Exhausted

So here is where the pack sets are now: Tiffany's needs a lash cinch and a halter and it's done. That's a good thing seeing how it needs to be on its way to Illinois tomorrow. Laura's is a small step behind. I ran out of round buckles and will need to replenish my supply before I can finish it up.

This is all I've done today. People often tell me that they can't believe how fast I work, but the fact of the matter is, it doesn't usually feel fast to me. I worked eight straight hours today. I did take a short break for lunch and later, to pick up my kids from school. Other than that, though, it's been all tack, all the time. Now my shoulders are sore and I am exhausted. Don't get me wrong. I do love making tack, just not eight hours at a stretch!

Weekend work/weekend play

Weekends are family time at the Buxton house. This past Saturday we spent the day in Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins was my first home in Colorado and is also the site of my husband's new job. As is usual for me, I was armed with my camera and on the lookout for horses of all shapes and sizes. Happily, there were plenty to be found. Here's a picture of my three men with our first equine discovery on the Colorado State University campus.
Detail of the statue's head and bridle.

Back view. This is such a classic Western image, and not surprisingly, it's one I've always wanted to set up in model-scale. Perhaps 2010 will be the year!

We ate lunch in Old Town Fort Collins. I spotted this horse just a block or two away from the restaurant.

Other side.

This one was also in Old Town. My kids thought the rider's position was pretty funny. Ryan is trying to pull him off his horse!

After lunch, we headed up the highway to the Anheuser-Busch. The Fort Collins brewery doubles as a training facility for the Budweiser Clydesdales' Western team. I was hoping to take lots of nice Clydesdale pictures, but alas, all the horses were in their stalls and most of my pictures look like this.
Of course all play and no work makes Jennifer a dull girl. I've spent a fair amount of my weekend picking away at the pack saddle sets. I always forget how long these things take, but they are finally approaching the final stages. Here's a sneak peek for Tiffany and Laura...

Hope your weekend was as fun as mine!

Black Friday

I don't like shopping. Black Friday crowds scare me, and as a rule, I usually avoid all retail establishments the entire Thanksgiving weekend. This year, however, I had to make an exception. One of my favorite stores, The Leather Factory, was holding a two day "Early Bird Special" with twenty five percent off all leather purchases. I was still without a petite tooling calf hide after my unsuccessful trip to Tandy earlier in the month, so this was a no-brainer. I had to go, Black Friday or not!
Although Tandy Leather Company and The Leather Factory are one and the same, the stores have quite separate and distinct personalities. Tandy is a typical retail store. The Leather Factory is pure warehouse.

Once inside, I headed straight for the big wall of leather and located the petite tooling calf hides. I spread each hide out on the inspection table and checked it carefully for leather weight and surface flaws.

Typically a hide will last me nearly two years and will yield over forty saddles. It's definitely worth taking the time to pick a good one. That smile says I've made my choice.

Hide in hand, I headed down the aisles to look for Edge Kote.

Still browsing the shelves--there are so many interesting books and products and tools... I could easily spend a fortune at the Leather Factory.

Eventually I got tired of having my own little Paparazzi following me around and taking pictures. I wrestled the camera away from Ryan and snapped a few photos of my own. This is Ryan checking out the scrap bin.

James prefers the exotic rabbit skins.

So, that's it--our big Black Friday excursion. Now to enjoy the rest of the day at home, away from the crowds and playing with leather!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!
There are so many things for which I am thankful this year. My family is healthy. The kids are doing well in school. My husband is employed. The little old lady dogs are thriving. The house is warm and there's food in the refrigerator... The list goes on and on.

For the purposes of this blog, however, there is one main thing I am thankful for and that is you, the readers. I appreciate every single person who reads this blog and especially those who take the time to leave comments. I really, really, really like it when people leave comments.

So, with all that in mind, I'd like to announce the second annual BCS Friends of my Blog raffle. Last year I gave away a $50 tack gift certificate. I'll do that again, but I'm also going to raffle off a few small tack items. I haven't worked out all the details yet, but there will probably be four or five winners this time around. Entry is free. All you need to do leave a comment on a post--old or new--between now and December 15. More comments equals more entries but there's a limit. Please do not go back and comment on every post I've ever written, ok?

That's it for now. I need to go get dinner rolling. Thanks again for reading my blog and special thanks to my son James for today's artwork!

Spooky Turkey 2--People!

Everyone knows the best part of live showing is getting to spend a day with friends. Here's a look at some of the people who made the Spooky Turkey 2 live show so much fun.

Judge Teresa Fedak and showholder and judge Heather Roell. Sherre Tuley.

Terri Daniels and Jane Schneider.

Nancy Dement.

Teresa Buzzell and Sheila Anderson Bishop.

Sheila taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

And lest you think I was the big winner of the day--here's a look at Sheila's showstring at the show's end. That's five horses and four overall Top Five certificates. Woo hoo, Sheila!

Spooky Turkey 2--Resins, part two

More pictures from Saturday's Spooky Turkey 2 live show held in Boulder, Colorado.

The Stock Foal class was very good to me. Rajun Cajun was second and third... and Sweet Side was first and first!

Good old Rugged Passion was first and third in the Appaloosa class.

The Paint class was small but tough.

I was very pleased that Letter to Laredo did so well against that kind of competition!

The Mustang class. I own the War Chant in the middle.

A close-up look at Sherre's Stormwatch.

Sherre's Nitro.

A really beautiful Desperado.

The Stock Breed Call Back table.

This is Sheila's lovely Scarlett resin.

The Longears class.

Draft and Longears Call Back Table.

Sherre's Fabio resin.

Another one of Sherre's ponies--this is an Otto painted by Deb Loveless.

Esther's U-Know resin.

My U-Know resin. Princess Buttercup won her first ever NAN cards at this show.

The foals had their Top Five Call Backs at the very end of the day. Five of these cute babies belong to me! While the Foals were being judged, I set up all my Top Five division winners with their certificates. Here they are. From left to right, they are:

• Poka Tia, an Eberl Lena resin customized and painted by Tiffany Purdy


• Zefyrr, a Kara Kush resin sculpted and painted by Andrea Kessler


• Letter to Laredo, a Sarah Rose Lone Star resin painted by Liesl Dalpe


• Vulcan, a Kathi Bogucki Dozen Roses resin painted by Melissa Mistretta


• Khemotigre, an Ed Bogucki Aashiq resin painted by Tiffany Purdy


• Validator, a Valor resin sculpted and painted by Carol Williams


• Rune, a Deborah McDermott Indian Silver resin painted by Sommer Prosser


• Adonis Z, an Eberl Valentino resin painted by Tom Bainbridge


• Balthazar, a Linda Lima mule resin painted by Suzanne Feld


• Inesperado, a Sarah Rose Deseoso resin painted by Cathy Walden


• Alyosha, a Mel Miller Fly By Wire resin customized mostly by me and painted by Tiffany Purdy


• Princess Buttercup, a Kristina Lucas-Francis U-Know painted by Hilary Schwafel

One of the three call back tables for the Overall Top Five.Table two.

Table three. This was a small show, but there were still a lot of awesome horses on those tables!

Two of my models were awarded Over All Top Five honors. The first is little Sweet Side. She is a Carol Williams Parrs Dream Doll resin customized and base coated by Simrat Khalsa. I bought her as an unfinished project pony and did most of the finish work from the withers back.

Lovely Alyosha was my other big winner.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures. I still have a few more photos from the show to share tomorrow, but be sure to watch this space for a big announcement later in the week.

Spooky Turkey 2--Resins, part one

Today's pictures are all from the Resin Halter division of the Spooky Turkey 2 Resin and Custom Halter Show held last Saturday in Boulder, Colorado. First up--a look at my table after I'd finished unpacking. Even when I'm not showing performance, my table is a mess! The first class of the day was Sport Horse Foals. I'm not sure who owned this lovely Little One resin, but I wanted to take him home with me. Too cute!

This Eberl Scampolo isn't half bad either.

Even with such stiff competition, my own Gesche resin Rave Review managed to do quite nicely.

The Akhal Teke class was next.

My Akhal Tekes with their winnings.

The Thoroughbred class was almost entirely made up of Carol Williams sculpts.

Somehow my Victrix painted mostly by me managed to beat out my Valor painted by Carol under one of the judges. I still can't figure out how that happened. Let's hope it never happens again!

This class was called Other Pure Sport. All the Warmbloods ended up in here.

My boy, Adonis Z, did quite well. The pinto Showman in the background is also mine. I really like him but he never places well. Probably one of these days I will get the hint and stop taking him to the shows. Or perhaps not. As I said, I really do like him!

This is Sheila's lovely Hazel in the Mixed Sport class.

A customized Romance, also in the Mixed Sport class.

This is a Before the Storm resin customized and painted by Myla Pearce. He is owned by Sherre Tuley.

This cute Cognac resin competed in the Light/Gaited Foals class.

A nice Lucas-Francis Sia resin.

The Arabian class was probably the biggest class of the day.

Val McEntee's lovely Eberl Trotting Arab customized and painted by Chris Nandell. I covet this model.

The Morgan class.

My own UVM Right Royal was the big winner.

The Saddlebred class. I own the black Dozen Roses in the middle. He was the winner under both judges.

There were only two horses in the Tennessee Walking Horse class but they were both nice. This is Nancy Dement's Chet...

and this is Jane Schneider's Independence.

I love this horse! He was painted by Sheila Anderson Bishop.

Here's a look at the Light Breed callback table. There were no Champions and Reserve Champions at this show. Instead, each division had its own Top Five.

Part two to follow...