Mares in Black Spooktacular Show

The resurgence of photo showing during the pandemic has been fun and has allowed me to interact with hobby friends without leaving home. I am entering three or four shows a month, and enjoy adding my models to their classes and then waiting for the judges to announce the placings for each class.

The Mares in Black held a photo show with a lot of creative classes - Stock Market, Feathers, Old But Still LIT, Wildin' Out... The possibilities were endless! And needless to say, hobbyists had a fun time creating entries for those classes.

I loved watching the classes load and seeing all the ideas that hobbyists had for these classes. There were so many entries and such creativity that I did not expect to win anything but that was okay - I was having fun.

Yesterday I got a notice that Jacki Rossi had commented on one of my photos. My first thought was that they were stewarding the show and that I needed to move a model into a different class.

I did not expect to see that I'd won the Just Dance - Specialist class with my Flamingo Pond entry with Mr. Nedz and Circus Girl Lynn, the doll Anne Field made me! 

Two more placings rolled in during the afternoon. Apple Jack (my Dad's nickname) placed fourth in the Working class.

And Windsong Sherif won 6th place in Baybees.

The judging continues and is not yet over. Class winners will be announced on a special Mares in Black Halloween Live Stream Party. I've got plans to trick or treat with a couple of Cowpokes and Pony Pals that day, but maybe the Mares will record it and I will still be able to catch it.

Thank you, Mares in Black, for hosting such a fun show. And congratulations to all the other winners and entrants. 

Today is the last day to enter to win an embroidered blanket for your model. Comment to enter! 

Circus Girls - A Dream Come True

Circus girls! My favorite imaginative game to play as a kid. Leslie and I would pack cardboard suitcases (swiped from our dolls) and get on the circus train (the couch) and  travel to the circus's next destination. (Always the back yard.) There we would put on performances before packing up again and traveling to the next town.

Leslie and I grew out of our game, but we are both very fond of the memories. "Of course I remember Circus Girls!" Leslie responded when I asked. "Those were tremendous memories!" Yep! They sure were.The Circus Girls actually got to go to Baraboo, Wisconsin and meet some real circus horses when we were a little older. That was a treat. (Leslie and me along with our little sister, Jenny.)

Finally, after years and years of thinking about it, I circled  back to my Circus Girl roots. I did some research and asked Donna Chaney to make me a RubberNedz Circus Horse and Anne Field to make me a Circus Girl Doll. 

The end result was just as I'd hoped and imagined it to be. I never had a real horse who looked like Mr. Nedz, but I did have someone who looked like my new doll. 

You see, my elegant new doll is me, Circus Girl Lynn. And she is just as I imagined her, all those years ago.

Thanks so much, Anne, for bringing my dream to life. 

(I'll explain Flamingo Pond tomorrow.)

What a Doll!

 Yesterday I received a message from Anne Field with some in-progress photos of the circus doll that she was making for me. 

Oh, my goodness! The doll was gorgeous!

I'd sent Anne this photo of a page from an old costume pattern book and asked if she could make something like the ballerina at the top left.

I wanted something elegant and simple with a 50s/60s feel, and Anne was making that happen.

Later in the afternoon I got another message from her telling me that the doll was finished and ready to ship. And, that she would be posting a blog entry today about its creation in her own blog, Field of Dolls Studio; Because Everybody Needs Dolls. 

I can't wait to see how my new doll looks with my RubberNedz Circus Horse. I am hoping to enter Jennifer Buxton's Pandemic Performance Panorama photo show with them if I can get things made/pulled together in time.