Well, you are still invited to continue doing that, and linking your pics so we can see them.

image & photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I said that I would be giving away a one of  a kind handmade crochet hook that is an homage to Jane Austen.

And I think that it is so appropriate that Jane Austen is going to be heading to England for her new home.

Caroline shared 2 of her Faces of Joy, and so she is now the companion to my Jane Austen crochet hook.  It seems so perfect that Jane Austen is going home to England.

I hope that Caroline will take pics of Jane in England and share them with us!

Thank you Caroline!

And, since we continue to be living in extremely ”interesting’  times, I am absolutely ecstatic when I see evidence of people working together to create moments of pure delight and joy.

How wonderful that people are also using technology to share those glorious moments!

One of my dear friends finds amazing and delightful links and sends them to me (she was the one who caught the electronic sheep and Susan Boyle videos for me before they went viral).

Well, my friends, she has done it again! Turn up your sound, because you are going to love the outburst of enchanting joy and delight that recently happened in Antwerp Belgium!

Hope that joy springs up in your life today!

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It’s a F A C E of Joy challenge, right?

teddy designed, made and photographed by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Soooooooooooo…..

that means that the face doesn’t have to belong to human being.

AND……

I did say that for this challenge,

WIRE counts as yarn, right?

So……..

my entry for ‘The Face of Joy’ challenge for today

is

A teddy bear that I crocheted from 28 gauge coppper wire.

He has a big heart and a happy disposition.

He’s got wooden beads inside his head and his tummy to keep him

from squishing flat when he’s off on an adventure, inside my pocket or a bag.

He’s about 3 1/2 inches tall (9 cm).

And, when I look at him, I have to smile…..

and isn’t that what the face of joy is all about?

I invite you to play with wire today and see what joy you invent.

Remember to hold the wire very lightly, and don’t try to put much tension on it

or it’ll play havoc with your tendons, and that’s no joy…..

have fun!  Play time!

Please remember to send me pictures of  YOUR face of joy projects, so you can win the Jane Austen crochet hook.

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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

Anyhow, while the servers were down, and I couldn’t work on my blog, I finally got to work and pulled together all the pics of the new crochet hooks  that I have been carving.

I had kind of lost track of them! LOL!

I had to rummage around the studio to find them and get them organized and measured and photographed and photoshopped and finally up on my website.

(I have been neglecting my website because of focusing on blogworld, so when blogworld vanished, I was able to do some maintenance on my website. Hidden blessings!)

So, here’s a few pics of some of the new hooks I have been playing with:

My homage to Jane Austen and cats and dogs:

and heartfelt musings about home and hearth :

and another Snowman (we’re back into another blizzard! Oh! Will winter NEVER end?)

I have more blanks started, and since winter is such a drag, I will be finding respite in the workshop.  And that means….

more crochet hooks……..

And, oh yes, we’re also working on a series of new Jane Austen inspired spool knitters, too!

Can’t get enough of Jane!

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I have designed all kinds of dolls in homage to Jane Austen, including a :knitted Jane Austen doll:

Sooooooooooooo………

I am utterly ecstatic that PBS is running a series on Masterpiece theatre, showcasing all her novels.

Persuasion  was brilliant. Perfecto!  

Ditto for Northanger Abbey. In fact, it’s my least favorite of all her novels…. BUT, this interpretation was so good that I actually liked it! 

A L A S…… I thought Mansfield Park was a disaster! They totally blew it…. they made a hash of the screenplay, (Fanny didn’t get sent home?!?!?! EH?!) and missed out on great fun by down playing and minimizing Evil Auntie Norris.  And, excuse me, but Billie Piper was utterly and hopelessly miscast as Fanny.  Pituey.  I thought it stank.

A N Y H O W ! ! ! ! ! 

I am sooooooooooooooooo excited about 6 delicious weeks of Jane Austen telly that I have carved a homage to Jane Austen crochet hook! I turned it on the lathe, and am tickled pink with it.  It’s my second attempt. 

My first attempt did the exploding hook routine- kapowweeeeeeeeeeee!

but, the second one has me feeling happy.

Here she is:

Ah, Jane Austen, I’m your biggest fan…..

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