Field of Dolls Studio; Because Everybody Needs Dolls

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! (yes, the child is sleeping folded in half)

Adventures With Barbie

2011-12-06T05:25:00.000-08:00

I make dolls. I have been sneered at for that, looked down on and treated like a clever child. I have also been praised for my talents, impressed people, helped people win at horse shows and managed to help support my family while still staying home and raising my own kids. The people that scoff don't phase me really. When I hear "you make DOLLS?" (as if dolls was a dirty word) I just smile and say yes, that's what I do. It seems the general public believes that doll making is just a cute hobby. Which it is. I enjoy my job which is amazing since most people these days just work because they have to. I get to play. Sometimes just with my dolls and horses and sometimes with other people. I have a good job.
Recently though I have realized that the model horse hobby is really a very small community. I have always known that but it came front and center in my brain a little over a month ago. And as small as the model horse community is the portion that uses dolls is even smaller. Some people are terrified of using dolls (and actually some people are just afraid of the dolls themselves from what I hear). So that really leaves my potential client base even smaller. So what happens when no one is buying hobby dolls? I can't pay my bills and I worry about money (like regular people). THAT'S not fun in any way. So I run sales in the bad months and do what I can to get by until show season rolls around and people get excited about buying dolls again.
BUT, hobby dolls are not the only kinds of dolls out there. Hmm...
For about a year I have been thinking of dressing Barbie dolls. Just for myself, as I happen to love Barbie and I love fancy clothes and accessories. And it occurred to me that there are also Barbie collectors all over the world. So I decided I would start making OOAK Barbie dolls and selling them as well. It's still a doll after all.
This is my first OOAK Barbie. Her name is Nadia and she is a bride in a pink dress. Or she could be a lady in an evening gown (the veil is removable) but her boots didn't seem like something that a lady would wear with an evening dress so she is a bride.

Her boots happened because I wanted to see if I could make them. It turns out I can. They were made of white lambskin with petite tooling calf for the soles and heels. They were very carefully laced up with silver thread. Not too bad for a first attempt I don't think. Most of the outfit just sort of came together. I didn't have much of a plan. I altered the pattern for the dress as I worked and added things where I thought they needed to be. Making this doll was actually really freeing after having to stay in the guidelines of rider dolls for so many years. Nadia is currently for sale for $75 though I am willing to negotiate.
This next project was a sculpted head. I have sculpted heads before but most of them have not turned out well enough for me to want to finish them. I thought this one was nice enough to paint and hair. I may even get her a body at some point. I was impressed that she does actually look like a woman (I have been trying and usually end up with woman that look like men) and is actually 1:6 scale. She may get an obitsu body some day and be one of my models. Or just be part of my growing eclectic collection of stuff.
My second OOAK Barbie is Nikki. She is a biker doll and I had a lot of fun with her. Her entire outfit was made from genuine pigskin leather and detailed by hand. I must say, making fitted leather pants for Barbie isn't an easy task! I had to make the pattern (the one I had was for almost pajama-like pants) and alter it several times to make it work. After 4 or 5 tries I finally had fitted leather pants. The jacket pattern was also custom made from pieces of a shirt pattern and some trial and error (I only had to make that one twice). The design of the jacket was loosely following a real fringed jacket design. Some of it was my own creation.The conchos on the back were my husband's idea. As was all the turquoise in the jewelry. The leather hair band was Ethan's idea as well. All in all I think Nikki turned out well. She is also for sale for $75 with her price being negotiable.

Next I was thinking of making a woman in a Victorian dress but the curls for her hair are still something I need to work out so she got skipped over to make this Vegas showgirl, Sasha. There was no sewing involved with this doll but she was a lot of fun to make. I started with the same white lambskin used for Nadia's boots and wet and stretched it to make the bra top and head cover. Waiting for the leather to dry was the hardest part I think! Then there was the slow process of painting on the pink and silver stripes and circles with dimensional fabric paint and setting swarovski crystals in the paint while it was still wet. She took awhile and some funny things had to be done to her headpiece to make it stand up but I think she came out well. Her shoes were regular Barbie shoes that I added a couple of straps to and some glitter paint to make them more interesting. I think she makes a great showgirl. Sasha is also for sale for $75, price negotiable.
To get started on the Victorian dress idea I figured I would test out a new pattern. But I didn't want to commit to permanent clothing until I was sure I liked the design so I decided to make this dress removable. It is a prototype and does have a few flaws (and it needs to be ironed) but the design isn't terrible. I have more of an idea of what I want to change to make the dress I am thinking of. This dress is also for sale, but being a non-perfect prototype it is only $10. Yes, that is also negotiable.
The beaded jewelry is separate and sold together (necklace and bracelet) for $5.
Part of my Barbie selling idea is leaning towards finding high-end craft fairs and getting a booth. But not everyone wants to (or can afford to) buy a whole OOAK doll. But some people LOVE buying new clothes for their dolls. This velvet party dress is another prototype and was actually a test of an idea to make a lined dress. The lining worked out well but I don't love the fit of the dress. It is finished however and for sale for $3. Keep in mind it is a non-perfect prototype.
Anyway, to sum up, my adventures with Barbie have started off well. I already know how to reroot so I am working on learning to do facial repaints. That will also be helpful for Breyer dolls as many people like new faces. Working with the Barbie dolls is very fun and easy and intimidating all at the same time. With no guidelines of what I can or can't do to make the finished doll the possibilities are endless. Which means sometimes I have no idea where to start.

What do you get when a Nor'easter hits in October?

2011-11-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

Besides this one cool photo....
...The iced swingset...
...a messy street (yup, that's a tree in the road)...
...a very bent tree...
...a buried car...
....this is my side yard...

...that's Ethan's truck under there...

That is our miraculously unharmed brand new shed.
So the answer to the question is...when a Nor'easter comes through in the fall and dumps 12"+ of heavy wet snow on trees that still have lots of leaves it makes for a big mess and a huge power outage in about half the state. We were only out of power for about a day (no Internet until 4 days later) but my parents are on day 4 with no power. And the mess will take a long time to clean up.

Weekend show report NEPC 2011

2011-10-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I attended the New England Performance Challenge (NEPC) in Spencer, MA. I am a slacker and have not managed to get my show report done in a timely manner. But here we go.

This is the only OF entry I brought for the day. It is my side saddle strapless dressed in a saddle I believe by Jennifer Buxton (I can't really see it in the photo and can't remember what I dressed her in...) with a bridle made by Lauren Islip. I made the halter, sidepull reins and leadrope. The dolls were all made by me and the little boy riding is my Travis doll made to look a bit like my son. I have been doing this therapeutic riding entry since I started performance showing and have improved on it over time. The horse, Lady Intrigue, is working on a superior event horse award from NAMSHA. She is only about 1 or 2 cards away after her second place win last weekend.

This first entry in the custom division is Highwayman, my Ikantu resin painted by Angelica Nelson. He is wearing a GORGEOUS Native American costume but I have no idea who made it. The doll was sculpted by Joan Yount and her clothing was made by me. I will be remaking it as soon as I find thinner suede to work with. This was Highwayman's first performance show and we started it off with first place!

The next class in the costume/other division was other costume. Highwayman thought he would try out this cute Harry Potter costume. Though when competing against horses wearing gorgeous parade tack and very well done historical costumes he couldn't get higher than 5th. He seemed to enjoy his costume all the same. The costume was made by me.The next class we competed in was showmanship. Highwayman came back with a good showing for first place. The show halter was one I made (in the car, during my daughter's piano lesson, for another horse at a different show, lol) and the dolls are mine as well.

The last class Highwayman competed in was other performance where he was in an auction scene that I forgot to take a photo of. He got 4th in that class. He didn't get any champs but that's OK. He had a really great first show.

Next up was Enchanted Eve in the CM English division. Enchanted Eve is my lovely Victrix resin also painted by Angelica Nelson. Her tack is by Jennifer Buxton and her doll was made by me. Her first class was other English where I threw together a riding lesson scene. I knew I wasn't doing something right when I set it up but WHAT exactly was wrong was eluding me. The note from the judge said "have the instructor hold the reins please" and then it clicked, when riding backwards it's only safe if someone is holding your horse, lol. I originally intended to have the riding just mounting but Enchanted Eve is so tall and I don't have a mounting block. Next time either I get/make a block or the instructor remembers to hold those reins! Obviously I forgot to take a photo :(
The next class was this natural trail entry. I have only ever set this up for a western horse and couldn't for the life of me figure out what to do. So I asked some other showers and they said the doll should be holding the reins. It makes picking up trash harder but at least she won't lose her horse in the woods. This entry (like my other English entry) got 5th place.
The next class for Enchanted Eve was Arena trail. She made up for her poor start with 2nd place.
Enchanted Eve next showed in dressage doing a salute. I am so annoyed with myself for forgetting that photo. I have been working on getting that set-up just right (with a different horse but still...) and we got 2nd place. And I didn't even get a photo!
After dressage was English pleasure and Enchanted Eve got third in that class. All of that together was enough for CM reserve English champion! Not bad for her first time showing.

Next up was the CM Western division. I had a good time with this division. The first class up was roping. I did a lot of studying on roping in the weeks leading up to the show. I learned a lot and I am still not sure if everything is perfect. But it was good enough for second place. The horse is my Matriarch resin, Flash in the Sky, painted by Joan Yount. I have no idea who made the tack but I have had a lot of people offer to buy it from me. The cowboy is a new bendy one I made.The next class in my western line-up was speed games. It's not easy to get a standing horse into a speed game class so I did a housewife scurry set-up. The judge told me that the kid (who is my new Elecktra doll made to look something like my daughter) would still be moving pretty quickly even while doing a pick-up. Maybe she's a novice...my documentation will have to say something about that. Even though they weren't moving they still got 3rd.

Next up was CM non-speed games. And this one got me really excited. As soon as I saw the placing I said I couldn't wait to tell Jennifer Buxton about it! The set-up is the 2 barrels and a pole game with photo reference and description directly from Jennifer's blog. The judge had never seen this before. Ever. A whole bunch of us got to talking about Jen's blog and how great it is for ideas, tips and so much more. Thanks Jen for a super, first place idea!Our next western entry was natural trail. The doll was made by me and was one of the first casual dolls I ever made. I did the picking up trash entry again and it really is easier in western tack. And good enough for third place.

Next was arena trail. The doll was made for me by Joan Yount and the poles were part of a set made by Marci Driscol. I made the flowers to match the jump the poles go with. The scene was worth 3rd.For other western I decided to do an extreme cowboy entry. This was actually the reason I made myself a bendy cowboy doll. I couldn't get him bent down quite far enough to actually be taking the ball off the cone but it's in his hand. And the judge thought it was pretty cool as well.
Flash in the sky also did western pleasure stock type and received 3rd place. All in all it was worth CM reserve western champion. I really worked harder on my set-ups this time around and it paid off.

As my last entry of the day I entered Enchanted Eve in western pleasure other type. Just to see how she would do. She managed to get 2nd place. She is wearing a pretty bridle, a saddle pad that I got with a bargain saddle, a working western saddle made by Jennifer Buxton and a doll I made. After she got her second place win I pointed out to anyone who was close enough to talk to that she won her class with a working saddle. Proving it isn't always bling that wins in western pleasure. Since I started showing I have almost exclusively shown in OF performance. With the exception of my therapeutic riding entry this show was all CM performance for me. While the competition is fierce in any performance ring in region X it is even more fierce in custom. The entries have to be even more perfect to do well. So I was very pleased that my hard work and attention to detail paid off.

Making dolls look less like dolls

2011-09-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

Dolls will always be dolls and there really is no way around that. We can repaint their faces and add new hair and custom made, fitted clothes, but they will always be dolls. The dolls I make start out as toys and then I change them until they look less like dolls and are less like toys. Because that's all we can hope for. But what do we do to make the dolls look less like dolls? And what do I really mean by that?These first 2 dolls were made fairly recently. One in July and one last week. Both have padding added on their rear ends so they sit well, both have new hair and both have custom made clothes. However the doll on the right also has padding added to her waste. She still looks like a very thin lady but she also looks more human.
You can really see the difference from the back. The doll on the left has a sort of pinched waste and the doll on the right looks like a person. If you are not completely familiar with dolls you may even need to look twice to see that the doll on the right is in fact a doll. But the photos were taken in the same spot in my yard and from the same angles (lucky for me I always take certain angles). My newer dolls also have a few other standard body upgrades but they were discussed in a previous post. Changing the base doll takes time but the results I think are well worth it.

Now making dolls look more like real human beings is only part of what I meant by "making dolls look less like dolls". My best example of that is this group shot. Now a shot like this is actually very hard to get and takes a lot of time. But since I have used this as my website header, my blog header, on my business cards, gift certificates and so on, I thought it was worth the effort. It took hours to get this photo to look like this. With this many dolls there were so many opportunities for something to look like a doll. So I took bunches of photos, uploaded them, studies what needed to be fixed, fixed it, took more photos and so on. Hours. And then if the dolls in the back row fell over (which they did a few times, lol!) I had to start that section over again. The cowboy in red still looks sort of doll-like but most everyone else looks more like a person. The pink western doll on the far left is whispering something to the youth doll. The ladies in front are leaning in to cuddle with my "Travis" doll. Just a few things real people might be doing in a group photo.
After the photos were uploaded, and I could clearly see all the details, I would adjust the dolls to make them look less like dolls. If they had a shiny spot on their face I would move them so the flash wouldn't hit them in the same way. If they looked stiff and unnatural in their chairs I would bend them a bit more so they looked like they were actually sitting comfortably in the chairs. It took a lot of time but it was fun as well.

Then their is the "doll love" photo, also from the last post. Dolls don't really want to sit on picnic tables, even if the tables are in 1:9 scale. So I had to bend them and squish them to make them sit there. And then the cowboy was a bit reluctant to hold onto his sweetheart. He kept popping off the table! I didn't go inside to upload the photos to study them but did enlarge them on my camera display. When the dolls looked as if they were staring vacantly off into space I would adjust the angle of their heads or the angle I took the photo from. This photo was nice but...

...this was my favorite. I also noticed that the guy looked like he was hovering off the table so a little more cropping and voila! The dolls look less like dolls and more like a couple enjoying a romantic moment. And from the angle I took the photo it looks like the lady is looking into her man's eyes. In fact her head is turned very far to the left. It is physically possible (I tried it) but it's not comfortable. In the photo it looks natural and sweet.
Now setting up dolls in date scenes and group shots is probably totally pointless for most people but attention to details like how a doll is sitting and where your doll is looking can really help you in the show ring. If your doll is vaguely looking off in the opposite direction as your horse is moving, it will look like a doll. But if you have the doll focused on the same area the horse is headed, it will look less like a doll. Which is all we can hope for ☺.

New dolls

2011-09-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

I realized this morning that I have not done a blog post in several months. Part of it was lack of cool photos (because photos in blog posts make everything more fun) part of it was the craziness of summer and part of it was I didn't have much to talk about. I was thinking about the newer dolls I have done recently though I wanted to share a bit. This first one I especially like. She has carved feet, a padded waste to make her more realistically shapes, her first finger on her left hand is split out from the others so she can hold the reins properly. She is just so much easier to use. I am really liking the body upgrades that are standard on my newer dolls.
This next doll is also really cool because she can do so much. For as long as I can remember hunt seat dolls could either do flat classes or over fences (in-flight) because a regular doll looks silly going over a jump. This doll got a body rebuild so she is able to do flat classes and then also get into a jump position and do over fences classes. She is great for almost any English class you can think of and very easy to use.
This next d0ll also has the new, standard body upgrades and is in an outfit that is currently trendy in the show ring. She has decorated chaps and a back zip OOAK silk shirt. She also got new make-up and a manicure.

This last photo I took to amuse myself. I had this pretty lady doll and this bendy cowboy and they wanted to hang out together at (on) the doll-sized picnic table. They look to me like they are enjoying a nice date on a beautiful summer day. What you can't see in the photo is this lady's diamond engagement ring! Doll love amuses me :)I guess the last new thing I should mention is the interview I did with Jeanne Grunert. Here is a link to the written article and here is the link to the photo article. I really enjoyed doing these and was very flattered to be asked.

Travis on show weekend

2011-06-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

This could be a post weekend show report, but it's not. On Saturday I went to Factory Ponies Live held in Spencer, MA and on Sunday I went to NEMHC also held at the same hall in Spencer, MA. While I did actually show on both days I was more concerned with my son Travis. He came to the shows with me for the first time ever.
Bringing my son to a show might seem like no big deal but Travis still has limited communication, can get very silly and hyper and loves to run. Lucky for me there is also a very large chair closet that he was allowed to hang out in. Not only did we nickname it "The Cave" but there were stacks of chairs Travis could climb when Mom wasn't looking.

On Saturday we did take several breaks to go outside and run around. Travis has learned at school to stay within a defined boundary while running off steam so I told him to stay on the carpet of the covered porch and as long as I reminded him every now and then he listened and got to run and run. My daughter, Elecktra, also came to the shows with us and helped me keep an eye on Travis and they went out for running breaks together once I had defined the boundary. Travis looks like he's having a good time.
I thought that the second show day would be even harder for him but as soon as we came into the hall he went right into "The Cave" and asked for his blanket so he could hang out on the floor. Elecktra set up his chair couch (3 chairs next to each other that he liked to lounge on) and he was super calm all day and only wanted to take one running break. A good weekend all around.
Surprisingly even though I didn't pay as much attention to showing as I usually do and I got only OK placings in a lot of classes, I had enough points for Lady Liberty to earn Western Performance Champion and then Overall Performance Champion. So the weekend was great and I got some big rosettes. Good times.

Weekend show report CM performance

2011-04-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

I am sort of impressed with myself. I managed to get the OF photos from Quabbin Valley uploaded and blogged about last night and this morning I have managed to get the CM photos uploaded as well. Yay for getting things done!
First up was the stock horse division. This is my Bold Endeavor resin, Cloud Dancing. He is wearing a saddle by Pam Perkins and the doll was dressed by me and has a sculpted head by Liesl Dalpe. Cloud Dancing only did 2 classes in the Stock horse division and they were other stock work where he got 5th with his team penning entry...

and non-competitive (ranch scenes) where he got 4th with this scene of moving the herd.
Up next was the western division and the doll was switched out for my casual doll. I had a natural trail entry but either I missed the photo or just can't find it. We got 3rd place with that entry.
Next was Arena trail and the doll was switched again, this time to the "me" doll made by Joan Yount. We got first place with this box entry.
Next was western games and I was so thrilled to finally do well with this 2 barrels and a pole game. The idea and reference photos were from Jennifer Buxton's blog. I would post a link but I can't ever find the right blog when I am looking for it. Anyway, the games entry got 1st place!
Next was the other western class and Cloud Dancing got 1st with his western riding entry.
Now we need to switch horses for a moment to talk about my new horse, Flash in the Sky. She is a Matriarch resin painted by Joan Yount, wearing a western set made by Jennifer Buxton a saddle pad I borrowed from my friend Linda White and my cheetah print parade doll. Perhaps it was the mixed, non-matching gear that did her in. Or perhaps I was not too careful with set-ups. And I just now realized why I couldn't find the natural trail entry for Cloud Dancing, it's because Flash in the Sky did that class, lol. For natural trail she got 3rd, for Arena trail she got 4th and for pleasure she got 6th. Not a great start to her show career but she is very pretty and will probably be a halter horse. And sooner or later she will have gear that matches and an owner that pays more attention to detail and then perhaps she will do better. I enjoyed looking at her all day anyway.
Now we need to switch back to Cloud Dancing who actually did very well in western pleasure getting 2nd place.
That was the end of the CM western division and Cloud Dancing received the championship!
The next section was the other performance section. First up was Showmanship which is one of my favorite classes (and yet I skipped it in OF...). Cloud Dancing got 1st place for his set-up
The next class in the other division was "scene". Cloud Dancing was in a bareback pony ride scene and that earned him 1st place as well.
next was generic performance and Cloud Dancing got second place with this auction set-up...
Which was enough to bump him up to Champion for the other performance section.
The next section was sport horse but Cloud Dancing only did one class and that was Dressage. He got third with this salute. The judge said she absolutely loved it and would have placed it higher but she likes to see the bridle numbers. I have one and forgot to put it on. I knew I forgot something.
The next section was the English performance division. The first class was games and Cloud Dancing is now wearing a tack set made by Lauren Islip, a saddle pad made by me and finally a doll I made as well. This tennis ball relay entry got 2nd place.
Next was the other English performance class and Cloud Dancing thought about doing therapeutic riding but I just didn't have time to fix the tack. So he did a riding lesson and got his OF friend, Lady Intrigue, to come and play as a prop horse. The hunt seat tack on Lady Intrigue was made by Jennifer Buxton, the hunt seat doll and casual doll in the flowered shirt were made by Joan Yount and the casual doll in the blue sweater was made by me.
Cloud Dancing's natural trail entry "out for a walk with the dogs" got him 2nd place.
I borrowed this gate from a new show friend, Jenna (can't remember her last name) and Cloud Dancing got 1st place with his arena trail entry.
All together it was worth champion in CM English
Last was the CM costume division. First up was Native American costume. I absolutely adore this new set of mine (still don't know who made it) and Cloud Dancing looked very nice in it. The judge thought so too, she gave it 1st place.
I had a parade entry for Cloud Dancing but didn't manage to get a photo. It was sort of like cheating anyway since there was only the one entry in the class AND I could not get the bridle to fit because his head is bigger than Skippa Latte's (my OF Breyer Partygirl). I put down a card that said it was bridless parade. I don't think that would fly in real life. Maybe in an arena class, who knows.
The last class of the day for me was the CM other costume class. Cloud Dancing went in again this time dressed as Harry Potter. He got first and then moved onto get champion of the CM costume division. All in all it was a very fun day.
To top off the excitement of awards for the day Cloud Dancing managed to get enough cards to round out his numbers of cards for his NAMHSA performance versatility award. I wrote to the merit award coordinator and asked if he would actually be eligible for the award having earned all the cards he needed (plus some extra) in just 2 shows. The MAC said that there was no rule saying how many shows you needed to enter, just that only 2 cards per class per show could be used. She also said she looked forward to seeing the horse that earned the PV award in only 2 shows as she also likes horses that can do it all. But now Cloud Dancing needs a new goal :)

Weekend show report OF performance

2011-04-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the third annual Quabbin Valley Performance Open. There were not a lot of showers out this time but the hard-core performance junkies were there so competition was fierce. Since there weren't tons of us I figured I would be able to handle taking photos of every entry throughout the day (to make the people that didn't come jealous, lol) and I managed to get most everything. I did miss a few classes all together because I zoned or was frantically changing costumes but for anyone that wants almost 200 performance photos to drool over here is a link . Enjoy the show. Now I did actually do some showing that day so here is my show report. I'm starting with OF performance because it was smaller for me (I only brought 1 horse that did more than one class). The first class of the day for me was OF English games. This is Lady Liberty, an OF Breyer Lady Phase, wearing a tack set from Four Corners Tack, a saddle pad by me and a doll by Joan Yount. This set-up was good for 1st place.

The next class was Other English Performance and Lady Intrigued entered just this one class for the day. The saddle and bridle were made by Jennifer Buxton, and I made the halter and all the dolls plus the props (except the cones which are from the Breyer trail set). The little rider doll is my son Travis. Or at least he is close enough that he looks like my reference photos and when I ask Travis who the doll is he says "Travis". This set-up earned 1st place as well. I am now 3 NAN cards from a NAMHSA superior event horse award with my therapeutic riding set-up. I have worked for this one since I started showing performance (almost there!) Lady Intrigue is semi-retired and this season has only come to shows to do therapeutic riding.

My next entry was OF English Natural trail. Joan Yount also made this doll and I made the roll-up trail footing. If I could find a way to make it unroll a bit nicer it might do better. But the entry was worth 5th place.
After that we moved onto arena trail. Lady Liberty did this really cool bridge entry where the rider is supposed to stop and show the mail. The judge gave this one 1st place as well.
Next up was OF Hunt seat pleasure. I don't think I paid nearly enough attention to detail or the doll (bad Anne!) because this one only brought in 4th place.
Next up was the OF costume division. Skippa Latte came to the show to do the costume section because she was working on a performance versatility award and only need one more card in the "other performance" section. Well she got it with this Native American costume entry. I am not sure who made the costume but it is lovely, detailed, and so in-scale. The doll head was sculpted by Joan Yount and I made her dress. I will be remaking her dress as soon as I get some thinner leather. I got 1st place for this one.
Next was parade but I seem to have missed getting a photo of that one (oh, really bad Anne!) Skippa Latte again wore the cheetah print parade set I created with the matching cheetah print doll also by me. That was worth 1st place as well.
The next class was OF other costume. I made this Harry Potter costume and even though it was made on a horse that didn't have a lifted tail the judge liked it well enough to give it 2nd place.
Which was enough to get Skippa Latte the champion rosette for OF costume.
Next for me was the OF western division. We started it off with this natural trail entry. Lady Liberty is wearing a saddle set by Pam Perkins, a pad by Elise Partanen and the doll is by me. I am not sure if my doll falling over caused the problem or if everything else on the table was just cooler (though I have photos and could check...) but this one only brought in 4th place.
After that was arena trail. I switched out the doll for the "me" doll that Joan Yount made me for Christmas (it does look a lot like me!). The ground poles were done my Marci Driscoll and I made the flowers. We got 3rd place for this one.
Next came western games and we got 2nd with this water relay entry. It is not a hard set-up so it is hit or miss with the judges. I guess it was a good day for the water relay.
Next up was the OF other western class. Lady Liberty tried a western riding entry which earned her another 3rd place. I missed the photo of western pleasure-stock type but she also earned a 3rd in that one.
And that was still enough to get her OF western reserve champion.
Soon I will do my post on the custom division. I have been very busy with doll making (though I seem to show a lot of dolls that I didn't make, lol) so I have not had time to fight with the photo uploader. CM coming soon though!

Region X Equine Xtravaganza

2011-04-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Region X Equine Xtravaganza show which was held as a benefit show for region X regionals. It was a fun show and really was a benefit show. All the judges and the announcer were volunteers, the ribbons and rosettes were recycled from other shows and a large amount of money was raised. The start of the performance section, as with most shows, was a harness section. This is Kate Dwyer's four-in-hand entry that she has been working on for awhile. I made her dolls and she made all the harnesses. It amused me that the lady is the one driving :)

Lady Intrigue has been my main OF English horse for 2 or 3 years now and I thought it was time for a semi-retirement. She came to the show just to do the other English class with her therapeutic riding scene. I am working towards a superior event horse merit award and she still needs a few cards for that. So she came to the show and lucky for me the judge got a really good look at the scene before the arena wall came down and knocked everything off the table. My little Travis doll never even let go of the reins.
This is my new Bold Endeavor resin, Cloud Dancing. I named him the day before the show but I didn't much like the name he came with so I am glad I thought up something new. His first class of the day was other English performance. I set up a tennis ball relay game (like egg and spoon but with tennis balls and rackets) and that got him his first ribbon of the day with 6th place.
For trail Cloud Dancing tried a new sort of bridge entry. The pattern states that the horse should walk onto the bridge, stop, the rider must show the mail and then they walk off. I got to make tiny mail for this class and it was more interesting than simply standing on the bridge to I enjoyed it. The judge thought it was worth 4th place.
Cloud Dancing would not be suited for an over fences class (not in any way I can think of) but the class name was just "hunter" so I came up with this gate entry from a Handy Hunter class. It was not spectacular but it still did place (7th)
During lunch there were several fun classes set up (no NAN cards awarded). One of the classes was to create an "x" rates scene, but not dirty, region X related. I loved this very detailed set-up of region X regionals.
This entry needed to be photographed in two parts. This was the sign on the outside of the box...
...and this was the inside view! It amused me quite a bit.
This was a really cute set-up and I loved the details! The table was very nicely make, the ribbons and rosettes were adorable and the shirt the little girl is wearing is a very good representation of the region X logo. I love miniatures :)
Cloud Dancing tried out a team penning entry for his other working western (with stock) entry. He managed 5th place.
Cloud Dancing was in a western riding scene in the other western performance class. With so little in the way of a set-up (he had footing and a couple of cones) I didn't think he would do well. I guess his simple entry was perfect for him though since he got second place!
Western pleasure was the second class Cloud Dancing got first place in. Though I completely forgot to take a picture of the trail class.
Skippa Latte came to the show just for the Other ethnic/historical/parade class. She needed a couple more NAN cards in "other" classes for her performance versitility award. I made both the costume and the doll and am happy to say that they got second place in a fairly large class (though I did forget to count the entries). Perhaps by the next show I will have a pad that I actually like.
Cloud Dancing got third in his other Showmanship/other performance class. Pretty good considering it was a big class with a mixture of all sorts of entries. I am sure with some effort I can improve it a bit more.
I tried uploading the photo several times and it always came out sideways (even when I flipped it in different ways) so this is what we are stuck with. But Cloud Dancing had a very good first show and came away with overall performance champion. I plan on taking him to another performance show in a couple of weeks as well. This time maybe I will remember to take pictures of everything :)
I forgot to take a bunch of photos, including the one where Cloud Dancing got second in the Native American costume class with the costume I made. I had a very stress free show since I mostly showed one horse and only had a handful of resins to show in the halter classes. But it was the first show of the year and I spent a lot of time socializing. It was a great show and a lot of fun. My next show I plan on reminding myself to actually use the camera.

Dolls on Parade

2011-03-13T06:49:00.001-07:00

Well on doll on a parade saddle anyway. The horse is Skippa Latte and she is very close to a NAMHSA merit award in performance versatility. I hadn't had any idea she was so close to the award until I was counting cards and found that she just need 2 cards in "other performance" to get there. And parade is one of the classes specified in other performance.

So I decided I had to make a parade set. I have never done one before so it was a bit of a challenge. Where to start? What color? What pattern? I have made a few Western saddles over the years but nothing to this level. I can't tool and sold most of my stamps (I am not a tack maker after all. So what to do? Well put on some fabric and crystals of course!
And add a lovely doll to match.
I recently made a cheetah print and tan western pleasure doll and had a very nice response to her. So when I decided I needed to put cheetah print on the saddle I had to make a doll to go with it.
I think she is very nice and her outfit perfectly matches the seat on the parade saddle.
So now I am looking for opinions. Not totally mean harsh ones, I am not a tack maker looking to improve I just want to know what people think. Is the set OK? Does the doll match well enough? Should I be embarrassed to bring it in public (I'm going to show it next month anyway, lol).
The workmanship is not superb but I don't think it's completely atrocious (I could be wrong I guess, lol). One of the big things I was unsure of is the silver studs on the set. All I could find at the time I was looking was the domed ones but in the photos they sort of look like cheap plastic "silver" beads to me. I might just be imagining that though. It does look different in person and I do like it more when I am not looking at it in photos.
I had a lot of fun with the swarovski crystals. But I usually have fun with crystals
And I have never seen another set like this one so I am pretty sure it really is one of a kind.
I guess a fun fact about this saddle set is I followed only a few instructions and then kind of just put the rest together. But maybe that shows ☺

You know that excuse...

2011-01-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

...the dog ate my homework? Well this time it's true. Well not MY homework, Elecktra's. So I told her to put it in a bag and bring it to her teacher. She THINKS she already turned it in but I guess they are supposed to keep the stuff until the end of term (why?) so we'll see what happens I guess.

He Stands!

2011-01-26T05:23:00.000-08:00

I really do love it when things work out the way I hope they will. The Maximus stand project came out really well. I actually have known he could stand for several days now but didn't take any photos. I thought this was worth sharing though. So now I just need to do some sanding and filling on his tail repair and some paint matching (*gulp*) and he will be all set. I must say I am pretty pleased with how this project is turning out.

Repair day (finally)!

2011-01-23T12:47:00.000-08:00

I learned several years ago that almost anything can be fixed on a broken model horse. And that is a good thing because my resins seem to enjoy seeing if they can fly. They soon discover that they can't. The last batch of jumpers was from late Spring or early Summer of last year. My Matriarch lost her ear and got some unfixable rubs (blue roan with a GIANT hip rub...start over, lol). I finally decided to strip her and reprep her. Miraculously I did find her ear but then knocked if off while I was scrubbing her and I think it went down the drain in the tub. So she got her ear resculpted and I was working on fully reprepping her.

My Summer Soltice broke her leg and her tail as well as got a few scratches in her very pretty dappled paint job. *sigh* well I can fix most things but I am not a painter. So I fixed up Summer Solstice and sent her to my friend Corrie McDermott who is an excellent painter and very good at matching paint. One down.

Ravishing Ronald broke his leg, his tail and chipped part of his mane. I have been working on Ronald for awhile but found out he was very tippy. He may have been the instigator of the last jump. So I heated up his leg to try to get him to stand a bit better and cracked all the new epoxy. Really, I should have seen that coming. So I scraped that all off, straightened his leg, put on new epoxy and made him some little hoof stands. He is very stable now. Today he was getting some more work done on his leg and tail repair. I think I can handle his paint as well since his breaks are all in black areas. I might have to try to match the bay because the newest repairs have creeped a bit farther up his leg. Oops. Hopefully I can handle that.
The Maximus resin in the back of the photo (laying down on the gun case) came to me broken. I got an excellent trade deal on him because his tail was broken. Well I saw the photos and it looks like a super easy fix. And it would have been if I hadn't had another oops moment, lol. So I pulled the tail apart and drilled some holes to put in a new wire (which is a good idea anyway) and finally got some epoxy on it as well. Maximus came with a very pretty wooden stand. Too bad his foot pegs didn't actually fit in the holes. So I decided he would get epoxy foot stands as well. It might not work as well as it did with Ravishing Ronald since his legs are all much closer together and only one is actually flat on the ground. So his foot stands are drying and I will check his balance when they are done. Either it will work or it won't. If it does, yay! If it doesn't I might glue him (with his little foot stands) to his wood base. Which will make his legs more likely to break if he gets jostled so that will be the last resort.

The other problem I am having is the paint on Maximus. It's just chestnut and his break is just on the base of his tail so I should be able to handle the touch-ups. Just as long as I know where to start. I am pretty good at mixing paint for a match if I know what to start with for base colors. Any help from painters would be very much appreciated.

The last horse on the table for today is Sugar. I got Sugar as a second and said I would never do that again (and yet I still traded for a horse I knew was broken so I could fix it, lol). Sugar was a big mess when I got her and has been an ongoing project of mine. I fully intend to paint her from start to finish once she is finally done. She is getting close so now I have to pick a color and hope I don't screw up too badly. Anyone want to suggest a color that is not too complex for a super new painter?

Fun Things in the Mail aka Projects Coming Together

2011-01-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

I love when I get fun things in the mail. I also love when projects that require many pieces finally start to come together. And this post is about both those things. I guess we can start with Bold Endeavor, my grail horse. I had the opportunity to buy a Bold Endeavor (for an AMAZINGLY good price!) years ago and I passed it up because I didn't want to get into time payments and couldn't quite cover the total in one chunk. Grr. After I let him go I really regretted it and have been searching for another ever since. As most people who know me know, I am a total performance junkie. I love tack, props, dolls (everybody needs dolls...) and horses that are good at lots of things. Bold Endeavor would be such an amazing horse for performance! He is standing squarely so is a perfect showmanship horse, western pleasure, he can do trail, I am sure I can pull off cow classes (team penning anyone?) and so much more. And that's just in Western! So since I let him go I have been searching for another. But I had to like it AND have the money all at the same time. Well I found him.This is Traveller. Or it is unless I come up with another name for him. But that was the name he came with and it seems at least a little fitting so it will probably stay with him. Not only is he a Bold Endeavor resin but he has a lovely color. So I am super pleased with him. He wasn't super expensive but he was a good amount more than the one I let go. But now he is here so we can move on. Well a horse I have searched for for so long NEEDS to have his own tack (something I have resisted since I started performance showing) and his own doll(s) and of course a matching saddle pad. So one day while I was hanging out with my friend Joan Fauteux and playing with horses (see, grown ups can have play dates too!) we decided to find a great color match for Traveller. So Joan pulled out a stack of saddle pads and this one (the one in the above photo) really seemed to pop with him. So then I decided I needed to make a doll to match the pad (something I also resist doing because it seems backwards to me).

Well awhile back I asked my good friend, Joan Yount, if she could sculpt a "me" doll. I am super new to sculpting (I have so far done one good head and that was for a dancing horse handler doll for Jennifer Buxton). I knew I couldn't sculpt "me". Joan agreed and finally decided to make me a whole doll to go with the head. It's not exactly me, but I think this is a great doll and one I know I won't sell. I can't sell "me" that would just be wrong! So after the doll head was sculpted and the body altered to sit well and look human Joan asked if I wanted her to dress the doll as well. And I said I would LOVE that! So I got this wonderful "me" doll from Joan as a Christmas gift! Yay for fun things in the mail!

Then today I got this lovely western tack set in the mail. Keeping with my new idea to have specific tack for each of my performance horses this set is to belong to Poker Face my Smokin' Hot Chic resin customized and painted by Corrie McDermott. This wonderful new tack set was made by Jennifer Buxton. She is so talented! Well Poker Face needed to try on her tack and I needed a doll to make sure everything was OK so I grabbed my "me" doll. Today I also got in the mail my new saddle pad made to match my "me" doll (as it should be) by Elise Partanen. She is a very talented maker of miniature saddle pads and has such reasonable prices I ordered 2 just to have one to match a doll I plan on making. How cool is that?

Now I didn't set up the photo cube so I don't have totally complete photos of my new western performance set-up but I will give you the run-down. I have my Bold Endeavor Traveller, my new "me" western pleasure doll made by Joan Yount, a matching saddle pad made by Elise Partanen to go with a tack set made by Pam Perkins. And the set is complete. Now I just need to make myself a casual doll to go with the whole set, lol.

And for more fun projects it's time to work on a doll and pad to go with my new Jennifer Buxton western set. I will never get bored☺

New Year's resolutions

2011-01-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to make some hobby resolutions. I have been saying to myself "I should do this" or "I need to try that" and it hasn't worked for me just yet. I found out the other day if I just make a little checklist I can get more done. So I decided to write down my resolutions and see if that helps. I came up with 5 of them and I think they are all really important. So here we are:

1. Keep better records. I need to make sure to save ALL my receipts from doll making expenses. It is so hard to do taxes properly when I am trying to remember if I missed any expenses because I am missing receipts. I also have to remember to put ALL the dolls in the order book. That means random sales dolls, donations and dolls for me too. That way I will have a more accurate count of what I did by the end of the year.

2. I need to make a to-do list every day. That little checklist I discovered can make a big difference to my day. It doesn't help if I am bit by the super lazy bug but it does give me more focus when I am working. I put it in the order that makes sense for my time and stick to it. It really does help me to have a list where I can check things off.

3. I want to make nicer, more realistic dolls. I want to put more details in, more bling, fancy chaps (on western dolls of course) sculpted heads, repainted faces. Whatever it takes to make nicer dolls. I have been reworking patterns a bit this year and I think I should keep doing that. But maybe I also need to alter the way I put the dolls together a bit. I want to have dolls that make people stop and go "wow".

4. I want to take better photos of my sales pieces and custom orders. I thought I was doing better when most of my photos of dolls were on properly tacked horses, outside, good lighting and not an ugly or distracting background. But the way the hobby seems to be going is towards nice studio shots. So I need to try to work out some good lighting in my house full of really bad lighting. So since fancier studio shots seem to be what is helping sell more things it's worth a try.

5. I want to save more money. That's not really a hobby goal but it is a good goal to have. I don't know about other hobby artists but it seems for me that Spring and Summer and a bit of fall are the best seasons for selling dolls. In the winter when there are rarely shows people don't seem to buy much. And the holidays have people holding onto their money very tightly or spending only on their friends and family. So saving more during the better season will make winter (the highest bill season) easier to deal with. Less stress is always a good thing.

2010 was not the best year for me. It had a lot of ups and downs. But we are now into a new year and I am hoping with a positive attitude, some hard work and a little help from friends and family every now and then, 2011 will be a wonderful year. Happy New Year everyone!

2010 doll review

2010-12-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

2010 is nearly over. I am OK with that. It hasn't been the absolute worst year ever, but it has had plenty of ups and downs and I am ready for a fresh start. One of the ups I have had this year is the making of more dolls this year than any other year since I started making dolls. I made about 90 total which is pretty impressive to me.
I've made western dolls... English dolls...

as well as some unusual dolls.

I got to be a part of the WEG diorama project as well. It was a good year for doll making.

So here are my totals. They are not totally accurate because it seems some of the dolls I made as random sales dolls and some of the dolls I made for myself didn't get into the order book (because they were not orders...) so my numbers for each type are off a little. But it's still fun. So here we go:

20 Western Pleasure dolls, 13 Hunt seat dolls, 12 "other" dolls (the ones that don't fit into another category), 8 cowboys, 8 cross country dolls, 5 showmanship dolls, 5 "other" youth dolls, 5 judges, 4 casual English dolls, 3 hunt seat youth dolls, 3 casual western dolls and 3 saddle seat dolls. When you break it down like that it doesn't seem like that much. One thing is clear though, people like western pleasure dolls. Happy New Year!

My Strapless obsession

2010-12-02T10:03:00.001-08:00

Now THAT is a deceptive subject line. Most people would probably think I really love Strapless dresses or tops. In reality the Strapless I am referring to is the Breyer model horse, Strapless. The only strapless article of clothing I have ever worn is my wedding dress.

Anyway, I really like the Strapless mold and have has the sidesaddle one since it came out, the JAH special run, Party Girl also as soon as she could be ordered and last week I set up a trade for Valvella and the Pottery Barn Strapless. So now I went from just my 2 to 4 in a hurry. Then over the Thanksgiving weekend I saw a post on facebook saying that the Breyer store had the WEG horses for CHEAP. So I went to look and sure enough, Headley Brittania was only $30! At the games she was $100, in Breyer's store she is normally $75. So I was very glad to get that bargain price.

So "Brit" came in the mail today and I noticed something funny about her. She has a western mane and an english tail with the braid part shaved off. It's really strange. And I realize a loose mane doesn't necissarily mean western, but I have always called them the english and the western versions so I will continue to do that now. Because of have other things I should be doing but have now decided I want to play on my blog, here is a side by side comparison of the western and english manes on the Strapless model.And then the side by side comparison of the western and english tails. I like the western tail a bit better actually.This is the Pottery Barn Strapless. She has a nice, loose western mane and tail (as well as a pretty color.Valvella is a completely English horse with her braided mane and braided tail. She is a special run for Walkabout Farms.And then this is the WEG Strapless model, Headley Brittania. Notice her loose mane and braided style tail? I tried to get a picture of the lack of braid but my camera didn't want to pick up that (lack of?) detail. Anyway, I noticed this when I was putting her up on the shelf and I thought it was interesting.

You know what else I find interesting about my Strapless collection? Every one of them is a special run or limited edition, lol. And to top off that silliness, I use them for performance ☺. The side saddle strapless is of course a limited edition. The Party Girl is a JAH special run. Valvella is a special run for Walkabout Farm (as I mentioned above), The Pottery barn Strapless is of course a special run and then Brit is the WEG special run. And really, what is the difference between a special run and a limited edition? Serious OF collectors must know the answer. I really only collect OF horses that I show in performance and those little turning stablemates. I won't do a post on those, I have 31 of those little horses and it could be all photos ☺

Thanks for reading my random thoughts!

The joys of trading

2010-12-02T09:12:00.001-08:00

I love tack. And I love trading. And this new little gal I made is part of a tack trade with my friend, Jennifer. She is a youth doll but with slightly longer thighs so she doesn't have mismatched legs (long calf and almost no thigh like the original youth dolls). She was also made in a similar outfit to a doll I made this past summer. Here are some more views of her...

And here she is standing next to an adult Breyer doll. She's still small enough to be a child but she's certainly not a little little girl. Probably almost a teen (though my 12 year old is almost as tall as I am and is already taller than my mother, lol). I hope you like her Jenn!

He's here!

2010-10-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

The long awaited WEG diorama team volunteer model. I am excited because I managed to get him out of the box, unwrapped and photographed without anything bad happening to him. Things like to break in my house. Usually when I am not looking but you never know.Anyway, I do already have a buyer but I have had a couple more people contact me looking for this horse. If anyone else had one they would like to sell I will pass on the names and email addresses.

Weekend show report (CM division)

2010-10-17T17:31:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I posted my show report for the New England Performance Challenge OF division. Today I have photos from the CM division. I didn't do anything super amazing in CM but I managed to get more photos than of the OF division so it's worth sharing. The competition was fierce for the entire show and it was said more than once that any placing at all was good. So here are some photos of mostly all-new entries. First we have my newly finished Hazel resin Regal Lady. She was sculpted by Morgen Kilbourn and painted by Jill Ennis. The tack is made by Anna Suna and I made the doll (and borrowed it from my friend Joan to do the class, lol). This entry got 5th which wasn't horrible considering some of the drool worthy entries on the table.

Next was Regal Lady in her other English performance class. I decided to do a game set-up and we did jumping figure 8's. I think it is normally a western game but I made some cool documentation for this class so I thought I would try it. The judge thought it was worth 6th place. Next is my Chip resin, Spin A Chip, sculpted by Lori Daniels and painted (and named) by Jessica Fry. His lovely new tack is made by Pam Perkins and the saddle pad was made by Elise Partanen. The wear leathers were also by Pam Perkins. I have no idea who made the boots and I made the doll. I know this guy can be an awesome performance horse but I have not done outstanding with him just yet. Though this cutting entry got 3rd place.

Next is my Native American costume entry on. This is Poker Face who is a Smokin' Hot Chic resin sculpted by Sheri Rhodes. He was customized and painted by Corrie McDermott. I made the costume. I got 5th place with it (3rd in OF) which isn't horrible considering some of the amazing Native American regalia that is in the region.

Poker Face also did showmanship since I love showmanship. She is wearing a halter made by me and I made her doll as well. Poker Face managed second in her showmanship class.

Next is a new...everything. This is Merlot who is a Knightly Cadence resin sculpted by Carol Williams and painted by Liesl Dalpe. My original Cadence painted by Liesl jumped off the shelf and broke so this is the second one she painted for me. His tack is made by Pam Perkins and his doll, reins and matching saddle pad were made by me. I didn't think too much on the coloring I just made this doll, liked it a lot and decided it would go on Merlot. And when I put it all together I thought it was just lovely. They are doing a rescue race which I also have new documentation for. They managed second place with this entry!

Then there was chip doing the tennis ball relay. Not as often done as egg and spoon but a similar idea. This one was only good for 5th but you can see that I planned to use this doll on this horse because everything finally matches.My other western entry with Merlot was a western riding entry which was good for 3rd place. Not bad really.

Then Merlot tried natural western trail but the bit slipped and the judge said she would have liked the trail pad a little longer. My reply was that I would too, lol. So they ended up with 6th place.

Chips arena western trail entry wasn't a judge favorite. He got 9th place with this one. Though I did get to use my other new western pleasure doll (who I got the blue and black saddle pad to match) and it was interesting. This set-up really only works well in photo showing where it looks like the horse is side passing if you take the picture from the right angle. In live showing of course you can look at his back legs and see he is turning on his haunches. Oh well, I got to use my doll.Merlot didn't place in arena trail at all because I goofed and didn't realize the he is on the wrong lead according to what the pattern says. I am also not good at figuring out what lead a model horse is on. I guess that is the next thing I need to study. I did enjoy how very matchy-matchy this whole set-up ended up. And the pink colored "X" I chose (to mark the my entry was done being tweeked) was also chosen to match the entry, lol.My last photo was of Chip in Western pleasure. I think he may have done better if I had given him a card saying he was turing on the rail to change direction. I am not sure really. Merlot had a couple of 2nd's and got into the call backs but didn't win anything but the new set-up looks really good and I think with some work I can have them winning championships next year! For now I guess I will find some good days to go outside and work on some photo show photos to keep me entertained over the winter.

Weekend show report (OF division)

2010-10-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I attended the New England Performance Challenge in Spencer, MA. It's a very fun, very full performance show that has been held for the past 10 years I think. I have been going for 3 of those years as far as I can remember. This was the first year I decided to show in CM as well as OF. And boy did it get crazy at times...

It was lucky for me that we got full tables this year (we don't always) because I had so much going on at once that I don't think I could have made it through the day (without breaking something) with only half a table of space to use. Several divisions were running concurrently so at times I had horses in, or going into, 4 rings at once. I think next year I might just stick with one horse in each division. I don't know if I can choose between OF and CM. Or maybe I will decide not to try to champs and just see how I can do in a bunch of my favorite classes. Who knows. Next fall is a long way away. Because of how hectic it was I completely forgot to take pictures of most of the classes. So I only have a few photos to share from the show but show photos are fun.

This is Johnny Cash competing in Of cutting. I can't remember who made the saddle, I made his bridle and his doll though. Even though I was rushed and a little crazy he did very well. And any time I get to play with the cows is fun.

This was Johnny's entry for the other western class. I thought it would be fun to do something a little different so I set up this "pony" ride entry. Of the 6 dolls used in this set-up (I only now just realized I used 6 dolls, lol) I made 4 of them. The little boy on the horse is just a dollhouse scale child doll and the little girl waiting in line was an unmodified Breyer doll. The doll leading the horse is my new casual western doll and I am very pleased with how she turned out. The entry only got 10th place but it was fun to set up. Maybe I will try this again sometime and see if I can improve on it. Johnny had some decent placings and then some less than stellar placings. He didn't win any champs but the judge was so torn on who to pick she gave him an honorable mention. Yay candy prizes!This next set-up is my OF Stone jumping horse Smoke N' Mirrors. It's not a clever or original name but I know a ton of magicians (not sure how that happened...) and she's gray so that's what she ended up being. I really got her so I could have something to model in-flight jumping dolls on. My other goal was to see how many classes I could show her in. I think I actually put her in 3 classes, fought her the whole time, and the best she did was 3rd. Not bad for a horse that doesn't want to behave. The tack was made by Cari Chaney and I made the convertible doll. She can take off her pinny, vest, watch and armband and be a casual in-flight jumper. I think she may be for sale, lol. If I get a better stand for the horse I may make another doll.

There were a couple of fun classes at lunch-time. The theme of the show was WEG so one of the fun classes was WEG disasters. I wasn't planning on entering but Nancy, the show hostess, said we needed more disaster entries. I figured I could throw together a disaster pretty quickly. The doll had already fallen off the horse at my table so I grabbed them and the jump pieces and pulled the saddle crooked and set this up. Then I got the extra doll to run over to help the fallen rider. The documentation says something like "Oops! The saddle slipped, the rider fell, the rest is obvious..." this quick set-up earned me 4th place! And it was pretty fun to do.After that Lady Intrigue got more serious and worked harder. She did well in hunter and many of her other classes. It was enough for reserve English champion on the OF division. Lady Intrigue is wearing tack made by Jennifer Buxton and a doll by me.
That was all the fun and excitement for the OF division for me. I think next year I will try to focus some more and maybe I can do better. It was a really fun day though. CM performance tomorrow.

New performance team

2010-10-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my last live show for this year. I am sure I can post some photos but right now I want to share my new performance team. This is Breyer's Justa Dream arab and I have been thinking of getting one for awhile. I got her for a SUPER deal yesterday because my Breyer dealer friend is going out of business. I couldn't resist. This side is always what is posted so I thought she would be a fun performance horse. The other side of course has the super long mane. However it is nice and flat and some allowances need to be made (and are) for OF horses so she should be OK. I have had a fully braided horse do very well in OF western classes. I think she will be fine and I asked another friend who judges and she said it should be fine. So I am pretty excited to try out this little team.

I already had the tack and it used to be the set I used on my Strapless model (who has been my main English performance horse for awhile now) until I got my lovely new Jennifer Buxton set. But it fits very nicely on this little mare and, since she is a small model, this little youth doll fits very well on her. The youth doll was originally made as a sales doll but since no one bought her yesterday and she looks like she was custom made for this horse...I guess I have another doll for myself now.

I figured since I already have a Travis (my son) doll this one would have to be Elecktra (my daughter). So this is Ellie since I guess some of her friends at school call her that. I don't know yet what to name the horse or what breed to show her as. I know she is supposed to be an Arabian but she seems a little bit small for that. Any advice would be appreciated. Now to sort some live show photos and see what I can post!

Native American costumes are hard

2010-10-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a Native American costume for a long time now. I don't really know how long but I know I have had the saddle tree for at least a couple of years. Part of the reason they are so hard is there is a lack of documentation out there. You have to know where to look (I still only know a little bit) photos are hard to come by and good documentation is essential to a good live show entry. So part of what I have been doing all this time is trying to come up with sources for information. I ended up picking up a great book for information called Native American Saddlery and Trappings. It's actually a paper doll book but it is very informative as well. That and I got a book on Native American bead weaving.

I did actually start trying to do a beaded costume. I have the bead loom, the super tiny delica beads (I think that's what they are anyway) and I got a few inches of bead work done. I realized something important about that time. I really hate doing bead work. *sigh* so I put the project aside for awhile and thought about it some more. I also wasn't sure how I would do the beading on pieces that were not exactly rectangle.

So after awhile I decided that I would paint the designs on the costume. Native Americans often did this for real so I figured it was OK for me to do it. And let me tell you, even when you are "just" painting on the designs it take a long time. But I think it was worth it, here's my finished costume.

And here's the front view of the bridle. The photos are a little bit dark because they are inside with no flash but the flash photos looked really bad. So this is what we get. I have a live show on Saturday and one of the things on my show projects list was to finish my Native American costume. Before today I only had the breast drape and saddle drape painted. So today I painted the crupper, made all the bridle pieces and assembled it, covered the saddle tree, made the cinch and attached it (in the proper way!), made the stirrups and attached them and put together my documentation. *phew* I'm tired. This took most of the day to finish and the documentation...was also hard to make, lol.
Here is the picture that I mostly copies for the costume I made. The saddle blanket I made was from another crow saddle so hopefully that won't give me trouble. I didn't make the stirrup decorations or the pommel flaps but the rest I did. With more fringe because I like fringe, lol. I like the way the costume came out and I will be happy to show it but I don't imagine I will be making another Native American costume any time soon. Now I need to get some dolls...

The WEG Diorama Project

2010-09-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

In February I was asked if I was interested in taking part in the Breyer WEG diorama project. I was asked to make the team of dolls for the marathon driving set-up. Unfortunately I don't have any good photos of the dolls. I took this quick photo and one of the back just to make sure they were what was wanted, then I changed something on them, didn't take new photos and they left. Jennifer Buxton (who also worked on the project) did a wonderful post on the project with some great photos of the dioramas in progress. I would love to see more photos and photos of the finished dioramas. I won't be attending the games so I can't get any myself.

Everyone that worked on the project was sworn to secrecy until Breyer had signed off on the entire project and released the info to the world. I have known for months who at least some of the other artists were on the project (group emails have email addresses and I guessed a lot from that) but I couldn't talk to them about it because of the secrecy ban. February to the end of September is a long time to wait when you really want to talk about something. It's so exciting that finally we can share what we did. I am more excited to see the finished projects. I LOVE miniatures of all kinds and some of the details are simply amazing.

Oh, I also can't take credit for the title of this post that I blatantly ripped off from Jennifer Buxton this morning. It was perfect, I had to use it ☺

More fun with rebuilt dolls

2010-09-04T12:27:00.001-07:00

Out-of-the-box Breyers are at best usually not super and at worst, they are broken. I have to spend a good amount of time remaking parts because something broke, the doll doesn't sit properly or some other basic flaw in the doll. But really, it is a toy and you can't expect all that much from a toy. So I do some special doll surgery and make a toy into a collectible. How fun! Today I wanted to share a slightly rebuilt doll that was redone just to make her more fun, not because she was broken or couldn't sit properly. This is Kellie.
Kellie is a new in-flight jumper doll. She used to be Kellie the lower level dressage/jumper doll but when she wasn't snapped up in a couple of days I really wanted to try making on of these in-flight dolls... so I partially took apart the completed doll and "fixed" her. I can't take credit for the how since my good friend, Joan Yount, actually came up with the way to do it. Kellie is a pretty neat doll and if she sells, OK and if not I think I will have to keep her. I got this Stone jumping horse so I could try making some in-flight jumpers and have something to model them on. Now I am thinking I will have to show this jumper at the next live show I go to and enter as many classes as I possibly can with her. It is an interesting challenge that has gotten my creativity working overtime. So far I have come up with 5 or 6 classes I can put this jumper in, lol. I am so amused by that. She might not do the best of everyone but it certainly will be interesting to see what I can realistically get her to do and do well. I will of course make sure to take photos at the show and post some. The show is not until mid-October though so I might have to talk about photo showing before then. I haven't done any photo showing for 2 or 3 years at least and this morning I sent off my entries for the MEPSA September OF qualifier. It will be the first time ever doing performance in a photo show and I am pretty excited about it ☺

Rebuilt dolls in action

2010-08-27T05:53:00.001-07:00

I have written several posts on rebuilding dolls with wire and gauze. Out-of-the-box Breyers are often hard to make sit or much of anything else. But with plenty of surgery they can become productive members of doll society.
The first doll I want to talk about today is the youth doll. Right from the box the youth doll can't hold her arms close to her body, sit down in a saddle or do much besides make you want to rip your hair out. This little gal has had her thighs and upper arms removed and rebuild with wire, gauze and medical tape. An explanation of that process can be found here. Once this little gal came out of surgery she was ready to be dressed and detailed. Now she is ready for the show ring. I did a couple of new things with this doll. The first is she has a repainted face (hard to see in these photos). The youth dolls come with some scary faces. I have never been particularly confident in my painting skills but I think she came out pretty well. She is even wearing real eye shadow and blush! I got a big kick out of that. Another new detail is her jeans. I never made youth doll jeans and wanted to try it. Then I thought about the gold stitching that is on 99% of jeans I have ever seen and added that detail. I think the finished result is a really cool little doll who is ready to work. She is currently for sale on MH$P.

The next doll we will be talking about today is this guy, Rob. Rob is a rebuilt Breyer cowboy. His arms were reasonable so I left them along but he has had his thighs replaced with wire, gauze and medical tape. He also has some extra wire bracing so he can not only bend, but really hold the poses.

It's important not to have your body parts flailing around when bulldogging...

...or calf tying.

You may have noticed there is something not quite right about the cow Rob is working with. Well, it was early when we did the photo shoot and the "real" cows were nowhere to be found (they are in a box in my closet, don't tell Rob). So he made do with this foil cow shaped object. What does this "cow" and these dolls have in common? They are all partially put together with wire. The cow however hasn't been dressed yet.

More dolls

2010-08-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

No hunt seat dolls and no western dolls for me this weekend. Saturday morning I finished up this stern judge doll. He takes his job very seriously, though he is fair as well ☺

The little judges kit included with his is simple but it works. I took cardstock and glued on a shrunken down real judges sheets and drew a line across the top with a silver paint pen. A toothpick cut down with the flat end colored pink and the pointed end painted black makes a very serviceable pencil. Jake is all ready to work and is for sale on MH$P.Then yesterday I decided to make someone a little more fancy. This is Deena. She is a lovely saddle seat rider and is ready to win. Often I will just do the gloves in either black or white (and the same for the hat) but this time I thought matching would be more fun. I think the paint I mixed came out pretty close in color. The vest and lining of the coat are sparkly pink. Sort of hard to see in the photos but pretty cool in person. Deena is also for sale on MH$P.Those are the doll updates for today. I need some ideas of what kind of doll to make next. I am open to suggestion.

retro western week continues

2010-08-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

My retro western doll making continues. This outfit has more of a 1970s look to it, but retro is in right now. The 80s are coming back full force (which scares me) but 70s can work I think. This is Peggy. Peggy is part of my not-so-secret plan. Plan? What plan? Last year, on our honeymoon (which was really short) Ethan and I went to Newport, RI. It was wonderful being in a place that is full of friendly people. And being surrounded by art and artists was OK as well. Since we had a super short honeymoon and didn't get to see everything there was to see in Newport (not by a long-shot) we talked about going back for our anniversary weekend. And then every year for at least a few years. By then we may have seen all there was to see and we could pick somewhere else to go. Well you know how a lot of times you make plans on a whim and they sound great but then nothing comes of them?

Most things end up like that for me. This time I decided it wasn't going to happen. I love Newport, want to go back and I am going to make it happen. We already have a friend offering to watch the kids if we ever want to go away for a few days. There are 6 weeks (almost down to 5 now) until my anniversary weekend. I have everything broken down to weekly goals. And Peggy is part of that plan.

I am going to work like crazy and make as many dolls as I possibly can. By sheer quantity I am hoping that someone will see something they like and want to buy it. I am offering time payments if they are needed and working away. I also have been managing to take some better photos of the finished dolls. That makes for a better doll book, better sales photos and more blog posts. And I know I like reading new posts. Now that I have babbled away I will go and work some more. I have some judges planned for today. And then maybe I will take a couple of days off, lol.

200th doll!

2010-08-19T07:06:00.001-07:00

I got the idea that since this was the 200th doll I should document part of the process. Unfortunately I got the idea when I was already partially done with the doll. There were some interesting parts before this stage such as the gluing of the pink leopard print pieces to the black fabric so nothing would shift around while I was sewing. I have never done that before but I don't do a lot of 2 toned tops. This is right after it is sewn into a top and I am checking the fit on the doll. There are much uglier stages of doll making and maybe one of these days I will document them. But today is not that day. The next stage I got a picture of was the mostly-finished-clothing stage. I had her top hemmed, the front closed, cuffs and collar put and and of course, crystals. Crystals are very important to a lot of western outfits. I think this one is coming along very well. I little bit of an extra push to get her done last night and she was ready for her photo shoot this morning...

...and even has a head now. And a name as well. This is Jenny. Partly because the last doll's name is Penny and it amuses me. Jenny is the second in my 1980s inspired western doll line. She may also be the last, it's hard to tell. But I had some extra pink leopard print fabric and I didn't want it to go to waste. Jenny has an interesting 2-tone design to her top. Some of that was because I didn't have enough fabric left to do the full top in pink leopard print. Some of it was because I goofed when I cut one of the front panels. And some of it was because I wanted it to look different. There are a lot of pieces to the design process.

The crystals that are lined up between the pink leopard and the black fabric has 2 purposes. The first is because it looks nice and I like it. The second is because there was an unfinished edge to the leopard print and silk will fray if left alone. Then the crystals outlining the collar and cuffs is just for decoration. Ultra suede is a wonderful fabric that won't fray. If only all fabric was so well behaved.

So Jenny is done, signed, dated, numbered and photographed. She is also for sale on MH$P . I was trying to think up a sale to celebrate my 200th doll but so far I haven't come up with anything I really like. I am willing to take suggestions in the comments section.

So now that this doll is done and I have made 200 dolls I will just keep going. I have another doll in the works for today and more plans for tomorrow. One of these days I will take a day off but right now I am in a dolling mood. So there could be more details of my crazy doll work in the days to come.

Pink and White Dolls

2010-08-12T08:15:00.001-07:00

This week seems to be pink and white doll week. If I had gotten more done maybe I wouldn't have a theme but since I have only gotten through these 2 dolls, I have a theme. Not that I mind, they were fun dolls to make. Especially after the large quantity of English dolls I have been making recently (and more to come in the next order). This first doll was actually mostly designed by my husband. Ethan is firmly rooted in the 1980s and will probably stay there as long as he can. He has joined us in this decade a little bit but not completely. About a month ago he did a tattoo that was a star (very popular tattoo design right now) filled in with pink leopard print.

He told me I should make a doll with the same print and white leather (not suede) chaps. So I did. I think he thought it was a challenge and I wouldn't be able to get tiny pink leopard print. So I made some. This is penny. Ethan named her (I made him do it) and she is at the moment listed for sale on MH$P. If she doesn't sell I will keep her and happily show her. She entertains me.

Ethan had input into the hairstyle as well and OKed the matching pink leopard print hatband. That amuses me as well, though that isn't saying much, I am easily amused.

The other doll I managed to get done this week is this lovely pink and white showmanship doll. Showmanship dolls don't make for very interesting photos without horses and leads to hold (which I didn't want to dig out) so there is only just this one photo of her. She is VERY sparkly in the right kind of light but has a fairly simple design which is desirable in the show ring right now. I have plans to make a very fancy western pleasure doll soon (probably not in pink and white) which isn't the "in" thing in the show ring at the moment but is always fun to make and look at. At least if you like things that sparkle.

I actually got these dolls done in a pretty short amount of time but have been so busy this week I couldn't get the time in to work. My sister is home from North Carolina for the week so I wanted to spend some time with her and of course the kids are still home from school. I should probably see if I can find out when school starts again. We should at least have a few more weeks to hang out and play all day.

Fun with dolls

2010-08-01T07:01:00.001-07:00

When I first took this photo for my website and other advertising needs I was pretty impressed with it. Having 11 dolls in the house, all at once, to take a group photo was pretty cool. Only 5 of them are dolls I use for my own show set-ups and the rest of them were either customer orders or random sales dolls. Being new to photographing so many dolls at once it took awhile to get a nice photo where the dolls didn't look like...dolls. It did finally work out though.

Recently I decided it was time to try to get some new photos. While I still like the old photo I don't want to use the same one over and over forever. So I called up my friend Joan Fauteux and asked if she could come over to play dolls and bring all of her " Field of Dolls" dolls. Joan has the largest number of my dolls in her personal collection. We thought she had 11 but when we counted again we found that she has 12 of them. That is amazing! So Joan brought her group, I took out my 7 (I have added a couple to my personal collection recently) and I had a few sales dolls here to play with as well. I think the new photo is very impressive! Not only is the larger group of dolls very impressive (to me anyway) but the "Travis" doll in front with his leader and side walker is really cute. Also having a bit more experience photographing dolls it didn't take nearly as long to set them up so they looked good. Joan and I are already working on planning another photo shoot with another friend that has several dolls that I made. It should be fun seeing what we come up with.

Recently there have been a couple of interesting dolls in the studio. There was this bendy cowboy and he was fun to make. Just like my group photo, this bendy guy wasn't the first bendy, bulldogger cowboy I have made. But he is new so needed some photos. Since I had the shoot set up I got a few quick ones to demonstrate some of his skills. He can ride...
He can also kneel for calf tying. He has another special skill which I will show you at the end of the post.

Another new doll is this showmanship gal. OK, what is so special about a showmanship doll? She is a new design and only her head is from a Breyer doll. I wanted to try something different recently so I offered a discount on a custom doll (or several...) if you had doll bodies to trade. I got some interesting new dolls in one of the deals. They are Obitsu dolls and I believe they are from Japan. The heads are totally unsuitable for the work I do (very large and out of scale) but the bodies are wonderful! They have good, tight joints and hold the position you put them in.
They have removable hands (which you can change to different hands if you really want to) so they are much easier to dress.
And they will hold any position you put them in. Including this very realistic run. I feel this really will be a great showmanship doll and she was fun to make. Fitting the Breyer head on the Obitsu neck stem was a bit of a challenge so she took longer than expected to make. But I get such a kick out of posing this doll that it was worth the extra work. I am working on a way to make all my future showmanship dolls able to "run" with a foot off the ground. I think it would be more realistic for set-ups with a moving horse. I will see what I can come up with and probably will post more here. For now this will be a truly one of a kind doll with amazing show ring potential.
And finally, I said I would share bendy cowboys other special skill at the end. When he was ordered I was asked to do a bulldogger but his "mom" didn't want him to be limited to that one event. He can of course ride a horse, kneel for the calf roping and of course, he can do bulldogging. Again, I didn't feel like digging out the cows to take an accurate photo. Showmanship gal is good at running but she wasn't quite fast enough ☺

My "Travis" doll

2010-07-28T09:02:00.001-07:00

I finally finished! I have been working on my "Travis" doll to use in my therapeutic riding set-ups and he is finally done. Now I need to wonder again, why do youth dolls have such big boobs? The one I used was a very small child and the boobs were adult sized! That is part of the reason finishing has taken so long, I just didn't feel like getting out the dremmel and sanding bits of dolls. This morning I had several dolls that needed to be altered so it was the time. So after I dremmeled the boobs off the little doll I wrapped the chest with flesh colored medical tape (there were some small holes where the boobs used to be) and then I finished dressing him. The clothes and head have been ready for awhile. I cheated and used cut down Breyer hunt seat boots. But they actually look pretty good I think. I got some quick in front of the microwave photos but sooner or later I will get some with the doll in the set-up. But I don't want to get out the proper gear, the other dolls for leader and sidewalker...later. The doll didn't need to be the most perfect rider as most judges don't expect the therapeutic riders to be all that good. But he rides pretty nicely just like the real Travis. He also has breeches, short boots and no garter straps, just like the real Travis, lol. So I am looking forward to my next show when I can send him out in the world and see how he does.

The doll has a few differences of course. I needed to make a long sleeved shirt to hide the arm surgery that was necessary. But I like how the doll came out. Though I just realized I need to make a show number. That shouldn't take long. And then he will be all set for the shows!

There was a question asked in the Model Horse Performance magazine about what to use a Yummi resin for for performance and someone suggested as a therepeutic riding horse. It went on to say that you could do several classes that way. I wonder if I should try putting therapeutic trail in a trail class. Pleasure in a pleasure class. I could do just plain therapeutic riding as a lesson (though the show number would have to come off). I don't know if that would work out well. I have a good collection of reference now, lol. Any comments or thoughts are welcome.

More riding photos and a new camera flash

2010-07-22T17:35:00.001-07:00

Today Travis went to riding. It was a very nice day. Not too hot, not too cold, he listened and used his words. A very nice day. It was also the second time Travis has ridden the new horse, Scooby. Scooby is very big compared to all the other horses in the barn. Not to mention he is only mostly bomb proof. But Travis is good on him and I make sure to tell him that he needs to ride quietly on Scooby. Even laying down Travis is Taller than all the other kids! This was also the most crowded lesson he has ever had with 4 riders in the ring.

I was happy to get some photos of Travis on Scooby but I also wanted to test out my new camera flash. I actually bought it because I am doing the wedding photos for a friends' sister. She is reportedly not a super picky person but I know that wedding photos are important. I wanted to make sure the indoor photos were visible and not all blurry. The outside photos came out really well and I think the flash "filler" made for some nicer shots. I did comparison shooting to check it out (*note* the original photos are much nicer... I wonder what happened when I loaded them).

This shot is multi-purpose. It may end up being a new reference shot for my therapeutic riding scene for live showing (it shows the proper head gear set-up for the horses) but I was also impressed with how well my zoom works. This shot was from at least 20 yards away!

This is Kitty. She is a nice horse though is sometimes full of nautiness and mare attitude. Right now she is on vacation because she recently had some surgery on her leg. She was my indoor test for the new flash. I think it looks pretty nice actually. I took some photos without the flash of her and they are dark, blurry and aweful. You can tell a flash was used for this but I don't think it's horrible. I am more confident now that I will be able to get decent photos at the wedding. *phew*

This was my favorite shot of the day I think. Travis looks so relaxed and happy and Anna looks like she is enjoying the moment as well. I may have to crop it down at some point to have them as the focus. Hmm, let's see...

...aww! Now if only I knew how to clean up the image a little bit more. This is like a great poster for therapeutic riding. The outside of a horse really is good for the inside of a man...even if he is a little boy.

I need to name some horses aka trading is fun!

2010-07-12T05:25:00.001-07:00

I have been happily adding to my painted resin collection over the past couple of months. A lot of it was done by trading unpainted resins (I had so many I could "spend" them like money) for paintwork and whole horses. I also got a super bargain on one which was exciting. But now my dilemma is names.
This great Hazel model sculpted by Morgen Kilbourn (and acquired through a trade with Morgen) was recently painted by Jill Ennis of Ennis Performance models. I traded a couple of unpainted pieces for the paint work and am very pleased with the trade. Very nice work for a very reasonable price. But Hazel needs a breed assigned and a name. I am not sure what breed would fit her best. I am sure some sort of warmblood but what? I will take any suggestions for breed or name. (photo by Jill Ennis) This next horse is a lovely Ravishing Ronald sculpted by Kitty Cantrell and painted by Nicole Sohn of Germany. I got him through a very fun trade with Melanie Knuettel (also of Germany). He was "paid" for with a couple of unpainted horses as well. Melanie already assigned a breed for him and was showing him as a Georgian Grande which is a saddlebred, friesian/draft cross. She also sent wonderful documentation of the breed along with him and I think it is very fitting. I asked Elecktra what I should name him and she said General something and I asked my son what the name was and he said Kitty (it looks like one of the horses at the therapeutic riding barn. Her name is Kitty Hawk) so he ended up being named General Kitty Hawk and then I was amused because THEN I remembered he was sculpted by Kitty Cantrell. So we all think it's a good name. *phew* one down... (photo by Melanie Knuettel)

This last horse is not in-hand yet but will be here in a few days. It is a lovely Matriarch sculpted by Carol Williams and painted by my good friend, Joan Yount. I have wanted a Matriarch for a long time. I love Carol's work and already have a Knightly Cadence, a Victrix out for painting and an unpainted Still Dreamin resin waiting for me to want to prep. Matriarch has been on every want list I ever wrote up. So when Joan said she was selling her and told me the price I jumped at the chance to buy her. She is lovely in photos and I can't wait to see her in person. I am pretty sure I will show her as a paint horse but I am not sure on a name. I started to think on the "Sheza" names and am sort of thinking of Sheza Weekend Princess but I don't know if I like it. Again, any suggestions will be welcome. (photo by Joan Yount)

So 3 new painted resins for my collection as well as new tack coming in. I got my wonderful English set from Jennifer buxton (lovely trade) a very respectable set of English tack from Anna Suna of Latvia (more trading...) and am in the process of working out a trade for yet more English tack from Lauren Islip. I can't remember where Lauren is from, lol. I think I should probably stop acquiring English tack for a little bit. This last set will bring me up to 4 complete sets. I also have 2 other English saddles of lesser quality (one that I made). I only have 2 nice western sets. Maybe I should see if I can get more western tack, lol. I have a lovely Pam Perkins set (that I got in trade from a friend) maybe I need to work on getting another Pam Perkins set.

So I am a happy trader recently and not very good at coming up with names. After all this fun I was also inspired to really buckle down and try to document my collection with values. Collector's insurance is probably in my future.

July dolls so far

2010-07-11T07:26:00.001-07:00

Quite a lot of July has been horribly hot so far. And we don't have AC. I have been spending time trying to find ways to stay cool. So not a whole lot has been getting done so far this month. But something had to get done eventually, I have bills to pay and trades to complete. So here are a few dolls that have come out of the studio this month.

First is this casual cowgirl. She's pretty but there is no bling so she wasn't overly taxing (and tiny crystals stick to everything in the humidity).

With her in the same order was this little youth doll. She is wearing half chaps (easier to see in person or different photos) not ugly boots. I was told that pony club rules state half chaps must be grain-out. You learn something new every day. I think these two dolls are off to compete in the Breyerfest open show.

Next was this casual English rider doll for Jennifer. We were working out our trade for awhile and I am happy to have her dolls finished. I always feel bad when I owe people work- especially when I already have their end of the trade (the lovely saddle this doll is riding on was my trade set)

The other part of this tack/doll trade was this judge. He also has a western hat and a little clipboard and pencil (not shown). I think judges are wonderful dolls and can really add a lot to your set-ups.

So I have not been taxing myself much with doll work but the kids are out of school which makes things a bit harder as well. I am thinking about making a cowboy today or at least getting him started. Then there are a bunch of English dolls in my future. Hopefully I can get them done soon. I also have a "Travis" doll in the works for myself. He's coming along nicely I think ☺

Boating

2010-06-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

As anyone that has been reading my blog for awhile knows, I love boating. Last September when Ethan and I were honeymooning in Newport we went sailing, which was a new boating experience for both of us and lots of fun. Since I don't have a sailboat or access to one I had to do something different. I also need to be able to bring both the kids with me so kayaking is pretty much out. So we bought an inflatable boat. The only inflatables I have had experience with are the cheapy ones you get for $20 and if you look at them funny they get a hole in them and are no good anymore. This one is very nice, sturdy and safe to put my kids in. Elecktra had to go to piano so Travis and I took the maiden voyage alone in the new Seahawk 2. We went over to RedBridge pond in Ludlow and went from the red bridge (how the pond got it's name) almost all the way to the stone bridge maybe a mile or more away.

I don't have any idea how far it is. I do know that I could not get the camera to work so the pictures I have are ones Ethan took from his kayak and a stock photo of the boat. Which is unfortunate because Travis was looking very cool for the trip. He had a good time just hanging out and then splashing almost the entire return trip. That was fine since it was hot and being splashed felt nice. I rowed for almost 2 hours straight and enjoyed every bit of it. I plan on giving my muscles a break for a few days and then getting out on the water again. This time I will put both kids in the boat and see how we do.

Model Horse Performance magazine

2010-06-22T07:20:00.000-07:00

I really like the new Model Horse Performance Magazine. Of course anything to do with model horse performance makes me happy. I think the magazine is a wonderful new resource for people that want to learn something new about performance showing (or things related to performance showing like tack making) or people like me who not only want to learn but like to obsess a little. There are not a ton of live shows throughout the year that I can get to with 2 kids so any excuse to think about performance showing is fun for me.
So I have been thinking about putting together and article on showing with dolls. Dolls can be a wonderful asset to your set-up or they can wreck it if not used properly. So my question is, does anyone have anything in particular they would like discussed? Do you have photos of both good and bad doll use? I've been rolling the idea around in my head and I know something will come out sooner or later but knowing what people would like to know would be helpful as well. ☺

youth doll feet

2010-06-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

Youth doll feet are one of the worst parts of any doll. They are tiny, barely foot shaped and useless for building leather boots on. So not only do I have to remake the upper arms of the doll and the thighs, I also have to remake the feet. I have done that in several ways but yesterday I thought I would try something a little different and see how it came out. And I took photos to document the process. It is not a perfect system but I like the direction it's going.

First we start with regular, awful, youth doll feet.The really do have a funny shape. It's also odd that the Breyer doll with the largest hands (larger than the cowboy even) has the tinniest feet. Oh well, I'll fix that......that's better. Now I just have a stubb which really isn't much better than tiny youth doll feet. But I can work with this. First I take my specialty tool (which is a large, sharp, yarn needle with a handle made from Gapoxio) and poke two holes in the part I cut. Then I will stick in a thick wire that is bent in a "U" shape.

It seems to be working out so far. Let's keep going. The next step is to wrap the wire with gauze and medical tape in the same way I would for remaking arms and legs.

Not bad. It's foot shaped! And unlike wrapping around the original youth doll foot this one is actually pretty flat on the bottom. I think I am liking the wire in the middle of the stubb. Let's make some boots and see how that comes out...

...not too bad. They are boot shaped and after a bit of washing to get the extra glue off they should be pretty nice. I think the only thing I would do differently next time is a tiny bit less gauze in the middle so the feet will be a bit smaller before the boots is built on. But these are pretty good feet I think.

And here is the finished little lady. Her feet are pretty nice and she rides very well. I think the slightly new style of foot making is here to stay.

Interesting dolls, no good photo options

2010-06-13T06:15:00.001-07:00

I have had some interesting dolls to work on recently. We have also had a lot of rain and I really don't have a place to get good indoor photos. But the dolls are still nice to look at. This first pair is a 19th century pair to drive a sleigh. I don't have a sleigh so they are driving a Mary Kay microdermabrasion set. Hey, whatever is close at hand will have to do at times.

Then I have this lovely fancy driving groom. I got super detailed reference material for him (front and back) so all I had to do was not screw up. His "mom" seems happy with him so I guess I did a good job. This is the first in the series of "in front of the microwave" photos. I am hoping for some really great actual shots of this guy.

Then I had an easier doll. This is a pretty showmanship doll where I pretty much got to do whatever I wanted with some very basic direction. I really like how this doll came out. I wish the sun would come out so I could get some nice outside photos. The bling really picked up the light.

There was another doll I did recently that was interesting but it is a secret project so I won't post any photos until after NAN. It's a little unfortunate because I did actually get some really good outdoor pictures of that one. But I have lots of things I have been working on so I will work on posting those. Though a couple of weeks ago I made three nearly identical hunt seat dolls. That would not make for a very interesting post ☺

NAN

2010-06-09T05:06:00.000-07:00

Several months back I got an email about donating to NAN. It was pretty exciting since I know the prestige that has always gone to being asked to donate to the NAN auction. Upon reading the email I discovered that things were not quite as they first seemed. The new format is making it possible for more people to showcase their work at NAN and to help support the show. It was a small disappointment but I have donated to lots and lots of shows. However I have donated more than I should so I probably won't be doing any more for awhile. This could be one of the last doll donations I make. Certainly for this year.

Though it was mildly disapointing to see that I was not asked to donate because of my awesome talent (btw, that is to be funny in case someone doesn't know me that well, lol) I was happy to help support the show (and Lauren Wood is a friend and the auction/raffle coordinater). Maybe one of these days I will actually get to attend a NAN. Yes, some day far into the future, lol!

Factory Ponies Live

2010-06-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

I Had a really good show day yesterday. I wasn't even originally planning on attending the show bu the hostess is a good friend and said I HAD to go, lol. So I did and it was a really great day.
My first class was cutting. This is Johnny Cash moving into the herd. The next class was "other stock work". This is Johnny Cash doing his team penning entry.

The third class was other western. Because I like cows and it's fun this is a scene where Johnny Cash is moving the cows down from the summer pasture. It was amazingly also the only time I used my fancy diorama all day.

The next photo was my other, other western entry. This is Skippa Latte doing her western riding entry. It isn't all that interesting and only earned a 1oth place.

Next was games. This is Johnny Cash again doing his two barrels and a pole game. The idea and photo reference came from Jennifer Buxton's blog awhile back. Even with the great reference it only got 6th place though I didn't check and see what else was on the table. I thought it was really cool.

And here is my other games entry. Skippa Latte did the tennis ball relay. That was good for 3rd place though personally I thought the barrels and pole game were cooler. I guess it seems like balancing tennis balls on a racket is harder than turning a pole. I haven't personally tried either so I am not a good judge of what is a harder game. Though the way this doll is holding the racket she will have to reach across to dump the ball in the bucket.

Next Skippa Latte is doing her arena trail entry. This earned her her first NAN card of the day...

...With Johnny Cash receiving first with his arena trail entry. I have done a bridge entry with him several times before but I found a new trail pattern that had a pole on the bridge for him to step over. I guess that made this entry a bit more interesting.

This was just another shot of the same bridge trail entry but I included it because it had both my entries in it.

Though I mostly only took photos of my own entries yesterday (which made for a super relaxing show day) there were some very interesting fun classes. This next shot was in the "pimp my FAS" class. I believe this was put together by Lindy Pinkham and it was the winner of the class.

There was also a FAS performance class. This is Joan Fauteux's entry. I don't know the horse's name or who made the tack but I made that doll. Joan owns 11 or 12 of my dolls (maybe more...) but this was the first one she got. I believe this entry got second place.

This entry was Laurie Lape's George Stubbs self portrait. I made this doll as well and he tortured me for a long while. He was one of those dolls that just won't leave. Every once in awhile I have a doll that is close to done but something keeps getting in the way of me finishing him and getting him out the door. This was one of those dolls. Even on a FAS he looks pretty good. This was the eventual winner of the class.

After the fun classes were through we got the results of the western performance division. Johnny Cash and Cowboy Bill managed champion!
Next was the English division. I completely forgot to take a photo of my first entry which was a Handy Hunter in the Hunter/Jumper division. This was the first time I got to use my new tack I received from Jennifer Buxton and I hadn't adjusted the bridle quite right. So in hunter/jumper Lady Intrigue received 6th place and then got a tack adjustment. The next class she did was games. Here we have that tennis ball relay again. This time it was good enough for first place. The doll is also new and one I actually made myself. I only used Lady Intrigue for the English classes so my usual hunt seat doll (made by Joan Yount) took the day off.
Next was English arena trail and I entered the exact same entry (with a different Strapless) that I used in the western division. I would really love to come up with some new trail entries that can be used for a trotting horse but I have a very hard time finding patterns.

Next was my other English entry. I as usual put in my therapeutic riding entry. This time with the new tack and new doll. It did very well and I was thrilled. I am working my way towards a merit award with this entry and I believe I am up to 8 NAN cards now! Only 4 to go...

There was a snafu with my dressage entry and she got 6th place. I forgot to take a picture. Then there was English pleasure Where Lady Intrigue received first place but I forgot that photo as well. Even without photos Lady Intrigue had a good day and received the English performance reserve champion.

...and then went on to win overall performance reserve champion. I was cleaning up getting ready for a quick exit (my mom was watching Travis for the day and I was later than I expected to be and didn't want her to be mad at me) and had already put the dolls away. Though now my new BCS tack is easier to see.
You may have noticed little silver coins in the photos on the first place winners. The theme of the show was pirates and a coin was given to anyone that won a first place. The special performance prize was a hunt seat doll that I donated at the request of my friend Marisa (the show holder). Well, I managed to win back my donation so it was a good (and funny) day for prizes! I probably won't have another show until the fall so maybe I can get around to working on some photo show performance photos.

Crazy Weather

2010-05-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a very fast, very destructive thunderstorm. It started at about midnight and the bad parts were done by 12:30. There are trees down all over town and all over Western Massachusetts. A tree took out the top of our swingset....

...and quite a bit of the nieghbor's driveway.

Both their vehicles are totaled (and are underneath the tree). The picture I got was from my driveway. It didn't seem polite to stand right in front of their house and photogragh their misfortune. Now to figure out what to do with all the trees.

Weekend show report

2010-05-22T17:40:00.001-07:00

Today was the PVTRA second annual benefit horse show. Travis was riding in it again which he loves. Last year I got video but this year I just did pictures. Part of that was I needed reference photos for my therapeutic riding set-up at live shows. I got some good ones I think. But photos are fun so here are a bunch to look at ☺

This first one is Pat, the director of the therapeutic riding program and Travis's senior instructor. He likes her a lot. This is Anna, Travis's intern instructor. She is licenced with the state but wants to be licenced by NARHA. Elecktra is excited that she gets to help out and finally can touch the horses without getting in trouble.

This one is because action shots are fun!

Number 196 is all ready to go (and looking very cool).

The paparazzi were there as well.

I really wish I had taken a photo of the trail coarse diagram. I didn't think of it until we were on the way home though. Maybe Leora will still have it at the barn (it was big and color coded!). Anyway, this was the first circle.

Here is a very nice whoa.

Steering through the cones.

Perfect jump position (is it better with your eyes closed?).

Another action shot. The beanbag went right into the hoop. The judges (were right above him for this one) and they sounded impressed with this as well.

The outcome... second place! Great job Travis!

And the group photo. This was the only one I had where Travis didn't look really bored. The little girl was not really upset, she just looks it in this photo. The other ones I have she looked happy (and as I mentioned, Travis looked really bored).
So it was a good day and I got these and may more photos. I am thinking of having the doll in my set-up do jumping position. Not sure I can pull it off but it would be interesting.

Great mail day!

2010-05-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

It's not every day that you get cool new stuff in the mail! I got my new tack from Jennifer Buxton! Isn't it pretty? My photos don't do the set any justice at all. It is very "wow!" in person. And coming soon...the dolls I am making as my part of the trade. Now I will go back to admiring me new tack☺

Show report

2010-04-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Quabbin Valley Performance Open (QVPO) held in Ludlow, MA. There was a crazy start to the day. I got to the hall and realized that I forgot one of my horses at home. Usually this would be cause for something other than laughter (at least a mild grr or 2) but I live in Ludlow so I knew I could just go home and get the horse. I waited until lunch to make sure I would not miss the first classes.
I missed a bunch of photos that would have been nice to have but I was showing in English and western in both OF and CM. There were 4 rings per division so at time things got a little hectic. It was great for setting classes up ahead of time but sometimes I would have to stop and check to see where I had bits and pieces of footing or props for the next class (and sometimes up to 3 classes ahead, lol). But it was a great show and I had a great time. This first photo is of my customized Chip resin, Spin A Chip. He showed in 4 classes in the stock horse division. This was his team penning entry.

He did alright but his entries still need some tweaking to make them more believable.
The next photo was my customized Smokin' Hot Chic resin doing showmanship. I was very pleased with how this entry turned out because it looks nice and I made her halter while sitting in my car Friday night during my daughter's piano lesson. I probably got some funny looks but I got it done and it looked nice and fit well.

Through some interesting entries (Pokerface also did a bareback pony ride for the scene class and a horse auction for the generic performance class) she got a Championship in the Other Performance division.

This next group of photos are of my OF Seabiscuit, Johnny Cash (named that because my husband loves Johnny Cash). This is his version of the team penning entry. I took a tip from the custom judge and moved the gate facing out and he got a first. Cowboy Bill's head was sculpted by the talented Liesl Dalpe.

Johnny Cash and Bill did very well in the stock horse division earning the champion award.
This is my OF sidesaddle Strapless, Lady Intrigue, competing in the Other English class doing my therapeutic riding entry. I have been working on improving the entry every time I show it and am trying to think up some new ideas. My reference photo is my son, Travis at one of his therapeutic riding lessons. I missed a bunch of photos but Lady Intrigue and her rider (who's name I have forgotten) got the championship award in OF English Performance. Very exciting!

Back again to compete in natural Western trail is Johnny Cash and cowboy Bill. They did very well in this class.

But then they didn't place at all in western arena trail. Johnny Cash is still wearing his boots. I meant to take them off in the last division and...forgot. The other classes he was OK to be wearing them but not for arena trail. Just goes to show that details do matter.

Johnny Cash still managed to get enough points to win Champion in the OF western division. That one was a big surprise to me (I think cowboy Bill is surprised as well).

And last but not least is my new horse. She is a Summer Solstice resin named Joyful Morn. She has had a very successful show career so far and came to me with a STACK of awards. I was going through them one day and realized she only needed 2 more performance cards to earn a NAMHSA versatility award. So I really wanted to show her and see what I could do. She fits in Lady Intrigue's tack without any adjustments which makes my life easier. Though I do plan on getting her her own tack and rider as soon as possible.

This first entry was her dressage entry. She only got 4th but there were some amazing entries in the ring. We'll certainly be working on this some more.

She did do very well in arena trail (as shown below) and also pleasure which I didn't get a photo of.

And last but certainly not least, Joyful Morn did a lovely job in Other English doing my therapeutic riding set-up. This has been a very meaningful set-up from the very first and Joyful Morn did not disappoint. Her rider, Joan (who I just recalled I named for Joan Yount who made her for me) looks very pleased. It's not every day a therapeutic riding program has such a lovely horse.

All in all I had a very productive show day. I ended up with 5 champ awards and a total of 19 NAN cards! Joyful Morn earned the cards she needed so we may be getting her a versatility award soon. Another exciting part of the day was I showed a new resin in performance and didn't wreck it! I must be learning ☺

Hobby photography

2010-03-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

I will admit that I am at times quite envious of people that have excellent photography skills. I can take pretty good (and at times great) photos of people but miniatures of all kinds give me a lot of trouble. The really annoying part of the whole thing is I know what at least some of the problem is. I have really horrible lighting in my house. I can't take indoor photos after dark or even on cloudy days because it is just too dark inside and the lighting is pretty yellow. It doesn't make for a good photo. Outside photos are a tiny bit better. Overcast days I can sometimes get some pretty excellent shots and I can get some decent shots when it is sunny. I don't have a super place outdoors to take photos though. The outside table is meant to be an outside table. It slopes down slightly from the center to the edges. I am assuming that is to make sure rain water runs off so you don't have standing water on your table. The kids have a big swing set but the ladder steps are sloped and even the "tree-house" floor is slightly tilted. I end up taking most of the outdoor photos on a saw-horse. Not the best thing to get a nice picture.
Inside photos I have a bit more for flat surfaces but still not tons. We have a serious lack of space in here ☻. I even have one of those cool collapsible photo cubes that pros use to get nice product pictures. But I have lighting issues. I have one florescent light that I saves from a fish tank and a couple of incandescent lights I got with the photo cube. But those lights should probably go because they heat up quite a bit and very quickly. I should probably look into some more florescent lights, I can get pretty good photos at live shows.

I also need to get some more patience. The doll group photo I have is nice. I am pretty proud of it. It took me a couple of hours to get that shot just the way I wanted it. I set the dolls up one Saturday morning and took a series of shots. Then I uploaded them and studied the dolls. I moved heads and legs a bit here and there so they would look more like people and less like dolls. At one point the back row fell over and I had to set them back up. The end photo looks pretty good in my opinion. The dolls don't look like plastic people and it is not to light or too dark. However it took a couple of hours, lol. Another problem I have is my camera. I finally have a nice camera that I know is fully capable to taking really excellent photos. In the hands of someone who has a clue what they are doing, it takes really excellent photos. I learned how to use my Dad's manual film camera for my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary (no pictures from that day, sorry) and then used it to do the photos for my friend Annie's wedding. Those pictures came out really nicely. But my camera is a mystery to me. I probably should get out the book that came with it and see if I can figure it out a bit more. Then I need to work on getting good photos in less than a couple of hours.

So all in all, I know at least part of the problem I have with getting nice photos. There are probably some key points I am missing that would help me out immensely with getting nicer pictures. And nicer pictures not only are better for the brag book but better for selling your work as well.

Working away

2010-03-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

The backlog is done and most of the official customer orders as well. I am not totally stop taking custom orders but I think I will take a break from advertising for custom orders. I ran 2 sales recently, one in December and one in January and while they brought in business they also cost me a lot. That and the donation doll I already have done for the Mary Kay foundation (totally worth it, she brought in $230 for the foundation!) and the several donation dolls I have in the semi-near future...I need to stop giving everything away I think, lol.

So this is the newest doll to come out of my studio. She's fairly simple to reflect the current trend in the show ring. But still sparkly because I like that sort of thing :) I think I will also have a couple of saddle seat dolls for sale in the near future. They can be a lot of fun.

February countdown

2010-02-22T04:35:00.001-08:00

Only one week left in February. I have a good chunk of work to finish up so I don't fall behind again but things are coming along well. I'm also trying to keep up with the blog without having much to say. At least there will be photos. I got that group of western dolls done the other day and then the next day I finished 2 more dolls. That is the beauty and the curse of working in groups. It takes awhile to get anything done but then you get a lot done all at once. I finished this western pleasure doll as well. I had a lot of them to do in that group but the new chap design is making me happy. This lady was a trade for a painted resin I received back in the very beginning of January. It's about time she gets finished and on her way home.

Then I had this nice casual lady. I did something a little different with her sweater that I think makes it look more realistic and more in scale. Things being in scale is very important to me. But I like how this came out so I think if/when I do more sweaters this will be the way they get done.

Then yesterday I was wandering around MH$P and found an artist that was looking to trade paintwork for some unpainted mini resins I have hanging around. So I am trading a couple of those for a paint job for my Hazel resin. About time Hazel gets some clothes on, she's been hanging around naked for a long time now. I want her to be chestnut and something like this horse would be great I think. Hmm, she even looks a teeny bit like Hazel (I just noticed that).

And finally, February has been an exceptionally good month because of the doll that I made to raise money for the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation. I took offers on her until yesterday and she brought in $230 for the charity! I covered the paypal fees and shipping so the full amount would go to the charity and that is a respectable amount I think. And it is also exciting that the couple that had the high bid on the doll are very nice people. I wrote back and forth with the husband a few times and he and his wife wanted the doll so badly. His wife has had an ongoing battle with cancer and besides loving the doll (which is a nice boost for me) the money would go to a cause that is very close to home for them. A doll is just a doll but it is nice to have something you create go to people that will keep it and love it.

Off to the post office this morning to ship dolls and get Hazel to the painter. Then perhaps finish up a few dolls that are also very close to done and get to work on the next batch.

Western dolls

2010-02-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't finished anything in a bit and it has been making me crazy. Part of the reason for that is I have been working on a very large number of dolls all at the same time. Some of that was boredom (I hate the winter) and the need to change things up a bit (working doll-making like an assembly line is a bit different) and some of it was and still is the lack of materials. I am so low on black and brown skiver it is very challenging to make any boots. Rio Rondo was out last time I checked as well. *gasp* what do I do now?! So I found a leather dealer on eBay that had lots of super thin, undyed skiver. I asked that he sent me the thinnest possible. I got it in and it is wonderful stuff, very thin and I won't run out for a long time. The problem is the prismacolor markers I use for coloring small bits of leather, (they don't leave an iridescent sheen) like English boot bottoms, isn't good for coloring the larger portions that are needed to make the rest of the boot. *sigh* so I ordered some black and brown dye and am waiting for that to come in. While I wait I have been working on bits and pieces of lots of dolls. But yesterday I decided I needed a positive boost and had to finish something. So I finished 3 somethings.
I ended up taking a shortcut on the cowboy and just cutting down some plastic boots for him (I may keep him for myself so that's OK...) and the ladies both have Ultrasuede boots. Not my favorite for boot making but they match the chaps perfectly.

The cowboy has been slow to get finished because I have been considering keeping him. I put him near my saddle pad and realized his shirt was a great match. Now I have to think if I am going to keep him or not. Hmmm.... Today I am hoping to finish up another batch of dolls. I have one more western pleasure doll that is pretty close to done so she might get finished. And then I have 4 English dolls of different varieties to finish up. I don't think I have enough skiver to do them all but I am going to try. Besides that I need to hair a bunch of heads. Maybe I can get all of that done today. That would be fun.

My newest doll donation

2010-02-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

She's finally done! The special donation doll I have been working on. This is Mary Kay. She is a 100% donation to the Mary Kay foundation. The foundation funds research into cancers that affect woman as well as domestic violence programs. As I mentioned in a previous blog my Mary Kay unit is putting on a fund raiser in Springfield, MA called "Pink at the Rink". Last year we raised over $14,000 and this year we want to double it (or more, more is good). The event itself is a hockey game that will take place on March 6th. There will be a special ceremony on the ice before the game honoring cancer survivors. I was not part of Mary Kay last year and didn't attend the event though people who did say the ceremony was very moving.
Many ideas were suggested on how we could raise money (besides selling tickets to the game). They sounded nice but since I am a doll maker I decided I would make a special doll. Everybody needs dolls after all.

Mary Kay Cosmetics is a glamorous company. The independent beauty consultents teach skin care and make-up artistry and make woman feel good. I figured that Mary Kay the doll should be glamorous as well. She has tons of swarovski crystals on her outfit as well as newly designed chaps that I feel are more realistic than the old design. I believe I have created a glamorous doll. She is much lovelier in person. When I asked Ethan what he thought of her he said she was "very sparkly". Photos just don't show how true that is.I'm taking offers on the doll on MH$P until February 21. If you are interested in making an offer please see her ad http://www.modelhorsesalespages.com/sales/view_details.asp?id=764941. Also if you are interested in making a donation to the Mary Kay foundation or would like more information you can visit the website at http://www.mkacf.org/Pages/Home.aspx

Waiting for Spring

2010-02-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

I don't like winter. When I was a kid snow was fun because you could go sledding, build a fort, etc. Now snow is just cold, makes getting around hard and we haven't had good fort/snowman snow very often in recent years. You can't build anything with the light powdery stuff no matter how much of it there is.

Last Monday it was just about 60 degrees. Then 2 days later is was 9 degrees. I hate New England. So it's not time to put away the winter things yet. Even my dog has a coat (and she likes it, lol!). It's hard to be warm and look cute but she pulls it off.

Winter doesn't inspire me to do lots of new projects but I am plugging along. I have a very special doll in the works and I will post photos and her story when she is all done. I am also working on customer orders. I am a bit behind but not horribly so. Hopefully tomorrow the groundhog will decide we finally get an early Spring. I can't wait for it to be warm enough to open a window and not freeze.

January countdown

2010-01-20T18:16:00.001-08:00

January is more than halfway done and I am happy to say I don't think I am behind on orders. That's pretty good seeing as I spent the last couple of months of 2009 freaking out about how late things were. The truth is I don't like to be late at all. If I say I will get your doll done in mid-November and it isn't done until late November I feel bad. For 2010 I started something new. I have just been saying the month the doll will be done and that seems to have helped me relax and get more done. So now if life gets in the way a little more than normal or I get bit by the lazy bug (more and more when the weather is dark and gloomy) then I don't have to feel horrible while I am working.

I ran a holiday sale in December which was well received. That gave me plenty to do this month without overburdening me with custom orders. I do want to sneak in some dolls here and there of my own choosing. But that will probably have to be if I have time at the end of the month. I did enjoy the sale, which was $50 off a new order plus a lower required deposit, and everyone that wrote to me with an order seemed happy with the sale as well.

At the moment I am also running another sale. I was putting photos in my doll book and realized I had reached my 150th doll! So of coarse it was time for another sale. So that will give me plenty to do in February. I also found that the orders seem to come in groups. Last week I did a bunch of English dolls (casual and hunt seat both) and this week seems to be ruled by western pleasure dolls. Next week is also going to be western pleasure dolls but I believe I have two dolls in turquoise/black/silver and 2 dolls in light and dark green. I am thinking of some designs that are very different from each other so that will make working with the same colors more fun.

Some of you know that besides making dolls I am also a Mary Kay consultant. My national area is putting on a fundraiser with a local hockey team to raise money for the Mary Kay Ash foundation which supports research into cancers that affect women as well as domestic violence programs. The event is called "Pink at the Rink" so I thought it would be fun to make a doll in pink. So far I am thinking a western pleasure doll but I am not positive what I want to do just yet. I have some design ideas running through my head and I think this will be fun. Once the doll is complete I will put her on MH$P and take offers for a week. All of the money from her sale will go to the Mary Kay Ash foundation.

I'm not sure what else the year will have in store for me. I don't think I will hold another sale next month so this could be the last chance for awhile. But I do enjoy making people happy and I know times are tough. Everybody needs dolls so if I can make it a little easier for people to get them then I am glad to help.

I am also still not sure about holding my live show this year. I still don't have a car so even going to book the hall is not something I can easily do. Though I could probably call them, book over the phone and mail them a check. Hmm, something to consider I guess. Then there is the judge issue. I need 10 judges total. I only need 9 other people if I do a section myself but that is still quite a few judges needed. Then there is all of the fund raising. So many hobby artists are stretched so thin that they can't afford to do donations. And without donations the show may not squeak by. I will keep thinking on it and see. I overfilled my plate last year with the wedding, my show and all the shows I judged at and attended. This year I may need to take things easier.

So that is the latest from the Field Of Dolls Studio. I hate the winter and the weather makes me miserable. I am thinking of moving to Hawaii. Even the unseasonably warm weather we have been having hasn't helped much. I live on a dirt road so the temps in the high 30's and low 40's make for a lot of mud. But winter doesn't last forever and it will get warm again. I can't wait until I can open the windows. Is it Spring yet?

Fitted English boots

2010-01-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

Ah, the long awaited boot blog. I meant to do this post awhile ago but kept forgetting to take the photos while I was making the boots. So today is the day. Let's just jump right in.
This first photo is of the basic supplies I use to make the boots. I have my cutting board, scissors, super thin leather, tooking leather, a pen (this one happens to be from the International tattoo supply company, lol) pattern pieces and a prismacolor marker in black.

The first step is to trace the patterns onto the backside of the leather.

Next you cut out the pieces.
The boot shaft should go all the way around the leg...

...and meet so there are no gaps. It is best to dry fit the piece with no glue to make sure it will fit properly.

The next step would be to cover the toes with the toe piece. Of coarse I forgot to take photos of that step so you will just have to imagine it. That step was a bit more challenging for this doll because the customer wanted slightly extended toes. So I added a bit to the toes with some medical tape, trimmed and voila! Longer toes. There are a million ways I could have done the toes but this was the one I picked today.

After the toe leather is on, glued, trimmed and properly in place put some glue on the heel piece. Roughly center the heel with a bit of leather hanging down.

Next all you have to do is smooth the leather up both sides of the foot, wait a few seconds so nothing slides and fold up the leftover bit you have. Trim the sides so nothing is sticking out in funny places and you are ready for the soles.

Again, as with any project or piece of a project there are probably a million ways to do the soles of the boots. This just happens to be the way I do it. Cut the basic shape from tooling leather and then check it on the bottom of the boot. You don't want it too long, too wide or too small. This one I started with an extra large piece because I needed to allow enough matieral for the longer toes. I have already done the side trimming and now just need to trim the toes.

I use prismacolor markers to make the boot soles black. I could use leather dye, paint or even just start with somewhat thick black leather, but this is the way I do it. The only part that is esential is the marker needs to be prismacolor. If you grab a sharpie you will end up with an irridescent sheen on the soles. Prismacolor has a much more pure color to it and it will actually come out black with no rainbow effect. Like most things you get what you pay for and the markers are about $4 each.

Once you are done coloring the sole glue it on. Check to make sure all the pieces that should be under the foot have not popped out to make a mess of your finished piece.

The last step is the heel. It's just another piece of tooling leather in a heel shape. I try to make sure they match up the the back of the heel and the sides so it doesn't look silly. Then I color it and glue it on. Make sure the heel doesn't shift before the glue dries.

And that's it. That's all there is to making fitted boots. The doll should stand as well as be able to go heels down for riding. This particular doll will now be a fairly versatile casual English doll.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you have any other blog ideas or are interested in any other parts of doll making please feel free to let me know. Thanks for reading!

Branching out; Native American costume

2010-01-02T12:25:00.001-08:00

Many years ago I made a few Native American horse costumes. They were not accurate for any tribe or time period but they were fun. But for awhile now I have wanted a nice, accurate Native American costume for live showing. But I don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for one. So the research has begun. And the collecting. I bought a book of Native American bead weaving patterns, a bead loom, tiny beads in a bunch of colors, super thin beading needles (because I break them all the time and will probably need back-ups) and most recently I bought a book on Native American horse trappings. The problem with this last book is it is a book of paper dolls where the doll just happens to be a horse. So there are no good reference pictures in there though there is some history at least and it should be at least a bit useful. So I am still on the hunt for reference pictures. Every search I have tried has given me pictures of model horse costumes. Not necessarily accurate.
I really should be using bead trays but I would have to remember where I put them and I really wanted to get into the weaving. So my work area is covered with tiny beads.

The pattern book is very good and very easy to follow. To make things even easier on myself I mark the rows in pencil when I finish them. That way I don't have to think about where I am in the pattern and the work goes a bit faster.
Here I have finished the first part of the pattern. I think it is about an inch and a half long. I probably need 8-10 inches. This little piece took me about 2 hours. But that time also included stringing the loom which is a pain and takes a long time. I need to get back to my weaving soon.

Hopefully I will get more work done soon and I can post some updates. Or perhaps I will get super motivated and finish a whole section of a costume. I still need to get out to Tandy one of these days and get some deerskin. Then of coarse when the costume is done I will need to make a doll to go with it. After all, everybody needs dolls.

The Evolution of Field of Dolls Studio

2009-12-31T06:23:00.001-08:00

Sometimes it's fun to look back at the beginning and see how far you have come. This particular blog post is very well timed (by chance not by design). The very first blog I posted was last December and it was about my dolls and how far they have come. I have a bunch of photos today so this should be fun.
First I should probably start with the beginning of my "studio" because the title of this post would imply that that is a good idea. I started out under the farm name of Green Acres Farm. Some people think it was a reference to old TV shows but really it was a joke about some of our neighbors. The land we live on is NOT farmland by any stretch of the imagination. It may have been at one time but bad septic tanks and sewer issues have wrecked that possibility. Yet one of our neighbors tried to start a farm in the mess of weeds in the field behind us. I wish I had pictures of how it used to be. It was a fun place to explore for anyone that likes plants and trying to identify plants (like me). But then they bulldozed all of it to farm. So there were jokes about "Green Acres Farm" and when I started holding photo shows I needed a name and Green Acres became the one. *sigh* sometimes I have no imagination.
My email address really gave me the next studio name. My name is Anne and I do crafts of all kinds (which is how I got my super clever email address, lol) so since I didn't like Green Acres I was then Anne's Crafts. I had lots of business cards with that name as well and the old freewebs address.
Then as my dolls started to evolve and improve I really wanted something more professional but fun at the same time. I don't imagine I will ever become one of those serious people. But as I proved to myself with the Green Acres thing I can have very little imagination. And names stick. So I ran a contest and figured I would get input on studio names. This was last year right after region X regionals where I told everyone I saw that "everybody needs dolls" (which is true of coarse) so I got that as a suggestion, Got Dolls? And a whole list of other names as well. Nancy Timm asked what my married name was going to be and when I told her Field she came up with Field of Dolls. And it stuck in my head and no other names sounded as nice so that is how I became Field of Dolls Studio.
Then the fun started. I got a real website, new business cards with my new studio name, my new name, my new web address and so on. And the blogging has been a bit more interesting and slightly more consistent. We'll see what happens next I guess.
Now for a brief photo tour of some of the dolls from the beginning until now.

This was one of the original dolls I made. She sold on MH$P for $40. I think besides her colors she is not that impressive.
This was one of the first dolls I made as well. I believe she sold on eBay and prompted a similar custom order.

This was the first "convertible" doll I made. She had several articles of removable clothes and could do several different types of classes. She was not super but she was the first, I was very new (she cost very little) and you have to start somewhere.
This was the first nice photo I had of any of my dolls. Well this series of photos, this is only one of them. I didn't take them though, Liesl Dalpe took them for me with her camera. My photos have (occasionally) gotten better but I am still not a super photographer.

The 2 tone doll was fun and I think she is very eye catching. I may do some more of these in the future but I don't know if they would be popular. I like it anyway.

This was the first doll bought by my good friend, Joan Fauteux. Funny enough this doll is also how we became friends. She lives pretty close to me and when she asked if we could get together so she could see if the doll fit her saddle I said sure. So we played dolls, had a great time and formed a friendship. Joan now has 10 or 11 of my dolls and may get a blog of her own one of these days. That could be fun.
This was the first studio photo shoot I got to do. When I have time I go and work with my friend Liesl in her studio. I got to borrow her camera and use her photo backdrop. I think they came out pretty well.
This doll I made because of the blue convertible doll. I wanted to see if I could do the same doll again (well, similar anyway) but do it well. This was also the first doll that I used my sewing machine for. I think it is a marked improvement.

This is the doll I made for Ethan. He has given me 5 tattoos (his art) and I hadn't given him any dolls. So when he said he wanted a skeleton pirate I said I would do it. This guy has since gotten a new sword that is more in scale but this picture was taken quickly as Ethan was pulling into the driveway.

This guy was very fun to make and I was really pleased with how he turned out. He was a custom order for Linda Dean. She made the hat and the tack and I think the overall picture was wonderful. It was taken at Jill (Floyd) O'connor's show, Vermont Live this past April.

Well now I feel like I am rambling again so if anyone has any ideas for future blogs let me know. I still have to do one about fitted English boots but I need to have photos for that. It's coming I promise :)

Happy New Year!

How to host a show timeline

2009-12-30T07:34:00.000-08:00

I wrote this timeline when I was planning my wedding. I had looked at a lot of wedding planning guides and it makes sense to break down a big project in the same way. I haven't read it today so I may already say the same thing but I wanted to share. I have been meaning to post to the blog more often and I figured this was a fun document (though very lengthy, you are warned, lol!) and may help someone who is thinking of hosting a show. Some people just don't know where to start and some just need extra tips. While writing this I did get tips from several show hosts that helped improve it. In case anyone cares the photo is my awesome nephew Jack and I. I know he looks like a doll in that photo but he is one of the coolest babies I have ever met. And that included my own when they were that small. Onto the learning!

Undertaking the task of hosting a live show is a big job. But it can also be a very rewarding experience. You get to meet people in the hobby you may not have met before or may never have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. You can lay out the show in a way you have always wanted. And of course you add another showing opportunity to your region. Hosting may seem like a monumental task and it certainly is not a small job. But with some organization and sticking to a time line hosting can be easier than you think. This time line is laid out in a way that makes the “why” of the timing easy to understand. It is not absolutely essential to follow the time-line exactly, it is possible to go outside of it. But it is a guide to help make planning easier and help you to stay organized.
There are some very important things to remember when hosting a show. If you are going to apply for NAMHSA qualification you need to follow some rules. As the show holder you are NOT allowed to show in the show. Neither are your family members. It is also not proper to put together the show and then put someone else’s name as the “show secretary” on official NAMHSA paperwork. The reason for the rules are so the judging is more fair for everyone. After all, some judges might favor the horses of the person that hired them. But hosting has so many rewards that missing one day of showing is still a worthwhile experience. You have the opportunity to make an entire roomful of people happy, put together a show the way you always wanted to see it. And when you are hosting it gives you a bit more time to look at everyone else’s lovely horse collection. There are not many people in the hobby that don’t appreciate some good eye candy.
This guide is just that, a guide. It is not the only way to host a show, not by a long shot. But this is what I have worked out to be the easiest way for me. I have gotten and compiled this information from a variety of sources; other show holders, documents I have found with hosting ideas and of course, from experience. Most of the information you can alter a bit to make it work for you. You can change how you do show packets, the order you do things in or any number of other things. This is just to help you get started if you don’t know where to start. And a tool to keep you organized if you do know what to do.

Live show hosting time-line

9 months-1 year ahead of time
__Make class list
__Work on show budget
__Find show hall
__Book show hall
__Pick a charity

4-6 months ahead of time
__Line up judges
__Advertise the show
__Seek donations

2 months ahead of time
__Start work on floor plan
__Order awards
__Apply for NAMHSA approval

1 month ahead of time
__Plan opening remarks
__Check awards when they come in
__Turn in floor plan if applicable
__Work on show booklet

1 week ahead
__Sort ribbons
__Put together show booklet
__Copy judges sheets
__Copy class lists
__Put together show packets
__Organize show packets
__Plan out seating chart

1-3 days ahead of time
__Buy sodas/bottled water
__Buy snacks
__Double check hosting supplies
__Pack hosting supplies
__Get a good nights sleep

Show day
__Get up and eat breakfast
__Stop for coffee/tea/hot chocolate
__Get to hall and make sure tables are in proper place
__Set up hall
__Put out name tags
__Set up show ring markers
__Make sure P.A is all set
__Set out snacks
__Great showers as they enter
__Direct showers to tables
__Morning announcements
__Order lunch
__Use timer to keep classes moving
__Clean up and go to dinner
__Start planning next years show

9 months- 1 year ahead of time:

Make a class list:

The first thing you should do when planning a show is work on a class list. It does not have to be totally complete, but a good basic idea of what you want for classes is a good start. You can always ask advice from friends, other hosts, or the region in general to see if you missed something. It is nice to take into consideration all the ideas fellow showers come up with, but it is not possible to put everything into every show. And if you try to make everyone happy all the time, it just won’t work. Don’t dismiss suggestions instantly, they may turn out to be a great idea that didn’t occur to you.
A big reason for working on the class list before anything else is it will give you more of an idea of the space you need, the number of judges and if you know the showers in your area of the region it may give you an idea of the number of potential entrants.
There are several different types of shows you can host. You can host an all halter show, an all performance show, a combination of both or even a specialty show. Any type of show can be fun if you have enough variety that showers feel they got a good value for their time and money. It may be “your show” but there would be no show if you didn’t have entrants.

Work on a show budget:
Once you know what type of show you want to have you will have a good idea of how many judges you need. That is very important when making a show budget. It is a nice idea to pay the judges for their time and effort. In this region $50 a day is average. Sometimes the show can’t afford to pay the judges but if they know this up front that is not usually a problem. Most judges don’t expect payment but do appreciate at least some money towards their travel expenses. But the judges are the backbone of the show so if you can, pay them. Also you should plan on buying them lunch, possibly dinner and maybe a thank-you gift. If you get judges from out of town you should also figure in flights if necessary and a place for them to stay. Allowing them to show for free in a division they are not judging is usual. Having drinks available for them is a nice gesture as well. All that needs to be figured into your budget. Here is a sample list of expenses for a large all halter show.

Show hall-------------------------------$500
Judges ($50 ea X 10)---------------$500
Awards----------------------------------$600
NAN cards-------------------------------$40
Lunch for judges ($10ea)-----------$100
Photo copies---------------------------$100
Miscellaneous------------------------$200
Total--------------------------------------------$2040

Now that is a lot of money! You might wonder how you will ever get enough for that. Hosting a show is expensive but if you plan it well the show should take care of it’s own costs. The average show charges between $35 and $40 for entry. At $35 a person you would need 59 entries to cover your cost. That is very unlikely to happen. At $40 a person you would need 51 entrants. That is a bit more realistic but also quite a large number. So what do you do? Either you cut down on show costs somehow or you do fundraising (more on fundraising later). You may have to go with less expensive awards or think of other ways to cut costs. You can ask for sponsors (sometimes local retailers might sponsor a show or individuals might sponsor a division) you can plan to have a raffle a silent auction or both. Also keep in mind that the show costs are just estimated. It might not cost you $100 for photo copies, but it is better to have it in your budget than to not have it and have to find it. Also the first year of a show usually costs the most because you have to get the supplies for hosting (more on hosting supplies later).
If you have cut costs every way you can think of and are comfortable with the new total budget you should have a better idea of what you have to spend on a hall, awards and other parts of the show. Now it’s time to find a hall

Search for show halls/ set show date:

You should decide on the time of year you want to host your show. Winter is not usually a good option because travel conditions might cause last minute show problems, especially for out-of-town showers. July is not typically a show month as NAN and Breyerfest are both in that month and showers from all over the country plan to attend them. Your entries are likely to be fewer at a show in July. Spring, late Summer and Fall are better options for show dates. Be considerate when planning your show. Try to pay attention to the annual shows in the region. Don’t plan your show for the same weekend. You may cut down on your own shows entrants that way and it is not polite to take the date of an established show. If you are not sure of a date post to your regional board and ask showers about several potential dates. A quick posting to gauge interest in your possible show can get you some ideas for your show, dates of other shows in the region and very possibly a good vote of confidence. Live showers love showing. That is the way it is. New shows are usually greeted with enthusiasm and very welcome.
Once you have a couple of dates that you think would work for your show start looking for show halls. Keep in mind the size of the show you are hosting. You will need much more room for an all-inclusive show that has multiple divisions than you would for a specialty show. Ask lots of questions when deciding on a hall. Does the hall have enough tables (6 foot tables are best and remember, you need tables for show rings, donations, hosting supplies as well as for the entrants) and chairs? Is there an extra cost for them? Is there a P.A. system? Is food allowed in the hall? Is it handicap accessible? Do you have to set up the tables and chairs yourself? Is there good lighting? Are you allowed to hold a raffle? Is the hall climate controlled? There is no hard and fast rule about what type of show hall you need to get. But take into consideration the size of your show so there will be adequate space for showers to set up and move between tables without having to climb over each other, make sure the show rings are far enough apart that they won’t get bumped easily from people walking by. And lighting is essential to a good show. You can’t judge easily in the dark.
Once you have found a hall that you think is suitable, work on pricing. Remember that the fee for the hall is likely to be one of the largest parts of your budget. You can get some very good halls for reasonable money if you look around. Try churches and schools, Elks and Moose lodges, VFW halls, Knights of Columbus and any other
meeting or banquet halls you can find. Be careful of hidden costs though. I have found from experience that schools and churches may have hidden costs or different costs for different groups. Tell your contact person at the hall what you want it for (expect a few funny looks as you explain what a model horse show is) and ask what the total cost would be for certain amounts of time. Some halls will give you one flat rate for the entire day. Some charge by the hour. Some charge a flat rate for a block of hours and then more for additional hours. It is a good idea to plan to have the hall for about 12 hours including your set-up and clean-up time. That way you don’t have to rush the show too much and make yourself crazy. Hosting can be stressful enough, you don’t have to make it harder on yourself. Keep in mind your total show budget. You don’t want to spend twice as much as you planned on a hall. But also be reasonable, you can’t always get a great hall for free (that would be nice though).
Now that you have found the hall you liked and talked about pricing talk about dates. Have a couple of dates in mind in case your first choice is already booked. Once you have settled on a date you usually have to pay a deposit to hold the hall for your day (and unless you already have a show fund you may have to pay out of pocket and then pay yourself back later). Make sure you get a contract! It is very important to have your date and time locked in place so you don’t end up on show day with nowhere to hold your show. Make sure you understand the contract so there won’t be surprises later.

Pick a charity:

It is not essential to support a charity with your show but it certainly is nice. There are many worthwhile charities, both horse and non-horse related, that are in need of funds to keep their programs going. If you are thinking of supporting a charity do some research on the ones that you like to make sure any donations will be going to the actual charity and not to someone’s personal bank account. If you don’t like the way the charity is run or the way the donations are spent, pick another one. There are so many to choose from that you will have seemingly endless choices. If they have a web site you may want to bookmark it so you can send your showers a link if they are interested in the charity. It is also nice to add a bit about the charity in your show booklet if you plan on having one.

4 months-6 months ahead of time:

Start looking for judges:

As stated previously, judges are the backbone of a show. You just can’t have a show without them. To have a good show you need to have knowledgeable judges that can do their job in a timely fashion to keep the show running on time. You also want a judge that is focused on judging. Allowing them to show in a division they are not judging is nice but if they spend all their time fussing over their entries they are going to hold up a show. You can look up judges lists for potential judges, ask other show holders for ideas, post to your regional group and ask hobby friends for suggestions of who might be able and willing to judge. If you can, find out if the potential judge is qualified for the judging position they want. Having a performance judge that doesn’t know the difference between an English and Western saddle is a bad choice. Hiring a new judge is not always a bad thing. Everyone has to start somewhere, but make sure they have some background that can help them do their job. If you can it is also good to have a back-up judge that is knowledgeable in everything. Not everyone can do it all, but if you have a qualified all-around back-up judge you will have an easier time of things if one of your judges can’t make it on show day. Sometimes the unexpected happens and it is easier to be prepared. Good planning will make the show go smoothly and make it less stressful for you on show day.

Start advertising:

You need to advertise your show if you want to have entrants. There are several ways to do this and the more advertising you do, the more potential entrants you can reach. You can post on chat boards like blab, haynet or fallen leaves. You usually can get an ad in hobby publications if you get it in early enough. Put a post on your regional group, have information to pass out at other live shows you may attend. There are a number of ways to advertise your show. Also when you apply for NAN qualification the show will be listed on the NAMHSA website on the show list. Ask other hosts how they advertise as well. Sometimes you may only reach a couple of new people with a new posting, but those couple people may tell more people as well.

Start seeking donations:

Now is also a good time to start looking for donations for your show. You can email painters, tack makers, prop makers, accessory makers, model horse dealers, stuffed toy companies, etc. Pretty much anything goes if it is horse related. You can also post ads on MH$P and your regional group asking for donations for your show. Cleaning out some of your hobby items is also a way to get show donations. Some entrants will also bring things to the show to be raffled. The more items you have for your raffle, the more money you can potentially raise. Be polite when asking for donations and personalize your letter. Remember, the donors are giving you their money, time or both when they donate, be respectful of that. A sample letter seeking donations is below.

Dear Tanya Tack-Maker,
My name is Harriet show hostess. I will be hosting the model crazy bash on such-and-such a date 200_ in Plasticponyville, Fakestate. The show web site is www.modelcrazybash.fakesite.com. This will be the third year I have hosted this show. Last year we had 45 entrants (if this is the first year of the show you can leave this out or say how many entrants the show hall can fit).
I saw your lovely tack on such-and-such web site and it is beautiful. I was hoping you would be able to donate something to the show. Proceeds from the show will go to the Unplanned Equine Adoption Network. Their web site is WWW.UPEAN.fakesite.org. Last year we were able to raise $500 for the program. Anything you could donate would be appreciated.
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Harriet Show Hostess
Model Crazy Bash

This is of course a sample letter and the show name, people’s names and the charity as well as it’s web site are fake (my husband made up the organization name for me). But it gives you a good idea of how to write the letter. You can add more information if you wish, but it is important to have your name, the show name, date and location, the name of the charity you are supporting (if applicable), a web site for your show if you have one and the charity if they have one. It is also a good idea to say something nice to people when asking for donations. Remember, they are giving you their time and money when they donate, they should at least be treated well. It is a nice gesture to send out thank you cards or at least thank you emails after the show. You can tell them how many raffle tickets were sold or how much money was raised. Donors like to know that they are appreciated.

2 months before the show

Start working on a floor plan

Having a floor plan is important for a number of reasons. First off you need to know how many entrants, show tables and vendors you can fit in the hall without people having to climb all over each other. Some people don’t mind but it is certainly not the ideal way to hold a show. If possible you should start with the dimensions of the hall. That way you can work out (with some careful math) exactly how much you can fit. There are some things to consider when planning out your show hall.
· Make sure that fire exits are not covered and that there is a clear path to get to them.
· Make sure you have enough show ring tables so you can run divisions concurrently (and get set-up for upcoming classes) to save time. No one wants to get out of a show at 2:00 in the morning.
· Make sure you have adequate room between show tables. The judges should be able to walk between them comfortably and bend to inspect models without worry about hitting the table behind them. A good 4 feet (or more) is usually good.
· Make sure you have at least 4 feet between entrants tables, though more is better. You should be able to pull out a chair from each table. It is better to be able to pull out 2 chairs and still have room to walk between them (for the showers against the walls)
· Make sure your donations tables (if applicable) are in an easy to get to area and are not in the way of show rings or entrants tables.
Having a workable layout with plenty of room is useful for you as a show holder because it becomes a valuable show planning tool. It is also sometimes necessary to turn in a floor plan to the hall so they can set things up for you. Once you have a floor plan that works for the safety, comfort and convenience of your showers you will have relieved yourself of a good amount of stress on show day.

Order awards

Now is about the time you want to order your awards. This like many other steps in hosting a show can be done sooner if you wish, but you should have them selected and be ready to order at least 2 months before your show. The awards are some of the most fun parts of a show. It is your show so you can create the prizes you always wanted to see at a show. You need to make some decisions before ordering of course. For ease of descriptions I am going to concentrate only on flat ribbons and rosettes. You can of course come up with any number of creative and unique awards to personalize your show. You can have paper flats which saves money but takes more time since you have to come up with the design, work up a “master” sheet, make photo copies and then cut them out neatly. You could also do all the work by hand but that would take an extraordinarily long time and would add more stress than you need to your planning. You can also make hand-made neck ribbons for awards, but without helpers to aid you in assembly you will be spending a lot of time on ribbons.
Ordering custom flats is a bit more expensive than paper flats but they will be very professional looking and it saves you a lot of time in the planning process. You need to know several things before you order.
· How many classes you have in total. Make sure to order some extra flats for each class in case of splits.
· How many places you have (ex. 1-6 or 1-10)
· If the class is double judged (for both breed and collectibility/workmanship) you need double the amount of ribbons. It is also a good idea to have two shades of the ribbon color with a master chart of which color is for which section (ex. Blue for breed and light blue for collectibility/workmanship)
· What you want the ribbons to say. If you plan on doing ribbon recycling (saving the ribbons for the next year’s show to save money) you should only put the show name on it, not the date. And of coarse the placing
· What you want for a logo. Ribbon companies have a good amount of stock designs and most will let you upload your own design as well. There is almost always a fee for this service.
Once you know all those details ordering will go much more quickly. The process for ordering rosettes is similar with a few variations.
· Know what style of rosette you want, companies have many different styles of rosette from simple to elaborate. The cost for different styles also varies widely. There is also usually an extra charge for specialty ribbon and extra length.
· Know what color(s) you want your rosettes to be
The rest of the process for ordering rosettes is very similar to ordering flats. You need to know what you want on them and as some people will also recycle rosettes it is good to have the show name and placing (ex. Champion, reserve champion, top 10) but not the date. You also need a design for the center button on the rosette. Usually it is the same design you have on your flat ribbons.

Over the years I have ordered from a lot of different ribbon companies. I have found that Hodges Badge Co. is very reliable and easy to work with. I have never had problems when ordering from them. Their web address is www.hodgesbadge.com

Apply for NAMHSA approval

This is another step that can be done much earlier if you wish but you MUST apply for NAMHSA approval no less than 60 days before your show date. Just as you need time to plan your show they need time to print up the NAN cards and get them sent out. You also need time just in case you are short on cards and need to request more. In my experience the NAMHSA show secretary is very efficient and I have never had a problem with my card count. There are usually extras included in case of class splits as well.
The process of applying is very easy. You need to have several things to apply for NAMHSA approval for your show. The complete list of rules can be found on the NAMHSA web site. www.namhsa.org click on “become a member” .Under show memberships there is a link to requirements for membership. That will give you a complete list of rules and what you need to properly apply for approval. Here is a list of the basics.
· Draft show packet: you must have the show date, show location, complete final class list (no drafts) rules, regulations and limits for showing. Name, address and phone number of person responsible for show (ex. Show secretary) an email address is useful as well.
· You also need to send a completed member show application (can be found on the NAMHSA site here http://namhsa.org/showmembershipapplication.htm
· Membership fee: the fee varies by how many NAN cards you need for your show. There is a formula on the site to figure out just how many you need. But it is pretty basic. If you are having a performance show you need 2x the number of classes you have. If it is a double judged halter show you need 2x 2x the number of classes. The reason for this is the first 2 placings in each class get a NAN card. If you are double judging you need 2 for breed and 2 for collectibility/workmanship.
· You need an advertising plan. A NAN qualifying show must be advertised publicly as well as open to the public (no invitation only shows). There are lots of ideas of where you can advertise your show. You can post an ad on your regional yahoo group, put an ad on MH$P, Rio Rondo also has a spot on their site for a list of upcoming shows. Breyer will put an ad in JAH and list the show on their website and you can ask dealers that carry Breyers, Stones and other horse items if they will list your show on their website or in any newsletters they send out.
Once you send in for approval the process is simple. You just wait for approval (and then you can advertise your show as NAN qualifying) and you wait for your NAN cards.

One month ahead

Plan opening remarks

Now getting up in front of a show hall full of people might be your worst nightmare. I’ll admit, I am not good at public speaking, but there are announcements that need to be made prior to the start of a show. If you have an announcer you can pass off the opening remarks to him or her. But as the host it is a nice gesture to say something to everyone. Important things to let the showers know
· Location of the bathrooms. This information may or may not be obvious, but if you let people know where the bathrooms are located you won’t have to repeat it over and over individually all through the day.
· If the hall has particular rules (such as no tape on the walls) let showers know.
· Let everyone know when lunch will be. An approximate time is OK as long as it is reasonable (ex. “about” noon)
· If you have show sponsors you may want to announce this information now. If you have class sponsors you can announce them at the beginning of the show or right before the class.
· Let people know how much raffle tickets are and where they can purchase them.
· If you have a specific time limit on the hall it is very important to share.
· Make sure to welcome everyone and thank them for coming
A lot of this information (except maybe the location of the bathrooms if you have not included a map of the hall) may be in the show packets. But not everyone looks at the packets and important information should be announced.

Check awards when they come in

When the awards get to you count them to make sure you have what you ordered. Check them over to make sure there were no misprints and that everything else is as it should be. Store them carefully so they don’t get creased or wrinkled. If you have curly rosettes they can be hung up overnight. That usually straightens them out. If that doesn’t help you can also iron them (on the back where there is no print). Be careful of your setting as you don’t want to burn them.
If there are any problems with the awards call the company right away. You want to get things fixed as soon as possible.
Note Hodges Badge Co. will sometimes hold delivery until very close to your show date. The reason for this is so you don’t have to store the awards for a long period of time. If they are not there right away don’t panic. If it is about a week before and they are still not there, call. Hodges is a very reliable company and your awards will be perfect. If there is anything wrong they will be fixed in time for your show

Turn in floor plan

If your show hall requires that you turn in a floor plan prior to your show date now is a good time to do it. A week before is usually acceptable as well. This gives the hall time to plan how many helpers THEY need to set up your event. It is especially important if they happen to have an event in the hall after yours.

Work on show booklet

A show booklet is not a necessary part of the show but it is a nice touch and can be a lot of fun to put together. You can have a section to thank the showers for coming, name the judges and say thank you to them as well. You can say something about the charity you are supporting. You can include the class list, other important information and also you can offer ad space. Having ad space in the show booklet is nice because it ads interest to your show packet and offering free ad space is also a nice way to thank people that donated to the show.
The show booklet usually takes a bit of time if you do a nice job and that is the reason to start it early. You should tell donors (or people buying ad space) that they should have their ad in at least a week prior to the show. If you have most of the booklet together ahead of time you can add the last minute items right before printing.

1 week ahead
Sort ribbons

A week ahead of time sort your ribbons. Put them in stacks for each class. If you are placing 1-6 you should have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place ribbon. Also put 2 NAN cards in for each section that is being judged (as well as 2 region X cards) keep performance, breed and collectibility/workmanship stacks separate. This will make things much easier on show day. You can just stack them all together but I like to clip them together with a paper clip. It keeps things together and are much easier to grab quickly on show day.

Put together show booklet

You should have all your final information for your show booklet together at this point. Add any final ads or changes, double check everything and then get printing. You want to have at least enough for every show entrant but it is nice to have extras for anyone that donated to the show. Sending the show booklets out to donors after the show with a nice note saying thank you and how much money was raised is a very nice gesture.

Copy judges sheets

You should have a sheet for the judge to put, at the very least, the class name/number number of horses, possibly the judges name or initials, section being judged (breed, collectibility, workmanship, performance) and space for placings. It is also nice to have extra space in case the judge would like to take some notes while judging.
Make sure you have enough judges sheets. If you are double judging you need to have 2 sheets per class. If you have 50 classes you need 100 judges sheets. It is good to have some extras in case of mistakes.

Copy class lists

You need to have at least enough class lists for every show entrant. It is a good idea to have some extras. You will probably want one to keep track of what class is being judged and if you have an announcer you may want one for him or her. A few extra above and beyond that is also advisable. An entrant might misplace their class list during the show (it happens) or there may be a guest that would like one as well.

Put together show packets

Having a large envelope or folder to hold all the show packet information is good. You should have
· The class lists
· Show booklet
· Lunch tickets (if applicable)
· Name tag (name tags are a good idea as they help people get to know each other. These can also be clipped on the outside of the show packet so you know who’s packet is who’s)
· Map of the show hall (if applicable)
· Any other items you want all the showers to have.

Organize show packets

Put the packets together in some kind of order that makes sense to you that makes things easier on show day. Alphabetical, or whatever. If you have a line of people waiting for their show packets you want to be able to find them quickly. DO NOT give anyone their show packet without getting their list of horses from them. These are very important for doing the results

Plan out seating chart

It’s a good idea to have a seating chart for the show. A lot of people will put on their entry forms who they would like to sit near. There were also probably sections for what divisions they will be entering into. All these things should be taken into consideration when planning out the seating chart. If someone is showing in only OF plastic and you seat them near the AR/CM ring across the room it is not going to be good for the traffic flow of the room. It is not always possible to put people exactly where they want to be, but with some thought and planning you can usually make people fairly happy with their seating arrangements.
When planning out the seating chart you should also make name tags for the tables. That way people will be able to find their seats on show day and you won’t have to personally walk everyone to their tables. These are easy to do. All you have to do is make a list (with a few extra spaces) of all the show entrants. Put it in a large font on your computer and print them out. Make sure that names were not cut off between pages while printing. Then cut the name tags out. I like to put them in order according to the seating chart. It makes it quick and easy to set them on the right tables on show day.
Note: it is a good idea to have an extra table just in case you have someone pop in on show day. I have had people enter by proxy (which means that you pay your entry but you will not be at the show and someone else is showing your horses for you) and then they showed up in the hall. Having a place to put the surprise people is nice. If your show is full then don’t worry about it. That is part of the reason to have a clear set of rules in your show packet.

1-3 days ahead of time

Buy sodas/bottled water

Make sure you buy enough soda (of various kinds) and water to have for lunch (if you are including it) and for yourself, your show helpers and your judges.

Buy snacks

Make sure to get some snacks for yourself. Hosting is hard work and you don’t want to be week from hunger. If you have some extra money in your show fund you might also consider buying extra snacks for your judges or possibly for any showers that want them.

Double check hosting supplies

Make sure you have the things you need for show day. There are lots of options but some very useful supplies are:
· Enough clipboards for all the judges
· Pens and/or pencils for you and the judges
· Note cards or paper (just in case)
· Plastic cups for raffle items
· Raffle tickets
· Cooler with ice for drinks (if applicable)
· Show packets
· Extra class lists
· Judges sheets
· Awards
· Cash box for raffle ticket money
· Post-It notes for the judges to use to write suggestions or notes for an entry (i.e. Bit fell out of mouth, The saddle is far back, There is dust in between the horse's ears, etc.)
· plastic baskets for left over flats, rubber bands, binder clips, etc.
· Scotch tape
· paper clips
· scissors,
· markers
· egg timer(s)
· extra leg tags (many showers lose their tags)

Pack hosting supplies

Put all your hosting supplies together in a box or tote. I have a tote that is just for my hosting supplies and I keep everything together at all times. Before a show I make sure I don’t need anything new. The more things you have in one place the easier it will be to remember to bring all your supplies.
Don’t forget to also gather up any donations that you have been sent for the show.

Get a good nights sleep

Go to bed early the night before the show. You will have a lot to do the next day and want to get as much rest as you can.

Show day

Get up and eat breakfast

Some people don’t like to eat in the morning but it is a good idea if you can handle it. You need energy since the start of a show can be very busy and you want to be able to focus on all the things you have to do. Make sure you leave enough time between getting up and getting ready to still get to the hall about an hour before the doors open to the public.

Stop for coffee/tea/hot chocolate

I like to get coffee for myself and my judges on the way to the show. If I don’t know everyone’s preferences I get a “box of Joe” from Dunkin Donuts and let people make their own coffee. I also like to get a few boxes of munchkins for everyone to share. It’s a nice touch and gives you something to munch on during the hectic start of the show.

Get to hall and make sure tables are in proper place

Once you get to the hall make sure that the tables are laid out the way they need to be. Sometimes some adjustments need to be made but if you have handed in a carefully done floor plan hopefully your work will be less.

Put out name tags

Make sure all the name tags are on the appropriate tables. That way if anyone shows up early you will be able to pause in your set-up and let them know where to look for their seat.

Set up hall

Put out donations with a plastic cup in front of (or behind) each item. If you have silent auction items lay them out as well, with the bidding sheets. Set up your hosting table so you know where everything is and can efficiently hand out the show packets. Don’t forget to breathe

Set up show ring markers

Put out show ring numbers and if you have some sort of system for marking what class is in the ring, put those out as well. Some people use binders with pages that can be flipped. Some people use stand up frames which can have the class name slipped in. Some people use wipe boards. There are lots of ideas that make things easier for the entrants, the show holder and the announcer especially to know what class is in what ring.

Make sure P.A is all set

If you are using a public address system make sure it is all set up and working. This is very important as if the show is large and loud you will get very tired of yelling over the crowd all day long. Make sure you have a microphone and it is properly plugged in.

Set out snacks

If you brought snacks set them out. A good spot is usually on the hosting table(s) or if you have a spot that is more convenient that can work as well.

Great entrants as they enter

Say hello to the showers as they enter and hand out the show packets. Make sure you get the list of horses they will be showing that day. This is very important for doing the results later.

Direct showers to tables

Let the showers know where they are seated. You should have your seating chart so you can check and see where everyone’s place is.

Morning announcements

Make your morning announcements. Tell the entrants the time you will need to be out of the show hall, when lunch is, the location of the bathrooms and any other information they need to know. Make sure to thank them for coming and to welcome them again.

Order lunch

Order lunch (if applicable) with enough time to spare so it will come at the time you set aside for lunch. About 45 minutes to an hour before your lunchtime is probably about the right timing. Depending on where you are ordering from. You might want to check ahead of time. Preordering is a good idea as well if it is an option.

Use timer to keep classes moving

Throughout the show use an egg timer to keep the classes moving. If you said 10 minutes between performance classes, set the timer and when it goes off have it announced that the class is closed. Some people are not very considerate of others and will take more than their fair share of time to set things up which can hold up a show. Stick to your time limits for EVERYONE and then no one will have anything to complain about.

Clean up and go to dinner

Once the show is over thank everyone for coming, clean up and go have dinner. If you need to take the trash out make sure to do that first as well as anything else that was required for you to use the hall. Then just relax, eat, talk with your judges or other showers that went out with you and have a good time. You made it through the day!

Start planning next years show

Give yourself a little bit of a break and then start planning the show for next year.

Keeping records and staying organized
As you are planning the show it is very important to keep records of several different things. There are many ways you can do this. You can keep a notebook (hard copy) files on your computer, a section of the show website. It’s up to you exactly how you stay organized but staying organized in some way is very important. You should keep records of:
· Who has entered the show
· Who has opted for the lunch option (if applicable)
· Who you have asked to donate (so you don’t forget and ask twice)
· Who has agreed to donate and what
· List of donation as they come in
· Money coming in (show fees, early auction items, donation)
· Money going out (hall down payment, NAN fees, awards, etc)
It’s important to have a list of who entered the show for many reasons. One, it will give you a count of how many people you have total, you will have a much easier time putting together show packets, etc. You can cut down the number of list you need by adding a little asterisk next to the names of people that ordered lunch:

Tanya Tackmaker
* Sharon Shower
* Dina Dollmaker
Natasha Novice

Now you have 2 lists in one and all you need for a lunch count is to go down the right hand side of your list. Then when you make up the show packets just put the lunch tickets in the ones who opted for it.
A list of who you asked to donate is a very good idea. An artist or other hobby crafter most likely gets asked to donate to many shows. It’s a good idea as well as polite to not ask the same person more than once. If you don’t get a response your email may have gone astray, or the artist may not be able to donate to your show and not like saying no. When asking for donations you should expect to hear no at least a few times and be ignored a lot. I like to keep my list of who I have asked on the computer. It is very easy to update it that way. It might look something like this to start:
Tanya Tackmaker-?
Dina Dollmaker-?
Pat Propmaker-?
Polly Painter-?

When I start to hear back from people I can easily update the list:
Tanya Tackmaker-?
Dina Dollmaker-yes! (CM doll)
Pat Propmaker-?
Polly Painter-yes! (CM stablemate)

That way I know who I have asked, who said they can donate and what they will be sending. When the donations start to arrive you can either update the list to also say received after the name or you can change the color of the text for that person. As long as you know what your records mean that is what matters. That way you will also have a list of what was donated (and if the donator changes their mind you can change the item on your list) so you can make sure you have everything on show day.
The last really important thing you need for organization is a show bank book. You can set it up like a checkbook or just make a list with money coming in and going out. Whatever works for you but be specific. You want to remember where money went if your memory gets foggy in a few weeks. Here is a sample show bank book list:
3/24/09 entry received 45.00 45.00
4/15/09 sponsorship money 50.00 95.00
4/22/09 NAMHSA fees paid -40.00 55.00
6/12/09 3 entries received 130.00 185.00

This way you know when the money came in, what it was for and how much is in your show account. Most people do not have a separate bank account for their show so keeping careful records of what is coming in and going out is important. If you are using your own checking account you should also have a separate list for yourself so you know how much of the money is your money and how much is show money. I have found that using a savings account is easier to keep track of and all you have to do is transfer money to your checking account to pay the show bills.

Baystate Halter Live, should I or shouldn't I?

2009-12-29T06:14:00.000-08:00

I have been struggling somewhat with a decision and I am still going back and forth on it. It concerns the live show I host annually in August, Baystate Halter Live. For awhile now I have been thinking about performance. I love performance showing and will fully and openly admit to being a performance junkie. I have only been showing in performance for a little over a year (maybe two, I lost track, lol) but I love it. I have very little interest in halter showing. Part of that I am sure is when I was showing almost exclusively OF's it was so frustrating because sometimes they do well and sometimes they don't. Now I have pretty much only AR's I show in halter but I have not had most of them long enough to see how they actually do as halter horses. I did exceptionally well with my Sencillo resin, Cranky Pants at region X regionals this year. He got champion in breed. I was judging OF breed at the time and he was being proxy shown for me and I totally forgot to get champ pictures. But anyway...
So I have been thinking about performance shows. I love them, I feel we need more of them, I feel I should hold one, etc. My first year of performance showing there was not an overwhelming number of performance shows or shows that at least offered some performance classes. Then this past year I nudged a couple of friends into hosting and though I probably can't take credit (blame?) for the snowball effect that followed we had a TON of new shows this past year. We actually had too many shows. I know it's almost blasphemy to say it but it is true. There were some months where there was a show every weekend. People had to decide which shows to go to so attendance was down at most shows.
Well not at Baystate. The first year we had a total of 32 entries (I believe) including judges that were showing. The second year there was about 42 I think and then for this year, the third year there was supposed to be 51 and 2 couldn't come at the last minute. So Baystate is growing. But except for regionals, Baystate is the largest all halter show in region. It was modeled after NEMHC, the show hosted by Nancy Timm, the first year and has changed and grown a bit since then. Nancy changed NEMHC to a CM and AR specialty show so as far as I know Baystate is the only all inclusive halter show left in the region.
My thought this past year was to make Baystate into a two day show like NESE used to be. NESE evolved into what it was but it was a show that was greatly loved by many people. Now the only 2 day show left is regionals though NEMHC has joined up with Factory Ponies Live and the China Buffet to make a showing weekend with something for almost everyone (the only performance is OF performance at Factory Ponies).
There is a point somewhere in all my rambling, I promise. The beginning of this year, 2009, I had been thinking of making Baystate into the two day show. But I figured 7 weeks before my wedding was a crazy enough time to hold a show, let alone add a day to it. So I figured I would wait on it and maybe do it for 2010. My dilemma now is I don't know if I should host the show at all.
This year I went through a lot of craziness surrounding my wedding. We had some people we considered good friends do some things that were anything but friend-like. There was a lot of stress and a lot of sadness to go along with the nicer parts of the day itself. I don't remember my reception very well because I spent all day working to make sure everything went smoothly so people would have a good time. And still people complained about this or that. *sigh* it's enough to frustrate anyone.
With BHL at least people are appreciative of the work I do. They know it is hard to pull together any show and a large show has bigger challenges. It is nice at the end of the day when people say thank you and tell me they had a wonderful time. That does in a way make all the work worth it. And I really do enjoy giving back to the hobby. But it is a lot of work. I think at this point we are up to needing 10 judges for the show to run properly. That is a lot of judges. There are not a lot of people volunteering to judge these days. It seems I end up doing a lot of last minute scrambling to make sure the judging spots are covered. The hall itself is $500 for the day and it is, in my opinion, a necessary expense. The hall I use is the Elk's lodge in my town and it is very large, very well lit, it has a ton of safe parking, the hall is handicap accessible (ramps are good for those luggage carts a lot of people use to bring their horses in), the people that run the hall are very accommodating and the hall is 5 minutes from my house. I wanted to have a show in my town, I figured it was a perk of being the hostess.
The awards are very expensive as well, totalling hundreds of dollars. The other problem is a lack of donations in the past 2 years. Yes I can get donations and the people that come to the show donate very generously, but it is very hard to get donations before the show. So many people say they can't afford to donate, don't have time, etc. I understand this because I get a lot of requests for donations and being a doll maker that is a large amount of time and money donated. I have only donated a whole doll to a couple of shows and those were hosted by close friends. I have been donating discount certificates because I don't like to say no when people ask for donations if I can help it.
Anyway, the long and the short of things is I am sort of burnt out on things. It is hard for me to get babysitters, especially for all day. The show costs about $2000 to run and that is a lot of money to come up with. People want shows but not many people want to judge. And I am tired. I guess I need to think some more on whether or not to hold the show this year. I still would like to hold a two-day show but I think I might have to wait another year or 2 to even really consider that. For this year I will think on it some more and maybe see if I can get some volunteers to help with the planning. For now here are some pictures from the first 3 years of Baystate Halter Live. Awards from the second year of the show.

The first year of Baystate Halter Live was held in a Mason's lodge. It was a tight fit but we worked it out and everyone seemed to have a good time.

The second year of Baystate in the Elk's lodge in Ludlow. I took this photo from the stage and it doesn't even show the whole room. We have much more space than the first year of the show.

This was the third year of Baystate and the biggest so far. We had 51 entries and still have room for more people. And even with more people everyone will still have space and be comfortable.
And this year we also had the addition of the novice division. There were 5 novices but they brought out some nice horses. Next year if I hold the show I think they should get more classes.

Now it's time to weigh the stress against the fun. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

The importance of good notes and actually using them

2009-12-27T08:54:00.000-08:00

I received a custom order for an endurance rider. I even got some good reference photos, a nice description, everything I needed to make the doll exactly how the customer wanted it to be. And yet except for the colors I made the doll almost completely wrong. How did I make such a mistake you ask? I didn't actually look at my notes.

The project started out simply enough and then I got delayed from life things happening around here. So I was late getting the doll done and I don't like to be late. I like dolls to be done when I say they will be done. So more time than necessary (in my opinion) had passed than was reasonable and I told myself I HAD to get the doll done on a particular day, no excuses.

Remember those wonderful reference photos I said I had received? I didn't print them out like I should have. It may have been because I didn't have printer ink at the time or I may have forgotten. Either way they were not in the order book. *sigh* So I went into the book to see what colors I needed. And that was all I actually checked. Somewhere along the line my brain turned "endurance" into "eventing". Enough had been going on that I forgot I had reference photos so I went and looked up eventing so I would not make mistakes. And this is the doll I ended up with.

She was nice, I liked her, her vest came out really well, I like her boots, etc. And then I went back to the saved emails to get the customers email address to send her some approval photos. And then I saw the part about half chaps and short boots because tall boots are right out for endurance because they would get very uncomfortable over the long distances.

Uh oh.

So I went back to the notes and really read them and looked at the reference photos and started kicking myself. Not only were the boots wrong (and not really possible to change without wrecking the doll) there was no vest needed, just the pinny. I could have taken the vest off and saved it but with the boots being totally wrong it made more sense to make a whole new doll.

So I wrote to the customer who was very sweet and said no problem that I was late, had made the wrong doll and now there was more of a delay. We agreed that the doll would be done after the holidays. Now I know technically there is another holiday right around the corner but I figured since Christmas was done (the actual day if not all the get togethers) that I needed to get that doll done. And correctly this time. So yesterday I finished up making the new clothes and putting the new doll together following the notes and specifications every step of the way. And this is what the new doll looks like.

She looks similar to the original doll I made but in person she is almost totally different. I am not sure if the customer will like her just yet as I only sent the approval photos a little while ago and am waiting to hear back.

This was a good lesson for me though. Even if you think you know exactly what you are supposed to be making, if it is a custom order make sure to take good notes and actually use them. Otherwise you may just have to do the work twice :)

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

2009-12-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! (or happy Boxing day....) I have been meaning to post but didn't have any photos and I hate posting blogs with no photos. I got a few pictures of Ethan and Elecktra meticulously putting tinsel on the Christmas tree but they were very dark. So I started with out photo from Christmas morning. This is the biggest tree we have ever had. Also it has a beautiful shape. Elecktra pretty much picked it out herself so she has been very proud of our lovely tree :)

I didn't get really any other good pictures from Christmas morning. Most of them were blurry. But this is a nice picture of Abby in front of the "fire" with her bone. We always make sure to get her something she really likes or she is into all the gift opening.

Travis really enjoyed writing with his new fancy LED pen. The photo came out pretty well with no flash even though it was a little bit dark. This was over at my brother-in-laws house for more Christmas fun.

Here's Elecktra (on the left) and my niece Ashlynn opening their gifts. Ashlynn and her sister got me a classic sized Breyer horse for Christmas. My sister-in-law told me Ashlynn told her it was the perfect horse for me because I was going to cut it's tail and head off! I don't usually do that but I guess I will be doing some customizing now. I really like the head so I think I will leave that on but the tail does need to come off I think....

Here Elecktra is playing with her bird whistle. It is one of the coolest old fashioned toys I have ever seen. It's a little ceramic bird and you put water in it. When you blow the whistle is actually sounds like a real bird. Pretty neat little toy and no batteries!
This is Jordan my littlest niece. She had a really nice time exploring the mess we made with all the wrapping paper and new things. She stopped to pose for me for this picture. When she first woke up she really didn't want to have much to do with me (I have not seen her in a month) and I didn't push it. By the end of the night she was reaching for me even when Daddy was holding her.

All in all it was a nice start to Christmas. It was a long day and I was very tired by the end and there is more to come. Tomorrow we are having "Christmas Eve" with my family. We used to get together on Christmas Eve for real and then all the work 2 days in a row was too much for my parents. So this year the best time for our get-together is tomorrow. So hopefully it will be a good time with no drama. You never can tell. And maybe I will get some more pictures to share as well.

Showmanship revisited

2009-11-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

When I decided I was going to make more of an effort with the blog I figured I would do some posts on live show classes. Anything that uses dolls is a good excuse and we can pretend to be on track. My first idea was of coarse therapeutic riding. That is a real horse area that I am very knowledgeable about because my son is in therapeutic riding and I volunteer with the program as well. The other real horse class I am fairly well versed in is Western showmanship. Liesl Dalpe, who is known for her precise set-ups (especially showmanship) and also had a lot of real horse experience with showmanship and she taught me what to do. I still think that a model that is standing square is the easiest horse to use in a showmanship set-up but if you think about it it may be the hardest. Your horse has to be perfect to the pattern and your handler doll and judge need to be in the proper place as well. I did post back in January about Western showmanship and it is an interesting entry. If anyone is interested here is a link to the post http://fieldofdolls.blogspot.com/2009/01/western-showmanship.html that was written before I had any judging experience and I was pretty nervous. Now I have judged at several shows (not always performance) and am much more comfortable judging. I am even thinking of taking several shows off from showing next year and just judging. I do have a great time judging and it is easier to work without wondering if you are missing a class in another division.

Western showmanship is not a hard class to set up for live showing but it can be easily messed up. I have messed up several times on things myself. But with good attention to detail you can do a great job. The equipment you need is very simple. You just need a horse with a halter and a handler doll. Some people may say that the doll is optional but you can probably only get away with that in photo showing and it still doesn't work all that well then. Today we will be discussing the judges inspection portion of the class. This is the pattern I have been using recently for my set-up.

I usually have step 5 highlighted (It says walk until horse's shoulder is even with judge. Stop and set up for inspection). I also have a note on my documentation that says the horse is finished being set up and the judge is just starting his inspection.

The halter the horse wears is very important as it is the only piece of equipment used in showmanship. Ideally the halter for Western showmanship should be a fancy show halter. Any halter can be used as long as it fits well but the nicer your set-up the better it may do. The lead and how it is attached is very important. The snap should be attached to the left side of the halter up near the throat latch. Like this

Then it goes from the outside, through the left cheek piece, under the chin and out the right side cheek piece. The chain on a real showmanship halter should only be about 4-6 inches long. The extra chain on this halter is too long to be correct. On a model halter it should be only about a half inch long. The handler should hold the chain right at the end of the chain but on the leather of the lead. If your chain is too short or too long the handler will not be holding the horse in the correct way.The next thing to learn about showmanship is the quadrants of the horse. From a top view the quadrants are the four different sections of the horse. As long as you know them you will always know where the handler should be in relation to the judge. The handler should always be looking at the judge and not blocking the judges view. Also the handler and judge should not be in the same quadrant at the same time. As you can imagine there is a lot of quick movement from the handler as they try to stay in the proper quadrant. The quadrants look like thisI use a Breyer Lady Phase for my showmanship because she is standing squarely and that makes for the best looking (standing) showmanship set-up. Make sure when you set up your entry to check and make sure the halter is straight, the doll is holding the lead correctly (*note: for 4-H shows the extra part of the lead should be scrunched in the hand. For breed shows a large loop is the usual way of holding the extra) The doll should be standing straight, with her legs together and her body angled towards the opposite rear hoof of the horse. The doll and the judge should never be in the same quadrant but they should be in the quadrants next to each other (ex: the judge is in Q2 the doll should be in Q1. The judge is in Q3 the doll should be in Q4. The judge is in Q4 the doll should be in Q1). It is a nice touch to have the doll looking at the judge and the judge holding a clipboard and pencil. Make sure you have a pattern for this set-up as well.

This last photo was my showmanship set-up at region X regionals this year. I got OF Champion for the second year in a row and I'm very happy about that. Maybe next year I will change things up a bit. Or perhaps I will also try CM showmanship and see how I do in that.

Therapeutic riding as a live show entry

2009-11-19T05:43:00.000-08:00

I thought I would shake things up and write two days in a row and also write about interesting live show entries from real horse events. Today is therapeutic riding day. I know quite a bit about therapeutic riding since I volunteer as a side-walker and leader and my son takes therapeutic riding. Mostly today I am going to focus on how you would set up a therapeutic riding scene as a live show entry. You can make it as simple or as elaborate as you want though I think details add to any set-up. I have some photos from 2 of my son's horse shows as well as a couple of my live show photos.
This first picture is a wide view of the trail coarse. There were 4 riders in the ring with several obstacles. They needed to weave in and out of cones, walk over trot poles, take things out of the mailbox and bring them to another location, etc. This was a fun show on Halloween so the kids didn't need to dress for a formal show and some of the volunteers wore costumes or face paint.

This photo is of my son Travis walking around the edge of the arena to warm up his horse. All of the people that work with special needs riders have a different purpose. The leader is not really to guide the horse (except in the case of the youngest riders) but as a just-in-case person. If the rider says whoa the leader stops so the horse stops and so one. The side walkers are there as a safety measure and as paraprofessionals. They help the riders carry out the instructions of the instructors.
This is another warm up photo

Here Travis is coming around the markers to start the coarse.

and another shot of the same

The riders went over the trot poles in jump position.

Here another student finished the trot poles

I was told by a live show judge that therapeutic riding is always done at a walk. I imagine like anything else, different schools do things in different ways. At my son's school they do trot. They almost always trot only on the long side of the arena and not over any obstacles. It is a favorite part of the class for most of the riders and they also get a chance to practice posting. The side walkers hold the riders ankles to help keep them on the horse and their feet in the proper position in the stirrups. The volunteers get some great exercise as well (who needs the gym). :)

Another part of a safe therapeutic riding set-up is the reins. The riders do not hold the bridle reins though the horses do wear bridles. The reins are looped around the horse's necks to be out of the way but give a bit of extra control to the leaders if the horses get a bit frisky. The therapeutic riding horses wear halters over their bridles with reins attached to the sides. These reins are pretty easy to see since they are blue.

This is a really good shot of the reins on the horses neck.

Here Travis is getting his stirrups adjusted. At this show only 2 horses came and the kids had to take turns in the ring.

Here is Travis with his ribbon. He doesn't look like he knows quite what to think of it. The last show (the Halloween one) he got a gold medal. They awarded fun prizes because it was a "fun show" so Travis got his medal for having the best posture of anyone in the ring. He came home and hung his medal on the wall with his rosettes.

Here is one of the ways I have set up my therapeutic riding scene for a live show. I have the bridle reins looped around the horse's neck, a halter with side pull reins, a leader and a side-walker. I also use a photo of Travis riding as reference for the tack set-up.

This is another way I set up the same scene. This time I used a youth doll I had just finished for my friend Marisa Evans. This was her show so I asked if I could debut her doll in my riding scene. I believe we got first that day as well. (the tweazers didn't stay in the scene for the judging)
This is a closer shot of the dolls. The leader has a pinny that has the pioneer valley therapeutic riding association logo on it. That is where my son rides. I set this scene up at the region x regionals and used 2 side-walkers. I can't find a photo of it so I must have forgotten to take one. Too bad really as it came out pretty well.
In all of my rambling today I wanted to share a bit more about therapeutic riding and why certain things are set up the way they are. When I first did this as a live show entry it was more basic than it is now with a rider holding the bridle reins (which CAN be correct for more advanced riders in some schools) with just one side-walker. There are lots of ways to set this scene up and lots of ways that the real classes can be done at shows. I happen to use my Strapless models for this class because she is my favorite English horse. Every student I have worked with and watched loves the trot part of the class the best so it is fun to set up as a live show scene. I will probably change my show entry up a bit more at some point. I always like to add to it to make it more accurate to the real shows I have been to with my son. And it just happens to be a wonderful class for the live show ring that uses several dolls :)