Tag Archives: crafts

August 14, 2015 · 7:14 pm

A truly tiny wooden doll

I couldn’t resist.

I just had to see how small a doll I could carve …

So….I cut very small doll parts from another birch tree twig.

And, I carved a doll that is not much bigger than a quarter.

Here’s a comparison of dolly sizes – ‘Bitty’ is right above the ‘yr’ in copyright.

She really is ‘Itty Bitty’.

She was fun, but rather challenging to carve. (of course LOL).

Bitty, Coco and Joy had a lovely tea party in front of the Story Door.

They had a lovely time, and were pleased that the missing teacups have re-appeared, but wondered where the cat and dogs were.

I wove a chair seat for Bitty, which is less than an inch square.

It makes her feel much more comfortable and she’s very please with it.

Coco, Bitty and Joy have heard the sounds of more carving in the studio, and are excited to see who is going to join them at the Story Door.

🙂

6 Comments

Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, weaving & handwoven, wooden dolls, woodwork

Tagged as crafts, doll, doll making, dollmaking, dolls, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, weaving, wooden dolls, woven

November 24, 2014 · 11:48 am

How to save a hardened paintbrush

I am embarrassed to say how many times I have had to resort to doing this.

Luckily, it works every time on acrylic and latex paints! 🙂

This time it took longer, but it did fix my much loved old work horse of a paintbrush. Yay!

6 Comments

Filed under eco crafts & green projects, personal stuff, tutorial & how to

Tagged as acrylic paints, crafting, crafts, helpful tips, how to fix a hardened paintbrush, how to fix a paint hardened paint brush, Noreen Crone-Findlay, paint brush, paintbrush, useful hints

May 18, 2014 · 4:23 pm

4 videos on Lucet cord making techniques

I absolutely love Lucets.

I have designed and made a very small lucet that is my all time favorite.

It’s only 2 inches by 2 inches, and so it’s so easy to take with you wherever you go.

I am selling them in my etsy shop, here:

LINK

I’ve made 4 video tutorials that show how to use the Lucet to make cords, and then some wonderful things to make with them.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.crone-findlay.com

The first video shows the basics of cordmaking on a Lucet:

The second video shows how to add buttons, beads, charms and found objects to lucet cord – great way to make a wrap bracelet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtw1U22wuo4

The third video tutorial shows 3 different ways of making button closures using Lucet cords:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vlus76Owqc&noredirect=1

The 4th video shows how to make knots and Celtic interlaces to make beautiful embellishments and jewelry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF73AXpGa2k&noredirect=1

Here’s the template for the 4 loop Celtic interlace knot:

All my spool knitted patterns and designs will work beautifully with Lucet cords, so please check out my etsy shop for those, too: Link

1 Comment

Filed under buttons, jewelry, Lucet, tutorial & how to, video tutorial

Tagged as bracelet, cords, crafting, crafts, how to, how to make lucet cords, jewelry, knot making, knots, Lucet, lucet cords, necklaces, spool knitter, spool knitting, video tutorial, yarn, Yarn Crafts

March 10, 2009 · 12:03 am

Spool knitting wire and making connections

spool-knitters-for-wire-4-peg-275 spool-knitters-for-wire-6-peg-275

Recently, a jewelry maker contacted me and asked me if I could make her some industrial strength spool knitters so she could spool knit wire for her jewelry making.

I went for a rummage through our stash and found a wonderful old piece of wood. It looked like it was an old handle off some kind of tool that had seen heavy and hard use. It was worn smooth but ripply and looked quite organic.

We inherited it from my husband’s Dad more than 10 years ago.

I cut some pieces off it and used them to make these 4 and 6 peg spool knitters.

Yipes! Is that wood hard! Drilling the holes and hammering the nails in was intense .

whew…. My tendons were screaming for mercy.
spool-knitters-for-wire-1-275

I love the way they feel…. the old wood is smooth and textured from having been worn by years of use- it’s quite alive!

The whole collaborative process is so inspiring to me. I just love it when someone says to me –

‘Can you think of a way of doing this or that….. ?’

Sometimes, I am not interested in making the new thing

(for instance, we just don’t want to make wooden potholder looms anymore….sorry)

But, lots of times, I am intrigued by the ‘Can you make a this or that’ question and end up in the workshop having a wonderful time!

This was definitely one of those times. I love working with wire, and do a lot with it. So, I am really glad that Vickey inspired me to make some super strong spool knitters for wire.

Just think. That old, old piece of wood out in the workshop would still be laying there, just waiting to come to life if Vickey hadn’t emailed me…..

This kind of thing makes me celebrate the joys of the internet.

Someone has a thought and sends a note to someone else a thousand miles away. Then, that person goes and finds a piece of the past and brings it to life in a new way. And that recycled, re-created, upcycled treasure goes off to the first person who creates all manner of magic with it.

Now, that’s creativity in action!

(image source: photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay. Copyright, not to be used without permission)

4 Comments

Filed under eco crafts & green projects, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting

Tagged as crafts, eco crafts, green crafts, handmade, jewelry, recycling, recycling crafts, spool knitted cords, spool knitter, spool knitting, upcycling

March 3, 2009 · 5:31 pm

Happy Girl’s Day! It’s Doll Festival Day

Today, Tuesday March 3, is a day to celebrate little girls and to wish them hope and protection.

In Japan, today is the day that elaborate displays of precious dolls are created….

Paper dolls symbolizing things that are unhappy are placed into boats and set afire, to take away the unhappiness…

And, little girls are invited to have marvelous teaparties with their friends and their dolls.

I wish I had known about this when my daughter was little, because we would have teapartied heartily!

It’s never too late to have a happy childhood, so I say:

Get out your dolls and have a teaparty!

Make some paper dolls that symbolize some kind of unhappiness that you are ready to let go of, and then burn ’em.

I am going to celebrate by sharing a picture of one of the new dolls that is in my just about to be released book:

‘Spooligarumi: Cute & Easy Spool Knitted Dolls & Toys’

Here’s the Fluffy Bunny Spooligarumi Doll – Perfect for celebrating Doll Festival Day:

spooligarumi-pink-fluffy-bunny-275

My new downloadable pdf book: Spooligarumi: Cute & Easy Spool Knitted Dolls & Toys

is now available from my website .

All text and images on this site are copyright protected and not to be copied or shared without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission

9 Comments

Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting

Tagged as crafts, doll, doll making, dollmaking, dolls, spool knitted cords, spool knitter, spool knitters, spool knitting, Yarn Crafts

February 24, 2009 · 5:49 pm

Mardi gras butterfly masks

mardi-gras-blue-mask-0n-orange-275 mardi-gras-white-mask-0n-orange-275

Somehow, I don’t think that I will ever go to New Orleans for the real Mardi Gras,

but that won’t stop me from celebrating in my studio!

I made these Mardi Gras masks with all kinds of techniques and things that I love:

Tatting, spool knitting, crochet, butterflies, Grandma’s vintage buttons, beads and other found objects, as well as woodworking.

Feels like a celebration to me!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Images and text are copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay and not to be copied without her permission.

8 Comments

Filed under crochet, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting

Tagged as beads, butterfly mask, butterfly motifs, crafts, crocheted mask, embellished mask, found objects, Mardi Gras, mask, mixed media, multi media, spool knitted cords, spool knitted mask, spool knitter, spool knitters, spool knitting, tatted mask, tatting

February 12, 2009 · 10:05 pm

Tiny Spool Knitted Angel

spool-knitted-tiny-angel-plain-1000

When I am feeling sad and upset, I find it really helps if I make some Angel dolls.

This week has been a corker, with the death of our beloved old horse, among other challenges.

We have done a whole lot of soul searching, and have decided that we just can’t handle having horses anymore. So our dear little girl horse that we adopted a year and a half ago is going to go back to live with her momma and birth brother. She’s going to be well and truly loved and cared for.

This has been one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make in a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time, so believe me, I really have been needing to find comfort. (And yes, I certainly do pray, and meditate, so those are the source of great comfort, but making angels is also a HUGE comfort.)

So, in the interests of invoking Angel Energy for ourselves and for everyone else, too…

I have designed these sweet little, easy to make spool knitted angels.

I began with a design that I had developed a few years back and have re-fined and polished it. I am really happy with it now.

You can make the little angels very quickly and easily and can make them truly one of a kind by changing the yarn (handspun would be perfect)

and whether or not you add buttons for the face,

spool-tiny-angel-hair-1000

or add loops or other kinds of hair…..

I also like to stitch a pin to the back of the Angel, so I can pin it on my lapel, or scarf, or shawl, or bag, or hat….

I need to make a bunch more so I can send them and give them to friends and relations….

The more Angels there are, in every way, the better it is!

You can order the pdf for the pattern for the charming Tiny Spool Knitted Angel from:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/48409301/pdf-pattern-for-tiny-spool-knitted-angel?ref=shop_home_active_3

Please note that the images on this blog are copyright protected

and are NOT to be copied without permission.

Thank you.

8 Comments

Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, gifts & easy to make gifts & presents, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting

Tagged as crafts, doll, doll making, dollmaking, dolls, handmade, spool knitter, spool knitters, spool knitting, Yarn Crafts

February 5, 2009 · 6:45 pm

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

and then send me a link

so we can all be inspired and admire.

Who is the challenge open to?

ANYONE. Everyone….

Any crafter who loves making recycled and reclaimed and upcycled stuff.

People who like making books.

People who have never made a book.

This challenge is for spool knitters, tatters, scrapbookers, weavers, crocheters, yarnies and crafters in general .

Show us how it works for you to store your pdf’s, clippings and loose sketches, notes and patterns….

There should be a prize, shouldn’t there?

Okay…. I’ll work on something special for the winner… not telling what, yet.

The challenge STARTS NOW

and is open ended,

but I will award a prize on APRIL 22,

because that’s EARTH DAY

okay everyone…. get to work!

I have posted pics of some of the handmade books I’ve made over the years –

Here are the links to: Books with Origami Angels

images and text on this blog are copyright protected

so please don’t copy them without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission.

Thanks

16 Comments

Filed under eco crafts & green projects

Tagged as book making, books, challenges, cord making, cords, crafts, doll, doll making, eco crafts, green crafts, handmade, journal, mixed media, multi media, prize, recycling, recycling crafts, self published books, self publishing, spool knitter, spool knitting, tatting

February 3, 2009 · 6:38 pm

What do yarnies want from indie designers?

Last night, I was the guest on Mary Beth Temple’s blogradio show: Getting Loopy.

I took advantage of being in direct communication with the listeners by asking them 2 questions:

1] Do you prefer downloadable PDF patterns or paper patterns and books that are mailed to (but that you have to pay the postage for)?

and

2] Do you prefer to buy patterns individually or as a group or compilation?

Mary Beth has expanded on my questions and has made a survey up, and is even offering a cone of Lion Brand’s new Wool Stainless Steel as a prize for people who answer the survey.

Here’s the link to her survey: ?

We REALLY do want to know what you want, so we really appreciate you taking the time and trouble to answer our questions!

Thanks so much and good luck in the draw.

Lion Brand’s Wool Stainless Steel yarn is neat (and no, it’s not like a pot scrubber or wire. The stainless steel is the finest of fine filaments. It’s not wirey, but does have memory.)

Image is by Noreen Crone-Findlay and is copyright. (yup, that’s spool knitting and a spool knitter)

11 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as crafts, crochet, Getting Loopy, Lion Brand Wool Stainless Steel yarn, Mary Beth Temple, survey, Yarn Crafts

December 11, 2008 · 4:36 am