Model Horse Busy x Three

Today I have a lot going on and I am feeling the stress. It's Model Horse Busy x three around here at the moment.

Model Horse Busy #1

Yesterday's mock set up for Indy Blooms went better than I expected - it looks like I will have some room on the table for a few sales models. Of course, those need to be sorted out, priced, and packed. 

The haversacks are ready to go into the car - I will put these in the back seat as is rather than putting them back in their tubs. This will save me time when I set up tomorrow afternoon.

Model Horse Busy #2

The show is held on Liz Larose's site, Pony Bytes, and the training and support given to show staff, stewards and judges is outstanding. Stewards have training on the formatting of entries so we can help those who are entering ensure that their models not only get into the right class, but that a formatting error does not prevent the judge from seeing their entry.

Most of my Breyer Boot Camp prep has been completed but today I want to review the suggestions and tips for helping these novice showers have a positive and fun experience as they learn how to show their model horses.

Model Horse Busy #3

Tick! Tick! Tick! Tick!  That's the sound in my head every time I think about Midwest Mini Mayhem. Prep for that has taken a bit of a back seat for me because I have been so busy with the swap meet and Breyer Boot Camp. 

But, prep has been happening.

I have been pulling out models that I plan to bring and am loosely grouping them by customs, resins, plastic, chinas, and pets/other animals on the shelf behind my desk.

Almost all my mini collections are in my sewing room and I gathered up the plastics, customs, and resins first.

I can transport them from room to room like this, but I would NEVER do this with my chinas!

Those tiny chinas are so fragile, so it takes much longer to move them into the horse room for tagging and packing.

Slowly but surely they are being added to the shelf.

I was doing okay stress-wise on preparing for this show until a question was asked on their Facebook page about tagging models. As I now understand it, the directions for tags is different from how mine are already tagged. That means I am going to have to retag them all. 

Good thing I buy my tags by the box, one thousand at a time!

Today will be busy - Nash and Molly are spending the day with us. A dear friend from Illinois is passing through town and Craig and I will meet be meeting her for a lunch. I plan to finish loading my car for tomorrow's swap meet, do that Boot Camp stewarding review, and then, if any time is left, start tagging my minis.

Model Horse Busy, but Model Horse Good, too!

 

Model Horse Busy!

If you live or photo show, run a club, or participate in other aspects of the model horse hobby, then you understand the term, "model horse busy." The hobby can keep you very busy, and sometimes I even think busier than just about anything else!

I am really model horse busy right now. Not only am I preparing for a swap meet (this weekend) and a live show (next weekend), but I've had some custom orders to sew and some project deadlines to meet.

Galleries open this Friday for entries for Breyer Boot Camp and I will be stewarding the OF Foal and OF Light Divisions.  Those galleries open the same day as the Indy Blooms Swap Meet. Like I said, model horse busy!

Having stewarded for Breyer Boot Camp before, I know my responsibilities and how to fulfill them. It's actually a lot of fun, and I can do it on my own schedule, although they do ask that I check the galleries I am stewarding once a day. Not a problem. Still, it takes some time to steward every day, so... model horse busy!

Teacher Daughter Lisa dropped by after school to get her dogs and snapped a few photos of me as I worked on another project recently. It just so happened that I'd tidied up the sewing room that day, so it was a good time to take a picture of it, right?

I love the view out of my sewing room windows - doesn't matter the season, I think it is always pretty.

I track the number of haversacks I make, and I'd recently hit my 1,000th haversack. Model horse busy!

Working on a custom Hamilton sized haversack and checking fit before the final pressing. He fit just fine (as did Troubadour, Giselle, Huckleberry Bey, and the Andalusian Stallion. This size fits many of Breyer's larger models.) Model horse busy!

There are two more projects that will be shared when I can. One won't begin for a few months but the other is currently in progress. I'm having fun with both, but they are keeping me very... Model horse busy! 

(Not that I mind.)

Boot Camp in Retirement!

You know those idyllic commercials and ads you see of retired people laughingly running through the surf, playing golf, and relaxing by a fire with their feet up?

(Photo from Google Search.)

Craig and I see those and just laugh - our retirement looks nothing like that! Granted, we are busy by choice, but once in a while we take on too much and feel a little overloaded. I'm there right now.

Currently I have five sewing orders to complete (with a machine that is threatening to stop working - no stress there!), a university student's Master's thesis that I am proof reading (halfway done!), a recording of a talk that I was asked to transcribe for someone, and a couple of other things on the docket.

I'm not complaining - we are busy by choice and most likely it is the stress of wondering if my sewing machine will hold out that has been the tipping point into making me feel overloaded. (The customers have all been very gracious and told me that they are in no rush if I do need to take my Janome into the shop.)

One thing that I am doing is something fun and hobby related.

I was asked to help with Breyer Boot Camp again this year. Like last year, I'm stewarding and that means that every day I go to Pony Bytes and check the formatting of the entries, that models are in the correct class, and so on.

It's a lot of fun and the models are so beautiful! Even better, I like that I am helping new hobbyists (or hobbyists who are new to showing) get started in the showing aspect of the hobby.

A hobby is considered to be something done in leisure time for pleasure, and having Breyer Boot Camp on my to-do list does help me relax and let any stress drain away. (Which is rather ironic when you consider what a boot camp is.)

I would never had made it in a real boot camp, but this is a boot camp that I can handle! 

Off to go do some stewarding...