So I've started calligraphy

Which was like, the one thing Kiaya-From-The-Past DID NOT want to do. I did not want to measure millimeters and learn different hands and play with ink and nibs. Nibs are frustrating! I'd always had bad, scratchy, hard, gave-my-hands-all-the-cramps nibs.

So here's the thing.
There aren't enough calligraphers out there. And if -I'm- not writing on words, I have to relinquish part of my total artist control on a piece of art. And that's HARD. It's SO hard for me. That was one reason I started. The other was because I saw how many scrolls Master Harold had to do. He does SO MANY letters for scrolls guys. And I am nothing if not motivated to help where there is a need. It's a problem. And I love Master Harold and don't want him to be overworked. I know - I ask a miracle. But I like trying.

So I dove in and pestered my apprentice brother, Robert, to teach me stuff (he lives closer than Harold. So it's like I'm learning from Harold, but not, at the exact same time). Robert indefinitely loaned me THIS BOOK HERE (which I returned just last week, when he then GAVE ME MY OWN COPY because Robert is a sweetheart and national treasure unto our Kingdom.) and it was one of the biggest helps to me.

The other huge help was to get an AMES lettering guide (again, thank you Robert) and learn how to use that piece of black magic. (YES BLACK MAGIC. IT'S WHACK.) I direct you all to Master Alexandre's blog, where he explains ALL THE THINGS.

And then you spend time. You spend a lot of time with lines and nibs and practicing doing straight vertical lines and transcribing pop songs onto paper.
Master Harold has me use dip pens for a multitude of reasons that are his and his alone. I will say that while the curve for learning on dip may be steeper as you fuss more with ink flow and all that entails, you get a lot on invaluable practice in while you do it, so that when you come out the other end, you're much further along to your goal than you would be if you started with a fountain pen and then had to relearn when you get to dip pens further down the line. It's all in how you learn. I'm happier working harder, faster, for a carrot, than doing really well with training wheels and then backsliding without them. That's my opinion, both ways of doing it are totally valid and legitimately, as long as you're writing letters well on the art, we don't care!
Or at least I don't.
With that being said, right now, I use these nibs, but I'm wanting to try some squishier ones at some point.

I'm still starting, so I can't really help much. I'm blessed to be in a Laurel lineage with some amazing calligraphers and illuminators - all of whom are helpful to WHOEVER ASKS THEM. My biggest piece of advice is to READ THE EAST KINGDOM SCRIBAL HANDBOOK. It tells you all the guidelines and things to being an East Kingdom Scribe. (If you live in another kingdom, read their handbook! Really! Each Kingdom is a bit different and it's important to follow their rules. When we all play by the same rules, we all play a better game!)
And if you're in the East Kingdom, join the appropriate Facebook groups and say hi! Ask us questions because we WANT to help you SO BADLY. I've been in the SCA my ENTIRE LIFE and my biggest regret is legitimately not talking with scribes more because they are the kindest people I've interacted with.
I mean, they're all crazy from the paint fumes. But they're also super nice.

Oh, and buy an X-acto knife.
You'll figure out why later.

A coronet and scroll for Anastasia

Oh man, I thought I posted this.
Once upon a time there was an amazing lady known and Anastasia of the Oaks. She quietly organized everything behind the scenes for two sets of Barons/Baronesses and is a pillar of Stonemarche.

Once upon a time we asked that she be made a baroness and their majesties said yes, but here's the catch, you only have like, two weeks to get this done.

I was contacted to do a coronet and said 'Yeah, I can do that on top of all my other Birka prep. Sure.' I would embroider and build it and because Anastasia is a weaver, we would weave trim for it. My mother, Mistress Deirdre, is a great weaver. No biggie, of course she would help.

The next morning I was contacted by my Laurel to do the scroll.

Master Harold would be doing the calligraphy, I would do the illumination.
Yeah. Okay. Sure.

[[Note: My phone uploaded these photos before crashing and I am having the worst time convincing Blogger to move the images around into any sort of order. I would reupload them but I can't find where I put the backup SD card. I know I have it, I'm sorry this is a mess.]]

There were issues getting the gold down properly - I put the miniatum on too thick and it wrinkled. I ended up slicing them off the pergament and putting new dots on.

There were issues with the embroidery I did - I thought I was using kloisterstitch properly and due to my tension on the fabric, it totally warped with I attempted to couch them onto the coronet. I ended up appliqueing on linen squares instead. Super lucky for me, I had the EXACT right shade of blue on hand. What are the odds?

 My son is always my head model.

Here is Anastasia and her coronet:

Vivat, your Excellency! Thank you for your work and inspiring all of us!

On Wednesdays we wear Pink.

So I bought a bunch of fabric after 12th Night in Endeweare (Where I was also inducted into the Order of the Silver Wheel -eeeeeee!!!-) and now I'm making cotehardies and attaching all the buttons.

Of Fairies and Consent

People get on my case sometimes for overusing the word 'consent'. I don't blame them, however, every time I use it for something else, it is like a cog clicks into place in my brain and things work better than before.

So G (age 5) has his first loose tooth. And despite it being one of the grossest things I've dealt with as a wife and mother, it's brought up the interesting conundrum of the Tooth Fairy.

Now I adored the Tooth Fairy growing up and I still adore her today. I still want Santa to be real and the first time someone told me Santa Clause wasn't real I wanted to spit on them (funny story, the second person, I did spit at. Totally missed. It did not help my case.)
There are loads of blogs talking about the benefits and downsides to 'keeping magic alive/lying' to your children. I'm merely documenting mine so I don't forget.
G is a very smart little boy. He has the engineering brain from his grandfathers, so I know better than to water down answers for him or try to lie. However. Since gaining an imagination just shy of 4 years old (a late bloomer), he's taking stories and fears more seriously (gaining a fear of the shadowy stairwell (but not of a pitch black bedroom full of boxes)) and you can't belittle that.

I've learned by now it's no good to assume things with Gideon.

"So what do you want to do with the tooth once it falls out?"

And we begin a half-conversation of me not letting the cards show and him not wanting to guess the wrong answer and lose out on something... magical. It's how I know he still needs magic: he wants it.
I tell him a few scenarios about me keeping his teeth. I remind him about the story of Loki and his ship of toenails, teeth and hair of the dead. He can throw them away. We can make him a tooth necklace. He can invite a fairy into our home. She might not be good, I remind him. Not all fairies are good, even in stories.

"The tooth fairy is a good fairy Mom."
"I thought you said fairies weren't real."
"Well. I don't -know-. I know people who believe in fairies and've seen them but... But the Tooth Fairy is a good fairy. And I want good fairies in my life. I want as many things protecting me as I can have."
"And you feel like the tooth fairy will do that?"
"I do."
"So you want to have some magic in your life?"
"Yes please."
"Okay then. Let me know if you change your mind."

G knows that his father and my opinions on the matter only help to shape what will happen in this kind of scenario, they don't dictate it. He asks us what we think about things and we tell him and also remind him that people think differently and we explain their reasons too, as best we can.

[We arrived at 'Santa Clause is the embodiment of Goodwill towards all Humanity' and 'representative of Christ's love for us' and 'We are all Santa Clause' years ago and maintain it as such. That 'belief' is a family one, like a recipe for conduct, rather than an actual belief or tradition. ]

G needed to say yes. He needed to invite in the invasion of his sleeping space and the removal of his body part from his possession. It had nothing to do with his safety or physical health, so I ask for his consent. His input matters and it always had. He knows that if he gets passive, things will happen that he won't like, like weird dinners or Netflix viewing choices. It's a double edged sword. I don't always get what I want and have to model that graciously. -Mostly- I see that it's working. Everyone so often he'll flop to the ground and groan at me that life's not fair.
But it's not. And I agree with him. If there's room, I flop down next to him and groan too. Misery loves company. Being 5 is no exception. Feelings matter. And how we act on those feelings and on situations, matters.
So I asked for consent before I transform into the tooth fairy.

A scroll for my Laurel and his Lady

Back in, gosh, August? His Excellency of Stonemarche, Dorio, requested I help him out on a project. I agree, pretty much at once, because he's never given me a boring project.

He wanted to honor my Then, Soon-To-Be-Laurel Master, Harold von Auerbach and his wife, Mistress Aine, by naming them Sentinels of Stonemarche and Professors Emeritus. Some fun shtick to honor two people who have given us more than we can ever really repay.
So I with my big mouth said 'Well, if we do an Italian scroll, I'm sure I can figure out humanist hand well enough for it.'

You know. For my Illumination/Calligraphy Laurel. Hah!

Dorio and I went halfsies on the wording, which was loads of fun. I can't wait to write more scrolls later. But I digress. I learned a lot of things with this scroll, namely how to sort of use my Ames Lettering Guide and how to never take on a project behind my Laurel's back because then I can't ask him for help. Brilliant.

My reference page/Inspiration was this History Naturalis. And now here's a series of progress shots.

(Gouache on Pergament, 11"x 14".)

It was a fun surprise to pull this off under Harold's nose, and on the day of my Apprenticing, no less!

EK Calendar page for 2018

I'm one of those people that needs a push.
I think it's because I got emotionally smacked down a lot when I was younger: I had a knack for sticking my nose in where it wasn't wanted and, well, not being wanted. I was like a puppy who kept saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Now I like to wait. I wait and I listen to make sure I'm wanted/needed. This means that people don't always know what I can do or that I'm willing to do it.
People also don't ask, in my experience.

So it's really wonderful when someone takes a chance on me and speaks up for me. In this case, that would be Christiana Crane. She is one of those people who believes that YOU CAN DO THE THING. And then tells people you can.

At the EK Scribal party/meetup at Pennsic this year, she did her normal thing. Pushing me up to someone and saying "Haaaaave you met Keziah? She's new. And great! And can -do the thing-."
In this case, the person was Mistress Rhonwyn and the thing was a page for the EK calendar.
I was all about that, man.
Mistress Rhonwyn had barely spoken "The theme is "Around the World" and we're asking--"
"Armenian."
"What?"
"Armenian. I would love to do an Armenian page."

Apparently those were the right words.

Source/Inspiration from the Armenica

Source/Inspiration by Toros R'oslin.

Calligraphy is still not my jam, but I did it anyway. Like I'm saying constantly, I learned a lot and I know now more of what -not- to do.

Gifts for the taking of an Apprentice

So being apprenticed by not one, but two amazing Laurels that I have respected and admired for years will take a longer post, but for now, I wanted to get my act together with posting what I make.

While I worked away at a scroll assignment from my Baron (post to come) I needed something else to work on while the gouache dried. So I took a quote from Canterbury Tales and a page from the Macclesfield Psalter (I think. I can't find the link/source right now.) and decided to do a cute little piece for my Tailoring/Research Laurel, Mistress Astryda Borowska.

And I gotta practice my Gothic hand but look at my tiny knight!

Look at him! He's so SMALL. And I'm sorry the light is so bad. I was using the only lamp I had and it was terrible. I have a new lamp now and it's much better.

So with that piece done, I did a little sewn piece for my Illumination/Calligraphy Laurel, Master Harold von Auerbach.

Those are his arms! Aren't they great?

It was supposed to be a bookmark but the embroidery was too thick so I ended up fingerloop braiding and finishing it up to make it a marker/tie-on whatever thing. It's nice, but I really had no plan and it shows.

I got it all done in time for Baronial Birthday however, and I signed a lovely contract and was embarrassed to no end by complements. 

(Thanks to Lee for this picture!)