Tuesday, 21 April 2020

Another Sneak Peak - Just Not a Very Helpful One!

This has to be one of the worst sneak peaks ever. Or maybe the best. Depending on whether you think sneak peaks should reveal or not reveal the model.

I don't really think it matters what I guess, it's most likely going to be completely wrong.

So I officially guess that it's....ummm....a......Shetland? I dunno. Your guess is as good as mine on this one!



It's quite a nice colour though, sorta beige but a bit more intense.

Anyway, drop your guesses below. You'll probably be wrong :p

Monday, 20 April 2020

Unicorns

There is no denying that I love nothing more than painting some unicorns. There is also no denying that sometimes what I decide to create works, and sometimes it doesn't! Sometimes I create something that everyone loves, sometimes I create something that I hate and others love and sometimes I just create "something".

So I've been having great fun over the last few weeks painting some of the unicorns from the new Breyer mystery unicorn sets. Whilst I took the horns off the new moulds I left the old G2 moulds with their horns on and got creative!

And of course I got my specialist paints out, because why not?

So first up is my favourite of the whole bunch. This is a Breyer Stablemate G2 Clydesdale. He has been painted to black and white. He has then had pink ombre added to his mane and given a white stripe and white horn.

He has then had moons added in white base mixed with lit pigment. I have also added this to his tail, horn, back hooves and to his white stripe.


Lit pigment glows even under normal light, but take the light away and you've got one seriously glowy horse!


Number two was a bit of an experiment. For some reason I decided to do the base colour in colour shift paint on top of white primer. This created an unusual glazed look, in green!

I then dd the shading in a paint called "Blood for the Blood God". This is a technical paint that is designed to basically replicate blood. When sprayed through it creates a translucent and slightly shiny effect. It looks rather cool!

And because all of that wasn't enough for this little guy, I then added white dots across the entire body using the same acrylic/lit pigment mix. Unfortunately the pigment didn't take in all places but there are still quite a few glowing spots, like his face spots!


This final one is less successful. He just looks rather odd. Like a sort of strange bumblebee. But I'm sure someone will love him!


I hope you enjoyed! There are still a few to be finished so there will be more unicorns coming soon!

Sunday, 19 April 2020

Seminar #2 - Friday 24th April 2020 - Make Along!

Thank you to everyone who attended our seminar yesterday, it was great fun and I hope you all learned loads! I think we confused some non-model horse people who stumbled upon us but it was wonderful to share the love :D

Our next seminar will be: Friday 24th April

At: 11:00 BST

This seminar is going to be a bit different as it is going to be a 'make along'. The idea is that we will all sit down and I will go through the steps of making a simple headcollar and you guys can follow and make one to! It will be good fun for both experienced tack makers and novice ones alike.



But you will of course have to stock up on supplies first so I have put a list below of things you will need. If you can't get your supplies by Friday don't worry. Yesterday the phone and Facebook cooperated so you should be able to watch the video online afterwards and have a go. There will also be a step by step picture guide on our website.

Supplies Needed

Leather Lace/Ribbon x1m
1/8" Buckle x1
If you don't own any buckles you can make your own using thin wire - the same goes for the rest of the supplies!
6mm Jump Ring x4
Or 2x 6mm jump rings & 2x Halter Slot Rings
5mm Jump Ring x1

Tools Needed

Scissors
Glue
Needlenose Pliers
Sharp Craft Knife/Xacto Blade/Scalpel 

If you cannot get the things don't worry, just join in anyway for some fun or to ask questions or share your own tips. This is going to be an interesting experiment to see whether it works but it should be fun :)

It will be held on Facebook live here: https://www.facebook.com/chestnutridgemodels

I look forward to seeing you all there!

Saturday, 18 April 2020

A Welcome BreyerFest Update

Why was I crying last night? This is why. Breyer have announced shipping rates for BF items and they are charging a blanket $25 for international!!!! TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS!

Do you know how much we normally pay for models from Breyer? $70. I was so worried about this. Conscious that I was going to be paying hundreds of dollars for shipping. Upset about everything and about that and about all the things.

And so last night I was crying with relief and joy. This is incredibly generous of Breyer and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm literally so happy right now!

If you haven't read the latest update about tickets you can do so here: https://www.breyerhorses.com/blogs/breyerfest-blog/more-info-on-this-years-virtual-celtic-fling

(I'm looking forward to interviewing a horse)

Anyway to celebrate I thought I would do my special run wishlist round up! I have four tickets (obviously Brendon was coming with me to BF so technically two are his, I may be forced to get a cow, at least he won't actually be showing any interest and I won't have to work out how to get twenty million moose into my suitcase after he goes round the Clarion 'shopping')

So here are my BF special run wants, in order:

1. Surprise Model

Surprise! (Not the Surprise Model, though)

2. Brighid & Beltane



3. Lugh



4. Oak



5. Boudicca



6. Hamish



7. Ash



8. Thorn



9. Epona



What I would like is 3x Surprise models and then: Brighid, Lugh, Boudicca, Oak and Hamish. But I'm honestly happy with anything. If I can't get the ones I want I can't get the ones I want. I'm just so happy I'll only be paying $25 shipping.

Also I'm mega excited about the store specials and swag! I WANT ANOTHER PLUSHIE! Also I really really really potato want a Breyer travel mug to take to school. Because the unicorn one just isn't cutting it anymore. I'm the coolest teacher ever and you all know it.

Friday, 17 April 2020

Fabio

Remember at BF last year the Collector's Club members got the chance to choose between three different splash models?

Well the winner is....Duende!

Collector's Club members can now head along to Breyer's website and purchase the latest Collector's Club release.

I really love him but I'm going to hold off for now. I doubt he'll still be around when the next vintage club model is released in June but a girl can dream :p If he is then we will test how well my travel card actually works online and spend some of those BF savings.


Facebook Live Seminars - Schedule!

Hello everyone :) So starting tomorrow we are going to be running some live seminars through Facebook live.

To view them you will need to be on our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/chestnutridgemodels/

The full schedule is below. Seminars will run every Saturday. Hopefully I will also be able to save and upload the videos onto YouTube after but sometimes my phone is a bit funny about doing this. So no promises! I will add them to the pages story for 24 hours after though x

If you want to work along with the seminar I've added some supplies you will need. However, you don't have to and can just watch!

I will go live five minutes prior to start time to give people time to get settled.

Schedule

Saturday 18th April - 17:00 BST (UK Time)

Breed Allocation & Breed Card Creation

Supplies Needed: None!

Friday 24th April - 11:00 BST (UK Time)

Simple Tack Making - Make Your Own Headcollar!

Supplies Needed: Ribbon/Leather Lace; 4x 6mm Jump Rings OR 2x Halter Slot Rings & 2x 6mm Jump Rings; 1x 5mm Jump Ring; 1x 1/8" Buckle; Glue; Scissors; Sharp Knife/Scalpel/Xacto Knife

Friday 1st May - 13:00 BST (UK Time)

Cataloguing Your Models

Supplies Needed: Microsoft Excel or Similar

Friday 8th May - 15:00 BST (UK Time)

Airbrushing for Beginners

Supplies Needed: Airbrush; Compressor/Air Can; Paint; Water; Pipette; Prepped Model Horse; Airbrush Cleaner; Face Mask

Friday 15th May - 19:00 BST (UK Time)

Add Some Sparkle!

Supplies Needed: Crystals/Gems; Glue; Something to Sparkle (tack, model horse, doll, you)

Friday 22nd May - 17:00 BST (UK Time)

Preparing Your Horses for Showing

Supplies Needed: None! 

Minis Minis Minis!

These little Breyer mini whinnie unicorns are so much fun to paint I've just ordered several more boxes full just so I have some more to play with! They are just so adorable!

Also I changed the settings on my camera today and look at the difference in the first photo! Go team me!


The first model is a bay on the new Arabian (Rose) mould. This model has been painted to a lovely rich red bay with two white socks. I wasn't sure about this mould at first but it is definitely growing on me.


Secondly we have a chestnut on the Firebird mould. This guy has two white socks and a white star. He has a lovely subtle colour.


This one is one of my favourites. As you can see he also has a nice subtle chestnut colour but I have given him a little snowcap blanket, two white socks and a white stripe. Such a cute little fuzz ball!



This little girl refused to stand up. So I added a base to help her be nice and steady on her feet. She has been painted to a lovely dark bay with a white star. The base is purple with glitter on! Because she needed to be nice and fabulous.