Woodcraft projects from May 2011 to August 2011

Elizabethan Chest - description below.

A gift from Mistress Christiana Elizabeth Constable to the reining duke and duchess of the Arch Duchy of Connacht. Mistress Christiana was working on the concepts of making kneeling benches to give a classy look to the royal court. Kneeling benches are based off of a web surf looking for a cornation stool of which Christiana based these loosely off a King Edward VI. These kneeling benches were presented to their graces at Imperial Wars (Adria - Duchy of Connacht) on a Saturday evening while around the bard fire. These benches were put into service the on Monday of the event during closing court. Finishing is done with a ground pigment stained suspended in an oil based oil. Next time will try suspended the pigment in linseed oil. The throne chairs in behind the kneeling benches were not made by Mistress Christiana.

For Imperial Wars 2011 arts and sciences enterly Mistress Christiana presented the X chair, based of diagrams, plans, and instructions from a medieval furniture book, and also from a Roman furniture book. The chair is a knunkle type joint where it forms the X. Carving of the chair's details also from diagrams from the medieval furniture book were carved by Mistress Christiana and finishing is from ground pigment suspended in oil, but also a poly finish was applied to protect both the wood and stain from weather elements. This style of chair was used in England in the 1500s and there is referrence on the internet showing that this style of chair was used in the cornation of King Edward VI. To keep the weight down and cost down, pine was used in the construction of both the chair and the kneeling stools that sits in front of the chair. From her entry in the arts and science Mistress Christiana earned 29 points. This arts and science project was enter for war points.

Camelot Vinyards Demo 2011 - Through a deal with the a local supplier in Kelowna and a little work Mistress Christiana attained a new 10ft x 10ft popup pavilion for the August Demo. Her older popup is smaller, and the frame racked from winds and transport was beginning to how its wear. Shown here in the photo is a small sampling of Mistress Christiana's many talents in the crafts.

Another view of the chair and kneeling bench that was used at Imperial Wars. In the making of these items, there were three kneeling benchs and one chair made for Imperial Wars, of which two were given as gifts to their graces of the Duchy of Connacht.

It has been a while, but Mistress Christiana was getting tired of dragging mundane suitcases to events, that were the entire weekend, and close to where she lives mundanely. During the month of May 2011 she begun construction of a new chest based off of internet photos of some Elizabethan chest. The chest to keep the weight down was made of 1/4 inch plywood, with some 1/2 inch and 5/8 spruce plywood framing materials. The legs are with oak veneer over pine and are mounted in such a way to prevent tearoff of the legs when slid out and in the truck. Although still in design state, a special dolly is been designed that locks under the base with wheels to prevent this problem from happening and thus should make unloading and loading a lot easier. The chest has been also divided into three lower sections which also aid in supporting the frame of the cabinet, and a deep cedar tray also provided. Historical garb of Mistress Christiana is stored in this cabinet when at events, and the chest is lined in thin 3 inch pine boards. Top is a lift off lid, but will be undergoing some changes come the winter of 2011 - 2012 to modify it to a hinge lift lid. In loading and unloading the lid had a tendency to fall off and with it been hinged will prevent this problem. The hammer was used to drive tent pegs in and was left on the lid, for when the photo was taken, it was time to take down the pavilion.

Lots of things have been happening over the year since Feb of 2011, as the members of Phasiani lacus Manerium and myself Mistress Christiana Elizabeth Constable had left one creative anachronism group and joined with the Adria Empire, the branch known as the Arch Duchy of Connacht which has recieved its official title sometime between October and Novermber of 2011. Been in a smaller group, has entitled Mistress Christiana to be able to participate at least once a month, but more ready twice a month during the summer, and this has allowed her to expand and concentrate on creating more wonderful things of wood and textiles.