Friday evening was the opening to my ‘Oracle of Stillness’ show (it was a gorgeous, magical evening!).
But then, our wee Panda Princess, who we have been nurturing through palliative care for her inoperable cancer, had to cross the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
We knew it was coming, but it was still incredibly hard.
Thank goodness for the love of family and the gathering we had this afternoon to support and sustain us all…..
Last week, my beloved, precious sister in law (sister of my heart) died.
While she was navigating the medical system, I was tatting many many little butterflies, as a way of meditating/prayers of the hands and sending her love…
I love tatting butterflies and then I give them to people as a way of saying thank you to them for their presence.
I thought that she might like to have a bunch of the little butterflies to give to people who have been with her on the journey, but she said that no, she no longer was able to receive physical things.
Instead, she asked me to write a blessing for her that she could print out and carry with her and read it whenever she needed it.
So I wrote her this Butterfly Blessing:
Noreenie’s Butterfly Blessing for her Precious sister, Aleksa:
PDF FOR STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS SHOWING HOW TO MAKE A UNIQUE KINDNESS LOOM
This PDF of Step by Step Instructions shows how to make a Kindness Pin Loom. It’s the instructions for you to make the loom, not the finished loom. You’ll make your own unique one of a kind Kindness loom using these instructions purchased from my etsy shop.
3– Video tutorial: How to weave a square on the Kindness Loom by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Last week, we went to a baby shower for friends who are soon to be parents.
I was so delighted to see how many handmade gifts were given to this soon to be among us little sweet person!
Quilting, sewing knitting and crochet were all beautifully shared by the extended family. Delightful!
What did we give to the new baby?
Well, since his parents love space and planets, and have decorated the nursery with all many of space and planet images, it seemed like a good idea to me to give Lil Baby a Star Mobile…. yup… from my book: Crochet Stars. With love, of course! ❤
The other day when I was out in the yard photographing some inkle weaving, a bee landed on the loom and ambled around. She didn’t seem bothered about me and my camera and she let me photograph her.
I was concerned that she might be having a hard time in the heat, so I sat my camera down so I could bring her a little dish of water, but she flew off and started nuzzling tomato flowers.
I hope that she and all her sisters are doing well, and I am grateful to her for stopping for a little visit.
Life is full of little blessings that make our hearts sing, isn’t it?
I have worked with my dreams all my adult life. I use the images, stories, and themes that happen in my dreams to shape my art and artisanship.
After my beloved son in law died suddenly from a heart catastrophe brought on by Covid, I had incredibly powerful dreams in which I was able to talk with him and listen to his new stories about his journey after this death.
He told me that I absolutely HAD to write a book about finding my way to hope and grace in living with the all encompassing grief unleashed by his passing…..
I was also having many dreams about Star Babies….. I have been dreaming about Star Babies for more than 30 years… I dreamt, over and over, about how the Star Babies were the most amazing experience of joyous, innocent, contagious and delicious laughter. Dreaming about them and their new adventures was incredibly healing. They lead me to keep finding references to how the stars offer us laughter and connection and hope, which I felt was synchronicity working it’s finest magic.
I was finding so much comfort and solace in my crochet, and talked with my wonderful editor at Stackpole, Candi Derr. We agreed that we can heal our broken hearts with lovingly creating small, but significant things that wrap up our love. And as we talked and I designed, and crocheted, crocheted, crocheted, it became clear that stars were meant to be the metaphor, and pardon the pun, but the STARS of this book.
Of course, I had to begin with the Laughing Stars that evolved from the Star Babies, and that seeded this book, Crochet Stars-
And then, I found all kinds of ways of creating more and more stars….
Some of which act as frames to embrace the memories of those we love, but who now dance among the stars-
And some of whom crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but still live on in our hearts….
I added a little lace to the pupster’s pics, and played with colors on the back of the stars:
It’s lovely to think of them all playing and laughing in amongst and with the stars, and the Star Babies, too!
Crochet Stars is now available from all the online book sellers! Yay! Happy Crochet! ❤
I walked into my studio this morning and was stopped in my tracks by a rainbow , gobsmackingly intense, parked under my wee Structo Loom.
I raced for my camera to catch it before it flickered off to play in another corner of the room.
Such small and fleeting things bring so much joy!
I turned my back and a moment later, the rainbow was gone…..
I hope that unexpected delights will suddenly appear for you too! 🙂
An odd thing has happened with this post…. not only did the rainbow in the studio disappear, but so has the post itself. I’ve been wrestling with getting it to show up again and wondering how and why a post would simply disappear. Sigh…..
I am no longer carving wooden dolls, (health issues).
These One of a Kind Wooden Dolls are all for sale. They are $100 each + shipping.
I spent hours making little fitted shimmery vests, and spent more hours messing around with lace for skirts. Sadly, the lace skirts just didn’t cut it.
So, when a dear friend gave me some vintage hankies, I had an ‘aha!’ moment…. and the skirt dilemma was resolved: Tie the hankies on with ribbons. This is a super simple non-sew skirt option that I came up with decades ago for dolls in my book: Soul Mate Dolls: Dollmaking as a Healing Art. It works so well! And, now, I am happy!
Last week I was given two little gifts that made me feel all hippetty skippety and happy….
The first gift was from a dear friend of ours who has just moved and is downsizing. She’s been treasuring a collection of vintage hankies and some linens from her grandmother for years. She asked if I would like to have them and I am so thrilled to have them ❤
The second gift is from my grandson. He’s been learning the ins and outs of 3D printing and decided to print himself a tiny loom. This was so exciting for me, as he’s been weaving with me, on and off all his life. Having him decide to print himself a little loom made me feel all ‘wheee!’. And, then, when he presented me with this tiny loom, joy simply bubbled up all over! It was such a delight to sit with him and do a little weaving together. Sigh…. happy….
Simple little gifts can be such a source of joy….. ❤ and I hope that little treasures and delights will find their way into your life, too! ❤
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 