I just signed up to teach a class on Taj Kulah (Persian Coronet Hats) at Gulf war.

Gods help me.

Because Bertana got out the clue hammer and yelled.

SCA Name	Award/Recognition
Ismey of Whytby	Flower
Corynne Macleod	Light
Allason inghean Fhaolain	Flower
isabail de lockeford	beacon
raven mayne	Commander of Light of Atenveldt
Shoshana Drakere	Fleur de Soleil
Eabha inghean Domnaill	Flower
Zigumn Broghammer	Pilgrim
Waine Nogard of Green briar	Commander of Fleur
Ari	Beacon
Léot mac Grigair	A&S Champion

Category winners (Edit to the full list because raventhourne found the list I could not find.)
Michael Sinestro, Populace Choice, Performance, Open
Seadna Mey of Caithness, Populace choice, Static Novice
Caoilfhionn of Mons Tonitrus, Populace Choice, Static, Open

Category Winners
Alchemy-Charles Veitch
Camping and Homesteading-Tatiana Verlioni
Clothing-Mina Fioravanti
Decorative/Fine Arts-Seadna Mey of Caithness
Demonstration Projects-Allasan Tamelyn
Glass- Aurelia Chrysanthina Dalassene
Heraldic Display- Allasan Tamelyn
Instruments, Models, &Tools- Caoilfhionn
Jewelry / Decorative Pieces-Ivan Petrovich
Leatherwork- Caoilfhionn
Manuscript Arts-Eaba Inghean Domhnaill
Metalwork-Charles Veitch
Needlework- Aurelia Chrysanthina Dalassene
Performing Arts-Michael Sinestro
Textile Arts-Meadhbh ni Dhubhthaigh
Toys and Games- Michael Sinestro
Woodworking –StorVarr Orvarsmior
Writing- Aurelia Chrysanthina Dalassene

Novice Division:
Seadna, Accessories

Subcategory Winners:
Clothing- 1100AD - 1430AD-Aurelia Chrysanthina Dalassene
Clothing - 1431AD-1599AD-Mina Fioravanti
Clothing- Accessories-Finola Sutherland
Performing Arts-Musical performance-Michael Sinestro

Children's Division:
Who What item they entered
Siobhanna, Rose Beads
Jasmyna, Fury Hat
Jasmyna, Baklawa
Breandan, Quill Pen

Last minute agreed to judge. Collected fun stuff for prizes. Friend won the cool book I donated. Had a good time with the entries and the other judges.

Notes:
You will get dinged by the judges if every piece of your entry is made by a machine, and could have been done better by hand. There are these things called "authenticity" and "creativity."

Please clean the item you are entering. Dirty is just dirt and not as appealing as genuine wear. It also shows a lack of care for your item.

When making anything in alchemy, a date of creation is essential. These products have a real shelf life. Proper storage and keeping track of whether it has spoiled will have a bearing on your score. In the case of infusions, the make date is important because volatile oils do lose their effectiveness over time. Hint... spoilage smells bad. >*P

Mind the tool marks and finish metals properly.

     This past Estrella I was asked to be the judge for the Silver category at the Arts and Sciences competition. This of course promised to be a huge brain melting day for me with 15 entrants registered for the category I was judging.

The category was defined as follows
Silver-Based Entry —a single entry that uses silver in some way that best displays the use of the metal in a pre-1600 AD context. Judging will take into account how silver is featured in the entry. Hazardous and/or toxic materials used in a manner that may expose judges and audience to harm are expressly are forbidden, and use of any such materials must be detailed within the documentation. [Note: This Category was selected, in part, as this year celebrates the "silver anniversary" of Estrella War.]
The Judging sheets available to all entrants for the year prior to the competition.

     The judging team consisted of 3 laurels from 3 separate kingdoms to ensure fairness. We also had a fourth judge sitting in with us to observe who was from yet another kingdom. The core 3 judges consisted of the Outlands judge who is a metalworker and jewelry maker. The Atenveldt judge, me, who is a generalist in documentation, string, manuscript arts, and metal. The Caid judge who is a string-fu specialist, and our observer who is from the West and a documentation and museum artifact specialist.

The day of the event, of the 15 registered 10 actually arrived. The entries are anonymous with no names attached to allow for fair judging.
The entries were:
- A silver leafed box (composite non-silver *aluminum leaf* used)
- Silver point portrait (real silver used)
- A silver Hoard (real silver used)
- A silver Hair net (plastic mylar based shiny cord used silver look but not silver)
- Silver bobbin lace (composite commercial silver color thread used, some metal content but not real silver)
- Silver signet ring, chain and pendant (real silver used)
- Silver 3 lobed brooch (real silver used)
- Pater-noster beads with silver decor (disqualified for no documentation)
- Baliut belt with silver bezants (Art emboss 36 gauge aluminum/tin metal used)
- Silver decorated mink pelt (real silver used)

     Quite the range of entries, and the caliber of competition was very high. The first thing that differentiated the higher point pieces from the lower point pieces was the presence and quality of documentation. Of the 10, one had to be disqualified due to missing documentation. At an inter kingdom level it really is bring your documentation or don't enter. Sorry. This left 9 serious entrants to judge. (Not as brain melty as previously expected, but still a long day.) Well written documentation can make or break an entry. We want to see that you know what you are doing, how you did it, how the piece fits and was made in the historical context, and you have to cite your sources.
     The second thing that made a difference in points was the use of real silver vs fake. In a silver competition it was not required, but when you have some that do use the real thing it makes it very hard to compete against them with fake. Of the 9 remaining entrants only 5 used real silver for their projects.
     Thirdly, I would like to encourage all persons entering competition at the inter-kingdom level to vet their projects at the baronial and kingdom competition levels first. After each of those competitions read your judging sheets and make adjustments or redo your project as needed to fulfill the suggestions of the judges. This will help you grow as an artist and improve your work for the next level of competition. Entering a first try of a project at the inter-kingdom level generally never goes well, as the flaws and rough nature of the item are very obvious and will count against its score.

With all this in mind the pieces competing for the high marks were:
- Silver point portrait
- A silver Hoard
- Silver signet ring, chain and pendant
- Silver 3 lobed brooch
- Silver decorated mink pelt

The Silver mink pelt took third, the Silver point portrait took second, and the Silver hoard took first. Eventually I will find photos of the other entries and try to link to them. All entries got a minimum of 35 - 45 minutes of the judges time. The Hoard was a master work. It was just an amazing piece, and the judges spent an hour alone on it pawing through the individual pieces and the documentation. The Hoard's documentation was written well, easy to read and understand, and it really made the difference.
In the end all 4 of the judges agreed and gave the Hoard perfect marks on all criteria. They were well deserved. Go look for yourselves.

Congratulations to Ianuk, Ivan, and Stefan for their masterwork. Secondary congratulations to Grainne the Red for the lovely silverpoint and her great work on it. Well done.

Photo by Jeff Martin
( Crown documentation behind here )

The documentation for the taj-kulah (Amira's Phoenix Crown) is done! Eight Pages long, one appendix page, and one page of bibliography. Thanks to the lovely raventhourne and her Research Library of Doom!^TM I was able to put an official definition and term to the way I joined the panel pieces. It is a "grooved seam." Whoot!
The doc is printed, and a friendly reminder sent to Amirah to bring the crown to A&S.

I have the frame for Ianuk's achievement and will be finishing that task shortly. I love it when things come together.

I must learn to NEVER walk away from my weaving in the middle of a reverse.

I gets lost

need to back it out and reset. Cause this going forward blissfully thing? Yeah... just ain't working.

Weaving 1
Ari 0

edit 11:14am touched base with the string Juju and discovered my idea to fix was sound. Fixed and now the pattern is working again.