From Good to Better

My english saddle pattern has been under construction lately...

This is what my desk looked like the other day....this morning, it's no longer this nice.

Please note the Blue Sharpie of Death. The X on the pattern from January of last year (dang, I've been in this for a year now...) signifies that that pattern is no longer in use :) The baggie of pattern pieces on the left is on it's way out...it will only be around long enough for me to check the differences between the old pattern and the new. Then, it's time for the Sharpie...

Yesterday, I bought a sheet of aluminum to use for english saddle trees. Yeah, I was using soda cans for a while, but that aluminum tends to be too thin - by the time I glue my leather to the metal, I can't get the aluminum to bend and hold it's shape.

So, I invested in a thicker aluminum that, so far, is cooperating very nicely.

The bobby pins help to gently hold everything in place while it dries...clothes pins tend to unbend my trees, so this is a much better arrangement than clothes pins or sitting and holding the silly thing for ages.

I also made some supplies orders this morning; two new awls, some Edge Kote, Satin Shene, a western saddle tree, and two tweezers are on their way - I must admit that I am addicted to tweezers, and since I lost the only pair in the household, I've been dying without them. Not to mention I got in trouble for losing those tweezers on several occasions, so I made sure to buy two pairs this time.



So, that's it for now - I'll post progress photos as this new-and-improved saddle moves along :)

Motivation...right?

Ok…I have tried to be merciful, kind, tolerant and patient for far too long.

This is killing me.

Have any of you recently browsed the tack section of Model Horse $ales Pages? If not, please do so before you read on.

http://www.modelhorsesalespages.com/searchlist.asp (just go to the drop down box, select the Tack section, and click “Go”)

Do you see what I see? I see a plethora of tack, at what I consider high prices, for what I consider low-quality tack.

Is it just me, or is there something wrong with this?

I understand that people are broke nowadays, and tack making seems to be a big draw to make a buck or two. But, seriously, it looks like a two-year-old made that, and you’re charging what for it? Please, alleviate my illness and do you research before you stick a price that looks promising to the seller on an item. Because, trust me, that won’t look appealing to the buyer.

I have listed some of my tack for cheap, and I mean cheap online. But it never sold. Is my tack not worth $150, or even $100, or even $75? Please, be honest, and if you’ve seen my tack before, please let me know how much YOU think I should sell my tack for. Because I want to be making a good hourly wage for the time I put into a tack set!

Seeing the high input of low-quality tack at high-quality (or even medium quality) prices, I find it harder and harder to catch good-quality tack makers’ work, especially since I use photos of this stuff as references to help make MY tack better…

What do you think?

I personally think this means I need to make some tack just to give people something realistic to look at, even if they don't buy it.

::begins digging through drawers of leather and tools::

And please forgive me if I sound snotty :/

Tackmaking at the End of the Tunnel

This morning I learned that I have a customer who wants a bridle spiffed up.

(Once again, Blogger isn't cooperating. I'll check back later to see if I can post pictures.)

The customer is the third or fourth owner of the gaited saddle I made to fit the Peruvian Paso mold.

(....won't load pictures.)

Anyways, it was the first time I'd ever done anything so drastic as fitting the saddle to a specific mold - which turned out to be neccessary for that model. The Peruvian Paso mold is very short-backed, and his high headset makes his neck get in the way.

I wasn't comissioned to make a bridle, however, because the customer ordering the tack already had a bridle they would use with the saddle. I just said "It makes my job easier!"

Well, now, the saddle is with a bosal bridle - it's nice, but for some inexplicable reason the browband is way, way too short.

So, I have been commissioned to replace all of the leather on this bridle with new leather that 1). Matches the saddle's color, and 2). Fits the poor horse's forehead.

After all, the saddle has NAN'ed already - why not give it a winning bridle too? ;)

Friesians on the Brain

Title says it all :D

I have a Gem Twist body sitting on my desk. I was hoping to sell it, but so far no one has claimed him. A while back, I saw a Gem Twist model someone had transformed into a bowing Friesian.

*+. Light Bulb Moment!.+*

So, as soon as the three bodies on my desk/windowsill/dresser are finished, or at least past the prepping stage, I think I just might have a go at my first bowing Friesian model!

The Winds of Change

There has been absolutely no tack progress around here since...oh...last spring? I can't remember. All I know is that I seem to have lost all inspiration for tackmaking. But, I've been painting lately, so at least I haven't completely abandoned the hobby.

Please welcome Pendragon Studios!

The site is still a little rough, but you can visit it here:

http://pendragonstudios.webs.com/

I'm still keeping hte name of Noble Farms Custom Saddlery for the tack side of my "business," but Pendragon Studios will be the whole of my efforts, including the tack part - think of it like this:

So, you get the gist of it - I just need some change over here. (This is what a month-long break from school does to you.)

Also, I am thinking of turning my painting "skills" (or lack thereof) into a Pet Portrait service - for folks who want a 3D model of their horse or dog, I can paint them a model of their pet! I figured this would be a better way to reach out to the non-model-horsey people in my area, and keep from flooding the model horse world with my, uh, practice pieces.

Please let me know what you think in the comments below - and don't worry, as soon as I have extra money to spend on tack supplies I will make more tack!!

Hello everyone!!

First off, I am a slacker – I have not posted as often as I said I would, with nothing for an excuse besides school and general laziness. But, what I had meant to post about a week ago was the news that I was buying my friend and her sister’s Breyer collections – about 150 models.

I managed to find about 52 of them to keep, some of them ones I had already sold from my own collection.

Yeah.

Anyways, my shelves are now full – but I must say, that wall of my room looks much more inviting with 135 Breyer models on it :D

If you couldn’t tell in that picture, we got a dusting of snow this morning. Nothing photographing, but enough to make is pretty dang cold out there. The cow was pretty frisky this morning too :D

While we’re still thinking of the goings-on around here, I thought I’d show you these pictures:

(My brother took these three photos; he’s turning into a great photographer!)

Wondering what the heck is going on with the tripod? Well, glad I piqued your interest – but you’ll have to wait until we finish our project before I tell you :D

Oh, and just to prove that I’m not perfect – I put my phone through an entire washing machine cycle yesterday morning…24 hours later, it’s almost working right, but the LCD touch display still looks like it has a little water in it :/ Go figure. :P

Well, that’s all for now – no new tack or model horse news….oh, except that I have two new models on the way :D I’ll post photos as soon as they get here!

Not M.H.R.....

This week's post will be a music review.

Last night a friend of mine had me listen to Lucy,by Skillet, a Christian heavy rock-style band. I love their music (I had to buy their latest album this morning!) and this song is no exception.

Listen to it first here, on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhDOHks7OQQ&feature=share


Now you're ready for the review.

I had an idea of what John Cooper, the lead singer/songwriter, was trying to get across with the lyrics, and trust me, I knew it was a sad song - but I really had no idea what it was about. So, I searched the song in Google and got this Wikipedia page...hopefully it's trustworthy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(Skillet_song)

So, anyways...a very touching song, whether you're a Christian, Muslim or Atheist. ;)

And sorry it's not Model Horse Related....there's just not much horsey stuff goin' on over here right now....till tomorrow ;)