A Tart Tin Bird Cage

Hello my dear friends,

I have been very, very busy these past days working on all different ideas and creations. At the moment it seems like so many ideas are just popping into my mind and either I doodled them down or I actually start to make them right away. On the one hand it's great but on the other I am worried if my 'well of creative ideas' will dry up soon. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

I would like to turn this creation into a tutorial maybe ~ it would be my first tutorial that would be for sale which would also mean that I would finally have an etsy store. I am not sure yet ~ I am still playing with the thought of it.

And here is my newest creation and many photos again to share it with you ...

... a tart tin bird cage.

It took me more that one try to make this little composition of wire and tattered bits and pieces of tin and metal to work out but in the end it all came together rather nicely!

I hope you have enjoyed my latest piece of creativity.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

What A Difference A Jar Makes ...

Hello my dear friends,

today I would like to show you two of my previous creations that I have worked on a bit more and I  find that now they are actually finished. I didn't do much more work on them but the little I did do just made them, if you don't mind me saying so gorgeous!! And the main thing I added was a glass jar that looks like a vintage apothecary jar from the Dollar Store!

And these are those two creations ...

 my first one is ...

... my teeny weeny mouse Pea Wee.

I am so in love with this creation! Now Pea Wee has a real home where his little bed sits and he can sleep peacefully and be safe (don't forget I have 2 cats here at home that love playing with little toy mice).

And the second one is ...

... my first Wynken, Blynken and Nod creation.

(sorry about the photos not being so good ~ I took them outside and the sun wasn't doing what I wanted it to do and I am not such a good photographer.

I liked this little boat before but now I think it just perfect in every way and I can't believe that all it took to make these creations perfect was just putting them into a jar.

I had so much joy using these jars I am already thinking about making a few more 'jar creations' but first I need to get to the Dollar Store before all these neat jars sell out! Again once I have a new creation to share I will of course do so here on Todolwen.

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Homemade Birthday Gifts For My Daughter

Hello my dear friends,

yesterday was  my daughter Ashleigh's  birthday ~ oh my how time flies!

My younger daughter Caylagh and I decided to make her a handmade/homemade gift each to go with her other gifts. I had asked my older daughter what she might like and she wanted a pyjama bag preferably made out of leopard print fabric. After finding the right fabric, the design was very easy. I just had to put my little twist into this project and I did.
Caylagh decided to make her big sister a small bear out of a piece of an old blanket and after some upset with the look of the bear in the end with a little help from me it all came together and she was happy with the gift she made.

Birthdays are kept small in our family but they are very nice filled with lots of love and cake!

There were 22 candles on the cake this year ...

... and they were all blown out!

The leopard print pj bag I made for Ash ...

... with a little twist of my own to it in the form of a tea stained doily and her initial embroidered onto it which I think really has made this project complete ...

including a heat warming pillow to match!

And last but not least ...

... this is Rupert the bear that Caylagh made for her big sister!

He turned out so neat and Ash just loves him!!

I love making and also receiving handmade/homemade gifts. They are filled with so many caring thoughts and so much love ~ this is something we should be doing much more these days!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

My Past Primitive Creations

Hello my dear friends,

today I just wanted to share a place that I know and where I take my past primitive creations to be sold. They were in my studio closet for quite some time until I met a very nice lady who liked my work and was interested in them and actually wanted to sell it ...

... and this is where I have my primitive creations for sale! It's a 'store' called  'Hallett Creek' inside the market here in London at the Western Fair Grounds. It belongs to the sweet Karen Hallett and it is a really neat place with lots of different things to see and buy.

The dresses on the right are my little pillowcase dresses and my little apron dresses.

I had so much fun once I started making these that I made many of them all different from eachother.

I am not sure if you can see the old cake form in the front of this picutre ~ I filled it with prim strawberry pincushions that I had made.

I used to make so many  primitive things like ... ragballs, fabric pears, make-do birds, tart tin pincushions, prim strawberry pincushions and much, much more.

The candle boxes on the left are one of my prims I used to make.

Here are all my little primitive critters. There are my little bunnies diplayed in the old tin box and my little primitive cupboard mice in the old silver tableware and right in the front are my little prim sleeping mice.

And last but not least ...

... this is my canadiana book

~ it contains the canadian pledge from 1880 and the national anthem.

I don't make primitive creations anymore ~ my passion now lies in my new art. Sometimes it is nice to revisit something from the past - like my old creations. Sometimes it shows me how far I have come, and it also gives me inspiration for my new creations!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Forgotten In The Bottom Of My Closet...

Hello my dear friends,

it was a lovely sunny day today so I decided to start spring cleaning my studio/craft room a little. I opened the closet door and looked down at a basket that sits in the bottom of my closet. Every time I open the doors to get something out I take a short glance at it but I haven't looked into the basket since some time now ... until today.

The basket from the bottom of my closet ...

... I knew that it was filled with mostly vintage linen pieces but I had forgotten how beautiful these were. All of them were handmade and old, some with stains, some unfinished but never the less all of them were gorgeous in their own way.

Here are some of those pieces ...

... from white on white embroidery ...

... to white crochet lace with fabric ...

... from delicate crochet doilies ...

... to lovely embroidered hankies ...

... this is such a pretty one ...

... a scrap of embroidered silk ...

... and many more stunning pieces of handmade treasures ~ this one is perfect for 'B' for Bailey! 

This is such a very neat little piece ...

... an antique baby bib ~ I had totally forgotten I had this!

That was so neat ... today I found so many treasures and I didn't even have to leave my home! Now I just have to start working on new creations to use some of my treasures with.

What is in the bottom of your closet and when is the last time you have looked to see if there are any treasures there?

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

More Paperweights

Hello my dear friends,

apart from finally doing some of my overdue chores I did get a chance over the weekend to actually  pour some more resin paperweights. This time I actually made them in my kitchen and not my basement ~ the light was better there ~ and the smell wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Since I have cats and I am not too sure what they get up to in the middle of the night I used a plastic microwave lid to cover the paperweights so they could dry undisturbed.

Some of you wanted to know which resin I use ~ it is called EnviroTex Lite. I bought mine at Michaels with a 50% off coupon and it was very reasonable for the amount you get.

One little tip I would also like to share with you is, that when I have poured my resin into the glass coasters for the first hour every 5 to 10 minutes I will get really close to the resin and exhale onto it. I find that this helps all the small bubbles to rise to the top and then pop. I think it also helps the resin to shine a bit more. Of course not all of the bubbles will disappear. All of my paperweights have many teeny tiny bubbles inside and I really like them because they almost make the paperweight sparkle a little bit.

And here are my latest paperweights ....

Again I made three for no special reason, but when I measure my 2 parts of the resin this is as far as the amount I make goes.

For my first paperweight I chose a piece of old lace, roses, vintage pearls and a little gem.

My second paperweight contains crushed seashells and few vintage pearls and to finish this lovely piece off I chose a vintage pendant and a tiny dried rose.

My third and final paperweight holds an antique rhinestone belt buckle with some dried roses on top of a small piece of lace which is surrounded by vintage pearls.

The possibilities are endless for these ~ really!

Once again I hope you have like my latest creations that I have made.

 

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

Karen B.