* Peg Loom Woven Wool Sleeping Pad with Bre Haun  Limit: 6  Fee:  $5.00

Join Fiber Artist Bre in creating your own wool sleeping pad using a peg loom.  If possible, participants should bring rubber gloves and a mat to sit on.

 

* Weave a Melon Basket  with Wes-Leigh and ???????  Limit: 6  Fee: $10.00

craft a hand-woven willow melon basket from scratch with Wes-Leigh and Jadyn. Learn to shape a classic ribbed frame, lock in a "god's eye" center pattern, and weave with reed and natural rods. Some experience is helpful but not mandatory. If possible, participants should bring knife and clippers.  Instructors will will have extras on hand. 

 

* Fleece Mittens for Winter with Jolene, Limit: 12  Fee: $5.00

Come sew a pair of fleece mittens, you will make these by hand yourself, pick the material and cut out the pattern and sew a unique pair of mittens. Material and supplies will be provided, cost is $5.00/pair. 

 * An Introduction to Natural Basketry (Mini Baskets) Limit: 6, Fee: $15.00

Participants will learn to weave a small basket using willow and other natural plant fibres. We’ll cover preparing materials, the pairing technique, and finishing with a simple border secured with thread. Along the way, we’ll discuss thoughtful harvesting and the possibilities of working with plants that grow around us.  My approach encourages curiosity, patience, and connection with the materials, giving beginners a welcoming place to learn and explore and walk away with the foundations of basketry that can be applied to many future weaving projects large or small.  Instructor will provide all tools, materials and a printed guide.

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Rudiger Roll Fire Starting with Tracey T.  Limit: 8

Join Tracey and explore the magic of friction fire with cotton balls, dust and a couple of boards.  Sounds like a fairy tale to you?  Then sign up for this class and prepare to be amazed.

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* Building the Winter Toboggan with David Delafield, Limit: 3, Fee: $340

Build the quintessential piece of winter trekking equipment, the freight toboggan sized to haul on snowshoes.  Based on traditional First Nations design principles, but adapted for the 21st century using UHMW plastic.  Please bring a charged cordless drill if possible.

 

* Dressing for the Winter Wilderness with Russ Meades: Lecture

 A head-to-toe presentation and discussion on the best and worst of approaches, fabrics, and ideas for a variety of winter activities.

 

* Learning to Fast with Russ Meades: Lecture

A common sense approach to deliberate preparedness and health and its physiological and psychological benefits.

 

* Military Land Navigation with Tom Hume, Limit: 12

Learn how to read a map and utilize a compass to get where you need to go. Students will given a variety of practical skills to prevent becoming geographically embarrassed (lost) and how to extract themselves from a bad situation. This course will be more hands on and outdoors than the previous 3 years it has been offered at the Frostbite Symposium. All experience levels welcome and previous students will be guaranteed to learn additional skills. 

 

* Easy Peasy Food Trail Food: Dehydration Edition with Colleen Kiselyk, Limit: 12, Fee: $20.00

We will be discussing food prep for trips (summer and winter) and the special considerations for each.  Time will be spent on food dehydration tips and tricks.  Participants will then get to choose and assemble a meal and a dessert.  $20/participant will include 1 meal with dessert (limited gf options)

 

* Make a Leather Pouch with Robb Brouwer, Limit: 6, Fee: $5.00

Join Robb from Bearpaw Bushcraft and Leather to create a classic drawstring pouch.  This is a very accessible leather project for first timers.  So sign up quick for this one!

 

* Fire lighting Workshop with Robb Brouwer  Limit: 12

Learn to start a fire with ferro rods and flint and steel.  Participants are encouraged to bring a knife, any fire starting items they want to use and warm clothes (class around fire pit)

 

* Soap Making with Brenda and Shilo, 12 Participants, $25.00

Discover the art of handmade soap making! Learn the essentials of equipment, ingredients, lye safety, and the soap-making process. Brenda and Shilo will guide you through making pine tar cold process soap, and demonstrate the hot process method. Whether you’re a complete beginner or curious to explore a new craft, you’ll gain the foundational knowledge and confidence to begin making your own handmade soaps.

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* Improvised Fishing Floats with Dave Holder, Limit: 6

In this course you explore fishing floats from cork, porcupine quills and chopsticks. No age restriction but please, if a younger child, could they be accompanied by an adult/parent.

 

* Fire Tubes! with Dave Holder Limit 6,  Fee: $12.00

Fire tubes are a historic fire starting tool.  Join this class and transition to the the 17th/18th century world of fire. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult for supervision.

 

* Quinzee and Snow Trench building. With Dave MacDonald, Limit: 12

Part 1 and Part 2:  Book both sessions.

Slow and steady wins the race! Effective, efficient, time and calorie consuming, and yet cozy and comfortable.  Be prepared with clothing for the outdoors, and ready to engage in some physical labour as we learn the best way.  Hands On!

 

* Mushroom Resin Pendants with Becky Armstrong, Limit: 12, Fee: $20.00

 We will create magical mushroom necklaces using resin and natural materials the instructor has collected in advance of the course.  Ages 13 and up only.

 

* Forest Therapy / Forest Bathing with Becky Armstrong, Limit: 18

Join with Becky to explore Nature and the Land with intention and focus.  Through a variety of facilitated activities we will learn to connect with the land.

 

* Tree of Life Pendant with Merry Brotherston Limit: 12, Fee: $5.00

The tree of life is a universal symbol representing connection, growth, strength and the eternal cycle of life, in this class you will use wire and gem stone beads to make your tree of life. 

 

* Herbal Salves and Lip Balm with Merry Brotherston, Limit: 12, Fee: $5.00

Join Merry and enter the world of crafting your own body care products using natural ingredients.  Warning, this class can lead to a lifetime of making cool things.

 

Make a Beaded Felt Cuff with Alissa McRae Limit: 12, Fee:  $20.00

Learn basic beadwork stitches and edging on a piece of felt.  Once the beadwork is done a piece of leather will be attached as a backing to finish the piece.  Kits will be provided with 2 different designs to choose from.    The main session will be 3 hrs on Saturday with an optional 2 hrs 3:00pm to 5:00pm on Friday for those that wish to get a head start.  You will not finish in the 3 hrs, but instruction and materials will be provided to be able to finish on your own.

 

* Make a Handbound Journal with Alissa McRae,  Limit: 12 Fee: $15

Learn how to bind a book by hand using the modified kettle stitch.  All materials will be supplied.  The journal will be finished with a leather cover.

 

* In The Alberta Wilderness! With Don Auten, Lecture

Mother Nature's Moments,,, Captured By Don's Trail Cams. Come join self-described a Nature-Nut in an adventure through the Alberta Bush as Don shares stories and photographs from his animal friendly photo-trapline.  His knowledge of the animals and their behaviour is only exceeded by his passion to share the stories of animals that often go unseen to our eyes.

 

* Primitive/Ancestral Uses of Bone with Bev Klaassen, Limit: 8

Traditional carving with stone and modern carving with metal files.  Create a bone awl to punch stitching holes into leather(provided) to sew a punch to store tools or a fire starting kit for example.  Time permitting carve a fish hook.  Participants  age 10+ only.

 

* Camping Food: A New Look with Ken Sheffield, Fee: $5.00

Are you tired of craft dinner, or PB&J, or something poured out of a can? We look at the ways of changing your food for camping.   From 2 days to a month, what you eat at home can be with you at camp.  This presentation is based on 60+ years of camping and feeding a lot of people along the way, and there will be some samples to enjoy.

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* Animal Tracking with Dale Kiselyk, Limit: 12

 Head outside and learn about the incredible world of animal sign and tracks.  We will walk the property and behave like Sherlock Holmes, unravelling the mysteries hidden in the scratches on bark, claw marks in the snow, nibbles on branches, holes in cool places, and trails of magical beasts.  Bring warm clothing and footwear to be outside for a minimum of 90 minutes.  A notepad, tracking books(if you have any), and a camera.  We go even if it's really cold.

 

* Knife Sharpening with Dale Kiselyk, Limit: 12

Join Dale in a journey through making sharp things sharper.  Having tools with functional sharp edges is rewarding, safer, and possible with the right tools and skills.  Your knife will leave this class a better tool.

 

* A Winter Woods Interlude with Jay Seely  Limit: 12

A traditional winter camp with woodsmoke, gingerbread, and coffee.  Join me for an afternoon in the winter woods, where the journey is as much a part of the experience as the destination. We'll load a traditional wooden toboggan, head into the trees, and make a comfortable winter camp with a canvas tent and woodstove.  Once camp is established and the stove is warm, we'll bake gingerbread and brew pour-over coffee.  This isn't a class about mastering a single skill or assembling the latest kit. It's an opportunity to experience a slower, more traditional approach to winter travel and camping, with practical demonstrations, thoughtfully chosen equipment, good food, and the simple pleasure of sharing a warm camp in the cold.  Come for the winter camping, stay for the gingerbread and coffee.  Please wear appropriate clothing and footwear

 

* Natural Fiber & Bush Cordage with Jaye Selin, Limit: 12 

It has long been the hypothesis that the first peoples spent a great deal of time in the dark winter months making cordage and working with the raw fibers that they collected all summer.  In this class, you will be exposed to multiple different types of fibers that we have in the boreal forest, and you will also be able to prepare some from Indian Hemp Dogbane and/or Stinging Nettle. You will also learn how to complete the basics of reverse twist cordage. This class is both a seminar/sharing of information, and a heavy hands-on learning experience.  Helpful if participants bring a Swiss army knife or Leatherman with a small saw.  Please be on time.

 

*Survive and Thrive for 55 with Dave MacDonald, Lecture

14 Dutch, one aboriginal and two camera crew in the northern Canadian wilderness for 55 days living primitive.  This presentation will cover a recent experiment in traditional living skills undertaken led by Thigmen Apswoude with the expert support from the International Canadian School of Survival and Dave MacDonald.

 

 

* Knife Skills Revisited with Jaye Selin, Limit: 10

In this class, you will learn and explore multiple knife grips and techniques, focused on what we call Bushcraft. I want to increase your "boldness" (not recklessness!) with a bush-blade so that you can take your skills to a new level. Beginners and Experts are welcome. This is mandatory for a safe experience - bring your own "paper slicing sharp" knife, but I may have a few loaner knives too. If you don't have a sharp knife, then watch Mors Kochanski's "how to sharpen knives" on YouTube, found on Karamat's YouTube channel.

 

For the first 1.5 hours I will run through the foundational grips & knife techniques I use, in my way, and you will get to practice them, under my guidance and feedback. (Very prompt start time for this portion).  In the second 1.0 hour participants will practice their skills by making a kitchen implement (optional activity, but highly recommended to practice what you have just learned).

 

Bring a sharp knife as this is a knife skills class, you might cut yourself! Be aware of the risks.    14+ Only.

 

* Pine needle basketry with Peter Albano, Limit: 6

We will be using Ponderosa Pine needles to create a pine needle coiled basket with a wood base. No experience necessary! All materials provided.

 

* Blankets and beyond! With Peter Albano, Limit 12

From bedrolls and backpacks, to the latest in medieval fashion. Exploring some different uses for your wool blankets.  Bring your own wool blanket to use. Some extras are available to borrow for the class.

 

 

 

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Mending and Darning of Wool Garments

 

Instructor: Lori Breeuwsma

 

Class 1:  9:30am Saturday, Limit: 8

Class 2:  1:30pm Saturday, Limit 8

 

Learn several practical and creative ways to mend and visibly darn wool garments, including sweaters, pants, coats, and shirts. Felted pieces as well such as a wool blanket.

 

We’ll explore different techniques for patching holes, repairing damage, and

reinforcing areas where the fabric is beginning to thin, including:

● Visible Woven Darning

● Visible Scotch Darning

● Swiss Mending, also known as duplicate stitch

● Visible Mending—embracing a hole and embellishing it with yarn

● Circular Embroidery Mending

● Needle Felting using wool roving or pieces of wool

● Sashiko, a traditional form of visible mending

 

Bring a wool garment that needs repair, and we’ll look at the damage together to

determine which technique will work best. You’ll have an opportunity to try several

methods and learn how different repairs can be both functional and decorative.

 

Materials

 

I will provide wool fabric pieces, wool yarns, needles, and a few mending tool

backings.

 

Please bring:

● A wool garment you would like to mend

● Tools: Mushroom or Disc Mending Tool, water bottle that fits into the   sleeve you want to repair, jar lid or tin can (4-6 inches), embroidery hoop

● Your own patches or yarns, if you wish

 

Whether your garment has a small hole, thinning elbows, or more substantial

damage, come prepared to give it a new lease on life through practical and creative mending.