It Is Time To Remember ..

Hello my dear friends,

not only today but every day we shall remember.

 

~

Today we shall remember,

today we pay our respects.

Today we remember and hopefully never forget,

all those who have gave their lives;

to protect and save so many others.

This day every November,

we will always stop to remember

and lest we ever forget.

 

~

 

The cap badge above is my husband's which he wore every day and the medals are his which he was awarded with for serving and protecting his and other countries for 24 years since he was 16 years old.

 

 So today were are not only remembering all those who have lost their lives for their countries but also those (and all of their families) who are still serving and protecting all of us.

 

Wishing you all a very peaceful day.

 

Many hugs,

 

 

Karen B.

 

 

A Special 'Heart~Felt' ~ Never Forgotten ..

Hello my dear friends,

I haven't created a 'Heart~Felt' in some time now and with Remembrance Day approaching I thought now would be a good time to do so.

I had only ever once before made a single flower from synthetic fabrics where you cut circles from the fabric and then 'melt' the edges with a candle and I thought that this would be such a neat way to create the poppies that I would need for my 'Heart~Felt'.

 

 

I normally don't use bright colors very often but for this creation I bought fabric in beautiful shades of red and in different types and textures, cut my circles in different sizes and then stood at my kitchen sink with my candle and glass of water ( just in case) and 'melted' my flower pieces.

I of course had forgotten that 100 % polyester was the best fabric to use for this project. My 50/50 poly/nylon mix decided not just to melt a little to shape the flower but it ever so slightly burnt turning the edges black as well. But as I say ... things happen for a reason ... I really liked the way they turned out and once I had assembled my poppies the burnt edges of the opaque fabric was exactly what was needed to make my flowers look perfect for my newest creation. Three black glass beads made up the flower center.

 I liked these red blooming pretties so much that I made almost 20 of them there and then. 

 

Not long after that I had the basic 'Heart~Felt' cut from an old woolen blanket that I had felted, then sewn together and stuffed and just needed to work on the layout of the embellishing part and that now took me a little longer until I was happy with it.

 

And this is it ...

 

... my Remembrance 'Heart~Felt'.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This special 'Heart~Felt' turned out to be exactly what I hoped it would and I hope you like it.

 

Thank you for taking the time and stopping by here 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,

 

 

Karen B.  

 

 

My Box Is Out Again ..

Hello my dear friends,

I am not happy that I am again standing on my box and venting about something I have discovered.

So far I have had my designs taken more than once and then my photographs and tutorials and now the newest thing ... my name and when I say my name I mean 'Todolwen'.

I am not sure if I ever told you how 'Todolwen' actually came to life, so if I didn't ... here is my little story about it ...

 ... after deciding in 2011 that I wanted to create my own blog, I wanted a really neat name for it. I don't know why but for some reason the name 'Godolphin' came to my mind. I think it had to do with that I used to watch an old Disney movie about Blackbeard's ghost and his daughters and a school named Godolphin and the fact that there was an all girl's school named Godolphin in Salisbury, England where we used to live. I didn't want to use that name because it wasn't mine but I did like the way it sounded and it wasn't about what I do and that's when I came up with idea to use a few words and then turn them into an anagram and that would become my blog name! And that was actually my very first creation for my blog ... I created the name 'Todolwen'!

 

(Bear with me ... I will get to the point!)

 

As you all know I work very hard on my creations and tutorials. It will take my some time before I am not only happy with the creation but also with my photographs and posts that are worked on until they are perfect in my mind.

 

And this is why I am telling you all this ...

 

... about 2 weeks or a little longer ago I was on the internet and I had typed 'Todolwen' into the search bar again just to see what would pop up ...

 

 

...something did pop up.

It was a Pinterest board that was named 'Todolwen ~ old to new'.

 

 

 I clicked on to the link and it took me to the board but as I looked at the photos not a single one was from Todolwen but all from other people's projects. I actually looked at every single pin from this Pinner on all her boards and not a single thing on any of them had anything to do with me, my creations or Todolwen ~ so why was she using my name?!

 

Why am I telling you this?!
 (I am upset and annoyed about this.)

 

I am not happy for my name to be taken and used with things that are not associated with Todolwen (me, my creations and/or my blog) and I would like to ask any one out there to PLEASE NOT use my name if it has nothing to do with me!

 

I did try and contact the Pinner more than once but no reply so far. I have also contacted Pinterest and still am awaiting their reply to this.

 

I am now stepping down from my box and putting it away again. I am hoping it will be a very long time before it has to come out again. Thank you for understanding when I vent about things.

 

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B. 

 

 

I Made It Mine ..

Hello my dear friends,

about a week ago I visited one of my favourite stores ... Home Sense, to see if they had any of their beautiful Christmas items out already which they did! They had so many glistening wonders on their shelves but one of them caught my eye. It was a putz house church in pale blue and cream that could light up and it was under a glass cloche. The price was great and I went back and forth, thinking should I buy it or not and the only thing that kept me from buying it was that I didn't really like the way it looked. I liked the idea but the final touches were not my thing. I decided not to buy it because of that. Then a few days later and the cloche was still in my head, I had a great idea. Why not buy it and change it to my liking but again I decided not to do so. A few days passed again and finally last Saturday whilst out shopping with my daughters, we went to the same store again and that is when I decided to finally buy the little church after all.

  

See ... it is such a nice Christmas decorating but just not quite me ... yet.

 

At home I went to work on my idea of doing it my way. Using a sharp kitchen knife I slowly and very carefully cut between the card and glue and in the end I was able to take the glass cloche off and then start work on the putz house. I also removed the little trees that were glued down.

 

Out came to faux snow, glitter, my little bleached bottle brush trees and a few more things and my idea started to become reality. The church roof received a layer of newly fallen snow and the churchyard received some new cream Christmas trees.

 

Bit by bit it become more and more what I knew it could be like. Apart from one little mishap.

Now we all know that at times you can do too much and go to far and that is what happened to me with this creation. Whilst I was waiting for my faux snow to dry, I started pulling off the old glue, which was quite strong and stiff, that had held the glass cloche to the card bottom. My daughter Ashleigh said to me twice ... 'Stop now before you break it!' ... but I didn't listen. The second time I pulled a piece of dried hot glue off the edge of the cloche there was a sort of snapping sound and then it was too late ...

 ... I had cracked the glass at the rim ~ can you see the it?!

 Not at all happy with myself I put everything away and turned to watching a movie to take my thoughts away from how silly I had been and now annoyed I was for breaking the cloche. Almost two hours later and after the movie was over and on returning into the kitchen I then had an idea on how I could 'fix' the problem with the cracked glass which changed my mood again making me feel a little happier.

 

And this is what the Christmas Cloche looks like now ... 

 

And as neat as it is ~ it even gets better ...

 

... because it lights up too!

 

At first when I was thinking about taking this piece apart and working on it I was concerned that I would ruin it, which I almost did when I cracked the cloche but in the end it all work out the way it was meant to be.

 

Before I end this post, I would like to say 'thank you' to everyone that bought one of my latest nests.

One of my 'First Snow' nests is actually on it's way to Australia to find a new home. I will be making more nests in the future ~ I am just not sure when that will be and how they will look.

 

It would be nice for you to visit me some time soon again here at Todolwen.

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B.

 

More Early Morning Photos ..

Hello my dear friends,

again I couldn't resist of taking to my knees again early one morning a few days ago, when the air was crisp and the roof tops were glistening after being kissed over night by the frost.

 

Leaves had fallen onto our front lawn and there they were laying peacefully ...

 

 

... their edges looking like nature's lace has been added over night ...

 

...  and even the dew drops hat turned into little pearls of ice.

 

Later that day the sunshine came out and played with all the lovely colors it could find!

Standing proud in the autumn sunshine ...

  

 

 ... our flame bush is almost shouting out loud 'Look at me!' with it's bright pink color. 

 

  

A vibrant red cardinal took to our maple tree taking a rest and ...

 

 

... just below, a little chip monk looking for something to eat.

 

That is how lovely it was a few days ago. 

Now yesterday and even this morning are a different story all together ...

 

... All Hallows Eve was awful here ... high winds and so much rain ... and almost no children trick or treating! My daughter Caylagh and I  just stayed at home having a quiet evening carving our pumpkins just for us. We kept them in the house because the wind or rain would have just blown the candles out and that way we could enjoy them glowing in the kitchen. (Oh dear ... I forgot to take a photo!)

 

This morning the rain has stopped right now but we are still having quite high winds ~ almost 70 km/h gusts and my eye is on our willow tree 'Salisbury'. I am always worried about her in storms these days. I think it is time for a trim again and I am hoping I can find a new good arborist that can look after her since my old one seems to not be available anymore.

 

On the other hand, it's a good day to stay inside and hopefully be creative! Hmm ... I wonder what I could make today?! That would be something for me to think about and for you lovely bloggers to find out ... maybe the next time you visit me here at Todolwen again?!

 

And until then ...

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B.

 

 

My Little Christmas Magic ..

Hello my dear friends,

oh my ... I am actually so excited today that I am sharing my newest Christmas creation with all of you lovely bloggers!

Remember my canning jar lids and my little clue?! ...

(Sorry, the same bad photo again but it's the only 'before' one I took.)

... and do you also recall the little bottle brush tree that just didn't want to become white but stayed a lovely pale green color?

You do..?!

Now add lots of lovely things like sparkles and glitter and old lace and some little pewter critters and a little faux snow and now top it off with a tiny Christmas spirit and behold ... it is done!

This is it ...

... my little piece of Christmas magic ...

~ Oh Christmas Tree ~

 

 

 

 

 

A few of you were right with your guesses ...

... because it is ... 

 

 ... a Christmas music box ~ see the windup key?!

 

I am so buzzed about how this has turned out and I hope you like my newest creation too.

 

And as you know me do you really think this will be the only one I will create? No ~ of course not! So all you have to do is stop by from time to time and visit me here at Todolwen and see what I have been up too next!

... wait ... stop! ... I am not done just yet for today!

 What good is it to see a music box when you can't hear it?!
 ... just scroll down a tiny bit further and listen to my little Christmas music box!

 

I took this short video with my phone.
 I know it's a bit shaky but just perfect so you can hear the lovely melody.

I hope you enjoyed my newest Christmas creation as much as I loved making it!

Thank you for stopping by and visiting me again, it is always so nice when you do and I love hearing from you too.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B.