Creating Mochi the Percheron

I first posted these progress photos on Imgur, which I normally use as a photo dump when I need to share images on forums or the like. I posted it publicly, which I don't usually do, and it actually proved to be quite popular, amassing over 2000 likes despite most people not knowing about needle felting or model horses! So I thought I could share it here, where my readers are actually horsey and might appreciate it as well.

I documented Mochi's creation step by step as I wanted to check how long it actually takes me to finish my felties. I'd been telling people they take "about 20 hours start to finish" but that sounded a bit absurd to me! Turns out I wasn't exaggerating as much as I thought...

So here we go:

30 minutes in: Armature done. Sorry for the less than stellar photo, I wasn't planning to post this online!

1h15 in: Starting to build up the basic body shape. The book he is standing on is what I use to double check proportions

1h15 in

2h15 in: some more building up

C H O N K Y

4h in: Still building up, starting to smooth out and add detail with Merino top coat. Starting to work on the legs as well.

5h30 in. At this point I ran out of Merino and had to order some more!

9h30 in. He has a face! Starting to work on his fleabites whenever I get bored of sculpting his body. At this point, hooves are sculpted and drying.

I felt bad for his lack of ears!

12h30 in. Starting to look like a horse! Hooves sanded, painted and glued in.

16h in. At this point I decided I wasn't happy with the ears so they have been pulled out and redone. Ready for his top coat :D

18h15: Mostly finished, just needs some smoothing out and blending of the fleabites. Any stray fibres will be carefully burned off with a lighter.

And done!! 19h total in the end.

A tiny man!

Taking him outside for some photos.

This was a good incentive to clear the garden a bit!

Elkwood Farms' Tack Room

It's taken me a while to name my Julippy stables - I wanted something that sounded charming and rural, I'm not sure if I succeeded but now I'm attached to the Elkwood name, so that's that!

I might change my blog's name as well, but I've done it so many times now that it seems almost silly to do it again!

A tack room is something I've wanted to cobble together for a while, mostly because I get annoyed by all the saddles and props spread about the bookshelves and can never find things when I need them! But it's also been a while since I've done miniature decorating and it makes my heart happy :D

I couldn't wait until tomorrow to set it up and take photos, so they're not brilliant as it was a bit dark.

The room itself was measured and cut out of a cardboard box, with some bits reinforced with duct tape, and then I painted up the walls and used some grey felt for the floor. I had a little sample pot of wall paint from when I painted our furniture in a nice dark duck egg, so I used that for the walls.

The saddle racks and the little shelf were also made out of painted cardboard. The rosettes on the shelf were actually won by the ponies :D I think I'll add some brackets to the saddle racks, they're sturdy enough but it would just make them look better.

The rug is just a little scrap of fabric I grabbed exactly for this reason.

It's not finished yet; I have to think of more things to add to it. Maybe a counter or a bookshelf? I don't want to use cardboard for everything, as I do prefer the look of wood, so I might have to source some lolly sticks or balsa wood. Another visit to the local model shop might be in order!

Any suggestions would be appreciated, I'm not the best at this!!