Fair Preparations

Before I start in on this post, I want to say thank you to Harecroft Horses for the helpful comment about Cob/Vanner ponies! Thanks a bunch! For whatever reason Google won't let me comment a reply atm. I have seen a few model Vanner ponies in photo showing (typically in CM classes), but I wasn't sure how well they were known by other judges. (And consequently, how they do in photo shows where a vanner-holic like myself is not the judge! lol) 

It's fair time, it's fair time! Which also means it is my busiest time of year. I contribute 75-100 entries in my local fair every year, so this time of year is a little nutsy! It is exactly 11 days 'til opening day, so things are getting tight for time. I've only been getting 4-6hrs of sleep (yes I know, it's not good for me. . .) and I was good and sick yesterday. Feeling better today. 

Yesterday, I sorted through my photos and picked my photography entries. These are some of my choices:

Entry for Color - Animal

Entry for Black and White (BW) - Animal

Entry for BW - Landscape

One of the photos to be included in a sample scrapbook page

Entry for BW - Other

Entry for BW - Still Life

Entry for Color - Other

Entry for Color - Landscape

Today I worked on some (more) crochet. Some of you know that one of my other major hobbies is amigurumi. I absolutely love those tiny critters! I did six amigurumi entries for the fair this year. I may share pictures later, if there's any interest. I am also "knitting" a scarf on one of those loom things (?). I got it at a thrift store to experiment with using up some extra bulky yarn, and it works wonders. It takes forever though. I will post pics of the scarf when it's done (if I remember).

I have not forgotten the giveaway; I am still working on it. I am considering letting you readers preview the prizes one at a time while I get them together - would there be any interest in that idea? Let me know in the comments.

In a last piece of news, Scurry is due to be here tomorrow! I am beyond excited. Desperately hoping for the bay!

Hornswoggled. . . But in Love

 Before we start this post, I just want to say, THANK YOU FOR 2000 VIEWS! I know I'm a little late, but thank you anyway!! I have something fun that is in the works, and I hope you all will really enjoy it. You can expect to see it announced in the next few weeks. :) Now, back to the post.

What is this?

Well I wasn't expecting that. We are supposed to have a mare and foal every other year. We had Elbe and Spree last year, so that should have meant no mare/foal duo this year. Is that pattern over now, or is this just a weird year?? I don't know, but whatever's going on, we ended up with this pretty vintage set. I like the idea, but not even close to enough to buy it. The mare has a gorgeous mold and a bad color, the foal has a not-so-pleasant mold, and a stunning color.

Now, for the "But in Love" part of the post.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! It is my beloved Troubadour boy, in a gorgeous (albeit slightly pumpkin toned) bay! Oh, I LOVE this one! Yesterday (and for that matter, the day before) was a terrible, no-good, very-bad, rotten day. If it could go wrong, it did. It was such a nice, spirit lifting surprise to check the blog and be greeted by this little hunk! He will be my third on the mold. I would like to conga it, so eventually I will get around to buying Morganquest, but I'm in no rush on him.

It's looking like today will be busy with a side of unpleasant again today, so I apologize if I am late with the next post. It will be a really good one, and will self-explain the delay.

If you are looking for something really fun and model horsey to do, Equiden of equidensplasticponies.blogspot.com, is hosting a big, fun giveaway to celebrate her 1000th view! You can check it out here. :)

HAY BAG WINNER! ✨🎉🎊🎇🎆🎈🎁

Happy Friday!

I was unable to take a video of the spin, but I did take a lot of screenshots! Scroll through, the last one reveals the winner!

HUZZAH! Congratulations Teagan! 

Teagan won with this comment:

I agree Teagan! I would love a nice bay/chestnut Constantia. And yeah, we will probably just get some weird little unrelated models, but it is fun to dream!

Thank you all for entering!! If you didn't win, don't worry, I have lots of other fun things planned for 2023! And the rest of 2022. Maybe even some flash photo fun shows. Maybe even some with little prizes. Maybe even a paid OMHPS show with free entry for blog followers. Maybe . . oh wait, I'll leave that one as a surprise. ;)

As always, thank you for reading and have a great rest of your day! 

🎵Oh I want a Kaimanawa for Christmas, only a Kaimanawa will do. . .🎵

Oh wait. That's a hippo, isn't it? Lol, not for me! A friend of mine, Equiden, of Equiden's Plastic Ponies, surprised me on Saturday with a Christmas package in the mail. I was told to expect a card, but the box was a complete surprise. I unwrapped it to find a beautiful card and a roll of bubble wrap. Nestled safely down inside the roll was this little fellow.

Isn't he gorgeous? He is Schumacher, from this year's BoBF set. He is a gorgeous specimen, with the loveliest masking, soft shading, and scrumptious leg barring. And his face! Oh, he is just the cutest. :)

Anyway, as I'm sure you got from the title, I chose the Kaimanawa horse as his breed. The Kaimanawa is a wild horse native to New Zealand. I'm partial to NZ horses, as I am half Oceanic (my father was born on the island and moved to AUS when he was older). The Kaimanawa is an interesting breed, similar to our mustang. They come in any color, and although their standard conformation includes a short neck/back, there are many exceptions.

Note the horse on the right. Medium/long back and neck!

I chose his name based on his nationality. His name is "SDS Ahi Hukarere". It means "Snow Fire" in Maori, NZ's native language. Ahi's coat reminds me of fire, while his little appy blanket looks like a snow dusting.

His masking and details are exceptionally well done.

That look of determination!

Thank you SO much for my little fella, Equiden!

In other news, the hay bag giveaway entries closed last night. The entries stand as:

6 for Equiden

3 for Teagan

5 for fastapp

I will be doing the spin tonight and posting the winner tomorrow! Good luck to all, and thank you so much for entering!

One more thing, Tahoe has been released! Tahoe is our winter CC web special silver filigree on HAMILTON. I won't be getting him, but good luck to those trying! He will be popular for sure.

Giveaway Extended!

Unfortunately, I have been crazy busy this week, and haven't had much time to work on new posts. Because of that, I am extending the deadline to enter the giveaway one more week. It now closes on Midnight (EST) December 14th, 2022.

Thank you for all your lovely comments! I'm glad to see some new names appearing!

Some very exciting news transpired this week. Breyer opened up a SR to online attendees! I am positively thrilled. This will tremendously affect whether or not I go in person this year. I am so grateful Breyer chose to allow this option this year!

Also, Helios and Kit are available to buy on the website for SMC members. There is also a really cool article up on the Breyer Blog about Kit's creation.

Kit's Original Prototype

Helios

Also, the new SMC banner arrived, showing the silhouettes for the year. 

G1 Arabian Mare, G1 TB Lying Foal, M1 SCO, M1 MFT, G2 Shetland, G3 CWB

We already know that the SCO is Sidewinder, a beautiful, mapped grey appaloosa stallion. The rest are unknown. I will be in some deep trouble if the CWB is the gambler's choice model. However, I think it will probably be the MFT who ends up with that title.

Sidewinder, a 2023 SMC model

Christmas Blanket!

 A couple days ago, I was lucky enough to win one of Horsiemama's giveaways. The prize was a beautiful NIP Breyer holiday Traditional blanket. To top it all off, the blanket was in my favorite holiday pattern Breyer has ever made! I'm a big sucker for cutesy Christmas designs.

Anyways, the blanket arrived today, accompanied by a sweet little note. Thank you Lynn! It is very much appreciated. I took photos, but they are horrible because of the weather. I will try to get better ones later next week (it's supposed to rain all weekend).

I mean seriously, this sort of muddy rain is just not okay in my book.

I chose to model it on Chablis (Idocus mold). He looks so handsome in it! Even if he is wearing an old, beat-up, outdated bridle. 😂

SDS Galactic Quest, AKA Weston, Bavarian WB, Bay Stallion.

So thank you very much to Lynn of horsiemama.blogspot.com, for hosting this super fun giveaway! (Pssst. . . she's doing another one RIGHT NOW!)

Speaking of blankets, I couldn't help but notice this funny goof when browsing my favorite tack shop's website:

Do you spot it? Yep, that's right, they accidentally listed those Breyer blankets at $94.95 each! They will probably pull the page and fix it soon, but it gave me a good laugh.

What about you? Have you ever seen a funny typo on a store's website? Share about it in the comments!

Don't forget to leave a comment to get yourself entered in the hay bag giveaway!

1000 VIEWS!!!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Today I hit 1000 views on this blog! That is incredible! I've only been public for a little over 3 months!

THANK YOU!

In celebration of this special event, I am hosting a giveaway! I will be giving a set of three (3) Traditional Scale Hay Bags to one (1) lucky winner!

The hay bags are handmade, pattern by Desktop Stables, colors chosen by me, and sewn (that's right, the seams are stitched, not glued!) by a dear family member, who is known for her excellent needlework (name withheld as she is not interested in receiving requests for custom orders).

The set comes with one (1) black and white polka-dot bag, one (1) green swirly bag, and one (1) black glitter holly bag.

All bags are equipped with three (3) jump rings for easy hanging. They do not come with a hanging strap. Hanging straps are easy to diy, and are best left for the winner to design, as one style does not usually fit every stall. I use a loop style, a friend of mine uses a hook, I know someone who just glues them up, etc.

They do not come with hay. You can make your own hay in several ways. I use the hay I buy to feed my guinea pig. You can get a small-ish bale of timothy at Walmart or similar store for around $5. This will provide you with enough hay to "feed" several herds of model horses. You can also clip some grass from your yard and dry it, or use some very finely shredded green/yellow paper. 😉

Entries close after one week. The official closing time is midnight (EST) on December 7, 2022. Contest is only open to US residents, excluding AK & HI (AK, HI, and international friends, keep reading! There is something special for you too!). If you miss the deadline by like 30 minutes, I'll still count it. Remember this is supposed to be fun, not stressful! I will post the winner within two (2) days.

To enter, simply comment on any post posted between November 30, 2022 and December 7, 2022 (that includes this one!). If you don't have a Google account, don't worry! Just comment anonymously, and tack your handle down in the comment.

You can enter once per post. If you make two comments on the same post, you will only get one entry for that post. You can make a comment on each and every post posted during the aforementioned time period. 😊

I will use whatever name you give yourself in the comment in the winner announcement post. The winner will have 48hrs to contact me via email with their full name and US mailing address. I will then package up the hay bags with a Christmas card and ship them off to their new owner! If the winner does not email within 48hrs, a new winner will be chosen.

I will be using Random Name Picker to ensure fairness. I will take plenty of screenshots to accompany the winner post. Feel free to browse around the website, it's pretty great! This is the same website that HorsieMama uses for her giveaways.

For my international viewers:

I tried really hard this week to get an at-home printable designed for you, but I did not get it finished and had nothing but problems, so I temporarily abandoned that plan for today, and made something else. I designed a custom set of bingo cards for you! These are model horse themed, and you can play online or print them. To play online, you can send them to your partner and they can shuffle the cards up by going to the "HELP" tab at the top. There is a dropdown. There are 30 card variations, so you can play with loads of friends. You can only cover the squares if you have a model/item in your collection that matches the square. Hopefully you can translate them to your language, but I'm not sure.

The bingo cards are not a drawing and are free to everyone, international or US based. I will continue working on the at-home printable (it is for mini equine coloring and painting books) but I have no promises on whether or not I can get it working. I'm not very good at that sort of thing! 😅

Here is the link to the base bingo card. Remember, this is just the base and you can get up to 30 different variations by going to that handy little "HELP" button.

Once again, THANK YOU for helping me get here!