Interest Round-up

 To ease myself back into writing and to also go into what I've been up to while I've been AWOL, let's do a little interest round up.

First: Jewelry

If you saw my last NaMo post, you'll remember that I showed a photo of my desk in utter disarray with some beaded earrings that I had finished sitting there (I didn't fully make them, they were already half done by my friend Cheyenne) and I mentioned that making jewelry was what I had been doing instead of painting. Well, that didn't change! I'm kind of leveling up my jewelry-making game so I ordered some new, better supplies, some beads, etc, and spent a lot of time remaking my old favorite earrings to be far more secure than some flimsy wire "closed" with a crimp tube (omg, yikes). In the midst of doing this, I was able to brainstorm a way to make fare more secure and reliable choker-style beaded necklaces using much stronger silver wire, lobster clasps, jump rings, and of course, beads. This was an experiment in wire wrapping which I find very enjoyable and satisfying, if hard to perfect, and I really, really love the outcome. Here's the necklaces I've made so far:

Second: Pokemon

It all started when I discovered some unopened packs from way back in the Sword & Shield days in my drawer, long before Logan Paul made the Pokemon TCG market explode. I opened them with Cheyenne (who had begun a collection of her own) and it was just downhill from there. Pokemon card collecting has actually always been a super big fixation of mine, and I have hundreds from my childhood, but I forced myself to stop buying them a few years back because it was becoming a real obsession. But what's being in your mid to late 20s without rediscovering some old childhood obsessions, right?

Right now is honestly the WORST time to be into collecting Pokemon cards. Scalpers are running rampant, stores are getting cleaned out as soon as new items drop, and it all around just sucks. Thankfully if you're looking for individual cards you can get them for really good deals unless its very rare/sought after, but if you like ripping packs and whatnot...good luck. Hope you have time, energy and lots of money.

Thankfully I don't care too much about a lot of the cards most people are freaking out over--my favorite Pokemon are Flaaffy and Porygon and not only do they not have a ton of cards released, but they're not very popular either, so I think I'll be able to master set them both in time. Of course, I have other favorite Pokemon as well, and I'll collect them too, but I'm just really not picky about what cards I get! I wanna give a shoutout to my friends to have kindly traded with me and/or just straight up given me cards, the card shop in the mall for having insane deals, and my kid self for being a serious collector. I've gotten some goodies across 3 decades!

Third: Dolls

Yes, dolls. If you are scared of dolls or hate them, be warned, or look away now! Especially baby dolls.

Along with painting model horses, I am also a doll customizer! I won't go too into detail with my other dolls at the moment, but I will mention what I'm working on right now: two fantasy Reborn dolls. A friend of mine is liquidating some of his dolls and I've been wanting to own some Reborns for a while now for therapeutic purposes, and thankfully he had a kitten and an alien that he very kindly sent to me for free (and they are authentic!).

Right now I'm working on the alien, and here is the WIP of his little head:

I'm thinking his name will either be Ash or Gleebert. Heavily leaning towards Gleebert at the moment.

Anyways, I think that's all for now. See ya!

Oops, it's May

 Well, hey guys, it's been a HOT minute.

Really, I have no excuse. I just kinda fell off from the model horse hobby for a bit because of finances (oof), but with BF and the TSC releases coming up, I'm feeling a little more motivated again. That being said though, I believe I mentioned this in my introduction post, but would you guys be interested in seeing my musings and posts about other things? Like just yapping, posting my other arts and crafts and hobbies, etc etc? Because I really do miss writing on this blog but I'm just not being called by the spirit of the horse 24/7 these days, sad as that is. I wanna write...it just may not always be about horses!

I do plan on finishing my little BreyerFest series though, since there have been some interesting developments since then.

Welcome back, me (maybe)!

Oops...It's Been Over A Month

 Well howdy y'all. To be honest, I have no excuse for not writing here for so long, but I also did put a disclaimer when I started this blog that my activity might be inconsistent due to fluctuations in my interest. Well, I 'fell out' with models again...right around the time of NaMo, which not only did I not complete, but I also didn't even touch or pick up or look at my NaMo models for the entirety of February. Instead...I picked up crocheting again! I completed a number of scrunchies, bracelets, headbands, and my very first wearable garment--a chenille bonnet with drawstrings. And that's all that got done in February!

It feels kinda embarrassing and also pretty funny that I wrote those big posts about NaMo and my models only to not even give it a second thought after registering. This is also the first year I have registered and not completed anything...its a strange feeling for sure.

Anyway, I'm slowly feeling models again, so I wanted to check in! I entered some photo shows and am gonna update my PA website with some placings. I also am overdue a part 2 to my BreyerFest reveals opinion post, so look out for that!

Toodles for now!

NaMoPaiMo Update

 Hey everybody! It's been a while since I've posted, but I expected my posts to get a little less frequent as time went on, just as it were. However, since I primarily started this blog to chronicle my return to NaMoPaiMo (among other horsey things), you may be wondering, where's the NaMo posts? Any art progress going on? And well, I am here to answer that question...nope! Not even kind of! I haven't touched Xeuqre OR Huso since the start of February. It might have a little something to do with the fact that my desk currently looks like this...

Yeah, like clockwork, when I'm supposed to be feeling super motivated to paint horses and whatnot, my brain decided, "Hey, remember jewelry making? Remember all those BEADS you have? Well you should use them and also buy more, and make all your friends bracelets, earrings and/or keychains!"

So that's where I'm at right now. I'm also not even at home at the moment--I'm doing my part-time dogsitting job. Honestly, I'm even feeling a little unmotivated in general for NaMo...which isn't a great sign. I know it's only the 6th, and I am known for waiting until the last minute to start my horse, but sheesh, what a turn of events.

At any rate, I'm gonna be posting a little bit more here soon, mainly some more conga highlights as well as a continuation of my BreyerFest opinions post (Breyer has revealed some REAL stunners!). See y'all later!

A Collection of Almost Congas

 Hey y'all! So I haven't posted for a few days, and that's mainly because I'm waiting for NaMo to start so I can start posting my progress photos, plus also just generally worrying about the weather--I'm in the southern part of the United States and while my state has mercifully been spared by the huge ice storm bombarding the other Southern states, we are still having super low temps and rain, so it's been a whole lot of prepping to stay warm in my house! I really want to stay in the groove of posting here though, so I thought I would showcase a part of my collection that's pretty common: the half-conga, or almost conga. Generally, due to not having a lot of space, I tend to collect more Stablemates than any other scale, so I have quite a lot of full-fledged SM congas. Classics I have a few 3 and 4 model congas, but Traditionals, I seem to have a whole lot of half-congas. This actually isn't even all of them, I just ran out of steam going back and forth from my bedroom to the kitchen!

Cantering Welsh Ponies Tally Ho & Plain Pixie

Proud Arabian Stallions in liver chestnut & bloody shoulder grey. I believe the liver is a pretty rare, low run model, and of course the bloody shoulder is Freedom.

Indian Ponies! I included her SM version because I feel like it doesn't really count to the Traditional IP conga, but also, it is technically the same mold...isn't it funny that I have a conga of her in SM form but not Traditional?

Trads: The classic bay blanket IP, and TSC Sayen.

SMs: They have no official names, so I'll just give you their show names! Anniversary pinto is Merveilles, buckskin is Alessa, and black frame is Night Maiden.

Sadly, these are my only two Lady Phases...I desperately need more, but especially Silky Keno! Don't get me wrong, though, I adore these girls. Left to right: BF Surrey & TSC Jolene.

Like I said, these aren't all of my almost-congas...I also have: two Cleveland Bays, two Semi-Rearing Mustangs, two Foundation Stallions, two vintage Ideal QHs, two Buckshots, two Smokies, two Astrids, two Action Stock Foals...good lord! Actually, that's enough to make a part two of this post. Tune in at a later date I suppose? 

See you guys soon with some NaMo posts hopefully!

A Post About Vintage Animals

 Hey folks! With today's hint for the next BreyerFest reveal, which seems to be on one of the vintage animal molds (I'm guessing mountain goat or bighorn), I had the idea to dust off my long neglected vintage animal collection and make them the focus of today's post. Let's go!

First off we have Spanish Bull #395, and he is by far my favorite. I was fortunate enough to find him NIB in an antique store (where I got the majority of my vintage Breyers before all that was left were overpriced, beaten up models) and he is genuinely gorgeous. He's done in this fleabitten grey color with bi-eyes and he is, in my opinion, flawless.

Next is the Buffalo #381 American Bison. I believe I found him out of box at the same antique store as the bull, but he still had his hang tag (which I neglected to photograph). Unlike the bull he has a few scratches here and there, no doubt from being so old, but I love him all the same. His big head is so adorable!

This Pronghorn Antelope #389 was also found at the same store as the buffalo and the bull, NIB. Sadly he has some leg warping, but otherwise is almost flawless. I find pronghorns fascinating and there was no way I was passing up an NIB Breyer animal.

Here's one of two Classic scale animals I have, Cougar #750203. This particular cougar came with Eclipse, the black standing Mesteno. He's flawless...but his face is so goofy looking to me! I love the cougars a lot though as a big cat fan, and he came with a wolf for under $10 total at a different local antique store (I think the vendor had no idea what they were), so I wasn't passing him up!

This guy was the real highlight of the aforementioned purchase. I LOVE the Breyer wolves so much! There were a few wolf releases that look very similar to this, but I believe this one is the solo #3814 Wolf. He is sadly a little beaten up, but it was totally worth it for both his price and the chance to own a rather sought after Breyer animal mold.

And that's it for now! I really hope with the RR releases of the Longhorn bull last year and the black bears for 2026 we'll see a resurgence of these vintage animal molds, and maybe even some new animal sculptures in the next few years.

See y'all!

NaMoPaiMo: My Retrospective

 Hey there y'all. While NaMo registration is delayed for a few days, I thought I would go ahead and make my little retrospective post, along with some lore behind why I skipped 2 years of NaMo and why this year feels special.

(Warning, this gets a little heavy towards the end. Talk of family death and terminal illness.)

Let's go back to my very first NaMo, 2021. My chosen model for that year was a CAM that I named Dancing Mad after the epic classic boss battle theme for Kefka Palazzo in Final Fantasy VI. At this time I was a lot less knowledgeable on breeds and painting techniques, and I think this custom marked my first time ever using Pan Pastels.

Here's a picture of her as a WIP that I dug up from the NaMo FB group. My inspiration from her was actually a mini of some kind, maybe an American Shetland, who highly resembled this mold except, well, as a mini, and was a buckskin roan. I thought that color was so beautiful and would look lovely on the CAM, so that's what I went with.

However, obviously this mold is not a mini, or even a little ponyish--she's straight up Arabian! At the time I decided she wouldn't be very realistic and thus no good for showing, and so I gave her a little creative flair: purple eyes (which were also a bit of a shoutout to her namesake, Kefka). Looking back on her, I can definitely see where I've improved, and things I would have done differently had I painted her today, but I do still love her a lot. She's sadly been gathering dust since she was painted, but I think it might be time to clean her off and give her a proper glamor shot.

All in all, I really enjoy this entry. According to my FB post at the time of the challenge, I had an OCD relapse and a 'tragedy' occurred in my life (I have absolutely no idea what it was!) and I almost did not get her done in time, but as per usual, I dragged myself across the finish line with a complete model. I also learned how to use Pan Pastels properly and worked on a color I had never done before.

Next up is 2022, where I painted my first artist resin ever: Brontes by Break The Mold Studios.

At the time, I was very captivated by a Vladimir Heavy Draft stallion I had found on Instagram named Voyage. He was a dark, nearly black liver chestnut, with a silvery mane, and I quickly decided that Brontes would become a portrait of him. Once again, my lack of breed knowledge caused me to make mistake: I believe Vladimirs do not ever have docked tails! This is a common mistake in breed assignment in the hobby though with drafters, and I tend to give it a pass. As per my FB post, I wanted to attempt dapples for the first time, but as you will see I chickened out.

On February 1st, 2022, I had a Discord painting party with my friend where I got this base coat down, and then it seems like I didn't touch Brontes again until the 20th! Again, per FB, I ruined my sleep schedule, tried to fix it, and then had to rush to get his pastels done before it would rain for an entire week. Good lord, girl! Thankfully, I got him done, and then went onto his finishing acrylics (mane, hooves & white markings). I did, indeed, get him done in time:

And you can see a major, major improvement over my first NaMo horse. Its a bit dulled in this photo, but his shading is very nice, especially for my first time using pastels to this degree. He definitely still has some little wonky things about him, like the white on his front legs not being blended (they look like white markings but they aren't, they're more that light color that some chestnuts have on the ends of their legs, which is why his hooves are grey and not pink like the back ones), and it was my first time painting something with details this small and intricate, so his eyes are a little gloopy. His mane is also a little rough, and I did absolutely NOTHING to his base! I do still really like him though, even if I now consider him a bit amateurish. I named him Running Up That Hill (after the Kate Bush song and long before Stranger Things ever used it!).

For NaMo 2023, I would paint my second ever artist resin, Xeuqre by Endless/Wiktoria Szamburska.

This model was...a journey. He is 3D printed, like Brontes, but if I recall correctly, he was a second quality print and had some very small pockmarks. Nowadays, I wouldn't blink twice at that, but back then I totally overcompensated by slathering way too much epoxy sculpt over the bumpy areas...which ended up making him even BUMPIER...and I did not have the proper grit of sandpaper to successfully sand him down. What a mess already, right? My original plan for him was classic champagne, but because he was so damn lumpy and I was at a loss on what to do, I just made him a blue roan with corn marks to cover up the epoxy. I won't be posting a picture of his WIP here, because I was not and am still not happy with him at all. Although I technically completed NaMo that year, I consider the model itself a failure--I learned a lot in retrospect, but also had to cop out on his color due to my own beginner mistake. Oof is all I can say.

Some time between then and now, I did something that might be seen as taboo: I repainted him. Yes, my original painted Xeuqre for NaMo no longer exists. I was so dissatisfied with his color, and I felt very disappointed in how he looked...which was, in my opinion, Not Good. But he still had those awful lumps from my epoxy disaster, so I made him a roan again, this time a flaxen chestnut. No pictures of this color exist anymore because, again, he looked AWFUL. I don't know what I was doing with the way I roaned him for that color and I was still only using acrylics at that time, so he had no facial shading and his flaxen legs looked rather ridiculous with sharp edges. His mane & tail were also flat mustard yellow with very little dimension. I had messed him up again!

So now what? Well, if you saw my intro post, you know I am not painting Xeuqre again for my official entry; I will be going easy on myself (while still trying to learn more about pastels) by painting a micro Huso in red dun minimal frame overo.

However, I do want to try something.

For NaMoPaiMo every year, there are some side quests you can do, like Minis Painting Minis and I Did This Too! Well, I will be participating in Minis Painting Minis (more info on that soon because my idea is cracking me up), but also I'm considering trying I Did This Too with Xeuqre.

In 2024 my whole world began a slow descent into madness. In 2023, we had moved my ailing grandparents into our home in order to be their caretakers. My grandmother was ambulatory but with worsening dementia, and my grandfather was lucid but fully bedridden. It was a severely stressful time for my family. Sometime in March 2024, my grandfather had a fatal stroke and passed away in the night. I won't wax poetic about this, but my grandparents had been married for 60+ years, and my grandfather was my grandmother's whole life. She began to decline fairly quickly after he died, eventually stopping eating, and then succumbing to the dementia in January 2025. But before that happened, there was something else.

My dad died just days before Christmas 2024 from a secret battle with cancer.

This, along with my grandmother's body and mind actively failing her, along with two ADDITIONAL deaths my family had already experienced (my step-brother Mike died from leukemia in October of that year and my great aunt Glenda, my grandfather's sister, also died from an age-related stroke after him but before my father), was a huge shock to us. We had known that his doctors had detected cancer the year prior and had done a procedure to remove the masses. But the cancer returned, and my dad, not wanting to put more weight on our shoulders, did not tell either of us that it was back...nor that it was terminal. His death was completely unexpected.

Needless to say, this was a huge blow to me personally, and I did not do a lot of art between 2024 and most of 2025. I dabbled in things, like jewelry making and doll customization, but nothing major, because I was simply too depressed. I stopped drawing and I stopped painting horses.

But a bit into last year, I kind of had enough. I missed horses. I missed painting my own customs, I missed painting resins. I started off with a few micros with rather simple paintjobs, then I moved onto some Stablemates recently. I painted a simple custom on Halla, then something slightly more complex on a 9" Hartland TWH. But I really wanted to get back into the groove of things. So, here's where NaMo comes in: I want to make this my official return to customizing, and with Xeuqre, I want to turn him--my biggest NaMo failure--into something I can be truly proud of, and I want to dedicate him, a majestic, stomping stallion, to the strongest male figure I ever had in my life: my step-father, James. His color is still a little up in the air, but I think for basecoat, he will be a bay dun, with actual effort put in this time!

Here he is in his current, newly primed state. The leg where I was holding him is all that remains of his previous, totally crappy flaxen chestnut roan paintjob. See you in February, Xeuqre.

Thanks if you got this far, and sorry if it was too heavy. BF reveals are rolling out again so there will be a part 2 to my opinion post soon enough, as well as some other things I have planned. See y'all later.