Sky & Fancy

Just so they aren't left out! I did some ground work with Sky and Jazmine rode Fancy bareback, good day at the barn!

Photoshop

I'm a bit rusty, but I'm happy with how it turned out! Look for it in the Hobby Directory at Breyerfest!

Tuffy Rolls, and Lesson on Luna

So about my real horse life here in Florida.  Since we've been here for 9 months now (wow, I can't believe it) and Emma is a whopping 5 months old, I finally have an outlet for my horse obsession.  Long story short, I take my friend's daughter and give her a lesson while my girls have a play date with her younger ones.  There are four horses, all who need some more attention now that the owner's daughter moved away for college.  Tuffy, the paint stallion, was bred to Fancy (QH) and produced Sky (now 5yrs old and SO cute). Luna (QH) is a sweetheart flea-bitten gray mare.  Got my camera out to the barn finally, and took shots of Luna and Tuffy.  Next time, I'll make sure to take photos of Sky and Fancy, so they don't have hurt feelings. I gave Jaz a lesson on Luna with her new English saddle. Tuffy takes a roll, but he's still one handsome guy! I would love to get a portrait model of him done someday.  Drum roll... (pun intended!)

Here are some photos of the lesson, Jaz got to use her new English saddle.

Cross Cutout Tutorial

I've had many requests for a tutorial on cross cutouts since I posted photos of my latest gaming set.

Here we go!

First, you'll need some supplies.  Man this is a lot of stuff for just a simple cutout! I'm making a saddle blanket for the cross set shown above.  

First, I trace some corner saddle plates and wear leathers onto the flesh side of some petite tooling calfskin.

I cut them out with some fine scissors, cutting all the ink off the leather. Then I use a paint brush to dampen the leather with water, ready for tooling when it looks like the water has almost completely faded.

Using a swivel knife, I trace a line where any stitching would be, then add stitch marks with a pounce wheel.

Now I draw the cross with my tool where I want it, pressing down and going back and forth several times making a indented image. If you do this before any cutouts, the lines will be much smoother, such as latigo keepers and other slits.

Now I punch three tiny holes in the shape of a triangle at each tip.  You could also use a slightly larger round punch if you want a smoother end on the cross.

Then "connect the dots" with a SHARP X-acto knife by pressing firmly, if you "drag" the knife it will stretch the leather.

Then I trim the edges of "fuzzies" with my fine scissors, and time to dye! I  like to use q-tips for tiny dying projects, less mess.  

After it's dry, I buff and seal it in a shiny finish. I also take a super thin piece of skiver (goat skin in this case) and paint it with leather paint.

When everything is dry, I apply a small amount of super glue to the back of the cutout, making sure not to leave any big globs that will be pressed onto the inside of the cutout. 

 Then put the colored skiver on the back.

Then I apply Tacky Glue to the leathers, and ta-da!

If you'd like to purchase some of my new "camo" saddle blankets, check my Etsy store: Click Here to visit my store.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RFModelHorseTack