Category Archives: wooden dolls

October 18, 2022 · 12:15 pm

Carved Wooden Teddy Bears that are for sale

Last winter, I had a wonderful time carving wooden Teddy Bears and Pandas as part of my 100 day carved wooden day project.

They all have jointed arms and legs, so they can sit and move about.

And, now it’s time for these little darlings to find their new homes…..

1- This Panda is approximately 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) tall $75 + shipping

2- This Panda is approximately 6 1/2 inches (16.5 cm) tall $75 + shipping

Note: It has a beaded necklace that can be removed if you prefer them to not wear a necklace.

3- This little Panda has a gold heart, red bead necklace and red shoes and is approximately 51/2 inches (14 cm) tall $75 + shipping

4- This Panda has a gold heart, a gold bead necklace, red shoes that have flowers on the soles, green and purple leggings and a flowered body suit and is approximately 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) tall

$95 + shipping

5- This Teddy Bear has red bead necklace, red boots with flowers on the soles, blue and white striped leggings and a flowered body suit and is approximately 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) tall $95 + shipping

6- This Teddy Bear is approximately 7 1/4 inches tall (18 cm) and has a pinkish gold necklace, pink and purple high top boots that have flowers on the soles, a floral body suit and leggings. $95 + shipping

I have made a couple of dresses that are available, too….

A hand knitted old fashioned looking dress: $35 + shipping

It fits the taller bears but is too big for the smaller bears

This is what it looks like on the bears (the bear is not included in the purchase of the dress…. they are all sold separately)

And here is a little sewn dress that is reversible. It fits all the bears. At this point, I am just pinning it in place on the bears, as it fits each bear differently. $15 +shipping

Here’s what the dress looks like on the bears (dress and bears sold separately)

If you are interested in purchasing any of the bears, please drop me a note in the comments or send me an email and I will get back to you asap.

❤

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Filed under carved wooden teddy bears, doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, teddy bear, wooden dolls

Tagged as carved wooden panda bears, carved wooden teddy bears, Noreen Crone-Findlay, panda bears, teddy bears

May 3, 2022 · 9:32 pm

A Wooden Teddy Bear Carved in Response to Grief

The death of our beloved 15 year old small dog has been really hard on both my husband and me.

I wrote in my previous post about the Comfort Doll that I carved from a fallen branch- LINK

When I was carving her, I was inspired to carve a Teddy Bear that would have an open space in it’s heart…..

I used amber color shellac to paint the Teddy Bear to look like our little dog, and then…

My husband and I each placed a tiny scoop of our little dog’s ashes in the open circle.

Then I glued a gold heart over it to seal it….

The glue seals it completely.

It took a while to dry and turn clear.

We both held the little teddy bear and found it to be very comforting….

We sat Teddy Bear and Pollydolly in front of the box of our little guy’s ashes, but when I finished weaving her outfit and knitting a red sweater and blue jeans for him, we sat them on top of the box:

My husband loves working with metal, so he made a little steel doggie: Edward Alloy in tribute to our wee fellow, and it has joined them on the box…..

We have found this tender making of small things in celebration of our wee dog to be very comforting!

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Tagged as carved wooden dolls, carved wooden teddy bears, doll making, dollmaking as a healing art, grief, grieving, teddy bears

May 3, 2022 · 9:43 am

Carving a Comfort Doll from a Fallen Branch

Last week, our darling little dog died. He was 15 years old and we miss him terribly.

The day before he died, a branch fell from the huge Elm tree in front of our house. I love the tree and so I picked up the branch and moved it onto our lawn, thinking that I should probably carve something from it.

A couple of days after we came home from the Vet, without our dear boy in our arms, the impulse to pick up the branch and start carving grew stronger and stronger.

I had been feeling called to carve another 6 inch doll like one that had carved last fall, so I used her as a companion and guide:

I used the same branch for her arms:

And for her legs, but I got the first pair all wrong, so I made another pair from another scrap of wood.

Of course, it took me a few days to carve her and to allow the still wet wood to dry before I could paint her.

This allowed me to follow my inner prompts that were a gift from this little healing dolly and start work on carving a teddy bear. I have posted about him here: LINK

I was surprised that she wanted a very round head, but when I went to carve it down, she firmly told me to just sand it smooth and live with it. Okay…. it’s important to not try to push the doll where she does not want to go!

She let me know exactly what she wanted for her hair, leotard, leggings and boots:

I knitted her a dress that was totally wrong for her, but works beautifully on a different doll.

Then I tried a different dress that I had knitted for another little doll. Nope.

She wanted me to weave her a white skirt and shrug from yarn that my daughter in law spun.

So, I did….

Her name is Pollydolly and I have found the process of carving her (and the teddy bear that I will post about next) to be very soothing and healing.

Dollmaking is very much a healing art and no matter what form it takes, it’s good for the soul.

Grieving is a journey that is unique to each person who has to follow the path, and it’s important to do the things that help the grief be nurtured in a transformative way that becomes the root of compassion.

Carving dolls and bears and knitting and weaving are an important part of my way of healing.

In the next post about the Teddy Bear that Pollydolly told me to carve, I’ll show you where she is sitting now. LINK

If you are grieving, please know that you are not alone. There is so much to grieve right now, and we all have to find our way through it. Blessings on your journey!

With love! ❤

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Filed under carved wooden dolls, carving wood, doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, grief, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, personal stuff, upcycling, weaving & handwoven, wooden dolls, woodwork

Tagged as #dollmakingasahealingart, carving, carving wooden dolls, dollmaking, dollmaking as a healing art, grief, grieving, handwoven doll clothes

March 29, 2022 · 7:39 am

Larger Vasilisa Comfort Dolls

I have been carving a series of dolls that are intended to bring comfort, inspiration and delight.

I call them, Vasilisa Comfort Dolls. They began as very small dolls but the series has branched out in several directions:

Small Vasillisa Comfort Dolls LINK

Vasilisa Comfort Dolls: Great Mother Series: LINK

Vasilisa Comfort Dolls that are Lucet Cord makers: LINK

These Vasilisa Comfort dolls are larger than the original ones….

This photo gives a sense of the size difference:

ARCH SHAPE VASILISA COMFORT DOLLS

HELPING HANDS:

In gratitude for all ways that people help one another. 3 1/2 inches/9 cm tall

THE BLESSING CUP: SOLD

“Being a Mother and Being a Daughter”

SWEET DREAMS:

A BLESSING FOR THE CHILD

AND THIS GROUP OF LARGE VASILISA COMFORT DOLLS HAVE JOINTED ARMS:

“Sunflower Song” We’ll never see Sunflowers in the same way again, will we? Praying for Peace in Ukraine and an end to the invasion

ROSIE:

BUTTERFLY DREAMS

I did the tatting, using shuttles that I carved myself. She’s about 5 inches/12.5 cm tall

DREAM CHILD

about 5 inches/12.5 cm tall (GLASS BACKGROUND NOT INCLUDED)

SURPRISE and her BABY

Surprise was a fascinating doll to create…. she kept taking me in new directions…. including wanting a baby…..

With her hat, Surprise is almost 8 inches/20 cm tall

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING ONE OR MORE OF THESE DOLLS, PLEASE LEAVE ME A NOTE IN THE COMMENTS (IT WON’T BE PUBLISHED) AND I WILL GET BACK TO YOU ASAP

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Tagged as doll making, dolls, Vasilisa Comfort dolls, Vasilisa dolls, wooden dolls

February 5, 2022 · 10:01 pm

A collection of available Vasilisa Comfort Dolls Feb 2022

In my previous post, I showed photos of the Vasilisa Comfort Dolls that are Lucets and also some Vasilisa Comfort Dolls that were inspired by and an homage to the Orkney Venus. LINK

If you would like to buy one of the Vasilisa Comfort dolls please post a comment and I will get back to you asap. (your comment won’t be public)

THE GREAT MOTHER Vasilisa Comfort Dolls can be seen at LINK

To see the larger Vasilisa Comfort Dolls, please click on LINK

‘CHOICES’ Vasilisa Comfort Dolls: NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Making decisions can be so challenging right now…. The Choices Vasilisa Comfort Doll is great at helping to make choices. ‘Yes’ on one side…. for a Wholly ‘Yes’

And, ‘No’ on the other…. for the Holy ‘No’……

HOME:

Listening for Wisdom, The Owl as Guide: NO LONGER AVAILABLE

TOUCH THE EARTH:

I carved these Vasilisa Comfort Dolls from Walnut to give them darker skin tones:

Vasilisa Comfort Doll (walnut) Singing a New Song **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

Vasilisa Comfort Doll (walnut) Mother and Child **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

Vasilisa Comfort Doll (walnut) Dream Guide **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

Vasilisa Comfort Doll (walnut) Storyteller/Storykeeper/Guardian of the Books **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

Vasilisa Comfort Doll (walnut) The Heart of Lovingkindness **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

This Vasilisa Comfort Doll is a necklace made with a beaded lucet cord. She has a tatted necklace around her neck, made with a tatting shuttle that I carved myself.

This group of Vasilisa Comfort Dolls is influenced by Goddess imagery:

Vasilisa Comfort Doll She Guides the Journey **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

This last group of Vasilisa Comfort Dolls is all about my love of flowers:

Vasilisa Comfort Doll Rosebud Inner Child **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

Vasilisa Comfort Doll Healing Laughter in the Blossom **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

Vasilisa Comfort Doll Protected by the Flowers **NO LONGER AVAILABLE**

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Filed under carved wooden dolls, carving wood, doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Vasilisa dolls, wooden dolls, woodwork

Tagged as #carvedwoodendoll, #vasilisadolls, #woodcarvingart, #woodendoll, carved wooden dolls, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Vasilisa Comfort dolls, Vasilisa dolls

February 5, 2022 · 9:16 pm

AvailableVasilisa Comfort Dolls updated Feb 5 2022- Lucets and Orkney Venus

This past year has been the year of carving dolls for me.

Here is the first post about a collection of the Vasilisa Comfort Dolls that are currently available- please send me a note if you would like to adopt one.

MORE Vasilisa Comfort dolls that are available can be seen at LINK

THE GREAT MOTHER Vasilisa Comfort Dolls can be seen at LINK

To see the larger Vasilisa Comfort Dolls, please click on LINK

To see the explanation about how and why I have been carving the Vasilisa Comfort dolls, click this LINK

If you would like to buy one of the Vasilisa Comfort dolls please post a comment and I will get back to you asap. (your comment will not be listed publicly)

How to make cord with Vasilisa Comfort Doll Lucets: Here and Here

VASILISA COMFORT DOLLS THAT ARE LUCETS:

I have started a new series of Vasilisa Comfort Doll Lucets:

She’s the first in a series of Vasilisa dolls that I am calling: “I Hold this in my Heart”.

This first one was a challenge for me…..There is so much unhappiness in the world right now, that I was daunted to even suggest that we still need to hold happiness in our heart, but I am convinced that we do need to find happy moments each day.

Hope is essential, isn’t it?

THE QUEEN BEE AND LADYBUG LUCETS:

The Queen Bee with round black glasses is slightly larger than the Queen Bee with red glasses and the Ladybug is a tiny bit smaller than either Bee.

VASILISA COMFORT DOLLS INSPIRED BY THE ORKNEY VENUS:

Last summer, my daughter read about the Orkney Venus, an ancient, charming tiny stone figure found in an archeological dig in Scotland in 2009.

Here’s a link to an interesting article: LINK

I was so taken with the sweet little figure that I had to carve a series of Orkney Venus Vasilisa Comfort dolls. My homages to the Orkney Venus are bigger than the ancient original….

Orkney Venus Vasilisa Comfort doll with Rose and a pin on her back to wear as a shawl pin or on a hat, bag or lapel. 3 1/4 inches tall

Orkney Venus Vasilisa Comfort doll also with a pin on her back to wear her as a pin. 2 1/2 inches tall.

Orkney Venus Vasilisa Comfort doll Song of the Sea is 3 inches tall. (*no pin on her back*)

The smallest Orkney Venus Vasilisa Comfort doll has a small rose on her front and a spiral and larger rose on her back. She is 2 1/2 inches tall (*no pin on her back)*

MORE Vasilisa Comfort dolls that are available can be seen at LINK

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Tagged as #carvedwoodendoll, carved wooden dolls, doll making, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Vasilisa Comfort dolls, Vasilisa dolls

February 5, 2022 · 4:55 pm

How to make lucet cord with the Vasilisa Doll Lucets

I have been enjoying designing and carving Vasilisa Comfort Dolls that are also lucet cord makers.

If you would like to adopt one of the Vasilisa Comfort Doll lucets, please send me a message.

Here’s a video that I made to show how to make lucet cord with the Vasilisa dollies with legs:

Here is a list of ‘how to videos’ for lucets:

#1- Basic cord:

#2- How to add buttons, beads and charms

#3- Button closures

#4- Celtic knots and interlaces

#5- Shoe laces

#6- Celtic Interlace Hearts

Lucet cord butterfly:

How to attach lucet cord to garments:

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Filed under carved wooden dolls, doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Lucet, tutorial & how to, Vasilisa dolls, video tutorial, wooden dolls

Tagged as #lucet, #vasilisadolls, how to make lucet cords, Lucet, lucet cord, lucet cords, lucet technique, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Vasilisa dolls

January 20, 2022 · 6:10 pm

Carved Wooden Vasilisa Dolls by Noreen Crone-Findlay

(UPDATE: Many of the dolls in this post have sold. To see which of the Vasilisa Comfort Dolls are available,

please go to LINK 1 and LINK 2)

To see the larger Vasilisa Comfort Dolls, please click on LINK

I have been carving wooden dolls non-stop for the past year.

I’ve been working on several series of dolls.

One of the series that has brought me great joy is my ‘Vasilisa Comfort Dolls’ group.

I call them this because of the Russian folktale, Vasilisa the Brave. Vasilisa’s mother knows that she is dying, so she makes her darling daughter a doll that embodies all the mother love in her heart.

The little doll acts as a guide and comfort for Vasilisa throughout the story.

My Vasilisa dolls are also an embodiment of love, and even though they look very simple, they are deeply heartfelt, contemplative, meditative and powerfully healing.

I have used all kinds of wood- some it is from old pianos that died and the wood was given to me, some of it is from trees that were pruned or felled because of old age, some is from old furniture or planks of upcycled wood in other forms. There is a very small amount of new bought wood, as I prefer to plant trees, rather than use them up. Upcycling soothes me.

I have separated the Vasilisa Dolls into different categories.

Many of them are meant to be held in the palm of your hand or carried in a pouch (carrying them in a pocket with coins, keys, pebbles etc is not recommended, but on their own in a pocket is fine).

The Vasilisa dolls are all about 2 1/2 inches tall.
Just perfect to be embraced in your hand…. and held to your heart!

Here are the ‘Square Body’ Vasilisa’s dolls

Some of them have cords, because they are necklaces.

Some have dear little wooden legs that turn them into lucets, so they can make cords.

Some of them have brass nail antennae that also allow them to be used as lucets.

Some of them have lucet cord arms that allow them to hug your finger, thumb or house plant.

Here are the ‘Heart Shape’ body Vasilisa dolls:

Here are the Round Shape Body Vasilisa Dolls:

The group of Vasilisa dolls in the photo below all have pins on their backs so they can be worn as brooches.

The group in the next photo are necklaces and I realize that some of these should have been in the Goddess photo, too, but, you know… keeping everything straight…..

The group in the photo below are all Lucets (and I’ll send a pdf on how to use them as well as links to 8 video tutorials on lucet cord making with these Vasilisa dolls)

These are the Finger Hugging Vasilisa Dolls:

These Vasilisa dolls are based on Goddess energy and inspired by Goddess imagery:

The Vasilisa dolls are great for storytelling…..

I couldn’t resist making one little Vasilisa Snowlady 🙂

They are for sale and range in price from $25 to $95 +shipping, just send me a message or note.

Not all of them are still available.

I am quite emotional about posting them, as they have been such a source of healing for me through the pandemic…. I hope that you can feel all the love in them, too. ❤

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Tagged as carved wooden dolls, carving wooden dolls, doll making, dolls, hand carved wooden doll, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Vasilisa dolls, wood carving, wooden dolls

May 14, 2021 · 8:42 pm

How to Spin and Weave Brown Paper Yarn

One of my favorite eco friendly crafts is spinning yarn from brown paper….

This video shows how:

And, then, I love to weave the brown paper yarn into all kinds of fun things like this bunny and teddy bear.

I carved their heads from wood, and made their little shoes from scraps of garment leather that I glued to wooden soles that I carved. The navy shoes were made from a thrift shop coat that I cut and sewed into a ton of different things- bags and doll shoes and doll clothes.

I made their hands from scraps of heavy weight leather that I was given years ago.

Bunny’s face is lopsided because the scrap of firewood that I carved her from was wonky, but she forgives me for that!

I adapted this pattern from my etsy shop to weave their bodies on weaving sticks, using the brown paper yarn that I had spun: Here’s the link:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/92453904/pdf-pattern-for-delightful-dolls-woven?ref=shop_home_feat_1

The brown paper yarn also works BEAUTIFULLY for weaving baskets. Here’s a link to my pattern for weaving baskets on weaving sticks:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/111292892/pdf-pattern-for-all-kinds-of-baskets?ref=shop_home_feat_3

And, here’s the link for jewelry to weave with weaving sticks. Brown paper is wonderful for making jewelry!

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/124255671/ebook-jewelry-woven-on-the-stick-weaving?ref=shop_home_feat_4

I love all the neat things that can be made with brown paper yarn. In our house, brown paper is NEVER thrown away!

It always gets upcycled into nifty new things 😀

This is my contribution to the monthly ‘Scrap Happy’ Blogging group- people who delight in making things from scraps and upcycled bits of this and that post on the 15th of each month.

Here’s the links to the rest of the group. I always enjoy seeing what each of them has done each month:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon , Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin,
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Noreen (this is me, but you know that) ,
Bear, Carol, Preeti and Edith

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Tagged as #howtospinbrownpaperyarn, #papercrafts, #upcycle, #upcycling, brown paper, brown paper yarn, hand spun, handspun yarn, paper crafting, Scrap Happy, wooden bunny doll, wooden teddy bear

April 14, 2021 · 9:38 pm

Charlotte Mermaid

Last month, I posted about Bedelia Mermaid, whom I carved from a very hard old piece of wood that was upcycled from a very old and fallen apart bed. LINK

Her sister, poor thing, languished in the freezer for several weeks, because I needed to force some moisture into the rock hard wood.

Bedelia thought that I was being rather harsh with her poor sister!

I named her ‘Frozen Charlotte’, which is actually a kind of doll that doesn’t have moveable arms and legs, but in this case, it was because she spent so much time in sub-zero temperatures.

Freezing the moistened wood made a world of difference!

When I tried carving Charlotte’s arm, I was delighted- carving the wood was now possible without my knife going instantly dull.

So, I moved on to carving the rest of her:

Bedelia kept her sister company:

And, when Charlotte was finally done, they sat and enjoyed finally being together after poor Charlotte’s dreadful time in the freezer.

Bedelia told Charlotte about some more sweet mermaids that have joined the flutter of memaids in the studio and wanted to introduce her to them.

Charlotte is rather shy, perhaps because of the time in the freezer – it takes her time to warm up to new people.

But when she met the sweet Bunnymaids, she wasn’t shy at all, and she whispered to Bedelia that she likes them very much.

Baby Bunnymaid held Charlotte’s hand, and they all sang a small song and decided that they were happy to be in such fine company.

Unfortunately, Charlotte is still feeling very cold, so I think that I will have to do something about that!

SCRAP HAPPY- Once a month, a group of bloggers who are into upcycling all post on the 15th of the month, sharing what they have created with upcycled bits of this and that in the past month. Charlotte’s introduction is my contribution to Scrap Happy for this month.

Here are the other Scrap Happy bloggers- I always love seeing what they have been up to!

Kate , Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin,
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Nancy, Dawn 2, Noreen,
Bear, Carol, Preeti and Edith