In an ongoing effort to keep Canvasworks growing and fresh, I am in the process of developing a new site which will be devoted specifically to our “Make Your Own Floorcloths” customers. We will be offering the same top-quality heavyweight canvas floorcloth blanks in an even wider variety of sizes and shapes, as well as patterns, stencils, brushes and lots of other useful stuff.

Now, here’s how you can help me… Take a look at the Make Your Own section of the website as it is now. (Click here to view)

Now, take a look at a previous version we used to use (by clicking here).

Which do you like better? Why? What else would you like to see? Do you like to order online or would you prefer to call, mail or fax your orders?

Any other comments would be appreciated as we make these upgrades. Thank you for your help!

Bart just reminded me that I forgot to mention the Stadium Jumping phase. It seems like that was two weeks ago now!

Lauren’s division was to be the first one of the day for Stadium Jumping, starting at 8:00. They ran it in reverse order of placing, meaning the rider in last place goes first and the one in first place goes last. We’ve never been in that situation before, and have never had to factor in the HUGE class, so Lauren headed out to the warm up ring at 8:20. They were sending riders fast and furious and it seemed things were rolling right along, so she walked Pepe around and waited for her turn. Well,  she finally got to ride her course at 10:20! After such a long wait Pepe wasn’t in his best form and pulled a rail which cost them 4 penalties. So that dropped her from 12th after Cross Country to 19th in the final standings. The Stadium Jumping phase can be brutal that way, especially when the scores are so close. She was disappointed, but soon realized that a lot of divisions changed order of placings due to a few rails down here and there. It happens, and as tough as it is to drop out of the ribbons, she still feels very good about her overall performance. And to finish in the top 20 out of 77 of the country’s best is definitely something to be proud of.

All for now!

We arrived home safe and sound last night at 6:30. Pepe was a magnificent traveler. He ate hay and stood quietly the entire way. When we’d stop for gas and check on him he’d stick his head out the door and look at the scenery, then stand and wait for us to start up again.

We left Lamplight Equestrian Center at 1:00 pm on Sunday and headed toward Chicago. Lauren took a picture as we were heading into the city:

Pepe stayed over night just east of Cleveland at a Horse Hotel, and Lauren and I went to a not-so-nice hotel up the highway a bit. When we came back in the morning to pick Pepe up we discovered that Corrine Ashton and her horse Dobbin, the winners of the Advanced Division at the AEC, were also there. We had fun chatting with her before loading up and heading out.

I-90 goes on forever- straight, flat and boring, but easy driving. Lauren snapped a shot of Lake Erie as we drove by:

It was so nice to see the mountains of Vermont calling us home! The leaves are starting to turn and fall must be on its way. What a great way to finish up the summer. The trip to the American Eventing Championships is one we’ll remember. I am so proud of Lauren and Pepe. I have to double check all the scores, but I think she was the top placed Area 1 Beginner Novice competitor. A big thank you goes out to Sue Berrill who has coached Lauren for the past 2 years and has encouraged her to improve her riding and go for the gold!

Thanks also to everyone who has cheered Lauren on. She really felt like she had a gang supporting her; a feeling that comes in handy when nervousness starts to get in the way of your best riding.

Well, nerves aside, Lauren and Pepe had an amazing ride! Pepe was feeling his oats this morning. He’s been in his stall for 4 days and it was only 40 degrees this morning, so he was pretty fresh. Lauren said she didn’t quite know how to ride him like that. He’s usually very ho-hum about everything. He shied and snorted the whole way over to the cross country (about 1/2 a mile). Fortunately, they were running behind on the start times so she had lots of time to walk him and wind him down a little. They headed out on the course and jumped everything without fault and came in on just the perfect time.

Here they are after cross country. This performance put them up to 13th place! You can see all the scores for Lauren’s division at http://livescore.useventing.com/phase2_select.php?division=12&order=place

There were some interesting outfits. Like this one:

That’s Lauren looking skeptical in the background.

We spent the rest of the day watching the upper level riders ride some very imposing fences. It’s hard to get good pictures. I’ll leave that up to the pros. Here’s one of a Canadian rider. This jump is about 3′6′ high, and about 8 feet wide!

Tomorrow she’ll tackle Stadium Jumping, then we’ll pack up and head for Cleveland, where we’ll put Pepe in a Horse Hotel, so we can get some sleep and finish the drive home on Monday. If I have wi fi I’ll try to get something posted, but I can’t make any promises.

Thanks for all your words of encouragement!

Today has been beautiful- sunny, breezy and cool. We have walked the cross country course twice and Lauren will go back out there and walk it again in a little while. We watched Advanced Dressage this morning and were treated to seeing two fantastic rides, which turned out to be first and second. The second place finisher was Lauren’s idol, Becky Holder, on the Pepe-look-alike, Courageous Comet.

Lauren videotaped some of Becky’s ride and I’ve uploaded it at http://canvasworksfloorcloths.com/913/holder.MOV . If you want to view that, give it 5 minutes or so to download. It’s big file.

Wait, is that Lauren on Comet? (Pepe in “relaxed” mode)

This is what it looks like when you approach the first water complex. All 6 levels of competitors do at least 2 elements of this mess and everyone needs to know which way to go. There’s another water complex:

This is the Training Level route. They jumped a fence, took a stride and went through the water. Lauren comes in on the left side of the picture and goes across the pond and out the other side.

Tomorrow I’ll try to post some good XC shots. Check back.

Today was the first of two days of dressage here at the AEC. The weather couldn’t have been better- sunny, breezy and in the 70s. Lauren didn’t ride until 3:00pm, so we watched lots of rides from the shaded pagoda by one of the 6 rings, sipping green tea and eating crepes. Life is hard!

There are 77 competitors in Lauren’s division. It’s the biggest one because they didn’t divide it between Jrs., Srs., Adult Amateurs, etc. She had a lovely ride- forward, steady and accurate- I think the best one she’s done all year. The judge liked it too, and gave her a very good score of 30 penalties, tying her for 16th place. To be in the top quarter of such a huge division is fantastic. Lauren is VERY happy.

Here’s Pepe telling the world what a good boy he is…

The first place horse was yesterday’s 2nd place “Young Event Horse”, with an amazing 19 penalties. Hard to beat that kind of horse, and only 4 years old to boot! Second place is a little Fjord pony:

We thought Eline had come back from the airport to trick us! (Eline is the friend who drove out to Chicago with us. She rides Vivian Creigh’s Fjords at dressage shows and events back home.) The Fjord got a 23, with a text-book test.

Tomorrow Lauren and Pepe don’t compete. We’ll be watching the upper levels do dressage, walking the cross country until Lauren can do it in her sleep, and watching Novice and Training level competitors tackle the Cross Country. Lots to see and do.

We arrived here at Lamplight at 11:30 last night; just 20 hours after we left home… Pepe was a perfect traveler. He ate his hay, drank water at every stop, and stood quiet and still the whole way.

Today Lauren handwalked Pepe in the morning and worked him a little this afternoon. He was loose and happy and enjoyed looking around and strutting his stuff.

We walked the cross country earlier today. The beginner novice course looks pretty straight forward, with coops, tables and a 2-stride combination. There are two water obstacles, where Lauren will have to canter into the water then splash through and out the other side, following the same route as the Advanced level horses- very fun!

Don’t worry. This is a fence on the advanced course. It’s huge! There are a couple of doozys out there!

Tomorrow is dressage day for Lauren. She rides at 3:30. I will post a note tomorrow night about how things went.

Thanks everyone for all your words of encouragement and good-luck wishes.

Lisa

New!

Now you can order some of our most frequently requested floorcloths and have them your floor in a matter of weeks. More info

Coming Soon!

Print on Demand Gift Shop!

Our favorite folk art designs will soon be available on household merchandise like coffee mugs, mousepads, and calendars. More info

I use all latex paints. The quality has become so good, that the messy cleanup and long dry times of oil paints make them much less desirable for me. When I want a slower drying time (for painted effects such as marbling) I use an extender. I finish my floorcloths with 4 coats of semigloss Poly and a final coat of Satin finish, to dull it down. Wax would not be enough to protect the painted surface from damage. Before polyurethane was invented, shellacs and varnishes were used. These tended to crack and yellowed over time.

We’re almost ready to go! The American Eventing Championships start in just 3 days. We leave tomorrow morning (or is it tonight, really late?) at 4:00 am, with Lauren’s noble steed, Salt ‘n Pepe (Pepe) in tow. It looks like about 18 hours on the road, so we’re hoping to arrive at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Il before midnight. Eline Eckroth, from Perkinsville’s Pegasus Stable, is going to help with the driving, and we have a stash of goodies and games to keep us occupied care of our best-neighbor-ever, Mary.

Pepe will have a makeover this afternoon and Lauren will have her fingers tightly crossed that he will stay relatively clean overnight. Pepe is light gray, so keeping him that way can be quite a challenge. All of her tack is clean, boots are polished, and hairnets, stock ties and show gloves are carefully packed away.

I hope to figure out how to upload photos of our adventure. Maybe a candid shot or two of some famous Olympians! (Or of Lauren, removing poop stains from Pepe’s sides, which is what she’ll be doing most of the time anyway…). Check back here often for updates.