Part of my process for making these costumes is working out a fair amount of details for who the character is, and why he would wear/carry the things he does. For me this is esthetic as well as functional, because a given character may have something for purely esthetic reasons, but they have to be HIS esthetic, not just mine. Everything always has a purpose. So when I laid out my idea of a vagabond shaman/witchdoctor/alchemist/herbalist it was only natural that I would think: "Okay, so what would he use when he's cutting/harvesting herbs and such?" Which brought me back to my anthropological/historical training. So, each element follows a theme. Bronze for cutting under the light of the sun. Bone for cutting under the light of the moon. Obsidian for cutting on moonless nights. The only trick was figuring out how to make those. It took me a year, but I finally got it. the bone and bronze are fake from last year's workings, using a resin called "Alumilite" which is awesome stuff. The obsidian is "Smooth-Cast" "Color Match" resin, which is clear but can take dyes to get different colors. That stuff has so much potential. Designs are all my own, as is the painting and the photography. My big Renaissance Festival for Michigan starts in a week, on the 20th of August. I may even be there for opening day. I can't wait.