Do you know what makes me feel awesome? Having someone reach out to me and ask me to work on a scroll for or with them. This was one of those assignments. Basically, everything was put into motion and the Signet notified right before the assignment hit the queue.
Anne and I started collaboration immediately after she found out her son was getting the award. She took up the task of words and illumination. The process we used worked out really well. She drafted up an idea as to how she wanted it to look. I fitted it to paper that I had, did the calligraphy, and then handed it off for illuminating.
Words:
Fierce Margarita, Tyger Queen of the Eastern lands, looked out upon Her people and called forth Roy de Basillion. He was to be held accountable for his deeds as reported to or witnessed by Her Majesty, which are listed here:
Anne de Basillion
First: Cunning in a fight to the death involving a baguette for the prize of a cream puff.
Second: Valor on the battlefields of Pennsic.
Third: Courage in the woods at the 100 Minutes War. In which he saw fit to slay, in most devious fashion, his own mother.
For these deeds and others Her Majesty is certain exist does She, Queen Margarita, induct him into the Order of the Silver Rapier. As fitting a member of this order, She bestows upon him the title of Lord and the right to bear these Arms.
(space or arms)
Done this 29th day of February Anno Sociotatis 59 at the Queen & Crowns A&S Championship in the Barony of Dragonship Haven
Materials
- Archers Stain grain hotpress paper 10″x14″ 300g/m^2
- Homemade black walnut ink with iron sulfate
- Windsor & Newton Gold Guache
- Reeves Guache
The rough idea
(not to scale)
Getting things into place 
Just about ready to start 
Quick spacing draft to make sure the first paragraphy takes up enough room. 
My work here is done!
Lessons Learned
DO NOT FUTZ with your tools in the middle of a project!
I made the mistake of transferring my homemade inks to new containers. I had extra brown that I wasn”t using so I used it to top off the black and added more iron sulfate. In the process I threw off the ratio for gum arabic, causing the ink to a) not cling to the nib and b) become washed out when applied to the paper.
You can kind of see it in the middle section.
I was able to add more liquid gum arabic that I happened to have on hand, and get it to play nicely again with the nib and paper. It”s going to take a little more fiddling to get it to behave better, but it”s savable as was the scroll.
