Wandering at the Shadows' Edge

exploring potential and possibility

Archive for the category “Bookbinding”

08 Aug 2019

Revisiting the Shadows

Sometimes you just have to travel back to someplace you’ve already been. That’s true when it comes to places, projects, stories, and many other things.

At the moment, I’m traveling in the shadows I’ve already mapped, going back to things that are familiar and, in some cases, comforting. I need to start exploring again soon.

Work has been taking a lot of my mental energies, so I’ve been reading old favorites. They’re fun and easy since I’ve already read them at least once. That leaves my brain cycles available for other things.

What are those other things? Revising the second and third Double Helix books into to drafts I can give to an editor is part of it. I’ve also been doing some editing on Secrets and Shadows before I release it wide and in print. And I’ve been working on the short stories my mailing list gets for free. And then there’s the zero draft of the fourth Double Helix book. That’s most of the writing related stuff that’s not new.

I’m re-exploring the fiber arts as well. I need a new lanyard for work, so I warped up my inkle loom. I got a couple of inches dones then set it aside. I need to finish it because there are other weaving projects – new techniques – I want to try. Of course, I need to finish balling the yarn for some of those projects too!

I’ve been jotting down ideas and steps for completing some older SCA projects too. I need to practice specific calligraphy and illumination styles and figure out some fairly extensive blocking. I need to make a test batch of gesso, test some gilding options, and do some more research and practice on book binding.

I’m considering pulling an old project here out of the shadows. There’s a lot of negativity in the world and on social media right now. And there are a lot of people doing their parts to make things a little better, a little easier, a little nicer. They need to be seen though, and all too often they aren’t. So I think I may bring the spotlight back. There’s light in the shadows, though we usually only see the dark.

Hmm….

It looks like I’m not quite ready to start mapping new paths in the shadows yet. But I’ll get there.

Are you revisiting old maps or exploring new ones?

Posted in Bookbinding, Calligraphy & Illumination, General Wandering, Inkle Weaving, Modern, SCA, Spotlight, Writing | Leave a Comment
14 Feb 2018

Prepping for Faire

Every year, as winter changes to spring, Sherwood Forest Faire begins. I love the Faire. The first year I went, I found an SCA friend running a booth – Tobar Tinker’s Pawn Shop. He was in need of some extra help – and he was willing to get me an employee pass if I would help out for the rest of the season. I jumped at the offer.

And I found I love working at the Faire. I’m not a sales person, but I have skills that make a difference for the shop. And I’ve made friends I look forward to seeing each year. I always plan to do more preparation before Faire – but I rarely actually get it done.

This year is different.  I’ve been meaning for a couple of years now to make a dual layer capelet – I have a lovely, heavy cloak, but as cashier, I can’t keep the front of the cloak closed when I’m working. A capelet, with arm slits, is a much better choice.  Finally, earlier this month, I cut the capelet out and sewed it together. Now I’m just decorating it.

Another project – a more period style account ledger. Because of the kind of business we do, its hard to automate. We’re trying, but we keep a paper record of sales and purchases. In the past we’ve used a regular notebook and pen. Over the past couple of years, I’ve started using a dip pen and ink, but the notebook was still distracting. This year, I think I may have figured out how to create a medieval looking ledger book that will adapt to the volume of business that we do from weekend to weekend.

One last bit of prepping I have to do this yeart won’t happen until next week after I’ve talked to my boss. I’ll need to update the Terms of Service and “How the Shop Works” and inventory sheets for this year.  That’s all on the computer, so it’s pretty quick and easy.

It’s nice to be ahead of the game this year and actually have done some of the things I’ve been saying I wanted to do for a couple of seasons.

Posted in Bookbinding, Calligraphy & Illumination, Faire, Modern, Paper Arts, Sewing and tagged , , | Leave a Comment

Post Navigation