Horsefest Day 2

    I am already incredibly tired and we are still here for another 5 and a half days I have walked SO MUCH and we haven't even gone to the horse park yet! I had over 20,000 steps yesterday and I have close to 20,000 steps today. My whole body hurts. I am really hoping I get some excellent sleep tonight. That would be good. Last night we were up way too late and of course I woke up way too early. Because that is what I do. I can't seem to get out of that habit, not even for the summer. 

     Today I went bourbon hunting. I wanted to find things that I can't get outside of Kentucky. I did some research before we came down here and I needed to go and check out Justin's House of Bourbon. They do carry some things that you can only get locally so I tried a few and decided to get these two. I am not 100% in love with them, they are good, but they are not going to disappear quickly. But it will be nice to add some harder to get ones to my collection. Then I have interesting things to share when people come over. 

     I also went to the Fresh distillery and had a fantastic conversation with the guy that actually makes this bourbon. We talked about bourbon, and my doll making. He, and the woman in the shop, had never heard of the model horse hobby. I fixed that. It was a really great conversation, and while I liked both types of Fresh bourbon, this one can only be bought in that shop. So this was the one that had to come home with me. 

     This shirt also made me laugh. So I got one of them. So far I have not bought any model horses for myself. And the one unpainted resin I have seen so far that I kind of want is the only photo I forgot to mark the room number on. So maybe I will find the horse again. Or maybe it wasn't meant to be. I am pleased though that I have been here for 2 days and I haven't bought any model horse things. And I have looked at a lot of them. 

    We spent some time hanging out with Sue Bensema Young in her room where she very kindly let me set up my dolls and things to sell. The photo from the top of the post was actually from then. Travis was tired, I was tired, Sue was finishing up one of the tack auctions, and it was quiet. Travis was leaning on me, clearly he was ready to be done, and I got that photo. We did stay a bit more, I sold some dolls, and then we came back to the Griffin Gate. I asked Travis if he wanted to watch a movie or go to the pool. He chose the pool. Apparently he wasn't all that tired after all. 

   Today was another good day. We didn't have much planned but we did a variety of things. We did some visiting early in the day, went and hunted for local bourbons, did some errands again (I think we may have enough food for the week now), we came back to the hotel and took a nap with a movie on. Then housekeeping showed up at almost 4:00 so we went to the CHIN to walk around. I got tired and my feet hurt, so we came back to the hotel to eat a bit, so I could tape up my foot, and we finished watching Back to the Future 2. We were going to start on part 3 tonight but I have to judge at Resin Renaissance tomorrow. And shows start too early, lol. So I think we will just go to bed. Tomorrow starts the days of official plans. Resin Renaissance and hopefully at least a stop in Mojo Dojo Casa Horse. Or maybe it's just the kick off party at the pool tomorrow. Well, I know Travis loves the pool. We'll see how we feel tomorrow. 

Horsefest Trip Day 1

      Up until today, Travis had never been on a plane. I was pretty sure he would like it, but I wasn't positive. It turns out I was correct, he LOVED the plane! I offered to let him watch a movie on my phone (a thing I never, ever do) and he said no, he just wanted to look out the window. I figured out almost immediately that I would not be looking out the window. Or even opening my eyes too much. 

     I spent most of the flight to Charlotte with my eyes closed and fighting some motion sickness. I have flown before (it has been a LONG time) and never had an issue. So my recommendation is if you have ever had any motion sickness, at all, just take some Dramamine. If you have to buy it at the airport it is super expensive. So is water. And we ended up in Charlotte for about 4 hours. Our original layover was supposed to be less than 2 hours but the flight was delayed. We did eventually snag a rocking chair for Travis to sit in. I sat on the floor because I just didn't care anymore. We spent way too much time in that airport and I was super tired. I just wanted to get on the plane and take a nap. 

       The AC in the plane to Lexington was making a whole bunch of fog, which was super weird. And the vent over me was dripping on me. And it was really cold! I think I am going to buy a blanket at Breyerfest. I am sure I have a use for a new blanket, other than not freezing to death on the plane. 

     Travis was still having a great time on the second flight and I was really happy with that. Takeoff and landing still sucked a little bit on the second flight, but the Dramamine did actually help. I could open my eyes a bit. 

     I even managed to look out the window a couple of times. The flight was pretty quick, we hung out in the plane waiting for them to put the gate up (yup, it wasn't there) and then we got our bag (not lost!) and we got the rental car. I love how everyone always asks if I am OK with an SUV and then they give me small SUVs, lol. Give me whatever, I will drive it. 

      As we were heading to get the suitcase I passed a bourbon store in the airport. So I had to go in. I didn't buy any bourbon, but I did buy this book. I haven't had a chance to even open it yet, but I am interested! Maybe I can find which bourbons I can only get in Kentucky. And then go hunt them down. 

     Speaking of bourbon, here is one of the bourbon vending machines in in our hotel. I am amused. I also didn't buy anything out of it (yet). I am just too tired. 

     After we checked in we went and did some errands. We got some things to make lunches and so on, got some dinner, and then decided to go to the CHIN for a bit. I found the CHIN carpet PAM that Carra wanted and picked that up for her. And that was all I bought today. Though I did take some pictures of things (and mark what room they were in) that I might have to go back for at some point. We didn't get lost in the hotel, but it is very weird and confusing. I am sure I must have missed a lot of hallways. We will go back tomorrow and see what there is to see. 

     Because of the delayed flight we only got to Kentucky at about 5:00, it took a while to get off the plane and out of the airport, so we didn't have a whole lot of day to explore or do anything. But I said to Travis, a couple of times, that we are in Kentucky. I am super excited about that. 

Even More Dolls!

     People like posts with photos, and this one definitely has them. Some of them are weird because they are my packing photos. This one is when I actually started to pack for the trip to Kentucky. I had not gotten very far, quite a lot of the packing needs to get done today after laundry gets finished. But this is a carry on bag stuffed full of sales stuff (still weighs less than 15 pounds) and the prize wheel and prizes in the checked bag. I spent part of this morning trying to figure out how to pay for a checked bag online. Apparently you can pay during check in. And I can check in for my flight in about a minute. Even though it doesn't leave until tomorrow and we are not actually at the airport. Clearly, I have not flown in a very long time. 

     Saturday was all about show prep. I have not had to write a show tag in many, many years. Region X has our tag system, so once I make a tag for a horse it's good for forever. But I am showing, in halter no less, in two shows in Kentucky. So I had to make my tags for Resin Renaissance, and totally different tags for Equilocity. And I am showing dolls (of course) in the Equilocity show and those tags were interesting to write out. I was very sick of show prep by the time I was done, but I got it done. And all my horses, and the random tack and props I am showing, are in a shoe box that will be in Travis's carry on bag. Almost all of my sales stuff is in my carry on bag. If the airline is going to lose something (please don't) it will be our clothes. Though I am smart and we will have at least some in carry on. 

     I have my to-do list for today, which includes mowing my lawn and finishing this shoe project. I love these shoes because they are red. I hate these shoes because they have no bling. So I am working on adding it. Hotfix is something that is new to me (started with it yesterday) but it's pretty cool. I don't love gold (though I really do love these shoes!) so I am adding crystals across the gold striping. Because sparkles will make me like these shoes even more, and I can cover a lot of the gold. Win-win.

     I also have random things I need to do today. Like mow the lawn, go to the bank, go and do a last minute errand because I forgot to pick up a couple of things that are actually pretty important. And laundry, I have a couple of loads of laundry to do. 

     In the subject of this post I promised even more dolls. And here they are! I made a bunch of dolls specifically to show in Equilocity. I do own some dolls already, but I didn't have a doll for every class, and when you get a place to show off your work you do your best to show off your work! I will have this fancy western pleasure doll available. She is super blingy in person and this photo is garbage. 

No on should be surprised that this cross country rider is pink. 

Same with this dressage rider...

And this saddle seat rider. 

I wanted someone a bit different for my jumper doll. Teal is different enough, and cool. 

And I will have this gaming rider. 

     All of my dolls, 33 of them not including these 6, will be available in Kentucky. I also have doll accessories and some mystery boxes. Plus the prizes I mentioned in my last post. Me and the dolls can be found in either room 612 or 620 at the CHIN. If we are not there, and you want to meet up, send me a message on Instagram or Facebook (Field of Dolls, I am not hard to find) and we can figure out where to meet. For everyone going, see you soon!

Field of Prizes

     It's 4 days until we leave for Kentucky and I am still working on getting things finished. I won't say I am in full on panic mode, but I can't pretend I am not panicking at all. I need to make sure I have everything ready that I need to bring to sell, that we need to live in a hotel for a week, and prizes. So many prizes. But I am also trying to do some fun things every now and then as well. It doesn't always work but yesterday we went to see the fireworks and tonight I am going dancing. I need to do more than just sit in my studio making things. 

     I mentioned several blog posts ago that I bought a prize wheel. I was not quite sure how I wanted to do the prizes, I just knew that I wanted them. I really like giving things away. And I have LOTS of things to give away. I have two different styles of tiny miniature shipping boxes. I couldn't even begin to tell you what exactly is in one of the batches of boxes, even though I packed them, and the second batch is a total mystery because they came prepackaged! Yay mystery boxes! Not to be confused with the mystery boxes I sell. I will have those too. 

   Speaking of mystery prizes, I also have smaller mystery prizes. I have these red ones...

       And these pink ones. I don't know what is in any of them. It should be fun to find out!

     I also have funny little things, like these miniature rubber chickens...

     And these little lunches. I do also have a variety of other things, I just don't really have time to get any more photos, even quick ones. 

     So my plan is to bring this big batch of prizes. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do them, but now I figured it out. Anyone who comes to see me can spin the prize wheel. No purchase necessary (see, I said I like giving stuff away!). If you buy any item, big or small, you get a second chance to spin the wheel. Obviously, if I run out of prizes there won't be any more of them. I have a lot, but come early in the week (I will be in Kentucky starting Tuesday) if you want to have a better chance at a prize and the best selection of dolls. 

    People have been asking where to find me. I will mostly (most likely) be selling out of the CHIN most of the time. I will be in either room 620 with Heather and Jackie (Mares in Black) or in room 612 with Susan Bensema Young. If I am not in either of those places you can send me a message on Facebook or Instagram (Instagram works better) to see where I am. Not all of the dolls I will have have been posted anywhere, you will just have to come and see what I have!

How is it July?

      I have not posted in a bit. I have been surprisingly busy. Not that being busy is an unusual state of being for me, but I seem to have been extra busy lately. Some of that could absolutely be that I leave for Breyerfest in 7 days. It could be that I opened my order books briefly. Hard to say. Currently it is just about 2:00 in the morning, I just finished a doll that I decided to make because I couldn't sleep, and I remembered I hadn't posted in a couple of weeks. And I will need to post at least once more before we leave next week. There is still so much to do! 

       So since it is very early on Tuesday morning, it's time for some random thoughts. I have been taking bachata and some salsa classes. I have wanted to learn bachata for about a year but never found a class that I thought I could really get to. But these are drop in classes and are always followed by a social dance. It has been amazing! I started mid May and have managed to go almost every week. I have learned so much in a short time! I also learn more during the social dances. I have picked up bits of merengue, kizomba, and reggaeton as well. I have met some really incredibly people and made quite a few new friends. This past Saturday, Travis and I went to a dance party at the home of one of these new friends. Not only was everyone nice to Travis, they made sure to include him. And it was in very natural ways. If they happened to be sitting next to him on the couch they would share their name and try to chat a bit (that didn't usually come to much). He danced with some people, and I never once had to worry if he was OK. He didn't even want to leave! I am glad that Travis is a part of our dance family. 

     Since friendship bracelets are apparently a thing at Breyerfest this year I decided I had to make some. I learned to make this style when I was 8. I found a YouTube tutorial for a sliding square knot so they are removable and have been making a handful every night. I am running out of floss so either I am almost done making bracelets or I need to get more floss. We'll see what happens with that. 

    Last week was the week of many appointments. In the waiting room at one of the offices they had these word searches. I thought that was the coolest thing! I did remember to bring a book but I grabbed a wordsearch and worked on that. It was a fun way to pass the time.

    Speaking of time, this is the mug I have been using most often lately for my afternoon coffee. I am a lot better at not doing too much for other people, or working too much, than I used to be. But it's a good reminder. Still, when a friend needed me to come help deal with a bad situation (moral support mostly) I took the time to go and help. It was a nice break too. I think I made 7 dolls last week. 

     The Breyerfest special run lists came out. I know I need another word in there to make that make sense but my brain is finally tired and I can't think of it. Anyway, these were the horses I was pulled for. I did one master list and it worked out very nicely. I got all of my top picks. I am not totally sure if I will keep them all, but these were the ones I was hoping to be drawn for. So I am quite pleased. 

     And in all things Breyerfest, my volunteer T-shirts arrived. I also realized they match my hair. I don't love wearing sleeves in the summer, but I only have to wear the shirt while I am judging at Resin Renaissance. Even though it's not black I really do love the color. 

     So those are my middle of the night musings for now. I have had some issues sleeping sometimes lately. Tonight I figured instead of just laying there, not sleeping, getting annoyed that I was still awake, I would just get up and make a doll. So I did. That also means I have already gotten 2 dolls finished this week Which is pretty awesome considering it's barely Tuesday. I think I was aiming to finish 6 this week. I need to figure out what else to make. I have no idea. I need to figure out packing, though I have a week, I have some time to work on that.  I guess I could start packing dolls and other sales stuff. I need to make a list to make sure I know all the random things I need to remember to bring that I only think of once in a while. There is so much to do still! And somehow it's July. I knew it was coming but it kind of snuck up on me. 

June Happenings

      I apparently don't have any doll photos or anything to share today. So you get to see my Christmas cactus in bloom. I think it's actually a crab cactus, which is a parent plant to the Christmas cactus or something like that. This is a recent photo. My plant doesn't know that it is June. I got this 9 years ago for my first paraprofessional appreciation day. It hasn't bloomed since then. I feel like this plant is tied to my emotional state. I have been (mostly) in a really great place lately. And my plants seem to know it. 

     So let's talk about me and plants. We have had an odd relationship. I have killed many plants in my life. I tried to keep them alive, I was just not good at it. But starting with the Christmas cactus I was able to keep succulents alive, and mostly healthy. In the past year I have gotten quite a lot of new plants. I did kill a couple of them (I have never yet kept an English Ivy alive) but my current count is 12 plants, only 3 of which are succulents. And two of them are rescues from the school. We had a lot of plants in the upper foyer that needed homes. I have a spider plant that is looking quite happy to have a somewhat larger pot, it was so root bound when I brought it home. And I rescued a rubber tree plant yesterday. I think it was a cutting someone put into a pot, I discovered it doesn't have roots. So I am going to see if I can keep that one alive. Twelve plants is probably good. I think I am out of places to put them anyway. Unless I build some shelves in front of the window. Which I am not against doing. I like plants. And they don't mind when I leave them to go to work. 

   Tomorrow is the last day of school for the year. I am ready for it. I love my job and I am tired, all at the same time. I need a break. And a really good nap. Tomorrow we only have a half day. At least some of our kids aren't even coming. There is a luncheon at 11:00, after the kids are all gone, and then a bunch of us are going out afterwards. That will be nice. I do like the adults at school. You have to be at least a bit weird to work at a middle school, at least to do it well, so there are a lot of people that are just as weird as I am. It's been really interesting the past two years. I went from really missing my people from the high school to being really comfortable with where I am. And really happy to be working with the people I am working with. 

   

    In non-school news, I have been making dolls. Of course I have been making dolls, lol. My trip to Kentucky is now less than a month away. At this very moment I have 29 sales dolls ready. And I least one partially started. And with only one more day of school I can work on a ridiculous amount of dolls and doll accessories. I am really thrilled that so many things I ordered for prizes (do you remember I mentioned the prize wheel? It's a reality, I have it!) have been coming in. I have to get them sorted the way I want them to be, and I am waiting on I think one more order to come in. I am so excited! I am still working out how I want to do the prizes and I will post more about it when I have it all finalized. I'm going to mull that over a little bit longer. 

    In case you missed it, I opened my order books last week. Not for long, I have no desire to take on too much and freak myself out. But if you had something that you really wanted me to make, that you really wanted input on, now would be the time to ask. The window is closing rapidly. I got a couple of orders done this week, and I have plans for what is getting made next week. Soon I may need to stop and focus on making some dolls to show in the Equilocity show. I want to put at least one doll in every class in the doll division. And I don't currently own all the types of dolls I need to do that. So basically I want to make some sales dolls that are going to be runway models before they get sold. And won't be available until Saturday night, lol.

    I think those are all the updates I have for the moment. I'm exhausted but still going. I have a good doll stock, but I want it to be bigger. And somehow I have managed to keep a whole bunch of plants alive. Good times. 

New Dolls and Breyerfest News!

     Today is Memorial Day so I didn't have to go to school. Long weekends are tough for me at any time because usually after them I just don't want to go back to work, but this one is especially rough because it felt like Summer today. I am sure I will be fine, though some of our kids have been extra hard to deal with the past week or so. We have 14 days left and we can't just stop now. So, at least for a few more weeks, the kids will have to deal with doing work, even if they don't want to. 

     It rained all day today so even if I had had any cookout plans, which I did not, it would have been a terrible day for it. But my only plan was to work out, which I did after I cleaned my gym and put down some more floor mat tyles, and to do some work in the studio. Which I also managed. The doll I was working on fought me the whole way. She is coming together a bit more now, but I don't think she's done yet. Besides the fact that she still doesn't have a head. But there is always tomorrow. 

     Last week I managed to finish a couple of dolls that didn't really fight me at all. This cherry blossom doll is done on the Lena body. I think I have a handful of these dolls left but soon I will run out and that will be that. This lady is available, $240 plus shipping. 

     This lady came together pretty easily as well. Though she did go through a phase where I wasn't sure I was going to like her at all. But she did come out well and her face came out especially nicely, I think. She is also available, $240 plus shipping. If you are interested in either doll, or want to see more photos of them, you can email me at fieldofdolls@gmail.com

    You know what else happened today while I was fighting with the doll I was working on? A bag of stuff fell off the shelf. Twice. It was leftover dog sets and a few other things from my Black Friday live sale. And then I had this great idea... a prize wheel! So obviously I had to buy one (it's ordered) so I can have prizes in Kentucky. I have a bunch of ideas of what might end up on the prize wheel, but I am still working out a lot of the details. I just know that I will have a prize wheel in Kentucky. And I will likely have my dolls and things in different places on different days. I am still figuring it all out. 

     I did not have the most productive long weekend, but I did manage to get a lot more reading done than I usually do. Yesterday I finished a book (Pestilence, by Laura Thalassa) and I started War, which is the second in the series. I am already over 100 pages in. And that is on a day when I was doing a lot of doll work. I am looking forward to school being out so I can knock out a 500+ page book in a few days and still manage to get other things done. Soon enough...