Portable Crafting

The downtime between classes has allowed me to be about a third or half way done. If you want to do a craft that isn't messy and easy to tote around, cross stitching is for you.

Vintage Day

I didn't pay attention to the Vintage Club until this year.  I saw there was a Misty and Stormy (Coral and Reef), and I knew I had to have them. So I found a group still looking for someone to claim the Misty and Stormy pair, and the rest is history.
They came today.

I loved the vintage box they came in.

The pamphlet that came with them was just as cool. It gave a highlight of things that happened in 1961 and 1972. Breyer and real life.

I really like the ponies. I love the fact that Coral/Misty has the 'four-eyed' pattern.

They both have eye whites. 

And each has its own blue ribbon sticker.

Today my theater is also showing showing The Breakfast Club in honor of its 30th anniversary. Since I wasn't alive (from my mom "You weren't even a thought") when it first came out, I'm seeing it tonight. :)

Youtube Is Cool

YouTube is awesome. 

I haven't had time to do tack related projects, but WiFi is practically everywhere you go, so I had a chance to find cool how-tos on YouTube. This would have to be my favorite one I saw this week. I have a new YouTube channel to add to my list.

 This is a how-to I found on the channel SugarCharmShop. She has numerous videos ranging from minature food to creating a zombie. I highly recommend her videos!

Anyways, this is one of my favorites. I would love to make a miniature Bullet one day. :)

Back In Session

Spring break is over, which means the college life is back. Not that that is a terrible thing, but it does decrease tack making time . 

(Skiving and other messy projects would not be a particularly good idea to play with in lounges).

But it does add time to cross stitching. I usually cross stitch between classes, so *maybe* I'll finish a saddle pad by the end of the year!

I did make a bridle today. My leather was delayed, and finally got here today. I made the bridle and even got it out to the post office before it closed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I made a little felt hat years ago and brought it out to stick on these two.

Cato wasn't having it. He looks almost like Disney's Robin Hood but only as a cat. 

Bullet loves to dress up, so he enjoyed posing with the hat on.

Phantom Stallion

When thinking about a color for my new resin, I tried to think of a real life counterpart to have immortalized. I thought about the various non-famous horses I've met and ridden, but while they were nice to meet, they didn't really leave a big enough mark for me to want a miniature version.
My favorite horses when I was smaller were the ones that lived between book covers. :)

The Phantom Stallion was a horse series written by Terri Farley. The 24 book series was first published in 2002 and the last book came out in 2006. The books revolved around 13-14 year old Sam Foster, her family and friends, and her fight for the mustangs she loved. Here's a synopsis from Amazon.

"When 13-year-old Samantha returns home to her family′s cattle ranch in Nevada, she′s worried. She moved away two years ago to recover from a bad fall off her beloved mustang, Blackie, and she′s still not sure she can get back in the saddle. Her new colt doesn′t seem to like her, and the other ranchers treat her like the boss′s spoiled daughter, and Blackie has been missing since that fateful day.
But that′s just the beginning. When Sam suddenly finds the fate of a mysterious mustang who may or may not be the missing Blackie - resting in her hands, she has to learn to be a real cowgirl, ready or not. The classic theme of a girl and her horse is set against a backdrop of mustangs, tumbleweeds, and a West that′s still Wild."

Living on a ranch in Nevada with a wild horse that only you can control? Yep. I devoured these books.  I read twenty-two of the twenty-four books. For some reason not finishing horse series was something I did when I was in middle school.
Anyways, I thought Dos Brio would be a great version of The Phantom in miniature. From the books, The Phantom was described to have Arab influence and be grey. Dos Brio has a beautiful face and could pass as a once-tamed-horse-gone-wild horse. Plus, the great thing about books is that characters can be interpreted in numerous ways.
Terri Farley found the real life version of the fictional horse. The story behind him is on her website.
I made a halter to go with my resin and name plate. I changed the way I did the name plate and instead of getting a semi-good result once out of four times, I got solid and clear results the first time around! So yay.

The Phantom went by numerous names in the book, so I made 2 halter nameplates. One says Phantom and the other Zanzibar.

Not sure about which halter nameplate I like better. Thoughts?

When you make progress on stuff

I'm quite happy with the progress I've made on these. I'm going to redo the tree, but I'm happy with the flaps. Specifically the knee rolls because after gluing, I sewed them. 

Riding

I went riding yesterday.

It'd been a while (August), so I knew waking up today that I'd feel it. The arena was dark, so the pictures came out a bit blurry. But it was fun riding Charm!

There was a very talkative but sweet barn cat. She was so tiny compared to my cats. :)

And then I took artsy pictures of one of the other barn horses, who's an appaloosa. 

80%

I would consider this saddle to be 80% done.

It just needs panels and stirrups. Panels are my least favorite part of saddle making. Not sure why because it's one of the least complicated parts for me......

Pony Saddle.

I started on a pony saddle today to replace the one that was messed up from the dye spill.

I also decided on a signature for my flaps: a paw, my last name, and year.

New Resin

I loved Dos Brio when he first came out. I couldn't buy him at the time, but recently found one online and finally have one! He came in the mail today.
I really liked Lizzie's Snitch when I saw him and was excited to get mine. The details are wonderful and I love his face.

Show Loot

I did come home with a couple of things from the show. 

I thought this pig was adorable. He just has broken ears.

I also bought a Breyer pack set! I've wanted it since it was announced and saw it at the show and bought it.

Gifts were given and received.  I came home with these.

Look how cute! Custom by Garey

Berks Saddle-ites 6th Annual Model Horse Show

I went to the Berks Saddle-ites 6th Annual Model Horse Show on Saturday and forgot my camera at home.  I freaked out a bit because I worried that I'd left it in the snow next to my car (I do weird things when I'm tired). After calling my mom and finding out it had been left on the kitchen cabinet, it was time to do showing stuff. Without my camera I felt naked, but then remembered that my phone can do photos. I tried to do almost a live blog thing on Facebook. The show hall was a hit or miss in terms of wifi. Adjust you position a tiny bit and the 4g would become a dead spot. So my phone battery was sucked up very fast, but I did get some pictures between charging it!
As usual, if you know who the owner of some of the models are or if you don't want your name posted, comment. :)

OF Native American/Arab Costume

Custom Other Performance/Costume (Can't remember/not sure)

Owned by Margaret Balch

Showmanship

Owned by Kim Bleecker

Owned by Niki Hertzog

Owned by Melissa Cox

Dressage

Owned by Niki Hertzog

Other English Performance

English Trail

Owned by Kim Bleecker

Owned by Margaret Balch

Owned by Margaret Balch

Owned by Ashley Marconi 

Owned by Kim Bleecker

 My best placer of the day was the tiniest member of my show string.

It's a tiny cat I bought at Toys On The Square.

In terms of placings, this wasn't my best show. I felt like the competition was tough, so I was happy with the placings I got. 

I also realized that I need to fix/update some setups. And plan ahead more.  :)

I had alot of fun though. Hanging with plastic pony peeps is always a good time. Plus I went to Chick-Fil-A for the first time. I really liked their Waffle Fries.