Once A Candle Snuffer ...

Hello my dear friends,

these days some pieces I choose to work with are not old, but everything is something that someone didn't want anymore.

I was at our local Goodwill store donating some stuff that was not needed in our home anymore and while I was there I decided to pop in and take a look around. I wasn't looking for anything,  just browsing but I did find something little that just spoke to me. It was a little silver candle snuffer, not old or too fancy but neat and nicely tarnished. It just appealed to me so much and instantly a picture formed in my mind. I knew what I would want to make with it and exactly how I wanted it to look like, so I bought it.

And this is that little candle snuffer.

Is is a simple tarnished silver cone with a little ring to hold it with so you don't burn your fingers and the special little thing of it is, that this neat piece has a half moon that embellishes it nicely.

Going with the picture in my mind, I wanted to use dark blue fabric with this creation.That gave me a chance to do a little fabric dyeing again, which I enjoy so much. I choose to dye a piece of an old linen table runner, a small doily, a piece of drop cloth and some seam binding too.

 I was so caught up over the kitchen sink ...

 ... that I didn't even notice that I had a little furry friend which was laying on the railing of our deck, watching me through the window whilst I was busy working away. So sweet!

The little squirrel stayed there, just laying down for at least another 15 minutes ...

... with his/her head resting it's front paws before it was time to leave again.

Once my dyed pieces were rinsed out, I hung everything outside to dry which didn't take long at all since it was a very warm day. Unfortunately not all of them turned out to be the shade of blue that I was hoping for. It is amazing how different materials take on color because everything was a different shade of blue.

With my fabric dyeing not have turned out the way I hoped it would, I went in search for something that was the right color and I found it in one of the drawers in my studio. A few years ago I had bought a stack of cotton velvet samples that were from a Toronto furniture store and they were in the most beautiful colors.

 I found what I needed! ...

 ... "Midnight" blue velvet!

 It was beyond perfect and exactly what I was looking for, for the creation that I was wanting to make. One of the lengths of seam binding that I had dyed was almost a match and it harmonized very nicely with the velvet. Now I could finally start actually working on my little idea. 

It took me a little time but now it is done and that is what I am sharing with all of you today ... my newest creation (and yes, it is a pincushion). I can't help myself ... I am an passionate pincushion maker! And here it is! I named it ...

... "Midnight Skies".

At times I like to keep my creation simple but lovely and that was my first thought with this one too.

I wanted to keep it very simple by just embellishing the outside of  the candle snuffer with some seam binding that I had dyed in a lovely shade of blue but that just wouldn't do. It needed more! I wanted this little piece to shine. I was thinking of looking into the midnight skies with the moon looking down on the world and the stars sparkling like tiny diamonds from afar. Sparkling ... stars ... that is, what was missing! ... Sparkling stars! In my eyes one of the best thing to use to achieve that neat look is ... sparkling Swarovski crystals.

 I added one to each of the ends of the seam binding and was so pleased with the way it looked ... just the way I had seen it in my mind and I didn't stop there.

 I made the actual pincushion from the lovely midnight blue velvet I had found in one of my drawers. I framed it with a double frill made of the same blue seam binding that I used on the outside of the candle snuffer and with the sparkling stars still in mind, I also added some Swarovski crystals to the velvet pincushion as well, to make it also sparkle a little.

  

 

I hope you have enjoyed my newest pincushion creation as much as I have enjoyed making it. 

I am still working on painting our hallway. I had hit my right elbow very hard on the corner of one of the walls and unfortunately need to rest my arm for a few days. It is so sensitive at the moment, that I need a towel, that is folded thick, to rest it on the table when I am sitting at it, that's how sore it is. I am just waiting for the bruise to come out and my elbow to start turning colors. That will teach me to be more careful next time. 

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

Home Alone ...

Hello my dear friends,

what do yo do when you are home alone for a weekend? ... I paint our house!

I wasn't actually completely home alone ... our cats were with me.
This past weekend my daughters had gone to Toronto to see Ed Sheeran and James Blunt (sigh) in concert and were going to be gone for two whole days. I didn't really have any plans made for Friday and Saturday so I had to come up with how I was going to spend my time alone at home and then I thought of it! 

I absolutely hate the color of our entry hall and upstairs hallway and something had to be finally done about it. My husband wasn't home either (he works and lives in Alberta for a part of the year) but he had told me, that he wanted to hire someone to paint everything but that wasn't what I had in mind. I wanted to do it myself again and surprise him with it being all done when he comes home in August. I had done this before with our master bedroom, living room and kitchen too. I actually painted the living room and kitchen/dining room a week before Christmas one year and was done with both rooms in two days from start to finish including moving all the furniture around twice. This was different though! Little did I know how difficult and much work it would be to do a tall staircase wall!

I started Friday morning after I dropped the girls off at the Greyhound bus station around 11 am and didn't put the paintbrush down until 10 pm that night. Here was me thinking that I would be done

in two days with priming the walls and actually painting them too but I only got the priming done on the main floor walls and then I just had to stop. My arms and feet were aching from stretching and standing barefoot on the ladder. I was happy though because I had actually started doing it. The next morning I started early again and finished priming the entire entry hall and upstairs hallway. I was very pleased and quite worn out too but ... I did it! The ugly brown was gone and a very patchy white primer was taking it's place for a the next  several days.

Of course I almost forgot to take any before pictures but half way through with the priming I remembered to take a few, so you could see the old color of the walls.

I did tell you it you it wasn't a nice color! Far too dark for my liking and the shade of brown was just too yucky too.

I even took the door bell cover down and I am painting it the same color as the walls so it blends in and doesn't stand out anymore.

All done and primed and I am one happy lady!

I am going to take a little longer with the actual painting of the walls so they turn out good and once done I will of course share a few new photos of it with all of you. I am excited to have it hopefully completed soon because that is another big thing that I wanted to do and off my to list.

Just because I am not being creative on a large scale doesn't meant that I am not creative on a smaller one. I am working on a few little pieces right now and I am hoping to share one of them with all of you very soon.

So whenever you have a few spare moments, do stop by here at Todolwen and see what I have been up to.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

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.