Today, I figured out how to make a Yarn Baby (Yarn Tassel Doll) that hugs your finger like the Comfort Bears.
We all need a little extra comfort these days, so having a small yarn doll in your pocket to give you a hug when ever you need it is a good idea!
Take good care of yourselves!
Here’s the how to video
In my last post, I showed how to make a Teneriffe Lace Fairy.
The video got so long that I decided to make the ‘Hair making’ video separately.
And, so, here’s the video showing how to make the hair for the Teneriffe Lace Fairies 🙂
The links for all the videos in the Teneriffe Lace Weave Along is L I N K
For many months, I have been working really hard on new mixed media fiber art sculptures.
The 6th Sense is intuition/inspiration/imagination.
These one of a kind art dolls are based on dreams, memories, meditations and contemplations and are an invitation to embrace creativity, healing and wholeness.
They are a combination of tapestry weaving, narrow band weaving, lucet cords, tatting, knitting, wood work wire work and leather work.
Here’s a slide show video of my 6th Sense One of a Kind Art dolls.
Most of the 6th Sense One of a Kind Art Dolls in the video are for sale, but some of them have already sold and gone to live in their new homes.
Last month, when there was a spectacular Super Moon, we stepped outside to admire it.
The gigantic moon looked like it was suspended in the huge trees that line our street.
The image of the Great Tree Mother, rocking the Moon in her arms, rose up in my mind….
and I knew that I had to build one of my 6th Sense one of a kind art dolls.
Here she is:
Great Tree Mother Rocked The Moon in Her Arms:
While I was contemplating how to build the Great Tree Mother piece, my husband and our daughter took the dogs for a walk one morning.
Chloe came home with a wonderfully gnarly branch that had been pruned from someone’s tree and tossed into the alley.
She just knew I needed it…. even though, at that point, I hadn’t told her what I was mulling about 🙂
We have a very deep connection!
It is perfect.
So’s our daughter….
Anyhow…
The faces….
Years ago, my dear friend found a moose antler that had been shed and she asked me if I could use it.
I cut 3 faces from it, and carved them and painted them.
Two of them became part of this piece:
Tree Mother’s face.
She also has a ‘Hidden Face’ that is hidden inside the piece and will never be revealed.
Too bad I didn’t photograph it! Oops…
Here is Moon’s face:
I carved the hand from wood.
I wove the bands on 2 different looms and knitted the grey hand spun cloth of her robe.
All of the 6th Sense Woven Women have 6 pennies incorporated into them, as a metaphor for coming to our senses, and embracing intuition, intelligence and inspiration.
She is 29 inches/72.5 cm tall and the branch spreads out to 15 inches/37.5 cm wide.
She is not for sale.
By the way, she is also a celebration of creative adaptive re-use and upcycling. I love that.
Yesterday, Miranda, Siobhan, Coco and Thallie were wondering about their friend Pauline, who has moved to London with her Human…..
They were thrilled when Pauline’s Person kindly sent photos of Pauline’s outing in one of the parks in London.
Pauline began with a little exploring:
and then ambled off to the pond, where she caught the eye of a Canada Goose:
Hmmm… Small Person, do you have food?
Are you potentially a meal?
Neither. You are a disappointment to me.
All Pauline photographs are copyright Kennie Wittebrood and are used with her permission.
Happy Thanksgiving from very snowy and cold Western Canada.
Last night, we were heading out to our son and daughter-in-law’s home to join with many family and friends in celebrating Thanksgiving.
There were sounds of protest from the Wall Doll House in my studio.
The smallest (less than an inch tall) wooden Story Door Doll, who used to be known as ‘Itty’, until she declared her name is actually, ‘Thallie’ was sitting in her armchair.
She’s thrilled that she finally has a new dress, and declared that it was important to her to go out to dinner to show it off.
I protested that I don’t like taking her out of the house, for fear of loosing her.
She ‘pshawed’ me, and reminded me that I am perfectly capable of loosing MUCH larger things than her INSIDE the house.
Oh. Right…
She hopped into the Thumbelina traveling tin:
But I was planning on taking along the ~very last~ bit of weaving for the big tapestry that I am weaving, and not Thumbelina.
So, Thallie hopped into my seashell necklace, along with her friend, Inch Faery Bear, who is the same petite size as her. This makes them the best of friends, as they enjoy hanging out with someone who understands the world in miniature.
And, off we went.
After the toasts were ‘clink clinked’, Thallie was convinced that there were Similar Sized People as her and Inch Faery Bear hiding in the corks…. so we shall have to see.
The corks came home in my pocket, so it will be interesting to see if there are little people in them or, as my daughter suggested, little faery mushrooms…. who knows?
After the corks were filed in my pocket, I put Thallie back into the Seashell necklace….
and…. palm to forehead….
did not take even one more photo of the whole evening.
Oh my…..
Which I wish I had, as a beloved member of the family is on her way to London, England.
She’s moving there, so it’s going to be quite some time before we are all around the same dinner table.
We wish her the greatest of joy in her big adventure!
Pauline is accompanying her in her travels, and posed for a very Canadian moment before dealing with airports etc:
Pauline’s Human took a moment from enjoying her last ‘Timmie’ time to share a pic of this special moment.
(Only Canadians will understand this reference, I think?)
Anyhow, all the little wooden folk who live in the studio join my in wishing you a joyous Thanksgiving, even if you live somewhere else in the world. There is so much to say thank you for….
Thank you~~ ❤
I am so excited… One of the little wooden Story Door Dolls that I carved has been adopted and is on her way to England.
Pauline is ready for adventure in London!
Before she left, she posed for a slightly ‘Alice in Wonderland’ photo under a mushroom that popped up on the lawn.
Pauline looks forward to exploring Nature in the parks of London.
We wish the greatest joy to Pauline and her Human.
May they have splendid adventures and happy, happy times in London.
Hmmmm… I think we may have to go visit them someday…..
I love vintage hankies and decided to use them to make dresses for some of the wooden dolls that I carve.
I needed to take a break last week, and my Story Door Dolls were beckoning me.
So, I used some of the vintage hankies that I have collected over the years to make them new dresses.
Lucky Pauline ended up with the most beautifully embroidered hanky.
I can’t bear to cut the hankies, so I do some crazy folding to make the hanky work as the skirt.
This is Tennie in her new hanky dress…. even though it’s not as glamorous as Pauline’s, she’s still very happy with it.
By folding and hand stitching the delicate old linen, cotton and silk hankies, the hankies remain intact.
This is a kind of archival use of the hankies, which preserves them, but uses them, instead of them languishing in a box.
I hand carve the dolls, which I call my ‘Story Door Dolls’.
They are all around 6 inches tall, and I use local woods for most of them.
They were inspired by Hitty dolls.
This little charmer was carved from Arbutus wood that was trimmed many years ago from the tree in my sisters in laws house in Victoria. I won’t be carving anymore Arbutus dolls as that wood is like iron! wow…. and ow….
And, yes, I do sell them…..
But not Pauline
I have been working on new handwoven one of a kind art dolls.
They are a somewhat different approach to my Woven Women Mixed Media pieces.
Earlier this summer, I read a wonderful book, called: A Monk in the Beehive.
The author spoke about humanity needing to come to our senses, and to connect with our sixth sense, which is wisdom, intuition, peacefulness and integrity towards the planet.
This moved me deeply, and I have been thinking about it a lot.
This is how I have woven these thoughts together- in the first 3 of a series of ‘6th Sense’ Woven Women.
Each one is totally one of a kind.
I wove them as contemplations on wisdom, compassion, kindness, peace and peace making, connection, and a longing to care for the planet.
As I created each one, I would hold thoughts of wellness, integrity, and all the other attributes that I mentioned previously.
Weaving is a meditation in motion, and there is love in every stitch.
There is joy and tenderness in the making of the ‘6th Sense’ art dolls.
They are all approximately 17 inches tall and they can either stand and lean on a shelf, or be hung from the woven hanging loop on the back of the head.
Each one has 6 pennies- six cents- to represent the Sixth Sense, in all it’s manifestations.
I wove each of the 6th Sense Woven Women Art Dolls on many different looms, using a wide variety of techiques.
Here’s a video of ‘6th Sense- Intuition’, ‘6th Sense- Deep Peace’ and
‘6th Sense- Listening to The Voice of Wisdom’:
Photos:
‘6th Sense- INTUITION’:
‘6th Sense- Deep Peace’
‘6th Sense- Listening to The Voice of Wisdom’
If you are interested in purchasing a ‘Woven Women- 6th Sense’ One of a Kind Art Doll,
please contact me
A dear friend of mine sent me the sweetest gift- a delightful little vintage dog who is very at home with the Story Door Dolls!
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
Her name is, ‘Lupin’, and she arrived with magical little vintage postcards that the Story Door Dolls loved!
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
Itty loved the postcard of the sailing ships as it reminded her of her great adventure!
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
Coco loved the postcard of the castle- she thought that it looked like it was right out of a fairy tale.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
Lupin offered to give Itty and Coco as many rides as they would like.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
Lupin has settled into the Story Door wall doll house happily and gets along very well with the other resident dogs. Itty was concerned about how the cat and turtle would handle having another dog in the house so, she ambled off to have a chat with them.
Thank you so much, darlin’ Caroline for this wonderful addition to the Story Door dolls! ❤
Noreen Crone-Findlay, designer and author
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 