A Little Funrise Love!

Lately, I've been going on about the recently available licensed My Little Pony Plush Ponies, but haven't yet given a shout to Funrise. Their rep, Stephanie, attended the My Little Pony Fair in July and brought with her lots of really great pieces with her to show off to the collectors. Many of these items won't be released until November, but we got a special sneak peek!

In this photo, you can see Princess Cadance, Princess Celestia, a Giant Spike and others!

Look! Cutie Mark Crusaders and special light up laying ponies- they work as a nightlight and project stars and shapes onto your ceiling!

A closer view of the Light Up Plush Ponies, Cutie Mark Crusaders... DJ Pon3 and Princess Twilight Sparkle!

I spy a Trixie Lulamoon and Cheerilee among the other awesome plush ponies. I hope that all of these prototypes make it into production. So Pretty! I'm still waiting (somewhat) patiently for my Walmart stores to stock the 10" Applejack and Octavia. They are really cute and need to join my plush pony collection. I am also still missing the Applejack mini plush and hope that I come across one soon!

Funrise was awesome to work with while coordinating the MY LITTLE PONY Fair. Not only did they bring all of these great products to share with the attendees, they also donated mini plush ponies for the Celebration Dinner Goody Bags and a GIANT basket of overflowing with plush ponies for the game player raffle. The Funrise Plush Ponies can be found at Walmart  stores and at Toys R Us stores.

I also featured their 2013 product line in my newest book, The My Little Pony 2009-2012 Collector's Inventory Guide. Their hair is a unique design that almost looks like fabric streamers. I enjoy this detail because it reminds me of the Rag Doll Plush Ponies from the G3 product line and kind of gives them a homespun feel. I can imagine the ponies themselves carrying one around as their favorite plush.

Writer, Event Coordinator... Jewelry Designer?

Party Pony Glitter and Glam Necklace by Found and Fabulous

 

I've been collecting My Little Ponies for as long as I can remember. I've never stopped adding new items to my collection whether it be a fancy foreign exclusive pony or a tiny aqua colored flower brush. Years ago, I would scour flea markets and log into Ebay and be overwhelmed with the sheer amount of possible purchases. There were usually several items that I desperately wanted, and would have to narrow it down to a few favorite pieces on which to place a bid.

Now, the story is quite different. While I still enjoy going to the occasional flea market, I am no longer looking for collection pieces, but rather for items another collector may need. When I enter "My Little Pony" in the search box of Ebay, I may be lucky to end up with 4 or 5 items on my watch list out of the thousands listed. Of those 4 or 5, chances are that the ending price of each item will hit a triple digit price tag.

I have an awesome collection and part of the fun is sitting back and admiring it, but the other part is the thrill of the hunt and sadly, that doesn't happen too often anymore. Sure, I can still find things that I don't own, but it isn't nearly as fun when you have to lay down three hundred dollars or more to get that awesome collecting high that used to cost you ten bucks. I splurge from time to time, but the purchases are farther and farther between.

To compensate for my lack of involvement in the act of collecting, I've thrown myself into other aspects of the My Little Pony Community including writing five My Little Pony Collector Inventory Guides, and coordinating the longest running My Little Pony Convention in the world, The MY LITTLE PONY Fair, with the help of the awesome marketing team at Hasbro.

Somehow, both of those outlets, while fun, can sometimes become a bit tedious and I find myself looking for other ways to unwind and relax while still surrounding myself with my passion for PONY. The result: designing My Little Pony and retro game inspired jewelry pieces. I started making a few pieces during my downtime (which I had very little of) last spring. I gave my first few pieces away to friends and kept a few for myself to don while at various Pony events. Since then, I've been adding additional pieces to my inventory and have finally decided to open an Etsy Shop to showcase my jewelry and perhaps, other repurposed and upcycled items in the future.

Here are two designs that are on their way to my friends at Aurora Gifts, the makers of those adorable My Little Pony Plush that I keep going on and on about. I was requested to make a design featuring Rarity and one featuring Rainbow Dash and I think they both turned out really cute!

In addition to these sparkly chunky necklaces featuring G4 characters, I've also made a few charm bracelets that are more nostalgic featuring G1 Ponies:

 

It has been really fun putting these pieces together and searching out just the right bead or clasp to complete a design. If you have a spare minute and want to see what else I've created, you are welcome to visit my brand new Etsy Shop: Found and Fabulous. Even if I don't make any sales from your visit, I like watching the page stats. It makes me happy to know that other people at least get to see what I've been spending my spare "Pony Time" doing and maybe it will inspire them to create something special.

 

Cheers Pony Fans!

Make-Your-Own My Little Pony Collection at Build-A-Bear Workshop

Back in April, when Build-A-Bear Workshop launched their Make-Your-Own Pony Collection with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and special outfits I was beyond excited. I loved the look of the ponies and their brushable hair. After all, as a MLP collector, you tend to get excited if their hair can be brushed.

As I was drooling over the promo pictures released online and planning my trip to Build-A-Bear, I had the brilliant idea of inviting Build-A-Bear Workshop to host a Make-Your-Own Pony Party at the 2013 MY LITTLE PONY Fair. Even though the MLP products are to be sold exclusively in Build-A-Bear Workshop stores, Hasbro gave them the all clear to participate in the Fair. So, while I wanted to go make my Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash right away, I patiently waited until the MY LITTLE PONY Fair and I'm so glad I did.

The MY LITTLE PONY Fair Make-Your-Own Pony Party hosted by Build-A-Bear was a huge success and so much fun. I was able to snap some photos of some of the Fair goers as they participated in the Heart Ceremony.

Cute right?

This past Friday, I took my little guy to Build-A-Bear. He had never been and has recently been begging to go to make a kitty cat after seeing the Build-A-Bear commercial. Of course I was on board since the new Twilight Sparkle and Spike had been released. Plus, I had lots of "Bear Bucks" I had earned from scheduling the Fair BAB party. I invited my Cousin and her little girl to go with us and it was an all around great day. Both little ones made their own animal and I can home with Twilight Sparkle (with her outfit) and Spike.

I really like the large size of the Build-A-Bear Ponies. I had them add extra stuffing since my will be displayed on a shelf in the Pony Room. I noticed that while the Build-A-Bear did have the Rainbow Dash Plush Ponies available (in addition to Twilight Sparkle) it seems that Pinkie Pie has been discontinued.

Here are a couple of photos of my newest collection additions as well as a photo of L and his "New Kitty" just because. Enjoy!

2013 Ohio Pony Meet!

Last Saturday, I was up at 5 am so I could drop off London at my mom's house and drive to Cincinnati for the annual Ohio Pony Meet. Matt and I thought about taking London along with us, but he's still pretty small and to be honest, I wanted to spend my day chatting about ponies and not chasing around a toddler.

We set up our sales table with some of my extras that I managed to get clean and shiny before the meet and a quick display I threw together of my jewelry designs.

I left Matt to man the table and I went to check out the other sales tables. I was able to find a handful of G1 combs and brushes I was missing, a clear Funko Dr. Whooves vinyl figure, and I swapped a few MLP Enterplay cards with other collectors. I'm now a little closer to completing series 2!

This year's theme was "Having a Luau" and the hostesses put together some really cute decorations!

We enjoyed lunch, which included these adorably decorated chocolate covered strawberries.

Games included Pony Trivia, Whack a Fakie, and Bingo. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the Trivia or Bingo, but here's a fun photo of Mary at bat.

The whole day went by quickly and was a really great time. Thanks to the Ohio hostess crew for putting together a fun event!

New Aurora My Little Pony Plush Available for Discounted Prices!

The wonderful people from Aurora Gifts set up an amazing display at this year's MY LITTLE PONY Fair showcasing their brand new My Little Pony plush line. Everyone was so excited to see the items in person. We wished we could purchase them, but sadly, they were for display. Only those lucky enough to win one of the MY LITTLE PONY raffle drawings got to take them home.


I'm happy to announce that the wait is now over! These adorable My Little Pony plush products are beginning to show up at select retail stores including Zulily! Right now, they are running a special on MLP items, including the adorable Aurora Plush Ponies! Also, they are running a special promotion for referrals. If you are new to Zulily and follow this link to sign up, I get an account credit too (to purchase even more pony goodies... or cute outfits for my toddler.) Even if you don't use the referral link, you still need these cute Aurora plush ponies. The 10 inch characters are currently listed for $7 off retail and the carrier bags and other smaller plush are discounted too! They are really great quality and super soft and huggable.

They have the 10" plush (Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rarity) $12.99 (regular price $20)

They have all 6 of the Mane 6 (Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rarity) with carrier bags for $10.99 (regular price $16.00):

And last but not least, they have the cute plush and face bags of the Mane 6  (Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rarity) for $10.99 (regular price $16.00.

 

The sale ends in 2 days and 9 hours, so don't miss out if you'd like these ponies to join your collection!

Long Overdue Big Apple PonyCon Photos and Recap

Remember back in March when I was lamenting my missing camera chargers and my non working memory card reader and I promised photos of Big Apple Pony Con? Well, here a few photos of the event and some of the awesome peeps I got to hang with over the weekend:

On Saturday, I was a speaker on the MLP Collector Panel with Valerie and Karen who are both really great girls. I'd spoken to Valerie many times, but this was the first time we actually had the opportunity to meet. Karen was the organizer for Big Apple Ponycon and a longtime friend.

Since I was a Guest of Honor at the event, my husband and I were invited to attend a VIP party that Karen had organized at a posh boutique hotel in Brooklyn. Karen is on the left, I'm in the middle and my husband is on the right.:)

We were treated to appetizers and an open bar and I was able chat with Andrea Libman, who voices both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie in the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic series (who is super cute by the way!)  I also got to have a great conversation with Andy Price who is one of the MLP Comic artists for DWI, and Jayson Thiessen, director of MLP: FIM. Of course, by the time I got around to talking with Jason I was a couple of drinks in and so I don't really recall what the conversation was about, but it involved lots of laughing and was a good time.

In this photo, I'm clearly having a good time in the background!

I was also recruited to be a Costume Contest judge during BAP(which was so fun) and I got to witness this:

My husband and I had a great time, plus we were able to sneak in a few Broadway shows during the trip. Hopefully, I'll be invited back next year!