Exchange Basket Received: Janet Bonnell to Gerri Swanson

Here is another Summertime Exchange basket, from Janet Bonnell to Gerri Swanson!

What great color in this one! I love it! Gerri loves it too, she wrote:

"The basket is a beautifully woven brown pine needle basket. It has sliced
shells for the bottom center and for the handles. All pulled together with
perfectly done stitching in 2 different shades of pink waxed linen.

"Absolutely gorgeous work Janet, I thank you! The little silver feather is a
fabulous signature."
wow, i'm loving this! We only have a few more baskets to go, but this seaside theme is really persisting!

Exchange Received: Deborah Groom to Donna in WA

Here is our latest exchange basket, it is by Deborah Groom, and was received by Donna, in WA.
Deborah had a definite idea for her basket, and executed it exactly as she had envisioned! The center and beads are made of polymer clay.

Deborah said: "I based it on tidal pools... I also tried to imitate the kelp and water action by adding many, many coils. I love the play of colours in the water and they way it slips in and out around the pools. The basket is intentionally asymetrical so I hope Donna likes things that are a little different. It is hard not to correct to a proper circle but I like the randomness of asymetry and find it more in keeping with these pools."


Wow, i think you did exactly what you set out to!
pamela

Exchange Basket Received: Pamela Caskey to Karyl Jo Hartsog

Sea Shells continue to predominate in our Summertime Exchange! We have had a few baskets in a row with the seashell theme...this one continues that, but is also like a blooming flower with pinks and greens. It is from Pamela Caskey to Karyl Jo Hartsog.
KJ writes: "I have received my exchange basket from Pamela Caskey. I can not say enough great things about it. I know everybody will get to see the pictures but that is only part of the experience of this basket. I wish I could share the smell and feel of it as well as the looks.


"Pamela started it off with a center of a pin made of sea shells with dainty shell roses. She used waxed linen in two pinks, minty green, turquoise, white and sea green colors. Around the base are long pine needles from Florida. Then she added a marsh grass with the smell of new mown hay.

"On top of that for the rim Pamela uses sweetgrass with it's lovely vanilla scent. It has little Rose quartz hearts on the handles and a mother of pearl butterfly on the front. I just can't keep my nose out of it or my eyes off of it.

"It is truly a work of love. I know it was hard for Pamela to part with it and I feel so lucky to have it.

Thanks so much for hosting Pamela Z. It just gets better and better as we all learn from each other."

Exchange Basket Received: Karen Thaler to Pamela Zimmerman

Wow, my exchange basket from Karen Thaler arrived today! What a lovely job she did!Karen started on a prepared shell arrangement, held together with line. Then she added black pine needles. There are many, many tiny little coils, some are black needles and some are natural. The stitching is black, white, and vibrant blue (I love that color of blue sinew, and cannot find it anymore!) The colors are so vibrant and the stitching is even an tight.
My favorite part are the beautiful intertwined blue-wrapped rows on the rim and the cascade of shells embellishing the rim. They were collected by Karen herself! Karen has included other shells to arrange in the basket, loose, and I 'm sure my kids will especially get a kick out of rearranging them.

Thank you, Karen, for this absolutely lovely basket. I will cherish it!
pamela

Exchange Basket Received: Donna in WA to Karen Thaler.

Here is the latest, Donna in WA to Karen Thaler!

"Received my basket today. Wow, Wow and Wow. The base of the main part is made from the biggest oyster shell I have ever seen. The base is turned upside down and fits onto a piece of driftwood. A little basket filled with miniature shells, sits in sand within the oyster shell, with a "Shells 4 Sale" sign. To top it off Donna has included a note on a card that is a copy of a painting she did. The painting is titled "Cold drinks on a hot beach". This treasure is sitting in the center of my dinning table. Thank you Donna."

Donna told me more about the basket: "When I was little, teachers got us to practice tongue twisters. One of my favorites went something like this: She sells sea shells by the sea shore. So, that's what I used for my Summertime theme. I coiled around a shell. Some pine needles were wrapped with light brown binder and some were wrapped with a darker brown binder. The light brown represents the dry sand and the darker brown represents the sand closer to the water. I used 3 different blues for the water and died the pine needles accordingly. The white binder represents the breakers and other foamy water that can be encountered by the sea.

The little basket is filled with sea shells. I filled the big shell with sand that is more likely to be found on the beaches of the Pacific Northwest. I put the little basket of shells in the sand. The sign is made with a small piece of watercolor paper attached to a small piece of driftwood. I hand painted the sign. I used "4" instead of "for" because I am thinking that the girl who is selling the shells is a techie who rarely travels far without her iPhone. She sends text messages more often than not. Therefor "for" naturally would be "4" in her world. "

Lovely job! I love the story that goes with it, and all the layers representing the sea.

Exchange Basket Received: Ruth Anne Danger to Brenda Magers

Another fabulous exchange basket has arrived! This one is from Ruth Anne Danger to Brenda Magers. It looks amazing, and Brenda was obviously tickled with it!



"I received my summertime exchange basket from Ms. Ruth. Taking it out of the box simply took my breath away. It is a beautiful combination of sweetgrass and pine needles with a beach theme. As a new coiler it is a real inspiration to keep working at it. Thank you Ms. Ruth for your gift and your time!"





MY favorite part of this basket is the little section of diamond stitches just under the rim! See them? It is about 3 rows, maybe, and in a contrasting shade of pine needles. This defines the rim as well as making a lovely accent. That, in addition to the perfectly wrapped handle, makes this an artful basket. Well done, Ruth Anne!

Exchange Basket Received: Brenda Magers to Marianne Barnes

This marvelous Summertime Exchange basket was made by Brenda Magers and sent to Marianne Barnes.

Brenda says: "For a summer theme I used a piece of coral for the start, attached shells and tried to pick bright colors. My dyed needles come out pretty dark so I picked an orange and green because they were the lightest and are fairly summery colors. My current basketry obsession is to coil the needles so the basket is a different color on the inside then it is on the outside. I think it makes a nice look. This was also the first time I tried a footer. I had to because the start was not flat. It was much easier than I thought it would be! I’ve only been doing baskets since March so I hope my recipient likes it.


Marianne was obviously taken with it, and wrote: "I was so excited to receive my exchange basket today. brenda sent it to me and she said she was a beginner but her work looks beautiful! The basket was started on a small piece of corral. Amazing!! Yhe pineneedles are green inside the baslet and natural on the outside. She attached shells from the outside that she collected at the beach. She lives on the SC coast and guess what?! I live in SC too but near the mountains. Thank you so much Brenda for a wonderful awesome basket!!"

Such a nice job, Brenda. It doesn't look like a beginner basket to me, either. Facing with contrasting colored needles is a technique that not many coilers use, and you did a great job with it!

Exchange Basket Received: Sue Cowell to Pamela Caskey

The latest exchange basket beauty in the Summertime Exchange is titled, "The DAY AT THE BEACH" and was made for Pamela Caskey by Sue Cowell!


Pamela wrote about Sue's basket:

"I would like to thank Sue Cowell for the lovely basket she sent me. It
is truly awesome and will bring me much pleasure as I travel around the
country in our Gulfstream Sunvoyager. Having Grown up on the ocean in
NH and spending much time walking the beaches and gathering treasures
that the Ocean deposited on it's shores, I truly love how Sue put the
basket together with treasures from the sea [:x] .

"The base is an oyster shell that was raised by her son who is a
Sellfish farmer. From there she starts her coil in natural and some
dyed green Florida Longleaf pine needles. She left the caps attached
to give it some texture and the binder was artificial sinew in a natural
color. On one side of the basket she has attached a light green ball
float with several shells or fragments of shells to it. Beside that are
several more seashells. On the other side is a star fish that she
attached to the basket.

"I only have one complaint to Sue. She did not sign her work.
But have no fear we will be heading to the North West next spring when
it gets to hot in Southern Arizona so hopefully we can connect someplace
and she will kindly add her signiture to the basket.

"Thanks again Susan and many thanks to
Pamela for organizing the exchange.

"I also thank all those in the group that are
always so willing to offer a helping hand or suggestions to us all whe
we have a question. You are all so great and very helpful and willing
to share your craft to us."

Exchange Basket Received: Karyl Jo Hartsog to Ruth Anne Danger

The latest exchange basket received is not a basket...but i'll let Karyl Jo Hartsog explain. She sent her coiled Summertime Exchange entry to Ruth Anne Danger.

KJ writes:

"I couldn't decide on one theme so I made three picture frames. Three to symbolize the three months of summer. The frames are a size that will hold postcard size pictures.

"I look forward to fishing and hiking in the high country in the summer months.

"We have bird feeders and bird baths all over our yard so we do a lot of bird watching in the summer.

"We have a large garden and spend a lot of time there in a straw hat and thongs.

"I hope Ruth will like the frames and use them to show her summer adventures. She can also use them to display postcards from friends. I had lots of fun making them."

Fabulous! I am most enamoured with the little fishing creel on this one. What lucky draw you got this time, Ruth Anne! Here are close up shots of each little Summertime theme!



pamela

Darling Daisy Basket by Jeanie Weber

I do love seeing what people make with my ceramic basket bases! This one is by Jeanie Weber, of www.BasketCaseCreations.com who asked me to make some daisy bases for herself and her sister, wanting to make some hostess gifts. They had seen the beautiful basket made for me in the Asymmetrical Exchange by Diane Heister, and wanted to have similar bases for their baskets.


Jeanie tells me she used chrysanthemum stone beads, saying, "I ended up using more beads than usual—was afraid too many, in fact--but everybody who’s seen this one seems to like it a lot, so there you go! "
She also glued a piece of leather to the bottom of the ceramic base to give it a little more protection. That's a great tip, Jeanie! I have also used cushy fabric, like polyester blanket material or felt. A spray-on adhesive works really well.

You can click on any of the photos in this blog to see them larger, and i recommend doing so for Jeanie's darling daisy basket, which she has named "Bloom Where You Grow." Love it!

Daiy basket bases like this one can be found in my MakeABasket shop.

Stay tuned for exchange baskets, in our Summertime Exchange. They are starting to be shipped!

pamela