Coming Back

The blogger bandwagon must be a bumpy ride, because I sure fell off quick. That said, it didn't happen just because. This summer has been a really rough one in more ways than one
(the past year really), and everything just kind of came to a head in the beginning of August. I'm still trying to get things back to normal. I'm trying to learn as I do, and I think that's the most important part. The past month and a half hasn't been easy, but it feels good to finally be going in a positive direction for the most part, even though the road is still a little bumpy.

When everything came to a head in the beginning of August, I needed to take some time away from the hobby, blogging, and computer time, and many other things, to focus on fixing the things that were spiraling out of control. I've been so focused on figuring out how to stop the spiraling that I've had no desire to work on any studio projects, or even do anything with my models. This means the projects that my imagination has been pleading me to do for months had to be put on hold, such as the rainbow prism halters, the professional's choice smx girths, the carrick I want to paint, the western bridle I've been itching to make, the geometric halters, The sales display I want to make, the list goes on. On friday, I rearranged one of my shelves to be able to fit some more models on it, and moved my tack collection to a different shelf, in an attempt to get some hobby spark back. And tonight, I finally went downstairs to my studio space

My basement studio table, and some storage areas.

and worked on some of the girths, and the rainbow halters.

Brown sizing halter is done, and the nosebands and hardware prep have been started. The upper right corner is some girth hardware and parts.

I had to force myself a little bit, but I'm really glad I did. It worked. Now I really WANT to make progress on these projects, and see how they turn out. Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow night after my work to make some progress, and I'll try to do another monday model post! In the meantime, here are some of my new hobby additions for the past couple months, including this AMAZING set of jumping boots from Cristina Brown, of On The Bit Studio, and some photos of the things I've done since we left off, because in order to get better, you have to balance the difficult things with some fun. 

The jumping boots! I love them. The Rafael resin came to me early on in the summer, probably about June. I kind of bought him on a whim as I'd never seen one before, and I love him. He seems like he will be versatile for performance. 

Hind boot detail

Front boot detail. They even have "carbon fiber" strike pads :)

Love this guy! I'm hoping I'll have his matching rainbow halter done soon. 

My first Peter Stone trotting drafter

Like everyone else, I love this mold! Can't wait until we get more color choices.

My tack making view. When I want to paint, I sit on the other side of the table, about where Templado's tail is. I don't have any active painting projects right now, so that area of the table has gotten a little crowded. 

Sizing halter for the Andalusian Stallion mold. He has been a real challenge to fit and I'm still not thrilled. We'll see how these turn out. 

I held a cute little salamander at a work training.....

had a delicious chicken bacon ranch pizza....

Won first (out of 2) with my April Tack Month halter at the local fair.....

passed the one year anniversary of having my own saddle....

and had some delicious (half price!) sushi.