Tag Archives: wooden dolls

July 22, 2015 · 11:59 am

Fleur’s foot

Fleur did not make the move from our old house to the new one unscathed.

Fleur is a wooden lady of advanced years – I carved her more than 30 years ago, and she has some fragility about her nowadays.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.tottietalkscrafts.com

Tottie Tomato and the Story Door Dolls heard that Fleur and her foot had had a parting of the ways during the move, and so they were rather concerned.

They came by to offer their wishes for a successful re-attachment….

Some glue, a little wrapping and a sincere apology on my part for packing her so badly, all seem to be helping.

Clover Bee, the Story Door Doll that is on the left hand side of the first picture also came to say farewell to Fleur, as she was about to head off to her new home just after Fleur’s fancy footwork.

Tottie Tomato and the Story Door Dolls didn’t stay long, as Fleur needed to rest and allow the glue to work it’s magic.

(We hope…..)

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Tagged as fixing a broken doll, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small dolls, Story Door Dolls, wooden doll making, wooden dolls, woodworking

July 17, 2015 · 6:53 pm

Carving Wooden Dolls- My first homage to Hitty

Last August, I posted a brief introduction to my first homage to Hitty dolls. LINK

I have been carving and making wooden dolls since I was a very young girl, and it’s one of my passions, but hadn’t carved any homages to Hitty until I was utterly enchanted by the Quimper Hitty blog: LINK

The Quimper Hitty blog should come with a warning that it is utterly and completely addictive!

Such enchantment! Oh my!~!~

Thanks to the magical heart who creates the Quimper Hitties, I fell under their spell….

I really did mean to show how I carved my first Hitty, whose name is Tennie:

But, I got totally swept away by a combination of downsizing, moving and downsizing (after 21 years in a large house and barn and huge garage etc, downsizing to a wee house is intense!) and by the writing of my new book.

Well, this year has galloped past, and the book and photos and diagrams are now in the capable hands of the best editor ever, and I am able to take up all manner of things that I love…. like carving wooden dolls….

Here are a couple of pics that I snapped while I was carving ‘Tennie Hitty’:

Here she is after I varnished her:

Of course, as soon as she was finished, she began to campaign for more companions….

She was sure that she heard a little wooden dolly voice calling out somewhere in the studio….

Actually…. so did I…..

🙂

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Tagged as carving wooden dolls, doll making, hand made wooden doll, Hitty by Rachel Field, Hitty doll, Hitty dolls, homage to Hitty, making wooden doll, Noreen Crone-Findlay, wood doll, wooden doll, wooden dolls

June 30, 2015 · 6:47 pm

Teaching my young grandson how to carve a wooden doll

One of the joys of my life has always been doll making.

I have carved wooden dolls for as long as I remember, and I am now enjoying teaching my 5 year old grandson how to make wooden dolls, too.

I gave him a piece of wood, and had him draw a figure on it.

Then, I burned the lines he had drawn:

You can see to the right of his doll, a doll that his Mamma made when she was his age, and one that I am currently working on.

He chose some colors, and started adding them….

I cut her out with the bandsaw and he took her home, but wasn’t pleased that she had rough edges.

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.

Gently, gently, is my motto….

Ah, the bliss of being a granny….

my heart sings!

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Tagged as carving wooden dolls, doll, doll making, dollmaking, dolls, how to make a doll, how to make wooden doll with a child, Noreen Crone-Findlay, teaching children how to make wooden dolls, wood, wooden dolls, woodworking with children

August 7, 2014 · 11:24 am

Tottie Tomato meets the Quimper Hittys

Tottie Tomato and I are enchanted by the magical blog: Quimper Hittys LINK

When we went on holidays at the end of July, Tottie Tomato and I (Tottie Tomato, Pinkie and Blue Bear always travel with us), were delighted to be able to meet the Quimper Hittys and their charming Mamma.

Quimper Hittys’ Mamma bravely scrambled in under the rosebush and cedars by our trailer to take pictures of Tottie Tomato and the Quimper Hittys that had hopped into their traveling basket.

Bravely, say I, as Jim had been eaten alive by the fierce rosebush when he stalwartly anchored our awning, while being pierced by the lovely rosebush’s monstrous thorns!

Luckily, the rosebush allowed us to take pictures of our girls together.

And, I took pictures of the Quimper Hittys’ human as she got the girls posed together.

Tottie Tomato and Perdita Quimper Hitty especially took to each other.

They were both so pleased to meet another doll of greenish hue!

Tottie Tomato was delighted to meet Min, Agathe, Constance and of course, Perdita.

Mungo Hitty had come along to see what all the excitement was about, but balked at being photographed.

It was a wonderful morning, sipping tea with a kindred spirit!

The Quimper Hittys gave Tottie Tomato some very beautiful gifts, which she showed admiringly to Pinkie and Blue Bear, as well as Wee Charlotte who lives in my traveling tatting case:

There were other splendid gifts, and I will tell you about them very soon 🙂

And, I hope that you are sipping tea with a kindred spirit, too, perhaps admiring a tiny pot of lavender and marveling at

Mouse Melons!

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Tagged as doll making, hand carved wooden doll, Hitty, Hitty dolls, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Quimper Hittys, Tottie Tomato, wooden doll, wooden dolls

August 5, 2014 · 4:00 pm

The Fairy Door opens again

Tottie Tomato and Peggotty Caroline heard sounds coming from the Fairy Door down by the apple tree.

What’s that?

A hand!

A hand opening the Fairy Door?

Oh!

A new friend!

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 decide immediately that Tennie Hitty is going to be a good friend.

Sometimes, you can just tell, can’t you?

And, they are thrilled that Tennie has come through the Fairy Door to live in the studio with them.

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

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.

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Tagged as doll, doll making, dollmaking, dolls, Fairy Door, hand carved wooden doll, Hitty doll, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Peggotty Caroline, Tennie Hitty, Tottie Tomato, wooden doll, wooden dolls