My husband really likes the dragon that I designed for my ‘Innovative Frame Loom Weaving’ book.
He asked me to weave him a dragon tapestry for Christmas, so I did.
I went a bit overboard on the beads, but he likes it, so that’s okay.
He hung it on the beam between the kitchen and the dining room to be the Guardian of the Hearth.
I am so glad that he likes it.
Woven with love in every stitch.
And, yup, I designed and made the frame for it.
Oh my goodness! Carving wooden spoons is just wonderful!
Hard work, yes. but…. ohhhh….
At Solstice of December 2020, I cajoled my husband to let me open an intriguing package instead of waiting until Christmas.
He said yes, and I was off down the most wonderful ‘Rabbit Hole’!
He had bought me a spoon carving kit that has a book, a Slodj knife and a hooked knife as well as a bass wood spoon blank. Here’s the link to the kit from Lee Valley (no affiliations, no profit in sharing the link, but I love their store and hope that they live long and prosper): LINK
The picture above is the first spoon I carved…. for our grandson.
My husband loved it, so I secretly carved one for him for Christmas, too.
I asked my family if they would like spoons, and the response was an enthusiastic yes!
So…
and
And, then….
I couldn’t resist combining one of my other great delights, which is carving wooden dolls, with spoon carving.
The inspiration that poured out kept me out of bed for a couple of nights as I had to sit and draw and draw and draw
all the ideas that were just pouring out….
I have tied in a few metaphors that have been weaving their way around in my heart…
On Facebook, I learned about stardust that has been discovered in Antarctica and then having a long time friend
sent me a poem about how the trees are full of stardust (as we all are) just enchanted me!
I am now carving what I call: ‘Storyteller Spoons’ – hand carved spoons that are meant to stir up STORIES, not soup.
After, stories are food for the Soul 🙂
Oooh! I had to carve a Star Baby spoon from walnut:
And, I have started a series of ‘Stardust Sisters Spoons’- articulated dolls with moving arms,
This one is carved from a blank that my son made for me from a birch tree that died and was cut down
in his neighbor’s yard:
I carved this Stardust Sister from the bass wood blank that came with the kit:
I love the metaphor of hearts and hands working together, so I went back to
the drawings that I did for the first scoop that I carved for my daughter.
But, I added a hand to the spoon, and carved out a bowl in the palm of the hand
as well as in the scoop of the heart.
While I was carving it, it came to me that spoons are meant to gather things,
but also to offer them, which is the perfect metaphor for this spoon:
I will be working with Hearts and Hands together a whole lot!
I made a video showing some of the carving that I have done over the last 30 odd years,
as well as the very very first beginnings of getting started in spoon carving.
These are just the first spoons that I have carved, and now that I have worked out
a pattern language for myself with this, there will be many, many more!
(I hope!) 😀
And, I hope that you are finding things that bring you joy, too!
Be kind, be safe, be well! ❤
Here’s the video:
All through the Covid pandemic, I have been working on designing and fine tuning a large new Teneriffe Lace loom that is my response to the situation that we are all in.
I wanted to create a loom that would be a way of celebrating love, compassion, kindness, resiliency, hope and friendship. The image that came up for me was of hearts and flowers.
So, I have designed a large Teneriffe Lace loom that is meant to be woven on with thicker yarns or threads than ‘normal’ and to be much larger than ‘normal’.
Here’s a video introduction to the loom. NOTE: The list of the ‘how to’ videos is further down this post.
At the beginning of March 2020, a very kind lady sent me a pair of ‘Polka’ Teneriffe looms to say thank you for all the hard work that I put into writing the ‘Potholder Loom Weaving’ book.
I was delighted with them- but didn’t like the way the foundation strand was put onto them.
So, I figured out a different way of continuously chaining on the foundation chain.
I also figured out a way of warping the loom continuously, and then had to work out the logistics of weaving the heart and flower motifs, and, also, how to get the motifs off the loom in a workable way.
I wove hundreds of samples and made dozens of variations on the looms.
Lots of them became firewood 🙂
BUT eventually I arrived at the configuration that I love.
Gary McFarland is the mastermind behind the CNC machine at Dewberry Ridge Looms and he has added his finesse to the final version of the loom.
The link to buy the loom is:
https://www.dewberryridge.com/products/hearts-and-flowers-large-teneriffe-lace-loom
I have made 4 videos that show the complete how to’s for how to weave the Hearts and Flowers motifs.
They are:
1- How to put the foundation chain onto the loom.
2- How to warp the Hearts and Flowers Large Teneriffe Lace Loom.
3- How to weave the Heart motif on the Hearts and Flowers Large Teneriffe Lace Loom.
4- How to weave the Flower motif on the Hearts and Flowers Large Teneriffe Lace Loom.
I hope that the Hearts and Flowers Large Teneriffe Lace Loom will bring happiness! ❤
One of my most favorite things to do at Christmas time is to make ‘the ornament of the year’ to give to family and friends. I usually end up making a LOT of them and it’s totally delightful.
This year, I have been weaving up a ton of tiny Snowmen- I designed them last year and made a video so other people can make them too.
Here’s the link to the ‘how to’ video:
One of my favorite projects in my new book, Innovative Frame Loom Weaving, is an extremely useful tool.
It’s a woven Needle Book that holds sewing needles.
Pin cushions are good for pins, but needles can get buried in them too easily.
Needle books hold sewing, darning and other craft needles safely and handily.
This video shows variations on the Needle book that I designed for the frame loom, including ones woven on the potholder loom and Weave It style pin loom.
And, also, a relative asked for a brooch that she could stick pins and needles in while mending, so there’s one of those in the video, too!
Our small dog inspired me to weave a clip on pouch to carry hand sanitizer.
She picked up a chicken bone when we were walking and I had to stick my fingers in her mouth to get it out.
Oh, so in need of getting my hand cleaned off quickly!
I decided that NOT having to stick a messy hand in my pocket was a great idea, so I came up with clip on pouches to carry hand sanitizer.
Then, I wove up a stack of potholder squares to play with different ways of exploring color and texture and also different kinds of hanging loops.
I also figured out different ways of connecting clips, toggles and clamps.
This is a quick and easy project and would make a great gift!
Here’s the how to video:
Ahhh, tea! One of life’s great pleasures!
Some teas come in cloth tea bags that can’t be composted, so instead of throwing them in the garbage,
here’s a great way to upcycle the bags into yarn that you can weave with (or knit or crochet).
I’ve made a video about how to cut the cloth tea bags into fabric yarn-
What can you do with upcycled tea bag yarn?
Weave with it as if it’s regular yarn… for instance, here are a Star , a Dragonfly and Heart woven on pin looms that I designed for Dewberry Ridge Looms
Or: Make upcycled brooches- here’s a video showing how:
More videos about weaving with teabag yarn –
How to Weave Using Upcycled Teabag Yarn 2 Nails at a Time on Pin Looms:
AND:
AND:
I have loved wooden dolls all my life and have made many, many of them throughout my life.
More than 20 years ago, I began a series of flat wooden dolls that I called: ‘Merrie Sunshine’.
I’ve worked with Merrie Sunshine off and on for all these years, but until the pandemic unfolded, it didn’t occur to me to make a mermaid sister for Merrie Sunshine.
I’ve been working on larger articulated wooden mermaids and it was these dolls that brought Merrie Sunshine to mind,
and then inspired me to give Merrie Sunshine a mermaid sister.
Here are Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam with my most recent wooden mermaid (the inspiration for all this)
I asked Donna and Gary McFarland of Dewberry Ridge Looms if they would be interested in making
unpainted, unfinished Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam dolls that people would then be able
to make uniquely their own.
They said that they would, and so here are what the dolls look like fresh out of the envelope from Donna and Gary:
MERRIE SUNSHINE: LINK TO ORDER from Dewberry Ridge Looms
and
MINNIE MOONBEAM MERMAID: LINK TO ORDER from Dewberry Ridge Looms
I have made 4 videos that show how to paint or color or decoupage the dolls to make them uniquely your own and how to stitch the dolls together
LINKS TO “HOW TO ASSEMBLE AND EMBELLISH MERRIE SUNSHINE AND MINNIE MOONBEAM DOLLS’
PART 1- How to’s for the Face, Hair and all kinds of things:
PART 2- More Embellishing
PART 3- How to use Washi tape and origami paper to dress the dolls:
PART 4- How to stitch the dolls together:
Here’s a little inspiration for the Merrie Sunshine Dolls”
and a glimpse of how I have embellished some Minnie Moonbeam Mermaid dolls:
And, dolls need clothes, right?
So, I have designed an eBook of CROCHETED DOLL clothes for Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam
Available in my etsy shop- LINK
AND a book of KNITTED DOLL CLOTHES for Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam
Available in my etsy shop at LINK
AND a book of Doll Clothes WOVEN ON THE 2 INCH PIN LOOM
Available in my etsy shop LINK
Here is the link to the facebook group for the Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam dolls LINK 🙂
How to make Tutus for Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam:
How to make shawls and other wraps for Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam:
Watch this page for more links to fun things for Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam. 😀
I hope that Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam will bring you as much joy as they have brought me! ❤
One of my most favorite looms to weave on is the tiny 2 inch pin loom.
Here are a few videos that I have made, showing some fun techniques and projects for the 2 inch pin loom.
How to weave small rectangles on the 2 inch pin loom:
How to weave squares on the bias on the 2 inch pin loom:
How to weave triangles with the 2 inch pin loom:
How to make tiny Snowmen with woven 2 inch squares and triangles:
How to make jewelry from woven 2 inch pin loom squares:
The loom in the video is from Dewberry Ridge looms: LINK
I made this video and some others before all the grieving and conversation about needing to completely re-create the world as we have known it.
It felt to me that it was important to just be quiet and listen and learn and contemplate and donate and try and figure out how to move forward, so I didn’t post any videos for awhile.
I am convinced that it is essential to keep creating beauty, and so I am offering my videos again.
This one is about a process that delighted me- I figured out a way of making woven leaves and petals so I could make lovely woven flowers for some tapestries that I have been working on.
I hope that my work can be a source of inspiration and spark imagination as we all come together to build a world based on love, compassion and kindness. 
Noreen Crone-Findlay, designer and author
