Exchange Basket Received: Marianne Barnes to Jessica Pitts

Here's another great basket in our Summertime Exchange, this one from Marianne Barnes to Jessica Pitts.

Jessica wrote:

"Yesterday I received a lovely gourd which had a coiled top/neck which had been woodburned with pictures of seashells and which was adorned with seahorses and shells. I shall add this lovely item to my exchange collection. Thank you Maryanne!!!!!"

Way to go, Marianne! What a cute little gourd...and woodburning is particularly exquisite, it is easy to see that she is a very experienced gourd artist! A wonderful contribution.

Exchange Basket Received: Pamela Zimmerman to Sue Cowell

Here is another exchange basket, this one from Pamela Zimmerman to Sue Cowell.

Sue wrote:

"Yesterday's mail brought me a treasure! And I'm not exaggerating. I received a wonderful piece of coiled sculpture from Pamela Zimmerman, entitled BLUE PEARLY WAVE.

"Unless my eyes decieve me, it's made of brown & blond horsehair, coiled on one of her beautiful pottery bases. The binding material looks to be artifical sinew in blue & white. There is a teeny-tiny horsehair basket on the rim, and tiny pearls sewn where the base meets the coils. I do so hope the pictures do this justice.

"My daughter & I could not agree if it reminds us of the undulations of an octopus or jellyfish swimming, but it definatly looks like motion caught in time. Thank you, thank you, Pamela. I will treasure this."

Well, i'll take that, Sue. Actually, the underwater creature that inspired me was the sea slug. but of course that does not sound as neat as an octopus or jellyfish. But check them out, they are very cool. They come in many colors and shapes and are amazing! Glad you like it.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this exchange, it is almost over!

Exchnage Basket Received: Gerri Swanson to Deborah Groom

There are only a few exchange baskets left to post. Here is a very unusual one, with kelp! From Gerri Swanson to Deborah Groom.

Deborah says: "I received the most exquisite basket today... what a wonderful surprise to find Geri's basket waiting for me when I got home. It really jumped started the summer for me again.

"It is so beautiful and has so many beach gathered elements. She used Torrey Pine pine needles and coiled them in hand dyed raffia. The blue-grey of the raffia was almost identical in colouring to one of the shells in the rim of the basket. The rim also included three other shells and a fourth that was coiled into an unright position using the end of a piece of bullwhip kelp.

"You have to see this piece to admire the craftmanship, the textures, colours and ingenuity. The kelp coils around the basket and has this fabulous bulb head that I first thought was the end of a gourd.


"The center is a sand dollar that is accompanied by two other gift sand dollars, one of them drilled and one not. Talk about feeling spoilt! ...There was even two pieces of sea glass added in the basket.

I just want to say such a big thank you to you Geri for such a beautiful gift. It will be treasured and admired for a very long time. I know it must have been hard to let go of such of special piece. Thank you so much."

What a wonderfully creative basket, i really love the look of the kelp and the kelp bulb. Maybe Gerri will tell us something about the kelp? You lucky, Deborah!

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.