Todd, Grace, and their three kids live happily in Southeastern MI. Their extended family spreads across the globe, from Hong Kong to Canada, plus NC, TX, MI, VA, OR and elsewhere.
The newest members of our close family are two rescue puppies named Matilda and Rocky. We also share our home with a matriarch whom everyone calls "Kitty", as she has not yet told us her prefered name, and her two kittens, Sunshine and Shadow.
Todd currently works as a Packaging Engineer, but is diligently working to complete a degree in Computers.
Our family's greatest wish is that the sun shine more often in our cloudy little corner of the world.
Paternoster Ladies had a wonderful time visiting Squire's Revolt this year, and I just realized I have not yet posted the photos of most of our events this season. Thus, some catchup! These photos are from Squire's Revolt, an SCA event located in Lansing, MI. It was held in the spring/summer of 2011. Enjoy!
Here is our wonderful tent, full of goodies. You can see many of our Paternoster Ladies in garb. This event we were lucky enough to have Jolen Sher, a local fiber arts expert, join us and bring her lovely hand-dyed wool to offer for sale.
There I am in the blue, helping a customer. Our wares are spread far and wide!
Our tables are full of beautiful paternosters and other hand-crafted artisan jewelry and rosaries. We have much more available than what we list on Etsy, and we love custom orders, so feel free to contact us anytime for more information: paternosterladies@gmail.com.
As always, if you have seen something you like at one of our shows and don't see it on our site, email us and we can let you know if it is still available!
Thanks so much to StairwayHeaven for including one of Paternoster Ladies historical paternosters in his collection of amber rosaries. The Etsy Treasury List is called:
Out of the midst of the fire... the resemblance of amber. Ezekiel 1.4, Rosaries.
Here is a photo of the Paternoster Ladies Rosary which was featured:
To view the rest of this wonderful collection, visit here.
Thanks very much to exaustedcreativity for including one of our beautiful artisan paternosters in her beautiful Etsy Treasure, entitled Autumn Leaves...Olive, Copper and Charcoal. The paternoster she chose is pictured below:
The illustrations in this text are not original, but a Victorian/Edwardian take on Durer's pictures for the late 15th/16th edition. This is set in a modern type, but with the period spellings. Here's the page on "How we ought to saye our houres and prayers."
Paternoster Ladies attended Val Day in Kalamazoo this year (2011) and had a blast! Here are a few photos of us from left to right, Antoinette Flammond, Grace Martin (me!), Connie Harriff, and Leslie Wilbanks (not pictured: Laura Messer.)
One of our special customers sent us a photo of her hubby wearing his new paternoster, below:
We had a great time and look forward to merchanting there again this year! A few more photos for your enjoyment...
Hello! Some of you may wonder how Paternoster Ladies got started - well, it all began with a little project I started for a group I belong to called the Society for Creative Anachronism. This group has events all over the world for people interested in Medieval Re-enactment (kind of like Civil War re-enactment, but without the guns!)
During an event 2 years ago, (Val Day in Kalamazoo) I heard about something called the Arts and Sciences 50 Challenge! This challenge is a personal one meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the SCA. In it, you challenge yourself to make or do or learn 50 things before 2015 that relate to medieval life. You could make 50 buttons for a garment, or make 50 garments! Or 50 different types of garments - or medieval furniture, beads, etc. You get the idea.
I had just started making paternosters for my group, and figured I would make 50. Once I did, and everyone in my group had one (we do 14th century European reenactment, btw) I decided to sell them. I loved making them so much, I needed to sell them to be able to buy more beads! I was very keen on making sure I understood what a period paternoster was, so I spent several months studying everything I could lay my hands on, including my favorite source to date, Chris Lanings wonderful Paternoster Blog. The study continues to this day - and so does my little business, which has merchanted 5 larger SCA events in the past year and a half, and has donated 19 paternosters to the Midrealm thus far (one of my sub goals is to donate a total of 50).
One thing I have to mention, is that I would not have the great jump off that I did were it not for Vista Print's awesome services. I was able to get many of the basics, such as business cards, banners, and even a photo book of my work, made for free. It is a great resource for a new business, or an old one looking to save some money. If you wait for their big Mega Blowout Sale (which happens 1-2 times a year) you can get most everything you need to start a new business in terms of advertising for a song. I included the link, so you can get a jump start like I did!
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