Collection Cleaning and Rearranging: The White Box

Reorganizing your collection means you need boxes or tubs for storing items you are putting away for a while. I knew I had some empty tubs stashed in my hobby closet so I opened the closet doors and began looking for them.

Naturally, they were in the furthest back corner of the closet. As I pulled out tubs and boxes to get to them, I came across a white box. It had several labels on it - Dining Room Horses, Mini Hagen Renakers, Some Large HRs, and Star Wars Books, to name a few. 

Curious, I opened it to see what was really in there.

 (I took photos for file purposes, so they are not the best. But since I found some fun things, I decided to blog about the contents of the white box.)

A trio of Japan sheep.

Some old San Dimas HR unicorns.

They were still on their cards, with one dated 1989

and the other 1995.

A broken carousel horse bell and a Stablemate with wagon and accessories.

How I wish I had left it in its original box - the harness was a mess.

A Sandicast resin Springer puppy, and two more Hagen Renakers on cards.

MORE unicorns and an old Japan cat that had belonged to my mother.

An unusual, unmarked china foal and a Wade zebra.

A recent HR Disney terrier.

Two Springer Spaniels, one on a 1986 card with brown eye whites, the other on an undated card with white ones.

My first HR dog (the Bloodhound) that I found in the 1990s at an antique shop and a Black Lab.

A recent Disney dog.

A glazed foal with the word "foreign" carved in its off hind leg. (Go here to read more about this piece.)

 

 

A very early HR wolf - I bought it a month or so after it was introduced in 1991. Love those yellow eyes!

There was plenty of room left in the box, and since I was also rearranging my china cabinets as well as my plastics, I tucked some chinas into the box for storage, too.

I'd rather they were out and on display, but it has gotten to the point where it's either box some of them up, 

or purchase another china cabinet. I just don't want to do that.

Funny how rearranging the shelves leads to all kinds of sorting, cleaning, and organizing! But I enjoy digging through my boxes and switching things up, so it's not a problem.

And, there were actually a couple of surprises in that white box, things I'd forgotten I had and was thrilled to find. More on those coming up.

Stay 'tooned!

Rodeo Time!

The first rodeo of the season is in the books! Mutton Busters Cambria and Titan competed in Saturday's Hobble Creek Riding Group's 4-H Rodeo/Art City Day's Rodeo in Springville, Utah.

Already a two year veteran of mutton busting, Cambria had strategies for preparing and riding. Friday night before going to bed, she laid out her rodeo necessities.

Shirt, jeans, belt, good luck charm, and face mask.

She had a way of imagining herself winning and how long to stay on a sheep. 

And then (my favorite), she made a list of what to do on rodeo day.

See those check marks? She was checking things off as she did them! 

Not on that list and a surprise for both Titan and Cambria was a mid morning shopping trip for new boots and hats.

Titan's new books are very similar to ones I had while in high school. I think he liked that connection between us.

While liking these fake fur/cowhide boots with red bandana trim, Cambria was afraid they'd get too dirty in the arena and got a different pair.

New hats, new boots, new shirts, very excited, and ready to rodeo.

Cambria's ride. You can ride facing forward or backward. Backward is easier because you can  hold on better when your face isn't smushed against the sheep's neck. She earned 38 points.

When Titan's turn came, he hopped right up onto that sheep and rode! So much for being a mutton busting newbie!

Jessica did not hear his score.

Waiting for all the competitors to take their turns can be long. Word in the stands was that the sheep were "tough" that night and so the rides were fairly short.

All who rode got a sheep trophy and a new cowboy hat. (Cambria is wearing hers; Titan is not.) Neither Titan or Cambria won the competition, but they had a lot of fun and gained some more experience.

I am especially proud of Titan - he wanted badly to ride, but he was also leery of the sheep. Showing true cowboy grit, he rode. 

One rodeo is in the books, and two more to go! 

Collection Cleaning and Rearranging: The Tipping Point(s)

The Stablemate avalanche earlier this week was the tipping point for me. (No pun intended.) It was time to do a major rearranging of the models on my shelves. 

I have a growing group of new models that can't fit on the shelf with their counterparts, and the collection hasn't been dusted since I replaced my old shelves with the IKEA ones in 2019. 

There was actually a second tipping point -  I was working in my office and bumped over my Huckleberry Bey conga. They are tippy models and it doesn't take much for them to topple. Time to move them to a better place on the shelves.

I put the Huckleberry Beys on the bed in the spare bedroom for safe keeping while I figured out what I wanted to do.

Then I gathered all my Stablemates and began sorting them.

I didn't count how many I have, but it was more than I'd realized. (A common cry of the collector. Haha!) 

I'm going to hang on to that now empty acrylic riser but I may move the dogs into an enclosed cabinet where they will be safer.

I decided to put my Vintage Club Stablemates and a few Stablemates that I really liked into the Stablemate barn instead of packing them away in a box with the others.
 

The Stablemates are now cleaned, rearranged, and packed away or on display. But I'm not hitting the easy button yet. The rest of the plastics are going to be a huge undertaking, let alone the three china cabinets. My guess is that this will take me at least a week, if not more.

Stay 'tooned! (And wish me luck!)

Shrinking Models

A friend recently sent me photos of some very hard to find model horses that she'd just received. Her initial excitement had turned to dismay when she realized that one of the pieces was a shrinky.

Shrinkies are models from the late 1970s through the 1980s (there are exceptions to those dates)  that are degrading. Signs may include include a vinegar smell, liquid oozing from the model, or the shrinking of the model in size.

I check my collection periodically for shrinkies. While I am sad to see them deteriorate, I don't want them to get to the oozing stage and have liquid pooling on my shelves. The call from my friend prompted me to do a check. Here is a look at them, some of which I already knew about, while others who were a (sad) surprise.

The dapple grey Five Gaiter (1987 - 1988)

American Indian Pony (1988 - 1989)

Project Universe (1987 - 1989)

Dapple Grey Running Mare and Foal (1987 only)

The dark grey foal to the left of the shrinking mare (1991 only)

My sister's old smoke Western Prancer (which she got in the 1970s)

My very early chalky Western Horse (1951 - 1953)

You can see degradation of the plastic on his legs - it's rough, discoloring, and just a mess.

  

He lives in that box bottom - he can no longer stand and while he isn't yet oozing, I'm taking no chances.

Then there are some models in my collection that I am keeping an eye on. (There is some natural shrinkage as the models cool when they come out of the mold so height can vary a bit among pieces from the same mold. Those are not shrinky pieces.)

My JAH Saddlebred Weanling (1990)

Appaloosa Stock Horse Foal (1983 - 1986)

Golden Bay Clydesdale Stallion (1990 - 1991)

Dapple Grey Belgian (1979) He has been this size since I got him decades ago with no more changes, so I don't think he is a shrinky.

There are those who enjoy collecting shrinkies and actively look for them. While I did purchase the grey Running Mare and Foal because they were shrinking, the rest of the shrinkies in my collection began degrading after they'd been with me for a while.

Unwelcome surprises, but not unexpected. That's just a part of collecting.

Preparing for BreyerFest and Live Shows

Like a lot of people, I am preparing for BreyerFest. It is a virtual event again this year, but there will still be selling and buying, and Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile will be there as a vendor.

The question was, just how would I participate? How would I sell my haversacks and the other horse related items that I make?

I debated signing up to be a vendor in the Marketplace, but thousands will be shopping there and I am a pretty small business. I didn't feel I would have enough in stock to sell there.

Opening a room on the Road to BreyerFest Sales and Trade site looked like the best option for me. It's a virtual replica of the evening shopping that BreyerFest attendees do after the Kentucky Horse Park closes for the day.

We head back to the Clarion Hotel which is packed with hobbyists who have thrown their doors open and are selling models, tack, and other things from their motel rooms. This Facebook site is a virtual replica of that, and I felt I could handle any "traffic" that came through my "room" without being overwhelmed.

For several weeks I have been gradually adding haversacks, ornaments, and embroidered towels to my room sales album. (I chose to be room 108 in honor of my first classroom number.)

There is a stack of various sized haversacks on my craft table that have been cut, pinned, and marked. They are ready to sew and then be posted.

But I am not just preparing for BreyerFest sales. Live model horse shows are beginning to open up again, and I'd like to take the Mercantile with me when I attend shows. And for that, I want to have a good selection for shoppers.

I inventoried what I had already  on hand and saw some gaps that I needed to fill. (Of course, that will all change depending on what I sell during BreyerFest. I will inventory and draw up a new "to sew" list the week after BreyerFest.)

A new fabric that just came in - isn't it awesome?

Four weeks after BreyerFest I am attending a live show. That gives me a fairly good cushion of time, but experience has taught me to be prepared early - you never know what life might throw at you. 

I'm sewing right now. 

It's Sleeting Stablemates

I learned the hard way today that Stablemates tumbling off an acrylic riser

sound an awful lot like sleet that is sliding off your roof during a heavy winter storm.

Only two remained after the cascade was over. The others just poured off, with the models on the top riser bringing those below them all the way down to the ground.

Luckily, these clinky dogs were not affected and remained in place, thank goodness. I think it's because they are heavier and the bump to the shelf didn't affect them the same way. 

You'd better believe that I will be careful the next time I am working around that bookshelf. 

Ready to Mutton Bust!

 The rodeo shirts that I made for Pony Pal Cambria and Cowpoke Titan have arrived!

I was more than a little nervous that they might not fit. The kids are in Utah and I am in Indiana - no chance to custom fit the pattern to ensure the size is correct.

Titan was super excited about his shirt (which fit!) and especially the Batman appliqué I added. 

Likewise, Cambria was happy with hers. (Which also fit!) She is holding the surprise I'd tucked in their pockets.

Horseshoe charms for good luck! This is Titan's first year to mutton bust, and I thought that that might make him less nervous about riding a sheep. Luckily, the sheep don't buck like a bronco - they run, and the child rider simply slides off to one side or the other. Minimal opportunity for getting hurt.

I think the horseshoe charms were a bigger hit than the shirts! 

The first rodeo of the summer is this coming Saturday. I'm looking forward to videos of their rides and hearing how they do.

Stay 'tooned!