Five acres, two little ones, one awesome husband, 12 ducks (give or take), and a bunch of fruit trees and garden beds. In her spare time, Nicole likes to knit, paint, draw, teach kids, make fairies & dragons, philosophize, and read fantasy. She doesn't HAVE spare time, but does like to fantasize about it!
- Casein = The sticky stuff. It's kind of the equivalent of Gum Arabic in water colors. It makes the pigment stick to the surface.
- Lime = The durable stuff. The liquid (hydrated/quick/etc) lime turns back into a rock when exposed to carbon dioxide. This is what makes the paint water resistant and more resistant to light, etc. Traditional frescos are made with thick lime plaster, where the pigment is added directly to the wet plaster and applied. No binder was used--it's embedded in the wall's material. Adding a bit of lime to the milk paint gives some of those advantages. The pigment gets embedded in the limestone rock.
(Limestone gets heated in a kiln to chemically turn into quick lime--I believe you burn off the carbon dioxide in the process. The quick lime turns into hydrated lime when you add water. Then, when it is exposed to carbon dioxide again, it turns back into limestone. Pretty spiffy!)
But, if you just put pigment in hydrated lime and try applying it to a surface without any casein or gum arabic, it's going to brush off. I can attest to this, because for my history class, I painted wooden boards with hydrated lime for the kids to paint hieroglyphs on (the wood was too dark to see hieroglyphs on). But, with just the hydrated lime by itself, the lime just brushed right off the smooth wood boards. I didn't have time to make milk paint, nor did I have enough just-add-water milkpaint, so I added gum arabic to the hydrated lime, and that worked quite well for attaching the lime to the board!
This post is going to be a bit scattered, largely because I've been working on Anna for over 2.5 years now. I actually wrote up a lot about her attire 2.5 years ago, but then never posted it. Then I started writing another post 3 months ago, having forgotten my previous draft. Then I found my draft, and I didn't have enough "spoons" to figure out how to mash the two drafts together. And, in fact, I still don't have enough spoons to mash them together. So, I'm just going to quote them and stick them here with my drawings!.
This is what I had written 2.5 years ago:
Now for Anna! I'm going to make both her bunad dress, as well as on of her other dresses
And then I rabbit-holed down the colors of folk dresses. I think most of these are Swedish, but I think the colors could have been seen in Norway, too. I love the variety of colors. There's so much more than the typical dark blue, orangish-red, and green seen on most bunad images.
At first, I thought Anna's outfits would be easy. I already know the time period and place, and have lots of examples of dresses from the area. But, the bunad worried me, because those were so local. And as I looked further, I realized that Anna's dresses (apart from the dress she wears for most of the movie) are an interesting mix of traditional dress and the clothing style that most middle-upperclass Europeans were wearing. Which made me wonder, "Were there other people blending the fashions? Was it ever just one or the other?"
I found that there's a simple livkjul, or "living wear" which looks like this:
1840-70
1840
1825-40
1840-1855 Sweden
I also found that around 1850, at least in Sweden, there was a revival of traditional wear and blending it with current styles. This was called, I gather Bygdedräkt ("Village Costume") in Sweden. A similar thing started in Norway in 1840, called Norwegian romantic nationalism. I'm honestly not seeing much of a blend, other than noticing that the fashions of mainland Europe were a little less bright and embroidered than those in Sweden, at least if the above fashion dolls were any indication. Below are some outfits that seemed to blend mainland-style with Nordic elements.
I'm going to attempt to draw Anna from Frozen. I'm only going for her folk dress/bunad, because her other dresses seem a lot less historical (or, I can't figure out if I want to base them off of Norwegian folk dress or court dress). I'd attempted to find primary sources for her dress years ago, and my head started hurting from all the primary sources on the Norsefolk Museum digital collection. There seems to be better ways to narrow down the search, so I'm seeing how it goes this time.
Searching for bunad between 1800-1840, I find:
Needless to say, I spent waaaaay too much time down the Anna rabbit hole. I didn't end up drawing her fancy dress attire, because the silhouette was so similar to Elsa's coronation gown....and I was just a bit too burnt out from the whole research process. I'm honestly not sure how good I did at Anna's traditional bunad attire. There was a LOT of variety in the different blouses and skirts and vests. Somehow, the embroidery colors in my drawing didn't turn out too well. But, at this point, I'm just going to call it good enough for now!
Today my history students were learning about spindles from around the world. For the activity, they made drop spindles with dowels, eye hooks and air dry clay (for the whorl). I showed them your video to help explain what's needed in a drop spindle. They loved it! The chicken at the end was a huge hit! Both of my classes laughed and said, "Awwwww!"
Texas is the second largest state (the largest is Alaska). I've heard that Texans like to talk about their state being the largest (because it is the largest in the contiguous USA). But, I don't know if Texans do, or if that's just people picking on Texas. The Texans I know really like Texas and think it's awesome (which is fair. Most people like where they live and think it's awesome), but none of them have never talked about it being the largest state. Regardless, it seems like a bit of a running gag at this point.
Which is the largest Canadian Province? And why don't I know this? All I "know" is that Quebec apparently wants to be it's own country sometimes. But, I don't think that's because they're larger than the other provinces (it's because they're more French than British, right?)...
I guess the fact that I don't know what Canada's largest province is, shows that it doesn't make sense that other countries don't know the USA's states. I don't know a single one of Mexico's states, let alone any other country's states/provinces/counties/etc. Surely China and India have something like states/provinces...but I don't know them. If I don't know any of those things, I can't expect someone in another country to know what/where Washington state is.
Jeremy VanGelder wrote:Nicole, down at the South end of Washington State we have a double ambiguity. We get to say, "I'm from Vancouver, not BC, Washington, not DC."
I can imagine! I always thought how weird it was that when I'm driving south, I'm driving toward Vancouver. And when I'm driving north, I'm driving toward Vancouver. It sure gets confusing!
Greg Martin wrote:Wait, does that mean that my "I love Maine" mug is not funny to Canadians???
It's hilarious as a "Gotcha" joke for most everyone. If you'd asked me what postal abbreviation Maine had, I wouldn't have thought it'd be an "ME," because you don't even pronounce the "E"! I think most people don't know "ME" stands for Maine, which makes it even funnier!
Timothy Norton wrote:I'm spoiled that New York is recognized as "N" "Y commonly. You don't hear Vermont calling themselves the "V""T". Sounds kind of clinical!
My state stinks because it shares a name with the nation's capital, "Washington, D.C." Apparently, we were going to be called Columbia, but they ditched that because they didn't want to get confused with "District of Columbia." That sure didn't work out! I almost wonder if referring to myself as living in WA is better than "Washington." I usually just always say "Washington State" and hope people know that's different than the US Capitol.
Hmmmm, maybe we should just rename our state "Seattle." Then Seattle can be "Seattle, Seattle" like New York is "New York, New York." I'm sure those living in the eastern half of my state won't mind....
Judith Browning wrote:I suppose USA is out then? and United States of America seems like too much at the moment...I might just try for something less defining in this political season🫤
I never know what to refer to us as. USA seems the only really accurate term, but, like you said, it seems a bit much right now. That term seems to have become politicized. And, it doesn't give us a way to refer to ourselves. I'm a USof A-er? Our only real way to refer to ourselves is to say "I'm American"...but so is everyone else who lives in North and South America. But, honestly, some of those people might not want to be grouped in with those that live in the USA. Goodness, many who live in the USA claim to be Canadians when they travel abroad.
r ranson wrote:
Having basic 120v wireing knowhow like how to change a plug, light fixture, or how to wire a new circuit is a big help. It also acts as a guide for when we need an electrician. Some jobs, like spark shower from the ceiling light, are a 10 min fix. Other things, like a faulty ground, it's good to get a man in.
Yes! Having some basic electrical knowledge will help you know when you can tackle a project, and when it's over your head and too dangerous to try. If you don't know anything, you might think you either (A) Can do anything, or (B) Can do nothing. Both are dangerous.
Also, having a basic knowledge of electricity would help you know when something is worth worrying about. My dad was never an electrician, but did a lot of electrical wiring as a mechanic. There's been many a time I've asked him, "Dad, do I need to worry about this?" Maybe a light fixture is always burning out bulbs, or the lights dim every time you turn on the vacuum. Are these things to worry about, or not? You don't know if you don't have some knowledge. Knowledge is power and understanding. That knowledge can keep you and your house safe. You don't have to do the electrical work to benefit from knowing basic electrical skills.
I hate the fact that electricity is super confusing and overwhelming to me. One day, I really want to gain knowledge and skill in that area, so I'm not always afraid and lost. I don't necessarily want to do my electrical stuff, but I want to understand what's happening in my house.
Five acres, two little ones, one awesome husband, 12 ducks (give or take), and a bunch of fruit trees and garden beds. In her spare time, Nicole likes to knit, paint, draw, teach kids, make fairies & dragons, philosophize, and read fantasy. She doesn't HAVE spare time, but does like to fantasize about it! 
