In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday next week, here’s my antler basket sculpture, “Hunter’s Cornucopia” that I made a few years ago.
It was made with a shed fallow deer antler, natural and dyed rattan reed, Oriental seagrass, and Asian cock feathers from a feather duster! Cool, huh?
Today’s cane and basket supply company from the Cane & Basket Supplies page of WickerWoman.com, is Peerless Rattan Company located in Plainwell, Michigan.
Peerless Rattan Company is the oldest cane and rattan company in the United States, started in 1903. Owners Ed and Cindy Hammond bought the business a few years ago from most recent owner, Ohio businesswoman, Helen Cribbs.
Peerless Rattan carries a complete line of cane, rush, splints, reed, tools and instructions for the beginner and consummate professional chair caner. They are the only United States supplier of the English seatweaving tool called a “chair caning steamer,” which helps speed up the chair caning process.
Take a look at Peerless Rattan Company’s ad today and tell them you saw this blog post and heard about them through Weavin’ Wicker Woman’s Blog and the Cane & Basket Supplies page on WickerWoman.com!
While cleaning up out here in the studio and unpacking some boxes that we had stored away, I discovered a bunch of floppy disks. Since I still have a computer with a floppy disk drive, I inserted a couple and was delighted to find some old wicker furniture pieces that I’d repaired years ago.
I thought I had lost those pictures years ago during our move, so was really glad to have found them again and am now in process of putting them on CDs and on flash drives or zip drives.
Way back in the mid or late 1990s I purchased a Panasonic digital camera when digitals were first appearing on the scene. At the time, Sony was the only one that also had a floppy disk drive that could be used in the camera as well as on anyone’s computer! It also had a very big viewing screen that was incredible.
I think I paid around $400 (which was a great deal of money at the time), but really, really got my money’s worth out of that camera! It only bit the dust a couple of years ago and now I’ve purchased a Sony. This one of course, has many more bells and whistles, but I truly loved that old Panasonic and just about had a memorial service for it when it passed away.
Anyway, getting back to the photos, I will be posting more as time allows, but here are some to whet your appetite. Tomorrow I’ll look around to see if I still have that old digital and will post a picture here if I do locate it. Enjoy!
Upholstering Antique Wicker Perambulator Parasols — Should you or shouldn’t you, that is the question?
If the material used in your Victorian reed wicker buggy or perambulator’s parasol is still in relatively good original condition, (as is the parasol in the above picture), then leave it alone and don’t have it reupholstered.
This especially holds true if you have any intentions of selling the piece in the near future. Depending on your customer, a change like that could devalue the carriage by a considerable amount.The closer the wicker piece is to its original condition, the better for the true antique wicker collectors.
If you do want/need to have the parasol restored or replaced, be sure to get a professional upholsterer to do the job. Anything sub-par and you will regret your decision, since you will get far better selling price with a tip-top restoration job!
Check out all the Wicker Restoration and Upholstery Restoration Experts on the National Furniture Repair Directory ™ of WickerWoman.com! And mention you heard of them here on the Weavin’ Wicker Woman’s Blog ™
For all you stay-at-home-moms (SAHM), home-business people, artists, chair caners and basketmakers, have I got a great tip for you today on Tuesday’s Studio Tip!
When my granddaughter was young and eating baby food, some of it came in little plastic tubs and I couldn’t throw them out! I just knew I’d find a use for them and took a bunch home every time I babysat.
Well now, here we are over a year later and I’ve really enjoyed using these little buggers. I have all kinds of tiny things in them that might get lost in the shuffle in my desk drawer or laying loose in the cabinets.
You’ll have to find someone that feeds their baby Gerber baby food from these tubs, too! Or I guess you could go out and buy your own. Take it from me, the baby food is delicious–one bite for you baby and two for me! Who’s gonna tell?
Here are some terrific ideas you can use the little plastic baby food tubs;
I just printed off my copy of the March 24-28, 2010 Northwest Basket Weavers Guild’s Annual Spring Retreat at Pilgrim Firs Conference Center in Port Orchard, Washington and listed the conference on the Events Calendar.
You’ll have to get over to the Calendar too, and grab a copy for yourself PDQ. First Registrations must be postmarked by January 11, 2010.
Great line-up of teachers including featured teacher Cass Schorsch and; Kay Harradine, Jackie Abrams, Rae Hunter, Sally Anaya, Sheila Wray, M. Mathewson, Renee Mezzone, Judy Zugish, Marcy Johnson, Barbara Walker, Katherine Lewis, Mary Auld, Lei McCornack, Polly Adams Sutton, Sheila Tasker, Marilyn Moore, Deb Curtis, Jo Campbell-Amsler, George Hart, and Nanette Davis
Today’s MONDAY MENTION is pine needle basketmaker Cynthia Killgore from Louisiana. She’s been a member of the Louisiana Crafts Guild for many years and in 2008 achieved the distinctive position of Master Craftsman from them.
Take a look at Cynthia’s exquisite pine needle basketry art, read her fascinating story, Artist Bio and Statement on The Louisiana Crafts Guild website.
http://www.louisianacrafts.org/artists/view/id/146/
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