Saturday 7th May we were at our fourth Society of Scribes and Illuminators Lay Members Day.Despite the recession, this was another packed out Lay Members Day. It’s not often you see hundreds of calligraphers under the one roof!We were very busy again. Our new ranges of inks (FW Acrylic Inks and Dr Martins Bombay Inks) were popular. Members were also happy to see Sharpening Stones back in stock after many years absent.We eventually got back from London late at night. What a great day and hope to return next year!

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	Lay Member’s Day was again a sell out with all the tickets sold before the event started. This was our second visit to the show so we were more prepared.The doors open early for the stall holders, giving us nearly 2 hours to set up. This time went so quickly. We almost got the layout of the products how we wanted them when we had our first customer. Josie Brown was demonstrating at the show and so quickly made a purchase before she started.
The doors opened at 10:00 and minutes later we were all serving customers. Some of the most popular items purchased included oblique penholders and pointed nibs. Thanks to Joy Daniels from the CSIG demonstrating Copperplate writing, there was much interest in getting the equipment and having a go at this style of lettering.
Sales of vintage nibs were good. Luckily I just remembered to pack the nibs moments before we set off to London. Potential customers were disappointment when they learnt we had had some Gillott 303 nibs in stock, which had quickly sold out within a week or two of them being available on our website.
The only period we were quiet was when most of the visitors attended the lecture. This year, Dennis Brown was speaking. I met Dennis for the first time just before he was about to speak. It was great seeing his work up close rather than images on the website.I also met Ewan Clayton. He was selling a wonderful range of Japanese Ink Sticks.
We eventually got back from London late at night. What a great day and I’m hoping we return next year!

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The Society of Scribes and Illuminators was founded in 1921 in the UK by early students of Edward Johnston. Each year the SSI has a Lay Member’s Day.

The Society of Scribes and Illuminators (SSI) have invited us to the Lay Member’s Day in April for a second year.We are now planning our stall. I have just dusted down the notes I made from last year. Hopefully we will be better prepared for the rush of customers. Last year, just before the show officially started, I served our first customer. After putting her items in a bag, I turned round to give her the change and bag to see a second customer waiting to be served. By the time I had finished serving the second lady, we were packed out!The majority of our calligraphy materials and equipment stock will be available to purchase on the day.There are three demonstrators this year; Joy Daniels (pointed pen lettering in the Copperplate style), Clare Whittaker (creative books for the calligrapher) and Josie Brown (dry layering techniques in calligraphy)Denis Brown, FSSI, will be giving the Daubney Lecture: Carry Tradition Across Boundaries.

The event will be at King’s College Franklin Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NN.

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We have just had a few days holiday in London with the family. We did a lot of the tourist activities like visiting The Natural History Museum, The Science Museum and Madam Tussauds. Amazingly whilst at the Science Museum we bumped in to some friends from Lowestoft. So much was crammed in to our visit that I felt tired for days afterwards.On our way to the Tower of London, looking at the map I saw that we were very close to where the SSI will be holding Lay Member’s Day at the end of the month (26th April). So we took a slight detour so we could see the actual building. The event will be at King’s College Franklin Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NN.Lay Member’s Day 2008 detailsIn a previous blog I told you that we have got a local craftsman to produce some bits ready for the show. Well, just before going away we took delivery of the wooden pots. These are made of old English Oak. I am very pleased with them. They are going to be used for displaying items like penholders and Automatic Pencils. May be we should start selling them?

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I am pleased to announce that the Society of Scribes and Illuminators (SSI) have invited us to have a stand at their Lay Member’s Day in April.The SSI was founded in 1921 in the UK by early students of Edward Johnston with the aim of advancing the crafts of writing and illumination. Lay membership was introduced in 1952, and is open to anyone who, through their interest and support, wishes to help the SSI advance and promote the craft of calligraphy. Each year the SSI has a Lay Member’s Day.The majority of our calligraphy materials and equipment stock will be available to purchase on the day.This will be our first ever show, so it is an exciting time for us. I am surprised at how much planning is necessary. At first you think it is just a case of boxing up all the stock and then presenting it nicely on the day. However, I soon realised it is far more involved. There is a lot of preparation to do, but we have got off to a good start. We have to-do lists, to-buy lists and to-organise lists!So far, we have found a local craftsman who is making out of wood a large penholder and nib with the Scribblers logo on the holder. We are going to use this to identify our stand rather than having a printed banner.The craftsman is also making us wooden pots for displaying penholders, brushes and pencils.The hardest bit is deciding how much stock to take? There will be 300 calligraphers there, what if they all want the same product?Lay Member’s Day 2008 detailsLay Member’s Day 2007 review

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