Monthly Archives: October 2016

October 20, 2016 · 12:11 pm

Wooden Doll Pauline meets a London Goose

Yesterday, Miranda, Siobhan, Coco and Thallie were wondering about their friend Pauline, who has moved to London with her Human…..

They were thrilled when Pauline’s Person kindly sent photos of Pauline’s outing in one of the parks in London.

Pauline began with a little exploring:

and then ambled off to the pond, where she caught the eye of a Canada Goose:

Hmmm… Small Person, do you have food?

Are you potentially a meal?

Neither. You are a disappointment to me.

All Pauline photographs are copyright Kennie Wittebrood and are used with her permission.

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October 19, 2016 · 11:53 am

Story Door Dolls- Coco loves music

Tiny Coco loves music:

She was so excited to go to see Jim and Michael playing last week:

She enjoyed telling Miranda, Siobhan, Thallie and Pupster all about it:

Miranda and Coco chatted about how much they love music:

While Siobhan told Thallie about her adventures at the Symphony:

They all agreed that they enjoy getting out to a good concert.

Miranda sighed, and said that she hasn’t been anywhere interesting lately.

They all gazed at the tiny vintage postcards a friend in England sent them last year:

And wondered how Great Traveler Pauline is enjoying herself in London…..

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Tagged as hand carved dolls, mermaid, mermaid dolls, Noreen Crone-Findlay, one of a kind wooden dolls, Story Door Dolls by Noreen Crone-Findlay, wooden dolls, wooden mermaid dolls

October 16, 2016 · 6:11 pm

How to make a wreath with woven flowers

A wreath is a cheerful and welcoming thing.

Here’s one that I have designed to be made with flowers woven on the Thumbelina loom.

I used autumn colors, but you can make it with colors that match any season.

Feel free to use as many flowers and leaves as you would like.

I made the wreath by tying the vines shed by a weeping birch tree. I gathered them up, and shaped them into a circle, then wrapped the circle with thread to hold it together. I added a twisted wire hanger at the top.

And, here’s how to make it:

Happy Weaving! Enjoy making wreaths 🙂

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Tagged as Dewberry Ridge Looms, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, how to, how to make a wreath with woven flowers, how to weave, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, Thumbelina Loom, video tutorial, weaving techniques, woven flowers

October 15, 2016 · 3:39 pm

How to weave a tiny toy bunny rabbit

Yesterday, I showed a sketch of a tiny toy bunny rabbit that I designed.

Here are a couple of them:

I have just uploaded the video for how to weave the toy bunny on the Dewberry Ridge Thumbelina Loom:

The bunnies are about 2 1/2 inches long and about 1 1/2 inches tall.

They are quick and easy to make and fit in a pocket or would make a great stocking stuffer.

Happy Weaving!

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Tagged as Dewbe, Dewberry Ridge Looms, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, how to, how to weave, how to weave a toy bunny rabbit, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Thumbelina Loom, toy bunny, toy rabbit, weaves, weaving, weaving techniques

October 12, 2016 · 10:38 am

Wooden dolls are grateful for Vintage Hankies

Last week, my daughter and I opened the very old small suitcase that I use to store my vintage hankie collection.

We were looking for the perfect hankie to make a dress for the little wooden doll that I had carved for her.

Miranda, the Mermaid that I carved last year, has been feeling the sudden onset of cold weather.

I overheard her complaining about the cold to Bessie Gnome, Coco, Thallie and the dogs about the cold.

As a Mermaid, Miranda doesn’t mind cold water, but the dry cold that she is experiencing feels very uncomfortable.

Luckily, there was a silk hankie with elegant lace that suits Miranda perfectly as a shawl:

She’s thrilled!

As Miranda was posing for the photo, perched on the edge of the suitcase, I noticed that there was a very sweet hankie that looked perfect for Lettie Bunny:

Lettie is now a cozy bunny, and tickled pink about it.

She feels that she can face winter in the Wall Doll House without a shiver.

Lettie spotted a tiny elegant silk hankie that she was sure would make Peggetty very happy.

She’s right!

Peggetty, Lettie and Miranda are all very content with their new wraps, and are so grateful that a friend blessed us with her mother and grandmother’s hankies!

A Very Tiny Doll Celebrates Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from very snowy and cold Western Canada.

Last night, we were heading out to our son and daughter-in-law’s home to join with many family and friends in celebrating Thanksgiving.

There were sounds of protest from the Wall Doll House in my studio.

The smallest (less than an inch tall) wooden Story Door Doll, who used to be known as ‘Itty’, until she declared her name is actually, ‘Thallie’ was sitting in her armchair.

She’s thrilled that she finally has a new dress, and declared that it was important to her to go out to dinner to show it off.

I protested that I don’t like taking her out of the house, for fear of loosing her.

She ‘pshawed’ me, and reminded me that I am perfectly capable of loosing MUCH larger things than her INSIDE the house.

Oh. Right…

She hopped into the Thumbelina traveling tin:

But I was planning on taking along the ~very last~ bit of weaving for the big tapestry that I am weaving, and not Thumbelina.

So, Thallie hopped into my seashell necklace, along with her friend, Inch Faery Bear, who is the same petite size as her. This makes them the best of friends, as they enjoy hanging out with someone who understands the world in miniature.

And, off we went.

After the toasts were ‘clink clinked’, Thallie was convinced that there were Similar Sized People as her and Inch Faery Bear hiding in the corks…. so we shall have to see.

The corks came home in my pocket, so it will be interesting to see if there are little people in them or, as my daughter suggested, little faery mushrooms…. who knows?

After the corks were filed in my pocket, I put Thallie back into the Seashell necklace….

and…. palm to forehead….

did not take even one more photo of the whole evening.

Oh my…..

Which I wish I had, as a beloved member of the family is on her way to London, England.

She’s moving there, so it’s going to be quite some time before we are all around the same dinner table.

We wish her the greatest of joy in her big adventure!

Pauline is accompanying her in her travels, and posed for a very Canadian moment before dealing with airports etc:

Pauline’s Human took a moment from enjoying her last ‘Timmie’ time to share a pic of this special moment.

(Only Canadians will understand this reference, I think?)

Anyhow, all the little wooden folk who live in the studio join my in wishing you a joyous Thanksgiving, even if you live somewhere else in the world. There is so much to say thank you for….

Thank you~~ ❤

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October 5, 2016 · 4:09 pm

Little wooden doll heads to London

I am so excited… One of the little wooden Story Door Dolls that I carved has been adopted and is on her way to England.

Pauline is ready for adventure in London!

Before she left, she posed for a slightly ‘Alice in Wonderland’ photo under a mushroom that popped up on the lawn.

Pauline looks forward to exploring Nature in the parks of London.

We wish the greatest joy to Pauline and her Human.

May they have splendid adventures and happy, happy times in London.

Hmmmm… I think we may have to go visit them someday…..

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October 4, 2016 · 2:45 pm

Vintage hankies become dresses for wooden dolls

I love vintage hankies and decided to use them to make dresses for some of the wooden dolls that I carve.

I needed to take a break last week, and my Story Door Dolls were beckoning me.

So, I used some of the vintage hankies that I have collected over the years to make them new dresses.

Lucky Pauline ended up with the most beautifully embroidered hanky.

I can’t bear to cut the hankies, so I do some crazy folding to make the hanky work as the skirt.

This is Tennie in her new hanky dress…. even though it’s not as glamorous as Pauline’s, she’s still very happy with it.

By folding and hand stitching the delicate old linen, cotton and silk hankies, the hankies remain intact.

This is a kind of archival use of the hankies, which preserves them, but uses them, instead of them languishing in a box.

I hand carve the dolls, which I call my ‘Story Door Dolls’.

They are all around 6 inches tall, and I use local woods for most of them.

They were inspired by Hitty dolls.

This little charmer was carved from Arbutus wood that was trimmed many years ago from the tree in my sisters in laws house in Victoria. I won’t be carving anymore Arbutus dolls as that wood is like iron! wow…. and ow….

And, yes, I do sell them…..

But not Pauline

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October 3, 2016 · 3:03 pm

Thumbelina Loom and Siobhan the Mermaid get out and about

Just over a week ago, my lovely husband and I went to a gorgeous symphony concert at Convocation Hall at the University in Edmonton AB.

When I got home, I thought… hmmm…. I have friends who take their little carved wooden dolls on outings with them- and I haven’t been remembering to do that….. (I carve little wooden dolls that I call my ‘Story Door Dolls’- they are inspired by Hitty Dolls.)

And, I also thought…. I am working on a bunch of new ideas for my Thumbelina loom, as well as doing the Inktober challenge (hopefully arriving at drawings that will work for tiny tapestries to be woven on Thumbelina)

So, it made sense to me to find a very small tin or box that my Thumbelina, some yarn, a little yarn snipper and a wooden doll would fit in so they could travel about with me.

The winner of the ‘Who gets to go with me on this weekend’s fun events’ was Siobhan, the tiny mermaid:

I carved her last year, and she does love a good adventure, but hasn’t gotten out much lately, so she’s pleased.

Here’s Siobhan and Thumbelina in their little traveling tin.

(I would love to have a tiny suitcase that they could travel in!)

We were at the Edmonton Symphony orchestra Mozart concert this past weekend, and during a pre-concert lecture, I sneaked Thumbelina and Siobhan out, and did a little bit of weaving.

Siobhan wanted to take a peek at the orchestra when they started to file in and sit down:

But she was quite alarmed by the noise of all the instruments tuning up, so she opted to dive back into the tin and listen to the concert (it was divine!) from the safety and comfort of her wooly little nest with her friend, Thumbelina.

Besides, it was time to turn my phone off, and bask in the glory of Mozart!

The next day, Siobhan was delighted that she and Thumbelina got to go out to lunch…