All In White ..

Hello my dear friends,

with our weather being a bit topsy turnsy or just plain mixed up ... (one day snow then sun and after that rain and snow again) I spent the most of my day yesterday working on another ring pillow design.

 

For this one I used some vintage white linen and a small doily. The embellishment consists of winter white seam binding roses with white pearls and the final touch was a vintage button with for a little sparkle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I gave the back a tiny sweet detail in the shape of a little white heart button.

 

 

As simple as this design might be it still tends to look so beautiful and elegant.

 

Apart from this ring pillow I have already completed another one too and for that design I used the coffee stained seam binding I had made a little while ago. I will share it with you tomorrow so if you have a spare moment you can visit me here at Todolwen and take a look at it.

 

And last but not least ...

 

 

... one of my little critters.

 

This little squirrel had so much fun chewing away on one of the branches of our maple tree and taking in a little sunshine.

 

As much as I love the snow we get here in Ontario, I am also very much looking forward to the spring sunshine.

 

See you all back here tomorrow hopefully!

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B. 

 

Some New Goodies..

Hello my dear friends,

a girl just can't have enough supplies when it comes to creating things and it doesn't really have to be something special, anything will do really. I went out for a few hours to just have a little 'me~time' outside the house and found a few bits and pieces.

At Michaels I found this ...

 

 

... A Jim Holtz piece on sale at 60 % off!

 

I found this lovely Daisy yarn at the Salvation Army store ...

 

... and at 49 cents it was a steal!

 

At second hand store I found ...

 

... these old embroidery hoops and they were exactly what I was looking for and needed too.

 

And last but not least ...

 

... more beautiful doilies.

 

All in all a very nice time out and some nice findings too.

Now I am back working on more ring pillow designs and I am also working on some designs for my daughters bridals shoes too. I will sure to be sharing them with you once I am ready to.

 

Until then my dear friends ...

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B.

 

With This Ring .. My First Wedding Design

Hello my dear friends,

I am sure I have mentioned before that my older daughter Ashleigh is getting married this September. I am so excited about it and also a bit nervous too ... my baby girl is all grown up now and ready to spread her wings.

 

She has asked me to create the ring pillow for her ceremony and also to decorate her bridal shoes too which is so neat and I can't wait to start. With the wedding getting closer and closer I am starting to try out different looks for the ring pillow first.

The ring pillow I am sharing with you today is just a small try~out one and not the one for the actual wedding just yet. I didn't use my daughters colors for it which are dark red, shades of purple/violet and ivory but instead the color of the roses I made recently in bark tan seam binding that I shared with you yesterday.

 I was very fortunate that I had a fabric in my chest that was perfect for this creation and after I finally made my mind up about whether to use a old doily or not and which one the design for the ring pillow was completed and not too long after that the actual creation was completed too. And this time I decided to hand sew more than with the machine and it was so much more fun for me but take a look for yourself ...

 

 

 

(I took many photos and again I couldn't choose which ones to share with you lovely bloggers so I am sharing them all. Some of them were taken in crisp bright light and others in the warmth of the morning sunshine which are the darker photographs. I truly am happy with those photos especially because they are unedited and have turned out very nicely.)

There is something special about these photos I would love to share with you.
Do you see the rings in my photos? ... They belonged to my Mom and Dad and it means so much to me that I have them.

 

I do like the look of it even though I can't make my mind up about the doily covering the heart so much. I am already thinking about my next try~out ring pillow. I think I am just going to  play with what ever I can find in my supplies and that looks nice together.

So ... do stop by soon and visit me here at Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful  and creative day,


Karen B. 

Rose Mainia ..

Hello my dear friends,

I need to share something with all of you lovely bloggers ...

... something has taken a hold of me ...

... it is the 'rose mania'!

I can't believe how much fun it is making these beautiful flowers and I am trying to find ways to make do without buying new ribbon to be able to create different looks. I have actually taken to staining some seam binding. I used my oatmeal colored seam binding and placed it into coffee and then dried it to give it a very vintage look and it does look very old and stained but will it looked good as roses?  I will leave that up to you to decided once I am done.

 

I really like the way the coffee staining has given the seam binding a very old and aged look.

 

 I have also made a few more other roses ...

 

  

These roses I embroidered on a piece of plain muslin a few days ago with bark tan color seam binding ...

... and now I am already working on a new creation with it - I am not done with it just yet but I will be tomorrow and of course I will post it here on Todolwen.

Last but not least ...

Do you know how addictive seam binding can become?

I am not sure why, maybe because it comes in so many amazing colors or because you can use it in so many ways or maybe just because it is pretty. Remember me saying earlier in this post I was going to try and not buy any more right now ... well, that isn't working for me and I am getting ready to order some more of it in the next few days.

My friend Dawn, from The Feathered Nest, has actually the color charts from all the Hug Snug seam binding and ... I want a roll of each please! If you would like to take a look, here is the link so you can do so and whilst you are there enjoy all the beauty of Dawn's creations.

http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.ca/2010/03/for-love-of-seam-binding.html


And finally ...

I am excited!.. Why?... I had sent some of my flutter~bys on their journey to Suzy in Australia a few weeks ago which have arrived and Suzy is planning to use some of them in the beautiful creations and I can't wait to see what she does with them.

 

http://suziqusthreadworks.blogspot.ca/

 

If you don't know Suzy's work you should pop over to her blog and take a look at the beautiful things she creates ~ you will not be disappointed.

It would be so nice whenever you have a little time spare if you would come and visit me here again at Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B.  

 

Old Man Winter ..

Hello my dear friends,

Old Man Winter is still around and doesn't want to stay at home just yet it seems.

 Everything received a dusting of the glistening white beauty last Thursday and this is the wonderful sight I woke up to that morning.

 

My backyard looked stunning and after it stopped snowing ...

 

 

... a young squirrel came to visit and have a little nibble on some apple and nuts.

 

That was a few days ago and this yesterday morning ... 

 

 

... my little Peter Pan was sitting in midst of melting snow and enjoying the sunshine.

I wonder is Old Man Winter going to make his mind up soon if he is going to stay home or not?

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B. 

'Presious To Me' .. A New Heart~Felt

Hello my dear friends,

making Heart~Felts is something I like to do when I am looking for a little moment of peace for myself.

 

This newest Heart~Felt I have named ...

 

... 'Precious To Me'.

 

When I create a Heart~Felt I always think of why I would give it to someone and I try to work with my thoughts when I look for and choose the embellishments I use on each Heart~Felt.

 

 

This one is small and delicate and it has a touch of sparkle to it to represent something that is precious, and in turn it is meant to represent the person you give to.

 

 

I simply adore making these little hearts. They are just so sweet and say so much. It is never the size or the price of the gift that matters, but the thought and love that has gone into it, and there is a whole lot of love in these wee hearts.

 

I hope you have enjoyed my newest creation, as much as I have enjoyed making it.

 

Until next time, 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

 

Karen B.