So, this new project of mine has a couple of objectives: 

#1  I have just purchased a saddleseat tack set that needs an appropriate model.
#2  The challenge of reworking a rough resin to fit the above said tack set.
#3  And, the most difficult part - dealing with a rider doll and making clothing for it.  A first for me!

This is going to be a challenge.

Pictured below is my little saddleseat tack that I just purchased from Germany.  I've got another older saddleseat set already, but it's set up specifically for a TWH, (with the straight breast collar and fancy shank bit).  I purchased that set around 14 years ago, and for a short time I showed it on a traditional sized hackney model.  The hackney really wasn't very appropriate for it, (as they are mostly a carriage breed), so I've come to the conclusion that I really need to create a more appropriate model for the new tack set.  (Later on, I should probably create a more appropriate model for the TWH tack as well....)

My new set was made by Steffi Honrath of Golden Creek Saddlery in Germany.  It's shown on a Peter Stone saddlebred, but the model that I will be creating will be from a different manufacturer.

Below are some inspirational videos below of kind-of what I'm shooting for with this whole project:


This one made me tear up a bit....  This is Scotty, a registered saddlebred that was rescued from the New Holland slaughter auction.  I love that his owner shows him almost totally natural.  He has some small wedges for the front, but there are definitely no stacks and no tail set.  (And if you watch, she shows against other competitors that do have them on their horses.)  I give her great respect for saving the horse and getting him out to competing "au-natural".

Another good inspiration for this project, kids having a great time!

And lastly, this one cracked me up.  We all need these types of horses in our lives, the good old school masters that help teaching small children how to learn to ride.  This horse is such a sweet old gem! 

 

 

I just finished this guy up in the studio today.  He was a very interesting challenge!  This is a hair prep version of the Kalendar Prince resin sculpted by Vicky Keeling.  I made a new sand base for him (with added magnets for stability), and painted him a golden chestnut for his owner Melissa Halvas.     

This is an older Kalendar Prince that I did several years ago for Melissa too!  She put the hair on this fellow as well.  It'll be fun to see what the new one looks like with locks!  (Photo courtesy of Melissa Halvas.)  

I'm really excited to be starting a new project for my own personal show string!  Yay!!!!!!  It's been AGES since I did something for myself!  I'm generally too busy being swamped with painting customers models and finishing stuff to sell on MHSP to stay afloat.  This particular project will be just for yours truly.  It's bound to be interesting territory to explore learning how to make "wee tiny clothes" for a rider.   I'll post photos of the process here very soon. 

Fun stuff, I'm so stoked!

I caught these two adorable little pilfering doves in the chicken coop today.  They got themselves stuck while trying to loot the chickens feed.  I can't say that I blame them for doing it, it's been so danged unbelievably COLD here lately, all the wild birds are scavenging for any scraps of food.

Aren't they adorable?

I couldn't help but fiddle around with them for a bit before I set them free.  They were so soft and cute and fluffy!

One of my new years resolutions is to try and stay off of facebook more.  (I tend to waste entirely waaaaaay too much time on there...)  I need to work on some important projects coming up, so in an effort to wean myself away from social media, I'll post more stuff on here instead.  It only takes a couple of minutes to post on the blog, (versus the normal trolling for HOURS at a time on facebook).

Here are a few January photos of the bay dorks enjoying the snow:

An interesting video.  Unfortunately it's in French.

More Furniture Projects

Just finished up the last of my winter furniture projects!  Wahoo!  There are still a few items for next year in storage that I need to refurbish, but I'm planning on saving those for next winter.  Here are some before and after photos of the ones that I have just finished up:

This is a dresser that I picked up at the local Salvation Army.  I paid $35 bucks for this beauty, but it had a lot of issues and desperately needed some TLC.  One of the casters on the bottom was broken off completely, so when Craig and I picked it up to move it, the leg would fall off.  The second drawer had a big gash in the outside veneer that I had to patch up, and the bottom antique handle had been loose for some time and scratched the drawer up badly.  The handle itself was bent up and thrown into the inside of the bottom drawer. 

And this is how it looked after I refurbished it, sitting in my parents new house.  I remade this dresser for my mom, who likes the lighter colored wood.  I sanded the veneer down to bring out the lighter honey colored poplar underneath.  I also added some nice wheat themed wood appliques to give it more appeal.   One of the fun things that I love to do is to create contrasting stain colors on furniture.  I adore the light/dark scheme!  My first piece of furniture that I did this way was our bathroom medicine cabinet, and I've been hooked on doing the light and dark thing ever since. 

Oh boy, this poor little thing....  This is another Salvation Army find, and I think I paid $10 bucks for it.  This sad little dresser was in absolutely horrendous shape, (broken floorboards on the drawer bottoms, thick brown house paint slopped all over it with a roller and drippy paint runs everywhere, numerous deep gouges in the wood, missing and mismatched handles, etc.) 
But, I did have a good vision for it....

 

This is how it looked after I got done with it, (please excuse my father's clothing and various items piled on top of it.)  My dad needed a dresser, and I know how much he really likes barn wood.  I had a lot of fun hunting the countryside for wood, and I managed to pick up some old farm house siding and different barn boards from local sites.  I took the drawer fronts off and created completely new ones out of barn wood, and also added some lower legs to set it up off of the ground.  Then I constructed an upper frame and added two top shelves for more storage space.  I replaced the broken floor boards on the inside of the drawers and added some old reproduction 1800's newspaper lining to the bottoms for a more unique look.  To top it off I found some old flour bin handles for drawer pulls.  It's very different from what it started out as, and my dad seems to really love it!     

  

Craig and I had this little nightmare of a nightstand sitting in our storage.  I remember when we first met neither one of us had very good furniture - in fact, most of it was totally crappy.  This little pine dresser was in the house when I first moved in, and it was a hideous little thing with a dark burgundy red stain and scratches all over it.  There was some caked-on old orange paint that had been spilled all over the inside of the drawer too. 

And this is what the nightstand looked like after I refurbished it.  I remade it to match my mom's dresser.  I was able to find some inexpensive wooden spiral twist legs and some antique piano stool claw feet on E-Bay.  After completely sanding the legs down and lathing the bottoms of them to make the feet fit, Craig helped me cut the bottom shelf and move it up to make a cute little cubby hole.  It has a whole new look!

I also attempted something on this that I've never done on a piece of furniture before.  I added a rich blue crushed velvet lining for the entire inside of the drawer.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  It makes this simple little nightstand look more like a higher end piece of furniture.  (And, the liner wasn't as hard to do as I thought that it would be, so I'm looking forward to doing more of it in the future.) 

And lastly, this project was part of my husbands Christmas present.  He absolutely HAD TO HAVE a new TV....  (really, it was like life or death that he got a new one.... I never heard the end of it until it was purchased...)  So, after getting the TV, we had to make a table for it.  This is a 5' foot table that we created out of barn wood.  Now Craig's "gigantor" colossal tube has something to sit upon.  Good grief, it's like having a kraken in our living room..... *sigh*

Stylin' and profilin' in his new coat!
"Mayfields Pip" Isle of View Titan x Mayfields Jakalina 
I felt sorry for "Pip" because he didn't grow as much hair as some of the other rams did, (and we've been having some brutal -10 below temperatures lately), so when I seen him shivering a little bit today, I took pity on him and purchased a fancy dog blanket from the local feed store.  After quite a bit of alterations with the sewing machine, it fits him pretty good.  He's nice and snuggly warm! 

Heading into the fantasy-tastic new year with a "purple nerple rainbow-farter". Hope everybody's 2017 is magical!

Owned by Amanda Ingram.