January 28, 2009 · 6:14 am

Lily is back!

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I am so pleased!

One of my most favorite dolls of all the thousands of dolls that I have designed, is ‘Lily’.

Somehow, I managed to loose the file that had her pattern in it, and oops, had sold all my paper copies of her pattern.

Oh my word!

It’s been driving me nuts that I couldn’t find her file, so I spent most of the day searching through all my files. whew.

I was THRILLED when I found her file!

So, I set to work on rebuilding it, as it was an earlier version, and now I have created a pdf of her pattern.

Whee hah!  My darlin’ Lily is back in town! woohoo!

I’ve put her on my website. You can see her at:

Noreen’s Dolls

wheeeeeeeeeee

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

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January 22, 2009 · 6:38 am

Writing, still writing

I wrote my first book when I was in Grade 2.

I started by writing my version of a fairy tale, and my teacher liked it.

She said that she would give me more paper if I wanted to tell more of the story.

Oh oh…. I was already addicted to a passion for paper, and my greedy little heart went: ooooooooooooooh! paper…. more paper……….. yummmmmmmmmmmmm……

So, I would write and write my story, and she would dole out more delicious sheets of luscious white paper with those enticing blue lines…….. ah………. paradise…….

I have no idea what happened to that big fat pile of story pages. But, the passion for writing books has never left me.

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I still write everything out by hand before I type it into my computer.

Over the last few months, since I left ‘hankering for yarn’, it may look like I have stopped writing.

Au contraire! I have been designing and working and writing ‘full immersion’ on new books.

I’ve just released ‘Rosie Recycle’, and am now working hard on more books….

and loving every minute of it.

I think my Grade 2 teacher would be pleased….  😀

So, if it looks like I have abandoned writing, please be patient with me.  I haven’t- it’s just pouring out into books instead of into blogs.

Pass the paper, please, I need to write some more……

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January 10, 2009 · 11:31 pm

Rosie Recycle is done and ready to go!

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I am so excited!
I have finally finished The Rosie Recycle Doll Book!

http://www.crone-findlay.com/Crone-FindlayCreationsWhatsNew.html

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Rosie Recyle dolls are charming little one of a kind dolls that are
an inspiration to ‘go green’, and become a thrifty ‘eco crafter’.

Combine your stash of scraps of yarn & embroidery floss
with colorful bits of junk mail, old magazines
and packaging to create enchanting & unique little
Rosie Recycle Dolls.

The book includes instructions and patterns for
* Knitted Rosie Recycle Dolls
*Crocheted Rosie Recycle Dolls
* Spool knitted Rosie Recycle Dolls
*Rosie Recycle Dolls with ribbon or lace scrap skirts.

The completed Rosie Recycle dolls
are approximately 5 inches (12.5 cm) tall.

They have pins on the back of their heads, so they can dance from
your hat, bag, lapel, curtain, inspiration or bulletin board.
They’re also great for scrapbooking, too…..

The Rosie Recycle booklet is 48 pages, and is full color.
It’s 5 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches- so easy to slip into your tote bag!

I am doing the big time happy happy happy dance….

and Tottie Tomato thinks that Rosie Recyle is pretty darned wonderful, too!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright



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January 7, 2009 · 2:43 am

Mapping the layout for new book

I have been working sooooooooooo hard on a new little book.

😀

The process has been really intense, because, as well as designing and making the dolls for the book, I have been learning a whole lotta new software and systems. Oh MY!

The book is called: Rosie Recycle Pin Dolls : Thrifty Little Dolls to Crochet or Knit And Spool Knit.

The dolls are adorable and I am very excited….

I’m getting close to being able to release it…. just working on finishing up the layout of the book….

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The process of figuring out where each page goes and how it gets there is a complicated one….

I ended up making little mockups that I could zing back and forth in and then map out the whole works.

Each page  ended up with 7 codes, telling me something that I needed to know for the pages.

Lotsa lotsa work….. and so worth it!

I have been working so hard on the book that I haven’t been keeping up with blogging.

I will blog a bit more about the process…..

until then…. it’s back to work on it, for me.

PS:  The book is done! Hurrah!

You can see some of the dolls in the book at:
http://www.crone-findlay.com/Crone-FindlayCreationsGallery.html

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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December 31, 2008 · 4:37 am

Inkle Loom Dimensions

Recently, someone asked me about the dimensions of my inkle loom.

So, I’ve taken pictures of my loom and measured it, in hopes that this helps her husband in building her inkle loom.

My husband built mine from reclaimed wood from pallets, and it’s VERY hard wood.

You need hardwood for an inkle loom, as you put so much pressure on it.

I have woven everything from rugs to garments to bags to bookmarks on this loom. I love it.

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I am not alone in loving my inkle loom…. my cats LOVE to help me warp it!

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All images and content on this blog are copyright and not to be reproduced without permission.

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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December 24, 2008 · 12:13 am

Weaving Words

I love weaving words into inkle woven bands.

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In this picture, Tottie Tomato is wrapped in the words of Dame Julian of Norwich’s prayer:

And all shall be well

and all shall be well

and all manner of things shall be well…

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I love this prayer and say it allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the time……….

To pay homage to Dame Julian and her wonderful prayer,  I wove the bands that I used to shape her body (and her banner) on my inkle loom. I crocheted her hands and head, and wove the remainder of the elements of the sculpture on various other small looms.

I use a simple pickup technique for weaving words.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I think I should put ‘do a video of  weaving words’ on my to do list!

The images in this blog entry are copyright and not to be used by anyone else for anything else….

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December 16, 2008 · 6:20 am

What’s on your loom for Christmas?

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It wouldn’t be a proper Christmas without at least a little weaving!

My daughter and I are co-creating a present for her husband.

I warped up my Cricket (love that loom!) and am weaving up the bands that she is going to use to make him a pair of suspenders.

I wove about 20 feet of really nice bands…. I’ll show you pics when she’s got the suspenders done….

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By the way, my husband made me that shuttle one year for my birthday. Isn’t it gorgeous?

He also built me my inkle loom, which I am working with to weave bands that say different things for different members of the family:

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That’s for my son’s camera bag…. hope he likes it.

I love doing pickup techniques on the inkle. It’s slow, but satisfying!

So, what’s on your loom for Christmas?

Happy Weaving!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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December 11, 2008 · 4:36 am

Christmas ornament

One of our favorite holiday traditions is to make a Christmas ornament for our friends and family.

For this year’s ornament, I decided that I would make an Angel of Gratitude…

so I drew and colored her, and then scanned and printed a flutter of angels.christmas-ornament-2008-1qs

I glued them to wood,varnished them and then cut them out.

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I sanded and painted the edges, glued the loops on, cut out the backs and glued them together….

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and Voila! This year’s ornament!

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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November 27, 2008 · 4:33 am

Woven and Spool knitted Heart

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I designed this spool knitted and woven heart a year or so ago.

I’ve just re-worked the instructions and have them available as a pdf tutorial.

Click on my website for the contact info for the download.

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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November 19, 2008 · 5:10 am

Another healing/prayer shawl made with the mitered loop method

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Last week, I wrote about weaving healing and prayer shawls on my Cricket Loom, using a method that I have developed (the mitered loop shawl). Here’s the link to the tutorial

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This is one of the shawls that I have just woven for my daughter. The colors didn’t show up at all well… sigh. It’s much prettier in person! Much more turquoise-y.

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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