“Author of The Queen’s Umbrella is Valita Vinson of Clinton.Kate Poss, staff photosCristl Schreier of Langley knits socks, mittens and hats of natural fibers. She also makes soft dolls with simple faces that are made of natural fabrics and stuffed with wool fleece.Clinton writer Valita Vinson shares her love of world travel and adventure in her first book, The Queen’s Umbrella, which tells the inspiring story of a young girl who finds magic to help with tough times.Both South Whidbey women have found that their art touches many people during this holiday season.Stepping into the Langley workshop of Cristl Schreier is like visiting Santa’s place before Christmas. Dolls in various states of completion, fabrics such as felt, cotton velour, and soft yarns lie in bins and shelves in her sunny room with corner windows. Schreier said her toys are meant to be loved and remembered long after they are first given to a child — or a grownup (she recalled a woman who bought one of her blanket dolls to give to a dying friend to hold and love during her last days).I believe in putting good energy into my work, Shreier said. Since toys are important, I believe children pick up what has been put into them. I like toys to be warm and cuddly, not a showpiece, but something to be played with and to be a companion.Handwork is both a vocation and pleasure for Shreier, who for the past 20 years has made dolls, knitted, crocheted and taught. Currently a handwork teacher for fifth- and sixth-graders at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School, where the kids are learning to knit socks and Christmas stockings, Shreier said is really busy at this time of year. Waldorf is where folks can purchase her knitwear, gnomes, elves and cozy dolls. The school store is open from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. through Dec. 21.After Christmas Shreier will host doll-making and handwork workshops. She is also a doctor for the handmade dolls. For more information call her at 221-8789.*Clinton writer Valita Vinson’s first book, The Queen’s Umbrella, is a page-turner, to talk to kids (of all ages) who have read it. The story unfolds in Alaska as 11-year-old Shelby is taunted by kids who call her a witch’s child, because her midwife mother uses herbs and is blamed in the death of a baby. On one of her worst days an umbrella sent by a queen comes into her life and beckons Shelby into a world of magic that introduces her to good witches who take her on a grand adventure. Yet it is courage and quick thinking that helps Shelby get out of some jams she finds herself in later on. While magic helps Shelby, I want her to be a role model so she can solve her problems without magic — like we do in everyday life, Vinson said. The story came to Vinson in a whoosh of inspiration about 20 years ago, she said, while she was staying at a small hotel in Chiapas, Mexico. She even knew what the last words would be, she said, but it took years to finish the book.Now, living simply in a cabin while providing eldercare to earn a living, Vinson said she is stunned by the response to her book. With her three children grown, she says she wants to work one-on-one with kids at local schools to inspire them to read. Teyani Whitman, manager at the Cyber Cafe, in Clinton, where the book is for sale, said The Queen’s Umbrella is her number one selling book and that it has been picked up by independent booksellers nationwide. “