Mess, but good mess

This picture just about sums up the extent of my productivity this weekend. I managed to cut out all the remaining calf pieces I will need to finish the Roundabout and Cerridwen sets. In the foreground are all the pieces for Cerridwen's bridle, stirrup leathers and straps for the girth. Roundie's straps are off the camera shot, drying. I used Eco-flo Dark Mahogany for both sets and really like this colour. There has been a delay with the saddles. I bought a dremel recently and one of its main uses will be to drill tiny holes in my saddles, to put the reinforcing pins through. It has to go through multiple sheets of leather and thick brass. I did them by hand before, with an awl, but the tree would always end up being bent a little and I had to work hard to get it back into shape. So, I ordered the drill bits and when they arrived I was itching to try them out. Then realised I needed a smaller collet for the dremel (that was one of those hand-slap-on-forehead moments, doh!). So, the bridles will now probably get finished before the saddles whilst waiting for the collet set to arrive!

What you can't see in the photo is my lack of productivity with the Australian set. I cut and carved the pieces and dyed them, which I shouldn't have. I should have tested Java brown a bit more thoroughly instead of using it on these pieces. I think Java brown is probably the ugliest brown dye I have ever used! Totally the wrong colour. So, this week I'll be cutting some more leather and trying out yet another new dye. I'm hoping the Eco-flow All-in-one Chocolate Cherry will do the trick. The pieces I dyed Java brown will not go to waste, I'll dye them dark brown or black and make another Aussie set to sell later in the year.

There are a couple of other interesting things to have a look at on my work table. My wooden draws from Ikea at the back have been mine since I was about 8 or 9 years old. I really wanted to paint them but never got round to it. I did paint another Ikea wooden box which I also still have, in all kinds of animal skin patterns which still looks pretty cool. It holds my polished mineral specimens! Next to those are a set of 16 plastic boxes which hold all of my hardware: bits, stirrups, buckles etc. And next to that is my pinboard which constantly reminds me how many orders I have to do, and keeps the current projects safe in the plastic cups, I think I stole that idea from Anna Kirby!

In front of that are two models which have little reason to be on the table. The newsworthy is there as I need his legs for some boots but they're still a few weeks away. And then there's my Gaspar Destiny resin in a classic tack set by Des Corbett. He really has no reason to be there!

Finally this picture reminds me I have to give Cerridwen a hot bath. During her trip to Australia she must have been in an awkward position and her near fore developed a bend. That's what a 3 month delay in shipping does for you! 

Busy Times

Sorry it's been rather quiet from me of late, things have been very busy around here! I have finally fully sorted out my 'studio' space, and have made some good progress on a couple of tack sets. Both the Cerridwen hunt set and the Roundabout show set are at the same stages, they just need pinning and then have the panels attached. I really want to get those two sets finished before my holiday in May. I took some photos of them this morning but they are appalling even by my standards so I'll try and get some fresh ones after work tonight! It's starting to get dark quite early here so soon I will have to wait until weekends to do any photography.

The third set I'm working on is patient Caitlin's Australian set. 7 months ago I made the saddle, got the colour wrong and only now have just cut and tooled the flaps. I dyed them this morning, and should be able to assemble it at the weekend. I think this set will be finished early June on my return from the USA.

I'd also like to get a donation bridle made for a show that actually took place last year. Stacey won it and has been very patient. In actual fact I will be going to Stacey's next show in July, which I can't wait for! It will be my first Australian live show and my first show in over a year. Hopefully I will pull my finger out and make the donation for THAT show before July!

The Australasian International Model Horse Club has welcomed me back with open arms. It's still being run in a really organised and efficient way and I love getting the quarterly magazine. It has caused me to dust off my points records from when I lived here 4 years ago (most of the models I still have too!). So I've been busy updating my records and registering my newer models. All quite time-consuming but once sorted it will be easy to keep up to date. I've made a new spreadsheet to make life easier:

Each model has their own sheet and the points from photo and live shows are added and it gives me sub-totals for various categories. Should make the end of year awards a breeze. And it will hopefully provide motivation to sort out my TOPSA and MEPSA entries as points from all shows count.

Tonight I'm going out for dinner with the girls. We're all from the UK and one of us is leaving town tomorrow. She and her partner have been here for 5 years, they arrived the same time as we did the first time. I commend them for managing to stay so long but I'll still be sad to see them go. And another one will be following her in a few months. But that's life in such a transient mining town and I know one day in a few years that will be me again too. But I'm enjoying my job and enjoying having the extra cash so can't complain really!

A very late crupper!

Poor Angela has been waiting for a crupper from me for about 2 years now. She kindly fixed up two of my models painted by her after they suffered from an attack from some bubblewrap the last time I lived in Australia. In return she asked for a crupper to match the endurance set I made for her a year or so previously.

I have no decent explanation of why it has taken me so long to make this small item, probably two more international moves had something to do with it coupled with my forgetfulness! Anyway last week to kick off my tack making in 2012 I did it! In fact I did it twice. The first one I made from some lace but it tore so easily when I tried to do up the buckles. So I took the hardware from that one and re-used it with some hand-cut leather strips. I often find this with lace - it is very dry compared to hide leather and is often much stiffer. Anyway here it is, not much but it will complete the set. I'm also going to make Angela an additional bridle to try and make up for it!

I have also made some good progress this weekend on my saddle orders. All 4 trees are now complete and this afternoon I'll cover them with leather. Then it's a case of cutting, dying and finishing all the flaps and skirts. I think I'm on track to get all these sets, plus three more bridles, by mid-May when I'm off to California, Nevada and Utah for a much needed holiday!

Website Updated

The website has had a page updated, yey!

Specifically the commissions page has been updated with details of all my outstanding orders. Given my 3 week holiday in May I am hoping to get all of these done by the end of June. I think that is an attainable target given my historical pace!

The crupper I have owed someone for years now, and feel incredibly guilty about letting this little one eternally slip away. It's only a crupper! So that one is definitely first on the list and in theory will only take half an hour. Then I owe a couple of artists some tack sets in exchange for copies of their sculptures which I have in hand now. I'm going to really enjoy the Roundabout set and ambitiously might try to make 2 at the same time. The Australian set was half finished (see previous posts) but I'm having to start again on that one. And the bridles will slot in somewhere. I will actually start by making all the required trees at once. So one hunt tree, two classic Roundabout trees and an Australian tree. I'm going to set aside some time this Sunday to work on those.

The last three slots there have been booked in the last week. The boots shouldn't take long, the Western set will probably take the whole of June, and the Vaquero set is something I've been meaning to make for myself for the last year. I have the horse and the doll, so no excuses!

I will also be taking on orders for Equorum tack. This doesn't take too long to make and isn't as intense as my normal work, so provides a welcome change from detail detail detail!

It could have been worse..... I suppose

Well, I've unpacked and inspected all the resins and customs, and the news isn't too good unfortunately.

In total I've got one broken tail....

3 broken ears, 2 broken legs......

and major stickiness issues with some of the customs.

The stickiness isn't too surprising given how long they've been cooped up in a hot shipping container, so it wasn't a huge surprise. But I've been trying to figure out why some go sticky and some don't. This classic warmblood has had issues in the past when wrapped in sheet foam, I knew bubblewrap wouldn't be good news so tried paper. It stuck to him, so once the sealant hardens up again I'll have a go at gently removing the paper.

I think I can fix the tail and the legs (one on a small Daire resin and the other on a mini), and have a go at the ears.

Other damage is beyond my competency. On the customs, where the sealant has softened in the heat they have been very vulnerable, and some have a few rubs and dents here and there.

Having unpacked all of the non-minis, I was actually a little overwhelmed by the numbers of them and this has confirmed with me that I need to thin down a bit! I'll be listing resins and customs for sale on my website, here, and MH$P.

Overall the experience has made me feel the need to cut back - I'd rather change around my collection more often so some guys who've been with me for 5+ years will be looking for new homes. If you see anything that interests you in the above photo then let me know. There are some I won't sell (Gomez, Atom, Darcy, Hazel, grey Valor, Memphis Belle, American Graffitti), but the others I will consider offers.

One more sleep!!!

This week is a very exciting one!

That's because tomorrow, our stuff arrives!

It's been 4 months now since it was all packed up in Cornwall, then it sat there for 8 weeks whilst our sponsoring company faffed around and delayed payment. It includes everything from our house in the UK: furniture, clothes, kitchen stuff, books, music, you name it. And of course my models. There is a whole room waiting for them!

We have shipped our things internationally three times before. The last time was the most successful in terms of damage to resins. I think I had just one ear break. Before that it's always been multiple breaks. So I'm hoping my packing has improved and I won't have any. Time will tell.

Happy New Year!

Well, I had a lovely Christmas and New Year here despite the heat. 40C degrees a few days prior to Christmas really did not get me in the festive mood! And last night at about 6pm we had a rather nasty storm here and it was the closest I've come to being struck by lightning! We were outside readying the BBQ and watching the galah's having a shower on a nearby power line pole about 50ft away from us. Next thing - Crack! Bang! Sparks everywhere! The pole was hit! The birds all disappeared and did not return for the rest of the evening! We did actually check to see if any had been killed and were lying on the ground, amazingly none were.

I've been pretty mopey this morning as per usual, New Year is an anti-climax and nothing really amazing happens. I'm still waiting for all my stuff to get here, the ship is due into Fremantle on the 9th of January but we've heard that the workers at the port have been on strike. So maybe we'll get our stuff by the end of January, who knows... I just hope they don't get snarled up in customs any longer than necessary.

I have had three new equines join me here over

the last few months. One is this super-cute Equorum shetland in mouse dun. He has a double mane which lies on both sides of his neck, in very soft mohair/silk mix.

Next is this lurvly Leggs resin sculpted by Liesl Dalpe. She's been painted by Deb Brown of the UK, who is a really consistent and reliable painter. I love the chilled out expression on this mare and Deb has created this gorgeous caramel colour with a dainty blanket.

And last but not least is a further addition to my Savage collection! This is the Babysitter, sculpted as a young Thoroughbred mare but I think she could be a couple of different breeds. Again Deb Brown painted her as a rich chestnut which is slightly washed out by the flash in this picture.

One or two more will be arriving soon, particularly a couple of LB scaled resins - I'm becoming more and more attracted to this scale and am keen to start seeing how my tack making skills are at this scale - haven't made anything small for a while!