Knock, knock. Who's there? Remember me???

Hello, friends! Have you missed me? I've certainly missed you :-) Things have been a bit hectic in my little world this last month, but I've definately been working, weaving, and swapping... But apparently not blogging! (Speaking of swapping, the picture above is of Barkley playing with his new favorite toy: A rubber chicken that was sent by one of my swap partners in ISRAEL!!! Cool, right?)

Anyway... My Kumon Center is blessedly busy. I'm working about 60 hours per week right now, but I have no complaints. OK, one complaint. We are getting a new roof put on our building (thank you, new landlord!). Over the weekend, we had a freak hailstorm which dumped several inches of hail on Rio Rancho. Unfortunately, the new roof had not been completely sealed before the storm, the temporary drainlines didn't hold, the ceiling in my Center collapsed, and, needless to say, hundreds of gallons of water poured into the Center. Nice. (Words very unbecoming to a Kumon Instructor might have been uttered when I saw the destruction.) But... Nobody was hurt, no worksheets or important data were destroyed, the carpet will (eventually) dry, and furniture and student prizes can be replaced. This, too, shall pass :-)

Oh. Can I lodge one more complaint? On top of my 60 hours per week, business trips to Phoenix last month, New Jersey next month, and New York in July... I'm on JURY DUTY for FOUR MONTHS! It appears that owning a business that cannot operate without you is not a "valid" reason for being excused from performing my civic duty. Lovely. (A friend of mine suggested I claim "Tourette's Syndrome" as a reason for dismissal. She thought I would VERY convincing in playing this part... I, unfortunately, must agree with her!)

I mentioned that I have also been able to find time for weaving. Below are a few of my latest creations:

Mail basket swapped to on of "Swap-Bot" sisters in exchange for a lovely crocheted scarf.

I wove this basket around a large glass jar and filled it with flowers for one of the volunteers at my Kumon Center. It is currently being used as a utensil holder in her kitchen.

This sweet little basket was sent to another of my Swap-Bot friends. Here's the message she sent to me after she received the basket:

" Tonight I told my mom, "Look at this great basket someone made just for me!" She gave me a look like she didn't believe me, and said I was silly believing someone made it for me. She said that it looked "store-bought" and "too good to be handmade". I said, "Nope. She made it just for me. She's a basket weaver and even signed the bottom of the basket. Isn't that cool?"

She finally beieved me... So kudos! Your stuff rocks :-) Just thought you'd like to know. ~April"

Pencil basket sent to a swapper who likes to draw. This was the first swap I sent to a "Swap-Bot brother" :-)

I filled this basket with a collection of little rubber duckies and bubble bath and shipped it to a friend in Hawaii.

This little basket went to a swapper in England. She loves to cook and collects recipes, so a recipe basket seemed to be the perfect gift.

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OK. That's all for now, as I have work to do :-) My next post will be about a new weaving project that I loved so much I'll be making more for all of my seamstress friends. Stay tuned, my crafty friends!

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Hugs and blessings~

~~~Anne

Origami Paper Doll Bookmarks and a Braided Rim Basket! (My Crafty Resolution Update for January)

January was a great month! And, yes, I did keep up with my "Crafty Resolution" :-) Here's a bit of what I created...

I made Origami Paper Doll bookmarks. Loads of them, as once you get started the process is very addicting. (Yes, paper folding friends, I will have a tutorial posted soon!)

I also wove this amazing mini muffin basket! We had a basket weaving party at my Kumon Center, and my friends Nancy, Darlene, and Faith guided me in my efforts to make my first braided rim. Not bad for a first try, right? I love the rim and am excited to weave more baskets using this technique. By the way, this is one of Nancy's free patterns. It can be found here. Bonus: She has a video tutorial on weaving this mini muffin basket here.

On the subject of our basket weaving party... My potluck contribution was an Ambrosia Cake. It was four layers of fluffy, fruity goodness. The recipe will be posted this week. Stay tuned :-)

Hugs and blessings~

~~~Anne

My Crafty Resolution, Part Two - Free Basket Pattern Links

Time for basket weaving needs to be factored into my Crafty Resolution for 2010. Below are some links to FREE PATTERNS for some of my favorite "must weave" projects for next year.

Basket Maker's Catalog has a lot of free basket weaving patterns. OK, they're not just patterns, many of them are complete tutorials with very detailed instructions and lots of pictures. Click here for the free pattern for the "Simple Gift Basket" pictured above.

There are tons of FREE patterns for beautiful baskets at Suzanne Moore's NC Basketworks - I love the Summertime Wall Baskets (free pattern here), and will definately be weaving these. Don't you love the colors and embellishments?

These sweet teacups were made by my blog friend, Juliana Deen at "A Handwoven Life". These have a high priority on my weaving list, as I'd really love to give them as Mother's Day gifts to my mothers-in-law and Aunt Judy. (Click here for free pattern.)

I, of course, can't forget to mention some baskets I intended to weave in 2009 that were posted by my "real life" friend, Nancy Jacobs at Basketmaster's Weavings. The first is this awesome and useful Recipe Basket. I'm going to weave two of these... One for "tried and true" recipes, and one for new recipe clippings. (free pattern here)

I also want to weave a collection of Nancy's Kitchen Counter Baskets (free pattern here). I think that if I modify the dimensions a bit, they would be perfect to store my "keeper" magazines like Cook's Illustrated and A Taste of Home.

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Oh... Nancy has a YouTube Channel with amazingly detailed and simple-to-follow video tutorials of how to weave several different baskets, including the recipe basket pictured above. Please visit her here for more weaving inspiration.
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Until next time...

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Hugs and blessings~

~~~Anne

Free Berry Basket Pattern from Basketmaster's Weavings!

My friend and "mentor basket weaver" Nancy Jacobs has generously posted another free basket pattern and tutorial on her website, Basketmaster's Weavings. Even better... She has created a video tutorial to guide you in the weaving process! Click here to visit her on YouTube.

I've not had time to weave for a few months! This sweet "beginner" basket might just be the thing to get back into my "weave".

Hugs and blessings~
~~~Anne

My Prayer Basket

Yeah! I finished weaving the "Prayer Basket" I've been working on just in time for our Parham Family Reunion this weekend. This is a good thing, because my basket is my contribution to our reunion auction! My friend Nancy at Basketmaster's Weavings and I attempted to weave this little beauty without a pattern. Good thing she's a "master", because there is no way I could have tackled this project on my own... Not even with a pattern!

If you haven't figured it out yet, this basket was actually created as a peanut basket. Nancy came up with they "Prayer Basket" concept, hence the "To be Prayed" on one side and "Prayed" on the other. I printed out some sweet little affirmations and included in the "To Be" side of the basket, as well as adding some blank circles so the auction winner would be able to add some prayers of his/her own.

If you want your own set of the affirmation cards, the wonderful ladies over at Kind over Matter have free, printable versions available for you to download. They've even included a cute little box pattern so you have a place to store your cards. My thanks go out to Amanda, Jenn, and their blog collaborators for offering us such a beautiful gift!

OK. We're off the the reunion in the morning. Yes, I'm cooking for a crowd. Yes, I'll be posting recipes. And, YES, chocolate will be involved :-)

Hugs and blessings~
~~~Anne

Weaving a Basket - The Entire Process!

Here are some pictures of me weaving this cute little doorknob basket. This was a simple basket to weave, but it was the first one I wove on my own. The most rewarding part about weaving this basket is that my husband actually asked if he could have it to hang on his office door to store his wallet, keys, and cell phone. ***awww****

Soak your reed. Never attempt to weave with dry reed. (That one of the weaving commandments!)

Lay out and measure your base according to your pattern. You'll see little pencil marks on some of the stakes. This designates the center of the stake.

My base is woven and I have added a "holder row". Ok, that's not the right term, but it's the row that holds the base in place.

I am now "upsetting" the stakes. (No. I am not saying mean things to my reed!) I am bending the stakes up and holdng then in place with clothespins. Lots and lots of clothespins are used when weaving!

I am now weaving independent rows around my basket. Note that there are still several clothespins helping me along.

Ahhh... It always makes me smile to get to the point where my basket starts taking shape and actually looks like a basket!

Here's where I formed the handle out of my two longer stakes. It looks unfinished here, but I covered it with skinny flat oval before I lashed on the rim.

Here's my basket after the "cut and tuck". Cut inside stakes and fold and tuck outside stakes under rows on the inside of the basket.

The rim is now lashed on. Looks good, right? Are we done? Nope. Gotta make this little guy pretty and strong.

I inserted small pieces of reed in an "X" pattern to reinforce the bottom of the basket.

Then I added pretty green curls to finish off my basket. Simple and sweet. A great beginner weaving project :-)

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Hugs and blessngs~

~~~Anne

A Month of Basket Weaving Projects

Wow! Even though April was a super-busy Kumon month for me, somehow I found time to weave quite a few baskets. (My computer kept over-heating and shutting down, so I think the "down-time" I had from that drama opened up a bit more weaving time. Thanks, husband, for fixing my computer!)

This is the little beauty I wove for my "Spring Basket Swap" partner. Her name is Diane and she lives in Michigan, so I included a card with a picture of Navajo children and a cute ceramic refigerator magnet with a Zia symbol and a New Mexican theme when I sent the basket. I love the turquoise rim on the basket!

Isn't this sweet? This is from a pattern from one of Nancy Jacobs' basket weaving classes. OK. I have to confess that when I went to this class, there was only Nancy and me. So... We spent three hours chit-chatting and playing with our blogs and no time weaving! I wove this basket by myself, later that weekend :-)

This pretty swirl design basket was based on a free pattern from http://www.basketmakerscatalog.com/. Check out their site. They have lots of free patterns available, as well as basket making and caning supplies.

Here's another take on the ribbon basket. This one was filled with cakemix cookies and delivered to a friend. The ribbon I used was two-sided, one side was floral and the other was a pretty plaid pattern. A very nice "bonus" for this lovely and simple basket.

This is my biggest basket to date. I wove it for my husband to use when our backyard crops are ready to harvest. It measures about 12" in diameter, and is about 7" tall. It is a variation on the "Classic Round Basket" by Deborah Blair. This free pattern, and many more, can be found at www.justpatterns.com/weavers/patterns .

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Hugs and blessings~

~~~Anne

Can you believe I wove this Easter Basket?

Happy Easter!

A tisket, a tasket... An adorable springtime basket!

I finally made time to get some weaving done on Sunday. (I feel much better now that I've gotten my "fix", thank you very much!) Above is the amazingly cute springtime basket I made for Aunt Suzie. It is loosely based on the pattern "Springtime Wine Basket" by Sandra Lyons. I did not use the handle called for in her basket, and I chose to make my flowers in different colors (Aunt Suzie is a rather colorful lady!), rather than all pink. I also used "regular" flat reed for the flowers instead of the "paper thin maple" noted in Sandra's materials list.

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Random thought: The pattern calls this a "wine basket". Hmmm. I put a standard wine bottle in it, just to see how it would look. It "floated" in the basket. Then I tried a 2-liter soda bottle. Better, but who puts soda in a basket? Really, at about 6" in diameter and 7" tall, this would make a pretty container to store cooking utensils on your kitchen counter.

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Other news... I signed up for my first "Basket Swap" through the Yahoo Group "Weavers Words". My swap partner's name is Diane and she lives is Michigan. She has been weaving for 25+ years and works in a basket shop. I think that I'll have to substitute creativity for basket weaving skills on this one, so... My thought is to make a Southwestern version of my ribbon basket for her. I'll stain the basket and then, instead of ribbon, I'll weave lengths of turquose and silver beads (or maybe I'll use leather cording, we'll see). Instead of a bow, I'll finish off the basket with a concho or other SW type bobble. Into the basket will go a jar of "pickly pear" jelly or other New Mexcian goody. If anyone has any suggestions for this basket, I'd love to hear from you.

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Hugs and blessings~

~~~Anne

I Think I'm Suffering from Basket Weaving Withdrawal!

It's been a few weeks since I've attended a basket weaving class. I find myself sorting through my collection of reed and surfing for basket patterns on the internet when I should be working! Yikes... Am I already and addict? "Hello. My name is Anne and I'm a weaving addict." Nice.
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Anyway, the picture above is the first weaving project I tackled on my own, at home, without the help of Nancy ("The Basketmaster"). I did this one a couple of weekends ago, but I have to admit I will be weaving again tomorrow. Dave's wonderful Aunt Suzie is coming to town next week, so I think I'll try making a basket decorated with tulips for her. I found the pattern here: http://www.justpatterns.com/weavers/patterns/springwine_basket.html . Cute, right? I'll post a picture if the project goes well. (OK. I'll post even if it doesn't! )

Aunt Suzie is rather crafty and artistic, herself. She made this beautiful pot, which we have proudly displayed in the living room. I'm very much looking forward to her visit, and am excited about presenting her with one of my "woven with love" baskets.

Hugs and blessings~

~~~Anne