EXHAUSTED....

Thats all I can say to describe how I'm feeling. I'm just friggin exhausted. I'm having a lot of anxiety over every subject under the sun regarding bringing the baby home and how it will affect my life and my relationship with my wonderful husband. In fact, I went to bed last night at around 10:30pm and woke up at 2am and just started to worry. Then I was up every hour or so.. I had a catnap once today which I think helped some but I still have that nagging tiredness in the back of my mind.

I did finish the Breyer "lady phase" Mold halter that I was working on but it's just not up to snuff. I had to redo the knots (they were dirty)and re-adjust how it sat on the horse's face only to find out that the mold year of horse I was using is actually smaller in the head than the current year's mold. I've decided that I'm just going to keep that halter in my "collection" and do another one on a more recent mold's head to sell later on. The halter "Looks" really great.. just as good as usual but I have a nagging feeling that it shouldn't be sold or "played with".

I can not get my head around making a bit for the Mother Hubbard saddle's bridle. I just can't focus on it. It's probably my sleep depravation.. I just look at my reference and wait for it to zing me and inspire me like it normally would but no clear picture actually comes. I keep trying to come up with something that is unique and "Jungle" inspired but I just can't translate it right now to a miniature bit. I think that a snake would be nifty but I'm not sure How I'd incorporate that thought into a spade type bit... so maybe a leaf? or a flower? And then I tell myself to just go simple.. and then I laugh.. as if I could do something plain and simple now that I know how to do something more elaborate.. I want the bridle to be as special as the saddle so the bit (which is the foundation for the bridle) will have to wait until I can be more mentally clear..... Probably three or four months from now..hA!

So as of now I'm officially taking a short hiatus from the hobby and probably from blogging for a while... I can't push myself any more. My chair upstairs in the studio is too uncomfy but any other kind of chair is MORE uncomfy.. when I sit in my little space, bambino kicks me really hard and wiggles around and distracts me... then the Kitties want to sit in my lap and I just end up stopping. It's much easier right now to just lay down. I have a lot of respect for women who are perky and can work in their last few weeks of pregnancy and all of this change not bother them.. Cause it's certainly bothering me. I think I'm just overly sensitive though..

Getting closer..

This past week I've been utterly exhausted. I feel like I'm back in my first trimester again! I was getting off of work and almost falling into bed. I can't focus mentally on whats in front of me and I just want to sleep!

I finally got back up into the studio last night after a whole week of not getting up there. I got one silver plate finished and was working on the crownpiece of a halter and I wanted to go to bed. So I did. I fell asleep by 9:30pm and slept solidly until 5am. That longest I've slept in weeks!

I'm still a tad groggy today but I'm looking forward into getting into the studio today for a few hours and trying to get something accomplished!

Scary night

Yesterday started out as a normal day.. Work was nutso, and then a trip to the Dr's for a checkup. The checkup went great but after I got home my lower back started to hurt really badly. I wasn't overly worried about it(in the third trimester lower back pain is normal from the weight gain (don't get me started on THAT topic)and from not sleeping well) until I started getting some cramping up front too. Turns out these are the signs of preterm labor and hubby immediately got me into bed and promptly called the dr. The dr told me to lay on my left side and drink 2 or 3 glasses of water (whatever I could get down in the quickest amount of time). I got about 2 and 1/2 glasses of water in me and my body really WANTED those glasses of water. I was also really hungry - it kind of snuck up on me.. After about 3 hours I was back to normal thankfully but not without shedding a few "I'm scared, it's too soon!" tears.

I feel ok but achey today in my belly and especially in my shoulders and in my back around my shoulderblades.

Needless to say I guess I need down some more water throughout the day. I normally drink quite a bit but because I was at the drs office I got distracted and didn't drink as much.

As an interesting note, I mentioned that I am not sleeping well(as I mentioned.)to my Dr, and she said that this is due to hormones in my bod that are getting me ready for the bambino to come. It's keeping me alert even though asleep for when the bambino cries for me at night so this explains why I wake up at every noise and sometimes for no reason. I've also found that sometimes I'm just hungry when I get up in the middle of the night which doesn't make any sense to me.

Well, needless to say no tack got done yesterday. I think I fell asleep at 8pm and I woke up once at 1:30am with "The reflux". (Another lovely side effect of pregnancy is getting acid reflux because everything is pushing up on my stomach). I like saying "I gots the reflux" in a southern accent. (I live in kentucky so I'm entitled to whip out the southern accent whenever It pleases me ).

Today is election day for State Governor. Don't get me started. All I can say is that I wish that there were more viable Liberal Candidates in Kentucky. I know, I'm dreamin. I will be trudging to the polls late this afternoon provided I'm still feeling ok.

On Sunday I did manage to get a couple of bit shanks done. I'm not overly happy with them. I see these beautiful, "vaquero" spade bits on the Internet and I really want to duplicate them. Unfortunately they take some skills and tools that I don't know how to use an don't have access too. (like gas torches! ) I really wish that I had gone to art school and majored in something fun like metalsmithing. Of course, when I was in my late teens, early 20's there is no way you could have convinced me that my path was anything other than fine arts and I probably wouldn't have taken the class even if it was offered to me. Live and learn.

Here are some pictures of what I accomplished. I'm not sure if I'll use this design or not. Since, as I mentioned, I'm not as "on it" as I have been in the past (yet another side effect of being pregtnant my Dr told me) I'm not sure how this bit will turn out. I DO know, and feel confident in the fact that this is good training for mah brain and learning something new is always a step forward.

Been A awhile..

It's been a while since I posted and I apologize for that!

I've been very tired. I'm Due to give birth in December and the extra weight and the lack of sleep has caught up to me a bit. (Hard to sleep on my back because of the baby and hard to sleep on my side because of my shoulder problems) I've been "good" about napping every day so thats been sustatining me in my endeavor to keep working on tack so that I can keep relaxed.

I am very "fuzzy" in the brain. I'm not used to really not being "on it" mentally. An artist friend of mine says that the creativity and the spark of ideas will come back in time and for me not to fret!

I am happy to say that I've finished the reins for the matching bridle for my mother hubbard set. After a lot of mental indecision I've decided to do a fully braided bridle for the set. I think it just "fits" to do one. I have no idea how long it'll take me to get it finished though. I know that after the baby comes there will be at least a few months where tack will definitely go by the wayside due to sleep deprivation.

Today I've been looking through pictures of Spade bits to try to spark an idea for the bit for the bridle. Everything on the headstall starts with the bit so I need to get-a-movin!

Not a lot of progress

Well, the last few weeks I've been very busy at work which has exhausted me by the time I get off of work. This means, unfortunately, that I haven't gotten a lot accomplished.

I even lost a piece of the Romel reins that I was working on for two days, only to find it after I had started over.(SOOO frustrating). The good news is that I did successfully do a tiny brown interwoven knot last night on that part however. That is always progress for me!

The Green interwoven/silver halter was a Rousing Success on ebay! I was so flattered and pleasantly shocked that it went for $270 u.s. at auction! What a thrill for a miniature tackmaker! I hope that the next one I offer will go for as much and be as popular.

The Picture above shows a Donation for the NAMHSA Region 10 Regionals in Buffalo, NY. My husband's family is originally from up that way so I have a soft spot in my heart for that area of the country. I don't do very many donations over the course of the year because I just don't have the time and the stress of too strict a deadline makes me anxious. (The brown interwoven halter is the donation and the green one on the horse in the background was the one that sold so well on ebay.)

I rarely have more than one of anything finished and laying around here so I decided to take a picture when I did.

Today I'm exhausted because I wasn't feeling well over-night. I guess I ate something yesterday that didn't quite agree with me so I woke up several times... Of course I've been craving mexican food through the last part of my pregnancy here so It's probably my own fault! HA!

I am utterly exhausted today though (practice for when the baby comes), I'll definitely need a nap after work.

The baby has been doing what I call "the jig" or "the riverdance" lately. It's interesting to me how over time, his kicks and arm flailings get stronger and stronger. Not long now until he comes into the world and I have a whole new set of things to obsess over..

We are finally getting a lot of rain here. We are down 10 inches for the year which is known as an "extraordinary" drought. Overnight We've gotten 4 inches so that should help the water table. I feel deeply upset for the farmers here in Kentucky who make a living off of the land. It must be a very rough year for them.

The Creek that had been almost dry in our back yard is now very swollen and has gotten past it's banks. We should be fine however as long as there is no flash flooding.

As a completely silly side note, I've become a "Farscape" fan. I've been streaming it a bit over the last few days and although I find some of the plots rather predicatable, I find the show very imaginative. All hail Jim Hensen!

Happily Busy..

I'm happy to say that I've been busy and I've felt fairly ok, other than being tired.

I have put another halter up on ebay (see picture) and I'm thrilled and surprised at the response to it! Thank you to everyone that bid!! Click here to go to the auction..

I have also finished part of the Romel reins that I was working on. I braided up some more artificial rawhide last night so that I could move forward with working on it this weekend.

Some of you guys may already know that I am pregnant and Due In December. My husband and I are going "baby shopping" this weekend to register for stuff. The amount of things one needs for a tiny person is staggering and overwhelming! I thought I was bad with all of my artist supplies!

HOLY COW I DID IT!

I FINALLY was able to make a TINY knot out of the darker brown thread and then interweave it. This has given me fits for weeks!! Unlike the white/ecru thread, which my brain is apparently used to I couldn't see the brown knots well enough to interweave them on my romel reins. When I make these knots, I have to do them perfectly - meaning, not too tight and not too loose. To loose and my brain doesn't understand the structure of the knot. Too tight and I can 't see or loosen up the knot enough to interweave it.

I've also stopped working on halters for the moment. I am just going to focus on making the bridle for the mother hubbard set. I have such grandiose plans for it but I have no idea if they will come to fruition. I've been studying Luis Ortega's work and there are some details that I've seen on one of his bridles that I want to try to do on this one.

If you can't tell, my work, for me, is a series of challenges. I have ideas that I have no clue as to whether or not I can actually make real, but somehow I always find a way. The really fun part of this is seeing something come to fruition after a lot of disappointment and doubt. I've been told that I always do things the hard way and I definitely think it's true. I do wish that things would come faster to me sometimes but I firmly believe in the addage "everything in it's own time". I console myself a lot with that - it helps me keep going forward in my art unafraid. I've also heard that mistakes are part of the learning process so I take that to heart as well.

I wish I had learned all of that 20 years ago.. I would be a lot farther in my art career.. (but everything in it's own time! HA!)

More Headaches

This week has again been marked by headaches. Monday I got a massage on my shoulders, back and hips to hopefully help work out some of the kinks so monday night I was actually able to spend a hour in the studio. The pain after the massage was at a managable level and I could ignore it long enough to plan out how many more woven halters I needed to make..

Then Tuesday and wednesday were horrible. Really nasty and bad headaches with shooting pain that stretched from my shoulders, up the back of my neck and into the back of my eyes. So of course, nothing got done. (which is a source of stress to me) They tell me I have tension and cluster headaches intead of classic migraines but sometimes taking migraine medication works to help dull out the pain.

Today though, Knock on wood, I am doing ok. I'm hoping it'll last all day so that I can spend time in the studio tonight!!

Even the kitties are in a good mood and playing in the sunshine today. One of the great things about my cats is that they LOVE their people. They call for us when they can't find a human in the house and they LOVE to cuddle up next to us. since I've been spending so much time in bed, I've been lucky enough to have their company. There is something so comforting and wonderful about a purring kitty that just wants to be loved on.. :-)

Sunday Progress!

Thank goodness for sundays! From Wednesday through Saturday of Last week, I had a horrible migraine. I guess it's just hormones doing the wacky and there isn't a lot I can do about it except to take my migraine meds and endure.

Mercifully, Sunday the headache gods gave me a reprieve and I was able to work in the studio almost all day! I got two more knots finished on my romel reins! I'm SO HAPPY! Only 6 more to go! hA! I also got more knots on more halters finished up and now there is just some leather work to do on them.

I hope that they will be as well received as the last two halters were. I've been pleasantly overwhelmed at the response to the halters I've had on ebay and it is definiately encouraging me to make some more.

The great thing about the halters is that it directly affects my ability to make the knots on the romel reins. If I successfully make larger knots on the halters, then my brain is "tuned" to making the smaller ones on the romel reins. I seal the knots on the halters and then allow them to dry, in the meantime I work on the romel reins. Then I go back and forth while one knot is drying, I do more.

My Silver working courage has come back to me thankfully (I was feeling quite timid about that for a while)for bit for the bridle for the mother hubbard II set. I also started forming, mentally, what the bridle will look like. I'm hoping that I'll have time to do a fully braided bridle. I haven't done one since 2002 but this new one will be much better than the ones I made back then. My braiding skills are finer now and I have more courage to try more interwoven knots.

I've been re-studying (I say "restudying" because I forget things so easily now) Louis Ortega's work as well as Ray Huffman's work... and of course Susan B.Y.'s braid work which inspires me to make the fully braided bridle for the Mother hubbard set.

I hope that sometime soon someone does a coffee table style book of "cowboy" braidwork in tribute to all of the great braided tackmakers. I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at that stuff..

doin the happy, cheesey, arm dance!

FINALLY! I was able to do some knots on the romel reins I've been working on!! TWO of em last night near the end of my studio time. I'm so happy I can hardly stand it! It took full and complete concentration for an extended period of time but thankfully all of those knots on halters really paid off!!

I am attaching a picture of the romel reins with my two knots and I have put a pencil eraser and a halter down next to them as scale reference.

The halter shows my first hand made silver jump rings and mimic the silver rings that the real western show halters have in real life.

Quick Update!

The halter pictured below is currently on ebay for sale! Please check it out here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120160450616

Also, I've added a link where you can sign up your email address to recieve any posts I make via email!

Thanks! :-)

Guess what!?

I have poison ivy :-) Yes, thats right, on top of everything else, I now have poison ivy and it's driving me crazy. The "fun" part of poison ivy is that if you surf the web to read about it, you can read more wives tales and home remedies than I've ever seen. Proof that everyone gets it at least once!

The good thing though is that this weekend, I was very productive! Though not in the way I wanted. I guess thats the way the creative process goes.

I was able to finish up a beaded show halter and put it on ebay this morning.

I was able to do more knots practicing for the romel reins. I was even able to work with some silver last night which gave me more confidence about constructing another silver bit for my Mother Hubbard II set.

I also got the BEAUTIFUL stirrups that my friend Robin made attached to the saddle.

All in all, a really good weekend! I wish that I had another two days free so that I could do even more!

Organized Mess :-)

I know that this looks like quite a mess, but it's my work space currently. Everything is within reach should I need it.

Those four bits of leather are actually four halters and those Danged romel reins. I keep making more woven halters practicing for the knots on the reins. I'm hoping that this weekend I'll have time to make some progress on the reins We'll See. Cross your fingers for me!

Oh Hey, I haven't whined in a while

Besides headache/shoulder aches I'm still sort of internally "ouchy". Sometimes sitting in one spot for a long period of time or getting in and out of my studio chair too often can result in my belly not feeling so well. Time in the studio has been short and only productive about half of the time.

Tonight I finished up the matching lead for the halter that I made a few days ago.

Then I started another woven halter because I have not been successful at creating interwoven knots on the romel reins for my Mother Hubbard II set. I started the woven halter to boost my creative self esteem and show myself that I really DO know how to make those interwoven knots.

Everytime I Switch to a new material (ie from artificial rawhide to heavy thread) with those knots, it's like learning a completely new knot. The material that I'm weaving acts differently depending on what I am apparently weaving it around. If I successfully weave a knot then the interweave goes wrong somewhere and I miss a loop. It's very frustrating but as usual, I am going to keep moving forward. Every day I try to do at least one or two knots on the romel reins but so far I have not been overly successful. Again, I marvel at the brilliance of Susan's work.

Also the bosal has been giving me fits. It's just not as sophisticated as I would like. I'm going to need to learn a couple of more knots now in order to make it look how I'd like for it to look. Yes, this is going to take me FOREVER but I think the end result will really be worth it.

A little bit of Progress

After struggling with a 4 day migraine and interwoven turks head knots all week, I decided to "take a break" and boost my creative self esteem by making a western show halter on Saturday. Actually I'm finishing one up that I had been working into my schedule for a while. (next one will be ISH sized!) I'm very pleased with how this turned out :-) I even put matching swarovski crystals on it to match my doll made by Sherri Wertz. (I put the crystals on, the doll was made before that was fashionable in the QH world).

I actually spent at least 8 hours in the studio yesterday which is the longest that I've been able to work up there in at least a month. It was very very soothing for my soul. In fact I meant to clean and dust the house yesterday but I got so carried away in my studio that I just forgot about that plan and just made stuff. (yes, My hubby is a very understanding and patient man)

Last night was topped off by a call to Susan Bensema young for some "tack chat". She told me of the harness that she refurbished as well as talking about knots and her other wonderful innovations.

We also touched on the Brilliance of Carol Williams of Rio rondo, Jennifer Harris hardware, and Elaine Sulser hardware. We are so lucky as a hobby that we have these kinds of parts available and that we have a choice about what we choose to work with. Although now I make a lot of my own stuff, there are some things that I'm not as good at or can't make efficiently and I'm grateful to those folks that mass produce things like bits and buckles so that I can add them to what I create quickly and efficiently.