Hello!

I have been feeling a lot better this past week or so but I don't have any projects that I can share. I've been working on Top Secret Christmas Projects! LOL Since I have a lot more time than money these days I am making most of the gifts this year.

I just haven't been in the mood to scrapbook lately. I don't have any recent photos shouting out to be scrapped. I decided yesterday that I will buy more 12x12 pages with 4x6 pockets so that I can get my old film prints out of their boxes and into my albums where they can at least be shared until they are scrapped, if they ever are. Most of my favorites have been scrapped and I just don't feel a pressing need to scrap every photo I've ever taken.

No sewing projects in progress at the moment though I do have a growing to-do list (not neccessarily in this order):
linen drawers/bloomers/calzone
green wool mid-16th century Florentine gown possibly with slashed sleeves like these

another coat/loose gown/zimarra this time with long sleeves and (faux) fur lined

a Victorian corset

a late Victorian tailored suit


the ric-rac skirt from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

a couple of generic SCA tunics for Tom
a doublet and breeches for Tom

Long Time, No Update

So I've neglected the blog (along with a lot of other things) the last couple of weeks. I haven't been feeling well- the "normal" aches, pains, and sleepless nights but moreso.
Anyway, I did wear the zimarra coat to my second SCA event, Dun Traigh's Fall Harvest, on 10/25 and had a great time. I spent time chatting with some of the people I had met previously and getting to know them better as well as meeting some new people. I particularly enjoyed meeting Maria who is the senechal of the Rimsholt group which is the group we belong to geographically. Maria did a class/demo on pewter casting which was very interesting and gives me an idea for yet another hobby to get involved in! LOL Tom and I sat next to Maria and her husband during the feast and she was very friendly and informative especially to Tom who knows even less about the Society for Creative Anachronism than I do. Unfortunately, I think being out in the cold and damp at this event for about 10 hours is what set off this recent flare up.
I had planned to wear the coat again the following weekend for a visit to the new Mid Michigan Renaissance Festival near Frankenmuth combined with some early Christmas shopping in Frankenmuth and Birch Run but that weekend trip was cancelled because I just wasn't feeling up to it.
I haven't had the energy for any scrapbooking, cardmaking, or sewing the last couple of weeks but what I have been doing is spending time online researching steampunk and neo-victorian costumes. It started with visiting Kat's Purple Pages to see if she had anything new in her Florentine Italian costuming section and seeing pics of steampunk getups she and her husband wore to an event. I had never heard of "steampunk" before but a little googling led to a lot of information. It seems to be based on Victorian science fiction of the Jules Verne/ H.G. Wells genre (of course that is simplifying it greatly, it goes much deeper than that). I'm not sure that I buy into the whole subculture "punk" part of it but it does inspire some interesting ideas for costuming and crafting!