Here's a few pics of the mystery project I was working on.
I joined a group called the "Charmsters" a few months ago. The group members swap charms with each other for different themes. This one was for the Halloween Story swap. We were supposed to create a charm based on a favorite spooky story. Here is my story for anyone who is interested.
Sweet Cicely
This is supposedly a true story from Sylvan Dell, Pennsylvania about a breath taking Indian girl named Cicely. She had lived in this area all her life with her Mingo Indian tribe and had fallen in love with a fellow Indian named Wild William. The two were happily in love and inseparable. They spent many hours along the water at their favorite stone ledge about 10 feet above the water of the Loyalstock Creek. They spoke of their future together and Cicely would wait for him each day in that very same spot to arrive after a hard days work. While waiting, Cicely was known to sing such beautiful songs. The townspeople loved to hear her sing and said the forest would stand still for her voice.
Being in the time of the mid 1800’s, the Mingo Indians were becoming more and more scarce. Despite that, many people of the town loved the Indian couple and greeted them each day with happy smiles and big waves. But there were still some who held prejudice for the Indians.
One day as Cicely sat upon her favorite rock waiting for her Indian beau, a man appeared who was a stranger to her. This man was a rafter and had seen Cicely and heard her great song from the water as he rowed towards the shore. He made advances toward her and when Cicely tried to fight back, the stranger choked her to death. The man fled just as Wild William was making his was to his love.
The townspeople were shocked and outraged. They wanted vengeance on this stranger to their town. They wanted revenge for Sweet Cicely. Then a peculiar thing started happening. The townspeople said that they would hear someone singing with a haunting voice when rafting along the creek close to where she was killed. And the number of deaths along the Loyalstock was increasing dramatically. Even experienced rafters were having a tough time navigating through the waters and said they kept hearing a woman singing. They said the singing almost seemed to rise up out of the water. Many rafters were dumbstruck by the song and smashed into rocks along the creek. And boats were being flipped upside down in the water near where Cicely took her last breath.
One day a man stopped by the local pub furious but scared. After a few drinks the bar tender was able to coax some information from the stranger. He confessed that he had been the one that killed the sweet Indian girl years before. And he believed that she was singing her song along the water to drive him mad. The bar tender loved the Indian couple and knew this was his chance to seek vengeance. He told a group of local raftsmen about the story the man had told.
The next day the stranger set out once again along the rocky stretch of the Loyalstock creek. The group of raftsmen surrounded him and tossed him into the rough waves where he ended up knocking into several rocks. By the time his body washed up to shore he was dead.
That was the end of the song for Cicely. The town no longer heard her Indian song. They knew that vengeance was finally met.
These charms really crept up on me. I had plenty of time to finish them but, of course, I waited until the last minute to complete everything. These were simple enough to make. I found digital prints of Indians which I glued to one inch wooden circles. The Indian girl went on one side and the Indian boy on the other. I tried to use photographs that looked rather sad. I applied a layer of Modge Podge to the outside of the picture and let them dry. I then drilled a hole and added a jumpring. Leather cord was then used along with some beads in turquoise and red and other traditional native American colors. I wanted to add a feather as well but couldn't figure out how I should get it to stay on the charm so I decided to just add one to the package. We shall see what everyone thinks. This is my first exchange so I'm kind of unsure of the time and effort that the group usually puts into each charm. I hope I don't embarrass myself.
I have so many blogs to get caught up on. I tried my best to give my parents my attention while they were here although it was tough not getting online to see what was going on. I'll slowly be getting back up to speed during the next couple of days.
My parents are back in Tallahassee. We had a short but great time together. Here's a few pictures.
My mom stuck between two rocks in Laurel Caverns.
My dad trying to eat the bananas at Phipps Gardens.
Lauren made a friend at Phipps Gardens. He was loud but cute.
Enjoy your afternoon! :)
