To amuse her, of course.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

So, last week, when a loom suddenly appeared in the studio, without her fore-knowledge (I forgot to warn Ms Kitty that I had indulged myself and adopted a rather large loom- oops) she assumed that I must have brought it home for her!

She took great delight in using the baby blanket that magically grew on the loom as her personal nest.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Ms Kitty refused to stay off the weaving…. so, I had to cover the baby blanket and the warp with cloths and hope for the best.  Silly old cat!

I think that I will cut cardboard panels to try to protect the warp and the weaving from Ms Kitty’s explorations from now on. We shall see…..

In spite of Ms Kitty’s assistance, I have finished the first project from the new loom… a baby blanket for my niece’s almost here baby:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Old Bears quite like it for their tea parties, so if my niece doesn’t, then Old Bears will happily give it a home…. and perhaps they can convince Ms Kitty to leave the loom and join them in a cup of tea….

What for?  A 45 inch 4 harness floor loom that came with a whole bunch of other treasures.

The loom needed a lot of work to get it back up and running, as it had sat idle for awhile and had some issues.

Luckily, I am pretty handy, and was able to work my way through the problems and get it fine tuned.

I’ll take pictures and post them soon – I’m weaving a blankie for my niece’s new baby – what fun!

But, for now, it’s Artsy Bloggers links time…

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Beading Arts
You won’t believe the goodies that Mama’s Minerals in giving away on Beading Arts this week!
mamas-minerals-sponsors-giveaway

Creative Dreamer
June’s whipped up a birthday cake using marshmallow fondant frosting…and shares with you how to do your own!
im-off-to-wedding

Eileen -The Artful Crafter
Here are some more ideas from Eileen for decorating canvas tote bags.
tote-bag-ideas

Tottie Talks Crafts
I have been having a wonderful time with my  grandbaby. I even have him weaving…. well not quite…. but almost…
weaving-with-my-grandson/

Well, that’s not very exciting is it? sorry….  ah well… all shall be revealed eventually.

But, for now, here are this week’s Artsy Blogger links:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Baseball Cupcake Ideas
Fun for a baseball end of season party, or a birthday.
5-fun-baseball-cupcake-ideas/

Beading Arts
Cyndi has a copy of “Beading In No Time” to give away! Pop on over and sign up to win!
book-review-and-giveaway-beading-in-no

CreativeDreamer
The big reveal for the first ever Creativity Invitation prompt! June was pleased that  so many people joined in! Come see what everyone did…and think about joining  in the July prompt!
big-reveal

Eileen – The Artful Crafter
Yikes! Eileen learns she can’t doodle. But she’s detremined to improve.
yikes-i-cant-doodle

Tottie Talks Crafts
You can win a copy of Debbie Bliss’s fab new book: ‘design it, knit it, babies’
contest-to-win-debbie-bliss-baby-book/

Yesterday, she taught 15 children how to weave- can you hear the happy dance I am doing? and can you feel the waves of delight pouring out of me? 

(Two of the little girls are so excited about weaving and so in love with it, that they are asking their moms to buy them looms!)

HURRAH!

While Chloë has been teaching other munchkins, I have been having a blissful time with her son…. and guess what we have been doing?

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Yup. I’ve been weaving with my grandbaby.

I figure that it is never too early to start children weaving. When our kids were little, I had looms warped for them and set up so that they could weave whenever they wanted. And, weave they did.

And, even though my son weaves his art through film making nowadays, my daughter is still a weaver…. and now we have the next generation merrily enjoying time at the loom….

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

He’s helping me to weave some narrow warp face bands on my Saori floor loom. The bands will be embellishments for some other pieces that I am working on.

And, whenever I look at them, I will have such happy memories of weaving at the loom with our wee boy.

Pure delight!

One handed typing is a bit too challenging, so I decided to wait until my gorgeous little munchkin was not napping in my arms. So, here are this week’s Artsy blogger’s links- a little late, but fun, even so.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Beading Arts
Cyndi wants to know: what does your work say about YOU?
question-of-month

The Artful Crafter
Read an artist profile of our own Creative Dreamer, June Crawford. Take a peek into another artist’s creative world.
artist-profile-june-crawford

Tottie Talks Crafts
Recently, I was given a lot of my mother’s embroidery threads. AsI thought about how I could work with them, I discovered that magical beings were waiting to emerge from my mother’s treasures and I was inspired to design a crocheted mermaid scarf….
a-mermaid-living-in-my-mothers-threads

Twilight Eclipse Cupcake Idea
Are you a Team Edward or Team Jacob fan?
twilight-eclipse-team-edward-team-jacob-cupcakes/

copyright sixth & spring books

Debbie Bliss has written a splendiferous new book, called: design it, knit it, babies.

sixth & spring books has, once again, done a completely fantastic job of putting it all together.

Before I go into how completely scrumptious Debbie Bliss’s designs and tutorials are, I need to talk about the design of the book itself.

It’s a hard cover book, with a built in elastic ‘retainer band’ that will either  mark your place or hold your notes. Clever.

Also, it’s got a coil binding inside the hard cover, so the book opens flat and lays there so politely for you. You never have to beat on the binding to get it to co-operatie.

There’s a swatching gauge at the back of the book (YES you DO NEED TO SWATCH!)  (swatches are your friends!)  that also has a needle sizer and all kinds of oh so handy abbreviations.

There’s a couple of pages of photocopier allowed graph paper (one of them should be 6 x8, but an oops happened and it’s 5 x 7, but that will be taken care of in the errata pages on the sixth & spring website)

AND… the photographs are just too gorgeous for words.

Debbie Bliss has put together an inspiring grouping of designs that she then invites you to re-invent to make them uniquely your own.

The tutorials are just superb- this book is like going to a VERY good conference.

All I can say is – Bravo!

And, like the title of this post said…. you can win a copy from the lovely folks at sixth & spring -

The contest starts NOW and runs until July 27.

How do you win?  Sorry, but you do have to live in North America to enter….  and all you have to do is to leave me a comment at the end of this post, sharing something about your knitting for the babies in your life.

Good luck…. you are going to love love love this book….

Here are this week’s Artsy Blogger links:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Baby teething necklace part 2
Last week, I posted part 1 of the process (including some how NOT to’s) of making wonderful oversize wooden beads for a baby teething necklace for her grandbaby. This week’s link shows how I put it all together.
handmade-chunky-bead-teething-necklace-part-2/

Beading Arts
Do you like beaded beads? Cyndi shares a tubular peyote bead that takes center stage!
metal-beaded-bead-in-tubular-peyote

Creative Dreamer
June issued a creativity prompt for her Creativity Invitation at the beginning of June…”Let them eat cake!”…here is her own entry into the challenge!

cake-as-in-let-them-eat

Fun 4th of July Cake and Cupcake Ideas
A little last minute cake and cupcake inspiration for your 4th of July celebration.
fun-4th-of-july-cake-and-cupcake-ideas/

Making an Art Pact
When life stresses you out and you don’t have time to do something creative, how about making a pact with a friend?
the-art-pact-complete/

The Artful Crafter
Eileen shares step-by-step instructions for making a wooden country critter wall plaque.
how-to-make-country-style-hanging.html

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

At first, I was incredibly saddened by the presence of her threads in my studio… I knew that she had had a hard time making the choice to leave her condo…. and the threads were symbolic to me of  her decline.  I also felt, oddly, that I was ‘snooping’ through her things as I sorted the threads and needlework tools. It was quite depressing.

I felt like she had treasured her threads so much that I couldn’t possibly do anything with them that would match her dreams for them, and it brought up all kinds of ‘not good enough’ stuff.  Very painful!

Luckily, I have close loved ones who helped me shift my focus away from the painful focus, and to embrace the threads as my own, and to work with them in a way that is a celebration of all the delight that my mother felt in her needlework…..

And, so I started weaving with them, and then got the inspiration to use her threads to continue my shadow scarf series….. this time, to crochet mermaids!  My mother always loved mermaids as much as I do, so it seemed right to me…..

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

And, so, I have been discovering the mermaids that were living in my mother’s threads- it has been a joyous discovery for me, and I am delighted with them!

I have just finished the pattern, and have put it up on my website  at: Crochet. (click on link).

You never know where you will find joy and healing…. isn’t it amazing how often that it lives in the middle of threads, yarns and the tools of our needlecraft?

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

So, here’s to imagination, and to creativity, and to the healing that they can bring-  and of course, here’s to love, and to friendship, too…. and to all the tender mercies that they bestow on us!

And, also…. here’s to mermaids…..

wherever they live…..

Note: All the proceeds of the book go to the following 2 charities:

Kiva.org and to Mercy Corp for Haitian relief

This is going to be the last profile in the series, and  I am ending the series with a profile of my dear friend, Jorel Thomson.

Link to her page in the book.

As always, my questions are in GREEN and Jorel’s answers are in black.

copyright Jorel Thomson

1. Can you tell us a little about your piece for ‘Somewhere in my world’?

I’ve been playing with Tunisian crochet and enjoying the different textures it creates. I’ve also been taking a ceramics class and having fun making things. So I included buttons I’ve made (the house and the leaves) on the Tunisian stitched background. I used yarn that was given away at a crochet show, where I met in person several of the FFers that I’ve known online for years. And I just happened to have the little sheep beads, which were perfect for what I wanted to do.

copyright Jorel Thomson

2. What was your inspiration, and has it lead to further explorations for you?

I’ve always wanted to see the world but somehow, never quite got around to it. My daughter has been studying in Spain this past year and I took the opportunity to visit her. We rode a bus from Bilbao to San Sebastian through Pais Vasco, the Basque country, and it was a symphony of green fields, houses set in the fields, small flocks of sheep. I knew that would be my challenge piece for this year.

3. The International Freeform Fiber Artists Guild is primarily focused on crochet, but includes so many other fiber techniques. Do you do other things other than crochet, and if so, what are they?

I used to say I’ve never met a craft I didn’t like. When my girls were younger, I did a lot of crafting with them, with the Girl Scouts, with various groups of kids. I used to sew, hand embroider, once upon a time had a quilt business, have done various papercrafts, paper molding, handmade paper, origami (still looking for a book that makes it easy) . Some small loom handweaving, some experiments with basketry. Loved making wax models for casting silver but hated cleaning them up. Easy jewelry making when the girls were teenagers and wanted lots of earrings (I got them started and then they took off making their own). I’m currently taking an ongoing ceramics class. I have a favorite painting teacher and for a long time, took a class a year from her but have not done much with that lately. Have crocheted for years, finally managed to learn to knit when someone told me you could hold the yarn in your left hand.

copyright Jorel Thomson

4. What part of creating your piece for ‘Somewhere in my world’ was the most challenging for you?

Coming up with the basic idea. The theme did not immediately speak to me so I had to do some real searching for an idea I wanted to pursue. When I knew I was going to be visiting my daughter, I wanted to come up with an idea based on the trip.

5. What part of creating your piece for ‘Somewhere in my world’ was the most inspiring and fun for you?

Taking the trip to Spain with my daughters. Actually creating the piece was easy. It’s more representational than most of my Freeform and very different from my other work.

copyright Jorel Thomson

6. What triggers your creativity?

Very hard to say. Pretty much anything can set up a creative train of thought. One year, I saw the Xmas trees people had discarded after the holidays and thought I’d like to do something based on green trees, tinsel, brown trees. Haven’t done it yet but the idea is still there. I also am very inspired by seeing other peoples’ work, in all media. But my inspiration is almost entirely visual–music doesn’t do it for me.

7. Which of the fiber arts speak most deeply to you?

Crochet, especially freeform. Funnily, most of the projects I have going are knit but that’s because I knit from patterns. I’m following directions, not creating something brand new, so it’s restful. Sometimes I find Freeform exhausting because some pieces take a lot of thought.

copyright Jorel Thomson

8. Does where you live influence your work in any way?

Yes and no. There are days I wish I lived in a less suburban area, had more nature within walking distance. I love California. I can drive to the ocean, the bay, the city, a little further and see mountains but they are not within walking distance. Then I realize I’m only 5 minutes from my job, my doctor, the vet, the grocery store and enjoy the convenience of it.

9. Is teaching the fiber arts a significant part of expressing your creativity?

I LOVE teaching! The yarn store I used to teach at closed and I’d forgotten how much I liked teaching until I recently started to teach at another local shop. I’m happy when I help someone discover the ability to create something with their own hands.

10. Do you have a crafting or arts community that influences you and is important to you? (online or ‘real life’). Is it important to you to be in touch with your peers?

I’m one of the original members of the International Freeform group, back before it was on Yahoo. That group has been a big presence in my life for years and I treasure the friends I’ve made online through the group. It’s a joy when I have the opportunity to meet any of them in person, which isn’t as often as I’d like. And Ravelry has become a community I value, too. I have a few local friends I see regularly–we call it Monday Knitting but we don’t do much knitting, more chatting. Helping at Stitches West is a high point in my year, something I look forward to and take time off from work for. So yes, it is important for me to be in contact with others who share my fiber enthusiasm.

11. Is there anything that I have missed that you would like to share with the readers of Tottie Talks Crafts?

I don’t consider myself an artist. I am very good at figuring out how to make something I’ve seen somewhere but a lot of what I do, I don’t consider original. So I call myself a craftswoman and am in awe of some of the truly creative people in the FF group (including you, Noreen!)

copyright Perry Lowell

Recently, I have been featuring a group of artists who came together to create a book of freeform fiber art pieces based on the theme: Somewhere in my world.

Perry is one of the contributors to the book,

and I am so pleased to feature her work here-

I think you’ll love her felted pieces, too!

–

My questions are in GREEN and Perry’s answers are in black.

copyright Perry Lowell

1. Can you tell us a little about your piece for ‘Somewhere in My World’?

My piece is entitled Jungle Thing, and the text that describes it is “Somewhere in my world… if you claw your way through the jungle, you may find that it obscures a fall of crisp, cool water, under the blazing sun”.

It consists of two panels, one is overlaid by the other on a wooden hanger that has two rods.

The outermost panel is a collection of freeform vines and leaves in various green textures. The innermost panel is a somewhat stylized view of a waterfall under the sun. It requires the viewer to put their hands on the piece and manipulate it so as to get the entire picture. All of my work is meant to be felt by the viewer… none of my fiber art is untouchable. –

copyright Perry Lowell

2. What was your inspiration, and has it lead to further explorations for you?

The inspiration for this piece was the last year of my life, where things looked obstructed and difficult to get through.  It wasn’t actually until I had finished the piece that I recognized the significance of what it was saying to and about me.

Jungle Thing celebrates the perseverance required for passage through the tangles and seemingly directionless progress to an end.

–

copyright Perry Lowell

3. The International Freeform Fiber Artists Guild is primarily focused on crochet, but includes so many other fiber techniques. Do you do other things other than crochet, and if so, what are they?

I primarily do felting, both wet and needled.

But I also spin, weave, tat, embroider, knit, crewel, rug hook, hairpin lace, bead, do mixed media and various textile art, and I’m learning to quilt.

I haven’t yet met a craft that I don’t want to try.

Or one that I don’t have the stuff for in my studio, waiting for me to try. (My studio is very very very full.)

copyright Perry Lowell

4. What part of creating your piece for ‘Somewhere in my world’ was the most challenging for you?

Finding the time. I work full-time, and my studio is about 3 miles away from my house, so I really only get to my fiber art on Saturdays from 10a until 3p.

–

copyright Perry Lowell

5. What part of creating your piece for ‘Somewhere in my world’ was the most inspiring and fun for you?

I loved making the jungle vines and leaves. It was fun to go through my stash and find all of the various greens, and then even more fun tangling them into vines and making leaves.

6. What triggers your creativity?

An idea that flits into my brain, a piece or technique by another artist, a beautiful view… mostly something visual that I just HAVE to interpret in fiber. There is the everyday stuff that I plug away at, and then there are the inspirations where the idea strikes at my very core, I see exactly what I want in my mind’s eye, I’m driven to do it and obsessed until I complete it.

7. Which of the fiber arts speak most deeply to you?

Needle-felting. I just love the repetitive nature of it as well as building texture upon color.

8. Does where you live influence your work in any way?

I suspect that everywhere I’ve lived influences my work– I’ve lived mostly in rural and semi-rural areas, surrounded by nature in its glory. Most of my pieces celebrate nature in one way or another.

copyright Perry Lowell

9. Is teaching the fiber arts a significant part of expressing your creativity?

I don’t teach, formally, but I really enjoy turning someone on to fiber and getting them hooked (so to speak). Any Saturday at my studio is “open house”, and my friends drop in to try their hand at something artsy.

10. Do you have a blog, etsy shop, ravelry shop or website? If so, what are their urls?

I have a blog at: smalladdictions.blogspot.com

Right now most of my work for sale is carried by the Danforth Museum, or available through me directly via my blog or at saxonvillestudios.com where my studio and Gallery 2B are located.

copyright Perry Lowell

11. Do you have a crafting or arts community that influences you and is important to you? (online or ‘real life’). Is it important to you to be in touch with your peers?

I follow many, many art groups on Yahoo, and they’re critical to supporting me and inspiring me. Although I’m more of a lurker than a participant, I feel like I know all the folks so well. I’ve gotten so much encouragement from my online friends, including Noreen, whose creative energy I wish I could tap– she’s indefatigable. My fellow artists at Saxonville Studios are very important to me for inspiration, motivation, the creative atmosphere, and being mentored (thanks, Lynette!).

12. Is there anything that I have missed that you would like to share with the readers of Tottie Talks Crafts?

One of my wet- and needle-felted pieces, Time Passages, was just selected for a juried exhibit at the Danforth Museum of Art’s “Off the Wall” show. The two jurors were the senior curator of contemporary art at the Museum of Fine Arts in

Time Passages copyright Perry Lowell

Boston and the curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. The patrons’ opening party was 6/12 and the artists’ reception was 6/18– I was humbled by how many of my friends came to the reception, and the exhibit will run through August 8th. This is my first juried acceptance, and I’m very excited to have this external validation of my fiber art. www.danforthmuseum.org