The Wave by Curry Wolfe

I love seeing what people make with the little ceramic basket bases they buy in my MakeABasket Etsy shop!

Curry Wolfe got this little base awhile ago, and made a basket as a Christmas present. As many of us do, she let the basket go without photographing it. But her friend was kind enough to snap a few views and send them back to her, so we get to see it!

Curry took the flamingo base and made a whole little scene out of it, with wrapped rows and strategically placed sparkling beads, she made a whole little ecosystem with shoreline and a big wave coming in...watch out, flamingo! I love it!

You can think of your own novel and colorful ways to make coiling your own thing...

look for supplies at MakeABasket.etsy.com

pamela

Bug A Bug A Bug

When my youngest son was small, he loved bugs...and i used to say to him "bug a bug a bug" all the time...i don't know why. But this grew into a nickname, and bugs have never been the same around our house.

It is nice to know others like them too.

Here is testimonial to that. Another gorgeous basket by Geraldine Kiser.

She says, "This one went to another daughter, Ellen. Ellen has loved bugs of ALL kinds since before she could talk. I have NO idea why, it's just Ellen. When she was little I told her the house was sprayed for bugs so if she brought them in they would die. She happily transported bugs OUT of the house all the time! At age 27 she still LOVES bugs!"

The basket is so pretty, Geraldine, and how wonderful that you chose something she loves so much to combine with your talent for coiling.

Of course the base was purchased in my MakeABasket etsy shop. You might find a few bugs there still, if you are interested (or frogs, or lizards, etc.) To find a particular motif, to to the search box at the top of the page in my etsy shop and type in a search word. Make sure "this shop" is selected from the drop down menu before you search! I accept requests, as well!

Geraldine has started a new blog, you may find baskets there too! Check it out: http://gdinespicoftheday.blogspot.com/

More Great Bakets from the Family Fusion Blog

If you read my blog, you probably have been to the Phillips Family Fusion blog, too. As I write this, i notice there are no fewer than 82 posts tagged "basket." So much more, too!

But I admit, it is the baskets that keep bringing me back!

Some of them are made with pottery bases from my MakeABasket.etsy.com shop...like these butterflies, and red autumn leaves.


So fun! I love the beads treatment on the butterfly one.

Great job, Vicki!

Return from BlogBreak: Great Baskets to Get You Back Into It!

Well, I have taken a little break from this blog, it has been almost 2 whole months since I posted! Sorry to keep you hanging.

Fortunately, others have been hard at work, to fill the gap. If you are looking for an active, interesting blog with some basket content to follow, I highly recommend Vicki Phillips blog, Phillips Family Fusion. Fed daily by Vicki and her daughter, it is a wonderful amalgam of their lives, including not only Vicki's wonderful pine needle creations, but nature, gardening, animals, touring, home...there is something for everyone!



Here are images of just a few of the wonderful basketry creations Vicki has blogged about.

Some of Vicki's baskets feature pottery bases from my MakeABasket shop on etsy. I am flattered.

She really does a great job, complementing the glazes, and bringing the colors together in her weaving. But what i really love are all the stories she tells about her baskets. These are the kinds of things i think about when weaving my own baskets. In addition, Vicki has a great hand with the photography aspect of blogging, taking a great styled shot of each basket in a different setting. I love it!

Clicking on the photos of each single basket in my blog will take you to Vicki's blogpost about it.






the depth of field on this next image is wonderful, Vicki!


This last one is my favorite, i love the colors and the way it just all works! Very lovely.



Vicki sent me the shots of all her baskets together, in preparation for a show she has coming up. Also, some of the baskets are for sale at the Gig Harbor History
Museum during their Woven Stories: Native American Basketry of the
Pacific Northwest and Alaska exhibit July 9 - October 16.

Best of luck to Vicki on her basket sales!
I would love to see what the rest of you are weaving!
pamela

New Baskets by RUTH ANNE DANGER!

Here are some great new baskets by Ruth Anne Danger. I love it when you all share your baskets with me. Please remember if you have a basket that you have coiled using a pottery base from my MakeABasket.etsy.com shop, i will publish it in this blog, you don't have to be an Award-winning coiler and teacher, like Ruth Anne is!

Here's what Ruth Anne said about her fabulous creations: (remember, you can click on any of these images to get a closer peek!)

"I love using your basses because what I put in the bottom of the basket often is the inspiration for the basket itself. I set on my couch every morning and have my oatmeal then pick up my basket to coil. I then go thru my supplies for inspiration by sorting thru my stash of your basses.

When one picks me I then back it with contact cork both to protect the pottery and what it is placed on. I then sew thru both the cork and the pottery. I have found the customer really like this.

I just love the flowers with the dyed purple pine needles and the sweet grass really sets it off. This is a Easter basket that can be used all year long. The other basket is all pine needles and sliced walnuts. The stitch in the bottom of the flower basket was done to reinforce the bottom. 2 stenches on the inside and 2 on the bottom around. With the single stitch it needed reinforcement.

Thanks for making the basses available to us.

Ruth Anne Danger

Zephyrhills Fl

i just love them both! Your stitching and wrapped rows are gorgeous, Ruth! Thanks for continuing to share your talents & creations with us!

Baskets by Vicki Phillips

Take a look at this great basket made by Vicki Phillips, with a dragonfly base from my MakeABasket etsy shop! More photos can be seen in her blog. The Phillips mother/daughter team share all sorts of wonderful things in their blog. To find more basket entries, look at the labels on the right column of their blog, and click on "baskets."

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

An Aside from My Series, and Beautiful Basket by Ruth Danger

These two beautiful baskets are just a taste of the long line of extraordinary coiling produced by Ruth Danger, of Zephyrhills, FL.

Ruth purchased both the bases for these baskets from one of my etsy shops. Basket bases were previously offered in my Bazketmakr etsy shop, but now are available in the MakeABasket etsy shop. Bazketmakr now carries only finished work, such as horsehair baskets, pine needle baskets, and other fiber creations. MakeABasket is where you can find bases, in addition to binders, tools, and kits.

If you have made baskets using my pottery bases, please send me pictures! I would love to publish them...if you bought one at NCBA convention, at the teacher's market, or took a class from me there, i would love to publish your basket here as well.

Having received an email from Annejala, i will address this as an insert to my series, "Three Considerations to Faster, Easier Coiling":

Annejala writes: (Pamela wrote in her blog) "Sinew is also adaptable in that it can be flat (like raffia) or round (like upholstery thread and linen.)" Where do you purchase the round sinew?

well, here is another case of me thinking i have said something, when i really didn't.

one does not purchase round sinew. It is the same -one kind- of sinew that can be either flat or round.

if you wish it to be flat, run your thumbnail across it, and this flattens it. this is useful when threading a needle, for instance

for round sinew, roll it between your fingers. this is useful when putting on a bead

sinew should never be wetted - as when people put it in their mouths

because it ruins the waxy coating

it should be either:

1. flattened
   
2. rounded
   
3. trimmed (with very sharp scissors)
   

in order to achieve tameness.

to find more baskets made with these pottery bases, click on the label pottery base below

pamela