Swirling Prosperity

Green jasper cabochon and beads,  amethyst, chrysoprase, turquoise, and some glass beads with bees waxed irish linen thread. Florida Long leaf pine needles#merittisland #melissaabbottdesigns took one year for me to make 14”x14” by 3” high with an asymmetrical shape. “Swirling Prosperity”

Basket started winter 2017 in Merritt Island, FL and was worked on sporadically for 1 year. Finished on Feb 1, 2018 at Cocoa Beach, FL

Mystic Journey Pine Needle Basket

"Mystic Journey Pine Needle Basket"
The Mystic Journey is the journey of the soul.
As the Poet Wordsworth once wrote:
Our birth is but a sleeping and a forgetting
The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere it's setting
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
can in a moment travel thither

The very beginnings of the Mystic Journey.
 Paua Shell cabochon glued to a piece of leather.
 

1st row going on second row.
I make my stitches tight and close.

Putting on the 1st row of 6 mm lapis beads

Lapis bead row almost complete

1st row of solid teal wrapping

A Row of Czech glass teal colored
 beads between rows.

Added a row of larger 10mm Lapis Beads
 and then another solid teal row is begun

Solid Teal row is completed and starting a row of cobalt
 colored czech glass beads between rows.

The cobalt beads I used were silver lined.
Here is a close up of we stringing
them in between rows.

Another close up.
You can really see the beauty of the Lapis Beads.

Teal colored glass Czech beads
used between rows.

The light looks beautiful
through the Teal Beads

This is where I am adding a row of 8mm Lapis beads
and starting to come up the sides of the basket.

The sides of the Basket are being formed
and I added another solid teal row to end the whole thing.

close up of center

The Back of the Basket.

Side View of Finished Basket
Note my bee hives in the background!

Angled View

Alternate View of Finished Basket

Finished View of "Mystic Journey"
This basket is 10"x 10" by 3" high.
It was made between Oct 15 - Nov 13, 2014
in East Gloucester, MA by Melissa Smith Abbott

Joseph Campbell once said, 

" Where we had thought to travel

outward, we shall come to the center of our 

own existence 

 where 

we thought we were alone, 

we shall be with all the world." This 

is

 in fact, the crux of the Mystic Journey 

we all take on this path 

                                 called life.

Forest Sky Bowl - completed Oct 2014 Gloucester, MA

"Forest Sky Bowl" 

Begun in July 2014 in Mirror Lake N.H. and finished October 2014 in Gloucester, MA using a green turquoise cabashon with malachite, yellow jade, copper beads, carnelian and glass beads with Crawfords Irish Linen thread waxed with beeswax Needles were sourced on Merritt Island, Fl and preserved in a glycerin bath.

The Start

note: copper spacer beads in plastic package

Close up of start on
Dyed Green Turquoise Cabashon - I love the flecks of gold in it!

Close Up of Copper Spacer Beads used

Working at this at Mirror Lake, N.H. and putting on a row of green glass beads 

Pine Needle Basket "Amber Rose" finished July 2014

Pine Needle Basket created by Melissa Abbott during the Spring and Summer of 2014. Basket was begun in Merritt Island, FL, sourced with local Pine Needles 

gathered there after a wind storm. 

The Very Beginning - Jasper Caboshon

Adding some Beads
 Amber, Red Glass Mariposa, and Carnelian

Tools of the Trade

Work continued on the basket after Melissa 

returned to Gloucester, MA

The Basket starts to create a bowl

The Basket was finished during July 2014 in Gloucester, MA. The basket's needles were treated with a baked Glycerin bath for preservation which darkened them slightly. Crawford's Irish Linen Beeswaxed Thread was used with a Jasper Center, Amber colored beads, Red Glass Mariposa beads, and 

Semi Prescious Carnelian Stone Beads.

Nearing the End

Working on it at Niles Beach in Gloucester, MA

Basket was finished July 17, 2014 in Gloucester, MA

Melissa Abbott's Making of the Amethyst Pine Needle Basket : "Soul Retrieval"

Soul Retrieval - Finished March 2014 

You are
the melody
that weaves
its way
through
my soul…

My Basket Making Tray

Washed Florida Long Leaf Pine Needles
drying in the sun after being washed.

I started this basket in January 2014 in Merritt Island FL. I had owned this Amethyst Cabashon for several years and it called to me to make it into a basket. I was imagining a larger basket so I started using a larger than usual bundle .

Added Mariposa Beads

Green Row of Waxed Linen Thread

Adding a row of Amethyst beads

Starting Solid Purple Row

Stating to come up the sides to create the bowl effect

Last Row!!!

Side View

Soul Retrieval was finished in February 2014 on Merritt Island, FL. and SOLD in late March 2014 on Etsy at 

Melissa Abbott Designs

Beautiful Large Pine Needle Basket made on Merritt Island, Florida in Jan-Feb 2014 by Melissa Smith Abbott. The Pine Needles were carefully hand sourced on Merritt Island after a Wind Storm, each needle carefully selected. The center cabochon is Amethyst and the weaving is done with Bees Waxed Irish alternating Green and Plum colored Linen Thread, Amethyst Gemstone Beads, Mariposa Glass Beads, and Apple Green Chrysoprase Beads. The Basket is a reintegration and healing meditation, bringing parts of a soul into focus and wholeness. The Basket while spiritual in nature would also be a beautiful addition to any decor as a table top piece but could also be displayed on the wall or table as Fiber Art!