Saturday, December 31, 2016

Trade Haul

Yesterday was a very, very good mail day, to say the least.


A friend of mine is getting out of the hobby to focus on real horses and was really just trying to get rid of her collection... So I helped her out and basically got my pick of her showstring. In exchange for these horses plus a few more still on the way, I will be painting some stablemates to look like the real horses she works and rides with.

I, of course, wanted to show you all of them! Personally, I enjoy reading and looking at people's new additions... Hopefully you enjoy!

Instead of normal halter style pictures, I decided to have some fun with it and take some that were more dynamic.

First is Zenyatta. I was told she was a body so planned on repainting her. She's really not to bad though. :)


Next came Jesse and the long mane Connemara. She also sent two Classic riders as a bonus. The long mane is probably my favorite out of all of them. The trader has very good taste in shading and dapples. :)


Another one of my favorites would be Valegro. The sculpture looks more like an artist resin or custom.


He just has a *really* nice face.


Another is Sam! He's one that I liked, but not enough to buy him. After holding one and really looking at him, I really like him.


Joker, an older Celebration model, is also really nice. The only other I have on the mold is Smart And Shiney, and I like the black and white pinto on the mold much better.


Maverick, a TSC special run, and Harley D Zip, an RR, also arrived. Maverick is still growing on me... not sure if I like him yet. Harley is really nice. This one has an almost metallic coat and great shading. Not to mention the mold is fantastic for performance!


Nearing the end! I was able to get an SBH Phoenix, who I also really like in person. I have Argyle on the mold, too. They are both awesome.


Next is the sorrel AQHA. This one is probably my least favorite, but I still like her! The mold is just eh.


Last but not least, I chose three of my favorite classic mold, the Frolicking Foal! I conga this mold and finally got some more. :)


And that's it! Now I need to go get painting so I can actually officially own these guys! 

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

1:9 Scale Barn/Mellisa and Doug Folding Barn Review

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was my barn. This year I got four medium gifts and two small things instead of several different gifts. If you are interested, the things were a new drawing tablet, an Echo Dot, the barn, and a new saddle. :)

The barn I received was the Mellisa and Doug two stall folding barn. It runs about $60 - and holy cow, is it worth the price.

I was a bit afraid it would be too small... But on the label, it even said it was scaled to 1:9 horses!

As said in the name, the barn can fold. You can keep it folded together and it stays pretty small. However, you can't access the small loft when it is in this configuration.



The stall on the left is pretty small. There is enough room for the horse to fit straight in, but they can't turn. The only door accessible when folded are the dutch doors.


The other stall is a different story. It's a good size - more than enough room for a large horse to fully turn around.


I wasn't totally satisfied keeping it folded up so decided to go with the other configuration, which is a corner shape!


This gives a large area for photography and gives access to all the doors. The small stall has a hinged door on the side to give more access. It makes me think it might have been intended to be a tack room...?

You can also see the loft in the photo. It's very small. Very. I just have a few random things and some blankets to fill up the space. It's not very practical, a rider can't even fit up there.

Of course after I set it up I had to decorate! :P First I laid down some grass scrapbook paper to give the footing a bit more realism.

Then I made a simple sign in Picmonkey. I really recommend Picmonkey for basic edits. I use it instead of photoshop if it's a small thing!


I also made a corkboard. It's a printout with some paperboard on the back with some volume, then separate printout for flyers!


I was watching barn tours on Youtube and found that a lot of barns had giant rule lists... So I had to make mine to opposite! Just don't be an idiot! :P

There's a liability sign, a horse sale thing, and a show flyer as well.


In the large stall I hung up a feed bucket with some 'baling twine' ;)

On each stall I used a pictureframe hanger as a halter rack as well as made a nameplate. 


In the next couple days, I'll post some barn photography. Hope everyone had a great Christmas or holiday! 

Friday, December 23, 2016

1:18 Scale Barn

First off... I apologize for being absent for such a time. I've been super busy with school and personal stuff and have been just focusing on me and my mental health.

I've also been swamped with Etsy orders! I've made over 20 feed bag sets... Thank you guys so much!

I'm back, though! I have some super exciting stuff coming up I can't wait to share with you guys!

Onto the post! About a year ago my dad and I made this Schleich scale barn. I haven't done much with it recently so I decided to reset it up (practice for a traditional scale barn? ;).

I set it up and had tons of fun taking photos. Enjoy!


First, an overview. My barn currently resides on a shelf. It has four stalls and a large tack room. Because the shelf was big enough, I decided to add a little paddock.


The paddock is made out of some spare Balsa wood. I also added a sign.


Inside the barn, there are two signs. Each horse has nameplates and a halter/lead set. It was a pain finding ribbon tiny enough to be in scale!


I made this Jollyball out of salt dough when I was about 10. It still looks OK!


Here's an overview of the tack room! I have some spare water buckets, some feed bags, and tack. Most of it was made by my friend Becky of Flying B Saddlery.



Also a lil doggo. :3


Another paddock shot...


And a picture of Rocko with his nameplate, halter, and grooming kit.


Thank you for reading. Please stay tuned for more! :)