Show report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.