Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

 

 

May 2014 be a very good year for all of us! =)

 

Christmas Gifts Part 4 - finished and gifted

I managed to finish the medallions in time! Their new owners loves them and I am quite happy with them too as they are the first "models" I've finished in quite some time (and they're probably my best to this day). They are finished in acrylics and pastels and I found that I really like that combination so I am looking forward to finish some more models :)

E's medallion, I call it "Never Give Up" and that is written as a reminder on the back of the medallion. It is a semi-portrait of an Arabian gelding she leased (the mare) and the youngster she worked with at our school (the foal). 

J's medallion, I call it "Believe In Yourself" and that is written as a reminder on the back of the medallion. The mare is painted as a portrait of a mare she took care of for several years. The foal is a bit of an inside joke. She thought about breeding the mare and she said she wished for a bay mare with little white if she would breed her but we joked and said that she would get a chestnut stallion with lots of white. She never got around to breeding her but the chestnut colt thing still lingers on as an inside joke.

Out of all the horses on these medallions my absolute favourite is the chestnut foal. I just love how the shade of chestnut, the shading and the markings came out and worked together. I might be a bit biased to chestnut horses but that also makes me a bit picky with how they look and I am so proud that I could produce a chestnut that I really loved :)

 

M's medallion, I call it "Follow Your Dreams" and that is written as a reminder on the back of the medallion. Is painted as a portrait of her current warmblood gelding (the mare) and her pony (the foal).

 

These medallions were wonderful to paint, I enjoyed pretty much every minute! They weren't that easy to paint, it was actually quite hard to get in to all the small spaces without putting paint in the wrong places but I liked the challenge :)

 

Merry Christmas!

I just want to wish you all a very, merry Christmas =D
So...

 

Merry Christmas!


 

 

And a song (or two) to get in the right mood =D

 

Fourth Sunday of Advent

A day too late, I know, but I just had no time to post it yesterday.

Fourth Sunday of Advent means gift wrapping! =D

 

Tomorrow it is Christmas Eve and time to celebrate Christmas with lots of food and good company :)

 

Christmas gifts part 3

Remember these? The T.I.B.B.P medallions I'm painting as Christmas gifts for my best friends. They've actually come quite some way since you last saw them.

I start with apologizing for the bad lightning and photos. It's getting dark early around here right now and I'm often not finished painting 'til it's dark outside so the photos are the best I can manage right now.

They've gone from...

...prepped and primed...

... to first layers of paint...

 

...to more layers of paint...

 

...to lots of layers of paint.

 

This is their current state. The grey mare still needs her fleabits but other than that there's only details left to do, and the background of course.

 

Next time you'll see them I promise to give you better pictures and by then they will be finished =)

Third Sunday of Advent

The third Sunday of Advent is the day when we make all the Christmas cookies and candies. We gather family and, sometimes, friends and do this.

We still put together a gingerbread house and decorates it.

 

We also make knäck which is one of my favourite Christmas treat. It is not the easiest thing to pour into the tiny, tiny forms but when done right, they are really tasty.

And a type of saffron buns we call Lussekatter. Actually we usually do these for Lucia, the 13th December, but we sometimes do them for Christmas too.

We also make chokladbollar which roughly translates to chocolate balls.

Another, newer tradition we added to our Christmas goodies are Mozartkugeln. Our version of Mozartkugeln consists of a small cube of nougat rolled in a small ball of almond paste that is then dipped in chocolate. This is another one of my favourites.

And of course we play a lot o Christmas music :)

Performance plans Justin Tyme



1. Analyze your horse.
My horse is a Justin Tyme resin. I will show him as a Warmblood, probably with some Thoroughbred influences. He is in a lovely jumping pose (oh yes, I'm definitely biased =P). He has an unbraided mane and an unbraided tail. So, as for performance possibilities he pretty much needs something to jump over.

2. Find some ideas and/or inspiration.
Oh, I already have all the inspiration I need =) At least for a cross country set up :) I have plans to show him in other disciplines as well; show jumping and probably something else that my imagination can come up with =P But that will have to wait for later. Cross country first!




(C) by Sophie Nordström

I've always loved the rolex water jump at cross country competitions and I was inspired by that jump when I made my stablemate cross country set up. I want to make that into a traditional scale jump! Not exactly the same but similar to it at least =)

3. Search for reference material.
I need a saddle, a bridle, boots, breastplate and martingale. A rider with light breeches and dark long sleeved sweater, jumping boots, helmet, safety vest, a crop and maybe a pair of spurs. For the jump I'll need a base, preferably a plastic tray so that I can use the solid water. A piece of wood to make the "height" to jump from. Some round rods to make a jump and the front end of the "height". Some balsa wood to make the flags.

4. Make a list!
Bell boots
Saddle pad
English jumping saddle
Figure-8 bridle
Jumping boots
5-point breastplate
Running martingale
Rider - with safety vest and helmet
Jump - with flags

5. Start making/looking.

Then we come to the really funny part! Start making things or if you can't make'em by yourself, find someone who can :)

I've already gotten some awesome accessories for him =D

 



Second Sunday of Advent

Second Sunday of Advent. Today is the day we bring in the Christmas tree and decorates it :) So what fits better then some pictures of past Christmas trees.

 

 

And of course a suitable song :)

Show jumping

Note: These are rules and regulations are for show jumping competitions in Sweden. I am not very familiar with rules and regulations in other countries so I can't guarantee that these are valid in any other country.

Rider's Equipment
Riders should wear riding breeches, a turtleneck or a shirt with sleeves. On top of that they should wear a riding jacket. On lower competitions (such as local competitions and riding club competitions) it is allowed to wear a riding club jacket or a long-sleeved sweater instead of a riding jacket. Safety vests are allowed to wear under or over the riding jacket (all riders under the age of 18 MUST wear a safety vest). Riding boots or jodhpurs with half chaps. Riding gloves are optional. Of course a helmet should be worn.

In case of bad weather the judge may grant permission for the riders to use a rain coat instead of a riding jacket. The judge may also grant permission to ride without the riding jacket if the weather is very hot.

Spurs and riding crops are also allowed when competing. The crop may not be longer than 75cm.

Horse Tack
 A horse should wear a saddle (an all-purpose saddle or a jumping saddle, of English type, suggested). As for the bridles, hackamores are allowed. No double-bits. Cavesson bridles, flash bridles, drop noseband bridles and figure-8 bridles are allowed. A running martingale is the only "help-rein" allowed in the showring. Fly bonnets are allowed. Boots to protect the legs are allowed on all four legs.

Jumps
Jumps are always marked with a red flag on the right jump standard and a white on the left. On wide jumps, that have more than one jump standard, both the fore and the rear standards should be equipped with flags. Start and finish lines are also marked with flags just like the jumps. Jumps are also numbered.

There are different kinds of jumps allowed in a show jumping competition. It can include gates, planks and oxers for example. Google is your friend, you'll find great references there :)

 

 

Examples of suitable models



(C) by Sophie Nordström
Silver Echo, Breyer Tr. Newsworthy OF



Justin Tyme resin

 

AA Chasing Rainbows

 A model doesn't have to actually be jumping the obstacle to show in a show jumping class. There are many good examples of models who could be approaching the jump. For example:

Breyer Sm. G3 Warmblood

Breyer Traditional Show Jumping Warmblood



First Sunday of Advent

Today it's the first Sunday of Advent! It's time to light the first candle in the candlestick but since I'm not home and I wont decorate my apartment since I will be going home for Christmas, I thought I'd have some Christmas spirit on the blog instead!

Today we would've been busy putting up all the Christmas decorations in the entire house.

 

Of course we would've played a lot of Christmas music too so here's a Christmas song for you too :)