Small update

This is a small update. I've barely been in the studio at all. Seems as though grief is a creativity killer for me. I did manage a half an hour today to finish the tooling on the bottom skirt of the saddle. I think that after it has been dyed and the antiquing paste added that it'll look super spiffy.

Deep, Deep, Thanks for the support in the comments from the last post about my dad. The support is always appreciated and it's never a bother to me to get emails like that...

Dad is still with us but it is still being framed as "borrowed time". I visited him today in the nursing home (as I do every day) but today I couldn't stop crying so I had to leave after a short time. One of the bright spots in all of this is my 3 year old son. He gave his grandpa lots of hugs and tells grandpa that he (grandpa) needs to get better so that they can play again.

My sister has also been an amazing saint during all of this and we are a lot closer than we've ever been. (8 years between us)

new pictures of tooling and some bad news

Firstly, the tooling on the saddle is coming along very slowly because I really don't have a lot of spare time at all anymore. I am pleased with how it's turning out. I know it looks like a mess but after the piece is dyed and has the basketweave on it, it'll look a lot better.

I no longer have a lot of time because my Father is very ill. He has been diagnosed with liver cancer and is currently in the hospital due to critically high calcium levels in his blood. He has also been in tremendous pain. I am actually grateful that they admitted him so that they could work on both of those isseus as well as run tests to determine a course of treatment. I'm hoping to know tomorrow where we (my family) go from here. As many of you know, my mother has Multiple Sclerosis and my father has been her caretaker for about 20 years. So now everything changes for everyone... and I do mean everything.. It's an extremely scary and sad time but we're powering though it..

more soon...

REAL FAST

Latest in progress shot of tooling on the saddle that I'm working on. It's actually a lot farther than this now but I've been too busy to take more photos... My studio time is down to an hour or so on the weekends.. never enough time or energy in a day!

The Muse Has come back.... kinda

Lots of photos, as promised! LOL!!!

The first photo is a comparison of Kirsteen Haley's new Basketweave Tooling stamp and the Rio Rondo Stamp. (kirsteen's stamp is the first row)I love both of them! Kirsteen, I think, will have several other stamps available soon and I think that they'd be worth investing in. It's so very hard for our hobby to find tooling stamps small enough to be the correct scale and her's are a welcome addition! (I have long thought about a special set of small tooling stamps for a barbed wire stamp but as always, I have never had time to pursue it.) Kirsteen's Email addy is: quarterhorsedocbar@yahoo.com These are a limited supply! Get em while you can!

The second photo is of the Western Show halter that Susan Bensema Young bought from me and then had me "tart" up..heheheh I love that she said that.. I think that the addition of the extra crystals (her idea) is just perfect! I'll be doing that again.. I also want to note that if "you" ever buy something from me and want me to add some details or anything, I'm always happy to do so.

The Third and Fourth Photos are of the bridle that I've been diligently working on for wayyyy too long. However, I'm super pleased with the final product. The leather photographed much darker than it really is for some reason and I couldn't lighten it up enough with photoshop. The one thing that I had ti "improvise" about was the silver beads. I didn't want to skip silver on the reins or switch the beads to something else after making the headstall. so I decided that since some of the Hill Tribe Beads from Fire Mountain Gems are split in the back then it would be acceptable for me to split these beads. I hope that you agree... I think that the continuity and the flash of silver really add to the reins. The breastcollar is going to match the reins.. I haven't counted how many spanish ring knots that I've made on this set but I'd guestimate that it's 50+. (The plain white knots are spanish ring knots)

The last photo is a drawing of the start of the tooling for the saddle for Chelsea's saddle set. (The bridle above is the bridle for the set) I am feeling the inspiration of "sheridan tooling" made famous by Don King of Sheridan Wyoming. http://www.kingropes.com/thekings.htm I've also seen some folks in our hobby use this style of tooling on their saddles which makes me want to give it a shot. I am really going to try to "tool" it instead of just draw it on. I've had to buy some tandy "regular" tools and use a dremel to carve them down to a useable size. The set will also have some basketweave tooling on it to "fill" in in the middle of the individual piece.

I've been very very neglectful of my diet and my workouts here lately so I'm trying to get back on track with that. It's hard to stay motivated sometimes but I'm pushing myself really hard to stay focused.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! let me know what you think!

Grab your favorite beverage.......

Cause I intend for this one to be a long one!

Ok.. As always I'm crazy behind although I have to admit that I've never been THIS far behind before. I have rarely gotten into the studio here lately because I'm just too dang tired at 8pm at night. (I get up at 5am every weekday) I'm going to try to push through that however and spend more time in the studio.

Above are photos of the same bridle that I've been working on FOREVER. I'm almost done now though. One of the reasons why it's going so slow is that I was almost done on the first set when I realized they were too short. I got my reiner from Sarah Rose and remeasured the reins and thats how I figured that out. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the shorter set of reins yet though. Seems a shame to just throw them away.

The matching saddle to this set will have my first ever actual "Sheridan" style tooling on it. I have been inspired by real saddles as well as the work of Kirsteen Hayley. It will be medium brown and also feature some basketweave. I have an idea of how it'll look in my head.. just have to translate it to actual leather. I also have to redraw my saddle pattern (again.. as usual) because I'm going to be trying out a new saddle tree. I'm going to strive, with this saddle, to make it more realistic than the ones that I've made before. I can foresee more trips to the tack shop..

The western show halter with the Brown Knots and the amber swarovskis sold to Susan Bensema Young. You can imagine how thrilled I am that it will be going into her collection! If you have been going to her site lately, you've noticed the Verizon Pop-up that states that she will need to change her web provider. She is aware of this and is working on a solution, so please don't think that her wonderful website will be going away!!

Speaking of which, I need to update mine badly... it's very out of date by a couple of years.. I'm open to suggestions onto programs with which to do that. My current site is all basic html..

I have taken up yoga and seriously, this has been a great thing for me. I really really enjoy it. The last few minutes of the class where we learn to relax and attempt to clear our minds is a revelation for me. I'm not very good at clearing my mind but I relax more fully each class. It is also excellent for that pesky shoulder of mine. This is kind of like physical therapy in that my arms and shoulder and back get stretched out on a regular basis. I have also plateaued in my walking and weight loss so this is a nice boost to that. (admittedly though I have a major sugar addiction that I'm trying, unsuccessfully, to overcome)


I've backed down the mileage that I've been walking from 4.3 miles every day to 4 or 3.7 miles 3 or 4 days a week. I know that doesn't seem like much but it has helped me be not so exhausted when I'm done.

RJ is three now and a total bundle of energy! He's also learning to read and spell out words and can count well past 30.. This has mostly been because of his own desire and my husbands tutoring. I'm thrilled that he's learned HOW to learn and enjoys it.. I hope that it lasts! ( It took me 30 years to learn that!)

Ok! thats it for now... more soon :o)

Real fast

Quick photos of a bridle in progress.. I seriously love these colors.. there will be a full braided bridle with the colors here eventually..

Miniature Halter For sale

The halter below is for sale for $170ppd. I know that right now isn't a great time to sell anything so I can do half down and the rest due within $30 days. Let me know if you're interested!

Finished Halter!

Here are photos of the latest finished miniature western show halter.. more later when I have time!

Friends

Above are photos of my most recent model horse purchase. It is the Set that Susan Bensema Young made for my close friend, Anna Tackett.

Anna's life has changed , and she is no longer active in the model horse hobby. I find this to be very unfortunate because through the model horse hobby we became friends. She was my "Live show" buddy for many many years and it is in fact because of her that I started Showing at all.

We are still close friends though, and she even got a job recently in the same building as me! (I'm on the second floor and she is on the third). It's incredible that I get to see and go to lunch with one of my best friends as often as I'd like!

Years ago, Anna comissioned this set from Susan. We knew, when susan was done, that the set would be spectacular. We had no idea how beautiful it would really be.. Above is the set that Anna received and I've coveted it and learned from it ever since. Anna showed the set to many local show wins and to a couple of top ten and championships at the North American Model Horse Nationals.

Whenever I needed inspiration or a kick in the butt, I would look at photos of it.

This year Anna wrote me and said she was selling the set and gave me "dibbs". She was kind enough to allow me to make payments on it over a couple of months and in November, I paid it off. It's been with me in my studio, waiting for me to take photos of it. I can barely keep my hands off it but I'm so happy it's mine!

A few saturdays ago, I talked with Susan about the set. She said that if anna had to sell it, she was very happy it was going to me because it would be appreciated. It definitely is. Above are some big photos of it so that I can share this wonderful masterpiece.

Enjoy :-)

Right Quick!

A couple of months ago, my computer hard drive completely tanked. The bad news is that all of my email, email address books and all of RJ's pictures are inaccessible for now. The good news is that I now know to back up my hard drive and we bought a One Terrabyte external drive to house everything. I'm hoping that the photos and message stores are not lost, they're just on the horked hard drive. Hopefully I'll be able to slave that hard drive onto another PC and access it at least long enough to move it to the Big external hard drive.

This means a lot of messages were lost (I had messages saved from 2001 - no lie) and a lot of email addresses were lost. IF you read this and I had promised you a donation of some sort please email me again at tackmaker@desertnightcreations.com.

I AM hoping to do a Donation again for the North American Model Horse Nationals this year (if they'll have me)and I will be donating something cool to Model Horses Anonymous live.

And yes, "computers" is what I do for a living and Yes, I feel like a moron for not backing up my drive. Lesson learned :-)

I have been working away in the studio, bit by bit and I will have new pictures up soon. I'm 3/4ths of the way finished with the halter that will be for sale. I also bought a brand new piece of tack for my Miniature Tack Collection from my Dear Friend Anna Tacket. It is a Susan Bensema Young Set and I have taken pictures of it that I will share here :-)

RJ's 3rd Birthday party is next weekend! And he officially turns 3 on December 11. I Can't believe he's already that old. He is also fiercely independant (wonder where he gets that from).. very much the "I can do it myself" kind of little guy. I'm pretty proud of him!

Well, thats it for now, more soon, HAPPY SATURDAY!

centimeter by centimeter

Some quick photos!

The first photo is of an in progress western show halter with braided turks head knots. I decided to do it in a really basic color so that it would match any setup.

THe bridle belongs to Chelsea Nichols in trade for some paintwork.. There will eventually be a breastcollar and saddle to match! I'm lovin that black and turquoise!

The next two photos are of AMAZINGLY fine hand woven ropes by Emma Harrison... they were a gift and are very treasured :0)

another quickie update!

All of the "levels" in my blood came back normal. No thyroid issues, no low white blood cell - everything is normal. Except for my cold, I've actually felt a bit better. So maybe it was hormones and hopefully a passing thing? One can hope.. still I'll be talking with the dr for more answers.

Just for everyone's info, I am working on an ISH sized western braided knot show halter that I'll have for sale in the near future. As soon as I can get it finished. I'll also have some in progress photos of a saddle set I'm working on :-)

Thank you so much for everyone's well wishes and stories and encouragement. Means a lot to me that I'm not alone :0)

Small Update

I went, this past thursday, to the Dr. They took some blood and I have another appt in two weeks. The "Guess" is anywhere from Anemia, to hormones. All I know is that I'm tired. SO tired.. And no amount of napping or rest fixes it. Yesterday I went for my usual walk and finished in a personal best time. Today I went for a walk and I felt like I wasn't going to make it home. I didn't even do my usual distance. So something is definitely wrong but I don't know what that is. Hopefully though it's something easily fixable with modern medicine :0)

Unfortunately my studio time has been totally Nill. I get in the studio and I do one or two very small things and then I can't focus and I am too tired to do more. Sooo frustrating.. And I'm so forgetful now. I forget moment to moment sometimes what I was doing. I'm sure they're about to shoot me at work.. LOL! And poor anthony.. he deals with aging parents AND me..

Thanks for everyone's kind words! I'll get to the bottom of this and be back in the studio in no time!

Next update will include the most amazing twisted ropes from Ms Emma Harrison herself all of the way from england!! I was so shocked and thrilled when I received them in the mail. THANK YOU EMMA!!

an "Ive been sick" post. and some TB photos that I've taken in honor of BC Saturday

Alysheba at the Kentucky Horse park

einstein

Curlin

Above is Aleysheba in 2008 when he first returned to the horsepark. RIP old guy..

The reason I've been so absent from the studio and the blog is that I've been "sick". I don't know exactly what is wrong but I've been exhausted. To the point of just sitting in the studio, staring at my desk and unable to concentrate at night. My weekends have been busy but in my downtime all I do is sit or sleep. I'm going to the drs this Thursday to see if I can't get an explanation or at least a plan to have more energy. I've also had.. uhh.. ahem, female issues since February of this year that relate to hormones which is another reason why I've been tired. I've been told it's my age (Not revealing that.. LOL!) and how the body changes as it gets older. bleah.

Anyway, thats why I haven't posted or produced much. The past couple of months have felt like I'm running through thick mud up to my waist... I still try to exercise but thats been a casualty of my lack of energy as well and I'm putting on weight which is super irritating after I worked so hard to lose the baby weight and then some.

There are people that I really need to catch up with and that I've missed and that I'm worried about.

There are studio projects that are now a year over due and I'm so sorry but I swear that I'll do my best to make them worth the wait.

I actually had been feeling better this year than I have in a long time over all but I'm just getting my butt kicked right now.

Onto something a tad more interesting, the Breeders Cup is this weekend! Once again I didn't score tickets but I swear one year, Me and some friends are going to get together, pool our resources, get a box and go to churchill to watch the races in style! Then I'll rent one of those giganta lenses and get some great shots. I like the idea that I'll be in a dress and a hat but handling some serious camera equipment.. LOL!

And I just wanna say, that YES I am a Rachel Alexandra fan but TODAY I am a ZENYATTA FAN! GO QUEEN Z~!

Far too long!

Gah! It's been forever since I posted! My apologies for that. LOTS going on.. Every weekend this month has been packed with either work or horsie goodness. I've also been extremely tired so my studio time has been very very limited. Above though is a photo of my latest piece for Kelli. It is a matching breastcollar for the Bosalita that I made a little while back for Model Horses Anonymous. MOre when I get time!