Play? Yes!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

It’s essential to be willing to break through the rules and conventions we set up for ourselves

and to be willing to try new things.

We need to be able to take artistic risks and

to suspend judgement long enough to experiment with new approaches,

new techniques, new thoughts…

or to look again at the ways we have always worked and

to see if there is a hidden treasure waiting to be re-discovered, re-invented, re-created.

So, give yourself permission to play, play and play some more, then step back and see what emerges!

The other day, I was thinking about writing about permission to play as part of the

Face of Joy Challenge.

I decided that I definitely wanted to include photos of  my ‘Permission’ doll. I tried taking boring old lay-the-doll-on-a-piece-fabric and shoot, pics.  Oh, borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring………

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Besides………. the monster wrinkles in the fabric were just ridiculous.

So……… I decided to be playful, and to give the Permission doll a new place to sit.

I figured I could ignore some rules about ‘where things go’ and then shifted some furniture around in the studio.

Voila! A new place to sit and weave with my small looms.

The cupboard on that wall of the studio had always seemed to be an impediment to using that space.

I decided…. what the heck…. the cupboard is full of Christmas stuff, and only gets opened to take the Christmas stuff out, and then a month or so later, to stuff the Christmas decorations back in.

Why not ignore it, hang a loom on the doorknobs, and enjoy the space?

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The boss of the studio approves of her bench being in a new spot, and I think the Permission doll does, too….

And, one of the most delightful benefits of playing around with the stuff in my studio is that I have given myself a very pleasant place to sit and weave with my small looms.

Also, choosing to ignore the mostly unused (but useful) cupboard in the wall is an excellent metaphor about another issue that writing about ‘permission’ brought up.

I realized that I have been frustrated by the placement of this cupboard for the 15 years that we have lived in this house.

I had made a rule that I couldn’t block access to the cupboard, even though access is only  needed a few times a year.

By saying: That’s a rule that doesn’t work for me, I was able to re-claim a wasted space that I am simply revelling in now!

Ah…. those rules……… sometimes, we have to bump up against them before we even know they exist! It sounds so simple, and minor, but it was a big ‘aha’ moment for me……  so often, we define our lives by rules that we may have invented unconsciously, or have inherited from relatives, friends or ‘experts’.  If we don’t know the rule is there, it’s going to shape our spaces and shape our lives.

Playful exploration is a good way to shine a light on all kinds of corners in our lives…..

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I designed the Permission doll as a reminder that we need to give ourselves permission to be and do

who and what we are, what we love, and to approach life with joy, panache and zest.

So, go ahead and play, and give yourself permission to move things around, and to try out new things, and to ignore some of the things that might have felt like blockages.

AND…. please remember to enter the Face of Joy Challenge…..

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I’ve been reading up on ‘play’ (click the link to read what wikipedia has to say about play)

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

and playfulness.

Expert after expert has talked about the importance of being playful

for our entire lives.

There was a wonderful conference about Serious Play last year.

All the experts agree:

Play is essential to our well being, in body, mind and spirit – as individuals and as communities.

Being playful can alleviate all kinds of stress.

Playfulness increases resiliency and flexibility….and, whew… do we ever need to be flexible these days!

Because of the grim situation with the economy, we are all rattled and frazzled to some extent or another…. sooooooooooo…….

I thought……….

How about starting a challenge of playfulness?

Here’s the scoop:

For the month of April, I would like to challenge you to  show us all

your face of joy.  What does that mean?

Well, play with some yarn and make a face that shows an image of joy,

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

whatever that means and however you interpret that. NO! you don’t have to be an “artist”  !  A few simple lines CAN convey joy!

For example: I drew a ‘joy’ face with spool knitted cord. (1st pic)

Then, I played with my photoshop program in the 2nd pic. (you don’t

have to do that…. I just wanted to play with it!)

The RULES:

1] Make a face that shows joy- BUT… the face MUST have yarn as some part of it. (Thread and string and wire all are going to count as yarn for this challenge).

2]Any technique that uses yarn IN ANY WAY to make a face, and, the more playful the better! (You can make a mask or a puppet or a doll or a wall hanging or or or… )

(knitting,weaving, crochet, photo collage, spool knitting, tatting, beading, embroidery… and…. and… or…..

ANY playful way you can think of to make a face  of JOY and you’re in!)

3] Send me a pic of your Face of Joy OR blog about it and link to this posting.

4] The challenge lasts for the month of April

5] You can make as many faces of joy as you would like….. please post a comment with your blog links if you’re going to post the pics on your blog, so people can see what you are up to.

6] Would winning a prize bring a smile to your face? Well…. I thought that it might…. so, I am going to give one of the challenge participants one of the one of a kind Homage to Jane Austen crochet hooks that I carved: ( I do ask that the winner pays the postage… sorry about that part…. )

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

All right! Now go have some fun! and make some faces of JOY!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

In the contest announcement, I  posted a pic, taken from my computer desk, looking across at the drawing table.

There’s no way I am showing that pic again (click the link if you must…. shudder….)

But, I am showing the newly cleaned off drawing table, tadah….

I can actually sit there and draw again! Hurrah!

Thank you, Diane Dobson Barton for inspiring me to clear up some of my creative clutter!

(Click on her name to order your copy of Controlling Creative Clutter).

AND

The winner of the contest is SARAH (#33) who has 4 other housemates who all need help with their creative clutter!

I hope that Sarah and her gang will have a successful clutter clear up! And then, back to their creativity!

Thank you so much, everyone who entered the contest!

Stay tuned… there are more contests coming up at Hankering for Yarn!

(photo by noreen crone-findlay copyright)

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

He interviewed Karen Armstrong , and author and philosopher who recently won a TED award.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

Here’s the link to her on the TED website:

Karen Armstrong

What’s TED?

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It’s a fabulous conference, website and community that is one of the most inspiring and hope-filled sites on the entire web.

What does Karen Armstrong want to create?

A Charter for Compassion

I am thrilled to bits that Karen Armstrong is laying the foundation for the creation of a charter for compassion.

One of the grace points of living in a time of tumult is that great thinkers rise up and challenge us to become more than we have been.

Over and over, in the crafting community, I see people who are profoundly creative and deeply compassionate.

I love how they use their love of craft as a way of reaching out to other people and making an offering of beauty, of kindness and of course, of compassion.

This is one of the things that matters most to me, and so you will be seeing lots of posting about how people are combining compassion, creativity and crafts to help make the world better.

And, if you notice something on the web that is a good example of compassion, creativity and crafts coming together, please, please, please! Send me a note with the link, so I can post it here on Hankering for Yarn.

Yesterday, my son-in-law found this neat example of compassion, creativity and crafts in action:

Canadian crafters (including school kids) crocheting sleeping mats for children in 3rd world countries

Let’s hope compassion and wisdom and creativity will blossom and thrive!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Earlier this morning, I took this picture out the studio window:

This is our second heavy duty snowstorm this week…. enough already!

Well…. I declare that ‘Snow Day = Yarn Day’!  so I am going to do some serious playing with yarn, here in my cosy studio.

We knew the storm was coming, so we brought in lots of extra firewood for the woodburning stove here in the studio.

Just a couple of other notes to post and then, I am diving into a fun and frivolité project.

Did you know that tatting in French is ‘Frivolité’? I love that….

Snow days need a little light heartedness…….

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

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Cool Journal Tool
Try this fun tool to create art for your journal, or just to play

Cotton Monsters! The Work of Jennifer Strunge
See some of Strunge’s amazing and fun soft sculptures made from recycled clothing and linens.

Eco crafts- Credit card bobbins
How to recycle old credit cards into bobbins for embroidery floss, crochet cotton or, threads or yarn.

Homecoming Mum Season Alert
If you live in Texas, Oklahoma and other parts of the South and are in junior high or high school (or know anyone who is , it’s time to get started on your homecoming mums. Go team!

Layers Upon Layers
June Campbell, one of the most generous mixed media artists I know, has written a profile for Layers Upon Layers. Come meet this extraordinary woman!

Walking Through the Time Warp of Your Quilting World
Mary Emma, at Quilting and Patchwork, explores the timelessness of quilts and how they bring generations together.

Make your needlework patterns go further
Did you know that lots of cross-stitch and needlepoint patterns are interchangable?

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay (copyright)

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

making a tatting shuttle that broke.

And, so I recycled it and made it into a necklace:

And, now, I am debating about the cord for the necklace.

I know I am going to use Lion Brand Lamé in the oilslick version, but I am waffling about how I am going to make it.

I know that the Cordelia cordmaker on the left, works soooooooooooo beautifully for making square cords.

But…. since the necklace began it’s life as a tatting shuttle, it would make sense to tat the cord….

So, that’s what I have done!

Here’s the link to the finished cord: Tatted necklace

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

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I’ll never have time to do it, but I love it that now I COULD!

Here’s the pattern URL: Crocheted Mathematics of Chaos Butterfly Model   by Hinka Osinga and Bernd Krauskopf

thanks so much, Kristi! Wheeeeeeeeeee!

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Here are the links for my mixed media woven dolls:

Woven Earth Listener Angel  Doll

Dame Julian and Neni 

Three young spritely spirited mixed media dolls 

Mixed media dolls with found objects 

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Here are some more of my mixed media woven dolls:

A woven Menopause Fairy Doll

and a collection of my ‘Reclaiming Dolls’ (Dolls that have parts made from reclaimed, recycled or re-purposed components and found objects,  as well as weaving):

I’ve put together a Links posting so you can catch the group of postings on mixed media woven dolls.

Hmm, it just struck me that they are like three dimensional collages. Neat!

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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