Spring Mindfulness

Spring has long been my favourite time of year. Since I discovered nature walking in August 2019, it has become even more special. I hope I will be able to continue to enjoy Spring for as long as I can. Below are my Star Heart Dolls dressed for every season of the year: Spring Joy, Summer Bliss, Autumn Reflection and Winter Comfort.

Snuggle muffs for mental health

I was desperate for therapy in 2018. This need led me back to knitting and cuddly toys and eventually twiddle muffs. Twiddle muffs were invented for dementia suffereres. I call mine snuggle muffs, because they only have twiddles on the inside, the outsides are smooth and soft, I find this to be more comforting.

Blue knitting challenge

In May 2018 my friend challenged me to make a number of knitted creations out of the blue wool, ribbon and buttons I bought in Uxbridge, these are the small selection of items I managed to produce.

Star heart and cross line dolls

I was in a bit of a crafting and doll-making frenzy from 2010 until 2016. I really enjoyed making my dolls but ended up with too many with limited opportunities to sell them. I was very much inspired by the beautiful dolls made by Jess Brown. I started with my contrary virtue dolls in 2010 and ended with my diverse Shepherd Bush dolls in 2016. The boy cross-line dolls came along in about 2014. I haven't given up on crafting, but have lost a lot of the energy I had for it. I don't know what the future holds for my craft-work or my craft stall.

Craft Therapy

I had spent over three decades in the crafting wilderness, before being reacquainted with it in 2009 via Kirstie's Homemade Home, particularly the episode involving knitting and also a growing fascination with doll making blogs, in particular Jess Brown, Tiny Concept and Emily Winfield Martin. I started making dolls in 2010 and did my first craft stall in 2013. Out of all the crafts I have tried, knitting is by far the most therapeutic. I now mostly knit snuggle muffs to help comfort mental health patients.

Ten Years a Dollmaker

 

I made my first Star Heart Doll in Spring 2010 and I feel that my doll-making days may have come to an end with ‘The Dolly Project’ of Autumn 2020. I sold and donated to charity quite a few dolls in the twenty teens and in 2020 I had about fifty dolls still in the house.

My dolls were inspired by dolls created by Jess Brown, Tiny Concept and Emily Winfield Martin. I have always been pleased with them and their design and still find them pleasing to this day.

In the future I think I will donate more of my dolls to children’s charities. Here are some of my favourite pictures of my dolls from the past ten years.

The Dolly Project November 2020

 

With the announcement of a second lockdown I decided to get on with another creative project I had been putting off. I remember putting plastic boxes of my dolls into our attic thinking that I would sort them out properly in the fullness of time. I decided that the time had now come. In the end the project was less daunting than I thought it would be.

My six original dolls would stay in their cloth bag. I kept a small selection of dolls as a reminder of my doll making days; four big, four medium, four small. Six I gave to my mum to give to charity. That left twelve which I thought needed makovers before they could become gifts.

The pictures above and below are of these makeover dolls. I also decided to knit them an extra blanket. It has been good to work on my dolls again. I have gradually been sorting things out in my house since 2019 and I think this will continue into 2021.

Fabric Brooch Cards

My fabric brooches have developed a lot over the years. One of the first craft fairs I visited featured brooch cards, I bought one and thought what a good idea it would be for me to develop them myself. At the moment I have four fabric brooch cards. 'Thinking of you' features my crocheted poppy and 'With Love' my embroidered heart felt brooch that was originally a pendant. 'To Someone Special' includes my original crocheted flower brooch and 'All Good Wishes' features my virtuous fabric flower brooch.

Fabric brooch innovations

I became a little unhappy with how I was creating my fabric brooches, especially my 'Virtuous Flower Brooch'. I have looked online at how other people make fabric brooches and thought that an extra, larger piece of material in the middle between the felt backing and the printed badge part would make all the difference. I was happy with the result and so got a little carried away with creating a whole range of them. I wore the vote brooch leading up to the 2017 election.

Birthday Doll

I started many creative projects back in 2010. One of the ones I nearly forgot to celebrate was the making of my first Star Heart Doll back in Spring 2010.

The story of my personal arts and crafts renaissance began in 2009 when I first watched 'Kirstie's Homemade Home' and got back into needlecraft and knitting. I also discovered the lovely craft blogs and dolls of Jess Brown, Tiny Concept and Emily Winfield Martin.

My arts and crafts journey took a step forward in 2013 when I took part in my first craft fair and started my blog.

I took part in 14 craft fairs in the twenty teens and hopefully my blog will keep going until at least 2023.

Get well soon with sympathy

Older customers at the craft fairs I attend have suggested that I create a selection of 'Get Well Soon' and 'With Sympathy' cards. They had reached a time in their lives where a lot of their friends and loved ones were either sick or dying. I created my own botanical flower drawings, backgrounds and lettering to use on the cards. My customers were right, they do sell quite well.

Lavender cats

After creating my lavender owls it was only a matter of time before I created my lavender cats. Maybe my lavender owls and pussycats should get together; they could 'sail away for a year and a day', 'in a beautiful pea green boat'.

Reverse Bucket List

After completing my mini bucket list (5B450) in 2017 I have had a little more to do with bucket lists. My new bucket list is called 5450+ which is more of a being list than a doing list. After a brief exploration of the blogosphere I discovered that reverse bucket lists could be a good exercise in reflection and gratitude. The sixteen items on my reverse bucket list are a reflection of my life over the past fifty odd years. I think the 1990s was a big ‘to do’ list for me: getting a job, getting a career, getting a house, writing songs, poetry, short stories, getting a husband, getting a baby. Since that time I have become more reflective. The last item on my list, ‘2 years of mindful discoveries’, offers the hope that the 2020s will be more a time for ‘being’ and less about ‘doing’.

Lorna’s Reverse Bucket List - A Meaningful Life?

1.      Thirty Years a Librarian (February 1990 –February 2020 plus)-after gaining my library degree-BA(hons)-in 1989

2.      Five decades of travelling (1970s-2020s)– (50 places in England and 33 other countries)

3.      A year of London – visiting 52+ interesting London places

4.      Found and lost love

5.      Learnt to drive

6.      Bought a house (with Richard)

7.      Twenty years since SubVerse (2020) – (active period was 2000-2005)

8.      Raised Amy to the age of 20+ (got her through school and helped her with qualifications) (2020)

9.      Twelve years a Piano Teacher (2008-2019)– helping pupils get fifteen certificates in ten years

10.  Ten years at church (2008-2018)- including ten months of Sunday School teaching from 2010 to 2011

11.  Ten years of Arts and Crafts (2010-2020)– redecorating the house, appreciating art and culture, developing craftwork

12.  Ten years in concert (2010-2020) – Playing classical piano pieces in various public places

13.  Two diplomas in the 2010s – Level 3 in Business Administration and dipABRSM in Piano Teaching

14.  Ran a craft stall in the Twenty-Teens (2013-2019)

15.  Ten years a blogger (2013-2023) – Highlighting my creative and therapeutic endeavours

16. Two years of Mindful Discoveries (2018-2020)

The photos are from the 'Bucket List Coffee' shop in Eastcote.

 

Creative projects 2000 to 2020

 

Being creative has been important to me since I was little. Over the first twenty years of the 21^st Century my creative projects have been important to keep me going through difficult years; working, looking after my home and family, raising my daughter. Popular projects have been SubVerse, possibly my favourite, from the early noughties. It has also been good to keep my blog going from 2013 until 2023. Running my craft stall in the twenty-teens has been an interesting experience and playing classical piano pieces in public has been quite rewarding. More information about my creative projects over the years can be found on my blog at amilofinn.blogspot.co.uk .

 

Ten Years of Arts and Crafts

I don't consider myself good on home decor, but after discovering 'Kirsty's Homemade Home' in 2009 I thought I would make more of an effort to bring inspiring art and craft into my house. After Christmas 2009 I had a strong feeling that I needed to improve the overall ambience of my home. I bought picture books, calendars with pictures I could frame, prints, attractive frames, cushion covers and I specifically ventured into charity shops to buy knick-knacks. I'm not very materialistic but the things I bought I now find useful for the mindful meditation of homely things.

Craft Fairs of the Twenty Teens

I heard it once said that Britain was a nation of shopkeepers. I think of my craft stall as being my little bit of an opportunity to run a small 'pop up shop'. My craft stall has 'popped up' on fourteen different occasions between the years 2013 and 2019. I have been running out of energy on a number of different levels so I'm not sure when my craft stall will 'pop up' again, but here are my reflections on its past appearances.

2013 

There was a bit of a craft craze in 2013 and I had produced enough crafts to put a stall together. I started making my Star Heart dolls in 2010 and my other crafts evolved from there. I looked at various craft stalls in Ealing, before encountering the craft fair in Champers Wine Bar on a Saturday morning. I think it was a slow morning, but I sold a few things and liked it enough to want to do more. 

Unfortunately the Champers Craft Fair folded soon after, the lady running it recommended the URC Coffee Mornings in Northwood Hills or Eastcote / Pinner. I took my stall to the Northwood Hills URC charity coffee morning in December and did better than I had done in Champers.

 
Champers Craft Fair, Eastcote, June

URC Coffee Morning, Northwood Hills, December

2014

I thought I would try my luck at the Northwood Craft Market in 2014. I got there in June. Northwood is quite a nice place, with a large Costa. I go there quite a bit. Doing the craft market was a good experience but not so enjoyable that I relish the idea of going back there. The URC Charity Coffee Morning in July in Northwood Hills was also not so friendly. I did no more craft fairs that year.

  

 

Northwood Craft Market, June

 URC Coffee Morning, Northwood Hills, July

2015

I was in a bit of a state in 2015 but managed to give my craft stall an airing on three different occasions. I first tried the URC Coffee Morning in Eastcote in March, it was quite a good experience, so I thought I would go there again.

The Willow Tree Marina fun day was an interesting experience. My craft stall was outside and it was windy. I didn't sell anything. Amy helped and drew a picture of me, so that was nice. 

The URC Coffee Morning in November was on my birthday. I was in such a state I turned up at the wrong church. I was late getting back to Eastcote but it was fine when I got there.

 URC Coffee Morning, Eastcote, March

 

 Willow Three Marina Fun Day, Hayes, July

URC Coffee Morning, Eastcote, November

2016

2016 was a quiet year for craft fairs, the main focus was on helping Amy through her GCSEs. I did the URC Coffee Morning in Eastcote in April and the URC Coffee Morning in Northwood Hills in December. I think they were both reasonable experiences.

URC Coffee Morning, Eastcote, April

URC Coffee Morning, Northwood Hills, December

2017

2017 was a big year because of my 5B450 project which included a week's holiday in New York City. I also managed to participate in three craft fairs and events. My tenth craft fair was the Load of Hay Market in South Ruislip in April. It was a proper craft fair with inspiring craft work on display, it was also a very pleasant day. 

I was back at the URC Coffee Morning in Eastcote in June and back in the Load of Hay Market in South Ruislip in September. It was a good year for my craft stall despite the dark clouds gathering on the horizon.

 

Load of Hay Market, South Ruislip, April 

 

URC Coffee Morning, Pinner, June

 

Load of Hay Market, South Ruislip, September

2018

2018 was a very difficult year but I did manage one outing for my craft stall at the URC Coffee Morning in Eastcote, which I attended with my daughter. Soon after the Eastcote United Reformed Church became a Hindu Temple.

URC Coffee Morning, Eastcote, Pinner, June

 2019

In 2019 I have been relaxing a lot more and practising letting things go. I don't know if I want to let my craft stall go yet, but I'm glad I have done what I did with it. The last craft morning I did was at the Northwood Hills URC charity coffee morning in May. I had a really good time there and having a good time, however slow and quiet, is very important to me these days.

URC Coffee Morning, Northwood Hills, May