How Far We've Come/How Far I've Come

While I wait for the USPS to deliver my new circus doll, I pulled out my model tack trunk and tried to see if I could recreate the performance set-up that I made and used to show way back in the early 1990s.

Performance showing has come a long way since the 1990s! 

The leather was twisted and I tried to straighten it out, but eventually I could tell that I'd need to undo all the buckles and straps, and I just didn't feel like tackling that job.

I remember buying a package of very thin leather in white and red at Michaels along with a packet of red and blue crystal stars to make the surcingle. Jump rings and buckles came from Rio Rondo. Not sure where the plumes came from but probably Michaels, too. The ribbon loop on the surcingle for the doll's hand was from my sewing supplies.

I no longer have the giant quilting hoop that I painted white with red and blue stars around its sides but I do still have the ziplock bag of the sawdust that I used for footing inside the ring. 

Despite its very amateur look, I am still proud of what I created. Why? Because I tried something I did not think I could do. (I am thinking about Can Do Gracie here.) Like the 2020 NaMoPaiMo where I painted a Stablemate to look like Sultanna, I took a deep breath and tried something out of my comfort zone. I had fun designing it, making it, and taking it to shows.

Liberty, his tack, and the doll (she never got a name) won't ever go to a show again. But they still mean a lot to me because, not only do they show how far performance showing has come, they also represent how far I have come, too.