Tag Archives: books

October 21, 2025 · 5:42 pm

Oh What a Lovely Evening- The Opening of The Oracle of Stillness-Weaving Coherence in the Chaos

The opening on Oct 17, 2025 at Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton of my solo mixed media show of Woven Women Tapestries: ‘The Oracle of Stillness- Weaving Coherence in the Chaos’ was wonderful.

I made a wobbly little video after the show was hung but before the lights were set, so some of the pieces don’t show up too well….

Here is the explanation of the show:

This little video by Noreen Crone-Findlay is a glimpse of her solo show of mixed media weaving: The Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos. This series of Woven Women tapestries were created by Noreen Crone-Findlay over many years and include many mediums: fused glass, steel rod, steel and copper wire, beading, Teneriffe lace making, Tatted lace, lace and tapestry and narrow band weaving on looms specially constructed for the show by Crone-Findlay, thread, yarn, painting on wood, painting on watercolor paper, found objects, leather work, crochet, wire work, carved Tagua nut, and carved wood. The Oracle of Stillness speaks to the heart about navigating grief, sorrow around personal loss and chronic illness, as well as the shock of living in social and cultural upheaval. Noreen Crone-Findlay works with her dreams, meditations, prayers, poetry, and deep conversation to create Woven Women who embody presence, mystery, magic, The Great Beauty and the Feminine Divine. The Oracle of Stillness Woven Women are immersive, textural, layered and complex. Each one has taken hundreds of hours to complete and invite the gaze of the viewer to listen with their hearts to find the ‘ring of truth’ and point of Stillness int the quiet of the journey ‘Home’. Noreen hopes that you will find a moment of wonder or Beauty in the Oracle of Stillness Woven Women and to follow the complex threads that lead to the very center of our Being-ness. There is love in every stitch, every molecule of each of these mixed media weavings. May they bring healing…. with love. Please go to http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com for more information

Our dear friend, Andrea Gray took photos at the opening, and oi vey, when I was captioning the pics, I spelled her name wrong! For crying out loud! I had one job to do….. sigh… my apologies… its’ GRAY not Grey….

The gallery was packed to the rafters, so it wasn’t easy for her to get the photos and I am grateful to her! ❤

Anyhow here are the pics:

Just a note… they were taken at the end of the evening and I was exhausted, so I do look mighty droopy!

I will keep working on getting photos of the individual pieces up here and on fb and ig.

Hugs all round!

Kindred Spirit Little Woven Comfort Dolls

Living with Long Covid and the constellation of syndromes that it unleashes means that I can’t carve wood anymore.

BUT! I can still weave on small looms (hurrah!). So, for the last couple of years I have been working on refining little woven comfort dolls.

I am finally satisfied with my new series: The Kindred Spirit Dolls.

The Kindred Spirit Dolls are charming little dolls woven on the Kindness Loom as part of the Weaving Kindness Project.

The etsy link for the pattern is: L I N K

The Kindred Spirit Dolls are sweet little beings that are meant to be a comfort and a delight to you as you make them.

And then, if you choose to give the Kindred Spirit Dolls to your family, friends and fellow travelers, they will carry your good wishes and kindness that are woven into every stitch of these precious little dolls!

The Kindred Spirit Dolls are small- not quite 3 inches (7.5 cm) tall so they can go everywhere with you.

Because the Kindred Spirit dolls have Noreen’s signature hugging arms- they are ready to give a hug at all times, and they can also hold onto small things, too.

The Kindred Spirit Dolls have optional wings, made by following the instructions for the Kindness Butterfly in the video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A11F11Lsp8 that is then stitched to the back of the Kindred Spirit Doll.

Their hair can be made in many ways. They all have embroidered bangs and side wisps, and if you like the simplicity of the ‘Pixie’ style hair, then don’t add any extras.

But, if a more elaborate hairstyle is your cup of tea, then feel free to add twisted topknots and braids or ponytails and fringes.

I hope that the Kindred Spirit Dolls will bring happiness, comfort and good feelings into your life!

The links for all the Weaving Kindness projects, videos, how to’s & etsy shop ordering info is at:

ALL THE LINKS FOR THE WEAVING KINDNESS LOOM AND PROJECTS BY NOREEN CRONE-FINDLAY

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, KINDNESS LOOM AND PROJECTS, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Simple Little Things That Make Me Happy, weaving & handwoven, Weaving Kindness Project by Noreen Crone-Findlay

Tagged as #comfortdolls, books, comfort dolls, doll maker, doll making, dolls, fiction, hand weaving, hand woven, kindred spirit dolls, knitting, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, weaving, weaving kindness, weaving kindness project, woven comfort dolls, woven dolls, writing

June 27, 2024 · 9:19 am

The Box of my new book Crochet Stars has arrived

It’s such a joyful moment when a box appears on the porch and it’s my new book!

I was thrilled last week to see Crochet Stars up on the online book sellers, but, to have the book in my hands is pure joy!

Crochet Stars is so dear to my heart- it is a small book – a new format with my wonderful publisher, Stackpole, which feels just so right on so many levels.

Writing this book was a journey of healing on the path of grief. It is full of so much love and is all about finding healing and laughter and hope through the joy of making small but sweet and precious things with our hearts fully infusing our hands as they create gifts of connection and love!

This little Laughing Star is based on a series of delightful dreams that I had over many many years, and it is, in a lot of ways, for me, the ‘Star’ of the book…. but then, I LOVE all the stars that I designed for the book!

Stars are such a powerful metaphor for the light of love, laughter and healing that flows through our lives.

I deliberately designed several very small stars so that people can give them freely and happily as gifts to say to people: Thank you for being here, and I appreciate you and oh my goodness! You matter! ❤

Joni Mitchell had it so right when she sang that we are stardust and we are golden.

I hope that this book, Crochet Stars, will bring golden stardust to life in so many ways! ❤

Hand made GREEN book Challenge

wooden-book-qs-4

On the Spool knitting group on yahoo, we’ve been talking about paper vs pdf patterns.

Several of the clever women there have said that they print out their pdf’s, slip them into plastic sleeves and pop them into a binder. The patterns never get lost that way.

WELL! That has inspired me!

wooden-book-qs-3

I LOVE making journals, notebooks, sketchbooks etc. that are one of a kind, eco friendly and oh so artsy.

So….. why not make your own book to store your pdf’s and loose patterns?

You could make 2 covers from cardboard or plywood or veneer or chipboard or somthing else, and then decorate them any way that you wanted to.

Then- spool knit, or tat or crochet or braid or kumihimo or use any other method of making a cord.

Use the cords to hold your pdf book together….

And, if you didn’t want to use plastic sleeves, you could punch holes in large envelopes, label them, and store your pdf’s and pattern bits and pieces in there….

And, Voial! your pdf’s, notes, sketches, clippings and patterns won’t ever get lost! Yay!

SO HERE’S THE CHALLENGE:

MAKE A BOOK

THAT IS PERFECT FOR STORING YOUR PDF AND OTHER LOOSE PATTERNS

THIS IS A GREEN CHALLENGE,

MAKE 2 COVERS FROM SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE RECYCLING, RECLAIMING OR UPCYCLING,

AND DECORATE THEM ANY WAY YOU WANT:

USE PHOTOS, PAINT, WEAVING, FLAT DOLLS, TATTING, CROCHET, STITCHERY, DRAWING, WHATEVER….

A N D !

THE BOOK HAS TO BE BOUND WITH HANDMADE CORDS

Take pics and post them to your blog

or wherever you post your pics