Results!

Last week, well just over a week ago now I attended Deb Davis' Live Show held in Northampton's Rothersthorpe Hall, called Mini's Mania. As the name suggests, this was a show for models up to "Mini Haggis Size". The perfect place to showcase Very Little One!

There were some fantastic models on display (the lighting is notoriously difficult for photography at Rothersthorpe, so please excuse my awful photos), including no less than THREE "Kick the Can" resins sculpted and painted (I believe) by Tammy Myrold:

There were also a good number of models painted by the UK superstar finishwork artist, Naomi Coffin (or "Nell"), such as this gorgeous SMB Vixen:

I brought along the three copies of Very Little One that are painted, I had pre-arranged one sale and the Cremello was instantly snapped up as soon as it was unwrapped.  So as a result of this all three VLO models were shown by three different people.  Also, as the Youngstock AR section had been expanded all three models just so happened to be shown in three different classes too!  The wonderful result of this is that ALL THREE Very Little Ones won a first place in their classes!  This means that all three have qualified to be shown at both the UK championship shows, the BMECs and LEMS.



 The Cremello had a fantastic day - not only winning it's class (Light Breed Youngstock - shown as an Akhal Teke) but also winning first place in the Workmanship class for "Other Colour", which also qualifies it to enter the Workmanship classes at LEMs, and also the UK Workmanship classes at Lems as it was painted by UK artist Deb Brown.  I think the pale blue card is for BMECs (previously MECs) Workmanship too.

I can't explain how thrilled I am about these results, it bodes well for Very Little One's future and has really given me a boost.

Just to show how versatile the models is, the collector that had the Pinto Very Little One (also painted by Deb Brown) went on to use it's base for another model in a separate section - this super-sweet CM Breyer donkey by Janice Williford had everyone "aww"ing wen they saw it.

Now that the initial surge for VLO has passed and I have been able to cast enough models to tide me over for a while, I can start thinking about the next release.  Three years ago (I'm shocked it's been so long!!) I created a set of Christmas models based on my first ever resin release, Lawrence, Claude and Baldy (they were released in resin in 2006).  I've been wanting to offer a new Christmas model each year but obviously haven't managed that so far!

This year though, I have something to offer, it is a model I cast over 350 copies of last year (hence the lack of Christmas model then, I was super-busy casting!!) for the Midwinter's Night Ball 2010 show held by Shannon Southard, they were given as prizes at the show.  I reserved the rights to produce it as a Christmas special this year in a limited run should I wish, and given that I've not seen a single one for sale since last year (I'm hoping this is because those who won them liked them enough to keep them), I think a few more are in order!

If you're curious to see what the model is, do a search on my blog for "Snowflake" and see what you come up with.  I'll blog more about this soon.  I'm planning a run of up to 20 copies, probably less, as with the nights drawing in I have less time to cast and Christmas is drawing in fast!  Here's a look at a couple of the finishes I'm planning to use, all of the medallions will be split finish like the last Christmas models I did, but the colours will vary much more. I'll cast at least some of the edition to order, as everyone has different preferences on colour, expecially when we start talking Christmas decorations!

Very Little Milestone :o)

Very Little One is half sold out!  Seems odd to acknowledge this as a milestone, but as I decided to more than double the size of the edition from Little One (which was about 115 copies) to Very Little One (VLO) at 250 copies, this is a very good indication that an increase in edition size was warranted.  It's taken a month for VLO sales to reach this figure, so I'm very comfortable with the edition size, I think this time everyone who wants a copy soon will be able to get one but I don't think the market will be so flooded that they won't be able to sell them again later on should they wish.

This photo shows some raw models waiting to be tidied, I decided to show this here as it shows the baby pink and blue bases, it took a while to get the shade just to my liking.  The coloured foals had already been tidied when I took this photo. 

 Just for fun, here's a pic of a totally raw, fresh from the mold model:

And here is the lovely Acorn, who will be making her debut at "Mini's Mania", a Live Show that's to be held quite near me (no long-distance adventures this time) on Saturday.  She was finally released from being (wrongly, grumble...) held hostage by the Customs people:

On a totally unrelated note, at 20:10 on the 20th October 2010, the Girl Guides held their Centenary celebrations, where Rainbows, Brownies and Girl Guides the world over renewed their promise, or, like me said it for the first time.  I am a unit helper at a local Girl Guides centre and I found the celebrations quite meaningful, if a little cold!  This firework was the final one of the evening, and went with quite a BOOM!

Cooking with gas... and a whole lot of rubber!

Well, a lot has happened since my last post, Very Little One has been well received and the edition is now half sold out.  This is particularly gratifying as I chose to double the edition size for this model; had I not done that, it would now be sold out!  Thankyou to all who've ordered, check out below for some info on where I am with creating all these babies.

Firstly, let me introduce Acorn.  I've had a few Guest Artist copies back (some are yet to be sent out, please note if you're a Guest Artist and not received your copies yet), and am currently on hot coals awaiting the arrival of this little lady who is on her way back to me.  Acorn was painted by Mindy Berg, who is just THE nicest lady to deal with.  I'd not finished my custom base when I sent the model out to Mindy, so she created this lovely base for Acorn.  I'm absolutely blwon away with the detail on this little gal, her appy blanket is so tiny, I feel I have to remind myself that the foal is only an inch across!

So, with all these orders I've ramped up the production and have been working non-stop (apart from sleep and the day-job, that is) to get them all cast.  I've learnt from previous editions, and had 4 molds ready to go before I began, but as I've been casting I've also been mold-making, and on Monday evening I had a total of... 9 molds on the go at once!

As I go, I learn, and this model has taught me a lot about mold-making. Firstly (with inspiration from Lynn Fraley's blog, in particular this post) I created a two-part mold.  Armed with some Lego and some Newplast (which I feel is a little hard for this purpose, but did the job ok) I created this:

Now, I know that any ceramic casting artists would cringe when they see this, that ear sticking out like that -would never work with a plaster mold, but as I'm going to use a rubber mold to make resin copies, and as this is my first attempt at a two-part production mold, I thought this would be ok.  So I built up the Lego to a higher level, filled it with rubber (red) and let that cure.

This is the result - after carefully removing all of the blue Newplast clay, the rubber part I poured now acted as the Newplast did before.  I simply rebuilt the Lego back up, then (after using plenty of mold-release to stop the new rubber sticking to the existing rubber) poured the other half of the mold (using blue rubber).

 And here is the result once I'd carefully removed all the Lego and both halves of the rubber mold from the original.

Before I used this mold for production (I did a test-cast first to make sure it worked), I created two "mold-masters" - I didn't want to have to go through the whole claying up process time after time, so I removed the original resin model and poured a resin cast, in a similar way to above but without the original model being there. This gave me a mold, to make my mold, from.  It's confusing, but very time-saving!

This mold worked well, but I had an upsetting number of casts come out with eartip bubbles.  I had cut a vent from the chin to the base to allow the air out from the foal's muzzle which is an air-trap, but the ears, I couldn't do much with.  I created 4 molds from my mold master (this is why pigment is so important - each mold is a matching colour, apart from the original red/blue one pictured above) and fought the eartip bubble-battle for over 70 casts.  Eventually however, I conceded to the fact I really needed a three-part mold.

After consulting the blogs of several ceramic casters (I use ceramic as a blanket term for Earthenware, Bone China and all things ultimately clinky, as I don't fully understand the various grades yet), I knew what I needed was a "hat".  Lesli Kathman has a lovely post explaining about ceramics molds in her post here.  So, out came the Newplast, but this time in TWO colours!

This process had me head-scratching a fair bit!  Eventually I made this; you may notice the base is smaller; this means I will use less rubber to make the mold, which is bost cost-effective, and means I can fit more molds into my vacuum chamber therefore casting more copies in one go.  So, after taking this photo I built up the Lego, then poured the first piece.  Then I removed all f the grey clay, leaving the rubber and the blue clay left, and poured the second piece.  Then finally I removed the blue clay and poured the third piece.

I tried the new three part mold out a few times, and it worked wonders - EVERY model I cast came out with two perfectly pointy eartips!  So, I set about making a new set of "mold-masters", this time though I used a slow-setting very hard rubber, instead of fast-curing resin which can shrink a touch when curing.  Here you can see the two large parts inside their Lego frames, and a round mold I made for the little "hat" piece.

And there we go!  At the time I took this photo (below), I was using all four original molds (pouring resin into the ear before casting, to stop the eartip bubble problems.  These are in the photo below, the red, yellow and blue on the left, and the red/blue at the bottom right); two of the new three piece molds (the whitish one on the lest and the yellow one at the front) and three base molds, which are cast just like medallions using one-piece molds.  In the photo you can also see the two Lego boxes containing the new mold-masters.  The red mold behind the Lego boxes is a "Random Ball" mold.  Random balls are a mysterious phenomenon which occur during midnight casting sessions, watch out for random balls making random appearances throughout my blog, you might even be able to make one out in the photo below, lurking at the back!

The photo also shows the other tools I use when casting - mixing pots, I use a LOT of those! and in several different sizes too.  The red bowl on the right of the photo is just a plastic bowl (I forget what sort of plastic - it doesn't stick to the uncured resin so is very handy!) that I use as a bin - you can probably see the "snow" that accumulates during casting, all these tiny bits of resin get everywhere, so I keep that bowl handy and put all the little bits of resin in there, which does help to reduce the snow a bit.  Sometimes I wonder if I spend more time cleaning my "studio" (aka the conservatory) than I do casting!!

And finally in the photo, you can see the fruits of my labours.  This was a particularly successful evening, I cast 20 succesful foals and 10 bases in all, which is a really good result from an evening's casting (I start when I get home from work and finish at about midnight on average when I have a lot of models to cast).

Since taking this photo I've made two more 3 piece molds (orange and red), and I've retired my red/blue mold, it did very well for an experimental mold, casting about 25 copies, it is stil ok but now I have the new three piece molds I'll retire the older 2 piece ones ones, then they will still have a little life left in them just in case I need an "emergency" mold later on.

That's all for today, a bit of a catch-up I know, but I have more to tell - just not enough time to keep up with my blogging too!!

Shipping Update:

I have now cast almost all of the models sold, and am currently awaiting delivery of the Certificates of Authenticity (some people sold second quality castings of Little One as firsts, I want to avoid that so will now have COAs for all my models) and then they will be on their way - I was hoping for this weekend but it may now be early next week before they ship.  I'll update as soon as possible.

There's a new kid on the block!

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post!  Things have been chugging along at a slow and steady pace recently, up until the last few weeks when production has gone into overdrive.

And here is the reason, meet:

Very Little One

This is Very Little One, a stablemate scale version of Little One, the small-traditional scale model released last year.  I had intended to create a mini version from the beginning and after Little One sold out so quickly I had wanted to get the mini out sooner.

I originally planned on having the model 3D laser scanned, as my career job (as opposed to my creative "job" with the models/artwork) is very heavily involved with 3D technology, however, for all our technological wizardry, I've not yet found a decent scanner easily available in this country!  So I eventually sculpted this mini from scratch and it is a pretty faithful representation of the larger model, I just wish I'd done this sooner!

Very Little One is available now, and today I completed the base for it too, which is available as an option.  Details on the model are on Model Horse Sales Pages and I'll be posting photos of the base on there tomorrow when I can get some nicely lit photos.

• Edition details: 250 resin casts*, 200 of which will be white, 25 baby pink and 25 baby blue.  I've listed all the models with the coloured ones mixed in and as paid orders come in the coloured models are allocated, so it's quite random and unpredictable (unless you buy five or ten!).  I decided to complicate things like this, as casting hundreds of white resin models can become quite tedious, so adding a splash of colour keeps my motivation up as well as adding a little bit of fun and some nice surprises to the edition.  All of the models can be painted in the regular way, and are all covered by my "good resin guarantee" (details can be provided on request as my website is currently under construction).  *I may cast a small number of metal, clear or special resin copies in different colours to those listed above, I jut can't help myself sometimes!
• Price details: £16, €20 or $25 for each foal.  There is an optional base which is an additional £6, €8 or $10 (if the symbols don't display on your email, that is 16 GB Pounds, 20 Euros or 25 US dollars - I usually sell an equal amount of models to the UK, Europe and the US so have to cover all bases.  Outside of these areas please contact me, but it will be the US prices)
• Postage details: £3, €4 or $6 for up to two foals including bases.  Please add 50p, €1 or $1 for each additional model (inc. base).  All foals will be packaged with extra special care.
• Payment details: please contact me to arrange all payments, but note that you are welcome to pay in either $ US dollars, € Euros or £ GBP, regardless of your location.
• Dates: Casting is in progress, however I have a week's holiday shortly so am holding off the start of posting until mid October.
• Charity: I have allocated a number of models and donated them to my chosen fundraisers, TIBBP.  They will be under the control of TIBBP's super-mom Janice Williford.  Unfortunately I cannot offer any further copies as show donations at this point, however the Live Shows I attend may well receive a copy for their raffle :o)

I think that's everything covered, if you'd like to order a model or ask any questions, just reply to this blog (if you receive them by email) or please contact me via the MH$P page here.

Finally, here is a size comparison between the original Little One (missing an ear unfortunately!), and Very Little One.  For more photos please check out my Picasa album here, I'll be adding more photos as aften as I can.

Finally I would like to thank everyone that has already ordered their Very Little Ones, and everyone that ordered a Little One model last year or indeed any of my creations.  Your continued interest in my work is wondeful motivation!

Congratulations Lauren!

A huge congratulations to Lauren Hoeffer (previously Lauren Tapley) on her Reserve Champion placing at NAN with her Little One called Miranda.

Check out Miranda’s silver cookie, rosette and feline friend here

Jasper’s progress

Here’s an update on my old friend Jasper, he’s made the transition into resin, however I have to extensive re-working to do yet.  Still, I’m very pleased to have got him this far and fingers crossed will have him completed within months, not years.

Follow this link to Jasper's photo album

The mojo is back!!

I'm very pleased to announce the return of my mojo!  This is a huge relief as I've been suffering with a "writer's block" situation for a little while, brought on by the increase in responsibilties in my job and I've been unable to shake it until now.
I've updated the look of my blog now (you won't see this if you're on email messages), just a subtle revamp to freshen things up a bit.  My website is down at the moment, I'm having a disaggreement with my domain name provider wanting to charge me $180 to renew it!  Not to worry though, I can get it for the usual reasonable rate but just have to hold off for a month or so, so I'm hoping to revamp the website when I renew it too.
Lots of exciting things have been going on in the last few weeks - the biggest leap forward has been the creating of a mold for Jasper, so he is now in resin and I can begin to finalise him - yippee!!  He's still a way off, but I'm hoping I'm down to months left on him now, rather than years.
I have a fantastic announcement also, the "Little One" resin that was so astonishingly popular is to be released in Earthenware by Joanie Berkwitz!  See her blog post here. The bit mentioning Little One is in the last paragraph.
Talking of Little One, you may have noticed that I never did offer those last three models in the lottery.  Well.  They needed a couple of holes filling in, and... I may have got a bit carried away - I have customised two of them now to a filly and a colt, with resculpted tails and the colt has repositioned legs and has been carved away underneath so is no longer flat-based.  I'm working on prepping these models and am thinking about how to offer them.  I'm hoping to have the opportunity to paint them myself, then I would offer them up on eBay or MH$P for offers, as I've no idea how I would price them then (I never paint models, but I do pastel portraits so am mildy confident in getting something relatively realistic).
Anyway, that's not all!  I've been commissioned to produce some awards for the MECs show in August, MECs is one of the two annual championship shows (the other is called LEMs).  I'm producing some mini-medallion models and will be producing a small run of normal sized medallions for the show, so this is taking my time up for now.  The mini medallions kind of look like wine gums at the moment, I'll post a pic when I've got a few more cast - they're very sweet!
Sorry for the mad-dash update, busy busy as always!

A little blog post

I haven't posted for ages, so I'm posting a quick blog while I have a few moments (sadly I've been THAT busy since the New Year).

I'm currently in West Yorkshire for a long weekend visit (very long, until Tuesday or Wednesday), visiting my good friend Beccy and her three Greyhounds with my Cocker Spaniel, Bruno.  It's been very hard to photograph them all together (as I'm sure any dog owner can relate to!), but here's one shot I have managed to get:

The scenery up here is amazing!  Hilly Yorkshire is a world away from the flat Northamptonshire landscape, the views here are truly awesome and typially impossible-to-capture using 2D photography!  Here is one attempt to capture it though, also shoing a trio of horses in a field we walked through (dogs with leads on, of course):

We walked along the "spine of the Pennines" today, the weather was beautiful, the wind was bracing and the dogs had an absolute ball running through the fields and woodlands.
Another of our friends, Ann, joined us today and we also visited the local pub with breathtaking panoramic views, complete with gorgeous British Bulldog sat in the dog-friendly bar (yey!).
Naturally, as with any friend-visit, the "cold snakes" were as entertaining as ever :o)

Back on-topic next time!

Congratulations Deeann, Marcy and Lorie!!

Congratulations ladies, a Little One is reserved for you!
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There is one lottery left which I will announce shortly - there may be a slight change in the colours though, I'll update as soon as I know for sure what's happening.
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I've been feeling increasingly sad about the fact that I cannot provide a Little One to everyone who wanted one.  I feel I bent the rules slightly releasing the coloured models as it is, but I want everyone who has entered the lotteries and not been successful to know that I will make sure that everyone involved in this process will receive a little something - I'm not sure what yet, it might be a discount on a future purchase from me, or even a little something in the post, I'm not sure yet but for eveyone who has entered so far, I am SO humbled by your support and hope I can provide a little something to thank you properly.
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The final lottery may be a week or two away, as I have to do a bit of work on the remaining models to make them sales-ready.  Please be patient, the 50+ hour weeks I'm working at the moment have me chasing my tail a little.
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Third Lottery

Hi all!

Here they are, the third set of lottery models:

Lemon Little One

Pink Little One

Blue Little One

As I mentioned previously, these models are good casts (pink has an ear-chip) but have some issues typical to home-casting, so here's some extra info on each one - you can see photos of each using the links above.  If you choose to paint your model, normal prepping will be required, coloured resin paintes exactly the same way that white resin does.

Lemon - air bubble on chin - easy fix. Air bubble on hoof, simple fix and you'll need to recreate the edge of the hoof.  There are a couple of spots on the model where resin remnants from previous casts show (this happens on white resins but you don't see them), note the photo of the o/s neck and face.

Pink - small air bubble on chin, easy fix.  Air bubble in hoof, easy fix.  Resin remnant showing on n/s side.  One ear chip, but I would file the other one down and smooth the chipped one rather than try to rebuild eartip, just my opinion but as-is, the ears are uneven.

Blue - actually lilac but basically blue.  Air bubble on chin, minor repair required, simple smooth/rebuild of edge of lip.  Pigmented resin showing, see the photos of this.  Model is still covered by my good resin guarantee (see website) and should paint up just fine.

I discovered an extra model today - in the original post about these models, I showed a photo of all the ones I cast - see there are two green ones, well when I cleaned the seams etc on them, somehow the little Green guy got left out, so he is still raw, and didn't show in the later photos.  So, the final lottery will be for 3 models; a lilac, a peach AND a green!

Same rules apply as before for the lottery - post a comment, drop me and email (reply to this post) or contact me via my website.  Don't forget to let me have some way to contact you, but remember not to post your email address or any personal details on any public place.  If comments take a while to show, it's cos I moderate them.

Congratulations Jennifer B, Carla and Michelle MG-D!!!

Well done ladies, you have a Little One reserved for you!
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JENNIFER B, your breymere email address doesn't work, please can you get in touch ASAP to claim your GREEN Little One!
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Three more models to be offered soon, then two more after that and they're gone!
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Thank you again to everyone who entered, I had an overwhelming response with over 30 entries to this offer.  I'm really sad I can't offer a copy to everyone who wants one, but keep watching as there is a rumour of a "Very Little One" in the works circulating... ;o)

Second Installment of Little Ones

Here we go, the second trio are now open to lottery entries:

Pink Little One

Green Little One

Blue Litte One

Please do have a look at the photos in the Photobucket album, all bubbles, seams etc are highlighted in the photos.  The blue model in this blog's draw has a marble effect that some may like, some may not (it's still covered by my good resin guarantee :o)  Please note that the remaining pink model (to be sold later on) has an eartip missing, so if you want a pink one to display then this one is a better one to go for.  The ears can be ground down on the other pink model so if you prefer smaller ears then wait for that one.

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To register your interest, please either:

• Leave a comment on THIS blog (all entries are carried over from previous blog posts) OR
• Drop me an email, OR
• Contact me via my website here
• REMEMBER - if you don't leave a way I can contact you, your contact won't count, so make sure you leave a user ID and forum so I can trace you, or your email address if you're emailing me privately or going through the Contact Us form.

Thank you to everyone who entered the last blog lottery, all your entries will be carried over, but please feel free to drop me a line again with a new preference if you have one.  Thank you too to everyone's lovely comments, it seems these "peeps" style models were well timed for Easter (unintentional, I promise).

Congratulations Lydia, Denise and Laura

Just a little post to let you all know that the people chosen in the Lottery have been emailed today.
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I listed the names of everyone who entered, then asked a colleague to pick some random numbers to decide who got them.
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Congratulations Lydia, Denise and Laura DT* and to everyone else who entered thank you so much and I'll be posting the next three models shortly!
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The swirly purple/blue model has now been donated to a fundraising photo show being run by my good freind Beccy Fielding.  Beccy has three rescued Greyhounds and would like to show her support to the charity that rescues them; http://www.tiagreyhounds.org.uk/index.html.  Beccy's Photo Show is looking to be a rather special show with a large number of prizes including some really special models!  If you photo show, why not enter  for a chance to win, and help raise some money for charity at the same!  If you're interesting in entering, drop me an email and I'll forward it to Beccy (I don't like posting email addresses here, just in case), or if you know her drop her a line direct.
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*Ladies, please check your inboxes for an email from me, if nothing comes drop me a line.

Finally, we have Little Ones!!!

Well, here they are, the final (unplanned) batch of Little Ones!  Shown in the photo below are all of the solid coloured copies I'll be offering on the blog.  Not pictured yet is the swirly blue/lilac decorator style copy, as I'm not sure if that will be offered on here or donated to a local cause.

If you look at the image above, the models are set out in rows showing which are available when, so the top row shows the three I'm offering today (blue/peachy/lemon), then the next row is the pink/green/blue, which will be offered in my next blog, then lemon/pink/lilac, and finally the other lilac (slightly more pink than the first) and the final peachy one.  I can't say when these blogs will be made, it depends completely on when I get a chance to blog, as I'm now working full time again.

Please note: my camera doesn't pick up the pink in the lilac/purple colours, so these are pinker than they show in the photo.  I've tried everything to fix this but you'll just have to trust me that the lilacs are actually lilac, and not blue.  The peachy colours are also more subdued than the phots show, however they are a bit more vibrant than peach (but they're not orange, hehe).

So, today I am offering this trio.  As with all late-mold casts, there are the inevitible air-bubbles, so I've taken detailed shots of each model, as some copies will need a couple of air-bubbles filling in.  None need any resculpting apart form the final two (and one pink one needs an ear-tip), which I will work on before they are released.  I would recommend looking at these photos before making your comment just so that you are clear of what you are aiming to buy.  The models are coloured using pigments so can be prepped and painted the same way as any "normal" white resin can.  All copies are covered by my good resin guarantee, details of this are on my website http://www.kelly-savage.com/

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The pigment sits on the surface of the model, so where I have sanded these down it shows lighter, hence the lighter patches on the models' cheecks and forelegs.

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I put all the photos of the models into a Photobucket album, and the following links take you to the first image of each of the models available.

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Blue Little One

Peachy Little One

Lemony Little One

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As these models are in addition to the original edition of around 120 models, so I can't just sell them, I think this would be unfair to those that already have copies (especially as I'll be selling these at the original issue price of £30 / Euro40 / $50 plus postage).

SO...

If you would like a chance to buy one of the models I'm offering this time (ONLY the blue, peachy or yellow for this blog), then you need to leave a comment on this blog post, with a hint at which one you'd like, and some way to get in touch with you (DO NOT type out your email in case of spammers, but put your ID and the forum you're on, use your Google ID or your name if you've bought anything from me before, and details of what you bought, or if you're on MH$P I can get to you that way).

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I'll give it a couple of days to allow all time-zones an equal chance, then I'll choose 3 people to have one of these Little ones each.  If I don't get enough comments, they'll eventually head on to MH$P and will sold on a first come first served basis, or will be donated to local shows and causes.

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Please ONLY comment about the copies in THIS blog post, all the models in the top photo above will be sold in this way over the next few weeks so if you're after a lilac or pink for instance, be patient and they'll come up soon.  You can comment on as many blog posts as you'd like too, if you don't mind which colour you'd like.

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All comments are moderated, so if there is a delay until you see your comment please be patient, if you can't comment for any reason or are not sure if I got your comment yet, drop me an email by either replying to this blog email (if you're subscribed) or via the contact me page on my website.

Fallen at the first hurdle (balls of various styles...)

I know, I know, I said I'd post every Friday and the first week (it's now Sunday, sigh) I fail - BUT - I have a valid excuse this week, as I can now reveal a secret I've been (very badly) keeping for a while now, as the show it was for is this weekend!

Here is the model that has had me working through nights, cutting my fingers to pieces, going to work with resin under my fingernails, up my arms and once even in my hair!  This is Snowflake Frodo, a variation on the minified Frodo model I sculpted a year or two ago.

He was commissioned by Shannon Southard for her A Midwinter's Night Ball Live Show which is being held today and tomorrow in Fort Worth, Texas in the US.
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I "met" Shannon over a model horse sale back in early Spring, and we got to discussing the possibilities of my supplying her with a large number of medallions for her to use a prizes at the show.  Originally she asked for 240 but that quickly went up to over 260.  She loved the Frodo medallion and asked if I coud add that pony to a snowflake or something wintry.
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So, in August I thought it was time to get to work on this project and set to work creating a snowflake, I was pleasanty surprised to find that I was able to create a unique snowflake design - actually creating a snowflake with 6 identical points was tricky, involving several rounds of casting and re-casting to get the shape right.  After that I added the Frodo to the front, using a carefully trimmed part-cast of Mini Frodo and an obscene amount of Apoxie-Sculpt!  Shannon approved the design and I got casting, she wanted mainly wintry colours but I did stray a little from the brief and cast a few warmer colours, some of which Shannon liked and added to the models going to Texas and some of which I kept (to become a SR next winter).  Here is a Sky Blue copy, still a little untidy (each copy had to be trimmed with a scalpel to get those edges crisp; a job that took as long as the casting process for each, and resulted in several cut fingers!) but you get the general idea.

Here is another copy, this time a black model with a red interference colour added - I had an absolute ball (no pun intended) casting all the different colours!

I didn't think I'd taken any photos of the whole lot of them, but I came across this pic today taken just before I packed tem all up:

This photo shows the 272 (I think, give or take a couple) of models that were sent to Shannon.  It's rotated on my screen (should be landscape, not portrait) but the models along the bottom (or left, viewing it portrait) are split finish copies.  I didn't get nice clear pics like those above of all the models, but here's a less-than-glamorous photo of one of the split finish copies, which were to be for the higher-placing winners.

Interestingly, a by-product of casting all these fabulous colours is this:

This is a ball sat on a mold.  Slightly random...
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I had a stone ball lying about, one of those decorative things, I've had them for years, I just like how they feel in your hand.  Anyway, whilst making one of the 20 (yipes!) or so molds for the snowflakes (the snowflake proved quite harsh on the molds), I had some rubber left over and I really hate waste, so was dashing around trying to find something to make a mold of before it cured and was wasted, and found the stone ball.  I had a little circular plastic clip (not sure where that was from) which kept the ball stable and still in the mould-casing (mold/mould, it's a US/UK thing, I tend to waver between the two modes), so I whacked in the rubber and hey presto!  A mold to play with!  I found that I consistently mixed a little over the amount required for each Snowflake Frodo (much better to mix too much than too little and need to top up the mix), so each time this happened I first cast the Lego (trademark) brick (something that helps me re-create a model previously cast and sold, I write the "recipe" on the brick and this works a treat), which I do with every new colour, and then I put the remaining resin into the ball mould.  This created, during the creation of the 270+ copies (actually 350+ as I received a dodgy batch of rein and it took a while before I got confirmation of this, sigh!) over 30 "Random Balls", which is how they've now been christened.
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If you'd like a random ball, get in touch, they didn't cost much in materials considering they're a by-product, but I really like them, in fact, I keep a few at work and randomly change them, just to see if anyone notices, hehe!
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Ok, moving on!  I revisited the mold for the Little Ones this week.  I was in the mood to experiment with resin pigments and needed to play with a mold, and chose the Little One mold.  I had a bit of resin that needed using up (it comes in large gallon containers, so if there'sonly a few hundred ml left, it won't last too long in such large bottles so is best used up).  The models came out in an array of fun colours, all of which I think are nice baby colours, and to my surprise they are good enough castings, tha, with a bit of cleaning up, will be the same quality as the ones I cast last August!  I don't want to just list them for sale, so will be running a bit of a fun sale on them.  I will randomly (random is my favourite word, which is good fun but a pain for anyone relying on me! Hehe!) post a blog over the next few weeks, and the first person to email me will get the model.  This is based on the model still being popular of course, so if they don't sell they'll eventually go on MH$P, but I like the idea of a little fun blog-sale, so will go this way for now.

The blue/purple one will be sold last, the white ones are already sold, and one blue copy is a gift for a friend, but watch this space, as if you missed out on the original issue for Little One, these colourful copies will be made available soon (they are almost raw in the pic, so a little untidy).

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!

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Ok, in true Kelly fashion I'm about a week late, but I hope you and yours had a lovely holiday season.  Ours was manic as ever, zipping between Northampton and Birmingham, seeing all the family and having lots of fun along the way.

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I made one New Years Resolution; to stay more up to date with my blog.  My job is evolving and has already turned from a 3-day week to a 4-day week.  I am due to go permanent shortly, when I'll be back to a full 5 day week.  Until then though, I still have my one day a week for all things creative so my intention is to blog each week until I go full time again.  It's a small resolution, but one I hope I can keep.

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So, here's my first post for 2010!

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Here's Jasper - yep, he's headless again!  I have to admit I'm beginning to feel more satisfied with him lately, I even  look at some parts and feel they're ready for the waste mold!  I don't think I'll ever be fully happy with him, but I am determined to finish him this year.

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Amber and Deeley got realy close today, they even touched noses!

Today I also finished the Bear portrait, I'm not positive I'm done yet so emailed a photo over to Joanie, I'll post a pic when I know it's finished.
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One thing I'm going to miss horribly when I go full time, are the daytime walks I have with Bruno.  I do walk him lunchtimes on other days but on my day off work, we just have lots of fun.  He's really enjoying the snow, and he loves eating the snowballs off his paws when we get home too!

One last off-topic shot from today, this one just makes me giggle!  Wheeeeeeeeee!!!