Registration turn-around time?

[mookien]

...

I'd likely end up with this little piece of paper surrounded by a 24"x36" frame. LOL

Ken: My brother and I are having the same discussion about the Blaylock Hunting and Annandale tartans. We empathize with the difficulties you describe in framing the certificates with portions of tartan in an aesthetically pleasing way.

We have also considered using strips of tartan around the certificate (perhaps a 1st level of matting) wide enough to give a good idea of the look of the tartan, but very likely not wide enough to show a complete sett.

If the SRT offered an option to receive the certificate in an alternate "landscape" as opposed to "portrait" layout, then one could (with most tartans, anyway) show at least one sett to the right or left, or both, sides of the framed certificate. It would make for a wide-framed hanging, but might look good over a bar or fireplace, or in a den. Maybe we should suggest that to the SRT for future consideration.

We would hate to end up with a large-framed hanging containing the certificate and a piece of tartan looking tacked on, ie tacky. If you get any brilliant alternate ideas, please let us know. We'll do the same.

John

[HippieLee]

What if, in place of the regular matting a framed picture might have, you matted it with some of the tartan? Or maybe better yet, line the back board with the tartan and center the certificate on top so maybe an inch or two of the tartan surrounds the cert? The glass will hold it all together..

[unixken]

If I add any tartan at all, within the frame, I'd like it to show at least one full representation of the sett (which is 7", in the fabric I had produced.) So although a border around the cert is certainly possible, I don't think it would look good as (for example), down the vertical, you'd only see the same stripe all the way down... not a good way to show off the sett. As for landscape orientation versus portrait, there's no reason you can't hang the whole frame horizontally, with the certificate vertical within say, the right-most third of the frame, etc., along with photos of the kilt or home-furnishing/upholstery employing the finished tartan, or even photos of a project in progress (much like some of the "kilt in progress" photos posted by various X-Markers here.)

For example... layouts like this are entirely doable, with a vertical document in a horizontal frame:

[mookien]

Ken: Not a bad idea. Thanks. We will certainly add it to our collection of possibilities. In the big photo we could put ourselves wearing the kilts - kind of a family-oriented image in the frame.

As for the little pictures - no idea - maybe one with a picture of my wife brandishing her rolling pin when she found out how much the kilt cost, and the other with a smile on her face looking down at my kilt, or better yet, looking UP at my kilt.

John

[unixken]

Don't forget, that if your photos are reasonably hi-res, they can be cropped and zoomed/enlarged in interesting ways to fit a shape, or to show off an interesting bit of the tartan. For example, I might take this...



And crop it to show only this...



...as might be appropriate to fit a shape within the frame.

[unixken]

Another example, certainly a candidate to fit a horizontal space when matted...

This...



Becomes this...



Go through your photos and figure out what small part of the photo is the interesting part, and crop to show off only that element of the photo. But again, it's best to start with hi-res photos, so that when small crops are then enlarged, quality degradation is minimized.

[unixken]

Get creative. (My Buchanan - when I was there to welcome Neal and Buzz. ;)

[mookien]

Ken: One thing we have is hi-res pictures that we can crop. Thanks for the suggestion.

John

[unixken]

What if, in place of the regular matting a framed picture might have, you matted it with some of the tartan? Or maybe better yet, line the back board with the tartan and center the certificate on top so maybe an inch or two of the tartan surrounds the cert? The glass will hold it all together..

HippieLee -

The problem with getting too overzealous with fabric in the frame, is that beyond what was needed for the kilt, I only ordered an additional 3 yards. From that, I'm already cutting swatches for the SRT and the Scottish Tartans Authority, and my sister want's a bit of it. I'm hoping to hang on to enough intact fabric that should I want to make a waistcoat or other item from the fabric, I'd have enough to work with. Using a piece large enough to fill the inside of a large frame would kill any hope of that unless I re-order (remembering that a minimum order of $$$ would be needed.) Far cheaper to limit myself to a 7-inch square (the size of the full sett), within the frame.

I agree it might look sharp if done right, but short of an enormous (7-inch) border of fabric surrounding the document, the document itself would obscure so much of the fabric that even if the whole area within the frame were filled with fabric, you'd never see the full sett anywhere within the confines of the frame. That, to me, is a lot of wasted fabric.

[Mike_Oettle]

Some ingenious ideas here for putting an A4 document into a format more suited to US measurements.
But one does wonder when the US will finally realise that it will have to join the rest of the world and metricate.
After all, the only two countries outside the 50 states that are not yet metric are Liberia and Burma (or Myanmar, if you prefer).
Regards,
Mike