This scroll was originally created for a Queen's Honor of Distinction in the reign of Her Royal Majesty Isabella II. Unfortunately, we discovered almost too late that I had been misinformed about the award — the lady was receiving her Award of Arms, not a QHD. (A thousand congratulations, Lady I!!) Since the scroll didn't have enough room to turn it into an Award of Arms scroll (which needs to have room for a blazon and a shield with the arms on), we arranged to have another scroll made by a much more talented scribe than I, who can turn out beautiful scrolls much more quickly. :) This means that I got to keep this piece for my portfolio.
It is based on the Hastings Hours in the British Library, particularly on folios 66v, 40r, and 265v. The Hastings Hours are from around 1480 and were done by a Flemish artist. This style is often colloquially known by SCA scribes as "squashed bug" due to the frequent inclusion of insects in the borders; this is the first time I've attempted this style. It was kinda fun! The gold is Holbein gold gouache, and the rest of the paint is Winsor & Newton gouache, all on Arches 140 lb. hot-press paper. I used Higgins Black Magic for the ink. This was the first calligraphy mistake I'd made in a while, too — I left space for the initial "I" in Isabella's name, and then forgot to write the "sabella" part! I worked around the mistake as always, though, and am pretty happy with the way it all turned out.
