First Quarter 2012

Well this year started out like a shot. My ribs are still troublesome but with recent Physical Therapy I'm seeing improvement. All caused by a stupid drug interaction! Pictures on this blog post will be rather limited due to a full hard drive crash the last week in February. My data was saved but is currently on the way back from Geek Squad Data Recovery.

We start off the year with our annual trip to Hermann Hill.  What a great relaxing time with our friends Alex and Jill. The weekend was a bit windy, but it made it easy to stay inside and watch movies and have home grilled meals (when not soaking in the outdoor spa).  (photo left - Hermann Hill Bed and Breakfast overlooks the town of Hermann, Right - basement of the Hermannhof winery)

We also finally got a chance to stop at the Illinois Military Museum on the way down.  We talked with the curator for a long while and hope to go back again this summer for one of their special events.(photo right - Flag @ the IMM)

12th Night in Tree-Girt-See. There was a nice round table of Shire of Blackhawk members at the event and the day went well. It was nice not to have an event were I had to run around all day, but instead could sit and chat with people I sometime don't get to see a lot of.

The following weekend was the Historical Timekeepers meeting. My husband & I decided to join this reenacting group at the end of last year. This membership will be in addition to our longstanding ties to Company C (of which I'm still the administrator and Michael is still the Sergeant).

Then it was on to the Midwest Civilians Conference in Springfield. All I can say is good seminars, good folks to talk to, great originals to see on Saturday night and a brain completely on overload for the drive home. I had at least three seminars (by Nanci Gasiel, Andreas Allcock and Jim Ruley) that have caused me to revise my impressions and direction of research. (photo left - Original from Show & Tell Saturday Night).

Soon after my best friend and sister, Danielle, came to say with her mom while Kris recovered from surgery. We had some great lunches and chats while she was in town and it was so nice to see her.

The week following that was Military History Fest. Beside having a booth, I also gave two lectures during the weekend. One on Friday called A Victorian Lady and Her Jewelry, focused what jewelry may have been available during the Victorian Era and how be on the look out for modern equivalents. The second talk Drawn that Way focused on fashion plates beginning with the late 18th Century and continuing to the early 20th Century. The talk ended up running short, so I filled in the extra time by give my 2010 MHF lecture A Brief History of Lace. (photo left - VL & HJ - Friday, photo by Erik Moan).

Then we have a week off (we had planned to go to the SCA event St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Michigan but had to back out at the last minute due to....). then it was on to a wedding! My sister-and-law got married in Rockford the following week at the county courthouse. We had a fun time while she and her husband were in town and we ate a lot of great food.

And on the fourth weekend....It was time for No Man's Land and Regional A & S Fair. This was the first event "in" the Shire of Blackhawk since 2006. Not that the Shire hasn't been active; we have had a great many demos over the past few years and an open fighter practice called, Get Your Fight On, both which have been drawing people from outside the Shire. Anyway, the Shire came way with money in the bank at, least 5 people who can send their projects to Kingdom A&S in May, and a feeling of a job well done. My entry was a Paternoster and I scored a second place and a chance to work on expanding my documentation before we head to Crown for the finals. (photo left - A&S entry, right treaty signing @ Court).

After that we had our annual 82nd Airborne Party. Normally this takes place in December but got pushed out to March. It was great to see everyone and chat about Winter finds and Spring events.

While all this has been going on, my husband has been working on creating 3D models that can be printed on a prototyping machine. Back in November he opened up his Shapeways Store - Arctic Skunk ( http://www.shapeways.com/shops/arcticskunk ). Besides designing 25mm gaming vehicles and 1/300 scale aircraft, he also designed and Steampunk items for me! Here are prototype examples of what he drafted on the computer! The watchface is available now (unpainted but in 23 different materials), and the gears (in at least 4 sizes) will be available in the first week of April. The dirigibles (both in whole and halves) will soon follow. He's also been working on some Chatelaine prototypes to have cast in pewter! We hope to the Pewter Chatelaines in the eBay store sometime in the next few months.

Well that's all for now, time to finish uploading new items (including pewterware & hatpins with clothing and fashion plates to follow) on to the eBay store (http://stores.ebay.com/antinasuniques) and feeding my Pinterest addiction - over 5,000 pins in just over 2 weeks. ( http://pinterest.com/antinasuniques/ )

The year in Review, April to December 2011

I can't believe it's been so long since I've added something to this blog. I have gotten some sewing done over the past year but it was handicapped by a long standing mystery muscle pain that began before Military History Fest in 2011. Finally, over a year later the doctor and I have found an effect treatment that will hopefully have be back to full in a month or too.

So what exiting stuff has happened in the last year. Well in April I went to a Steampunk Convention in Oklahoma. While I had fun, my booth sales didn't cover my expenses - one lives and learns. (photo right - booth @ OSPE)

With the continuing pain, I found that after April I couldn't wear a corset for very long so I spent the year going Private for my Civil War Reenacting Group, Company C, 1st United States Sharpshooters (Berdan's). I managed a corset only once for the Historical Timekeeper's fashion show in June @ the VA center in Milwaukee. (photo left - Carol and Dave Martin and myself in morning @ the Historical Timekeepers Fashion Show - photo by Jenna Theissen)

June was also a month of extremes. On the one had my husband and I got to participate in a filming for Fields of Valor, which played on the 3D Network recently. The other extreme was my father suffering from 3 strokes over a two week period at the end of the month. The third stroke was witnessed by my mother and I, and thinking back on it still upsets me. He is getting along very well, but is sure rough going there for a while. Between his and my illnesses, it's left little time for blogging. (picture right - left night shoot for CW3D)

The Berdan's fell in with the Battalion for the Lake County Civil War Days and it was good to get a refresher course on battalion drill, but we did a lot of running that weekend. We also met back up with friends we made at the filming. It's good to have others outside your camp to seek out and talk to.

July also the month of Breyerfest, and for the first time I headed down to Kentucky by myself. My dad was adamant that I go, but while I was away my Uncle Bob passed away and I missed his funeral. Breyer raffles off a horse each year to benefit several charities, and for 20 years I missed out on getting one every year, until 2011. While the Breyer name for him is Muse, my name for him will always be Uncle Bob. (photo right - Muse)

August was time for Muskets and Memories (Boscobel). I was honored to be asked to play Albert Cashier (74th IL) for after the Vicksburg "Battle" on Saturday, and ran around in green on Sunday. The trip is a little long but the scenery and friends are outstanding. (photo left - Saturday morning fog @ Boscobel)

Then there was Cyphan. While I helped with getting the games organized for the event, I did get some time to dress up. I placed in the Cyphan Costume Contest, and the winning bought our dinner on the way home that night (Claimjumpers on Route 59) (Photo - right - My facepainting experience - photo by Brandon Richard Barta)
On the cosplay side I did finally make it to Wizard World and spent much of my time chatting with people or making jewelry at the Gotham's Finest Table. I have to admit at WW I tried the corset on the outside for the first time....not sure if I liked it. (photo left - Gotham's Finest Booth - Wizard World)

Sadly the last Lake Villa Civil War Event was held in 2011. It was a great event and will be missed. (Right Battle at Lake Villa)

October is always busy between getting ready for Rock-Con and the season ending reenactments.

The Battle of Morseville (Stockton, Il) is always a great event to get pictures at and we saw not only friends in the Civil War Hobby but some of our SCA friends as well. The Ladies of the Berdan's Aid Society really stepped up and help sell event fundraising tickets just before and during the battle. (photo left - cannon firing on Sunday, Jim Planting)

October is also crazy due to the Rock-Con Preparations. Rock-Con went well this past year with a great variety of games, dealers and tournaments and it looks like 2012 will even be better. (photo right -games in session, 2011 - Jill Cohen)

Sliding toward the holidays the year wound down and finally we got a chance to take a break from the crazy schedule.