Past News (Finally got this Blog thing figured out!)
Posted on March 13, 2012 by andre
March 10th – Live Action Roleplay News
Today we had a meeting to work out the logistics and rules for running a Perth based Fantasy Live Action Roleplaying Game! We’ve resolved to go away and write some material and then meet again on April 1st and compare notes. We’ll then run a few “Beta” games to iron out gameplay before we open the game up for general consumption.
March 6th to 9th – Getting Ready for the Perth Medieval Faire
This week has been absorbed in finding some new sources of stock and ordering stacks more product from my suppliers in anticipation of the Perth Medieval Faire on Saturday, March 17th (at the Supreme Court Gardens). I’ve also been making up about 30 cheap ring belts to sell to the garb-impaired at the faire. Expect to see a wider range of replica medieval daggers and LARP weapons at this year’s Western Leathercraft stall. We’ll also be selling tabards – an instant medieval costume!
March 8th – Market Daze and some LARP News
Ran the stall again today at Murdoch University and finished off my Fus Ro Dah Stubby Holder:
I also met up with a chap called Mitch whilst I was training the new SCA recruits in basic sword & shield technique. Mitch, I discovered, is involved in starting up a LARP group down in Mandurah! One that may be running along vaguely similar lines to our Perth group. I look forward to catching up with him again next week to see how they’re progressing.
March 4th to 5th – A Very Pirate aFaire!
Western Leathercraft ran a stall at the Hyde Park Fair over the long weekend and had a great time! The Pirates from Grey Company were there, kicking up a storm. We raffled off one of our Al Hamdd Provocator Gladiator helmets. Young Trent won the prize, and here’s a picture of his father Trevor picking up the helmet from Western Leathercraft:
Also did some work on a certain Skyrim-inspired product – a Stubby Holder.
March 1st: Western Leathercraft comes to Murdoch University!
Today we began running a stall at Murdoch University’s Guild of Students weekly Thursday “Market Daze” – which is held in the undercroft surrounding Bush Court. After visiting Murdoch at its Orientation Day on February 16th to help out the local branch of the SCA, the College of St. Lazarus, I was reminded that the university runs a weekly market. Asking around about how well the stalls do, I got answers like “Oh, we do alright” and “Yeah, its pretty good here” – which are quite glowing reports if you know cagey stall owners can be. A bit like fishermen. 😉
So today I ran our first Western Leathercraft stall and we didn’t do too badly. We’ll get better as the semester goes on (we’re booked in for about a dozen weeks) – as I tailor the stall’s contents and presentation to better appeal to the student market. I get a certain rush each time I run a stall like this – each market has a different vibe and a different clientelle. Fine tuning the tables and getting that immediate feedback throughout the day is quite rewarding.
The advantage of taking the day off to run a stall at Murdoch is that I also have a chance to catch up with the SCAdians from the College of Saint Lazarus. St Lazarus does fighter practice on Bush Court from 4pm onwards – giving me time to pack up my stall at 2pm, pop back home for a break (I only live 5 minutes from Murdoch) and then drive back to University. Although I’ve taken a bit of a sabbatical from the SCA at the moment, I can’t seem to stop myself from giving them a hand. And besides, their Seneschal Agostino Tamburri is my man-at-arms. 😉
February 28th – Live Action Roleplay News
We have about 10 members on our Facebook page now, and we’re ready to have our first get together. The first brainstorming meeting for the new Perth LARP group will be held on March 10th. I have high hopes that we can nut out all the more obvious hurdles in getting a LARP group started and then move on to having a game in the near future.
February 24th – Live Action Roleplay
I recently got some fine LARP weapons in to Western Leathercraft.
As I held the “Troll Club” in my hand, feeling its hefty latex & rubber weight, I felt a renewed enthusiasm for running a Live Action Roleplay group here in Perth. One that wasn’t focused solely on Vampires and Werewolves (Camarilla is our only long-running LARP in Perth, to my knowledge). Then I had a conversation with Maximillian Rupp, from the Free Company, about the spectacular Drachenfest LARP that’s run in Europe and was impressed by the eloquence of the combat system. So today I had another go at starting up a Fantasy LARP. I revised the Facebook Page we already had going and sent out invitations for “team-builders”. Once we get a system sorted out and some locations scouted, we’ll advertise on a broader spectrum and open the group up for players to join. Stay tuned!
We also got some awesome skulls and things in as well. Check out this resin T-Rex Skull!
February 22nd – Cuirboille Leather Experiments Continue
Tried some more wax boiling for the leather scales for my scale cuirass. I’d previously tried doing them in just boiling water but that was a disaster. Anything more than a few seconds and they curled up into small twisted flakes. And even at 2 seconds, they shrunk by about 15-20% and became very brittle. Dipping them in boiling wax for a couple of seconds and then putting them under a press to keep them flat seems to work relatively well. I then put them in the sun to bake the next day, to let the excess wax drain out of them. Some of the scales still warp a little under the sun.
February 19th – Leathercrafters Association of W.A. Meeting
This Sunday I went to the first meeting for 2012 and demonstrated some of the dyes we have in at Western Leathercraft. Kevin Lowry showed us how to get belts really, really black by dying them purple first. Another great day with the folks at the Leathercrafter’s Association. If you’d like to come along just drop us a line on 9227 9127 and I’ll give you the details. We meet on the third Sunday of the Month.
February 16th – Murdoch O-Day.
Called in Keg (Jonathan) and got him to run Western Leathercraft today, whilst I went down to Murdoch University to help out their local branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism, the “College of St Lazarus”. When I studied at Murdoch back in 1990, I was part of an SCA club there called the College of Mimir’s Pool. And I also had a hand in starting up St Lazarus in 2009. It was a pretty hot day, though nowhere near as hot as previous years. St Lazarus recruited a bunch of new people and had a lot of fun doing it. 🙂
February 8th to 11th – Health Problems
Apologies for a few late starts this week. Discovered that I have Type II Diabetes and had to make several early morning trips to the Doctors and Hospital. On the plus side, its given me new inspiration to finally get back to dieting. This time its the Paleo diet!
February 6th – Added various craft books to the online store.
February 3rd – Added various Piratical articles to the online store. Arrr!
February 1st – Added various Roman items to the online store. Ave!
January 27th – Added our range of Rawlings Wasters and Red Dragon Fencing Helmets to the site.
January 25th
Got some awesome new WMA Fencing Helmets in that are good for the SCA as well.
January 19th – Added various Dreamcatcher craft rings to the website. Completed a commission to attach a chain mail drape for a fighter in the SCA.
January 18th – Added various whips, animal hides and leather wallets.
January 16th – Added some medieval pouches.
January 12th – Added some Leathercrafters & Saddlers Journals to the site.
January 7th 2012 – Lochac Coronation (Society for Creative Anachronism)
This weekend I was at my an event of my medieval club, the SCA. It was probably my last such event for some time as I have decided to take a bit of a step back from the club I’ve been involved in since 1989 to take stock of my life and try to achieve some personal goals. I ran the Western Leathercraft stall on the Saturday 7th and did pretty well, even managing to finish off hand sewing a commission I was working on during the quiet times. And on the Sunday I was coaxed into fighting again for the first time since May 2011, when I did my back in. Had a great time! After some early victories, I began to fight the other knights and I quickly saw just how very much out of practice I was. After a few quick deaths, I managed to go for some quite long fights against Duke Cornelius and King Sheridan. Some fights you win even when you lose. 😉
December 30th 2011 – Added some leather glues to the website.
December 29th 2011 – Opened up the Leathercare Section. Expect to see more leathercare products appearing over the next few days.
December 27-28th 2011 – The Leathercrafting Section now has a modest selection of tools to choose from.
December 9th – Some tools added to the Leathercrafting section.
December 6th 2011 – Added some rare 3D Craftool stamps.
November 29th 2011 – Many medieval badges added to the webpage.
November 28th 2011 – Torcs added to webpage
November 27th 2011 – A SCOTTISH DAY OUT
A bit blowy – in every sense of the word! The Scottish Day Out at the Police Academy in Joondalup was hosted by the Western Australian Police Pipe Band and saw fierce competition between the various pipe bands that turned up.
November 25th 2011 Trophy Buckles added to website.
November 20th 2011 – HIGHLAND GATHERING
A lovely day at Minawarra Park, Armadale, for the annual Scottish faire – The Highland Gathering. Our second year in a row for Western Leathercraft. Several thousand people came along to watch the cycling races, caber tossing and to see the fabulous displays of swordfighting from Grey Company, the SCA, and the Free Company.
August 18th 2011 – Conan the Barbarian Opening Night Screening
Went to see the new Conan Movie. Every good barbarian likes to dress in Leather and so of course I had to go in costume! The movie was fun but certainly nothing spectacular. Bit of a let down for Conan fans – whether they be of the 1930’s R.E.Howard hard-core variety or fans of the original Arnold version of Conan from back in the 1980’s.
July 11th to 16th 2011 – “Dimensions in Leather” Leather Conference – Brisbane
Took the week off to go to Brisbane and attend the Dimensions in Leather Conference. It was certainly worth the price of admission! Just about every leather shop and tannery was represented there, and there were teachers from all over Australia and even some guest teachers from the USA.
I spent the week learning how to use the Swivel Knife, how to do some basic Book Binding and how to make Italian Commedia dell’Arte Masks.
March 19th 2011 – Perth Medieval Faire
Had a ripper of a time at the annual Perth Medieval Faire. Western Leathercraft did far better than expected. Looking forward to next year’s faire already!
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