Spring Is Here ...

 Hello my dear friends,

Spring is here for sure!

 How do I know that? Well a few days ago the ducks that visit our pool and garden every year made their first visit and I can't tell you how happy that made me. 

Unfortunately it is not all good that this Spring will bring. This Spring will also bring the loss of our beloved willow tree Salisbury. 

Since she was hit by lightning 9 years ago we have been keeping a close eye on her. 6 weeks ago our arborist informed us that she was becoming a risk because of the damage to her trunk and that she would have be cut down and that soon. Needless to say I cried for days but it is the safest and the right thing to do. She is such a BIG girl at over 60 feet tall she could cause a lot of damage to our property or  someone else's if she were to break and fall.

But thankfully Spring does bring so much joy! 

The first flowers growing and blooming, singing birds and bunnies in the garden and so many more blue skies and sunny days, each one so nice! It also make me want to be more creative and I honestly think it's the sunshine thing. I have already made a new piece or two.

 I designed a new cottontail bunny and made it from drop cloth that I embellished with lavender made from pretty purple beads. It will be soon available in my Etsy shop.

Right now I am working on bunches of carrots because I just love making these knobby root vegetables.

I made some of them are made from a white fabric that has a thick woven linen look and the greenery is made from a beautiful pale mint green sari silk ribbon. The other ones I am working on are made from drop cloth with different styles of sari silk ribbon for the greenery and I will make sure to share them soon with you too. I am also planning on working on a new pincushion or two in the next few days since I haven't made any in what seems such a long time. These too will be for sale in my Etsy shop in the next few days and I will let you know when I have listed them here on Todolwen.

And that is all for today my dear friends. It is so nice that you stopped by and visit me here and I hope you will do sometime again.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day.

Stay safe and stay healthy.

Here's To Better Times ...

 Hello my dear friends,

What can I say, but it has been forever once again.

Firstly, I would like to say that I hope you are well and healthy and that your Christmas was filed with joy and peace. Secondly, that I hope the new year will be a great one for you and your loved ones and last but not least I also wanted to say thank you for being so sweet for sticking around.

2020 was quite a year with everything going on in the world and how it has affected our lives. I spent most of 2020 at home with my younger daughter which was priceless. Whenever it was possible my older daughter would visit us and the time together was just so lovely. Because of this we have all stayed safe and healthy so far and I am so beyond grateful for this.

Unfortunately other things were neglected during this time, one of them was Todolwen - this blog. Things hadn't been as they used to be for a while but 2020 really took all the wind out of my sails when it came to blogging. I didn't even do my "Christmas To Come" giveaway which makes me sad when I think about it now.

 My Todolwen facebook page has been messed up too as I have mentioned before and still hasn't been fixed so that I can sign into it and use it properly. The one thing I did continue though was my Instagram page because my phone was almost always at hand or close by and it is so easy to use.

 But here's to better times I hope!

 I am going to work on blogging more often again. I don't think it will go back to daily posts but more likely there will be weekly or bi-weekly posts, I am not quite sure just yet but I am looking forward to sharing what I have been up to when it comes to being creative and other little bits of my life. I am also going to create a new page for Todolwen in the next few days for my followers on Facebook. And I am hoping to create more again and therefore will have more goodies for m Etsy shop for you. Like I said, better than things were in the past. 

So, please stick with me a little longer whilst I work on things here.

Thank you for taking the time and stopping by here at Todolwen. It really means a lot to me when you visit me 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 and stay healthy.

Hugs.

A Wintry Warm Pincushion ~ No. 2 ...

 Hello  my dear friends,

my newest pincushion is done and I couldn't be happier with it.

It is simple but sweet, just perfect in my eyes with it's wintry warm feel. I was actually inspired by one of my own pincushions that I made last year. 

It was this pincushion that inspired me ...

And this is my newest pincushion!

This time I used a beautiful antique pocket watch casing as the base and the same sweater as the pincushion. The pinecones and the yarn were a must again well. It's almost like I created a little sister for my last one and I love that it turned out the way it did. Just lovely. Not too little and not too much, just right.

This pincushion is now listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

 I am already searching through boxes and baskets for some new supplies to create my next pincushion and I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. Being creative is to me is like warm hugs, snowflakes fall, birds singing, flowers growing in Spring or my family ... something I need in my life.

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Craving To Be Creative ~ Making Snowmen ...

 Hello my dear friends,

it seems like it has been almost forever since I woke up in the morning wanting to spend my day being creative and that is what happened a few days ago. I just had a 'craving' to make something and spend hours puttering around. The best thing was that I had something in mind that I wanted to make! So that is just what I did - I spent hours sitting at our dining table with our Christmas tree in view being creative.

And this is what I made! Four sweet cotton snowmen and each one as lovely as the next.

Let me introduce you to them ...

This is Flurry ...

... my first little snowman.

Then there there is Robyn...

My first one with traditional colors decorating his scarf.

And this is Jingle ...

Last but certainly not least ...

... this is Tinsel.

I love them all because they are so sweet in my eyes and they have their own 'personality'.

In case any of you might be interested, they will be on sale in my Etsy shop today 11 AM ET this morning.

I am just a applying the final touch to my newest pincushion which I will share with you tomorrow and when it will be up for grabs in my Etsy shop. 

Thank you so much 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 friend and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Festive Christmas Tassels ...

 Hello my dear friends,

I am enjoying being creative again so much these days and today I am sharing something new that I have just finished, a new set of Christmas sari silk tassels.

They are just so much fun to make and you can make them with all sorts and in so many colors. This time I made them in traditional Christmas colors. Sari silk and seambinding in red and green with little golden jinglebells and a golden pinecone all held together with hemp twine make they tassels just perfect for Christmas. I just love how festive they look! 

And here they are! ... All ready to be hung on a Christmas tree or even as a decoration on a gift. 

They are now listed in my Etsy shop along with a few other sets of my Christmas tassels.

Why not head over and take a peek? I am already working on a few other things right in between shoveling snow and I will hopefully share them with you soon.

Thank you for taking the time and visiting me 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, safe and creative day.

Lovely Mistletoe ...

 Hello my dear friends,

as you know I love to try new things!

 This time I tried make mistletoe using felt and pretty glass beads. After a try or two it worked out perfectly in my eyes! Now where to put that mistletoe? Well that wasn't a hard decission for me, a needle book of coure would be just right for it and that is what I am sharing with all of you today. 

And this is it ...

My favorite drop cloth, seam binding and cotton batting made the base for my lovely little leaves and berries.

This little needle book is alreay sold but since I enjoyed making it so much, I might just make another one again. Hmm ... I wonder if this would work on a pincushion?  Well, only one way to find out ... my next project possibly?! I can already see it in my mind. Unfortunately you, my dear friends, will have to wait a little until it is done.

But until then, I hope you are well my dear friends and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.

Something Christmassy ...

Hello my dear friends,

I don't do a lot of shopping ever really.

 A new cushion here or there once in a blue moon or a new throw to add to my collection. Unless I find something really neat that just jumps right at me, I don't buy it. With the way things are right now I don't go out that often but I did this morning. 

Michaels has a 50% sale for their Christmas stuff and I went a little shopping. I didn't go crazy and I didn't even spend $55 but to me was enough and I did get some beautiful pieces! Of course I needed to do something right away with all my new goodies so I did. I made a Christmas display for our living room table using my newest treasures combined with some pieces that I already had at hand and it has turned out so lovely and festive. 

Take a look! ...

The church is meant for candles which I bought at a church rummage sale a few years ago for $2. The silver tray came in a box of tarnished bits and pieces from an auction and was not more than a dollar in cost and the lights are from Costco last year when the were on sale for $8 for a box of three. My new treasures from this morning, in the shape of Christmas trees, were an amazing deal too. The large glass one was not even $14 and the smaller one was $11 so I got two of those of course. The pale green bottle brush trees were also $11. How nice that you really don't need to always spend a lot to make something pretty.

When I say this, I mean this honestly and not being full of myself ... this is the first time I actually made something that looks like something that I would admire on Pinterest and I can't tell you how happy I am with it.

And this is what it looks like when the light are off ...

I am already looking forward to my next project for our home eventhough I am not sure what it is going to be just yet. So that means if you want to know what it is, you will have to visit me sometime again. Hopefully by then I will have discovered what I want to do and until then ...

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

Have a peaceful, safe and creative day.