This is what happens when your kids say...."give it long legs, elf ears and a butt....   

 This is my first attempt at making a coiled pendant. I'm preparing to teach a coil basketry class in a few weeks and I have been playing around with the flexibility of this basketry technique. What do you think?

 Easter  Basket Weaving This Easter during the stay at home orders we decided to make our own Easter baskets. So I brought in all my materials and we set to work. This was my youngest daughter's first basket, but she was a natural Paul has made baskets before and he's got skills! Some students have less patience than others! The finished baskets You can find out how to make your own basket right here on my blog. Just visit part one of my ribbed basketry tutorial.  These baskets aren't just for Easter and you can order everything you need online. Amazon has supplies, but in order to support small businesses I would check out other places first.  I have found good prices at East Troy Basketry, Royalwood, and Earth Guild.  Just do a search of basket supplies and shop around. Part 2 Part 3

Star made with basketry scraps. Christmas Tree woven with scraps of raffia, sisal, jute and seagrass. These natural ornaments are made with basketry scraps. I made them as a prototype for a class I'm giving in December.  Let me know what you think! Follow me on Pinterest for more basketry and craft ideas. 

Eight scary monster finger puppets.   Just in time for Halloween.  The pattern is available in my store. The set includes...Medusa, Jack O Lantern, One Eyed Monster, mummy, spider, ghost, black cat, and a little red devil. buy it here

I haven't posted anything in a while (about a year)... I thought I'd post some pics of my latest project. I've been doing a lot more basketry recently. Since moving back from Egypt I've started working so I haven't had as much time for my crafts. With Summer on its way, however, I hope to remedy that. I taught a basketry class at BOW right before Easter. I taught two sessions and I had some really great students. I will be teaching again around Halloween at the next BOW gathering. These classes always leave me feeling refreshed and inspired. I was feeling inspired after teaching the class... so I decided to weave my kids Easter baskets. After we dyed our eggs I used the extra dye to color some reed and other fiber. I'm not sure how colorfast egg dye is. But I'm not sure how many more years my kids will be hunting Easter eggs either so hopefully it will stay colorful for a few more years.       I hope everyone is having a wonderful...

I found a little inspiration while I was on vacation in Italy. Does anyone remember Macrame? That hobby from the 70s? When I was about 10 or 11 I bought all the materials and attempted to make a plant hanger, but after repeatedly tying my fingers in knots I gave up. That is where that hobby ended for me and that is where I thought it would stay. It has once again captured my attention, however. Just another thing to add to my long list of new things to try... Macrame Bracelets are everywhere in Italy I found these lovely macrame plant holders in Spello Italy What inspires you today? Cheers, Jenn