Scroll the First

There is a scribal largess and competition being held at Crown in Endewearde next month.  The idea is that scribes of the kingdom create blank scrolls to donate to the Crown for emergency last-minute scroll giving and there is a competition for best in category.  I haven't done a scroll in over 20 years and I've never done a scroll for kingdom use, so this is my first attempt at creating something worthy of giving.

The artwork for this comes from an assortment of sources across a couple of centuries.  The Aberdeen Bestiary and the The Alphonso Psalter plus assorted vinework and drolleries.  It's not really a good example of a period piece, but it was amusing to do and I think it has a certain charm, especially if the recipient is someone who's interest lies away from scribe stuff.

The gilding on the piece was certainly the trickiest bit.  Lacking a good gilding size, or really any knowledge whatsoever about how to do this kind of thing, I looked up directions for how to do it.  There aren't any really clear directions, but I did find a sizing recipe that is Elmer's glue, water, and a little gouache so I could see where it was on the paper.  I used an archival bookbinder's PVA instead of Elmer's and hopefully it will withstand the test of time.  Once it was mixed up, I painted it onto the areas where I wanted the leaf to go and let it dry.  Once dry, I "activated" it by breathing on it, like you would breathe on a window to fog it up, and pressed the leaf to it.  The leaf I'm using came from my grandmother's art supplies - about 30 years ago.  It's certainly older than I am and it's the loose stuff which wants to float around at the slightest hint of a breeze.  This was not an easy task, but it turned out alright in the end for a first go.  Hopefully I can pick up some tips and tricks to make this process easier.

The rest of the piece is done in Windsor Newton and Holbein gouaches.  I signed it with a crane to represent me and a black martlet to represent House Fulton.  It was cute and fun and I'm totally hooked.

Favors for Queen Thyra

A short time ago, the design for Queen Thyra's favors was published and I decided to make four to send along. 

The basic design is a T with an ivy leaf on the end.  The directions say that we can use some artistic license  with the pieces and that we can, instead of using the single leaf at the end, wrap the T in an ivy leaf.  I opted to do two of each.

The two ivy vine pieces were pretty straightforward.  I filled one in entirely with a stem stitch and did French knots on the other one.  Queen Thyra's personal arms have three lozenges on them, so on the ones without vines, I opted to put three lozenges in the thick part of the T.  One of them is done with silver thread, the other is outlined with silver beads and has some bead-work in the middle section.  They aren't the fanciest favors she'll probably receive, but hopefully they will respectably convey her favor to whomever she deems worthy.

Autocrat gift for Lady Cassandra Hobbes

It has now become tradition with House Fulton to present gifts to our hosts when we go to events.  Lord and Lady Fulton commissioned this lavender sachet for Lady Cassandra Hobbes for her good works organizing and running Harper's Retreat in Stonemarch. There was also a child's cloak presented to the Stonemarch Gold Key to help clothe any urchins who might be in need of extra warmth.  Vivat Stonemarch!

Harper's Retreat - A lovely end to summer

Our first camping event with the SCA was this weekend's Harper's Retreat in Stonemarch.  If you're able to come to this wonderful event next year, I can't recommend it enough.

We arrived Friday afternoon to a quaint summer camp in central New Hampshire and picked out a spot for the House.  Everything was set up by the time it got dark, and dinner was a peppersteak cooked on the camp stove.  It quickly became clear that I need more than the one gown.

Our campfire never really got beyond the smoking phase and I'll have to practice making a fire at home before we go camping again.  Also, a note to folks camping with small children for the first time:  No matter what they say, make your kids try to go to the bathroom before bed.  The kidlet had an accident on Friday night because she didn't know where the bathroom was.  By the time she woke us up and B got her outside to squat in the bushes, it was too late.

John Fowler showed up Saturday morning and pitched his tent on the other side of the cooking canopy and everyone had a marvelous day attending workshops, swimming in the pond and trying out a little archery.  The archery course was great fun and had a supernatural theme of shooting monsters and zombies and even a moving ghost target.  The old bow raised some eyebrows, but got passed and I was fortunate enough to get a refresher course from Dana the Unredy, a marvelous gentleman from Stonemarche who not only improved my shooting in about 15 minutes, but who also gave me my first archer's abacus.

The feast was a wonderful mix of food and music.  And the bardic circles afterward were worth the price of admission.  Can't wait for the next one!