Antiquity Gamecrafters

First attempt: Mancala Board

2011-06-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

We finally did it! A mancala board has been made by the AG clan. It was by special request of our niece for her graduation present. We are still deciding whether it is going to become a regular feature of Antiquity Gamecrafters, but meanwhile, here are some pictures. It was made from a beautiful old piece of Michigan Walnut.

Springtime in the woodshop

2011-04-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally arrived in the AG woodshop. No more bundling up in several layers, remembering an hour before we want to work out there to turn on the space heater. No more staining and poly-ing in the house because it's too cold in the shop.

This week it moved to open-the-garage-door-wide weather. Some of the Gamecrafter family got the whole shop swept and shop-vac'd and re-arranged and now it looks all fresh and ready for fresh sawdust. One of us made some progress on a special project for a friend. Another one sat themselves on the shop floor and practiced some chip-carving. Spring is here and we're itching to be productive!

So, what can we get out into our shop to make for you today?

Not too late for Gift Certificates

2010-12-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

There are two ways to get gift certificates for those last minute gifts. You can either purchase them via paypal on this blog or go to our Etsy shop and purchase them. Give the gift of family time!

Announcing this year's Christmas Order Deadline

2010-11-29T11:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas is only 26 days away and if you are hoping to order a game that will arrive in time for pre-Christmas delivery, you need to place your order no later than December 10th! So hurry to one of our online stores today or head on over to Out of the Box in Zeeland right up until Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the whole Antiquity Gamecrafters gang~

Shop Local - Save on shipping

2010-10-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

Did you know that our games can be purchased locally if you live in West Michigan? If our shipping costs have been keeping you from purchasing one of our games, this is the perfect opportunity for you to save! Just stop by the Out of the Box Games Store in Zeeland Michigan today! Here is their website for directions:

http://www.ootbgames.com/

Goodbye 1KM

2010-09-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

Antiquity Gamecrafters has for the last two years called 1000 Markets our internet home, but with the recent acquisition of 1000 Markets by Bonanza, we didn’t want our customers to be unable to find us. Please look for us by going directly to http://www.antiquitygamecrafters.com . Our new website is now live!

We hope you visit us again soon,

Brian and Jennifer

Antiquity Gamecrafters

A place to call home

2010-05-18T06:17:00.000-07:00

As we mentioned in our earlier post peeking into our workshop, Antiquity Gamecrafters has up until now been borrowing space from my brother's garage to do the woodworking stage of making our board games. We lived about 5 miles away, and although it doesn't seem like much, it was really hard to get there with Brian's full schedule. So we are very, very thankful that we have now been able to move into a new house with a two-stall woodshop and a driveway for the van ;-). Seeing how full the shop is, we can't figure out how we fit it all into one corner of my brother's garage, and we're so thankful for have our own space.

So we may need a post with a new peek into the new woodshop very soon....keep watching!

Knothole: A peek into the Woodshop

2010-01-27T10:47:00.000-08:00

I realized today that I am entirely too lacking in curiosity. I don't think it has ever occurred to me as I've shopped handmade artisans to wonder where they do all this beautiful craftsmanship. Do they have a studio? A workshop? Do they do their art on the living room floor?

In this utter failure to be curious, for instance, I have made the assumption that our fellow artisans are of the 'starving artists' variety; cramming their supplies into the corner of a bedroom or dining room. I have no idea whether this is a fair assumption or not. I have no earth-shaking research to share with you. But I thought that just in case there are those who have the curiosity to wonder what it looks like at Antiquity Gamecrafters, I would give you a small peek into where these games have their beginning.

Our humble abode has neither a garage nor a basement. This provides a bit of a challenge for a family trying to create with tools like routers, table saws, jointers and drum sanders. So this is where the extended family gets in on the deal....specifically my brother and his family. They have a very large garage and have generously allowed us to house our tools and wood in a sizable corner of it. This in itself is a great blessing, but there have been side benefits as well.

For one thing, it gives us extra opportunities to spend time with family and the kids especially love the Saturdays spent there playing with the cousins and enjoying the resulting goodies from Aunt Jody's latest baking sprees. For another, the cousins themselves are being exposed to woodworking and the possibilities for passing on handmade craftsmanship to another generation are increased. This is something that we as artisans take great delight in.

Our games only have their earliest beginnings in this shop. Most of the sanding, staining, painting and other finish work are done on every available flat surface in our small house. Someday, perhaps we'll have a large house with a pole barn, room enough for every tool and all the finish work. But I think that when we do, we will have lost a little something; or maybe my brother and his family will have to come our way. I'd better improve my baking.

We made the front page at Etsy.com!

2009-10-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we made the front page of Etsy.com thanks to a great Medieval treasury by Aromaelarmoury Thank you! Blogger isn't letting me post the screenshot, but I'll keep working on it.

About our Games Part 1: Hnefetafl

2009-03-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hnefetafl is the Viking version of the ancient tafl games, also known as King's Table. It is a northern European style of Chess that dates back to the 8th century B.C. Hnefetafl was popular in Medieval Scandanavia and is mentioned in several Norse Sagas. However, we do not know for certain how the game was played at that time.

A game of uneven strength between sides, the players traditionally take turns being the attacker and the defender.

In the widely-accepted rules which we have chosen to include with our boards, the outnumbered Swedes try to help their king escape (to the side of the board) from the invading Muscovites. Pieces are moved in the same way as the rook in chess.

Players take turns moving, with the attackers moving first. All of the pieces move any number of spaces in a straight line along a row or column (no diagonals) until encountering another piece or the edge of the board, similar to how a rook moves in chess. Pieces may not be jumped.

A piece is captured if two of the opposing pieces are moved onto adjacent spaces on either side of it. That piece is then removed from the board. However, a piece may safely land between two enemy pieces – only the moving player may capture. The King may also be used to capture.

Hnefetafl is a two player board game

Plutarch, Aristotle, Shakespeare and a game of Chess

2009-03-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Spring has only just begun to have sprung here in the Great Lakes Region, but already it tempts us to throw studies to the wind and breathe in the still-nippy air, drinking in the rare sunshine. We as a homeschool family certainly prefer to take a "Sunny Day" off from school to foregoing schoolwork on a "Snow Day".

However, school is still in session and an extraordinary portion of our day is given to studying Plutarch's Lives (currently Poplicola), Shakespeare (The Taming of the Shrew), Latin, Logic, World History, music, art, geography, math, English, science, nature study, etc., etc.

So when our young students finish school early and have some free time they run excitedly........

to the game cupboard. Yes, my children, while wildly in love with being in the great outdoors, are also obsessed with challenging each other to a game of chess. Does this make their nerdy mother's heart sing? Absolutely! It excites me to see my children not only love to do things together, but to do intellectually stimulating things, and in their free time, too!

So while they are certainly getting healthy doses of this glorious springtime as it roars like a lion and lies calmly like lambs, I get giddy when I see them playing a board game.

What is your family doing to spend time together? May I recommend browsing through our game cupboard? You might find a new obsession of your own!

Not so much blogging, but a little Tweeting

2009-02-23T17:04:00.000-08:00

Yes, we have joined the bizarre universe of Twitter and we have indeed tweeted occasionally....

Would you like to follow us? Find us listed as gamecupboard! Hope to see you there~

Unabashedly beautiful things......

2008-12-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

This blog by Amy of the b-line has a great list going of Christmas must-haves and guess what?! She featured our Senet board! Check it out right here:

http://theb-line.blogspot.com/2008/12/this-weeks-wants_08.html

Giveaway!!

2008-11-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

We are taking part in the SHE team giveaway. The Schooling at Home Etsians Team is having a spectacular blog giveaway beginning Saturday, November 22 and running until the prizes
run out! One of the items being given away will be one of our games, so be sure to go and check out the blog each day. You can enter twice per day, every day until the giveaway is over.

http://sheetsyteam.blogspot.com/

1000 Markets Feature

2008-11-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

Our experience with 1000 Markets so far has been exceptional! The communication, constructive criticism and encouragement have made it a fantastic community to be a part of.

This week we learned that we had been mentioned in an article about 1000 Markets and we wanted to share it with you!

Introducing 1000Markets

There are some fabulous shops there and we're really enjoying being a part of this brand new venue. Be sure to take some time to look around!

We couldn't resist!

2008-10-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, I said we were only going to be in one craft show this year..... but when the opportunity came up to be in a very successful one two weeks later, we caved! So on November 22nd you can also find us at the Hudsonville High School craft show! If you come to see us at either craft show, be sure to introduce yourself as a blog reader or fellow etsian as the case may be - we'd love to meet you!

New ways to find us

2008-10-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

We have entered two new venues this week. Check it out:

http://www.1000markets.com/users/antiquitygamecrafters

AND

http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Antiquity-Gamecrafters/29893588796

We'd love to know what you think!

Kwanzaa and Christmas and Hanukkah, oh my!

2008-09-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

As the holidays begin to rush toward us at an alarming rate, we've been adding new tags to the games we have listed on etsy. Today we added the tag 'Kwanzaa' to the Achi game. We'd love to have your opinion on this ~ is Achi an appropriate Kwanzaa gift since the game originated in Ghana?

Still here

2008-09-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

We're still here! It's been a busy summer and now we're getting ready for the Christmas rush! If you live in the West Michigan area, be sure to visit us on November 8th at Eastside Christian School in East Grand Rapids for an excellent craft show. It's the only one we're participating in this year, so if you want to see our games in person, here's your chance!

Feel free to contact us for more information.

On the Air with BittyMoose!

2008-05-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

Check out BittyMoose.com for her weekly radio show!

Featured....

2008-05-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

We are soon going to be featured on this blog:

http://blossomingtree.blogspot.com

A fellow Michigander and homeschooler, she owns this yummy body care shop on etsy.com http://blossomingtree.etsy.com/ Be sure to check out her shop and her blog!

New Tools Mean New Games......hopefully.

2008-04-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Part of growing a small business is expanding the tools of your trade. Today we acquired this beauty of a wood lathe and can't wait to see what new games we are able to make because of it~

Website Changes~

2008-03-04T12:11:00.000-08:00

Just a brief note regarding our website. During the re-vamping process of our website, antiquitygamecrafters.com, we have temporarily set that address to re-direct to our Etsy shop.

It all began with one game....

2008-01-31T07:36:00.000-08:00

My husband grew up in a family that played games....lots of games. But of particular note are two games that were played because Brian's father was Armenian; Tovli (backgammon) and Fertgal (Nine Man's Morris).

When we lived in the Middle East we had the privilege to visit Damascus and purchase a beautiful Tovli board inlaid with Mother of Pearl which looked very similar to the one Brian's grandparents had owned. However, when it came to teaching games to our children, he realized that we had no Fertgal board, so he decided to make one.

That was our first handcrafted game board.

We homeschool our family and as we began to study the history of ancient civilizations we learned about several games that were played in those civilizations. Brian began making some of those games for us to play as a supplement to school; usually as a Christmas gift to the kids. I thought they were so beautiful that Brian should consider selling them. Well, he really didn't take me seriously until we took some to an indoor 'garage' sale at a homeschool co-op. He sold more of those games than I did any of my 'stuff' and everyone that walked by simply raved about how beautiful and unique they were.

And so Antiquity Gamecrafters was born and we can now be found at http://www.antiquitygamecrafters.com and ancientgamecupboard.etsy.com

Antiquity Meets 21st Century

2008-01-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, we are finally bloggers! It may take time to decide what the focus of this blog will be...Perhaps our games, perhaps homeschooling, maybe our Etsy shop, or Reformed Theology...or it could be a little of everything. Time will tell. Whichever it is, we hope you will stay and get to know us so we can get to know you, too.

~Brian and Jennifer Kooshian~