Some More Pincushions To Share And A Few New Findings

Hello my dear friends,

I have been working on some new creations these past few days, but I haven't finished any of them yet. I just couldn't start one (of course), so I am working on about 4 different projects at this moment in time. For today I thought I would share some of my pincushions with you and a few of my findings as well.

As you can see, the lovely Dawn (The Feathered Nest) and sweet Barbara Jean (Treasures from the Heart) inspire me in my work. I have used some of their ideas to make my baby shoe pincushions.

They are so cute, and sweet, and neat, and precious!

I don't think that I will ever get bored with using old crochet doily flowers and tarnished and tattered treasures. They work great together and become beautiful pincushions. Most of my bases were bought
from a second hand store.

This is one of my new makings I am working on. It is a long stemmed rose made from an old sewing pattern. I am also working on another rose creation, but I am only half way there to finishing it.

Another project I am working on is creating something out of wire. Unfortunately it's not going too well right now, so I am not going to let you know just yet what I am trying to make.

One of my findings I would like to share is something I bought from a lady in Germany. These are old tin Christmas tree candle clips. In the olden days and even today, people use real candles on their Christmas tree. My grandma used to do so as well -  it used to smell so good! (I lived in Germany for some time).

My latest find was  in an antique store here in town - 3 lovely little heart tart tins - so sweet! I am not sure what I am going to do with them right now, but it is nice that I have them, waiting and ready to be recreated.

These are two of my favourite jars - my white buttons and my scrabble pieces. Last but not least ...

a tiny critter, fast asleep, dreaming of cheese wishes and other mousely goodies.

I hope you have enjoyed what I have shared with you today, as much as I have enjoyed creating them!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

It's A Grey Day Outside Today

Hello my dear friends,

it's such a grey day outside today. We had snow again last night and I really do love snow, but today is one of those days where the snow doesn't look pretty and the sky is dull and overcast and that is why I would like to share some new photos from the UK with you. Some of you know that I used to live in the UK for some years while my husband was with the army before coming back to Canada. It is such a beautiful country.

The photos I am sharing with you are from my 'things that make me smile' folder, and almost all of them are from my favourite newspaper The Daily Mail.

The springs first bluebells.

  

 An old castle in the morning mist.

 The most beautiful lavender fields just as the sun comes out.

 A field of vibrant red poppies.

 The Somerset countryside in the early morning mist.

And last but not least ...



Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

I used to live just down the road from here (7 miles away) and it is so amazing!



I would like to point out again, that I have no rights over these photographs. They have been taken by professional photographers for The Daily Mail in the UK and are for your enjoyment only.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

So Many Things To Create

Hello my dear friends,

I am sure at one time or another you have experienced the following:

Too many things to create and not knowing which one to start first? I thought so.

Well, that's my problem. Right now I have about 5 different projects I would like to start or try to make and I have this really bad habit of starting all of them at once. I end up jumping from item to item, working a bit on this one, then a bit on the other one and taking forever to actually finish any. I hope I will be able to start only one, maybe two new things in the next few days and then tell you all about them when they are done. There are some days when I wish I would have ten hands, and 36 hours to get everything done!

Have a creative and peaceful day,

Karen B.

Things That Make Me Go Awww!!

Hello my dear friends,

today I would like to share some pictures with you, that make me go "aww!"

I have a folder on my computer called "Things that make me smile". I collect pictures from websites and mainly from a UK newspaper called The Daily Mail. I collect these pictures for one reason and one reason only - because they make me smile! There is so much bad surrounding us in this world, but these pictures prove that good still does exist. These photographs make me forget about all the bad things and allow me to sit back for a moment and appreciate and smile at the good that still exists. I hope they will do the same for you.

These baby badgers were saved from a flooded area in the UK.

This is a baby sloth, also saved and now living in a sanctuary.

This is one of the first baby deers born last year in the Spring in the UK.

These are baby ducklings who were rescued and taken in by a caring family. They seem to enjoy swimming in the sink!

A baby wallaby! Isn't he ADORABLE?!

A tiny baby gorilla, unfortunately rejected by his Mother, is seen here in an incubater as he is being cared for by Zoo staff, on his way to recovery.

A beautiful baby panda from China.

A cute little baby monkey.

I would just like to add, that I have no rights to any of these photographs. They have all been taken by professional photographers and were published in The Daily Mail in the UK. These photos are for your enjoyment only.



Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Another Beautiful Giveaway!

My dear friends,

I just wanted to let you know that the lovely Betsy  from "My Salvaged Treasures" is having a wonderful giveaway!!

And this is the beautiful gift she will be giving away. Isn't it just gorgeous?! Please, drop by her blog and take a look at her other wonderful creations.

Here is the link to her blog:

www.mysalvagedtreasures.blogspot.com/2011/02/200-followers-giveaway.html

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

A Beautiful Giveaway And A Little Something For You

My dear friends,

I just wanted to let you know that the lovely Sonya from "Counting My Blessings" is having her 100th post giveaway! You should head over to her blog and take a look at her beautiful creations and her giveaway gift - it is just gorgeous!

Here is the link to get to her blog:

http://www.countingmyblessings-sonyawalker.blogspot.com/2011/02/hooray-my-100th-post-giveaway.html

This is her beautiful creation she is giving away!

And this is my little something to share with you for today.....

These are old photographs that I have collected over the years. These three in particular, are some of my favorites. There is just something so intriguing about old photographs, something that draws you in, takes grip of you and makes you wonder about the story behind the picture; After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and sometimes I wonder what the pictures would say if they could speak. I hope you enjoy looking at these pictures as much as I have, and please feel free to use these pictures in any of your creations; they will certainly bring beauty and life to anything and everything.

Have a peaceful and creative day

Karen B.

Hello my dear friends,

I would like to show you a few more of my makings. This time I would like to show you some of my baby shoes and of course, a new pincushion I made last week (you should know by now that they are my favorite!)

I also have a little riddle for you today. I have a little treasure of mine I would like to share with you (See the picture below). I am not going to tell you what it is until the end of this post. So ... what do you think this is?

I can tell you a few little things about it. It is made from thicker tin, it is about 2 inches tall, it is over 100 years old, and there is something inside it. Now you can start guessing!


Baby shoes!!!! EVERYBODY (or at least almost everybody) has to love baby shoes. They are just so precious and small and cute and adorable and wonderful ... (you see where I am going with this) - you just have to do something with them.

This is one pair of baby shoes that I found in a second hand store (aka my second home) and I decided to transform them into ballet slippers. (It is very hard to come by real little ballet shoes, so why not just create your own?)

Here is another pair of baby shoes which I decided to embelish with lace around the edge. I added some ribbon to the back so they could be hung up, and to finish them off I added some lace rosettes (which I made) and a little charm to add some sparkle.

Here is my last pair of shoes I would like to share with you today. These cute little Mary Jane's are just so sweet! They are a very pail yellow, and reminded me of  one of the first little spring flowers you would see in the spring sunshine ...

... and if you look real close, you can see one of my little critters inside sleeping! (I love my little mice so much!) I also like the writing I added to the inside sole of the shoe, almost like they have a story to tell of the journies they have made.

And now for my newest pincushion making ...

I found this little cup and saucer in a second hand store and  I could hear it whispering, "Take me home"! I think it was the color that intrigued me the most, not to mention the fact that this is such a small, dainty tea cup. The color made me think of a robin's egg - so fresh and delightful! It didn't take me long to come up with the idea of turning this into another pincushion. This is one of my favorite pincushions to date. I just love the little antique spoon I added on the side, and I chose these white pins because they made me think of sugar crystals.

And last but not least, the answer to my riddle at the beginning of this post...

It is a Victorian pocket candle holder!!! (I wonder how many of you thought it had something to do with pins?) I bought this beautiful little treasure in England and it even has it's original candle inside. Antique tin items like spice tins, hat tins, cash boxes and this candle holder, are a few of the things I like to gather for myself.

I hope you have enjoyed my post today, and I hope you have enjoyed the things I have shared with you.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

A Few New Makings And My Little Shoes

Hello my dear friends,

I just wanted to show you a few more of my makings and a little treasure of mine.

First of all here are a few new pincushions I have made. They were made last year some time from little trinkets and cups that I picked up on one of my weekend trips here in Ontario.

This pincushion was made from an old tarnished eggcup that I found at a market.

And this one is made from an old baby cup. For the center of the flower I used an old boot button.

I found this "vessel" in a second hand store. I am not even sure what it is, but I loved it because it was different.



I also like to make other things - not just pincushions. This sheep started off as a primitive creature. Coffee stained and baked with an old piece of tattered quilt on her back. I liked it but .... it wasn't right so I transformed her!

I just love the way she looks now! But, she is missing one little thing ...

A name!

She has a name tag around her neck but as you can see ... no name. If any of you lovely ladies of blog land have a nice name for her - please, drop me a line and let me know.

And last but not least (I really like that saying) .... my little treasure.

A pair of Victorian children's shoes.

These were a gift to me from my ten year old daughter Caylagh. She knows how much I love old things, especially when they are "as is" - old and worn. Aren't they just beautiful? I often wonder, if it was a little girl or maybe a little boy that used to run and play in them? If only they could tell their story. I find it amazing that these little leather shoes are over 100 years old and they have survived all these years to find a home with me.

I will be sharing more of my treasures in future posts.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

I Am Addicted!

My dear friends,

I am addicted to making pincushions. I just love them! I use broken spoons, eggcups, non broken spoons, candle holders amongst many other things, preferably old, tattered and tarnished (sounds like something I've heard before). I also like to use crocheted flowers from old doilies, bits of lace and buttons to give them the right look.

Here are a few of my pincushion makings. I have many more that I will show you in future posts.

This pincushion I made from an old eggcup which I bought some time ago in an antique store just before it closed down. 

I salvaged this broken spoon and turned it into a sweet little pincushion by adding little lace butterflies and a crocheted flower, and to top it off a little rhinestone as the center of the flower.

I just love to dig through all my bits and pieces of lace, buttons and any other little treasures I can think of.

This old broken spoon would have normally ended in the trash after I was a bit too harsh trying to bend it, but now take a look at it!

As you can see, I really do love old crocheted flowers and buttons.

Yay, this one didn't break! This is my first spoon that didn't snap when I bent it.

And last but not least ...

Do you remember the little shoe I showed you a few days ago? Well, here it is!

It now has started a new life as a little petite pincushion, thanks to the idea I received from a fellow blogger. I think it just looks so neat. Don't you?

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.