storytellers

red guitar (2) — Farida (pictured here on Orcas Island) lives in Seattle, Washington — land of evergreens, dreamy rain, good bookstores, coffee, music, and uncommonly gifted creative types.

On any given day, you might find musical storyteller and doll maker Farida Dowler training for a half marathon, homeschooling her daughter, writing and performing songs and stories, making Danish pancakes, or putting the finishing touches on a Pink Heart Fairy or Red Math Gnome.

Whether she’s picking guitar strings or embroidering french knots on fairy capes, Farida seems to thrive in an enchanted world of her own making — a kind and gentle one that harkens back to the days of wandering minstrels, exults in the magic of story, champions creativity and the imagination, and treasures the invaluable human connections that blossom in the name of art.

orange and bee — Orange Blossom Queen and Bee Boy (wooden trees and shrubs by The Enchanted Cupboard)

Her Mission Statement is:

I care about each doll I sew, and hope you will find a doll in the shop that you feel is yours.

One at a time, one of a kind, full of heart.

I like picturing Farida in her Seattle home, head bent over her work, humming to herself as she adeptly draws needle and thread through felt, creating a new violet or cherry blossom friend who’ll find her place displayed on a nature table, held in a child’s eager hand as an original story emerges, or peacefully resting on a writer’s desk, a friendly companion offering quiet inspiration.