I have the leathers picked out for the books I'm binding. Since Remy didn't want his pages cut down, I was kind of limited in what I could use, as all my leather is just scrap. So his piece was lighter than intended, but very thick and very, very soft. It's a kind of dark saffron colour, and the grain on it is lovely. Though now I have to figure out how to get fold lines out of it, as it was stored badly. Feh. Mine, being made smaller, is not subject to these limitations, so it's a nice dark brown. It's a very brown shade of brown, with a nicely bumpy surface. I could have used one of the redder shades, but I didn't want it to match my shoes so closely, since I will be using this with the garby bits. (I still love my shoeses. And I will get around to posting photos of them someday.) Remy's book will be his birthday present. I know he knows about it, that isnt the point. It's not like I could hide something like this really....
And I must start drafting up pseudo-patterns for the 15th century skirt. Now that I've done most of the bodice and gone through the whole hell of trying to meke it fit properly, the whole project just scares me. Though it seems to be amusing the professor, who isn't really so much a costume person, and is more than a little interested in what I can produce in a research paper on a topic about which not much has been written. Some upper class clothing still exists, and there are many portraits, but very little of middle class or at-home wear. And I don't know about you, but when I go to have portraits done, I do not wear every-day clothing. I wear interesting and impressive things. (Or nothing at all, but that's for an entirely different sort of portrait. I miss art modelling sometimes. It paid really well.... And hey, anything for art, right?) So yes. Very little information on every-day dress outside of the maniscripts, which provide an interesting, if terribly undetailed, look at classes lower than gentry. Mostly peasants, but there are some townspeople. And there is practically *no* research that I've found. I've looked through the journal catalogues, and have pretty much concluded that the best idea will be just to analyse the paintings myself, and figure out what I can from looking at them. And try to trace one particular style of dress through over a century. Oww. I have no idea why I thought this would be a good idea. But hey, I get a nifty dress out of it. And of course, have to have all the appropriate accessories so I don't look silly when I wear it.... I must give a nicely convincing portrayal. Right. This is why I'm insane. Both the cause and the effect. This is what I get for trying to be pioneering and do something that fits, however oddly, into my intended grad work. God but I'm an idiot.
Oh yes--and this week is spring break! Wheeeee!!! I love not having to go to school. For a whole week I am free! Free! To go wherever I please, and whenever! And with the knowledge that we will soon be recieving more money, and thus needn't be quite *so* frugal as we've been these last months! Tonight, we even ordered Chinese food. This is a good thing. I didn't have to cook anything. :)
The house is still cold. Painfully so. Chillfully so. Lo, I am cold. And it is not good. I am shivering so much that my back is killing me now.
People are at our house, and this is interesting. I have learned that I should not use my tarot deck on anyone but myself, and a few people who are as insane as I am. It does not say anything right out, you have to figure it out fro yourself from your own experiences and life. And I can't interpret for other people. The other deck, the Quabbalistic one, that I can use on other people. Of course, it's still not exactly straightforward, but it's moreso than this one. Also, I've been using that deck for over a decade, so I'm pretty familiar with it. And the minor arcana all have keywords printed on them, so it's not like you could fuck it up. There's still inerpretation within each of the illustrations, as each is very symbolic, but they provide you with a pretty clear direction to start in.
One of the people is supposed to be here for an extended time. She seems cool enough, from what I've seen of her, but I have not yet made a real opinion. It's weird, I generally can make those pretty quickly, but not with her. I don't know why.
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