Kit de Coldwood's Maunche

This Maunche was a lot of fun to do. The illumination was done in the style of a Roman wall mosaic, all hand cut and hand pasted (not using fish glue due to severe allergies). It is based on the Metiochus and Parthenope mosaic from Turkey, assumed to have been made around 1 AD or BC (exact date uncertain). The calligraphy was based off of a Roman Military diploma from 80 AD. I'm particularly proud of this piece, even if my whole house is covered in tiny squares. A close estimate of around 2000 squares were used in this particular project, ranging in size from around 0.5 to 1cm squared. Words are as follows:

translation [with commentary] to be read before the ipay atinlay scroll.

 

Diploma of Golden Handcuffs in the Arts

 

[Roman togas had no sleeves – hence no word for maunches – but they did have handcuffs]

 

Ionnes II, most daring, and Honig II, most joyous to behold,

Emperor and Empress of the Kingdom of the East,  to 

she called Aciterix Caldius Julius Cittinius 

she called Kit of Coldwood 

she called Well-seasoned Centurion 

she called Well-risen Frontiersman

for service in the artistic wars 

against the vagaries of picayune criticism

has distinguished herself most nobly 

and now joins our Order of the Maunche

done by our hands this second day of October in the 56^th year of the society 

in the Shire of Coldwood 

at the Closing of the Inne.

 

 

 

DIPLOMA MANICIS AUREUM IN ARTIBUS

 

IMPERATOR IONNES SECUNDUS HOTSHOTUS IMPERATRIX HONIG SECUNDA HUBBAHUBBASIMA REX ET REGINA ORIENTALIS AD NOMINA ACITERIX CALDIUS JULIUS CITTINIUS NOMINA KIT OF COLDWOOD NOMINA CENTURION CRUSTICUS NOMINA HICKUS UPJUMPUS AD SERVITIUM IN BELLAM ARTIBUS NITPICKUS AD NAUSEUM ET KICKASSUS NOKIDUM FATERI REGIUM ORDINEM MANICIS SECUNDO DIE OCTOBRIS ANNO SOCIETATIS QUINQUAGINTA SEX (LVI) IN AGRO FRIGUS IN FINE INNE. 

 

 

***

 

[Gratis! Gratis, populus! Igpae atinlay non dificiles est.]

 

Scroll by Boyarina Katrusha Skomorokh.

 

Macaronic misdirections by Tristan le Chanticler.

Ose Silverhair's Diamond

I never got around to posting this paper cut scroll for Ose Silverhair's Order of the Diamond, a baronial award for courtesy in the Barony of Concordia.

The inspiration came from the Gotland picture stone.

The scroll was paper cut from a flecked gray art paper overlayed on red to make a similar feel as the picture stones. The words were written in english lettering with a stylized Viking rune feel. Words done by Brid nic'Shealess.

"It is the duty of the head of a Barony to recognize those who make that barony a place where people have a chance not to simply have fun but even to excel in their chosen endeavors. Osa Silverhair does all this and more through her gentle, kind, and courteous demeanor. For all this and more do we, Faohlin and Maria, Baron and Baroness of Concordia of the Snows, induct her into our most noble Order of the Diamond. Done this 26 day of May, A.S. LIV at the War of the Roses."

Done with a #11 exacto on art paper. Words in black India ink.

Chiaretta di Fiore's Laurel

Chiaretta has been a good friend of mine since my first ever kingdom scroll assignment (her AoA) where I first met her as we sat beside each other displaying our arts in competition.

Kataryn Mercer, AoA

We became quick friends. When her Maunche came around, I was thrilled and humbled to be assigned that as well. Many will remember the Kataryn Mercer Maunche of extreme painting and colors.

Kataryn Mercer, Maunche

I watched her progress in her arts to a level that was beyond what I could fathom. Her Italian was impeccable and gorgeous. And from the instant she told me that she had me in her ICP for making her scroll, I began planning. Through two computer crashes and purchases, I have saved a file that always returns to my computer holding a smorgasbord of ideas for what I would do when she was given her writ and I was assigned her scroll.

Two months ago, I was given her assignment. And then two weeks later, while I had already been plotting, she announced she was given a writ and hoped I was ready to make her scroll. I was, of course, super relieved because it meant I could ask her a few questions that I had always wanted to ask people before I made their scroll such as... what size is most comfortable for you and does it need to be a standard scroll and format for standard framing, or do you mind possibly needing to do have a custom frame created.

All of this out of the way, I opened my folder to begin.

First, she and I had discussed years ago how amazing the Lace Book of Marie de' Medici was, but my biggest frustration was that it was, technically, out of period. It is described to be from the second quarter of the 17th century. But the idea behind the papercutting, or canivet, was not something so late of a period. Canivet, the idea of lace cutting paper, is a tradition seen since 13th century in France with the nuns, thought to be considered 'cloister work'.

Lace Book of Marie de' Medici, 17th century

But I truly loved the idea of a lace cut scroll, and although there are earlier examples such as this French example from the 14th century, it didn't have the same feel as I was looking for.

French Manuscript (W.93), 14th century

So I continued searching for the perfect lacework cut from parchment as a more period source.

And that was when I realized that Chiaretta did amazing accessories, so why not accessorize her scroll? I scoured museum sites until I found the perfect extent find to make the papercut lace with.  This fan is made of parchment and silk lace from the 16th century. A Venetian style flag fan. It was perfect for Chiaretta's Italian persona.

Italian flag fan, 16th century, parchment-cut lace design and silk

I loved the outer design work of the flag, and that is what I took as my inspiration for her scroll.

Now, I needed to order the perfect material. Paper, in my mind, would not cut it (haha, no pun intended). So, I spoke with my fellow scribal artists for where the best place to buy parchment/vellum would be. I knew, vaguely, the size I wanted to make the piece. So, through my searching, I found someone (a SCAdian) out in Oregon that hand crafted vellum in the medieval way and sold a variety of sizes. Here is a link to their Etsy shop. I highly recommend their product!

Parchment in hand with a measure of 16" x 13", it was time to get started. The first thing I did was get the pencil in on what I felt would be the 'back' of the piece. There was definitely a texture difference between the front and the back, and I felt I made the right choice. There were also a few other strange things about the parchment (coming from someone who usually just works on machine made papers) such as the change in coloration, the visibility of 'this was skin' marks, and the difference in the thickness (and textures) of various areas of the parchment. Do not misunderstand me. This FASCINATED me and made me feel, for the first time ever, as if I was working in a period manner. It wasn't this perfect flat simple piece of paper. I have been doing paper cutting for awhile, so this was going to truly test my mettle.

Either way, I was excited. I have worked on parchment before and knew what I was getting into with inks, pencils, and any form of 'mark' on the surface, but this was a whole new beast.

Pencil on goat skin vellum (parchment)

In hind sight, I realized putting so much detail into the pencil was unnecessary. I will explain more about the reasoning for this later, but I was glad I got the shapes done before putting the blade to the parchment. Then, I started cutting. I used a #11 blade and my most comfortable pen grip for it. It was severely difficult at first because everything about cutting parchment was different than cutting paper. The pressure needed, the draw needed, how it felt (the tooth and bite of blade and leather), how it looked, and even how it tore if only a few fibers still held the piece in place.

#11 blade and beginning cuts as viewed from the right side of the parchment

But, it wasn't terrible! It was just a very different learning curve. Thankfully, I had done enough paper cut work to have a good idea of what I was doing. I kept tape handy, just in case, and I think that my cutting board STILL has little scraps of tape stuck to it for when I would cut the most miniscule piece and rub it into place as the heat would eventually take to the fibers of the parchment and keep what I feared was a little oops from becoming something bigger. I learned, later, that there -were- no oopses because parchment acts so much different than paper.

The actual main portion of the lace work measured 2.5" in width with the thinner, minus the triangular flag portions, measured closer to 1.5". Each inch of work along the piece took over an hour to cut, leaving an estimation of about 80-85 hours of work for the cutting, not including the prep time. 6 blades were needed (as I have no strop at home) in order to finish the whole piece.

There are a few very specific things I learned while working on cutting the parchment.

• Always always cut using a very dark mat underneath the cutting. My mat has two sides, one a light green and the other a very dark nearly black green. When I cut with the lighter, it was very difficult to tell where my cuts began or ended. When I flipped to the darker side, it was much easier to visualize what I was doing.
• There were very thick and tough areas that felt more like thin layers of horn than the paper feel of the parchment. Those areas would have been beautiful to ink on, but were -terrible- for cutting. It was easier to very carefully and slowly puncture small holes in close succession to the other and 'snap' the piece that needed to be extracted out of the way.
• There was quite a buckle in the parchment along one edge. This is NOT the fault of the person who made the piece and more just from the difference in temperatures and humidities of the two climates. I am certain, in medieval times, that the same was a problem as bundles of parchment were purchased or delivered from one local to another. Well, I found that cutting that area was an extremely difficult task due to the buckling and frustrated me like nothing I had ever known before. And yet, the next day when I returned to do more work, that area laid flat. This now causes me to agree at the sense it made that some manuscripts were known to have score lines from sharp blades for where the writing would be. Not only did it keep the writing line straight, but it helped to flatten the buckle if there was one so that writing could happen.
• There were areas which didn't feel as tight as the rest of the parchment. Almost as if the fibers were a little loose and it made the area feel spongy. There was a bite to that area that, even with a brand new blade out of the box, I could feel it drawing through the fiber as if there were burrs on the blade. Although I tried to sharpen my blade, the bite still got the better of me. I powered through, though. It just made my wrist and elbow and shoulder ache. I never knew so much of my arm muscles would go into cutting! Addendum: This is NOT the parchment makers fault either. Skin is a fussy thing and there are areas that can be more callused than other areas just as they can be more fatty areas.
• Do not wear anything on your arms! No, seriously. Everything wanted to catch. Even a watch or a ring. It is best to have clean arms, free of any hindrance and make certain your working space is LARGE LARGE LARGE! You don't want to feel the need to turn the piece and it catches on ANYTHING.
• Thankfully, parchment is nothing like paper. Paper tears very easily and parchment, I found, has a lot more give to it. Even when accidentally slicing through a small section of lacework and perhaps cutting a tiny ring, I would try the tape maneuver, but these little slices did nothing. The parchment, for any better description, worked much like leather. Any cut did not mean a malformation of what I was working on. It remained stiff and in place. That doesn't mean I didn't want to be as careful as possible, simply that the way parchment worked and the way paper worked are two completely different beasts and it is important to fully grasp and understand the material and respect its properties.
• Remember how I talked about marking all the detail work in pencil? Well, less is more when it comes to this craft. Specifically, less confusion into where there is a cut vs is that possibly a pencil line can save a LOT of grief on future endeavors.

As I mentioned earlier, I never felt like I was working in more period of a manner before. And although there were a few frustrations and difficulties, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process! And yes, I still recommend the parchment from this maker. These spots are bound to happen, yet he did a tremendous job of keeping them towards the edge and making sure that the scribal middle area would give that amazing feel we all know and love when being worked with. I couldn't have asked for better unless I went for machine made, and that is not at all what I wanted with this project.

To keep with the theme and the time period, the words that were written for the scroll were based on lines from Aminta, a play written by Torquato Tasso in 1573, performed during a garden party in Northern Italy. Lines from the play were taken as inspiration by Olivia Baker, who wrote these words:

"Who often makes Mars' bloody sword drop from his hand,

while Neptune's mighty trident rattles to earth,

and even from highest Jove the eternal lightning slips!

It is she, our beloved and revered Chiaretta di Fiore.

She, who in the eternal serenity

Among celestial sapphires and beautiful crystals

Where summer never is, nor winter,

Leads perpetual dances

Of thread, fabric, and finesse swirling in harmony to conceive the divine.

For mortals dream to dance in the shadow of such beauty, such elegance, such perfection,

 As does adorn our Chiaretta's celestial frame.

Earthly words, there are naught worthy of her accomplishment.

And now here below immortal grace

And high fortune are seen in this beautiful image

Do I, Margarita, Great and Fearless Queen of these Eastern Lands,

yield further utterances and do induct this virtuoso of Florentine vestment into the Order of the Laurel.

Done this 29th day of February, Anno Societatus LIV, at Our Queen's and Crown's Arts & Sciences Championship in Our Barony of Dragonship Haven."

From there, my dear friend Vince Conway graciously translated the words into Italian for me:

"Chi spesso fa cadere da mano la spada sanguinosa di Marte,

 mentre il potente tridente di Nettuno scuote sulla terra

e persino dall'alto Giove l'eterno fulmine scivola!

È lei, la nostra amata e venerata Chiaretta di Fiore.

Lei, che nell'eterna serenità

Tra zaffiri celesti e bellissimi cristalli

Dove l'estate non c’è mai, né l'inverno,

Dirige balli perpetui

I mortali sognano di ballare all'ombra di tanta bellezza, tanta eleganza, tanta perfezione,

Così come adorna la cornice celeste della nostra Chiaretta

Ed ora qui sotto grazia immortale

E grande fortuna si vede in questa bellissima immagine

Io, Margarita, grande e impavida regina di queste terre orientali,

cedere ulteriori espressioni e indurre questo virtuoso del paramento fiorentino nell'Ordine dell'Alloro.

Fatto questo ventinovesimo giorno di febbraio, Anno Societatus LIV, presso la Campionato di Arti e Scienze de la nostra regina e corona nella nostra baronia di Dragonship Haven."

With the words prepared, I was then able to get to the writing. I had fallen in love with a master calligrapher's album in Germany and wanted to use that for my inspiration in the cadel/calligraphy department. In the later periods, many calligraphers would create 'sample books' of styles that they were able to replicate in hopes of drumming up business for various works. This was a similar type of book and I  just fell in love.

Werke der Schon Schreibmeister by FH Brechtel, 1573

I loved the gilded letters and I loved the stark black and gold of the cadel. Of course, there was also needing to delicately balance all the flourishes so that it didn't detract from the papercut lace. So I decided to focus on the gilding and less on the flourishes as I began working on the words. But first I had to design the cadel.

Pencil sketch to prepare for cadel drawn on scrap paper

Something simple with simple flourishes and making the curved spine so it would still be viewable as a letter C was important. It took a lot of work to create something that I felt fit the style of the period.

Cadel of the letter "C" complete with india black ink and Winsor & Newton gold

Words done in india black ink and Winsor & Newton gold

I was quite pleased with how both the lettering and the cadel came out. The ink used was a black India ink and the gold was Winsor & Newton brand. Both worked beautifully on the parchment. Space was left for the signature at the bottom. The cadel was made to fit in a 2" by 3" space and the letters were 1/8" high.

I wanted to keep with the feel of the Lace Book of Marie de' Medici, and one of the most fascinating things about it was how they painted over the patterned lace to make even more patterns, so I did the same with the lace work around the scroll, using the gold ink to help it take on a new quality.

Winsor & Newton gold ink embellishments

The last important part needed for a peerage scroll is the laurel wreath. And, since Chiaretta had recently changed her arms since the last time I painted them on her AoA, I wanted to add them as well. Thankfully, her arms lended very well to being done as a paper cut.

Chiaretta's arms

And, of course, adding the laurel leaves around the shield could -also- be done as a paper cut.

Pencil sketch on scrap paper 2.5" x 3" of arms and laurel wreath in preparation for cutting

After I cut it all out, gilding the shield with the gold ink fit perfectly into the feel of the rest of the scroll.

Cut arms and wreath with Winsor & Newton gold ink for the shield, outline in India black ink

In the end, the full scroll took over 100 hours of work of cutting, calligraphy, and gilding/painting. Of course, having delicate edges, I didn't want to cause a heart attack for the heralds, so I took a board, covered it with a deep blue cotton velveteen, and carefully pinned the scroll to the fabric so it would not have to be handled but could still easily be signed by the Queen. The final result was something I was incredibly proud of and drew me closer to feeling like I worked a medieval craft than anything I have ever done before.

Chiaretta di Fiore's Laurel Scroll, given on the 29th day of February and K&Q A&S competition

"Germs" by "Weird Al" Yankovic

I was granted an incredibly rare opportunity to meet someone I have always considered to be a huge inspiration to me, and have since I was very young. "Weird Al" Yankovic was nearly a household name in my family. We would purchase the new albums before family car rides and listen to them on many occasions. I recall a time I even broke a cheap set of headphones in half so me and my cousin could listen to the "In 3-D" album together while one our way to a dude ranch vacation. My cousin and I actually listened to his music almost non-stop. We would dress up our barbies and have dance contests to the songs (the strip tease to "Fat" always seemed to win). Needless to say, he started my love of comedy, musical comedy, and contrafact.

For Christmas, I was given VIP tickets to see "Weird Al" which meant, of course, meeting him and getting something signed. After a month of hemming and hawing on what to have him sign, having come up with everything from a guitar to an accordion, various movies and CDs and figurines that could happen, I realized that the most important thing, for me, was that this memory was going to last forever. I wanted something I could hang on the wall and look at. Something I wouldn't worry about getting ruined through wear.

A unique opportunity arose. Why not make a scroll based on one of his songs? But then I began to hem and haw all over again because, -which- song!?

This was his original tour. It had to be an original song. It should be something meaningful. Again people gave me advice, but nothing felt right until I came across "Germs".

For those who do not know me, I am right now working on finishing my degree in molecular biology/biochemistry. It is a return to college after ten years off in order to better my education in hopes of bettering my career. As such, the song "Germs" holds a lot of meaning for me.

The last thing to worry about was what I would use for an inspiration (besides "Weird Al"). I ended up choosing The Chronicles of the Crusades, a French document from 1455.

The circular styling of the piece would make for perfect microscope images. And so I began.

Here is a look at the scroll as a whole (complete with signature from "Weird Al" himself).

I will not be posting the words from the scroll, as they are easy enough to find. If you have never heard the song, I highly recommend it. The entire scroll was done on art paper using gauche, Indian ink, and walnut ink. The signature was done, I believe, in sharpie. The black border around the edge is washi tape to give the scroll a clean feel before matting and framing.

Now, a little about the scroll.

The top of the scroll lists, in order, Ascaris, Toxascaris, Tritrichomonas, Babesia, and Demodex species. These are various different eggs found in fecal flotations (Ascaris and Toxascaris), muscle living parasites (Tritrichamonas), parasites that infect red blood cells (Babesia), and parasites that live in the skin (Demodex). All of them were things that I have either seen or searched for in health inspections of animals.

The middle is, obviously, where the lyrics reside. There is also a bacteriophage along the edge in the blue and spiraling lengths of budding yeast on either side. Yeast is something I would routinely find and search for during microscopic examinations of ear residue in dogs, mostly.

All of my favorites are located along the bottom. Dirofilaria is better known to most as heart-worm, a parasite that can live and breed in the blood and clog the heart. They can be seen in blood slides and are quite large compared to red and white blood cells. Diplydium is the egg found in fecal flotations for tapeworm. Of course, you can just gauge tapeworm by the wriggling grains of rice in the feces, but the microscopic tell tale sign is the egg seen here. Next is Sarcoptes, another type of mite that can be seen on microscope slides from skin scrapings. I have certainly seen my share over my time in labs. The next, Dentostomella, is better known as pin-worm. Although this particular species is not the one that occupied three years of my life at Rockefeller University, they look the same and still give me nightmares. Last, but not least, is the happy little smiley face of Giardia, a terrifying parasite that lives in the water and can many an organism terrible diarrhea. But it looks like a happy little face swimming around, so I love it!

Next, we talk about the actual bacteria in the border work. This pyramid shaped dot-work is Staphylococci.

Here you will see a line of dashes that can be better thought of as Streptobacilli and the square shaped dots are tetrad formed cocci.

This is the linear wiggle of dots known as Streptococci and fingers of lines to symbolize pallisade formed bacilli.

Lastly is the double formed rods of Diplobacilli and the much more squat dashes in the middle that represent Coccobacillis.

So much research and work went into creating this, and I will admit to being incredibly nervous to place this in front of him and have him sign it. It wasn't a piece of his merchandise and, of course, I am super critical of my own work, so I was terrified what he would think. So I will conclude this post with the interaction between myself and "Weird Al" during the meet and greet portion.

The line had to move quick, so you didn't have much time with him. About a minute for a picture, a handshake, and small talk as he signed your memorabilia. When it was my turn, the first thing I asked is if I could but my hand on his back for the picture, since consent is everything. After the photo, this is the conversation that transpired.

Me: If you could just sign right here, that would be amazing.

Him: Sure! *starts to sign... pauses half way and looks up at me* What IS this?

Me: I.. er.. well, it is kind of a 15th century manuscript of your song "Germs"... *nervous stuttering laughter*

Him: *leans down, still paused, blinks, and starts to laugh* So it is! That is so cool!

Me: Thanks. I'm kind of going back to school to get a better degree in molecular biology and doing work like this is a huge hobby of mine.

Him: Really?! That is cool! This is just... it is so cool!

Me: Thank you.

Him: *finishes signing his name finally and hands the scroll back to me* That is just -so- cool! Thank you! Thank you so much!

Me: No. Thank -you-!

Lady Alienor Salton's Silver Crescent

I was approached to make a Silver Crescent scroll for Lady Alienor Salton, a woman who works in wrangling one of my favorite SCA demos: the Cloister's demo in NYC. She has done a huge range of incredible things, though I admit that the demo was what caused the inspiration for the scroll. Based on one of the unicorn tapestries in the Cloister's museum, I approached Lord Tristan to create a sonnet of words that would work well with the piece in particular.

Words by Tristan le Chanticler

"The unicorn seems placid, within her cloistered field,

By loyal chain yoked tamely unto the fruiting tree ~

A supine languid vision of fair captivity.

'Tis true the fenced fief blossoms, where fiery urges yield ~

A world of peace and plenty, where lawful bonds are sealed.

Thus the watchful warden, while penned by posts unfree,

Reaps harvests rich and timely, most demostratèdly.

The war beast tamed to service is wisdom well revealed.

But those who see her idle know nothing of her flame:

The bloodied horn and hound bays, beneath the crescent moon;

The months of muddied march, ever on through cruel campaigns.

She endured all tenacious where boastful men did swoon.

When battle presses stark and the stoutest hearts despair,

Look deep within your soul and pray you find her there.

For her outstanding service and achievements, We, Ivan Ivanov syn Dimitriov vynuk Tzardikov, Tsar, and Matilde de Cadenet, Tsaritsa, of the Laurel Kingdom of the East, call Lady Alienor Salton to Our Order of the Silver Crescent.  Done by Our hands at Our Arts and Sciences and Bardic Championships, in the Crown Province of Ostgardr, on the feast of the Venerable Palladius, this 10th day of February, Anno Societatus LII."

Scroll in gauche on navy art paper.

AoA for Helen Attebroke

I had been fascinated by The Feather Book of Dionisio Minaggio for over a year now. The book was labeled as being created in 1618 and, in all honesty, my original fascination came with the commedia characters that were portrayed in it.

Each picture was created from feathers. Not just feathers, but also skins, beaks, and feet of birds. And, of course, ink for the writing.

As soon as I got an assignment, I began collecting feathers. As can be seen, the colors are amazing in these pictures! The man who made the book was the chief gardner and it is speculated it was a way to use up the feathers from the kitchen. But the pictures were amazing, so I spent time collecting mallard wings and nearly whole bodies of pheasants until I had a pretty amazing collection.

The collection kept growing because as I began I realized I needed many sizes, many shapes, and of course, many colors. But I learned many things while working on this project.

In the end, the entire thing was done on watercolor paper using feathers from turkey, quail, pheasant, mallard, goose, and chicken. The chosen glue was an appropriate fish glue.

I learned many things along the way.

- Never ever EVER trust that your fingers will be appropriate for the job. No matter how much you use brushes and tweezers and toothpicks and blades, your fingers are sticky and they will wreck havoc on your piece.
- A #11 blade is going to be your best friend for cutting, shaping, placing, and reshaping while on the paper. Trust it as long as it isn't sticky.
- Remember that feathers are waterproof. This creates difficulties when trying to mix the thick glue and water. The ratio is a very careful balance that I have yet to perfect.
- Feathers also have curve and shape depending on where they are situated on the bird. Don't fight with the feathers. Use them for their angles. Wait to find the right spot.
- Do not sneeze. Do not breathe. Do not cough. And dear lords, do not have the ceiling fan turned on. Use the same rules as you do for doing gold leaf.
- Do not throw out anything. There will be times you will smack your forehead as you realize that a small piece you brushed aside would be perfect to fill in a specific gap.
- Don't be afraid to add more glue. And water. And watered down glue. And watery glue. And water on top of glue. And glue on top of water.
- Let things dry. Use severe amounts of patience. If you try and brush on more glue, everything -will- move. If you try and cut or scrape away excess before it is dry, everything -will- move. Work in smal areas all over the picture at the same time if you are limited with time. Otherwise this should be a project that easily takes a month.

Things I learned in hindsight that I want to incorporate next time::

- It is obvious in some of the pictures from The Feather Book that there was art underneath the feathers, more than just an outline sketch, but painted colors. Perhaps as a guide for the staff to know what colors to lay down where. I would like to try that next time so there isn't as much concern with filling small gaps because the same color will be underneath.
- Upon closer inspection, it appears that after the picture was created, it was then cut out to give it super clean edges from the feathers and then that feather cut out picture was placed into the book and words were written. Next time I would like to try that as well in hopes of giving a cleaner appearance.

Either way, I'm incredibly proud of the efforts I went to in putting together the scroll.

This particular scroll was an AoA for Helen Attebroke. Words by Tristan le Chanticler:

"Eight July came swiftly, A.S. two and fifty,

Amid blood and gore of the Great Northeastern War,

When Majesties Imperial brought gift to thee,

Ionnes Stark and Honig Sweet, you knelt before.

Awarding Arms, Helen Attebroke, emblazon,

Per chevron green and white, four barnacles in pairs,

With harp arranging, thereby hearts counterchanging.

In love and war will tensioned strings loose wondrous aires!

Know that whenever bow, or back, or song are bent,

Within Our homes or halls, or on Our fields or wall,

This fletchèd point drives deep and true, when talent’s lent,

That patient crafts in steady hands meet duty’s call!

Thus flock and knock fine feathers on Our Eastern wing

As the thrumming archer's harps our victories sing."

He played nicely into the feathers and the fact she was an archer and a harper. The words really pulled it all together.

Here is the final scroll:

For more pictures from the actual book, visit this site.

Emerald for Olivia Baker

The Emerald is a baronial award in the Barony of Concordia of the Snows that is given for incredible work in the area of persona.

Olivia is a very close and very dear friend of mine. When I saw her name come across the polling, I was hoping to be tagged if she made it out the other side to make her scroll. Of course, I did end up getting the pleasure and honor of making her scroll which was, of course, a delight.

But! It was finals time and I knew the only way I would have time to make her scroll before the event was to see if someone would help by doing the words for me, so I tagged in on Drake Oranwood, a well known bard and creator of sonnets, to work on the words for an award for his teacher, Olivia.

The words he came up with read as thus (You can read more about how he came up with his scroll here):

"Those hours, by her patient work, did frame
The lovely frock where every eye doth dwell;
She’ll play the tyger, to advance our game
And, most unfair, she fairly doth excel;

For never-resting hands sew garments on—
Olivia Baker will adorn with care;
Her friends will frost, and layer’d well upon,
Beauty o'er-cometh bareness everywhere:

Then good Queen Bess’s distillation kept,
Immers’d below the salt in halls of feast,
Beauteous court recalled from where it slept
To life, no mere remembrance in the least:

 She hath distill’d all this, and so ‘tis meet,
 An Em’rald show; her substance well shines sweet.

Adorned at the thirty-seventh Wars of the Roses
On this 28th day of May, AS LII
By Baron Jean-Paul DuCasse and Baroness Lylie Penhill"

Along with the words, he researched proper spelling and letter formation based on the period and sent that along with the words. In the end, I chose a bastarda style script for the hand and for an illumination, I studied a variety of cadels before deciding on a cadel work that would showcase elegance and allow me to use some gold work as well as red lines in it.  Most of my inspiration came from the Matriculation Register of the Rectorate of the University of Basel, Volume 1 (1460-1567).

The final result was this: