NAN 2016: Day 3

Day three of NAN was the quietest day of showing for me, and thus allowed the greatest amount of time for oogling (and some relaxing, since I was pretty dang tired from two big days of showing!)

Since the third day of NAN is for OF Collectibility and China, I wasn’t showing any of my horses. But I was proxy showing a very nice string of OF Breyers for Erin while she judged.

Erin judging a lovely class of China Arabians

Although I only have customized models, there is a weird little part of me that loves Original Finish models, particularly vintage ones. I don’t want to collect them, but I love to look at them and marvel at the hobby history. So day three of NAN was full of eye candy for me- the OF Collectibility rings showcased some of the rarest, most amazing models in existence.

Kirsten Wellman’s incredibly rare blue Fury. Only a few of these are known to exist.

A pristine example of Breyer’s ill-fated “Touchability” box (owned by Kirsten Wellman).

A stunning table of vintage Breyer decorators.

Pinto Family Arabian Foal on a base made for the Ford Motor Company. Owned by Kirsten Wellman.

I enjoyed showing Erin’s lovely collection, which includes some cool vintage pieces as well as more modern models.

Erin’s “ES Thanks, Baby!” is a rare Proud Arabian Foal made for only a short time in 1959.

ES Sir Chalkington III, Esq. is a beautiful chalky Adios made during the 1970’s oil crisis.

These were the first two of these Premier Club models made, and the only ones mounted on a base. They were given away randomly to a luck Premier Club member.

The only bummer about day three was that the hall was FREEZING. It had been cold the other two days, but this was a whole other level. I’m often the person wearing a sweater when other people are in t-shirts, but in this case I was definitely not the only one!

Those of us who happened to have brought blankets (I had one in the van for napping on the road!) wore them around the show hall all day. In my desperation, I’m also sporting a fleece cape that is usually used to wrap models.

Luckily day three showing wrapped up a little sooner than the other days, so I was able to escape back into the wonderful warmth of the Kentucky sun.

Erin’s show string with the day’s winnings.

We packed up and headed back to the hotel. NAN was over, but Breyerfest was about to begin and there was no time to slow down…

Holiday Saddle Raffle

At Sweet Onion Live earlier this year I got to admire some amazing mini scale tack by Grace Ledoux of Stage Left Studios.

I was amazed by her attention to detail and how itty bitty she was able to make her strap goods.

I really wish I’d had more time to stare and take pictures (these are all her pictures, not mine!) but I was a bit crazy showing in halter and performance while judging the Youth division. I won’t be doing that again, trust me!

Since meeting Grace, I’ve been following her blog with enthusiasm. And I was very excited on Friday when she announced that she has teamed up with her friend and fellow tack maker, Anne Yager, to do a holiday saddle raffle!

Even better, all the money raised in this raffle will be going to charity. It’s a win-win! The greedy part of me wants to keep this hush hush so I have a better change of winning on of the awesome saddles (I keep waffling on which I want more!)

Luckily, that part of me is overcome by my love of all things tiny as well as charitable giving. So I want to share this with as many folks as possible! Anna and Grace set a goal of raising $50, which they have already surpassed. How cool would it be if they could raise $100?

You can read all the details on the raffle in Grace’s blog post. That post and several others on her blog and on Anna’s blog show many more photos of the two saddles up for grabs. Go buy some tickets!

This photo doesn’t showcase Grace’s tack so much, but it sure showcases her creativity! Isn’t this just the coolest Other Perf entry you’ve ever seen? She had documentation for the Horsebot and everything.

 

Birthday Busyness

It’s my birthday tomorrow! I don’t make too big a deal about birthdays, but I will be eating a lot of delicious food and playing games with good friends.

My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said I was already getting the best present of all, my dear friend Sarah visiting for the week. But since you asked… well, I sure do like this resin.

On Monday my parents came to town to celebrate with me and I opened my present. Oh my, he’s even more beautiful in person.

This is the beautiful Morgan Stallion Covenant Renewed. Covenant Renewed is a stablemate sized, slightly reworked version of Covenant Kept, a classic scale resin by Chris Jolly. Covenant Renewed was reworked by Stacey Tumlinson.

I am so lucky to have gotten this gorgeous guy. He is just stunning. I am planning to do a rich dark bay color on him. But for now, he’s standing proudly on the shelf, even naked. I just couldn’t put him in my WIP cupboard.

Besides, I have so many horses in progress right now! I’ve been prepping, and prepping, and prepping. I don’t know if I’m really obsessive, or just slow, or if these resins are particularly needy. The answer is probably some combination of the first two.

With my friend visiting and the holidays coming up (I’ll be in California for Thanksgiving), things might be a bit slow around here. I’m excited to get to the part where I’m adding color and can share progress pictures!

Model Fun Day!

This Saturday Caryn hosted a little hobby get together. We all brought projects and hung out talking horses. It was pretty much the best thing ever. I got a ton of prepping done, Tracy painted medallions, Erin made saddle parts, and Caryn worked on customs and props.

Caryn working on her stablemate Arabian. Also pictured: delicious treats, mimosa, paint, ponies.

Caryn was an amazing hostess, providing a veritable feast that kept us happily stuffed all day. Then she sent us home with chicken pot pies and cookies! We’re hoping to do more of these little get-togethers, but no one is gonna top this one for foodstuffs!

I got a ton done at Caryn’s, and then woke up today super motivated. I’ve got my resins and commissions in the works as well as a present for my trainer and a donation for NAN. There’s quite the herd in my In Progress cabinet. I hope to start putting color on them soon, and posting pictures of course!

Projects drying under the heat lamp

Meanwhile, I still have photos from NW Congress to post (bored yet?). At the show I was lamenting that I couldn’t take enough photos, but processing and posting them all makes me feel somewhat differently :P Without further ado, here’s some of the pretties from the AR Mini division. Enjoy!

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NW Congress 2013: Custom Minis

Robyn and I had an amazing lesson this morning- Cochise was full of energy and perfectly behaved. My last ride on him was less than positive so it was really nice to get such a great one. We spent part of the time working on shoulder-ins (which he’s never done before) and then had a blast running a gymnastic line. Just a stupendous, fantastic ride.

Cochise and Emily grazed on the lawn while I emptied the trailer.

I’ve been working on models almost every day, but it’s not the most blog worthy stuff- lots of nit picky prepping. Ah prepping, the necessary evil. And since I don’t have much to blog about during that, I’ll continue posting eye candy from NW Congress!

I’m definitely not the only one who loves painting and collecting the little guys. Check out these lovelies from the Custom Mini division this year.

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