Saturday 26 July 2014

Dazzleglow Rehair

Remember a few months ago when I last talked about alternate rehairs?  I've finally found the time to finish the last one for my own collection.
Dazzleglow was looking a bit rough when I found her in the Value Village, but I was happy to get the blue heart variant of her.  I'm not really a fan of her original haircolours, so I didn't mind needing to rehair her.  My initial plan for her rehair was to use the blue hearts and yellow symbols as inspiration, but when I pulled out the matching hair, I didn't like the look at all.  Her body colour is a bit of an odd one, and it took a fair amount of staring at my hair colours to pick two that I thought worked with her.
She ended up being rehaired in Unlucky Clover and Sugarplum, which I think gives her a pretty cool look.  She's been able to rejoin the herd now, and doesn't stand out as the last bald pony.

Elf

Friday 18 July 2014

MLP Fair 2014 Recap

Well, Roomy and I are back in the land of cats and comfy couches after our annual Fair trip.  I think I can honestly say that, in spite of a few travel snafus, this might well have been the best Fair yet.

We arrived in Nashville shortly before the Hall of Fame dinner on Friday evening (an improvement on last year, when we came screeching into the parking lot half an hour before the dinner began).  The dinner was great fun, with a presentation created by the lovely and talented MustBe Jewel that you can check out here. The food was amazing again this year, and it was so lovely to see Bonnie Zacherle and Liz Knight, two creative women responsible for the creation of MLP, honoured that evening.
The next morning we were up bright and early for vendor set-up starting at 7am (thank goodness we'd jumped a timezone and it was really 8am for us!)  The vendor set-up took us longer than usual in spite of the fact we had only one table this year (or perhaps because of that).  At 10am the doors opened and the Fair was officially underway!
My booth, prior to adding ponies
This was the biggest MLP Fair by far, with activities taking place in six rooms (I never even made it into some of them).  Over 1000 people were in attendance, with 100 vendor booths as well.  Along with the usual contests, there were panels on customizing, Nirvana (Argentina) Ponies, and the Hasbro Q&A.  There were special events with the special guests, an opportunity to check out some new products not yet in stores, a pajama party, and, of course, the trivia competition.  There were also lots of games attendees could take part in, with the chance to win prizes and raffle tickets.
Trivia finals + Fair Staff
To be honest, I didn't get to half of the activities I would've liked.  This was mainly due to the fact that I wanted to spend the better part of the first day shopping.  The Fair is where I do the better part of my pony shopping for the year, and there were a few things I knew I didn't want to miss out on!  There were also some wonderful surprises, such as several Factory Sample ponies up for sale that Liz Knight had held onto.  I was lucky enough (and thrilled) to add a Factory Sample Peachy to my collection.
My Factory Sample Peachy
As usual, the contest entries were excellent.  I think the costumes get better every year.  The customs were fantastic, and I was excited to see Colorscapesart's working carousel in the Hasbro-inspired contest.  I was happy that my Aurora took second place in the Original custom contest.
Gypsy as the Smooze! - 2nd place in the most creative category
Colorscapesart's working carousel won the Hasbro Custom competion, surprising no one
As always, the Fair staff did an amazing job putting together a fantastic event.  I'm always amazed at how the staff manages to run such a large event with grace and poise every year, no matter what gets thrown in their way.  Their dedication and good humour is most appreciated by the community, and I hope the organizers know just how much we appreciate them.  The volunteers also deserve a round of applause for helping to keep things running smoothly.
We spend so much time looking forward to the Fair, and the weekend seems to fly by.  I'm already looking forward to hearing where next year's event will be held, and getting back together with my Pony Friends again.  Pony Summer Camp is the best summer camp.
My 2014 Fair haul
You can see the rest of my pictures here.  Until next year,

Elf

Saturday 12 July 2014

Fair contest entry - Aurora

If you’re reading this, you’re probably not at the MLP Fair right now, and for that I’m sorry.  But in the meantime, you can have a look at my custom entry for the General custom contest: Aurora.
sorry for the orientation - photobucket is being uncooperative
Aurora started as a pink Celestia Fashion Style pony.  Obviously, she’s been fully repainted, and she’s sporting two different aurora borealis patterns on each side of her body.  Her hair is Dollyhair nylon in *deep breath* Black Magick, Mulberry Crush, Arctic Frost, Pussycat, Pacific Ocean, Sugarplum, Venom, Candy Kiss, Envy, Unlucky Clover, Mermaid, Brambleberry, Heartthrob, and Key Lime. *whew*
I’m so pleased with how both of my contest entries turned out this year, and I hope you enjoy them too.
Elf

Monday 7 July 2014

Fair Contest Entry - Rodeo Applejack

Updating a bit late this week due to a road trip into a hurricane (ok, tropical storm) and a lack of power at the other end.  Now we're back home with just two days left before we leave for the MLP Fair!

In the meantime, I’m going to showcase my contest entries over the next two weeks on the blog.  For the first time, I’ve got an entry in both the Hasbro and General custom categories.
This week, I’m showing the Hasbro category custom.  Say hello to Rodeo Apple Jack!
Rodeo AJ’s base was a G3 Strawberry Swirl.  Her saddle, blanket, bridle, and award ribbon were made using Apoxie Sculpt.  She was given a full body repaint, and her new hair is Dollyhair Golden Delicious.
I tried to bring various elements of all the various Apple Jacks into this custom.  Her basic design is based off the G1 AJ.  As an additional nod to my favourite generation, her bridle and saddle are modeled after the G1 saddle and bridle that came with the Show Stable.  G3 Apple Jack is represented in her pose, as well as the checked pattern of her saddle blanket which mimic’s G3 AJ’s symbol.  Finally, G4 is represented by the hairstyle, as well as the concept of the custom – who was inspired by the FIM episode “”.  I had to give her the 1st place ribbon, though.
Hope you like her,
Elf