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. 

 

A Dream For Sale And A Giveaway.. Magnolia Pearl Ranch

Hello my dear friends,

...do you know the Magnolia Pearl Ranch?
 

 If not, you are missing out on a dream and this dream is now up for sale in Bandera, Texas.

 It took Robin Brown and John Gray 12 years of hard work and much love and devotion to create this piece of beauty and now it could become your dream!

Magnolia Pearl Ranch is a little world of it's own on 38 acres which include ...

3 complete homes with central heat and air,
an amazing 18 external structures,
3 outdoors shower/baths with supplied on demand water heaters,
also a chicken coop that has it's own chandelier,
birdhouses where ever you look
and many, many, many more stunning features!

Basically 'a must see for yourself ' dream!

Of course you could try and sum it all up in one word ...
... BREATH~TAKING!

Here are just a few photographs to give you an idea of what is awaiting you ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Please note all photographs are protected by copyright laws by the owners including Anne Lory and Magnolia Pearl. I am displaying them only for this post and have no rights to them!)

If you are interested in this real life dream please contact ...

For inquiries,
contact John Gray at
210-508-9552 or 830-990-9600
or by e-mail, pearl@magnoliapearl.com

And last but not least ...

Robin  has put together an amazing giveaway too.

She is a renowned clothing designer and her giveaways gifts are two outfits from Magnolia Pearl which will be given to two winners ~ one each!

Just like Magnolia Pearl Ranch the outfits are just as beautiful and unique ... just take a look at them!

To take part in this giveaway you need to pop over to 'Fiona and Twig' and take in the beauty of Magnolia Pearl Ranch and read how you can enter this amazing giveaway.

http://fionaandtwig.blogspot.ca/2013/03/magnolia-pearl-ranch-and-giveaway.html

So ... off you go now ... don't wait ... you will be amazed!

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

Have a peaceful and creative day,


Karen B.
 

A Rose Heart ..

Hello my dear friends,

before you continue to read this post I need to share something with you about myself. When I say the following I truly mean it ~ I am awful at sewing with a sewing machine ...REALLY!! I so love to sew by hand because of the control I have over everything but depending which fabric you are using it is sometimes almost impossible to do by hand without breaking every other needle or worse injuring your fingers (I've done that many times before!). I do use my sewing machine once or twice a month and I did with this making. I am not sure if you can see how wiggly and crocked my sewing lines are and I almost didn't finish this creation because of that but in the end I did and never the less my heart smiles when I look at this creation even with bad sewing lines.

I went with the idea of the heart that I made me daughters for Valentine's Day but I used a more subtle color scheme this time and I must say it really worked out well in my eyes but I will leave you to make you own mind up.

This is my newest creation ...

 

... my Rose Heart.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

I hope you like my latest creation!!!

 

It would be so nice if you were to visit me sometime again and until then ...

 

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

 

Have a peaceful and creative day,

 

 

Karen B.