NaMoPaiMo, and Playing Catch Up (Again!)

 Hi everyone!

I hope you had a good February! As I mentioned in my last post, I've still been struggling with mental health & motivation in working on projects. However, one project that kept me busy and DID get completed was my NaMoPaiMo horse! 2022 marks my 5th year participating (4th year of being "official"), and I'm happy to report that it bought me a lot of joy and very little stress during the month. 

Here is "Rainbow Veins"! Basecoated in black acrylic, gold details also in acrylic, rainbow stripes in holographic glitter added to a glitter topcoat medium, and finished in a finer holographic glitter nail polish!

I had a blast figuring out how make make this technique look like how I imagined it, and along the way I finished one "test" model (also a unicorn Greyson) with different accent color and silver holo glitter, and another model using similar techniques is still in progress, which will get done...at some point! 

In other news, there have been a few exciting arrivals! 

Dax arrived alongside the other two "Breyer Breeds" series models I was interested in! (I bought the QH Gelding last month)

I "finished" my biggest G2 conga, the Stock Horse, for now! 

Mini Bright Zip was the last one that I needed, aside from the swirled plastic models that were used as trivia prizes at various Exclusive Events. Those are quite hard to come by, and very expensive, so I am holding off deciding if I want to pursue any in the future. I have other models that are needed for G2 congas that are not quite so rare and expensive that I would like to pick up before I go after the really rare pieces. 

Unfortunately, the swap meet that I was going to attend on Saturday got postponed, but this was a bit of a blessing, because it allowed me to focus all my energy on a major event for a different hobby (a digital one) which had been scheduled for the same day. I signed up for both without double checking the dates, initially, oops! 

BreyerFest tickets were posted last Wednesday (in person tickets, virtual will be posted later), and I was surprised that I was able to get a VIP package (I was only going for them if they were available, if they sold out super quick I wasn't going to think it was a big deal). However, I am pleased that this went through and I was able to secure most of the models I'm interested in. Getting the 4-pack of event Stablemates was definitely a big perk, since otherwise, I would have had to gamble with single tickets, or try my luck/have my pickup person try their luck in the Store (I haven't decided if I'm going myself, yet). I chose the crystal (a must have for my mom) and the Best of BF SM set for Limited Editions (has a couple molds that I conga). I went with Stein and a Surprise for my Special Runs. At the very least, if it ends up being Hamilton (I still doubt this but I will continue to be paranoid until they actually use him, haha) I will have at least one copy guaranteed. Stein I chose because he is one of, if not the most popular of the known runs. I decided that I like him and Rapunzel slightly more than most of the others. The rest of them are about the same in terms of how much I like them, aside from Franz and Brahms who I'd rather not get. I'm still toying with the idea of getting a second ticket to have another shot at the Surprise, especially since there are too many unknowns for me at this point to plan on applying to volunteer again. The only other models I definitely want are the Online Exclusives, the Georg and the soccer ball Clydesdale. 

I do like the idea of vouchers for the Special Runs this year. I can bet there will still be some lines, especially towards the beginning of the weekend as people try and sus out of there are any variations, and finding out the Surprise mold/colors, for people who enjoy the standing in line experience- just go when it's busy ;) I figure if I did get a second ticket, it's worth it to pay for whatever I end up with, and if that's not something I want, it's easy enough to swap with someone else before or at the event. I'm not overly worried about any of it, really. It'll work out the way it does. Unless Hammy is the Surprise or they gloss Marc of Charm as an Open Show sectional prize etc, I won't have much to panic over. 

Thank you to all for hanging in there with me and being patient with my basically non-existent posting "schedule" for these blogs! 

Also- if you haven't participated in my "Breyer Favorites" survey series, there is still time! Check out more details and links in the previous blog post :)