so many neat and lovely things to work with that I don't really need to go buying things but we did because it wasn't about spending money but spending time together. I must say, that I was very good and didn't go crazy.

 I found two very pretty hand embroidered fabric doilies that I just couldn't leave behind. After buying them I was happy and ready to head home again. Whilst driving, my mind was working away and I before I pulled into our driveway, I had an idea of what I wanted to turn these little pretties into.

Of course I couldn't wait and had to start to work on my idea right away as soon as I got into the house. I finished my newest creation this morning and that is what I am sharing with all of you today.

And this is what I made from one of the neat fabric doilies ... a lovely needle book!
And here it is ...

... my "Little Old Needle Book".

I have seen many old samplers and vintage needle books and wanted mine to have the same sort of look and feel. I embroidered the word "needles" onto the doily in black embroidery floss which goes with the little black stitches in the flowers. I continued with the same concept of how I made my first drop cloth needle books. Cotton batting "pages" which I quilted a little will hold many needles and pins. The final thing I added was two lengths of seam binding that will allow the little fabric book to be tied close.

I am happy with the way this creation has turned out very lovely and exactly the way I hoped it would ... simple but pretty and of course it is useful too. But best of all, I have given something old a new life and that is something I love doing. I will be listing this little fabric book in my Etsy shop tomorrow if any of you might be interested.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit me today, 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.

My Newest Found Treasure For Me and Myself ...

Hello my dear friends,

I don't often advertise for companies but this time I happily will! This is not a sponsored post, just a post with me sharing a company I really like.

Have you heard of "MaxSold"?

Maxsold.com

It is a company that basically comes to your home and sets things that you want to sell up for sale. They then put everything onto the Internet and auctions them off. They do moving sales, downsizing and estate sales. It is really neat and I have been a successful bidder for the second time now. As far as I know, they are in Canada and the USA but I am not really sure if they are any where else in the world as of right now.

I had signed up to receive their updates and one day I saw that an auction was going to take place just down the road from where I live. It was a little old lady that was moving into a care home. I scrolled down the pages of her belongings, which was a little sad when I thought about it. All of her treasures and belongings were there for sale, one more beautiful than the other. I found three things that I was interested in and did a little bit of research on them before I decided to place my bids. On two of the items I was outbid right away but for some reason, no one saw the beauty in the third item I liked so much. I bid and I won that auction by just $1! I was so happy! I couldn't believe that no one else bid more than I did on this treasure.

What did I win?!

A real beauty but you can see for yourself in a second. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to take any photos of my own but I will share one of the photos from Maxsold that made me want to bid on this lovely piece in the first place.

(Photograph courtesy of MaxSold)

And this is it! ... My newest found treasure for myself!

It is a original Frederick Cooper mid century "Shaft of Wheat Lamp" with original shade and even the original wiring and switch ... it is so stunning! Again I can't believe no one else actually wanted this amazing lamp. Maybe it's because it is a very large table lamp (44 inches tall) and people are not into things like this anymore. I for one am in totally love with it! Not only did I win the auction and was now the owner of a beautiful treasure, I also couldn't believe the price I paid for it.
 After MaxSold's commission and taxes my bill came to only ... CAN $ 39.78! (US $30.15)

Once I picked my treasure up and back home, I did a little more research and I was surprised to say the least when a price popped up on a antique website in New York. I didn't expect to see the number I saw but it doesn't matter because I didn't buy this lamp because of what it's worth, but instead for how gorgeous, pretty and charming it is. Now all I have to do is find a space big enough for it to stand.

Do you have a few moments? ... Grab a chair and click on the link under the Maxsold sign at the top of this post. Type in the location you are in and see what comes up! You never know what treasure you just might find.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

150 Years Young ...

Hello my dear friends,

today is a special day for all Canadians!

It is our homeland and this great country's birthday.

To be exact it's 150th birthday!

Happy Birthday Canada!

Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Hugs.

My Little Walnut Pincushions ...

Hello my dear friends,

I am very excited today to share a little something that is special for me.

A few months ago I was approached by Katerina from the online magazine Alovak and asked if they could publish one of my older creations. Of course I said yes! (I was so buzzed about this!) It is so lovely being asked to be published and I am so grateful for Katerina reaching out to me and that is what I am sharing with all of you today!

http://alovakmag.by/

Alovak is a online magazine it is from Minsk, Belarus.
It came to life in April 2015 and it is all about crafts and being creative in many different ways and this month they have just published their 9th issue.

This is what Katerina, who contacted me, told me about the thoughts behind Alovak ...

"We think that creativity should be present in the life of every person, regardless of his kind of activities and education. The aim of the project is to inspire readers to new achievements, to search for oneself and ones' own creative individuality. In the magazine you find interviews with talented people, original author's materials about creativity, master classes and useful advice of professionals, searching for inspiration."

You can read all issues of Alovak magazine for free, just click on the link under the cover photo above and it will take you there.

 Every issue of Alovak has a certain theme. The theme of the June 2017 issue is about walnuts and what you can do with them. My two little walnut pincushions from my "to put it in a nutshell" posts which I had made some years ago were chosen by the magazine for publishing. I hadn't made a tutorial back then when I actually made the little pincushions but I have now. You will find all the instructions either in the online issue of Alovak or below in this post, that you will need to make a little walnut shell pincushion. Oh, by the way, the word 'alovak' translated means "pencil".

I chose to work with walnut shells because they are such a beautiful little creation by Mother Nature. Of course they are also so very cute and just neat to work with too.

... and here is the how-to that I wrote for the magazine.

(This isn't one of my step by step tutorials with photographs but just a written tutorial. I am hoping it is written well enough for anyone to be able to create a little walnut shell pincushion.)

You will need the following to make one pincushion ...

~ A half of a walnut shell
~ 4 X 4 inches piece of fabric of your choice
~ Fibrefill
~ Needle and strong thread
~ Scissors
~ Crafting glue
~ A small piece of lace and trim
~ Something pretty to decorate your pincushion with

And additional for the hanging pincushion ...

~ A piece of seam binding and little metal ring


This is how you make the little pincushions ...

... cut a circle from your fabric, approx. 3 inches in diameter. Using your needle and thread, sew a running stitch about 1/4 inch away from the edge. (You are making a sort of fabric yo-yo that you need to stuff.) Now stuff your yo-yo with your fiberfill. You need to see how much stuffing will fit into your walnut shell. Once it fits and fills the shell firmly, pull the threads tight and then tie the threads in a knot and cut off the excess thread. Now glue your yo-yo into your shell. Next decorate your little pincushion to your heart's content with anything you like. Add lace or trim to it, or leave it plain if you wish. I love to add a small piece of old lace and a little piece of sparkle to mine.

If you wish to hang your little walnut shell pincushion, make a bow from a length of seam binding and place it aside. If you would like to use crinkled seam binding, I have a tutorial on how to make it on my tutorial page. Now thread another piece of your seam binding through your little metal ring and knot the ends. (The length of seam binding depends on how long you would like it too hang.) Using your craft glue, glue the seam binding with the knot onto the top of the shell and then glue the bow in front of it, covering the knot and make it look pretty.

And now you are done and have a lovely little walnut shell pincushion.
This is a neat little something to make for yourself, as sweet little gift or you can use it as a Christmas tree decoration even. It is up to you!

For anyone new to Todolwen ... I have over 30 free tutorials on my tutorial page and several for sale in my Etsy shop too. Why not pop over to both sites and take a look, you might just find something you would like to try out.

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.

A Little White Thistle Flower ...

Hello my dear friends,

after I made my little purple thistle flower pincushion, I knew I wanted to make a pincushion but with the very subtle colors like white, off-white, beige and grey and I have now done so and that is what I am sharing with all of you today.

I only had one more of the larger pocket watch casings that had the little "ring" at the top where I could thread the seam binding through to make a crochet watch chain. It also wasn't like the plain one I used with the purple thistle. This one had a train design engraved onto the backing. At first I was a little concerned that it wouldn't look nice but it was done, I do think it suits the little pincushion after all.
And here is my newest pocket watch pincushion.

I call it simply "A Little White Thistle".

It has turned out just as neat as my other thistle pincushion did ~ just take a look!

I hope you have enjoyed my newest little making. 

 This pincushion is already spoken for but I am going to be listing my purple thistle pincushion in my Etsy shop in the next few days if any of you might be interested. Right now I am working on a few new ideas and hopefully one of them will turn out the way I hope it would. What ever does works out  I will of course share with all of you, here on Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.