There will be a Pennsic post eventually... this one is quicker, and easier, and more recent. :)

All Things Scribal was announced sometime before GNEW, and it was going to be in IDD. Got very excited. Emailed the delightful Baroness Tadea, figured out what I wanted to teach (also what needed teaching), and arranged crash space (since Cynan was going to be in PEI that weekend...) I ventured North on Friday evening, prepared for a day of ART on Saturday. Landed at Angus and Tigger's around 10:30, Rozi and Kayleigh arrived somewhere around midnight, sleep was had soon thereafter.

Saturday dawned bright and HOT. I thought Canada was supposed to be cooler... (heh, right) I realized that I'd forgotten paper towels (essential supply for painting), and then proceeded to forget the roll provided by my most gracious hostess on the table. Got to the event site, was directed to a bank (for money) and a corner store (for paper towels). Found both. Sketchiest. Corner store. Ever. Eeeeeugh. Acquired paper towels, though. Back at the event, got ready, taught class #1 (scroll layout, 8 people), had a break, taught class #2 (beginning gouache. very popular. at least 13 students. more people than I'd anticipated, but I had enough stuff, some folks brought their own, so it worked. a bit overwhelming for me, but I think everybody had fun, and by the end was using the paint (mostly) properly). Her Majesty and Her Higness sat in on that one. No pressure.

Lunch was lovely, and then thank goodness there was an extra hour I didn't think I had between lunch and my last class (whitework), because I needed to clean palettes and decompress a little bit. Whitework was 6 or 7 students, just about perfect. Her Highness joined me again, and again by the end of the class, most of the students were making good progress.

Three classes is my limit. It didn't feel like a lot of work, but it was pretty tiring. I was falling asleep at dinner, which was hard to do with at least 30 people in the backroom. One of the highlights was definitely discussing the "finer" points of NASCAR (and various other things) with His Highness Edward. We had a lovely dinner, the 30 of us...

So many good people and good times. I think everybody had fun. Staying with Angus and Tigger was fantastic. Can't wait to go back up in February for K&Q Rapier. I do so enjoy Canada and all the people there.

Pictures!

08-25 All Things Scribal IDD

Things to do for next time:
- have a 'preferred brands' list. The brushes, paint, and paper weren't really written down anywhere... I may do a follow-up email/post to the event page.
- demo paint before handing it out. too much gouache too quickly, not enough instruction before brushes started hitting palettes.

Sunday I met up with Cynan (returned from PEI Saturday night), and I got to be a tourist. It's nicer when it's not 17 below (C) out there... We wandered a bit of Montreal, went climbing all over Mount Royal, had a lovely lunch at a pub downtown, and then I had to be off... quick day... another wonderful day, though. Home by 10:30 or so, didn't get enough sleep. I'll catch up eventually.

Photos of Montreal/Mount Royal:

08-26 Montreal

Lancelot is being a Helpful Kitty today, making sure I stay in my chair and finish the scroll for next weekend at GNEW. Break time now. Dinner time. Starving artists aren't necessarily starving because they're poor, I think they just forget to eat sometimes...

More photos after the event. My first foray into "Squashed Bug" style, and it is going VERY well, I think. :) Iain and I were up till nearly 4 AM last night/this morning, him sewing, me painting, and I was astounded at how awake I still was at 3:30 AM, and how well the paint was working. Maybe that's the secret...

Secret is out for me, though: Whitework. Don't try to re-wet dry white paint to do whitework. Start with a fresh blob of white, there will be much, MUCH less swearing about it.

In other news, there is a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak that has found my birdfeeder out front (and the squirrel baffle works wonderfully. No more empty feeder after a day and a half!). He is so pretty. A staccato chip! chip! chip! lets me know he's out there, but I haven't been able to get a good photo... darn screen in the front door...

Had meant to post this last night, but between one thing and another (and attempting to sew what has become the most complicated T-tunic in history, and I have no idea WHY. At this point, I'm just praying it fits...), it was suddenly 12:30AM, and I had to sleep...

Good things:
- Fresh peas, blueberries, and raspberries from the farm stand down the road.
- My kitties love puddles of sunlight. They so cute.
- I have enough sun in one little corner of the front garden to grow roses. I have 'High Voltage' planted at the moment, and am hoping to add a few more... just a few... And the Japanese beetles haven't found it. Yet.
- The main benefit to having raspberry brambles everywhere in the yard and garden is the raspberries, which are just starting to ripen. The ones in more shade were sweeter, too.
- Blueberries. I need to go out by the side of the road and see what I can pick off the zillions of plants out there. There were a few on the patch in the backyard, but I think it's too shady to really produce any fruit...
- Fun wildflowers in my backyard! 5 or 6 little plants of Lilium philadelphicum v. philadelphicum, or Wood Lily, have managed to poke their way through the leaves and weeds and other mess in the back, and are beautiful.
- Paint that works. Had a fantastic art day yesterday. Scroll is coming along.
- Still learning (but loving) the new camera. Need to read the manual... got to figure out the white balance settings and other stuff for indoor shots so colors don't come out all weird.

Today, now, I must finish Xavier's tunic. And work on the scroll some more. The easy part is done... Also, grocery shopping must happen today, and we have got to get the kitchen put back together. My brother and his girlfriend are coming to visit tonight, so the cats need to be brushed, and I need to vacuum everywhere, possibly twice, so they don't both die the moment they walk through the door...

'Cause it's a cute li'l scroll, and I'm excited that Ben from Endewearde won, I share with you all! The Third Annual Northern Region Rapier Champion's Scroll, now with slightly different wording than the last two!!

Started as rain yesterday, leaving New Hampshire. Changed to snow around the Wells exit on 95, and hasn't stopped since. We've got about 8-12" of the fluffy white stuff on the ground, and it's still coming down... Don't have to go anywhere tonight, though. Can stay home and putter/sew/relax.

Some good things; the office wasn't plowed out right away this morning, so I got a little bit of extra sleep. It's still snowing, so the guys are out plowing, and I get the office to myself. No boss to bug me. And I have new jeans that fit me perfectly. Hooray for Tractor Supply Company in NH, boo that they only had one pair. I'll try the one up here sometime.

Lego Rock Band is also made of Awesome. So cute. Good music, and silly silly challenges that give alternating band members a rest and chance to see what's going on in the background animations.

The search for good sizing for gold leaf continues. alexsaintpierre was having issues with what we'd thought we'd found for a good replacement, which I had found and used and got to work, but not well last night. Frustrating. This looks like a promising substitute, assuming it's usable on paper. Gah, gold leaf sticks to everything except what we want it to, and the sizing we have, everything sticks to, including the tissue paper backing on the gold leaf. Causes issues when I want to put gold on that spot... We'll figure it out, hopefully before the last of the good stuff has been used up.

Fun fun fun day yesterday in Giggleswick... Spring's Inspirations/Northern Region Rapier Academy & Champion's Tourney at the Baptist church in Eliot on a beautiful Summer day was the place to be. I dunno if temps hit 80, but it was certainly warm.

( ramblerambleramblerecap )

The culmination of the day was the Apprenticing ceremony for alexsaintpierre and myself, and we are now officially apprenticed to Carolyne... I have a beautiful belt, he has a beautiful baldric, and we have one of the coolest Laurels for a mommy that anybody could ask for. Thank you to everybody that stayed to watch the ceremony. I hope I do my new family proud. :)

And now that the scroll has been presented, I can unlock this album, of ludicrose's Queen's Order of Courtesy scroll. I think he likes it... :) I definitely enjoyed doing it.

Fun Fun Fun. :) But oh, boy, am I sore. Fencing, dancing... You'd think that with all the shoveling I've been doing my muscles would be just fine, but they're different muscles... It needs to not snow tomorrow, so I can make it to fencing and work the pain out.

( A fantastic weekend, right under here. )

Frustrating part of the event is always the poor lighting; I refuse to use flash, and it's pointless from as far away as I usually am anyway, but I was not terribly thrilled with any of the photos I took... Those that were not deemed totally unworthy are here, do enjoy, if you can.

Photos of Mickel's shiny shiny shiny Silver Crescent scroll are here! They are much better and less fuzzy.

Now comes the unpacking... I had a ridiculous amount of stuff for a weekend/1-day event, but I don't think I can actually cut down on this one...... I'll find everything in the back seat of my car eventually.

So... GNEW is done, we are home, the car/trailer is mostly unpacked (and everything is randomly strewn about the living room and kitchen), I have done a load of laundry to clean icky fencing gear, and there is to be sleep soon. Not before, though, sharing what ate up many an evening in the last month and a half, and was received with all the appropriate and expected reactions at court... I give you Iain's Grandmaster Bowman Scroll, from start to finish, in all it's illuminated glory. Calligraphy by alexsaintpierre, words by Max.

A most excellent weekend. Bed now. Me go thunk.