On the river

Yesterday, my husband and I, and our son and his wife and her sister, and our daughter and her husband and their son and her husband’s parents all had a blissful ‘staycation’.

Here’s Jim and me with our beloved little grandson, watching the world go by, thanks to the gigantic paddle wheels.

copyright Chloe Findlay-Harder

copyright Chloe Findlay-Harder

We had a magical ride on the Edmonton Riverboat Queen, which paddles up and down the North Saskatchewan River in the heart of Edmonton, Alberta.

I have driven, walked, and biked over the river.  I have walked along it, and even dabbled my feet in it, but I have Never. Been. ON. it.

Jim and our son and his wife have all canoed and kayaked it, but not me.

I am a ‘fire’ person, not so much, well, not at all, a’ water’ baby.

But, oh, my goodness! I really got it about how wonderful it is to be ‘messing about in boats’, as Ratty in Wind in the Willows always says….

It was ‘time out of time’, and I had a whole new sense of the history of the city, as we saw how the original people of this land would have seen it.

And, also, how the Voyageurs would have paddled their gigantic loads up and down it.

The rain had been pelting down, so it started out cool and overcast, but in typical Alberta summer fashion, the sun soon poured through and layers came off.

We topped off the afternoon with a wonderful picnic, and the singing of variations on birthday greeting songs, as many of the family are summertime babies.

Truly a magical day, filled with beautiful times.

I am blessed.

🙂

 

 

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Woven Women- Edith’s Song

I’ve just finished weaving a new piece that I have called: ‘Edith’s Song: No Regrets’:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

For the last 3 weeks, I have been weaving away, loving working on a sampler for Part One of Rebecca Mezoff’s online tapestry weaving workshop. LINK to her course outlines.  (Love the course, highly recommend it!)

While I was weaving it, I got inspired to weave the last section in 3 panels- one for the torso, and 2 for the arms.

I shaped the upper edge in a semi circle to be the neckline of her bodice, and left empty triangles at the elbows so I could shape bent arms.

I pulled the warp strands to bend the arms and to shape her torso.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

I chose to leave the slits unstitched in the lower panel so I could weave in narrow bands that I had previously woven on my double hole rigid heddle loom.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

I also used the narrow bands as the hem and other embellishments.

I cut the head, hands and feet from 1/4 inch plywood.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

The wings were a serendipitous thrift shop find.

The beads around her face are a peyote stitch tube that I made a couple of years ago and have been waiting for the perfect project.

Woven on my 16 inch Mirrix loom, using Paternayan tapestry yarn that I inherited from my mother and handspun from my daughter in law.

She makes me feel happy.  🙂

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Juerga Flamenca at the Works Festival June 2014

Last night, my wonderful husband, Jim Findlay’s flamenco trio, Juerga Flamenca, played at the Works Festival in Edmonton Alberta Canada.

Juerga Flamenca means a flamenco gathering or ‘jam’.

The players are: Jim Findlay, guitar, Clint Pelletier, guitar, Dean Pierno, percussion – master players all, and three of the loveliest, most wonderful men you could ever imagine!

Jim wrote all but one of the tunes that they played…. it was just so wonderful!!!!

Sorry about the wobbly shakiness of the video…. I forgot to bring a tripod, and sitting still is not my strong suit!

Oh, bliss…. I LOVE Jim’s music!

 

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Tapestry diary June 2014 -Doorway

Having committed to weaving a tapestry diary for the year of 2014 has been a wonderful experience for me.

As I have been experimenting with my diary pieces, I have come to a huge ‘aha’ about the ways that I love to work.

I have found that weaving tiny tapestries, 3 inches/7.5 cm by 5 inches/12.5 cm truly makes my heart sing.

Here is my completed tiny tapestry for the month of June:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

I wanted to show the small size of the tapestry by placing it in the context of my studio, and I inadvertently included  a little self revelation that made me flinch when I first saw the  pic.

My little rock with ‘good enough’ in chalk….. not feeling good enough has been a life long struggle for me, and it’s rather ouchie to have my little ‘good enough’ rock in the photo.

BUT, I figured that I am not alone in this struggle, so, what the heck…. if it feels too uncomfortable to leave the pic as is, I can take it down… but… maybe it could be helpful to someone else who navigates that particular minefield, too, so, I’ll leave it for now.

To be honest, the weaving in this piece does have aspects that are not good enough.

But, as I have lived with now for the few days since I finished it, I have decided that there’s more to it than meets the eye, and I like how I have had ‘aha’ moments with it- finding new meaning in it.

One of the rules of the tapestry diary that I have made for myself is that I have to ask myself:

Where am I right now? What am I working on?

And, then do a drawing that feels like it has possibilities to show me more about that.

When I began my June drawing, I was deeply grieving the death of one of our beloved little dogs, as well as several other losses.

It made me really aware of how those we love do come and go, and how tender and precious life is….  and that’s what came up in the drawing and the weaving.

On the other hand, my daughter in law thinks it looks like something out of Star Trek or sci fi.

LOL!!!!  That works for me!  I say: If you see something in it that I didn’t, then, YAY! that’s a win.

….. and that’s good enough for me…..

🙂

 

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Woven Sloth

The day my daughter said to me: “Mum, you should design a woven sloth!”, turned out to be a happy one 🙂

I had always liked sloths, but until I started designing one, I didn’t realize how incredibly enchanting they are.

Their sweet nature is so clear to see on their faces!

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

I’ve been weaving and selling sloths in my booth at Maker’s Faires and Artisan Markets for more than a year and a half now,  and people just love them- they always spark a chortle or a grin.

My daughter in law wants me to make one for her to hang on her spinning wheel, so I got out my potholder loom today and started working on one for her.

She told me that this week is ‘International Sloth Week’, so I thought… okay….

it’s time to publish my pattern in honour of the sweet slowpokes!

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

The pattern is available in my etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/193617856/adorable-sloth-plushie-toy-to-weave-on?ref=shop_home_active_2

 

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

Happy Sloth Week!

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Woven Women – Spiral Eyes

A couple of days ago, I posted photos of ‘Woven Women- Spiral Eyes’ in process and with the weaving finished, but still on the loom.  LINK

I was planning on weaving more small diary pieces on the same warp, but- oops!

I broke a warp strand while advancing the warp- ack!

So, I cut the warp off and finished framing her:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www..crone-findlay.com

My thoughts while weaving this piece were

that we simply have to come from a place of compassion….

which is what the spirals represent to me-

spiral in, spiral out.

The eyes, of course, are about seeing….

the blue around her face represents tears,

the green in the spirals is all about hope.

So… that’s what’s woven into a very tiny tapestry.  (It’s 3 inches by 5 inches)

 

 

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Folding stand for my Mirrix tapestry loom

I am pleased as can be- I’ve just built myself a spiffy new folding stand for my Mirrix tapestry loom.

folding loom stand (c)

I’ve done several variations on this loom stand – I began by designing a folding stand for my copper pipe looms LINK

And, then, used the same concept to make a very upcycled version from cardboard tubes and broomsticks LINK

For this version, I used conduit pipes and neat corner thingies to  make it, and it has worked out a fair treat!

Here’s the video that I made as I was building it:

The key to the success of the folding loom stand is a pivoting clamp- here’s the link to how I did that: LINK

I’ve signed up for Rebecca Mezoff’s online tapestry class LINK, and am looking forward to getting my Mirrix warped up and weaving on it.

🙂 I love my new stand! 🙂

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Tapestry Diary May 2014

I have committed to a year long project on Ravelry- weaving a tapestry diary.

I didn’t quite finish my May tapestry diary piece in May…. I just finished it today.

I have been bothered and irritated by one of the eyes and just wasn’t happy, so had to do some serious unweaving and unpicking.

I am still not quite there with it, but it’s going to be on the loom until I weave the next diary piece (I warped enough to weave several small diary entries) so, I can puzzle over it more, or simply accept it as is.

It’s called: Woven Women- Spiral Eyes.

Here it is in progress:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

And here it is in it’s ~almost finished~ state (of course, it will have to be ‘really finished’ later when it comes off the loom, but that won’t be happening right away)

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

It’s about how we spiral inward when we are faced with difficult events in our lives-

May was very challenging for us, with the death of one of dear old dogs, the destruction of my website by hackers, then, learning that the gallery that was supposed to be hosting the solo show of my tapestries and other woven works has been botched by the builders, so the gallery can’t open this year- so my show is cancelled.

Then, we learned that a long, long time friend is very ill.

Rough, rough month…. and in the news, the school girls in Nigeria still not being released, as well as troubles all over the planet…. oh my….

And, the thing that I take away from my personal journey and looking at what others are facing,

is that we simply have to come from a place of compassion….

which is what the spirals represent to me-

spiral in, spiral out.

The eyes, of course, are about seeing….

the blue around her face represents tears,

the green in the spirals is all about hope.

So… that’s what’s woven into a very tiny tapestry.  (It’s 3 inches by 5 inches)
I will be framing it in one of my painted plaster frames when it comes off the loom.

On a very happy note, I was thrilled today to receive the most gorgeous package of yarn from LeiLaniSue of Heavenly Fibers LINK

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

Thank you, thank you, LeiLani!

So very beautiful!!!!!!! and soooooooooooooo appreciated!!!!!

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Lucet techniques- 6- Celtic Interlace Hearts

This is the 6th how to video in Noreen Crone-Findlay’s series of Lucet technique tutorials.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

In this video, I show  how to make gorgeous Celtic interlace hearts that you can use to embellish woven, knitted, crocheted or sewn fashion accessories or home decor items.

They are also great for scrapbooking and can be used on stationery.

They are perfect  Valentines or as Christmas or birthday decorations and ornaments.

Another wonderful way of using these Celtic Interlace hearts is to hang them up as ‘Yarn Bombs’ for people to find and adopt. What a lovely way to brighten someone’s day!

The video shows how to make different sizes of the Celtic Interlace Heart.

Here is the template- print it out so that it’s about 5 inches square, but smaller or larger works just fine, too.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

Spool knitted cords work fine for making the Celtic interlace hearts, too.

Here is the video tutorial:

 

Please go to https://www.etsy.com/listing/190037126/handmade-wooden-lucet-by-noreen-crone?ref=listing-1 to purchase one of my  handmade lucets, and to check out all the nifty spool knitting patterns and eBooks, as all those patterns will work beautifully with Lucet cords.

This is Noreen Crone-Findlay’s original design and concept. 

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Lucet techniques- 5 – Shoelaces- upcycle to make aiglets

This is the 5th how to video in my series of Lucet technique tutorials.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

In this video tutorial, I show how to make awesome shoelaces, and a great upcycling way of  making those little thingies at the end of the laces.

I couldn’t remember the right name for them when I was making the video, and called them ‘aplets’, but the correct name is ‘aglets or aiglets’.

Wikipedia defines them as: The word aglet (or aiglet) comes from Old French aguillette (or aiguillette), which is the diminutive of aguille (or aiguille), meaning needle.[1] This in turn comes from acus, Latin for needle. An aglet is like a small needle at the end of a corde

Here’s the video:

Please go to https://www.etsy.com/listing/190037126/handmade-wooden-lucet-by-noreen-crone?ref=listing-1 to purchase one of my sweet little handmade lucets, and to check out all the nifty spool knitting patterns and eBooks, as all those patterns will work beautifully with Lucet cords.

This is Noreen Crone-Findlay’s original design and concept.

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