Fleur, a wooden doll that I carved many decades ago, had an uncomfortable situation arise during our move- her foot went awol and had it’s own adventures.
Luckily, it re-appeared and is now firmly re-attached to Fleur.
Fleur was so happy to be re-united with her foot that she invited Tottie Tomato, Jane Austen, Albert Einstein and The Story Door Dolls all to come and sip a cup of tea with her.
There was one small problem….
Most of the teacups have mysteriously vanished from the Story Door Doll’s antique wicker suitcase.
Luckily, the guests were very gracious about being served tea in thimbles and assorted other vessels.
Professor Einstein was very accommodating about sipping his tea from a brass goblet, although he had to wait rather a long time for it to cool, as it was somewhat uncomfortably hot.
Jane Austen whispered to Tottie Tomato that she thought that the unusual nature of the teaparty was fun, but was rather glad that she didn’t bring along her silly sisters. She also thought that Mr. Darcy would probably have not approved….
So, the next day, I took some of my tools over so he could work on sanding her and finishing her.
He’s already immersed in the family culture of being a Maker!
I’ve been giving him lessons on how to use a hand saw in a Zen way, as he tends to approach tools with wild abandon, which is not something I encourage at all.
Tottie Tomato shakes hands with Victoria Kjersten Hitty, known as ‘Tennie’, but, Peggotty Caroline is so excited to meet their new friend, that she throws her arms around Tennie in a welcoming hug.
Tottie Tomato and Peggotty Caroline are very interested to hear all about how Tennie came to be behind the Fairy Door…. I’m sure she’ll tell them all about it over a lovely cup of tea.
Poor Tottie Tomato got a sudden and surprising ride when she was posing for this photo- one of the Small Dogs grabbed her up and raced away with her.
I was shrieking, ‘No! No! No!’ in hot pursuit across the studio. Jim jumped up and leapt to the studio, gasping: ‘What? What!?!?!?!’
Small Dog dropped Tottie at Jim’s feet and pranced with delight.
I shot in and grabbed poor Tottie back. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt, and she forgives Small Dog for her unexpected ride.
This is NOT the way I would like the Year of the Horse to proceed, thank you very much!
I’m all up for delicious surprises and fast forward motion, but being challenged by unexpected canine capers is not a metaphor that I am going to embrace.
Nope.
I’m all for having a year of unbounded creativity, excellent good health, delight in community and happiness in family and tremendously delicious moments of serendipity and connection.
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:
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!)
I am a dyed in the wool doll maker. No matter what loom or fiber arts tool I am working with, it doesn’t take long for me to wonder how I could use it to make a doll.
So, it’s no surprise, that as I was designing projects for my new book on the vintage Lily Speed-O-Weave loom, (that’s a link to my website to see more) I had to come up with some fun dolls and stuffies.
Lily-Speed-O-Weave-monster-designed by Noreen Crone-Findlay (coppyright)
Monster Dear was inspired by a book that my daughter loved when she was a very little girl.
It was about a monster who was afraid of the dark. She loved him, so of course, I had to make her one.
This is a new version of ‘Monster Dear’. I think he’ll chase away bad dreams!
And, a ball of squishy soft yarn inspired me to make the snuggly Bunny dolly:
Lily-Speed-O-Weave-Snuggle-Bunny-designed by Noreen Crone-Findlay (coppyright)
I’ve always loved rabbits and bunnies, so I’ve designed and made countless versions of them over the years.
These two fuzzy friends delight me. Ah, the joys of yarn- it’s endless!!!!
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 