Tuesday, June 28, 2016

We Made It!

It was just a normal day... I scrolled through my facebook feed and clicked on the new Braymere post. 


Because I had a little extra time I decided to read a little bit of Stage Left Studios blog... and then I saw it.


It couldn't be...


BUT IT WAS. We had made it big. Jennifer Buxton's recommended blog bar is, to us, the holy grail. Achieved. 




Thank you Ms. Buxton!
-the team


We apologize for not posting, but I will have another post done soon as I have a very cool new addition to my stable!

-Becky



Sunday, June 19, 2016

Summertime

As usual, summertime is keeping me very busy! So much going on.. so little time..


So here's some insight as to what I've been up to :)


First things first, one of my mustang mares had a mule baby! This little girl has stolen my heart.

Another exciting thing, I finally purchased some Apoxie and tried my hand at sculpting! So far I've just done minor stuff, manes, tongues etc.




I've also been getting back into photography since I joined Instagram, there are a lot of amazing photographers on there, very inspiring!
Pool party, redneck style!


Also working on finishing some tack commissions..
Halters for WildPitchStudios on instagram, check her out!!
Western saddle for KingstonStudios on instagram


After my last show I've decided to take a break from performance until next year, I just need to reboot and get some new ideas.
But I have been having fun playing 'dress up' once in a while..



I had a bit of a slump in my painting, but I'm glad to say I'm back at it and going strong! I have a lot of up coming sales pieces.. ;)



I've also been rushing like crazy to raise some money for my trip to breyerfest, it'll be my first year going! Downside is I didn't really plan ahead, and I need to make $600 before I leave, yes, it's crazy!


Hope you guys enjoyed this post, you'll be hearing from me again very soon!
~Maddy

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Cowgirl Gone English

I have recently realized that at this point in my life, I have more experience riding in english discipline than western...



All around my room I have my english tack lying around...




the horses I ride are mostly english horses...


So what does that make me?



Not a cowgirl. 



What do you think? Should we change the blog name?

-Becky

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Hits and Misses

I was inspired by Jennifer Buxton's post called 'Hits and Hits' from her most recent performance show, so I decided to do my own! Basically the idea is to talk about your performance entries and think about what you can improve and what was good! :) 

       My first entry was for harness. I had the only harness entry which gave me the placing by default, but the judge really liked it. In the future I'd like to get a cart to go with it though!


The next class I competed in was Parade. This entry was kinda thrown together but once again,  I was the only entry in the class!  I want to get a proper parade saddle and make my rider look a bit more festive, but overall is was OK.


After that I did Other Performance. I'm gonna call this one a miss. It's a Walking Dead setup which is good, but I didn't execute it well. I was a little stressed because I was having some tack issues and I couldn't get the doll to stand. I ended up with a fourth out of fifth. Calling this one a miss.


Onto english! Other English was first, and I did Cross Country. I'm really happy with this entry. I made all the doll's clothes and the diorama. This entry has been evolving since my first performance show. When I first showed it, there wasn't a doll, diorama, boots, or breastplate. It wasn't great. For this class I got a third out of ten, so I'm calling it a hit!


Hunters/Jumpers was another interesting class. Because my jump cups went missing I had to do a puddle jumpers entry. I dressed the doll and made the jump. I ended up with yet another third. Looking at the photos now I realized I forgot to take off the SMB boots from Other English. -_- This one isn't a hit or a miss for me, I think it is just average. 


I'm not very knowledgeable on Dressage (though I'd love to do it!) so this was kinda hard! Since I don't have a dressage saddle I opted to do Eventing Derby dressage, which allows my rider to be a bit more casual and all purpose tack to be used. I got second out of 7. I'm gonna call this one a hit, I really like how it turned out! 


My plan was to enter the next class, English Pleasure, but I ended up pulling my horse because I couldn't find my pattern or my poles. Another reason to stay organized!

The last english class was Pleasure. I didn't get a photo of this because it was really nothing special. I ended up with a 5th against some really nice horses, so I think it was average!

Instead of my average pleasure entry, enjoy a photo of Maddy's amazing pleasure entry. ;)


The first class of the Western division was Other Western! I didn't place in this or Western Pleasure (or get photos... -_-) so I won't show them. They were both pretty much misses. I got a fourth in Western Games but being the slacker I am, didn't get a photo.

My favorite entry of the day was my Stockwork entry! It started out as a joke with Maddy and Becky about me not having any cows or stock work animals, so I decided to do something different. 

This is my herding cats entry! It was by far my best entry of the day and the most rewarding win. :) This one is totally a hit for me!


And that's it! Overall I think I did really well, and I can't wait for my next performance show!

-Emma



Sunday, June 5, 2016

Pass It On

Recently my best friends younger sister Stella asked if I would teach her how to make tack, at first I wasn't too keen on the idea because I'm self taught and not a very good teacher, but I figured I'd give it a shot!



First we watched some videos on YouTube to get some ideas and see what she was interested in.


We started off with a rope halter,

She actually did really well!


Next I tried something new, making a hay feeder!


I helped her a bit since honestly I didn't know how it was going to work,
but hers turned out really nice!

Last project was a ribbon halter,  it's not perfect, but I can say it looks a whole lot better than my first!

After we were done working we saddled up and went for a little ride.

If any of you have a younger friend that is interested in breyers, please encourage them and help them out, it's fun, rewarding and we need to help build the next generation of collectors and artists!

Happy crafting! - Maddy




Thursday, June 2, 2016

Show Shopping

MITS 2016 was quite possibly my favorite show ever, I was able to hang out with old friends and make some fabulous new ones! One of my favorite things about live shows is the unique opportunity to buy new models in person instead of the 'order them and cross your fingers' method. 



Meet 'Counting On A Miracle' or at least that's his name until I find a better one... I bought Mir on Saturday. He is the 1996 "Mindspring" Morgan Stallion resin by Laura Behning and a run of 10 resins were cast. He is painted by Laura Behning. 



This is 'Jumping Jackie Flash' a SM drastic custom on the Jumper mold. I am not entirely sure who painted her but I love the dapple style and she managed to place in her first show with me!



At the end of the show on Sunday I snatched up this -vintage- Lazy H Custom Tack bridle which goes perfectly with my black jumper set!


Maddy gave me this AMAZING saddle stand, it is so perfectly in scale including the tiny nail heads! I can't wait to finish my mini tack room and add this!


MITS also marked the end of my excited wait to see the portrait of Hawk painted by Home Stretch Studios. Hawk is a portrait of a therapy horse I work with who retired last year. He is gorgeous in person and in photos and managed to NAN his first time in the ring! 



I also received a SM custom of Lacey, who is also a therapy horse I work with. Both Lacey and Hawk were payment for a tack set.



I also traded some scale caution cones for some amazing Home Stretch Studios rope goods and an polka dot halter for a rope one. 





This vintage CM CWP was a gift from my friend Grace, go check her out @enchantedbreyers!



This Drastic CM drafter was painted by Morgan McCoy and is absolutely gorgeous! He was owned by Maddy for a few years and shown but never brought in any ribbons... until I got my putters on him. He was for sale and I inquired but Mad decided to gift him to me... well guess what...



Yeah. He NANed. 




Good boy Freddy.



This is Royal Renegade, I have yet to show him but he is beautiful in person and has a rich bay color. He is a CM Hagen Renaker on the Arabian mold.


Hang in there guys we're almost done! This is Royal Magnolia a CM SM on the Morgan Mare mold. She is painted to a sooty buckskin and has BEAUTIFUL shading! She didn't make it into the ring at MITS because I purchased her with a small damage but she is now good as new and ready to show! 


I hope everyone enjoyed the haul! 
-Becky