Leather and lace? No. Just lacey leather.

Ah, the versatility of clay. I can use it to make hair and now, I can use it to make leather. This reminds me of the package filled with spring mix lettuce I bought that was made out of corn. Corn! And here I thought it was clear plastic. Silly me.

Ok, back on topic. I roll out a glob of clay until it is just about as thin as I can make it without tearing it. I have this little tool that is essentially a mini rolling pin and it's perfect for the job. Then I take my very favorite tool, the stylus, and start slicing it into strips.



These strips become my bridle. The bit is another worm of clay, shaped with the clay shaper and the stylus. In my research, I came across about an equal number of these bridles with and without throat latches. Since this guy has such a muscular neck and it's so tightly tucked, I'm choosing the latter for artistic purposes.



The bridles have cutwork on them (I'm not sure if that's the right term) that makes a lovely, lace-like, filigree design... another job for the stylus. They also have a design of white stitches, but I really feel that's going to look best if done by the painting artist later on.



Back in the oven he goes! Stay tuned there's plenty more to be done!