Back in the Saddle...Kinda.

Due to an unexpectedly light week of college classes, I was able to get a few projects off my desk and make something just for fun.

The repaired and updated parade saddle was shipped this morning, and Tami's saddle is done except for the pad.  Little Lonestar's back is rather long and will require an adjustment to my template.  I had some lace left over from Tami's bridle and used it to make a show halter just for fun.




It still needs keepers on the underside, but I had a lot of fun with it.  None of those little tongue buckles are adjustable, and I had time to perfect a quick, easy way to make them! Very exciting stuff, because I'll be able to use them more often without adding a lot of time or frustration to each project.

I'm still picking away at the english saddle tutorial.  I know I say that all the time, but really I am! The editing is 3/4 of the way done and I'm working on transferring it to an Adobe InDesign document that lets me lay everything out nicely.  The end product will probably be 10 pages or more, but will have large pictures and be available in a PDF.

After all of that productivity, you know there's going to be a "but", and that's where the "Kinda" in my post title comes in.  My light schedule just got busy now that my slow professor has finally given me my assignment, an entire week late!  I have a 3 day work week, though, and I hope to spend some of Friday and Saturday working in the studio.

Real Quick...

Apologies for the lack of posts! I'm heading out of town for the weekend and have been scrambling to finish up homework that's due while I'm going to be gone.

Here's a quick shot of Tami's saddle:





I tried a new technique for the silver and I really, really like it! I have the bridle started, too, so when I have more than 10 minutes to myself I hope to finish it up as quickly as possible.

I also got Adobe Creative Suite CS5 this week! I should be able to get a nice, clean version of the saddle tutorial done in InDesign and then PDFed.  As soon as I finish editing, of course...

Well, I'm off for the weekend! Hope everyone has a nice weekend, too, and remember to thank a veteran or serviceman/woman!

Interview: Video!

Here's a link to the video!

Valley Falls Student Saddles Up With Small Business

Hopefully you can't see it in the video, but my hands were shaking when they filmed me working on a saddle!
(Yes, Tami, that's your saddle! More on that in a minute...)  I'm really glad I did the interview; it wasn't nearly as scary as I had thought it would be and ended up being a really fun experience.

I wiped my hard drive early this week to clear out some issues before I get my new Adobe software.  I've been using Photoshop 6 at home, which was released in 2000.  Can you believe it even WORKS any more?  CS 5 isn't here yet, so until then I can't really edit pictures and updates are going to be spotty.  However, when it gets here I'll have InDesign (among other things) and will be able to do a really, really nice job on the saddle tutorial (if it ever gets done...).






PSA: Offline for a Bit

My PC will be out of commission intermittently for the next couple of days as I do some maintenance.  I should have internet back tonight or early tomorrow, but I don't know how long it will take to get my email client and various other programs reinstalled.  If you need to reach me, I'll respond as soon as I can.  Thanks!

Hallo, Dahlings!

Like my movie star accent? The TV clip aired today, and boy was it short! It was really fun seeing myself up there, though, and they did a good job.  Isn't it a weird feeling seeing yourself on film? Whether a home video or the local news, it's still an uncanny feeling.  However, I spoke slowly (I have a habit of talking very, very fast normally, and it's ten times worse when I'm nervous) and it came out just fine!

I still don't know if the bit will be available online; a link to my website is up at both channels' website but no video. Here's proof, though!



In other news: Tami's raffle saddle is getting closer! It was featured (briefly, since the entire thing was short!) in the TV interview.  It now looks like a saddle! Stirrups, pad, cinch, and bridle then it's ready to go to it's new home.