Tag Archives: doll making

Doll making as a healing art

In the past week, we have added several  friends and relations of relations to our healing prayers.

As part of my meditations and prayer work, I focus my mind by creating healing dolls.

I pour my love and healing thoughts and images into the making of a healing doll.

Stitch by stitch, I make a doll that I quietly, gently and peacefully pour my thoughts and intentions of wellness, loving kindness, tenderness, inspiration and insight into.

Sometimes, the doll is for a specific person, and sometimes, it is simply a response to feeling the call to make a sacred or healing doll.

I never sell these dolls- I give them to a person that feels right for it.

I wrote the book: Soul Mate Dolls: Doll making as a healing art many years ago. It’s out of print now.

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

Over the years, since the publication of this book, I have continued to work with the sacred art of doll making for my own contemplative practice, but also professionally.

I have taught many workshops, and I have designed many patterns for people to continue to make dolls that are focused on healing themselves and others.

And, now I am working on a whole new book about the healing power of mindful doll making.

Until it is released, here are some of my designs that are available on my website http://www.crone-findlay.com and in my etsy shop. The link to my etsy shop is below each of these dolls.

May doll making be the source of great happiness, healing and wholeness for you, my friends!

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

The crocheted Angel of Compassion link to pattern on etsy: Link

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

The Crocheted Angel of Healing dolls: LINK

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

The Crocheted Angel of Peace: LINK

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

Weaving with simple looms, such as the peg or stick loom is very meditative, and I find that weaving mermaids is an excellent way to focus my thoughts on healing body, mind and spirit: LINK

Simple tools can be used to make sweet little dolls that provide great comfort when tucked into a pocket, and they are so easy to pop into an envelope and mail to a friend:

The spool knitted tiny angels are so easy to make, but full of love, too:  LINK

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

As are the Friendship Fairies: LINK

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

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

And, I mustn’t forget the Menopause Fairy!

After all…. the Tooth Fairy takes away teeth and leaves a gift of money, right?

Well, the Menopause Fairy takes away all manner of things and leaves behind the gifts of laughter, wisdom and compassion, as well as soooooooooo much more!!!!  LINK

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

And, if the healing involves some deliciously wild energy, then perhaps a Wild And Wooly doll is in order: LINK

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

If you feel a connection to Goddesses, I have designed a knitted pattern for the Venus of Willendorf.

I love holding her in my hand- she’s just a perfect little handful of the Feminine Divine energy! LINK

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

And Venus of Willendorf inspired Goddesses to Crochet: LINK

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

There’s also the Minoan Goddess of the Bees to knit: LINK

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

There are so many women from history who are powerful role models and whose strength, dignity and wisdom are deeply inspiring and offer great hope. One of them is the Empress Theodora….. LINK

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

May the work of your hands bring you soulful and engaging ways of healing your heart, mind, body and spirit and may it bring joy and peace and healing in countless ways to your family and friends, too!

Blessings abounding!!!!  With love, always, and all ways! 🙂

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Filed under crochet, doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, gifts & easy to make gifts & presents, knitting, Peg and Stick Loom weaving, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting

Darling little dolls to make with Inkle woven bands

I love weaving narrow bands – Inkle band weaving is one of my favorite things.

And, since dollmaking is also so dear to my heart, I have designed many dolls to be made with inkle loom weaving.

But…… I haven’t gotten around to actually making the pattern for Inkle dolls -until now!

Tadah!   3 Darling Dolls to make with Inkle bands  (or other narrow bands or ribbons)  LINK to order pattern

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

The Inkle baby dolls are really quick and easy to make. They are the smallest of the 3 dolls in the pattern-

perfect to cradle in your hand or carry in a pocket.

If you want to wear her or him on your bag, hat, shawl or collar, just sew a pin on the back.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

The Inkle Baby is great for using up short lengths of woven bands 😀

Bebelle is the largest of the 3 dolls- at about 6 inches tall, but still fits beautifully in a pocket, or a dollhouse…

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

And, I have to admit that the Inkle Dancing Doll is my absolute favourite. 🙂

She’s a pin doll that is jointed, so she moves as you move… pin her to your hat, bag, shawl, collar or headband.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

She’s about 4 inches tall.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

When I was working on the pattern, I was thinking…. Oooh I just have to make more of these…

let me see…. my daughter will love one, and my mother and my sister and oh yes…. ME! I’d like another….

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I took careful step by step photos for all the dolls to make the pattern really comprehensive.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I will be posting a whole lot more about Inkle weaving, so stay tuned!

Happy weaving!

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

One of a kind woven art doll-Green Empress and a mini studio tour

Over the last couple of years, I have been weaving a series of tapestries and one of a kind art dolls.

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I am calling this series, ‘Woven Women’. I made a little video mini tour of one corner of my studio, showing ‘The Green Empress’.

The Green Empress brings together many of my favorite fiber techniques: Tapestry weaving, inkle weaving, small loom weaving, crochet, wire work, tatting and punch needle embroidery.

My plan is to eventually have enough ‘Woven Women’ for a one woman show. I don’t have enough of them finished yet, but I am working on it!

Here are some more photos and the video tour that shows The Green Empress:

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Green-Empress-art-doll-by-Noreen-Crone-Findlay-copyright

Her face is punch needle embroidery and her crown is tapestry weave.

Green-Empress-art-doll-by-Noreen-Crone-Findlay-copyright

Her hands are heavy gauge wire, wrapped with cotton thread. They are cupped so they can hold small objects.

Her arms are inkle bands and 2 inch Weave it Squares, stitched and shaped and layered.

Green-Empress-art-doll-by-Noreen-Crone-Findlay-copyright

Her feet are a combination of 2 inch squares that I wove on my vintage Weave it loom, with Inkle weaving.

I just kept stitching and shaping until I was happy with her feet.

Green-Empress-art-doll-by-Noreen-Crone-Findlay-copyright

I crocheted wire in an open work mesh to shape her body and skirt.

They, I wove miles of inkle bands (woven on my Schacht inkle loom) through them.

I also wove in tatted lace, too. The skirt is about 24 inches wide, but is folded and stitched.

Green-Empress-art-doll-by-Noreen-Crone-Findlay-copyright

This closeup shows a small panel of punch needle embroidery , tatting, inkle weaving and the copper wire armature.

Green-Empress-art-doll-by-Noreen-Crone-Findlay-copyright

Close up of one eye and part of the crown.  You can see that I love Byzantine art, as there is a definite influence here.

And, here is the link to a mini studio tour, with my wonderful husband playing one of his compositions (with our small dog in his lap, as small dog insists on sitting in Jim’s lap when he plays and practices!)

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Filed under crochet, doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

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

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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)

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and whether or not you add buttons for the face,

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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.

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Some handmade books – 1

I am inviting people to a Green Challenge of making a handmade book that has big envelopes or plastic sleeves to hold their sketches, notes, clippings, pdf’s etc.

See: Challenge posting

Just for fun, I thought that I would post a few pics of some of the handmade books I’ve made over the years:

Here are some handmade books that I made and then glued origami angels to. (yes, I made the angels)

The angels are all very eco friendly and ‘green’ as they are recycled and upcycled, as they are all made from junk mail or magazine photos

handmade-book-origami-angel-11 handmade-book-origami-angel-2 handmade-book-origami-angel-3handmade-book-origami-angel-4handmade-book-origami-angel-5handmade-book-origami-angel-6handmade-book-origami-angel-7

I’ll post more pics soon.

All images are copyright protected and not to be copied without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission

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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

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Wild and Woolie Spool knitted doll

spool-knitted-handspun-pink-doll-finished

Every once in awhile,   a little wild woolieness ought to come into a Yarnie’s life.

So, I have designed this Wild and Woolie Spool knitted doll.  I used hand spun yarn to make it, but any yarn that makes your heart sing would work well.

All together now, let’s sing: Wild Thing! I think I love you!

LOL!

I’ve got her pattern listed etsy shop now: Wild Thing

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

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Lily is back!

knitted-lily-doll-qs

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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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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Filed under crochet, doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, eco crafts & green projects, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting