Beginning February 14, 2025 Bonnie Baskets will be in the newly configured Old Country Store. We are very excited to have been presented the opportunity to be a part of this iconic location for Southern Indiana history and art culture.
We moved in our old china buffet display to the Old Country Store. We will fill it with new baskets before opening day (Valentine’s Day). I think this location and the whole Brown County motif will be the perfect compliment to the Bonnie Baskets brand.
Well, that slow down and reflect mode didn’t last too long. We finished the year making baskets for family and friends. They were what we call “personal portrait” baskets, to be given to each recipient as a way of saying thank you for being you and this is how I see you. We also made some memory baskets using fabric of loved ones who have passed on.
January is a time for us to experiment with some new shapes, designs, and new knots for Barry. At times we have collaborated closely to reach the final work, but this month has been a time to give each other lots of space to work alone and try new things, perhaps make some mistakes as we allow our creativity to flow in new directions without deadlines and inventory to cause worry. Fortunately it has actually produced quite a bit of new exciting inventory after dipping into some of our stash of beautiful batiks and colored ropes. Spring colors have been calling us in the midst of heavy snowfall in Bloomington, Indiana.
Any shows we are planning for are months ahead and we will soon be rearranging inventory in our boutique locations. So for now, we are offering this new inventory for sale online until we decide where to go with it. This not a formal selling site so just hit the “I want this!” button if you are interested. We can discuss the details (shipping, pickup and payments) after that.
“Zen Masala” $20. Small, 6″ diameter, 2″ tall
“Truck Puppies” $20, Small 6″ diameter
“Sunflowers & Straw” $55, Medium 7″ diameter, 2″ tall
Our show season for 2024 has ended. It has been a record breaking year and we couldn’t be happier. Also a little tired but yet exhilarated as we look forward to displaying at more shows and bigger shows in 2025. It is rewarding and validating to have our baskets sell in store locations, but we love the face to face feedback and affirmations when meeting our customers in the booth.
So for now, we are making baskets for our own gift giving to family, friends and the professional offices and staff that keep our healthy lives in their care. We call them “Portrait Baskets”. It is like painting the portraits of our acquaintances, choosing just the right colors, images and styles of rope, shape, and knots that reflects the person as we see them. Sorry, no photos as these are too personal to share.
In Bloomington, Indiana in College Mall, we will have an extra table setup in addition to our regular display. December 7-8 and 14-15 from Noon to 6pm.
Bonnie and Barry are delighted to announce that we have been accepted as members into the Arts Alliance of Greater Bloomington. Bonnie Baskets is now an Artist on Display in the Arts Alliance Center in College Mall in Bloomington, Indiana.
We couldn’t be more excited to have this opportunity to display our most creative work and explore new avenues in the rope basket art form.
Gift buying season has arrived and the AAC is a great place to find the artwork of over 50 local artists. We are proud to be a part of that.
Today is Labor Day and time to finish up some new baskets and start some new ones. Our first show of the season is behind us now and it was a good start. Whiteland High School was a new location for us and the Hoosier Handmade Craft Market was full of the expected wonderfully friendly customers and fellow artisan vendors.
Our next show will be A Fair of the Arts in Bloomington, Indiana on Saturday, September 14th as part of the Farmer’s Market. We will also be at the one on October 12th.
We are anxiously awaiting to hear back with approvals on a couple of others that will fill in our schedule for the year. Hope to have good news for you soon!
We have been working with fall colors and jute but we have some new sources of colored rope which are exciting any time of year.
The chill in the air finally started today so we are ready to get back to the “show business”. Hope to see you at one of upcoming shows!