(for more pictures of the event, go to the Northshield Gallery.)

I had such a good time this weekend at the Griffin's Needle Challenge!!! I was wonderful to see everyone working so hard and so well together on their various projects. My team, The Persian Griffins, worked very well together, and we completed just about everything we worked on. We created two BRIGHT outfits, one for me and one for my fighter, Jonns Gunnarson. The only thing that didn't get finished was my outer coat - it needs to be hemmed and a closure added to it.

The biggest lesson we learned for next time it to make a mock-up of the garb before the "real" version. My under coat was way too tight, & even after making a second attempt at it, it pulled a lot across my chest. Since I will be wearing this outfit to Coronation next month, I am planning on making middle layer before then. I think it'll be longer so it will cover the shift and show under the over coat better.

I am already looking forward to next year's competion, & am even thinking about attending the Middle Kingdom's Golden Seamstress competition in the Winter. We'll see just how crazy I'm feeling at that point. :)

I had some fun today with makeup today for makeup. Since we are going all out on the outfits, figured I should also do the proper makeup for Persian. :) Enjoy the fun! LOL

7:00 - Dog got me up to let him out. Not the best way to wake up, but not unexpected.

7:05 - Fell back asleep

9:30 - Hubby called and woke me up. Love him! After that phone call, started reading Blood of Flowers by Alica Amirrezvani. It's very good and evokative about a young lady growing up in Safavid Persia. Once I finish it, I'll write a proper review.

11:00 - Got a call from spot1111 to see when I was coming over to make cord.

12:00 - Arrived at Sorcha's with fried chicked for lunch. YUM! After eating, we got down to business. We made lots and lots of cording to use for button loops and trim in the Griffin's Needle Challenge next week.

During the day, I think we probably made 40+ yards of cording with her rope maker. Love it!! I may have to find one all for myself. It's a great way to make a cord and much quicker than fingerloop braiding. My big toe thanks her greatly for saving it from getting the blood cut off to it from fingerlooping. :)

7:30 - Came home and just beat the hubby home. He was in Wausau for work since Friday. Good to see him and try and find something worth watching on TV for the evening. But Strawberry Daiquiris help with that. hehe

Little John did a wonderful job yesterday in sketching out the pattern for the front & back of my bookbinding. The only difference I foresee is to make the tassels a bit bigger. Here is what it looks like thus far:

	embroidered bookbinding front This is the pattern for the frontside of my embroidered bookbinding.
	embroidered bookbinding back This is the pattern for the backside of my embroidered bookbinding.

The cinquefoil on top is to be purple, the cording is all gold, the device in the middle is white with the blue side flaunches, the tulip in the middle is also blue with a green stem.

Here is an update for the embroidered bookbinding that I am working on. It is a practice one for one I need to create for patsmor. I've been pondering this project for almost a year now, and am really looking forward to seeing it completed.

I am going to be veering from the original, as I am planning on also having the spine & back embroidered, and the colors will probably be more colorful, but hopefully my finished project will be something that will look very period indeed.

What I have:

• I have fabric - black velvet to be precise. It's been in my stash for quite a few years, so long I do not recall what it was originally purchased for. So it is time to make use of it.


• I have floss. Well, some floss to be precise. I am going to be using regular DMC cotton embrodery floss for this project since I cannot afford all the pretty silk I would love to use on it. I have a variety of colors to get me started, and have also invested in some of DMC's metallic floss for the couch work on this.
  
• I have a standing embroidery frame that will let me do the handwork on the binding without using the silly little round embroidery hoops. Hopefully this will keep the piece from getting too creased.
  
• I have a book to cover. cnewsonsmith gave me a photo album for Twelth Night that I will be covering. I'm going to use this as my project portfolio for the A&S 50 Challenge, so why not have one of the 50 as a binding!? :)
  
• I have inspiration! I ran across a wonderful bookbinding in the British Library's Database of Bookbindings. The original belonged to Marie de Medicis, Queen, Consort of Henri IV, King of France (1573-1642), and the book is roughly from 1615. You can see it here. I have a couple of changes I'm making to it so it relects me instead of Queen Marie, but the basic layout will remain the same.
  

All that's left is to get my rough sketches into a more final product and then transfer them onto tissue paper so I can get them onto the velvet. That should be a fun and challenging project right there! I hope to post images as I go to show step by step work on this.

I hope to get images of my design posted here shortly. Little John will be helping me with the final design this weekend hopefully.

Just thought of another SUPER easy recipe. Trifle! There are many varieties people make, but I am partial to strawberry. YUM. Here is one that's gotten rave reviews:

Strawberry Trifle
1 package instant vanilla (or cream cheese flavored) pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1 angel food cake, cut in cubes
4 sliced bananas (or leave them out if you want)
1 pound frozen strawberries, thawed (or fresh)
12 ounce container CoolWhip, thawed (or whip up some heavy whipping cream with a bit of vanilla extract & sugar)

Make up pudding following its directions. In trifle dish or clear glass bowl layer 1/2 cake, 1/2 pudding, 1/2 bananas, 1/2 strawberries and 1/2 the whipped cream. Repeat. Make the top pretty with strawberry for garnish. Chill in fridge 2-4 hours.

My first question: How about posts on how to make something homemade for a party when you don't have time or creativity to cook. Quick simple recipes, sure to wow your friends... from guineveremaire

My reply: Hmmmm...good question. Slow cooker recipes are always easy, and don't usually take much time to put together if you know you need something for a party ahead of time. I've made cheesy potatoes in a crock pot before and have gotten rave reviews.

My Cheesy Potatoes

• 1 32 onz bag frozen hashbrowns (shredded)
  
• 1 pint sour cream
  
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
  
• 8 onz shredded cheddar cheese
  

Mix all ingredients together and cook in crock pot 4 hours on high or 6 to 8 hours on low.

I'll have to think on this more and post Part 2 later...

From several people:

Everyone has things they write about. Everyone has things they don't write about.

Challenge me out of my comfort zone by picking something I don't write about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll get all posty about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on lima beans, favorite type of underwear, writing techniques, etc.

All comments will be screened, and I will keep questions anonymous and answer in subsequent posts.

I have challenged myself. And I accepted it! (Can you believe it?!) I am going to try to enter a project at every event I go to that has an A&S display/contest. These may include the rosaries/paternosters I've been learning about and small embroidery projects, along with whatever else strikes my fancy. I really enjoyed entering the contest at Boar's Head, so this is an extention of this. I hope to have at least a half-page of documentation for each entry. I am attending Shattered Oaks' Hromnice Celebration this weekend, and will be bringing my rendition of a knight's rosary. I'll post pictures when I take them.

Other ideas I'm mulling over include; a period broom, period camp storage/gear, recipe redactions...

Luck for me, not every event I attend has an A&S display!

I am happy to announce that I have taken a job with SELCO as their Project Librarian for a Smart Investing grant that they've received. Here is the blurb from their blog about the grant they received. I am very excited to work at SELCO, since everyone I've met there have been very friendly and they seem to have a wonderful working environment with lots of teams. I start Feburary 4. I'll be sorry to leave my curent co-workers, but an really looking forward to the new challenges this position will give me.

Here is the link to the British Library's page on Embroidered Book Bindings http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/embin2a.html.

Other webpages I'm using for research include Making a Chemise Binding & Heraldic Covers without Rebinding. This with the book I have from the library on the V&A textile collection should have me well on my way with at least the research portion of my A&S challenge project. Of course, any other resources or advice are always welcome. :)

I had a really good day yesterday. Got lots done and have not so much left to do before next weekend! I had an eye appointment & am testing new contact lenses, I worked out (had a great work out actually! Almost killed myself on the "hills" my stationary bike decided to torture me with, but felt good when I was done.), cleaned the floor in my entry way and put down the new rug in there, and I also have become addicted to embroidery!

I am working on a small embroidery project as a gift for a friend for Twelth Night, and I literally didn't want to put it down to go to bed last night! I wanted to finish it to see how pretty it is done...I didn't QUITE get it completed, but only have a small hole left to fill with color. This really jazzes me up for the embroidered bookbinding/cover I am to work on for Siobhan. I even have a book for this bookbinding challenge - The Victoria & Albert Textile Collection: Embroidery in Britain from 1200 to 1750. I've not had the chance to dig into it yet, but am looking forward to spending some time with it.

After reading the article on the British Museum's website on Embroidered Bookbindings, and zooming in on the images they have in their online collection, I have decided that I'll need to learn how to couch. Luckily, someone on one of my email lists provided these great websites on this style of embroidery last night! :)

• "Couching", from the STITCH with the Embroiderer's Guild stitch guide includes a clear line drawing of a couched cord, and a brief explanation of how couching works.
  
  
• "Couching or Simple Laid Work", from Inaminuteago includes a clear photo of yarn couched with contrasting thread, a slightly longer explanation of how couching works, and some comments on its use in the Middle Ages.
  
  
• 
  "Couching", from the Classic Stitches "Know How" section features illustrated step-by-step instructions for traditional couching.

Thanks to Coblaith Mhuimhneach for these annotated links!

So far I've only done some split stitching embroidery, but couching doens't look too difficult to learn. At least, that's my hope!

I have just joined a challenge given by Siobhan Medhbh O'Roarke in the West to learn a new SCA-related skill. Here is what I am doing for it:

I have many new projects and skills that interest me.  The one I'll go on record here with is embroidered bookbinding. OK...this is actaully two new skills for me, as I am currently working on my first embroidery project. The following links have some beautiful examples!

• Henry VIII's.
• Catherine Parr's.
• Elizabeth I's.

I plan to document my progress online, and possibly teach a class on these bindings one day.

I'll be posting my progress here on how I'm doing with this challenge.