The Modest Violet Tutorial

Hello my dear friends,

today I would like to share a new little tutorial with you. I made a creation a while ago with a baby dress called 'The Modest Violet'. I made a small crochet voilet which I tea stained with a raspberry tea to give it just the right color. Lately a few of you lovely bloggers have asked me for the pattern, but until today I had never made a pattern for it ~ I just made them from memory.

My first little modest voilet.

This is a very easy pattern just like my tiny crochet flower. The violet has only one round to crochet and only a bit for the second one so you will able to make many, many of these in a short period of time.

I almost always use white or off white cotton yarn to crochet my flowers and once done I normally tend to stain/color them. I use raspberry tea to give the voilet in my creation it's color but you can also use food coloring or easter egg colors to do so. The final touch for me is when I add a tiny vintage pearl to the center of the voilet ... finished!

 

 

Little voilets unstained.

I hope you will enjoy this little tutorial ...

Make a magic ring with your wool and crochet the following into the ring ...

Round 1 ... 3 chain stitches, 2 double crochet,* 3 chain stitches, 3 double crochet* ... all in all you should have 5 sets of these when you are done.

Round 2 ... crochet a slip stitch into each of the first three double crochets. Now crochet the following into the 'hole,loop, opening' ... 3 chainstitches and then 9 more double stitches in the same place.
Next stitch a slip stitch into the middle one of the three next double stitches and again in the next 'loop,opening' crochet 10 double crochets, loop off and done. ( Boy ... I sure hope this makes sense to you, it does to me!)

But that is not all ...

I have also drawn up another graphic quickly with with the crochet symbols as well. 

 

I hope I have written this tutorial without any mistakes. I try to do my best with my tutorials.  Please, drop me a line and let me know what you think about this or let me know what you have used the modest voilet for in your makings.

And don't forget to come back soon and visit me here at Todolwen!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,



Karen  B.

Violets ... Sweet Violets

Hello my dear friends,

after what seems like such a long time I ventured out with my daughter Ashleigh today to one of the antique stores I visit and I found something lovely! I actually had seen this beauty some time ago and then it was gone ~ sold I thought but today it was back and I wasn't going to let it get away again and now it is mine.

I am talking about a lovely vintage hat covered in vintage millnery flowers in the form of  velvet violets. Small ones and larger ones ... light ones and darker ones ... many, many voilets! Needless to say that after arriving home with it, it didn't take long for the scissors to came out and play, clipping threads here and there and freeing the lovely blooms from their bed of dark blue fabric.

To tell you the truth I haven't got any creation in mind just yet for these beautiful blossoms but I am sure if I look at them long and often enought something will grow in my mind to give them a new life!

Such beauty!

All together I 'picked' 75 vintage tattered voilets!

I am so excited to see what new creation will come to blossom from these violets! Please be sure to stop by Todolwen every now and again to see what I am up to, and to see what happens with this wonderful treasure I picked up today!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B. ~ Todolwen

I Have Wonderful News To Share ..

Hello my dear friends,

today I have wonderful news to share with all of you. I couldn't tell you before and it was so hard to keep this secret but now I can share!! My daughter's boyfriend Ryan proposed to her on the weekend and she said 'yes'!!

It was so neat because all of his friends and family were there to help. Ryan had made up clues to special places  that were important to the both of them and at each place there was a friend or family member that had a new clue for her and at the end all the first letters of each clue spelt 'first kiss' and it was at the place where they had their first kiss four years ago, which was in a park at a lovely wooden pavilion, where Ryan proposed...

Ryan was there waiting for her ... and my baby girl had no idea what was going to happen. Afterwards she told us she thought it was about their 4 year anniversary that is coming up. She was so stunned when Ryan suddenly got down on one knee and pulled the ring out of his pocket ( I know all this because Ryan's friend Andrew filmed the entire thing) ... and she said yes!!! After that they were going for dinner and another surprise for my daughter was that we all were already waiting for them which was part of a fantastic day for every one! And is was so nice because my husband was home from work for all this aswell. I am one happy Mom today because my baby girl is so happy!

Right now I only have a few photos to share but once the others are ready I will share them too with you of course.

My baby girl Ashleigh and her fiance Ryan.

This is the park where they had their first kiss and in the gazebo he proposed to her.

Their lovely cake ... with a little miss spelling but it didn't matter at all!

As you can see, my weekend was very eventful and full of happiness. I didn't get any time what so ever to create and I am hoping I will do so very soon. I also haven't been able to do any work in my garden/back yard neither so this coming week is going to be another very busy one. I hope that you will visit me here at Todolwen very soon again and until then ...

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Finally Some Time To Post ..

Hello my dear friends,

unfortunately I didn't finish my outdoor project/challenge on the set date. It's not really too bad, it was just something I would have liked to have been able to do and since the work isn't running away, I have decided to take as much time as I need to finish it and not go crazy anymore and push myself to the limits every day. So far I have moved approx. 8,5 yards of rock from my driveway to the backyard and I am proud to say, all on my own! Unfortunately my back is saying something else.

And this is as far as I am as of this morning ...

 

... slowly, but surely getting there ~ I hope!

I would like to say thank you to all of you with your kind words about hoping I might get the lost camera back ... well ... nobody came forward claiming they found it and yes, it is sad! Luckily I had downloaded all the photos from it earlier that day but I am still upset that it happened.

I did some creating time in between shoveling gravel and other back breaking chores to make my baby girl Caylagh (she is twelve now) a gift for her birthday on the 13th ( see my lucky number)!

...mmm ~ cheese cake!

Both of my children are of British and Canadian nationality and Caylagh really likes the Union Jack so when I found a canvas with it, I decided to make a matching pillow for her window seat in her bedroom. I took the canvas to a fabric store to find a good match of colors and I think it worked! ( Silly me ... I took pictures of all the steps whilst making the pillow and then I deleted them from my camera before I downloaded them !!!!! I think I need to slow down!) Oh, well ... at least I can show you the finished pillow and the canvas that gave me the idea.

The canvas ...

 

... and my latest making ~  the coordinating pillow.

It was quite easy to make and I am thinking of making another one or two but from drop cloth and muslin maybe for my living room  (hubby is British) and I think it would be a rather nice touch to our home.

I would like to share a few photos with you that my younger daughter Caylagh took. My birthday girl took these a week or two ago in the front yard of my neighbour with my new camera. Not only have I been gifted with an amazing camera but my baby girl has a real eye for a good photo too.

 

This is my favourite picture she took of the little critter!

Isn't this tiny wee bunny so neat ~ peeking through the leaves to see if anybody is there?!

For now that is all that has been happening, but please stop by very soon again ~ I am sure there will be something for me to share with you here at Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

My Past Four Days ... Ups and Downs!

Hello my dear friends,

do you have bad days at times? Well, I had one this last Thursday!

The evening before I was working on my front yard, weeding and tidying it up. I always take before and after pictures to see my progress and I did so yesterday as well. Then I continued to weed and once the bugs and mosquitoes were getting too much for me I decided to go inside the house again. All is well I thought ... well, until the next morning that was ...

I was getting ready to head outside again and wanted to grab the camera and ... no camera!! I looked and looked every where, I even tore open the garden waste bag and dug through it with my hands ... still NO camera. The last time I remember seeing it was when I started working the evening before taking a few pictures. I almost tore my house apart to find it and searched the front yard more than once ... still nothing! The worst thing is, it's not even my camera but my daughter Ashleigh's!! I felt and still feel awful about it. Ashleigh isn't too happy but she is so sweet saying, if it is gone, it's not good but don't worry. My younger daughter says that I have most probably only miss placed it and it will show up sooner or later. I think it must have fallen out of my pocket and I didn't notice it and then went inside and between that moment and the next morning somebody saw it laying on my front lawn and took it! I have put a note on our tree and I am hoping that it might help. I actually got so upset about this I didn't get out to work on my outdoor project at all that day so that is another thing that made me feel even worse, since I only have a little time left to complete this challenge to myself again.  I truly hope your Thursday was better than mine.

I hope somebody will react to this sign! I took this picture with my new camera which I will be watching like a hawk!!

Friday thankfully did turn out a bit better ~ I got a good bit of work done again which made me happier but nothing on the lost camera so far. Here are before and after pics of the part of my garden I managed to do ...

Before ...

... and after a hard days work!

It might not look like a lot of work but I can tell you it really is very, very hard work ~ the stepping stones were really heavy!

On Saturday I finally finished the right side of our house and I am so happy about that but I am not done just yet.

 One side down and one to go!

 Sunday morning I started bright and early on the other side of our house. This side wasn't too hard because it was your basic shoveling stones into the wheelbarrow and then pushing them to where they had to go and bump them out but never the less still a lot of hard work! I only got to work just over 4 hours because it was very hot that morning.

On another note ... I am going to start working on a new little tutorial I have in mind and I am hoping I will get a little creative time soon and of course once finished I will share with all you lovely bloggers.

And last but not least ...

 I also have to make a gift for my younger daughter Caylagh. It is her birthday on June 13th! I won't be able to share this creation until after her special day.

 And finally ...

I don't think I will have much time to blog this coming week but please don't forget to stop by ~ you never know if I had a little spare time for Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,



Karen B.

The View From My Window ..

Hello my dear friends,

I love the view from my dining room and kitchen window. It overlooks the entire backyard with our willow tree 'Salisbury' and now the new pool as well. This is where I sit in the morning, every morning and drink my first coffee, think about life and work on Todolwen. This is what made me want to buy this house when I first saw it ... the view from the window!


This was the view from my window one early morning this last May. The sun was shining, the leaves were starting to unfold in all the bright colors ~ my backyard was waking up after a long sleep over the cold months.

And this is the view I had when I woke up a few days ago.

 I was greeted by ...

... two ducks happily swimming in our pool!

They stayed there for about half an hour, popping in ... 

... and out of the water and then flew away ~ that was such a lovely beginning to my day!

And this is what I saw from my window yesterday evening, whilst I was reading some of your blogs ...

... a raccoon visited out garden!

I find it amazing that even though we live in a city, we still have wildlife in our backyard!

Isn't that just wonderful!?

It was so nice of you to drop by and visit me here at Todolwen. I hope you have enjoyed your little stay. Please, do come back from time to time and see what I have been up to!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Fairy ~ A Tiny, Graceful, Delicate Imaginary Being ..

Hello my dear friends,

as promised I would like to share the second of my fairy wing creations with you today. It is a matching piece to my first one and they harmonize each other so nicely. As with the first creation I used the same neat bits and pieces with this one just slightly different. And again I used both styles of photos to show you this creation ... I hope you enjoy what you see!

I named this creation ...

'fairy ...

 ... a tiny, graceful, delicate imaginary being'

I had a lot of fun making these two magical little creations. I have a few new ideas in my little book waiting for me to pick one and start creating it but right now I am working on my outdoor project since it isn't raining and the deadline of my self set challenge is getting closer. I will try and work on something new hopefully very soon so please keep visiting me here at Todolwen, don't forget it's yours to discover!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

I Do Believe In Fairies

Hello my dear friends,

after working very hard outdoors last week I decided to take a break and work on a few posts for Todolwen but unfortunately it took me a bit longer than I thought. As I had mentioned in a previous post I was not quite finished with my final creation using my little 'remake' of the wire fairy wings that I had discovered on google last week but now I am ready to share them with you.

Since there are two fairy wings, there will be two posts, one for either wing as a completed creation.
Whilst I was taking photos for my posts I really couldn't decided which of the two different styles to use, so I chose both ~ one  style is very natural and the other is more staged.

These were my 'remake' of Cynthia Thornton's Woodland Wings.

I named my first creation  'I do believe in fairies'. I love this because every time I read or think about it, it reminds me of Tinkerbell in Peter Pan when she was ill and all the children in the world kept repeating ~ I do believe in fairies ~ to heal Tinkerbell and make her well again.

I used some neat bits and pieces for this and my other fairy wing creation. Things like ... a vintage stationary clamp that I had found in a thrift store with about 20 more in a bag and some bark that fell off of our willow tree 'Salisbury' and last but not least old dictionary pages. All these bits and pieces were as if they were meant to be together.

And this is my creation ...

'I do believe in fairies"

As simple as this creation is, it is also very beautiful I think.

I hope you have enjoyed my latest making and I hope you will visit me again here at Todolwen to see my other fairy wing creation.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

It Was My Birthday!

Hello my dear friends,

this past Saturday was my birthday. I am not going to say how old I turned but I would like to show and tell you how my day was ... it was lovely!!!  I received many lovely phone calls from relatives near and far from across the ocean too and everybody sang to me!! It was just so nice!!

When I came home after my morning outing this is what was awaiting me...

My two lovely daughters baked me another one of their beautiful cakes!!

I love the way it looks!!

It was decorated so lovely and the color of it, inside and out was amazing ...

... and the taste ...

... so good ~ I had two slices of it!! It was so yummy!!

My older daughter Ashleigh even had birthday wishes painted onto her nails!

And my gifts were just wonderful!

My two daughters got me these ...!

... new licence plates for my car!

Now everybody will know about Todolwen!!

It even says 'yours to discover' ~ so true!

My younger daughter Caylagh gifted me with these amazing journals to keep my ideas in.

And my hubby gifted me with a new camera!!

 Oh my, now I can take even better pictures for Todolwen!

And ... I received a giftcard for Michaels ... can't wait to spend it!

And last but not least ... lovely cards that touched my heart and made me laugh.

I must say ... what a lovely day!!

It ended with us going out for a nice dinner and after that sitting together on the couch watching a good movie. All in all ... my day was perfect!

For any of you lovely bloggers that have had their birthday this year already ... a belated Happy Birthday to you and for all those of you that still  have a birthday coming ... Happy Birthday to You!

~ please imagine my singing this to you:) ~

I hope to see you back here at Todolwen very soon ~ rememeber it's 'yours to discover'!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.