Bonfires, Castles, and Time Travel

Hey there! I know, I know...I promised these new blog posts a while ago. These past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of 18th century attire, music gigs, rehearsals, among other things. On a recent Saturday, I ventured out to Cochranton, PA to hang out with friends and check out the French Creek Heritage Festival. Now I typically attend these events in period attire, but after a couple weeks of being back and forth with fitness training and music gigs that were in 18th century attire (though one gig involved me performing my own music and dressing in a more gothic/celtic/fantasy inspired way), I decided to attend this one in "normal" clothes. taken just after I arrived :) Beyond the parking lot of the Cochranton Jr. Sr. High school (which is where we were to park) was this rather charming bridge that could very well have been a gateway to the distant past. In fact, I kind of liked to think of it that way.  the stream beneath the bridge On the other s

Hey there! So as I prep my blog posts on the French Creek Heritage event in Cochranton, PA, the ice cream social at the Depreciation Lands Museum in Allison Park, PA and the Whiskey Rebellion Festival, I'm sharing some recent small sewing and jewelry projects and giving the sutlers from whom I bought the materials from a shout out. :) The first is a satin drawstring bag with a silk ribbon as the drawstring. Drawstring bags can be used in most era reenacting, starting at the late 14th century. Satin made its introduction in the Middle Ages, originally made from silk. While I bought the material from JoAnn Fabric, the silk ribbon is from one of my favorite 18th century sutlers, Liberty Linens.  The second item is a necklace made from a pendant I got from Grandma's Soap and Stuff (another one of my faves) and silk black ribbon that I also bought from Liberty Linens at the Fort Frederick Market Fair back in April. I was debating between matching the pendant with the r

Hey there, After another crazy week of fitness and music rehearsals (plus my gig at the Treasure 15 even), we are on to part 2 of my Fort Niagara posts. The really fun stuff about the sutlers and blanket traders. As always, some sutlers are new to me while others I've purchased from before. Either way, they are all awesome. :) Featured in this blog post, we have: Grandma's Soap and Stuff Romantically Bent Father, Son and Friends So when I set out on my Fort Niagara expedition, I was stoked to see one of my favorite sutlers. I wrote a little on Grandma's Soap and Stuff and their amazing product in my Fort Frederick blog. Not only is the product great (and like castles, I do have a bit of an obsession with handmade soap), but the owners are an absolute joy to hang out and talk with. I purchased quite a bit from them at Fort Frederick and at Fort Niagara, I bought two more soap bars (Dragon's Blood and Dead Sea Mud & Salt). Because I make my

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to kick off the month of July at the Old Fort Niagara French and Indian War Encampment. I also apologize for the slight delay of the Fort Niagara blog posts. It has been a hectic week between fitness training, getting re-rehearsed in my own songs for the Treasure Night 15 event, and then rehearsing with Wayward Companions for the Whiskey Rebellion Festival and two other gigs we have over the forthcoming weekends! So yes, it's been pretty busy here in my corner. :D But anyway... It was my first year at this particular reenactment event and was definitely one I was looking forward to, especially upon seeing photos of the castle from friends that have already been there. Fort Niagara also has some pretty cool history behind it. I set out early Friday evening when I met my travel homies at around 5pm and we made the 4-5 hour drive to Youngstown, NY. It was about 10pm upon our arrival and I was immediately taken in by the night time scenery,