Revisions and Refirings and glass splinters..

This post got lost in my drafts, so we're a bit out of order at this point, but here it is anyway!! ^_^

Kingdom A&S was over the memorial day weekend, and I'm happy to say my piece did well enough at regional for both of us to attend : D (yes, I'm one of the reasons the Midrealm was asking for so many metalworking judges : ) I did get the chance to adjust the issues I was having with the greens (I'm convinced it's a compatibility issue, the lamp-working glass doesn't want to play as well with my enamels as I'd hoped, but ah well, lesson learned.

The piece, as submitted at regional A&S in North Oaken. yes, there are gaping wounds in my enamel, the pearls are so round they look fake (thats now a running joke, they really were Real), and no, it's not actually set into the bezel.... and we're not even going to discuss how my copies of my documentation were missing the last/bibliography page. i did ok enough to move on, so lets just do that! ^_^

 Also, the thickness i was getting from patching the green so much was causing issues as well :( BUT! Once it was sorted out, i was able to start grinding the enamels smooth : )

After the last firings, before grinding smooth

 

First round of stoning. shows where there are low spots, but way easier to see all the cloisons in the red garment : D i think i'd nearly forgotten about them honestly... 

I used increasingly fine grades of wet sanding to smooth the top edges to a glossy finish. which of course makes all the wierdness in the glass show up, but meh, whatever, now i know.. had some issues with my bezel setting, but i did replace the pearls with some other smaller but more irregular ones (oh hey, THOSE are totally real! lol) 

 

My Piece on display at Kingdom A&S in Tipton, IN, laid on the tea towel i usually wear on my head, because i'd realized i forgot to bring anything to display my piece on.. Thanks for the advice Tinker!!) I am Very proud to report that I received a First Place at Kingdom : D 

Now, what to do next year.... hmm...

Attack of the Killer Rabbit!!

So recently (ok, June 7th) There was a nice little event in the Cleftlands, called NOWM, and would you believe, my bestie/other half Beatrix and I conned those nice marshals into authorizing us to fight? Silly martials.. ^_^
I am now a Proud grunt in the Midrealm Army
DRACO INVICTUS!! (im in the red and gold, her awesomeness Beatrix is in the green/purple :)

 

SO a bit about my armor, because honestly, it's pretty damn skippy. 

Since the fox has so timely decided he needed new arms/legs, those are his old ones, and honestly, thats his gambeson as well... and his pauldrons.. 

ok.. well.. whatever, the coat of plates is mine!! 

We started with a basic wisby coat pattern (you can find them several places : ) And then there were some fittings with cardboard, and then more fudging of shapes, and eventually even some "side boob armor" because honestly, i cannot ignore them, might as well armor them) 

 

Plates cut and assembled, sewing the lining to the cote.

 

Plates all riveted to the canvas. this was outdoor canvas from slo-ann fabrics and crap (don't judge, i worked there for about 8+ years, lol) 

 

inside of plates all riveted. here you can see my awesome lil' side boob panels, honestly, these work amazing. 

Being plated!! i had cut out the canvas to a general shape, but we had to mark where the plates would go/be riveted.. wow.. this is pretty much in reverse order, sorry!!!

My Gambeson:

Patterned the same way I did the Fox's, since i've been borrowing/stealing his anyway. So same mostly-rectangular pattern : ) 

Pieces all laid out, ready to be quilted : D

Helpful Kitteh is helpful... this is Addi (yes, it's short for Adipose, we are whovians afterall.. and yes, her brother is Stormageddon)

Quilty quilty quilty.. 

Some Assembly required!! all the seams will get finished with bias tape, because i either didn't have enough seam allowance/am too lazy to flat fell my gambeson

Picture showing how i sammiched my layers (medium linen on either side, with cotton quilt batting in between) that i sent to Bea, who was working on hers simultaneously at her own den : P

HELM:

So, i needed a bucket for my mellon, of course, so what else would i do, but barter one of my BFA pieces for a helm? 

So barter victim got this:

 

And i got this: 

I .. have no idea what that expression is..

Put it all together though, and you haz a killer bunneh!!! ; D 

Into the wild yonder.. well, not so yonder

I've been playing in the SCA since just before pennsic of 2007, i missed war of 2008 (i'd given birth 2 weeks prior and still had very little in the way of gear.. Since then i have happily participated on and off in Rapier (i lost my auth, but plan on fixing that soon), But mostly in the Arts and Sciences (i have a BFA in jewelry/metals/enameling from Kent State University) and have served as A&S Champion, and even Archery Champion in my barony. But there are still lands uncharted, new things to try.. and not just as a water carrier. Thats right, the rabbit is going into Heavy. Red Spears numbers have dwindled these past days, and encouraged by the rally to rebuild our unit, i'm going out there myself. To stand with my brethrin and sisters in arms, and defend our precious piggies! (i'm looking at you brendoaken, and your bacon, LOL!) There is so much energy, joy, pain, ADRENALINE on the heavy lists, that for all these years, I will admit that it has frightened me. All that noise and bashing, and the bruises, oh dear mother night, the bruises.. Meh. It's time to put on my big girl braes and get out there! First practice tonight in the Marche of the Marshes with some drills, i've bartered one of my BFA exhibition pieces for a helm, and i'm getting hand-me down knees and elbows from the Fox. Coat of plates and working on some legs in the mean time, and i should be ready to go! The goal right now is to Auth sword & board at NOWM, then shoot for Spear at Baron Wars. I'm still scared, but it all seems so worth it now. I haven't yet defined what has changed, but knowing im needed, and being so welcomed onto the lists, has strengthed my resolve. But don't worry, I'm just a little bunny rabbit ^_^ YIS - Gwen

Current Project (hahahahahaha, ok, one of several...)

So while I wait for myself to get around to re-adding the 'pearls' to my Laurel's Court Baronness Coronet, I'll show you the other things im working on. In addition to this being "The Year Of the Demo" for our local groups, (including everyone going german as we'll be demo-ing at the German American Festival this year) I have a subtle personal project to work on my accessories for a proper (bwahaha, me? proper? you jest.. or just want me to be the right color? #heraldjokes) I acquired last year a more correct/thinner green belt, studded with rabbits and acorns of course (mine and my laurels charges). But my current "small-mole-stitching" project is the St. Birghitta Cap : )
omg i lurv ur hat! ^_^ oh hey i totes made it myself betch!

.. right. so.
There are WAY too many patterns out there for me to bother showing exactly how im making it, it's too redundant, and i have no interesting/new theories on how any of it works.
  This chick was great!

My problem is i hate things around my neck, they make me claustrophobic. (seriously.. i even cut the collars off my t-shirts.. ) So instead of a wimple, or the ties, or whatever, this hat would be awesome, and makes a great base for pinning veils or whatnot.. y'know.. when i FIND my veil again.. or make a new one.

I will tell a few things though,
I'm using aprox. 2 9 x 12 rectangle of IL20 for you fabric-store junkies, (thats a 3.5oz linen for everyone else) and a strip thats abour 2-1/2" wide and as long as i could manage.
so far i have curved the top corner and finished that edge. these two curved edges will become the center seam, once i run a spaced herringbone stitch doen between them. it will look like this.
Well.. hopefully it'll look like that. i may be doing this in a vehicle on the way to Blackstone Raids this weekend.. we shall seeeee...

After that the bottoms will get gathered, i'll stitch the whole mess to the long ties, fold them over, loop 'em round my head and ta'dah, it's a correctly styled hat that ISN'T my polyester tea towel.
BAMF.

hopefully.

YIS - Gwenllian

So then this happened

And then I finally entered my regional A&S Fair on 4/12/14.. now my laurel can lay-off.. of course, the next event she saw me i was reminded to repair her coronet that was nearly destroyed in a trip to and from Caid.. but.. i digress.

I Started by Grinding my own enamels. i used lampworking rods because they came in a variety of colors and were readily available.

I decided just gong to town on them in a motar/pestle would work.. and it totes did!

There are also records of heating the glass until red hot and then quenching it, this shatters it so that it will break more easily.. it totes did : )

I then cut small bits of cloisonne wire to match my design, this is a test of patience and OCD. for reals.. 

The Wires are then places on the base with a layer of clear enamel and fired to adhere them to the base

 The colors are then wet-packed into the cells, and fired until they fuse -

The process is repeated until the glass comes up over the edges, it will then be ground smooth, and placed in a bezel wire surrounded by pearls, oh hey, kinda like this.. (pic to follow)

And then you get judged by awesome people, who have way more faith in you, and make you feel awesome, and that you do good work, and then you clean up your docs and piece and take it to kingdom A&S!!!!!  

and stuff... im not dead yet, sorry y'all...

YIS - Gwen