These Past Weeks ...

Hello my dear friends,

these past weeks have been quite eventful me.

I had to take time off from doing anything straining and rest due to being injured and unwell too. Unfortunately I was bitten by a neighbors small dog twice about a few weeks ago now (once on my right wrist and on my right leg) because silly me didn't see the signs of him not being a happy puppy and approached him anyways. (Won't do that again for sure!) I am now all healed now from being all bruised up and having a few puncture wounds plus I needed to have a tetanus shot because of it which made my poor arm ache even more.

 But if that wasn't enough, I am still fighting a severe infection in my left elbow which was very badly swollen and quite painful too. I have just finished a course of very strong antibiotics for it but still am on other medication for a while. I have been trying to rest it as good as possible in hope it would get better and it seems that it slowly is.

But things weren't all bad!

I did spend a little time being a creative in between ice packs and resting my arm but I have not shared what I made with all of you yet here on Todolwen. I did put one picture of it an Instagram I think but today I am finally sharing it with you here!

 I had found two little 1930 trophies in an antique store a while ago and now it was finally time to work with them. They are so neat and just beautiful. All tarnished and aged perfectly and just calling out to be turned into something and in my case, that is a pincushion ~ of course!

This is one if the two little trophies ...

... such a lovely piece!

And here is my finished little creation and I am so loving it!

Vintage velvet in a lovely shade of grey, seam binding and a vintage piece of sparkle made this lovely little pincushion the pretty little creation it is. Not too little and not too much but just right in my eyes.

.

My newest little pincushion turned out so neat and hopefully I will get to work on the the second little trophy very soon. This one is for sale and I will be listing it in my Etsy shop sometime this weekend.

The best thing that happened these past weeks was, that I went to Toronto overnight with my daughter Caylagh again.

 We went to see "Coldplay"in concert!

We have been planning this since the beginning of the year and it was beyond AMAZING!

The concert took place at the Rogers Center, which is right next to the CN Tower. Almost 40000 people were there and the place with just buzzing with an amazing energy, great music, a ton of lights and fireworks! And to make it really special, it was the day of the eclipse too ~ August 21st!

Everyone received a wristband when the arrived at the Rogers Center and that would turn out to be something really neat!

The wristbands would light up in all different colors and "dance" to the music that was playing. They  turn the Rogers Center into something almost magical.

Even the CN Tower lighting was tuned into the music that was playing a few yards away from it. Needless to say that my poor elbow didn't rest very much that night from dancing and clapping a lot.

Yet again, one amazing night and memory for me to treasure.

So, that has been my past weeks. What have you been up too the past few weeks?... Anything interesting?

It is so nice that you took the time to stop by today and visit me here at Todolwen and maybe I will see you back here again sometime soon.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Painting At The Lake ...

Hello my dear friends,

last week Sunday it was time to take a little break from house and gardenwork and spend some time with my lovely daughters.

We headed to a flea market at Lake Huron where I was really good and didn't spend a lot of money. After that we took to the beach. We just wanted to spend a little sitting in the sand but oh my gosh ... it was so crowded! Even though it was very busy, we were very fortunate to find a spot to sit and that close to the waters edge. 

We hadn't brought our swimsuits along because bad weather and storms had be in the forecast but we did bring water coloring and sketching things instead. For the first little while I took to looking for beach glass as I do every time I am at the beach. It has become my "thing". When ever I am at a beach, I try to find one piece of beach glass.

 And I did!

That done and dusted, it was time to sit down and be creative. We soon noticed that we didn't actually bring everything we needed after all, so a food tray became our paint pallet and ...

... what other than lake water was used to paint with.

I chose to paint what was right in front of me which was the sky and it's clouds, the lake and the beach. I painted my picture less the many people that were there and also without any guidelines, just straight ahead brush and paint to paper.

Looking at it,  I don't think it didn't turn out too bad for my first attempt of doing it like this but more practice is still needed for sure. 

It was so relaxing to just sit and watch the gently moving water and paint.

The more I concentrated on what I was doing, the more the noise of all the people in the water and on the beach became less intense and the sound of the shallow waves hitting the shore became more dominant. That changed once some seagulls turned up though. 

One of them had found something tasty to eat ...

... and another one wanted a piece of it.

He stood close by, waiting to make his move but it the end the seagull with the tasty food just took to the air and flew away.

On the drive home the bad weather decided to not hold off anymore and ... 

... at one stage I pulled over and stood for a few moments because of the intense rain. Luckily it moved on very fast and we got back home OK. Overall our day was very nice! I got to practice my water coloring skills a little more and spend some time with my two baby girls ~ it couldn't have been better!

Back at home, I have finally finished painting our entry hall and upstairs hallway. All I need to do now, is find somethings to hang on the walls and a new little hall table but there is not rush really. I have just started working on a few new bits and pieces that I have recently bought and I am excited to share them with you all once they are done. So when ever you have a few spare moments, why don't you drop by again, here at Todolwen and see what I have been up too.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Of Little Butterflies, Flowers And Old Timepiece Treasures ...

Hello my dear friends,

today's post is all about little butterflies, flowers and old timepiece treasures.

At times I get "hooked" on a theme that I am working on and I get a little carried away. (It has happened before!) That is exactly what has happened this time again. I had made my first altered art pocket watch creation with the little butterfly and little forget-me-nots and enjoyed it so much. It was so much fun to choose which colors I would dye my little crochet flowers and the matching seam binding. When I put everything together, it was like I was like creating tiny flower gardens behind glass in which a little butterfly lived.  I loved my first little pocket watch garden so much that I have now made a few more of these neat creations and that is what I am sharing with you today.

These little gardens were inspired by a sweet and very talented lady I know, Lisa Roberts from "Lisa Roberts Cakes". Lisa is the lovely lady that made my daughter Ashleigh's wedding cake and since the day I picked up the cake samples in a parking lot at the edge of town and met Lisa, we have stayed in touch. You know, there are people that you meet in your life that are just meant to be a part of it and she is one of those people.

Lisa inspired me to make my newest little garden creations after she shared this picture of some of her beautiful sugar flowers that she had made.

Lisa Roberts Cakes

I just love the delicateness of her flowers and especially the colors she had chosen for them.
If you would like to see some of her work, just click on the link under this picture.

And these are my little pocket watch gardens!

Little crochet flowers in subtle shades of beautiful colors and little white crochet butterflies that live in antique pocket watch casings with seam binding in matching colors to complement the flowers ~ just lovely in my eyes! And even though the glass of the lids is scratched (some more than others) it just doesn't take away from the prettiness of these little handmade gardens.

I am so happy with the way these have turned out ~  sweet and so neat!

And last but not least ...

... remember this little pocket watch garden?

 I made it for the lovely Makiko.
Her and I decided to trade creations and this was the one I made for her.

It has arrived safely in Japan and Makiko liked it very much which again made me very happy.

Thank you for stopping by today 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.

My Second Little Fabric Doily Needle Book ...

Hello my dear friends,

just a very short post to let you know ...

... that I have just listed the second one of two needle books for sale in my Etsy shop.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

And The Winner Is ... My "Christmas To Come" Giveaway 2017 ...

Hello my dear friends,

finally ... July 25th is here at last!

So many of you have been so sweet and have entered your name to my this year's " Christmas To Come" giveaway again which has put a smile in my heart. Thank you to all of you for all the lovely and kind words you left for me.

I am a little bit of an old fashioned gal and still like to do my giveaways the good old way.

I wrote all of your names (over 90 of them) down on paper and gave each one of you a number. 

All of you ended up in a bowl, (a Christmassy one!) all mixes up and then I picked one little piece of paper with numbers. 

And this the number, that was picked is ...

... no. 54! 

And no.54 is ...

... the lovely Maggie!

She left the following comment ...

"Such a sweet idea behind your giveaway, Karen! I remember those days as a child, waiting in anticipation for the gifts under the tree--it's fun that you are keeping that spirit alive with your giveaway. Hope you're having a great summer!"

My dear Maggie, I truly hope that I can give you that feeling once again this Christmas. 

Please, email me your mailing address so I can send your gift to you this December just in time for Christmas Day.

Thank you again to all of you, for once again making my "Christmas To Come" giveaway so special to me.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Doing A Little Painting On A Smaller Scale ...

Hello my dear friends,

I am still painting on a larger scale these days! ... Yup, my hallway is still not finished but I have decided not to hurry with this project to ensure that I don't mess up or overdo it and possibly hurt my back or anything else for that matter again. I have one wall left to do and that is the "tall wall" along the staircase which is two stories tall. I will tackle very soon but instead of painting walls at the moment, it was time to practice my small painting skills again and have a break from stretching and reaching far corners and edges.

It has been a little while since I had done my last water coloring (which I haven't even shared with all of you yet) so I thought it might be good to practice it again. I picked a lovely photo online of the countryside in Wiltshire, England looking towards Salisbury's Cathedral spire which is actually the tallest one in England!

 I chose to do some guidelines and went to work right away and a little while later my newest painting was done. Unfortunately I am not sure how happy I am with it.
 My daughters tell me that I expect too much of myself being a beginner and I think they might be right. I should practice more often and maybe even take a class on how to watercolor so I can learn more about how to do it. I would so love to be good at this and happy with what I do.

And this is my newest painting ...

Looking at it again, maybe it isn't as bad as I thought it was at first?!

My daughters both like my little paint a lot, so I gave this one to my older one Ashleigh. Now I need to think of what I am going to paint for my younger one. Hmm ... maybe Stonehenge? She really likes those "old rocks".

As I mentioned, I did another painting several weeks ago and I think that there is no better time to share it with all of you but now. It is another beach scene and I painted it as a gift for my daughter Ashleigh to hang in her home. It was of one of our visits to Lake Huron on a chilly and blustery day when the water was rough and there many waves. She stood there on a wooden platform, looking into the distance and lost in her thoughts. I tried to capture in my photograph and then in my painting.

And here is that painting ...

 I made one mistake though by painting her hair black and not a dark brown instead but she didn't mind. Again I am not quite there with liking this water color completely but my daughter does and that is all that counts. She actually framed it and it is hanging in her home now which is so sweet and such a compliment to me. My next painting post should hopefully be about my finished hallway.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by here at Todolwen and visit me. 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.

Jingle, Jingle, Jingle ~ Last Call ...

Hello my dear friends,

this is the last call for any of you, that haven't already done so and still want to enter their name to my this year's ...

... "Christmas To Come" 2017 giveaway.

I will be picking a name on July 25th!

My "Christmas To Come" Giveaway 2017

I have now chosen a gift (which is a first for me that it is so early) that will be mailed to one of you to be placed under your Christmas tree just in time for Christmas Day. All I am waiting for now, is for the last names to be entered so I can then pick a name.

 So if you haven't done so yet, click on the link above where you can read all about why I do this and leave a comment on that post and that post only. Then all you have to do is to wait and see if you are the one that will receive my surprise gift in December.

Good luck to all of you!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.