More Saturday silliness

Of all the comments posted on the boot tutorial, RiderWriter's was my favorite.  She wrote: I am chuckling... here I exerted some brainpower wondering just how you guys were able to pull boots on over the doll's clothing and make them look so nice, and you've been busy GLUING THEM ON! LOL! Never thought of that solution.

I am chuckling, too, because it never occurred to me not to glue them on.  

And perhaps it should have.  After all, tall boots are not particularly comfortable.  After a long day in the show ring, that poor rider doll would probably like to take her boots off.

She wonders, "Why won't these boots come off?  Did my feet and legs really swell up that much while I was riding?"

"Perhaps the hot cowboy from across the barn aisle can help me pull them off..."

And then it hits her:  Those boots aren't ever coming off because someone GLUED THEM ON!!!

(Ha ha ha!  There I go cracking myself up again!)

Bargain Barn--Randa & Emily's OF's

Welcome to the second installment of the Bargain Barn.  This recurring series highlights budget priced models who have risen above their humble beginnings to become big winners in the live show ring.

All three of today's horses hail from the Original Finish Halter ranks.  The first two are owned by Randa Garrett who lives in my husband's hometown of Overland Park, Kansas.  She writes:  This is Gallabuxur fra Tviburi Vor, my Icelandic Pony SM.  I bought her at Target for around $6 I think.  She went Top Ten at NAN 2010.

My second one is TS Emperor Harry my Safari Shire Stallion.  I bought him at Tractor Supply Co. for $7.99.  At American Heartland Live 2011 he was first in the Mini (LB and smaller) Clydesdale/Shire class (including stone & breyer) and then went on to win Draft Breed Reserve Champion.  He will be going to NAN 2012.

Emily Dunnan has a similar rags to riches story.  She writes: I bought a Breyer Valentine for $20 in January; she has only been to two shows, and has NAN’d both times. At this past NAN in Tucson, Delilah won the gold cookie in OF European Warmblood, against a bunch of connoisseur and SR models. Here’s her picture from the NAN website:

photo courtesy of NAMHSA

Lovely models, ladies, and thank you so much for sharing!  If you have a "little model that could" in your showstring and you would like to see him featured here, please contact me at Braymere@comcast.net.

Doll boots, part two

Yesterday I showed you how I prepare a doll for boots by reshaping its feet with epoxy.  Today it's finally time to make those boots!

My dress boot pattern has three main parts--the leg, the toe and the heel.  All three of these parts will be cut from hand dyed sheepskin skiver. 

I always start with the leg section.  Swagger tabs are not as common on dress boots as they are on field boots, but I like the way they look so I went ahead and added them.

I wrap the leg section around the doll's leg and carefully sew the sides together.  The goal is to get the stitches as close to the edges as possible and for the seem to be completely flat.

Once that's done, I cover the seem with a piece of 1/8" kangaroo lace which has been skived to paper thinness.   

I also glue the bottom of the leg piece to the doll's foot making sure it's not so tight that she can't put her heels down. 

Onto the toe section!  I cut out the piece and skive all the way around the edges leaving only the middle untouched. 

I glue the piece onto the doll's foot, making sure the little cut out goes right in the front center of the boot. 

Because I skived those edges, I should be able to fold the extra under the boot and glue it into place without any bulky lumps.

 The heel section is glued on next... 

Once again, the overhanging edge is turned under and glued in place.

I stand the doll on a piece of lightweight tooling leather, and trace around her foot to create the boot's sole. 

The sole is then cut out and its edges are treated with gum tragacanth.  I use this sole as a template to cut out two little heel pieces, glue everything in place and... 

Ta da--boots!

They're not perfect, of course, but I'm quite pleased with my day's work.  The boots fit nicely and allow the doll to flex her ankle when riding.

As a bonus--she also stands well! 

All she needs is a pair of spurs and she will be ready for the show ring!

Doll boots, part one

A while back, I asked Anne Field to make me a lower level dressage doll without boots.  This had nothing to do with the quality of Anne's boots.  Trust me, Anne knows how to make boots.  Mostly I just wanted to revisit this particular leather working challenge.

There was a period in my hobby life where I made a lot of doll boots.  Some of these were for my own dolls.  Others were for my friend, Jane Schneider.

doll and photo by Jane Schneider

 Most of those boots turned out pretty well, but I think I can do better now.

doll and photo by Jane Schneider

As always, the first step in any project is research.  Don't get me wrong--I know what dress boots look like, but it never hurts to go back and look at things with fresh eyes.  

It also helps to touch and feel the real thing.  Fortunately, I happen to have a pair of dress boots in my closet.  These aren't high quality boots, but they're good enough for my purposes. 

Once I know exactly what I want to build, it's time to start actual construction.  Since I want the foot portion of my boots to be boot shaped rather than foot shaped, I'm starting with epoxy. 

I've protected the doll by wrapping her inside a plastic bag.  I'd rather not get epoxy on her legs, but since everything from the knee down will eventually be cover in leather, that's not a deal breaker.

Here's a look at the new "boot shaped" feet.   

It's tempting to push ahead to the next step, but I know from experience that things will go better if I allow that epoxy to cure overnight.  I've put the doll aside and I'm not going to touch her again until tomorrow morning.

Part two tomorrow--I hope!

The Bargain Barn--Gimme S'more

Assuming you can't afford to spend $17,000 on an artist resin... Does that mean you shouldn't  bother attending another live show?  Is live show success completely beyond your grasp?  Should you trade in your models and take up a less expensive hobby?

My answer to these questions is an emphatic no.

Granted, the big budget collectors will always have an advantage, but that doesn't mean you can't win big with a bargain horse.  I've done it and I know I'm not alone.  In fact, I would wager that nearly every long time shower/collector has a couple members of the "Bargain Barn" in their herd.

Here's one of my most successful bargains.  This is Gimme S'more.  He is a Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig Brownie resin painted by Cara Barker-Yellott.  

My friend and fellow tackmaker, Erin Corbett was Gimme S'more's first owner.  She purchased him through an eBay auction in which he sold for the same price as an unpainted Brownie.  Now, that was not a good deal for Cara, but it certainly made Erin happy.  She was even happier when he went on to win a Top Ten ribbon at NAN 2009.

Late last year, Erin decided to downsize and Gimme S'more ended up living with me.  Once again, he "sold" for a bargain price--if memory serves me correctly, I traded a saddleseat saddle for him.  He made his second NAN appearance in Tuscon, and this time he did even better winning a Reserve Championship in the Artist Resin Other Pure/Part/Grade Foals class.

Gimme S'more has become one of the most reliable NAN card winners in my show string--not bad for a painted model who sold at body price!

I would love to hear about some of your bargain horses.  I don't care if it's a $10 Walmart OF with two NAN titles to its name (hint, hint, Teresa!) or a Carol Williams piece that sold for $400 rather than $1,400.  Either way, a bargain is a bargain and this hobby is full of them!  If you would like to see your model featured in a future Bargain Barn post, please email me off blog at Braymere@comcast.net.

Seventeen thousand six hundred dollars and ninety nine cents

That was the winning bid for Liz Shaw's amazing Victrix.

It's also the most anyone has ever paid for a model horse, easily surpassing the $13,500 one of a kind palomino Alborozo that sold at the 2008 Breyerfest Auction.  

Predictably, the hobby world is abuzz with talk of the auction.  Reactions range from disbelief ($17, 000?! I could get a real horse/car/house/random expensive item for $17,000!!! ) to disgust (idiotic, ridiculous and delusional) to sheer, unadulterated joy.  Count me among the last group.  That model represents a singular achievement in finishwork.  How wonderful to see an artist justly compensated for producing a piece that transcends and expands the usual hobby standards!

Karen Gerhardt posted these words to her Facebook wall, and I think they sum up my feelings quite nicely: A raised bar floats all our talents higher as her work inspires and we aspire... the creative hobby will be the better for this!

So long live Princess Victrix...

beauty queen enhancements by Ramie

and congratulations and thanks to everyone who had a part in this particular slice of hobby history!

Saturday silliness

I saw this ad:

It didn't make me want to buy horse supplements, but it did inspire me to do this:

You have to look really carefully, but there is a saddle on that pony's back!

Ha ha ha!  I crack myself up sometimes!