Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone who celebrates is having a great time with friends and family. 

May there be lots of horsey goodness!

Holiday Raffle Announcement!!

HOORAY!! Today Stage Left Studios (Grace Ledoux) and I picked the winners for our holiday raffle!! 

Thanks to everyone who participated. We didn't even imagine to get this far. Our original goal was one goat for $50, and we were able to raise $200!! With that money we donated a school supply kit for a child, 

and a goat, 

but also clean water for a family for life! 

That's an incredible holiday gift to give, and it's all thanks to those who participated. 

However, two people still need their sets! Grace and I got together on Skype to formally pick the winners using our random number generator. 

First up was Carol Owens with #24!

and next was Jennifer Cole with #201!

Congrats guys!! 

Once again thank you all for your participation and happy holidays!

Studio Update: 12/24

Happy Christmas Eve! 

Yesterday I was able to finish this little gal 

something about her eyes still bothers me. too much white maybe?

who didn't end up turning out all that badly after all! 

She'll make an acceptable performance horse, which is all I need her to be. 

Excuse the less than nice pictures - most of my efforts have gone into this monstrosity.

Behold, the beginnings of a Portuguese bridle. I think there's 13-14 buckles? And not the regular ones with tongues, but those nice tricky ovals that still have tongues, although they're barely visible even after all that hard work. I'm also dreading fitting the curb chain onto that.

Not mine - From lustianolife.com

I have a feeling this will be taking quite a bit of my time!

In other news I'm leaving my home base studio for a little while to go visit Grace! Hopefully we'll be able to get some good work time in together, with lots to share. Hope everyone is having a happy holidays, and those who celebrate Christmas have a wonderful day tomorrow. 

Weekend #1 of Winter Break

Winter break has finally rolled around, and the the first weekend off gave me lots of studio time. In addition to fiddling around with some props for the shows in February I'll be attending, I was able to put together a sale set! 

I hadn't made a set for the PS pony until now, and it was fun! The short back and microscopic head were a challenge, but one I think I tackled well. 

Cutesie hunter style

for all the cutesie hunter ponies!!

I'll be going up on MH$P soon, so if you're interested keep an eye peeled!

Not sure if I like the above (with flash) or these (without flash) photos

In other news, my time off gave me a chance to dig deeper into the newer side of the hobby. 

Grace took the dive and made an instagram for her studio work, and I couldn't help but be interested enough to follow suit.

It's been so much fun so far! It's exciting exploring a younger side to the hobby, and seeing so many kids/young adults showing off their collections and creative endeavors. Its been pretty addictive, considering it's a much quicker way to snap some studio update pics of what I'm working on and putting them up.

If anyone is interested in following me there, too, you can check out my pictures under ebbnflowstudios. 

Also quick reminder that the raffle ends in THREE days!!! Get your tickets now!

For Sale!

A set of mine I made a while ago made it's way up onto MH$P today. You'll probably recognize it: 

It's a fantastic and versatile medium brown hunt seat set. Includes saddle, pad, running martingale, girth, and plain snaffle bridle. This could take care of all your english classes! If you're interested you can check out the full ad here.

More Commission Pics

Today wasn't very productive in the studio, so all I have is a picture dump of the latest commission to come off my desk. 

The flash is harsh on the color (not quite that light/intense) but it does show the tooling! 

New Loot

I recently had a fit of spending money, which is something I don't usually do. Yet, it happened and I came away with three new very pretty ponies. (this post is nothing but eye candy, no content here)

The first two come together:

Mare

And stallion. 

They're the Mustang Mare & Stallion resins sculpted by Kitty Cantrell and painted by the talented Rebecca Klitscher.

So many performance possibilities for these guys!

Team roping? Extreme games? Crazy UK Pony Club event? Too many to be true. 

However, unruly speed doesn't fly well in many of the other classes. To get what I needed there, I decided it was finally time to professionally make a long standing dream of mine a reality - a do it all performance mule. I decided to go all or nothing, and turned to possibly my favorite customizer and finish-work artist, Sue Kern.

This is what came back to me. 

I don't think I've ever been so excited about a mini equine!! I can't think of a class I couldn't stick her in.

My photography skills are very clearly not up to par with Sue's work

Look at that face! Those ears! I absolutely cannot wait to dress her in some tack. 

Finally! A horse mule who has a versatile gait, head set, and body type! There's no stopping her. 

I have lots planned for her! 

A huge thank you to Sue for making my idea come to life - you're amazing!

I Am Not a Finishwork Artist

Which is why a paint and pastel related project is so over my head. Grace has been very successful in her customizing-for-performance endeavors so I figured 'why not' when I sculpted a new mane and tail onto that little Lustiano mare. 

Yet, I somehow always forget about color. I can do some sunburnt blacks, and any shade of plain bay, but after that I'm completely out of my league. And yet, I still was able to be talked into trying a buckskin. 

It started pretty rocky with a too-yellow undercoat

which I then decided to add dapples to. Ouch! About an hour and a half later of carefully rubbing off pastel with a flattened toothpick and this is what I get!

I managed to soften them down more

and more

and more!! 

Not entirely bad now! I'll admit she is turning out much darker than I hoped, and probably wouldn't fly all that well in a halter class, but she'll pass under saddle! 

On to details... and fixing her ears (which I for some reason forgot were not black on the tops and now have to re-pastel to the light creamy yellow color. ugh) 

Studio Update: Another Finished Commission

Hooray! The last commission on my desk (*cough* from October *cough*) is finally finished! 

I buckled down last night and got the breast plate all finished. 

It has two working little slip buckles which take some fiddling, as well as the bottom strap feeding through a d-ring on the girth & sticky-waxing to worry about. It's a little finicky, but the final look is polished and nice. 

I don't usually like taking pictures with flash, but it was late by the time I got everything finished and all tacked up. 

The saddle and breastplate have vine border tooling, and small flowers stamped into all the silver (including on the fronts of the stirrups). 

The bridle is a one ear with beading on the cheekpieces and reins.

I tried something new by using braided string reins instead of the regular leather ones. First, this saves a lot of very tedious lace skiving. Second, it's considerably easier to drape them naturally than it is with the stiff leather. 

Another change I'm happy with is the extra saddle pad design. It was simple and I think it makes everything look more put together. 

Overall very pleased with how this guy turned out! It's been on my desk for so long I think it'll feel weird having it gone. Congrats Linda!