If you love all things Tudor history, then you’re likely no stranger to taking up a torch for things non-history folk don’t understand. Is it worth getting into a heated debate about the identity of a sitter in a nearly 500 year old painting? Can you go from zero to 100 hundred when someone confuses…
It’s a wrap…
As a chronic procrastinator, I have yet to finish (start) my Christmas shopping. However, if you are ready to wrap then please feel free to print and use these lovely Tudor-themed gift labels designed by artist Kathryn Holeman to match the illustrations in ‘Twas the Night Before Tudor Christmas. These are for personal use and…
Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe bookmarks
I hope you enjoy this new set of bookmarks I created just in time for spooky season. Iconic literary legends, Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe, are known for writing some of the first, and best, horror and ghost stories. I felt it only fitting that they should both adorn this year’s fall offering page…
My night at a haunted pioneer village
The air was charged, the rain delayed, and the sun had begun its nightly descent leaving a trail of orange mist in its wake. It was a perfect night for a ghost tour through a pioneer village. The spirits must have thought so too, because I have never encountered so much paranormal activity in one…
10 ways to (somewhat obnoxiously) steer a conversation toward Tudor history: In a variety of real-life scenarios
For some of us history buffs, we must research and daydream in solitude while many of our friends and family have not yet been awakened to the thrill and intrigue of Tudor history. Despair no more! Here is a list of some easy, super casual ways to scratch that history fact-sharing itch with non-history type…
Ghostly photos developed!
On a recent ghost tour of Victorian Charm Antiques (read the full article here), my husband brought along a film camera from the 1950s and took a couple photos. He was hoping it would work and I was hoping something paranormal might be caught on camera (I mean, of course I was!). The photos were…
10 historical Valentine’s Day facts worth knowing*
I love knowing random facts, so for Valentine’s Day I put together 10 historical facts about the holiday I feel are (odd enough to be) worth knowing*. These are a hodgepodge of historical facts, several coming from Victorian-era articles and so the dates of some of these traditions are unclear. Let’s focus more on what…
15 “Romantic” texts courtesy of Henry VIII (Modernized!)
For a Valentine’s Day post I thought it would be fun to pull quotes from Henry VIII’s love letters to Anne Boleyn and convert them into modern text messages, so I did! And it was fun. Quote: “The cause of my writing at this time, good sweetheart, is only to understand of your good health…
Visiting a haunted antique store
Ghosts, antiques, and a cat. Yes, please! I recently stumbled across a haunted antique store called Victorian Charm Antiques (complete with a friendly resident cat named Yoda). The warm and welcoming family-owned shop is within a house built around 1900, with plenty of mystery still surrounding its history. Only recently, an entrance to an underground…
‘Anna Bollein Queen’ sketch: A fresh interpretation
I consider myself lucky to have stood before The Royal Collection’s sketch labeled ‘Anna Bollein Queen’ and attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger, (1) twice in the last couple of years— once in New York City and again in Cleveland during the fantastic traveling museum exhibition, The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England. It…