Breyerfest 2017 Haul

As I said in a previous post, I went to Breyerfest again this year! I saved up since last July, and am very happy with what I got. I tried to go for quality over quantity and think I succeeded. :) I apologize for some of the bad photos, we are in the middle of moving and a lot of my equipment is packed.

Thursday night I bought this vintage CM North Light resin. He was shown successfully in his day as 'Thor' and will probably be a shelf sitter and occasionally a performance horse. I have a little collection of vintage customs and resins and he fits in nicely.

On Friday, I showed at the open show and won this lovely glossy Banks Vanilla. Her name is RRS Rochambeau and I can't wait to show her in January.

Also on Friday I bought these two customs from Sarah Tregay, who wrote the book Painting Pastel Champions, which helped me immensely when I started painting. 

First is RRS Alastair, a resculpt from the standing TB who has had a new headset, slightly resculpted legs, and a new mane.

This is RRS Mishamigo, who is probably my favorite custom mini I own. His resculpting is fantastic and his color is amazing. His dapples just look SO soft. <3

I had my first Special Run times on Saturday, where first I got a glossy Saffron who is unnamed...

And for my first surprise, I pulled a chestnut in matte, who I just started calling Mycroft. He'll probably get a more dignified name, however. :P

My next surprise I got another glossy Saffron to sell, and pulled a matte bay tobiano who is also unnamed.

At my last SR time, I just got a surprise, and let the person behind me take my other ticket spot. Unfortunently I got another matte tobiano, but a fellow hobbyist offered to trade her matte buckskin for my guy. 

She had gotten a full set, but had to buy quite a few of the surprises to do so. Since she had so many left over, she let anybody really trade. Her logic was they would sell the same, and to make another person happy gave them good karma for the next year (and it's the nice thing to do!) People like her make our hobby awesome.

I really didn't care for the pintaloosa, so I'm very happy with getting the surprises I did. Of course gloss would have been nice... but I think the glossy gods used all there power in 2014, where I pulled the glossy appaloosa Pop the Cork. :P

Also on Saturday I went through the Breyer store and picked up this SR set from 2002. I didn't have a wolf or cougar and for the price, I had to get them!

The only model I didn't buy was Illuminati, which my mom surprised me with. Illuminati confirmed is her favorite meme... so she had to get him. He is super cool!

The only model I got from the Artisan's Gallery was this girl, who was customized and painted by Kimberly Bleeker. "RRS Theodosia" has a resculpted face and new ribbons.

The brand new mold this year was Tushar, a single day stablemate. Unnamed here will be added to my shoestring. He's so adorable. 

From wearing a name tag, I got two awesome SM scale busts! Gonna paint one as a portrait for a friend, and decapitate the other one even further and use it on a CM.

@da.vinci.creations on Instagram reworked his Patrick resin into a rearing mini gelding, and I was one of lucky 50 people to get one! 

I already finished his base coat of paint, just gotta do details! Any color would look good on him... but I love me a good dark bay.

My 'big' purchase was this drastic custom Carrick with a saddlebred head by Austin Reid. Austin also painted my Moxie. But without further ado... this is RRS Easy Street or "Lucille."

She's gonna be a performance beast, can't wait to get her into the ring!

Before and after!

And that's it! I had a great time this year, but am not trying to brag or anything. Hope you all had a great weekend, whether you were in Kentucky or not! :)

An Explanation...

The last 4 months have been CRAZY. With my dad retiring from the military, being in the middle of moving, finishing the school year, and tons of travel, we have been BUSY.

Oh, and I went to Breyerfest? :P

I also competed in the Open Show, and that went pretty well...

But more on that later!!

We are in the middle of basically moving right now but I'm trying to get back on a post a week. Stay tuned!

-Emma

Cow Camping

This last week my family went camping in our trailer.

I hesitate to say camping though as it's 34 feet long and is air conditioned with plumbing and cooking appliances. More like glamping... :P

Anyway, I am not a fan of camping. It's not the outdoors part... it's the BUGS. I hate mosquitos. 

However, when I heard there might be some horses around, I happily walked the 3 miles to the 'cow camp.' A cow camp is basically a historical setup to look like an old cow camp. There is a cowboy there who is dressed in accurate clothing. If you know like Colonial Williamsburg, it's the same concept.

When we got there we talked to the cowboy a bit then checked out the camp. Unfortunently it was more or less nap time for all the animals. The one pony there, named "Stroker," was more interested in yawning and sleeping then posing for photos!

Good teeth references?

The cow camp was set in 1875, and during that time you could sell one cow for one gold coin, which was about $14 at the time. Cowboys were very fond of their Cracker Ponies, though, and you would have to pay about 20 gold coins for a pony. 

Next we saw the calves and the cows. I didn't realize they came in such interesting colors.

The colors on some are just so cool. This one looks near leopard or something :P

His lil face <3

Brindle!

They also had an amazing revolutionary war saddle set, but that will be it's own post. Sorry this one was mostly photos, but hopefully you got some color ideas for your next cow to paint? I know I have. :)

What's In The Studio?

At this point... lots!

First I have been working on this bay roan commission. He needs a bit more roaning on his flank then his base is all done.

Next is a completed commision. This was my first palomino! I'm not totally happy with it... but still turned out great.

A friend of mine also recently sent me some samples of Earth Pigments. They are literally amazing. The first horse I painted was the bay arabian CollectA. The sculptures on these are very nice, they are cheap enough to potentially ruin... but also look really nice when painted correctly!

She is going to be a Breyerfest sales piece. I won't be sad if she doesn't sell, though!

Most recently is this semi-gloss dark grulla Fjord. I also did him in earth pigments, but I like the arab better.

Lastly, here's a classic roan mustang. This one is being difficult for me... but he's coming along.

And that's it! Be sure to read my post on Two Cowgirls And A Jumper this week!

Update + Namopaintmo!

February has been a rough month in more than a few ways. It's just been super busy and stuff has happened.

The main thing was my dog went In For Training. For those that don't know, my family raises and trains Guide Dogs and PTSD dogs. We keep them for about a year then they go back to the guide dog school for advanced training. This dog, named Captain Hero (or just Cap) was mine and my responsibility to train. Boy, he's been a challenge... but I'm gonna miss him so much. We bonded so quickly, I'm getting emontional just writing this.

Me being awkward as usual but bye bye Cap! Be a good boy!

Of course I know he's off to do great things, but I needed a bit of a break. <3 However, I'm still here and I've done quite a bit in the process!

First up I completed my Namopaintmo horse! If you don't know what it is it is a challenge by Jennifer Buxton of Braymere Custom Saddlery to paint a horse in one month.

My official horse was this Breyer merrylegs, and I wanted to paint him to look like Lil Sebastian from Parks and Rec.

I tried a totally new technique and only used a brush. No pastels, no airbrush, just a brush!

He turned out really nice IMO. Not LSQ by far... but still cute! :) 

I also completed the first of many horses for a big commision and started two more!

This one has had more progress made, this is just the very base coat. I've stripped her 3 times so far... not gonna do it again! Some horses just don't like me.

Thanks for sticking with me all, stay tuned for more! I'll also be posting a TCAAJ exclusive post this week. :)