Needle Sized Art - You will be Amazed

I first saw this on Kathi's blog. I admire all forms of art and this is absolutely incredible. The video is only 2 minutes. I hope you take the time to view it. You won't be disappointed.

Blessings,

Nancy

Save the Date - My Basket Class at Loma Colorado Library

For those of you in the Rio Rancho and Albuquerque area, my class is scheduled at the Loma Colorado library for October 24th. It is a beginners class so no weaving experience is necessary. During class time you will complete a basket like in the photo above. BEST OF ALL, class is free for you!!!

Be sure to register. Here is the link to Loma Colorado library for my class.

http://nm-riorancho.civicplus.com/CurrentEvents.aspx?EID=2972

Hope to see you there!!

Blessings,

Nancy

Huge Giveaway! Basket of Goodies!

Over at the Old Farmhouse Gathering they are giving away a large basket filled with goodies worth over $155.00. I love primitives which is what their blog is all about. Primitives and baskets just go hand in hand. They are so beautiful. Anyway, this is a fun blog to get a cup of coffee and spend some time with. For all you cooks out there, they even have an autumn recipe swap going on. Be sure to leave a comment in their comment box to be entered into the drawing.
The beautiful handwoven basket is by Baskets By Rose.

You can see more of Rose's baskets by clicking on the link above to her Etsy shop.

Doesn't looking at primitives just make you inspired to craft?

Hugs and Blessings,

Nancy

Share A Basket Sunday - Fruit Basket with Double Stakes

Do you have a some extra colored reed? Try this technique. Lay two stakes of different colors side by side as you weave the base and then take it up the sides for a fun different look.
Have a Blessed Sunday,
Enjoy!
Nancy

Friday Etsy Finds - Fall Baskets

There are some wonderful etsy shops with some great weavers. Enjoy these autumn baskets and be sure to visit their sites to see their other great weaving creations.
Enjoy!
Nancy

Dream Weaver's shop has this lovely autumn basket with a wooden base. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7845029

Here is a sweet lidded pumpkin basket. I can't quite tell if the rim is a wooden hoop or reed. It would be a great technique if it is a wooden hoop. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7835418

This is an amazing woven basket made from copper. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6692082

Look how these leaf buttons are used as an accent and the vine is made from reed. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7964056

Basket Weaving Video #19b - How to Splice a Handle Wrap and Finish Wrapping

Hi Basket Weaving Friends,

In today's video we finish the handle wrapping and I show you how to splice a wrap. I really try hard to get a piece of reed long enough to do the entire handle, but sometimes that just doesn't happen so here is how to splice it. Also, be sure to get creative when wrapping your handles. I just showed you one example, but you can do any design you like. If you have some pictures of wrapped handles, leave me a comment and I will link to you so others can see your baskets as well!

Be sure to visit my YouTube channel for all my videos HERE.

Happy Weaving,

Nancy

New Mexico State Fair Baskets and Ribbons

We went to the state fair yesterday and were so excited. I had entered a basket and Emily and I both entered some scrapbooking pages. All our entries won ribbons!

My lamp basket won a third place ribbon.

My scrapbook page of my baby Katie who is now 16 years old won a third place ribbon. (I so badly wish I could turn back time as I miss having sweet babies in the house.)

My scrapbook page of Timothy won 1st place!

Emily took a third place ribbon for her scrapbooking page. This was the first time she had entered anything into the fair. She was a happy girl.

Below are photos of other basket entries in the fair (not mine). I just wanted to include them because honestly, isn't it just fun to look at baskets and get inspiration!

Have a wonderful day,

Nancy

Share a Basket Sunday - Fruit Basket with Rewoven Border

Take a close look at this basket I wove to hold my nick-nack items on my desk. The rim is unique and is called a Rewoven Border. It is a fun alternative to do rather than the standard braided rim. Genie Jackson has a book called "Braided Border Baskets" where she gives instructions on several styles of braided rims.
Have a blessed Sunday.
Nancy

Basket Weaving Instruction Video #19a - How to Wrap a Handle

In this video we begin doing a decorative wrap on our basket handle. I also show you how to splice your wrapper.

As always, you may find all my videos on my YouTube channel HERE.

Happy Weaving,

Nancy

Basket Weaving Instruction Video #18b - How to Finish Lashing a Rim

In today's video we will finish lashing on the rim. You will see how to end the lasher.

Enjoy and be sure to visit my youtube channel for all my videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/basketmasternancy

Happy Weaving,

Nancy

Prayer Request for a fellow Basket Weaver

Dear Friends,

One of my dearest friends, Barb, and her husband Rick are in need of many prayers right now. I first met Barb when she took one of my basket classes years ago and she is one of the nicest people you would ever meet. Her husband was first diagnosed with colon cancer about 10 years ago and cancer has now returned in another part of his body. He has had two major surgeries in the past 10 days and is in ICU. Barb and Rick do not have children but their sweet cats are their family. One of their cats has also during this time been diagnosed with an inoperable mass.

Please lift them up in prayer and if you have a church prayer list, would you be so kind to add them to it. Rick has been in so much pain over the last days and Barb is in need of comfort. We know God is great and can do miracles, we just need to ask.

Thank you all.

Love and Blessings,

Nancy

Las Vegas Part 2--The Food

Next to enjoying the shows, we enjoyed the food. Heck, we just enjoy eating in general, but we ate at some places that were a real treat. There is a show on the Travel Channel that we watch called "Man v. Food" staring Adam Richmond. He happened to be in Las Vegas and the channel aired the Las Vegas show before our trip. We took notes on some of the places Adam visited and we made sure to stop at these fabulous feasts.

Adam recommended the dish sitting in front of Mike. It is called Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict and is from the restaurant called Hash House a Go Go. It was sooooo good.

Our second recommendation from the Travel Channel was this restaurant called Hot and Juicy Crawfish. (growing up in Kansas we called them crawdads) You know, I had never eaten one before that day. They are the poor man's lobster. Hot and Juicy Crawfish put a lot of spicy seasonings on them and tons, I mean TONS of garlic. (good thing we both were eating the same thing!) The crawfish are served and eaten out of plastic bags.
As I've written before, we lived just south of Munich for 4 years. We used to go to the original Hofbrauhaus. Here in Las Vegas at the Hofbrauhaus the food was just as we remembered it and they even had a German polka band. The pretzel is oh so good and is an authentic favorite of mine. It is served here with a spicy mustard, German sweet mustard and Obatzda Kase. Obatzda Kase is a Bavarian cheese that can't be beat.

Here is the recipe for Obatzda Kase.
Camembert cheese and butter 3:1. Cream these together to make smooth. Add paprika and chopped onion to taste.

The photos above and below are from the buffet at Paris hotel. I shared my desserts with Mike and my diet Coke counteracted the calories from these luscious plates of food.

At the Paris, they make my all time favorite food, crepes! Mine has cherries and bananas in it with a cherry sauce and toasted almonds on top. When we lived in Germany we toured France and I learned how to make crepes! I brought back to the US with me a cast iron crepe pan and all the utensils used to make them. Ok, I'm getting hungry again just typing this blog post. Crepes are going on the dessert menu at our house for later this week.

My favorite place to eat, and I don't have any photos of it, was the buffet at the Bellagio. Everything there was just perfect.

BTW...The hotel we stayed in was the Rio. We did eat at their World Carnival buffet, but it didn't compare to the Paris or the Bellagio.

Yes we ate, and ate. I'm back at Jazzercise today.

Hugs and Blessings,

Nancy

Las Vegas Part 1-- The Shows

Remember Mike got us tickets to Las Vegas for my birthday? Well, we went this last week. Las Vegas certainly has changed since we were there last which was about 10 years ago. One thing is for sure, it was much more crowded and we were supposed to be there on a slow week!
I wanted to show you some of the highlights of our trip. I took a ton of pictures to scrapbook, but will just pick a few to show you over the next couple of days. I hope you enjoy!

The Price is Right was just plain fun. Unfortunately we didn't get called up on stage, but we enjoyed watching as others won some prizes.
The announcer of The Price is Right in Las Vegas is David Ruprecht shown here with me. Do you remember him from the game show Supermarket Sweep? I do. The host was Todd Newton from the game show The New Press Your Luck. The Price is Right is playing at Ballys.

Later that night after seeing The Price Is Right, we went to Disney's The Lion King. That show was amazing. I can't take pictures in the shows, so you will have to trust me when I say if you get the chance to see this you won't be disappointed. The costumes and the production were fabulous. I was surprised how much the actors sounded just like the characters in the Disney movie. This is currently playing at Mandalay Bay.

And our highlight show...."O"! It is a Cirque De Soleil show at the Bellagio. Oh my, oh my... I didn't want this show to end!!! It was truly mesmerizing. This is a Cirque De Soleil show like no other as much of it occurs under water. The stage has the ability to raise and lower all or parts of it to different levels under the water. I was told the water goes 35 feet deep but I'm not positive. Many of their stage props came up from under water. I felt like the show had a bit of a Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" feel to it with the costumes and make-up. Here I am standing beside one of the costumes from the show.

What a treat to get to see some of these shows. Tomorrow I'll show you some more Las Vegas treats we enjoyed.

With Blessings,

Nancy

Share a Basket Sunday - Fall Bread Basket

Get ready for fall! This basket is great for using your scraps. Just grab your leftover reed in autumn colors and away you go. Take a close look. The handles are made from the stakes on each end of the basket. They are looped over each other.
As I lashed on the rim, I just included a garland of fall leaves. This basket holds a loaf of bread perfectly!
Baskets of blessings,
Nancy

Tip Technique Tuesday - My Work Basket - Basket Weaving Supplies

I carry all my supplies around in an old dishpan that I use for water when weaving. Everything fits nicely in it.

Now I wanted to show you what I keep in my work basket. I wove my work basket and attached the blue leather handles with rivets. The handles are just the right size to hold my spoke weight and the leather keeps the spoke weight from slipping out of the handles. Here are its contents:

• My old towel that sits in my lap when I weave
• Spoke weight
• Packing tool
• Awl
• Tape measure
• Glue - to attach embellishments
• 2 Lashing tools
• Mini electrical clamps (those are in the zip lock baggie)
• Pencil
• Nail clippers- to trim the hairs off the basket
• Reed gauge - to measure the size of reed (I eyeball my size most of the time)
• Exacto knife
• Lighter (I don't smoke, but I do use this to singe the hairs on my baskets)
• Wire - also to attach embellishments
• Sharpie - to sign my baskets
• Twist ties - to bundle spokes for kits together
• Clothespins
• Large electrical clamps
• Needle nose pliers
• Zip ties
• Samples of hair conditioner - keeps reed and my hands soft
• Band aids (you never know)
• Old kitchen scissors (not shown, children must have taken it)
• Squirt bottle with water (also not shown, again I'll blame it on the kids)

Of course I have more quantity wise of many of the items show, this just is a sampling. What is in your work basket?

Blessings,

Nancy

Share a Basket Sunday - Noah's Ark Toy Basket

This beautiful basket is called "The Promise". The author of the pattern is Diane Langston. I wove this basket as a toy basket for my first niece. Her nursery was done in a Noah's Ark theme. It is a large basket and requires a wooden base and lid assembly. The rainbown is the handle of the basket and is #5 round reed dyed in seven different colors. I also purchased the dyed rainbow reed as a kit to this because that is a lot of dying to do and I was glad not to do have to go to all the trouble of dying seven different colors. I purchased the wooden base and lid assembly as well as the rainbow from Di's Heavenly Treasures. I do not have a website for them, but their address and phone # can be located HERE.
Baskets of Blessings,
Nancy

Basket Weaving Video #18a - Lashing a Basket Rim

hahaha!!! Could I have a sillier face in this video! Seriously, I need to get some sort of video editor. Hope my picture makes you smile ; - )

In this video we begin lashing the rim of our basket.

Blessings,

Nancy

Yesterday's Harvest and my Harvest Baskets

Don't you love the colors? Maybe you think I'm silly here as I love flowers, but I think a basket of fresh veges is as pretty as a bouquet of flowers and I love them sitting on my counter for the day until I put them in the refrigerator or we eat them for supper.

This is actually a pie basket, but it is sturdy for harvesting all my vegetables. I wanted to show the base of it. the woven "X" ads a bit more strength, but it also rounds the corners on this square basket.

We're getting plenty of tomatoes now, but with the heat, the tops are splitting. My pumpkin vines have died so the pumpkins were starting to get soft. I don't know that I'll do anything with the pumpkins in the way of cooking, but I will set them out to look pretty for a while.
Baskets of blessings to all of you,

Love,

Nancy

A Blog Question--Please Help Me!

For those of you using blogger or blogspot I hope you can help me. I'm hoping I've just gotten one of my settings out of wack and I just need to easily change something.

I used to be able to upload several pictures and write my blog. Then on the same screen where I write my blog, I could move the pictures around my blog by just right clicking on the picture and grabbing it and then moving it where I wanted. I can no longer move my pictures this way. Now I have to go into the 'edit Html' and get the code for the picture and copy the code to where I want to move the picture. This is much more of a hassle. Does anyone know what I've done? Is anyone else having this problem?

Any help would be much, MUCH appreciated.

Hugs and Blessings,

Nancy

Basket Weaving Video #17 - Tapering Reed and Attaching the Rim in Place

In this video I show how to taper and thin the reed on the rim where it overlaps so that it becomes just one thickness. I get the rim and filler in place. This video runs just over 6 minutes. You can watch it here on the blog as well as on YouTube and all my videos are together in one place on my YouTube channel.

Happy weaving!

Nancy

Needlecraft Magazine 1925 and Cornflake Macaroons Recipe

While visiting my parents this summer I stumbled upon a treasure of old magazines that belonged to my grandmother. They are all sewing or needle working magazines. This one is a Needlecraft Magazine from 1925 and it cost 10 cents! I think it is so interesting to know that my grandmother and I shared similar interests when it came to hand crafts. The magazine contains many handcraft patterns as well as articles.

I wanted to share portions of the article from this magazine titled Serving Afternoon-Tea by Louise B. Moss Associate Professor of Domestic Science, Pennsylvania State College. I enjoyed reading it and hope you enjoy the snippits from this vintage treasure.

"One of the simplest and most delightful things to serve on a cool fall or winter afternoon is afternoon-tea. It is well to have the essentials in your 'emergency' cupboard. First the tea, orange pekoe being the favorite, next a box of lump-sugar or old fashioned rock-candy. As many prefer lemon rather than cream in their tea, and lemons are not always available, it is well to have some candy lemon-balls on hand which may be used in place of the sliced lemon and sugar.

Nothing is nicer to serve with tea than dainty sandwiches. Plain bread-and-butter sandwiches made of very thin slices of white bread are delicious. The butter must be spread on evenly and the crusts removed to make them more attractive.

Usually we wish to serve some sweet with the tea. Many delicate little cookies may be bought but homemade cookies and cakes are nicer. Remember when making cakes for a tea, they must be small and dainty and easy to eat. A layer-cake with thick, soft frosting is not suitable, as that type of cake necessitates the use of a fork.

A tea-wagon is most convenient when serving afternoon-tea, for all necessary articles may be placed on it and then it may be wheeled into the room where you will serve.

If plans are carefully made beforehand, many guests may be entertained at tea with comparatively little labor. The main points to remembered are that the refreshments must be dainty and the tea-table must be set in such a manner that it will be attractive at all times and be convenient for those who serve."

They list several tea recipes. Here is the recipe given for Cornflake Macaroons

2 whites of eggs

1 cupful of shredded coconut

1 cupful granulated sugar

2 1/2 cupfuls of cornflakes

1 teaspoonful of vanilla

Salt

Beat white of eggs stiff, gradually add sugar and continue beating. Fold in remaining ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls on to a greased baking-sheet. Bake in a moderate oven until light and golden brown.

(Nancy's note: I am guessing that a moderate oven would be 350 degrees and until light and golden brown I would start checking them after 8 to 10 minutes)

I have been enjoying reading through the articles written in these magazines and seeing how life was several generations ago. My grandmother lived out on a farm so I have a hard time picturing her having afternoon tea, but perhaps she did from time to time.

Blessings,

Nancy