Almost Forgot To Share ..

Hello my dear friends,

one thing I forgot to do with a prevoius  post was give you the possibility to see the size of the millinery head pincushion. So ... without further a do...

 

... here is the pincushion and next to it you will find a Looney to give you an idea on the actual size of it and saying that, the size of it is just under 5 inches.

I also have a few new findings to share with you as well. I found them some time ago and I don't know why I haven't shown them to you so far?!

 

A wee pair of 'klompjes' ~ they are only to 2 inches long.

 

A nice tarnished trinket box ~ now I just need to give it a new life and ...

 

 

... lots and lots ...

 

... of pretties!!

 

 

 This is some of my favorite fabric. I use it in my pictures a lot. I wanted you to see the detail up close because it is so pretty. I bought it few years ago as 'damaged goods' in a Fabric Land store for $2 a yard and I am so glad I did!!

And last but not least ...

... I just have to share something with you that my daughter said to me a few days ago, which I thought was so sweet and neat. She said if I were a Monopoly piece, I would be the one everybody would want to have. That touched my heart so much! I hope you are the Monopoly piece in someone's life too!!

I would love to to visit me here at Todolwen soon again!

 

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

I Cant't Believe I Messed Up!!!

Hello my dear friends,

it was a not-so-great morning yesterday because I discovered that I messed up with my PDF files for my millinery head tutorial. My scanner was on the wrong setting and I didn't notice it until yesterday morning after several lovely people already purchased my tutorial and I had already e-mailed it to them.

I AM SO VERY SORRY FOR THIS!!!!

I have now fixed the problem, rescanned everything and re e-mailed everything as well.

Unfortunately I am human and we are known to make mistakes from time to time and believe me, I was not a happy cookie when I realized I had made this mistake. I hope you all understand.

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

Have a peaceful day,


Karen B. ~ Todolwen

Guess What I Did ...

Hello my dear friends,

today I would love to share some news with you.

 I would love to welcome you to my etsy store!

I have been playing with the thought of opening a store/shop since some time now but never had the courage or time to do so until now and that is ecxactly what I did. I have been working very hard on a few tutorials and I finally finished my first one a few days ago and it is the tutorial for ...

... my millinery heads! 

Even though I made 5 of these when I started this design ~ all different sizes ~ I didn't think of taking photos whilst doing so, so I made a 6th one for the tutorial, which is the one you see in the photo below.

(The little lace crown I placed on top of it isn't quite finished yet even though I started it a few months ago but haven't gotten around to it yet again.)

My millinery head tutorial gives you all 4 pattern sizes ready to print off and use and all the instructions you will need to create these vintage looking pieces.

I have also added a little something extra as well. What ... I am not going to tell you. If you purchase the tutorial you will find out. 

Let me know what you think!! I hope you do like my little shop of old to new! Hopefully I will be able to add something new very soon again. Maybe a new tutorial or something else?

Please keep in mind that I am a newcomer to etsy so I am hoping not to make any mistakes. If I do so please let me know so I can hopefully fix it.

So ... don't forget to stop by here at Todolwen soon again!!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Just One More ...

Hello my dear friends,

I had to make just one more of my millinery heads ~ I couldn't resist this one really! You know me and ...  pincushions! And believe it or not this was the one that took me the longest to make because of it's size. It was a bit difficult sewing the smaller pieces together ~ who would have thought?! In the end it was so worth it because it turned out just right!

 

( Some people have the most amazing idea booklets but I am not one of them. I am not a very good sketcher really ~ I just tend to doodle my ideas down very quickly so I don't forget them.)

Just like with my larger millinery heads I chose a tarnished piece as the stand. This time it had to be smaller though and luckily I had the right thing on hand. Last year some time I had bought a baking tin filled with little oilcans and that is what I ended up using ~ a tarnished little oilcan.

To embellish it I used a small piece of tattered lace I had left over from Donna's felted crown kit and to finish it off I added a little something sparkly in the form of a broken earring.

All together it made this ...

I love the way my final, yes ...FINAL... millinery head turned out ~ so neat!

I hope you have enjoyed my latest little creation ~ it was a lot of fun making it!

Right now I am back outside working in the yard for a few days ~ weeding! All the sun and then the rain we had made the weeds grow so fast. We are starting to put in our outdoor lighting as well. Hopefully I will find some time to sit and create a little in between still.

I hope you will stop by Todolwen soon again!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

The Proposal To My Daughter

Hello my dear friends,

today I would love to share the video that was secretly taken on the day my daughter Ashleigh's boyfriend Ryan surprised her and proposed to her at the park where they kissed for the first time 4 years ago after a day of clue hunting all over our town.

I am so happy that this was captured and it can be watched over and over again in years to come.

Ryan's friend Andrew followed my daughter and filmed every step of the way and all Ryan's other friends, his brothers and Ashleigh's best friend Briannah helped to make this happen. My daughter  had no idea that this day would end with her being engaged. She actually thought it was all about her and her boyfriends anniversary that was on the upcoming Canada Day.

I am smitten with this!! I hope you will enjoy it too!

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

Have a peaceful, creative and very happy day,

Karen B.



And Then There Were More ..

Hello my dear friends,

having had so much fun designing and making my first little millinery heads I didn't stop there and made a few more over the weekend. I made two more which are bigger than the first ones. All I need now is something neat to be placed on top of them but I am sure I will find something soon. The large and extra large one are the size of a small infants heads ... hmm, I just saw a beautiful baby bonnet in the antique store that would look perfect.


These are my two millinery heads I have made last week ...

 

... and ...

 

...  then there were more.

 Now I have 4 lovely millinery heads to display little treasures.

 

I decided to use different tarnished pieces for the bases of each head and I think it worked out very nicely.

 

It might be an old tarnished drinking vessel or ...

 

 

... an old candle stick holder ~ it always looks just right!

The two larger millinery heads are big enough to hold infants bonnets as you will see in the pictures below that I took of one of them.

 

 

And this is the baby bonnet that I had seen at the antique store. I did go back and buy it after all!!!

So ... that's another neat creation completed and I am so happy with the outcome of it! I wonder ... maybe I will try something I can place on one of my little heads next?

Well, you will just have to come back soon and visit me again, here at Todolwen to find out.

 

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

Karen B.

Treasures, Treasures, Treasures ..

Hello my dear friends,

apart from walking on the beach and swimming in Lake Huron I also went treasure hunting this past weekend and I was very lucky to have found some very neat pieces ~ some for me to keep as is and some to create with.

 

I found this neat tattered salt shaker just before went headed home again. It is actually really heavy you wouldn't think so just by looking at it. I almost didn't buy it but then I knew I would regret it in the end, so I did!

I also found a few new hat pins which now are going to find a home in their new stand aka saltshaker.

An old harp key and some vintage sleigh bells.

An old candle stick and ... half a hinge.

 

 I just love the detail on the half hinge and the patina on both pieces.

 

An old string holder ~ I just have to find a place for it in my studio now and again I just love the detail and patina of this piece.

 

 A very nice gentlemen at the out door market 'The Pinery' was so kind and sold me these 2 tiny fairy tale castles made from pewter. To give you an idea how small they are ...

 

... I placed one in front of a book page covered matchbox. Are you thinking what I am thinking?

I can see a new match box creation in my mind ~ something to do with a fairytale I think.

And last but not least ...

 

... a lovely vintage safety pin with a pretty rhinestone as decoration.

All in all it was a lovely weekend and I am busy again with yardwork and also making some new creations.

It would be so nice if you would visit me here at Todolwen soon again and until then ...

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

Have a peaceful and creative weekend,

Karen B.

A Place To Rest My Little Crown

Hello my dear friends,

I was just talking about having no ideas to create or very little or no time to do so in my last post or actually in a few of my pervious posts and now ... well, my 'crafters block' seems to be slowly lifting and I am making and taking more time to create.

I have been working on a new idea these past few days which I came up with when I received my felted crown kit in the mail from Donna Goss. I love the way she displays her crowns ~ on little wooden stands. I wanted to display my crown as well but just different.  I had a vision of a vintage millinery head, all tattered and stained something that I just can't seem to let go from my primitive past but then again it gives the item a aged and vintage look. Finding one, well, almost impossible to find a small one. I have checked eBay and other websites ... nothing! So ... nothing better than ~ to make one myself!

 

Having a picture in my mind of how I wanted the millinery head to look like I took to paper and pencil and started to design. It took me more than one (way more) attempt and not only in drawing to finally come up with my vision in reality but in the end I really like the way my design turned out. I actually like it so much that I am going to be making more than one and in different sizes.

And this is my newest making ...

 

... my millinery head form.

I am not really too sure about the writing but ...

 

... otherwise I do love the vintage look it has.

 

The little tarnished candlestick holder was perfect for the job as a base.

 

 

Now my little crown has a proper little head to rest on and shine.

 

My second little millinery head form is a bit larger and the stand for this one ...

 

... is a little tarnished litte cup/vase that I turned upside down.

Again the look I wanted!

 

Creating this project was a little challenging with the coffee staining. I normally stain my muslin before I cut and sew it because you can iron your fabric flat to work with since when you wring it out your fabric is always all scrunched up. This time I made the piece first, then coffee stained it and dried it in the microwave very carefully by placing it in the microwave for 30 seconds, then taking it out and running my fingers inside the piece to 'iron' it whilst being damp still. Something that has to be done carefully because it comes out very hot and it can burn but also fingers are not heat resistant ~ I know now! It only needed to be popped into the microwave twice and the piece was just slightly still damp but nice and smooth and that's when I stuff it. The still damp fabric takes the shape you want it to be better and stretches a little too. Once dry the fabric is every so slightly taught because it shrinks a little and looks lovely and vintage too and that is exactly what I was looking for.

 

I am still working on a few more sizes and I think the largest will be the size of a small infant's head so I can actually place an old baby bonnet on it. I think these would be so neat to display vintage little baby bonnets, your crowns of wire or felt and other beautiful millinery pieces.

 

I hope you have liked my newest creation today ~ let me know what you think if you have a spare moment.

I would be so happy for you to visit me here at Todolwen again in the near future.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.