It just wouldn't fit in

That's what she said.

I just finished up a scroll assignment and I ran into a major problem: I couldn't fit the words into the blank space on the scroll. I had a lovely scroll already made that would have been perfect for {THAT PERSON YOU LIKE} and created wonderful words for it. I was going to use the scroll above for a Kingdom award. The wording was adopted from a period source and was apropos for the recipient and I thought that I had more space available; like another three lines. I was intending on laying out my guide lines level with the top of the 'D' so that I could start writing "one by the hands of...". Then, once I had finished with the closing, I would move to the top of the scroll and continue with the beginning of the text, "Right trusty blah blah blah..."

I wrote the wording without the scroll in my line of sight and after I had printed out the text and pulled out the scroll, I noticed that there was far less blank space than I had remembered. Now, I did not want to shorten any of the text; I was quite proud of it (although I might have had to have removed Sylvan from in front of AEthelmearc so that the closing would fully fit into the bottom space). So, here is what I did. I took a blank sheet of paper, regular printer paper with something on one side of it that I really didn't need anymore, placed it on top of the scroll and, using a lightbox, traced out the empty space.

Then I used my Ames lettering guide and made my guide lines. Then I grabbed my narrow-nib pen, I started writing. And I ran out of room very quickly. So, using another sheet of paper, I started again, this time using a narrower gauge. Still not enough room with the calligraphy pen. I tried a different pen, still not enough space. I tried it a 3rd time using a different gauge and a 0.2 micron pen: I needed at least another 6" or 7" of space. 

So, using a different design, one with a lot more blank space, I used the wording on it, setting my guide lines so that the text took up most of the space on the scroll (of course leaving enough space for the badge of the award and for signatures). It doesn't look as cool as what I had envisioned, but {THAT PERSON YOU LIKE} will be proud to receive it.

So, if you don't think that your text will fit onto your scroll, test it on plain paper before you you commit ink to your scroll. Yeah, yeah, a lot of scribes do the calligraphy first, then paint around the text, but I always do the illumination first, then wrap the text around the paint. It's personal preference.

I will keep the above scroll for the next assignment, and make sure that I create fewer words for it.