It's a secret

I have a couple orders I have been putting off for a really long time. Yesterday I finally said, "Enough is enough." I cleared off my desk...

This is what passes for clear at Braymere Custom Saddlery!

and went to work!

I worked deep into the night,

slept a couple hours and woke up with the sun.  

Only a slight exaggeration

Then it was right back to work.

And just like that, one of my problem orders is done. I wish I could show it to you because it turned out really well. Unfortunately, I can't.

It's a seekrit!

The trade-off

The surface of my desk is no longer clean...

but tack is happening.

That's a good trade-off, right?

Still more cleaning

Today was day four of The Great Studio Cleaning.

There's still some clutter and a lot of dust... 

but mostly, the room is presentable. 

I've found approximately half a million NAN cards,  

the long lost Cooper head... 

and the world's smallest peep.

However, I still have not found either of my two missing tubs of Sticky Wax. Where could they be? I'm pretty sure they're not in here.

TGIF

Today was another studio cleaning day.

But today was also a Friday, and on Fridays, I ride Sprite.

Today's ride wasn't anything special.  

We rode the usual loop. It was a little wetter than normal because the beavers have dammed up large portions of the river bottom. 

Still, the weather was beautiful, the company was outstanding (thanks, Mary Jo!) and Sprite was her usual spritely self.

I never take this for granted. 

I love my Fridays with Sprite. I am so lucky.

Spring cleaning

I often say I thrive in chaos, and that's true up to a point. Unfortunately, my studio has long since passed that point. Yesterday, I decided enough was enough. It was time to take control and reclaim my work space.

Since then, i's been two solid days of organizing...

and cleaning

It pains me to discard potentially useful things...

but sacrifices must be made.

This is the cleanest my work desk has been in years. 

The non-work side of the desk isn't as good, but it's a lot better than usual.

There's still a lot of work to do in other parts of the room, but this is a really good start. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I might actually be able to let people visit my studio again. How great would that be? 

Paying the bills

This is what I wanted to do today.

This is what I did instead.

Sometimes you just have to pay the bills.

Back to work

The holiday season is officially over...

and I am back to work.

This week is dedicated to small orders, like nameplates...

and nameplate halters.

I've also done some repair work for the IPABRA Tack Library. This vintage (1994!) pony saddle by Corinne Herb (now Ensor) had a broken stirrup bar...

and this parade bridle had a broken noseband.

I tried to repair it, but the leather was dry and crumbly and practically fell apart in my hands. In the end, it was easier to start from scratch with better leather and buckles.  

I added crystals to the bit...

but maintained some of the bridle's original character by reusing the brow and noseband decorations.

I still have two bridles and another halter left, and then, hopefully, it's on to saddles!

Work space

Productivity is messy, and lately I've been really productive.

The workable surface on my studio desk has been steadily shrinking for the last couple weeks, and today it reached crisis stage.  Although I'm knee deep in a big order with a tight deadline, I was forced to take a break from tackmaking and spend some time reclaiming lost real estate.

Remember my 1:9 scale trash can?  After less than a month, it's already filled with two solid inches of skiving debris.

Eventually, I'm going to have to break down and do some serious cleaning, but this is good enough for today.  Now it's back to making another big, productive mess!

More cleaning

Erin Corbett, her boyfriend and his two kids are driving through Colorado on their way home from Breyerfest.  Naturally, I invited them to spend the night here. I was really, really excited about this visit until I realized that I was going to have to clean my house again.

Even worse, I was going to have to clean the studio.

Yesterday, I rolled up my sleeves and decided to tackle the mess head on. It wasn't long, however, before I ran into the problem I always run into: too many horses and not enough space.

Not for the first time, it occurred to me that what I really need is shelves. Lots and lots of shelves.  I asked Seth if he could help me...

and just like that, my space issues were solved. Hurray for handy husbands!

The shelves are sturdy, but I always worry about storing expensive - and heavy - resins on such a precarious perch. In the end I decided the top shelf would be original finish models only - Breyers on one side and glossy Stones on the other.

The bottom shelf is sort of a catch all right now with a few resins, several customs, a North Light or two, one Beswick, three dogs, some assorted minis and a Bill Duncan cart. I'm not sure it will stay like this forever, but for now I'm liking the eclecticism.

I also decided to address the mismatched shelves over the left side of my work desk. This is how they looked before: 

And here's how they look now. The two six inch top shelves are gone. They've been replaced with twelve inch shelves which will be far more useful to me. I used one of the narrow shelf boards to build a little shelf on my desk.  

All these new shelves have allowed me to really open up my work space. Look at how clean my desk is! Now Erin and I can actually have a tack day in my studio.  Woo hoo! 

The change in the little book case on the left side wall is even more impressive.  This used to be one gigantic jumble of models and paper and boxes.  Now it is neat and organized.

My favorite part is the the top. At long last, I've created a spot for Abbie and Maggie's ashes. Abbie is displayed with her model by Tiffany and a rock from Eaton Canyon, which is one of my favorite places. The picture is of Abbie at Wonder Cave, which is a favorite place the two of us shared.

Maggie's picture was taken at Cherry Creek Dog Park, where she loved to run and play. Her box is accompanied by a horse that was owned by Seth's grandmother, which feels appropriate since we inherited Maggie from Seth's grandparents. A bird's nest made almost entirely from horse hair completes the display.

There's still a lot of work left to do, but I am quite pleased with my studio's new look. I can hardly wait to show it Erin... and it might be the only room I let Erin see, since I haven't cleaned anything else at all!