Closionne Faces for Spirit Dolls

If you've been following my blog for a while, you may remember reading about Karen L. Cohen, a cloisonne enamel artist who has taken a shine to beading. I showed her beautiful bead embroidery here (pin/wall hanging) and here (mirror frame).

Lately Karen has started making spirit dolls.... many of them. I'm showing you two of them below, but this is my favorite of the ones she has on her website. It's worth the time to read a little about her dolls, as it's interesting how she carefully chooses each element for it's relationship to the purpose of the doll.



More often than not, I don't put a face on the dolls I make. Sometimes I suggest a face (or mask) with seed bead embroidery. Once I used a peyote stitch bezel to add a carved stone face to a doll. (See below.)

Many people have written to me over the years asking where to buy "faces" (face cabochons) for their dolls. Thus lately I've been on the lookout for sources, especially for higher quality faces.

Full circle... back to Karen's enamels. Note that she creates special one-of-a-kind enamel faces for her dolls. Now, here's the good news! She is making these enamels to sell. She said that if the demand is there, she'll put more on her website, here.

Below are two of the faces currently available.




Bead Festival

As you may know, I've been pretty busy teaching... most recently at the First Annual Bellingham Bead Festival. This event was held at the Semiahmoo Resort on Birch Bay, in the northwest corner of Washington state, just a few miles south of the Canadian border. I'm happy to report that it was very well attended by both Canadians and locals. The Resort was delightful ~ my room was really lovely and I totally enjoyed excellent meals at the two on-site restaurants. The Bead Factory in Tacoma, WA has been organizing festivals for many years. They are very good at it, and this first one at Semiahmoo was right up to par. Are you catching my drift? Look for it again next spring!

Chicago Quilt Festival

Two days from now, I'll be on my way to teach at the Chicago Quilt Festival for four days. This is always a grand experience... So many quilters ~ so many quilts ~ so many vendors! It boggles my mind. I never have time to see it all. This year I'm especially looking forward to seeing the ATCs made to sell as a fund raising project. I'll try to take pictures for you.

First Ride of Spring


We're into spring weather here! Friday my husband and I dusted off our motorcycles and had a lovely ride around the island. The best was comming home after dark, when you can't really see much more than the road. However, if you pay attention to the smells, you can know a lot about the roadside attractions. For example, one home must have had many hyacinths planted in the yard, their fragrance strong even at night. We passed a pond with that unmistakable swampy smell. And at one point I caught the whiff of animals, possibly deer. Riding in the day time, I hardly notice the smells becuase there's so much to see.

Season of New Beginnings

More time to read your blogs and more time to write mine is just around the corner. Until then, may this season of new beginnings and blossoming dreams be especially good to you and yours.