It's A Problem

I have a problem.

I am solidly Team Matte.  I do have a handful of glossy models in my collection.  Mostly because that's the only finish that was available on a horse I really wanted.  

Examples of this are Chadwick (2022 Collector Club Web Special)

and Tassili (2021 BreyerFest SR)

In cases where a matte/glossy split was discovered upon release (such as with BreyerFest SRs), I've always hoped for the matte version and I've been mostly lucky there.  

Such as with Seurat (2021 BreyerFest SR)

When a matte/glossy option is given, I always choose matte. 

First one that comes to mind there is Astrid (2021 Breyer PC)

Another is Cancion (2023 Breyer PC)

All that is to say, yes, I am fairly solidly on Team Matte.

So...  what's the problem?

For the 2021 BreyerFest, I had ended up buying three tickets (a record for me) and so I picked out 6 SRs.  Of those, I chose two Surprise models.  My very first time taking that gamble. 

In 2019 (in person), my mission was getting Rocket, and I wasn't interested in the surprise model that year (which was known before I got my SRs) so I randomly grabbed another SR at the time.

In 2020 (virtual) I only had one ticket and reeeeally wanted Oak and Epona (and got them!)

Anyhow, in 2021 (virtual again) I was able to get 3 tickets and decided to go for 2 surprises.

The mold and colors for the Surprise were completely unknown, until people started getting their boxes of horses in the mail.

It turned out the Seven Arts Surprise for 2021was on the Dundee mold - which was a mold I did not have yet at that time.  Of the several color options (and each in matte or glossy finishes) I ended up with...

The classic champagne sabino in matte:

And the classic champagne sabino in glossy!

At first, and just for a moment, I was a bit bummed to get two of the "same" model.  But then I started to think it was kind of cool - what were the odds? - and it was interesting to compare the two colors in different finishes.  I've always kind of thought of them as brothers.

Many, many... many times over the past few years I've "decided" to sell the glossy one.  I'm Team Matte, remember?  I'm "not an OF collector"...  *eyeroll at myself* (ha!) 

However, clearly - as these pictures were just taken this afternoon - I haven't been able to split them up.  

The recent version of this dilemma was: why don't I just sell both of them together?

After all, the BreyerFest 2024 Celebration horse was on the Dundee mold, I came home with 2 of them, and I think I like her color more than the brothers.  (I also have 2 copies of "Merle", the SR from TSC last year, that I had bought on clearance as possible CM fodder...)  So for the tack making "excuse" of having a copy of a mold for making tack and costumes, I'm good!  Also good on bodies to CM.

Yet... even with all that rationalizing and also thinking, hey,  they could stay together if I sell them together AND I'd free up some much needed shelf space...  I took them both off the shelf, looked them over, sighed, and put them back.  

I'm not sure either of them are going anywhere.

And then...

In my last post, about the SRs I brought home from BF 2024, I talked about how I ended up with two copies of the Surprise horse in Cremello

One matte:

One glossy:

Again (?) I told myself, I'll probably sell the glossy.

They're both kinda cool though...

Another pair I mentioned in that post are the two Sorry Not Sorry SRs.

One matte:

One glossy:

AGAIN (seeing the problem yet?) I thought I'd sell the glossy.

They're both still here.  I've taken both of them off the shelf a few times, looking them over.  Then put them back.  

It really is a problem.

I keep trying to say I'm not an OF collector, I'm not *much* of an OF collector, I don't reeeally conga anything, I don't conga *many* things. 

Am I starting to accidentally conga matte/glossy splits? 

Noooooo!

Anyone want to buy a glossy BF SR?  Can't promise I'll actually sell, but... maybe...?

*sigh*

Ha!

A BreyerFest Story - "When in Rome"

BreyerFest was three weeks ago now and I finally have a bit of mental energy to write a post about it!  There's a ton I could say, and I might do a couple of other blog posts (maybe even a vlog) about it.  For now though, here's my Special Runs story. 

Anne (my friend from The Netherlands who was in Kentucky for her very first BF!) and I decided that we would go get all of our horses on Friday.  We stood in lines, in the sun, for what felt like hours and I was struggling for my life, haha.  Me and heat/humidity/the angry ball in the sky aren't good friends.  So I don't really have any pictures from my struggle for survival, except one picture I took of one of the tote bags everyone was getting. 

And a quick picture of my two (initial...  more on that later) SRs, right after I got them.  

We had gone out to breakfast before going to the Horse Park, and while we were there, Anne learned that the Surprise mold was Emerson.  We started to see pictures pop up on Facebook of the different colors people were getting.  I had briefly thought to myself, "uh oh...?", before being glad I had picked a Surprise for one of my SRs.  But which one would I get?  And which one did I even want?

But first, a quick look back.  My first BreyerFest, and only one (in person) before this year, was in 2019.  I went through the SR line on a mission, to get Rocket.  He was my first on the Emerson mold and he is a solid favorite of mine. 

Another really neat connection: Anne helped me name him at The Jennifer Show in 2019.  His name is Falcon Light, a play on the Falcon Heavy rocket, from SpaceX.

Based on the pictures we'd seen before getting our own SRs, I decided my top three, in order, were: chestnut sabino, appaloosa, cremello.  

As we stood in line to get our bags out of the tent where you had to check all of your bags, Anne decided to peek at her Surprise horses.  She had two tickets, and had picked two Surprises.  I was so hot and tired, I said I didn't even care yet and would see what I had gotten later, haha.  

But... Anne pulled a cremello out of one of her bags and when I saw it shining in the sun, I was captivated.  She started looking around, wanting to trade it, and I said, "Wait!  let me see what I have.."  I had decided right then and there that my first choice was actually the cremello.

I looked in my bag and found a cremello.  It was the coolest thing.  

After we got back to the hotel, we compared our SRs and I realized mine was a glossy, hers was a matte.  I thought about trading for hers, because usually I am Team Matte.  But I saw in the sun that the glossy just GLITTERS.  I couldn't decide (big surprise, haha).  

At some point, we decided to do the second chance sale on Sunday.  I decided to go for 2 more Surprise horses, if possible, and see what I could get.  Anne did the same.  As we stood in that line for a couple of hours, we pondered what we might pick if they were out of Surprises once we get there.  I decided my backup would be Sorry Not Sorry, the appaloosa Salinero - who had been my close 3rd choice for an SR in the first place.  

There ended up being plenty of Surprise models when it was our turn.  My second two Surprise horses were the bay overo and the regular bay, both matte.  Darn.  I was still hoping for a chestnut sabino and an appaloosa.  Anne wanted a glossy sabino the most, she had found good trades for what she wanted and she offered to help me.  We split up, she took my overo, I took the bay and we wandered around the area by the SR sales area.  

I was striking out, until I ended up having someone offer to trade me a matte cremello for the bay and I went for it, liking that color more.  

Then Anne returned to our temporary base camp, from her outing with the overo, and handed me this one.  Trade secured, cool!

I still had no appaloosa.  Pondered trading the matte cremello for one, if I could, but I still kind of liked both cremellos, so I was hesitant...  

Sunday night, we were both packing up.  Anne had a matte appaloosa she was planning to sell later and I asked to look at it...  "I really shouldn't..." I thought, but...  "when in Rome"...  I asked how much she wanted, sighed at myself, picked up my phone and opened PayPal.  (ha!)

So, in the end, I did get my top three, in a different order, plus a "spare" cremello.  I thought I might end up selling the glossy - maybe I will sometime, but for now she is hanging out in my lineup of Emerson/Winx models, that now numbers 7. 

(But I don't collect OFs and I don't really do congas...  Riiiiight)

"But wait, there's more!"  

After the 2nd chance sale and follow up stock market trading, Anne and I got separated at one point.  She was looking for another trade, and I was hanging out with a group of hobbyists.  A couple of them decided to go back through the second chance line again.  There was no line at that point, you could just walk in and buy two more of whatever was left.  

I asked them who was left.  They listed off a few SRs, including Sorry Not Sorry.  I said that was another one I had initially wanted...  and joked that maybe I should go for it.  Of course, they said "do it!"  (enablers, all of us, haha)  I thought, again "when in Rome", shrugged, and figured I might as well.  Since I was there and the horse(s) I wanted were there...  I told myself they'd probably never be cheaper, especially adding shipping, and so on...  So I did it.

Ran through the tents again and grabbed two of Sorry Not Sorry - because of the matte glossy split.  I was hoping for a matte.  I got two glossies.  Laughing at my weird luck I thought, oh well, maybe I can find a trade later.  

I checked back with the group, grabbed all my stuff, then ran to go to the bathroom and find Anne just in time for the Sunday Raffle.  Someone in the group I had been in outside gave my name to another hobbyist who got two mattes and wanted a glossy, haha.  So my very last activity at BreyerFest proper was to stagger into the Visitors Center at the horse park and trade a glossy for a matte.  

Once again, the working plan is to sell the glossy, but we'll see!  

You might have realized that I got two SRs on Friday, but only talked about the Surprise saga.

Well, this is the second SR that I chose with my ticket.  Before I opened him, I saw on Facebook that there was a tail variation (no stand).  I was hoping for that one and I got him!  I have Adonis, from the Premiere Club and I thought it would be fun to have two flashy, spotty guys.

And THAT is my meandering story about how I went to BreyerFest 2024 intending to get two SRs and, um, got a lot more.  

I also brought home some other horses, but that's another story!  

A Day At The Fair

Yesterday, I spent the day at the first day of the local County Fair.  The main event was the 4-H horse show.  A friend, and band member, had kids competing.  They invited me to check it out, so I did!  

Despite spending the whole day at a horse show, I only took a few pictures.  I was more focused on hanging out with friends and watching the events.  When I got there, Showmanship was going on,

A cute level of competition (I'm not at all versed in 4-H, this was the first event I'd been to) was "Cloverbud", where the youngest kids had a helper.  A couple of the kids in that division had ponies, the others had full size horses.  I loved this palomino:

There were a lot of beautiful horses, another one that caught my eye was this gorgeous buckskin tobiano:

Before going to the fair, I'd given Bo a light breakfast and then trimmed his front feet.  During lunch break, I decided to run home.  Bo met me at the fence and let me know he was not impressed with me leaving him light rations and then going to look at other horses (how did he know?? haha)

I gave him MOAR hay and went back to the fair.  

Trail and the games classes were after lunch.  Games were fun, some of the horses were SO hyped up and fast that you almost had to cringe watching them run the patterns, but the kids piloting them were great riders.  The only picture I took was of the buckskin tobiano above, when I realized I hadn't gotten a picture of that one yet.  They were one of the horses who wanted to GO!   

Brent stopped by the fairgrounds on his way home from work and just as our friends were packing up.  He had ridden his motorcycle and I had to take a picture, as I always do.  His bike is so cool!  

After saying goodbye to our friends, he and I wandered over to the buildings where the exhibits were.  I had spontaneously entered a couple of my older tatting projects the night before.  Last minute...  because I wasn't sure I wanted to enter anything.  I deliberated way harder than I should have, but that's how my brain works...  Also, there wasn't actually a class for tatting.  But when I finally got brave and went to the fair office, to show them what I wanted to enter, they found classes for me.   Turns out they used to have a class for tatting, but no one ever entered so they took it off the list...  10 years ago.  

Anyhow, we found my American flag first, with a blue ribbon.  Cool!

We walked around all the rest of the Open Class entries and I didn't see the Barbie wedding dress I'd also entered.  Then I spotted it, from across the room.  It was up on a shelf  on the wall, and...  oh wow!  

One of the reasons I'd had the night before for not wanting to enter was that I wouldn't be able to tell my Granny about it...  She's the one who taught me tatting (she passed away in 2020).  Brent said, maybe she'll still be able to see it.  Then he asked me what she would tell me to do if she was here.  I said she'd want me to enter.  I'm glad I did.  

The last stop we made was in the building where the 4-H exhibits were.  It was interesting to see the things that the kids had made.  (Our friends son made a bow and a wood cabinet!)

After that, we headed home.  It was a great day at the fair.  

The Cass County Fair runs through Sunday.  There are rides, food, and quite a few things going on.  Relevant to my interests, tonight there is an Open horse show - which is actually more of a gymkhana, the class list seems to be only games.  I've toyed around with the idea of hauling Bo over there.  Even if I don't enter (and I probably wouldn't, because both he and I are rusty and have both been hermiting a long time now) it might be fun to just hang out and ride around a bit.  Sometimes I do miss actually doing things with my horse... 

Then again, I realized this morning that I have less than a week and a half until I leave for Kentucky - which sent me into a mild panic.  I have SO much to do... 

BreyerFest is coming.  

Paint… Something

I haven’t painted in a little while.  Not since the rush for, and at, BreyerWest.  Been struggling a lot with imposter syndrome, again.  Feeling like I’m just, blocked.  I desperately want to paint, have a TON on horses to work on 

(that isn’t even nearly all of them), but I just haven’t been able to… 

Yesterday, particularly last night, it kind of came to a head as I was irritated, frustrated, not feeling well, and ended up going to bed early, crying myself to sleep a bit.  Brent was worried about me, he kept asking what was wrong, what could he do to help?  I kept saying, “I don’t even know what’s wrong.  Just love me?” 

But before bed, I had grabbed this little canvas I had got at the dollar store a bit ago and painted one stripe of a rainbow.  It felt good to put paint on… something.

When I cut out the base for the grass footing (in my last post) I used the rest of the space on that board to cut out a bunch of flower shapes.  I’ve found the shapes for DIY craft projects are very popular and I’d wanted to make some flowers for a little while.  

As sometimes happens, a couple of them didn’t pass my “quality control” checks, so I decided I’d try to paint them as examples for what other crafters can do with them.  

I’m back in the studio now, sitting at the painting desk.  I’m gonna put a little more paint on the canvas, the flowers, and then maybe a horse. 

Flatter Footing

I have this really cool piece of scale model footing that I really like using for stablemate pictures.  In particular, I use it to take pictures of stablemate blankets that are for sale.  

The problem with it, and something I fight with every single time I use it, is that it's very uneven.  It was sort of rolled/folded in a box when I bought it.  It's stiff enough that it retains some of the folds.  Because of the tufts of grass, I haven't wanted to try and press it to make it flatten out.  

Recently, I was struggling to make it work (and I just gave up during that particular photo session, the horses kept falling over) and I thought of a possible solution. 

Today I got to work on it!

First, I measured it (10" x 10") and then I used the laser to cut out a piece of MDF that size.  

Here's lumpy, bumpy piece as I've been trying to use it. 

I wasn't 100% sure how I was going to glue it to the base, but I decided to start with some tacky glue down the center.

I grabbed a small piece of cardboard, thinking I'd use it as a spreader, but I just ended up using my finger, haha.  

Glue spread out, I centered the piece of footing and carefully pressed in down along the middle.  I noticed I was slightly off center and tried to reposition it.  Nope.  It was instantly stuck.  Well, that's good!  

Then I decided to just work my way toward the edge, from the center, and glue it down in sections.  Here you can better see how uneven it was.

Each time I put on some tacky glue,

and spread it with my finger.

I cleaned off my finger then used my finger tips to press down and toward the outer edge, along the shorter grass paths.  I also pushed down in some of the tufted areas, for good measure, and then sort of fluffed the grass up again.  

One side mostly glued, I hadn't done the very edge here yet.  I think it's looking flatter.

All done!  That looks better...

Moment of truth!  I put it back in my photo area, turned on the lights, and plopped down a horse (the very one who kept falling over during the latest photo shoot that was cut short).  He stands!  

Make A Decision

A big problem for me is "decision paralysis".  I struggle with decisions, large and small. 

I have a lot of Stablemates...  a LOT.  For...  years now, I've wondered what to do about how quite a few in my OF collection just don't have much meaning for me.  I have considered selling those, several times now, but the idea of selling a bunch of OF Stablemates just seems tedious with a capital T.  It's hard enough for me to get around to selling off Traditional scale horses and all the things I make to sell! 

This "problem" had initially been pondered by me 10 years ago.  At that point, I had decided that any unwanted SMs I had were worth more to me as future custom projects than for the few dollars they might bring in sold as is.  Yet they stayed in the "OF collection".   

To the point where I am drowning in SMs, mostly taking up a bunch of the horse holders I've made.  I also have a bunch in a box, still packed from my two moves in the past two years, but I don't talk about them.  Ooops, I just did.    

Here's a random stack of holders in the studio:   

Then one shelf that the holders were initially made for:

And the other shelf, mostly full of holders:

So - and this may seem off topic, but stick with me - last year I bought a toaster oven at a thrift store, specifically for branching into making some things with polymer clay.  (top of the list are cowries and medallions for Arabian costumes and so on)   

Anyway, I was working on clearing out the garage a few days ago and there was the toaster oven, because I still hadn't found a place for it in the studio.  Instead of moving it to another place, not in the studio - or setting it on the floor in the studio, I thought about where I might actually want it IN the studio.  

Then I decided to finally do something about TOO MANY Stablemates!

I grabbed a small empty tote and filled it with OFs I don't want, at least until I'd made some room.  I went through all the holders, and shuffled tiny horses around, until I was able to move that first pile of holders (now empty) out of the way.  

Hey, look at that, there's a toaster oven in the studio now.  No, it won't stay here up when I use it.  This general area is where I think it will be, on this desk, after I finish clearing it off.  

The goal for the studio, and I'm mostly sorta there, is to have separate desks set up for different stages.  I have a tack desk and painting desk.  I want a dedicated sculpting desk and I think that will be where I put the toaster oven.  

Now... about that painting desk...

Next, I need to address this particular traffic jam...  ha!