German Basket Weaving Festival Part 3

Hi Friends,

Here is the last of my scrapbooking photos from the basket weaving festival held in Lichtenfels, Germany. 

Enjoy!!!

Nancy

My sweet babies.

 They are now teenagers!

I want my babies back!!!

Look at that woven basket behind them.

The stage where the basket queen and king are crowned and where the music is played. 

Lots of tables for some great food and beer.

Crowded streets.

Think Pink Update

Dear Friends,

I wanted to give you an update on our Think Pink raffle for the fight against breast cancer.  We are standing at $110.00!!!  I am very excited about this and I want to thank all of you.  Donations have slowed down so I wanted to remind you that the raffle continues through October 15, 2010.  I've said before and I'll say it again that this is a cause that is near and dear to my heart and I want to do all I can to help find a cure.  Be assured that every penny you donate is going to the Susan G. Komen foundation.  My husband and I are covering any paypal fees and shipping of the wonderful prizes.  Every cent of your donation goes to the fight against breast cancer.

To see the prizes donated, please go to this post HERE.  They are beautiful!!!!!

To enter into the raffle, click on the paypal "donate" button on the right hand sidebar.  Every $1 is a "ticket" for the raffle.  Thank you so much again for your generosity. 

One more thing I ask of all of you....Please pray for all the women and their families affected with this disease.  Cancer is a difficult thing to deal with both physically and emotionally.  The women affected are both young and old, but all of them have family and loved ones and all are hurting who are going through this.  They NEED our prayers.

With Hugs and Blessings to each of you and thank you again,

Love,

Nancy

Basket Weaving Festival This Weekend - Part 2

Hi Friends,

Today I have more pictures to show you from Lichtenfels, Germany at their basket weaving festival.

Their woven variation of a Bavarian pretzel.

These are woven lamps.  Very cool.

The organ grinder's hat is woven!

Let me try and describe some of the setting here with what you can't see in the pictures.  I tell you, in Germany, they can turn everything into a party and this is one of those instances.  It is like a huge party down their main street.  The band is playing, loud.  Think polka band here.  The beer is flowing, some people are dancing, and the chatter among people is contagious.  There is a huge tent in the middle of the street where you can get not only your German beer, but pretzels, shcnitzel (a fried pork patty covered in sauce), wurst (sausages) and the most amazing pastries you've ever eaten over by the kaffee (coffee) shop.  There is even a young man and women in the city that they crown the king and queen  of the festival!

More to come!

Nancy

Basket Weaving Festival This Weekend - Part 1

Hi Friends,
I've been waiting until this week to share these pictures with you.  It is time to get ready for the Basket Weaving Festival at Lichtenfels, Germany.  It is known as the Korbmarkt.  Korb = Basket and Markt = Market.  It is held annually the third weekend in September.  When we lived in Germany I was fortunate to get to go three different years.  Lichtenfels was about a two hour drive from my home south of Munich.

Let me explain that in Germany, different cities or locations are known for developing and creating some of the beautiful things we see today.  For instance, cookoo-clocks come from one main city in Germany where they people go to learn and perfect their craft.  The same goes with making baskets.  In Lichtenfels, there is a basket weaving school where those wanting to study and master the art of basket weaving go to learn. 

So each year, students and professionals sell their wares at a street fair along their main street.  I hope this week you will enjoy pictures that I've taken while we were there.  I've pulled them out of my scrapbook album as I had taken these pictures before we had a digital camera.  I hope you find inspiration through them.

 

You are a Basket Weaving Addict If...

This has been circulating around the internet. The best I can determine is the original author is Kim Renich, weaver, basket designer and pattern writer. Enjoy this bit of basket humor.

Baskets of Blessings,

Nancy

You know you're addicted to basket weaving if... by Kim Renich
(Nancy's comments are in parenthesis)

• You have patterns you bought 2 years ago that you've never made!
• You've bought the same pattern twice without realizing you already had it!
• You have more than one tape measure! (and you've snipped a tape measure while cutting stakes)
• You've snipped a "V" in the tip of your finger while cutting a stake! (I've done this! Yikes it hurt!)
• You have half finished baskets that you know you'll never finish but can't bear to throw out!
• You weave until you discover a problem and then go back and read the directions!
• Your basket supplies get the biggest closet in the house!
• Your shirts have dye splatters on them!
• You have so many patterns that you've alphabetized them!
• You've cut up at least one basket
• You hope your husband doesn't ask you how much you spent in class that night! (or online at the basket shop)
• And...You know you're addicted to baskets if every room in your house has a basket in it!

Think Pink Raffle begins Now!

Dear Friends,

You've been reading about it for months and I'm excited to say that today is the official start of my “THINK PINK” raffle! As you know, October is Breast Cancer awareness month, so all money donated will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research.

One lucky winner is going to get an amazing “THINK PINK” prize package!

The prize package will include:

Pink Pot of Hope basket woven by me

Matching pink set of Stampin' Up supplies from CJ at Tea n' Stitches

Pink Sentsy warmer and fragrance from Naomi at Sentsy

Handwoven scarf from Bety at Deep End of the Loom

Lia Sophia "Pink Flamingo" necklace from Faith

A Beautiful Pink Ribbon Bible, Handmade Pink Journal and Crochet Tote Bag from Julie at A Handwoven Life

---------------------------------------------------------

A second lucky winner will receive this beautiful Lia Sophia necklace and earing set also from my friend Faith.  I just received this beautiful jewelry for the raffle this morning so I want to take a moment to thank my dear personal friend and fellow basket weaving buddy.  Combined the jewelry is over a $95 value.  Thank you so much Faith.  You are truly special to me.

Raffle entries are $1.00 per “ticket” and can be purchased through PayPal (see "Donate" button in the sidebar)

The drawing will take place October 15, 2010.

Please be generous. This is a cause very near and dear to my heart as I've lost a grandmother and an aunt to breast cancer and my mother and other women in my family are breast cancer survivors. This disease affects many of us.

I would also be very appreciative if you would let others know about my “THINK PINK” raffle. Please write a blog post about this charity event and link back here. How about letting your Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking friends know about this so they can share the news with their friends? The farther we can spread the word, the more money we can raise.

With all your help this can be a wonderful success.

Thank you and God bless.

Nancy

Update - I just received Julie's donation of a beautiful Pink Ribbon Bible, Handmade Pink Journal and Crochet Tote Bag.  Julie made the journal and tote bag herself and her work is amazing.  What a beautiful addition to our prize package.  Thank you so much Julie!!!  Julie blogs over at A Handwoven Life and has a basket weaving website Deen Homestead Basketry. 

Basket Weaving Handle Substitutions

Here is a photo of a swing handle and two small ears that go with the swing handle. The small ears get woven down into the basket and the loops of them go through the holes in the big handle. The loops are just above the basket so this enables the handle to swing back and forth. If you've broken an ear, it is possible to just buy a single "U" handle to replace it. You might have to sand the new small "U" handle to make it thinner to fit in the hole of the swing handle. If you've broken your swing handle, heaven forbid, you can use the small ears as handles themselves, as a handle on the back of a wall basket or use both at the ends of a bread basket or smaller muffin basket.
Happy Weaving,
Nancy
ps.  Think Pink officially starts tomorrow!