Wild art doll by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I believe that we are hardwired to be fascinated by the shape of human beings.

I think that this is what has lead to the creation of dolls- people ask themselves:

‘How can I take a handful of interesting bits and pieces and put them together so they express something about being human?’

I say: ‘Go for it! Gather up the ephemera of your life, and play with it!’

You’ll see , paper beads, tatting, buttons, dice, incense tiles, beads, charms, bottle tops and more in the dolls in the pictures below.

Do you have some yarnie gadgets that you’d like to experiment with, but don’t know what you’d do with the resulting thingies that you’ll  be making?  Well, get them out, and play with color and texture with them!

The hair on the doll below was made with tiny pom pom makers.  You can also use the flowers from flower looms as hair, too….

Wild art doll by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Because crochet is both painterly AND sculptural,  it is the most wonderful medium to use in the doll making process.

one of a kind art doll by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

You can add all kinds of  other techniques to embellish the wild dolls. If you are a woodworker, add wooden elements!

One of a kind art doll by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Love working with wire? I do…. so I build wire armatures as the leaping off point for many of my dolls.

One of a kind art doll by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

It’s important to constantly look at the world in new ways.

Using the doll making process as a way of expressing your creativity will certainly ignite your imagination and fire up your creativity.

One of a kind art doll by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

That’s what I do on a regular basis: I combine crochet, weaving, tatting, woodworking, wire work, knitting and all manner of found and created objects (I have a passion for making unusual shoes for my dolls. What can I say?) and then make all kinds of wild and wooly dolls that are a voyage of discovery and delight!

And, how about you?

How do you put things together in interesting ways?

Have you tried wild andwooly doll making?

I invite you to drop some of your inhibitions, and just play……… joy awaits!

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The shawl is a combination of tatting and crochet and is a small semi-circular shoulder shawl. It is super comfortable to wear as it stays in place without tugging.

I love putting crochet together with tatting as they are  harmonious  partners.

I went through a fair amount of frustration with making the shawl, as I had to frog it many times to find the perfect combination of threads.

But, now I love it, and wear it a lot!

Here is a list of the links that show the shawl being constructed:

Tatted and crocheted shawl

Some different color backgrounds for the shawl

Working on the larger butterflies

Small tatted butterflies

My kitty wearing tatted butterflies on her forehead

 The Pattern for the tiny tatted butterflies

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Over the years, lots of great friendships have been formed because of a neat list on yahoo-

the International Freeform group….

Usually on the Friday evening of a conference, the freeformers will get together and it’s always fun….

There’s Bubbly Bonnie and me and darlin’ Pirk!

And gorgeous Myra and wonderful Jorel in her galaxy vest and marvelous Mel wearing colors that she doesn’t usually work with (but it turned out great)

And then we grabbed Margaret and said, “Get into this picture!”

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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One of the people on the freeform list is Beth Boshears. Beth’s bundle of joy and a real sweetie.  It was great fun to finally get to meet her…. and oh no! I didn’t get a pic of her!

Beth blew me right out of the water when she handed me ‘an apple for the teacher’ when she was taking one of my workshops.

It’s wonderful! Look at this…..

It began it’s life as a glasses case, but Beth has re-purposed it by embellishing it with gorgeous crochet, beadwork and embroidery.

And, she’s done the smartest thing inside it:

Isn’t that clever? she’s attached the scissors and needles and bobbins with magnets.

I love it. Thank you Beth!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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I love teaching workshops at the Knit and crochet shows….. workshops

I love to bring together lots of different fiber arts in my workshops: mask making, doll making, crochet, tatting, spool knitting, freeforming and all manner of other things unfold in workshops.

It’s always a ton of fun!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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