Lots of New Bowyers in the Making

Ready to make bows from boards.

Gabriella finishes her first bow.

Guy explains the process.

Now to get everything all drawn out.

Oops, splinter.  Always keep a pair of tweezers handy when working on wood.

Bow horse and splinter removal

Yesterday we had a great turn out at the archery range. Four young ladies showed up to make bows. So Bill helped them out by donating boards, and Guy helped them lay out the lines and get started. Gabriella was there and she finished the bow she started 2 months ago. It looked fantastic but turned out too light for her draw. It will make a great present to someone with a weaker set of shoulders. She'll have to make a new bow for herself. Or cut off the tips to make the bow stiffer.  Guy helped her put together a bow string.

Terry was working on his bow, but he got a little heavy handed and dug in too deep.  I don't think his bow can be saved. It's a learning curve.

John Scordo brought a bow he made that was the most beautiful laminated bow I have ever seen. Hopefully I got a good photo of it so I can show you. It's hard shooting photos in the shade.  A lot of them don't come out. Somewhere my camera is buried in yesterday's tote bags.

Guy tests out John's bow.

John explains how he made it.

Ken and Barbara weren't there because she's just about ready to bring a new life into the world. It's too dicey to be that far from home in case that little thing called labor starts.  We wish the Villars family the best with their new arrival.

Lizard sunning itself on a rock.

Me in my wet bandana and sunhat.

Stalking a squirrel

 Gabriella finishing her longbow.

See you all next month.

Artistry of Arrows

Amazing arrows. I wish it was in English and they told what kind of paint and process they were using. It came up with I used the terms 'airbrush' and 'arrows' though.

Lyondemere Anniversary

Yesterday I went to the Lyondemere Anniversary in Long Beach CA.  It wasn't an archery event, but that didn't stop Guy from taking his bow bench and tackling a new bow. Many people dropped by to ask questions about the bow and the wood and the process. Some needed arrows fixed.

I entered $5. into the raffle and won four sketchbooks. People put together new and gently used items, and some people put in items they have lovingly crafted or an I.O.U. for a new item to be custom made, and then each pile (basket) gets an envelope.  When you get your tickets, you only use them to try to win things you want.  It works out great as each envelope has one number drawn, and the winner comes to collect their prize.

There were three bags with will lots and lots of metal buttons, and one guy won them all!  Lots of cool stuff was given away including books, Harry Potter robes, 2 Harry Potter wands, a vampire slayer sword, an inkle loom, bunches of trim and thread for knitting and weaving, and so on and so forth. Even if you didn't win, it was fun to be part of the excitement.

We had a great spot in a lovely shady grove with a sea breeze. I saw lots of old friends and made some new ones.

Court Jester

Cute fluffy dog.

Handsome lad.

Working on a bow.

Removing everything that doesn't look like a bow.

Lots of work, but satisfying I think.

Me trying not to get sunburned this time.

Stitchery

Closing Court

Talking to friends.

Archery the Old Fashioned Way

Archers warming up.

Closing court. Handing out the awards.

My SCA friends had a big archery event on Sat. and I thought I'd share some of my photos. I wish I'd thought to have someone take my photos shooting my self bow that Richard Saffold made.

Wand shoot.  Yellow is five, blue is 3 and nothing else counts.

A blown self nock.  This is why we reinforce them with horn.

Crossbow and bolts.

Women and Archery

I'm so thrilled that the Paleoplanet group, that used to be so anti-women, is now over it and teaching women and girls to make bows. And a lot more women and girls are coming out and digging in because of the exposure to the movie Hunger Games and the movie Brave that comes out in 2 days. I haven't heard a man in our group make a sexist remark about women making bows in a long time. And I see that as great progress.

Brave Movie Promotion Archery Event Today in Pasadena

Guy Taylor from Greenman archery.

We had a great turn-out for the Brave archery competition today. Someone from Disney was there giving out big double sided posters of the red headed girl in the movie.  There were also stickers, coloring pages, postcards and other swag.  We love swag, yes we do.

My necklace booth had a steady flow of kids wanting to make a leather necklace.  One sister and brother even came back for seconds so they could make them for their dad for Father's Day next Sunday.  Most of them were surprised that the stamps were carved from erasers. I took lots of photos but my camera is still in the truck and I just don't have the energy to deal with it right now.

Two of my SCA friends, Dole and his wife Rebecca came to the event and watched Sal's arrow making demo. We all had a blast. The kids in the archery contest got nice certificates. A lot of people stepped in to help.  The Pasadena Roving Archers were raising money for Ronald McDonald House in Pasadena. High Tech Archery did a lot of the behind the scenes stuff.  Greenman Archery and Ken Villars Custom Bows did demos all day.  Aimee and I showed off our leather work and beading.  I think everyone learned something and went home with some mementos of a lovely day in Pasadena, CA. And thanks to the tons of volunteers that set up all the targets, safety fencing and netting, and general schlepping of bows, water, tables, etc.

We can't wait for the movie Brave to come out on June 22, 2012.

Jim works on a longbow.

A young girl tries out archery.

Sign up booth.

Taking a break at the necklace booth.

Young archers line up to hear the rules.

Row of targets.

Stamping a Leather Necklace

I'm so excited about the Brave event in Pasadena tomorrow.  Initially I was working on a pouch making demo.  Then late last night I saw a leather SCA site favor sitting on my keyboard, and I thought, 'Wouldn't the kids much rather make a simple leather necklace to take home?"  So I carved 3 stamps to stamp on some leather squares.  Then as I had my little stack of squares, my cat stepped on one, and I thought, "Oh, a cat paw print stamp would be neat."  Since 3 stamps fit on each eraser, I did the cat's paw, and two more designs. So the kids will have 6 to choose from: a bow and arrow, an arrowhead, a lightning bolt, a cat's paw, a star, and a moon.

I'll roll out practice paper on the table. Each kid can stamp their own leather square and then I can help them string it and add 2 beads.  This should work.  I just don't know if we'll get 10 kids or 200.  But the kids that don't get to shoot a bow can at least have a memento to take home from the event.

Archery

We ran into some friends at the archery range yesterday. First Amanda happened by after her practice.  Then later in the day we saw Sal and Aimee.  Sal was cleaning a bunch of turkey feathers. Kathy and her husband came by to talk about the Brave event next weekend. We will be doing demos of bow making and such. See the previous post for details on that event.

I got to shoot my bow for awhile before my numb fingers got the better of me. And the day was beautiful.  Flowers blooming, birds singing, lots of people walking dogs, jogging and using the casting pond.