Blogger Recognition Award

I’ve been nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award! I was nominated by the lovely filliefanatic at Tiny Horse Talk


Here are the rules for this Award:

Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog

Make a post about the award 

Give a brief recap of how your blog began

Give two pieces of advice for new bloggers

Select 15 other bloggers you wish to give the award to

Comment on each blog, letting them know of their nomination and providing a link to the post.

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CWS Stables and Studio began two years ago, and it was and still is for my models and photography. Occasionally I post photostories or tack that I have made, and I have various pages for my collection. 

Two pieces of advice.. hmm.. I would suggest blogging only when you feel like it, so the writing doesn’t sound forced or you find it tedious! I need to take breaks from blogging as sometimes I get very busy, and secondly, let your personality come through in your blog and don’t feel like you have to stay on topic 100% of the time.

My nominees:

Last Alliance Studios
Moonacre Models
Chestnut Heartbeats
Chex,and the Heavies
Horse Tender Studio

2 Year Anniversaryย 

This is my blog’s 2nd Anniversary! I’d like to thank everyone who reads and comments on my posts, it means so much to me! I think this blog has come quite far in these two years, and I hope it will have many more. I feel my photography has improved, and as I’m getting a proper camera this year for school I hope I can further my skills. I also hope to post more regularly this year, if there are certain posts you all would like to see more of let me know! Thanks again everyone! 

*I am a lot more active on my Instagram*

CWS Christmas Decorations

Wow… It’s been a long time since I’ve written on here! I’ve been very busy but now school’s over for the year I can focus on my models some more! 

Cedar Wood Stables has been decorated for Christmas! 

The main barn has lights, red bauble string, and a tree! Wapiti and Hickstead both have stockings, wreaths and a Christmas rocking horse decoration. 

Outside Missy’s stall I have a little Christmassy flower pot, it’s not very realistic but it fits quite well together!


On the other side there is the yearly Secret Santa Drop Off Box, for anyone who doesn’t know a Secret Santa is where you are given someone’s name and gift them a Christmas present anonymously! Gingersnap the cat seems quite interested in it…


And of course there is the tree! It has lights, fake snow and some wrapped presents.



The large Christmas wreath hangs on the the top of the barn roof


CWS would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas filled with laughter, family and of course some new model horses! 

Breyerfest 2016 Horses!

My box of Breyerfest horses arrived, all safe and sound thank goodness! A box from my friend arrived on the same day, containing this adorable classic (Ariat 2007 limited editon) She has really beautiful shading such a sweet face!



I’ll start off with my first special run time. I was ticket number 67, and they pulled 110, so I was WAY back in the line. I was certain my first two picks, the Samba Surprise and Bozeman would be long gone, as my time was also at the end of the day. To my surprise… I got them!!! ๐Ÿ˜€

Bozeman is such a beauty, Breyer did a magnificinet job of his roaning and even put pinking on his whites. His eyes are so cute, just a stunning model overall. Mine has no issues at all!


Next up is my Samba Surprise. Mine is the rarest realistic colour, second rarest overall and is limited to 627! He has very nice dapples and gorgeous eyes, and again no major flaws woohoo!


My second special run time was one of my favourite memories of Breyerfest! I again was number 67, and they pulled… Number 67!!!!!! I was so surprised, and it was so special to be first in line! I may have shrieked a little lol. I honestly can’t believe they pulled my number out of everyone’s tickets ๐Ÿ˜€

I got Mamacita y Chico and Sheila,  my third and fourth picks. Mamacita is stunning, and the sculpt is so beautiful and feminine. She has lovely subtle dapples and shading!


Chico is such a sweet little thing! They’re both sooty buckskins but of course Chico is very light as he’s a baby ๐Ÿ’• I’m so happy I got this set and am able to have them in my collection ๐Ÿ™‚



Sheila is beautiful, a very nicely shaded chestnut. I didn’t like her markings at first, but now they’ve grown on me and give her a lot more character. The mold is really nice and she has an adorable expression! 


My last special run was Namid, I bought her on Sunday when they were doing the free-for-all! They actually did a half matte and half glossy on her, which was cool! My mum bought her for me (I bought the rest of my horses๐Ÿ™‚) and I got matte, which I’m very happy with! The halter was given to me by a lovely little girl, and doesn’t it suit her? 


From the Mercado I bought Copabanca and Chiquita, and also got a t-shirt! Copabanca is very unique and done very nicely, and Chiquita is also well done and ADORABLE! I also purchased Amapa, the single day stablemate.

I only bought one store special, Diablo DC as I wasn’t a massive fan of Dag Dia. I was pleasantly surprised that they still had Diablo in stock, so I picked one with subtle dapples and nice eyes! He is absolutely stunning โค๏ธ

Backtracking a little, the Clarion was an incredible experience amd I got some great deals! On Thursday I bought 2 more stablemate TWH’s for my conga (now at 10, yay!), A King’s Mount Breyer resin, a PS Pony, Oleary and Windtalker๐Ÿ’™ 


The Peter Stone pony is Wolfman’s Classic, a model that has lots of variations. I got the gelding with one blue eye and the belly spot, and I’m in love with him!


I had arranged to buy Oleary a few days before Breyerfest from someone on Instagram. I’ve wanted Oleary since I first started collecting Breyers, and I’m so thrilled to finally have him! He has some scratches and marks, but nothing major or very noticeable. Last night I made him a halter, dark green with light green crystals.

 
I made the decision to conga the Smarty Jones mold after I bought Windtalker. He was the first traditional horse I bought at Breyerfest, and I got him for a steal! He has a few little scratches but no overspray whatsoever on his markings, and a gorgeous blue eye!


I went back to the Clarion on Friday night for the Instagram meet, and met some really nice people! Afterwards I walked into a room, just browsing, and I saw Sato and Rushmore! Sato had been on my list and was a decent price, so I was going to buy him but before I could get him another girl bought him. I decided to buy Rushmore instead, and a girl reached up and pulled him off the shelf. She looked at him and put him back, so I grabbed him as fast as I could! I thought she put him back because he was too expensive or had some flaws, but I checked his price and it was half of what I expected!!! He had no major flaws and I’m incredibly glad to have him and bring my conga up to four!


The celebration horse is very nice, but so skinny! He isheavily dappled  and has interesting eyes, plus a pearly finish which is quite pretty.


At Breyerfest I bought some stablemates, the Competing at the Games set, some foals for $1 each, a TB foal for $3, American Pharoah and a beautifully shaded running TB for $2! 

My Best Buy from Breyerfest was when I went to the Clarion on Sunday and looked for a final horse to buy. I didn’t see anything I really wanted, as I was looking for another Stone. I went into the Black Horse Ranch room and looked around. I was just about to leave when I decided to have one more look, and saw a chestnut Old Mold Morgan sitting on a shelf. His price tag said 15, and I snatched him off the shelf and checked him over. He was absolutely flawless and I’m not kidding, I skipped over to the cashier and paid for him! I ended up paying $10 as they had a sale ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜€ It was a great way to end Breyerfest! I’ll post another post about Breyerfest later ๐Ÿ™‚

BREYERFEST 2016 Part 1

Breyerfest was absolutely incredible!!! ๐Ÿ˜€๐Ÿ˜€๐Ÿ˜€

Before heading to Kentucky we spent a week in Salt Lake City, visiting family. While there I bought Toro who has been on many adventures now! (In waterfalls, snow, on the edge of a cliff, at the Utah State Capital, and on the back of a motor bike!) I’ll be sharing some photos from his adventures a little later ๐Ÿ™‚

We had a brilliant few days before BF at Kentucky, we went on a trail ride and also went to Old Friends! Old Friends was lovely and we had a great tour guide, he had such a knowledge about each horse. Id really recommend it, even if you don’t know much about racing (like me) it’s still incredibly special and memorable. ๐Ÿ’•

On Thursday afternoon we went to the Clarion! Wow that hotel is complicated ๐Ÿ˜†

I met some very sweet people there, and even met a rather large lizard named Cupcake who had the most adorable tiny hands! I got some very good deals there, but I don’t have any of my Traditional horses at the house (we had to ship them back from the States)  They should hopefully be here this week fingers crossed! We stayed at the Embassy which was very nice, and the window displays were AMAZING!  

Since I have lots of photos to share I’ll post part 2 in a little bit, then I’ll post when my horses get here! 

Updates + Big News!

Im so sorry that I haven’t posted in such a long time, but I hope that I will be able to post more frequently from now on! ๐Ÿ™‚ So, Caption This will go from a weekly thing to less frequently, maybe every fortnight or every month, and I will be setting up a few more collection pages and adding more horses!

Anyway, the big news is this…

 

I AM GOING TO BREYERFEST 2016!!!!!!!!!

I am absolutely beyond excited, I’ve wanted to go since I started collecting Breyers, from around seven years old! I’ve been saving for a few years now, and I can’t wait to share my photos and experiences with you all! There will definitely be more blog posts after BF ๐Ÿ™‚

Im really excited for this years theme, and the special runs are gorgeous! Im hoping to add Sheila, Mamacita y Chico, Bozeman and the surprise horse to the herd, but you never know who’ll end up sneaking home with me! I’m combining the BF part with a holiday in the States, and I leave today!!!! ๐Ÿ˜€๐Ÿ˜€๐Ÿ˜€

Can’t wait!

-CWS

Very Overdue Post!

This is so late and I’m really sorry, but life has been pretty busy and this post just kept slipping my mind! ๐Ÿ˜… In August I entered the Chestnut Ridge Writing Competition, it was about “What the model horse hobby has done for me?” I worked on my piece until I was confident it was ready, then submitted it. I was so nervous, because I hadn’t really sent a piece of writing into a competition before. The results came back, and to my complete and utter surprise I had won my category! I had never expected that, and had hoped for maybe third or second. I was beyond thrilled! For my prize, I got the chestnut AQHA, she’s called Missy.   

 
You can read my article here: http://www.chestnutridge.co.uk/under-18-winner-75-w.asp

Also congratulations to Beth from Chestnut Heartbeats for winning her category!