Another Vendor Highlight!

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Earlier this week, we introduced you to a veteran BreyerFest fan who will be selling for the first time at this summer’s Marketplace - the owner of Jaapi Tack.  Today, we have another BreyerFest vet who has been attending BreyerFest periodically since 1991 (the year there were multiple BreyerFests!) and will also be selling for the first time as a part of the Marketplace.

Meet – Penny Rug Pet Portraits!

Owner Meredith Westner grew up in Connecticut and attended her first BreyerFest in Pennsylvania 30 years ago. She’s had a lifelong love of real horses, model horses, and crafting and is looking forward to sharing her Penny Rug Pet Portraits with BreyerFest fans this summer.

Meredith learned needlework from her mother as a child and spent many years making all kinds of hand-crafted gifts for her family.  She had the opportunity to transform this hobby into a business after 20 years of corporate life and hasn’t looked back.  From her studio in Rhode Island, where she’s lived now for the last 25 years, she finds her inspiration in the great variation that exists in the animal kingdom – from species, to breeds, to color variation, she is constantly challenging herself to come up with new ideas for her creations.

In particular, Meredith’s love of horses has shaped her life.  She has been a collector for more than 40 years, but in that time has also owned many real horses.  She credits her time as a model horse performance shower with teaching her the most about real horses – from events, to breeds, to tack, and taken this knowledge with her as she has competed in several disciplines with her real horses.  She says about her life with horses, “I sometimes wonder what ‘normal’ people do at 6 am that does not involve taking my dog with me to greet my horses and pick up manure.”

This summer at BreyerFest, Meredith is looking forward to bringing her love of the Folk Art of Penny Rugs to BreyerFest fans.  Her kits are easy enough to use that even novice sewers can navigate them successfully.  She hopes to inspire fans to try a new hobby with these fun and fulfilling pet-inspired projects.  Penny Rug Pet Portraits will be among this summer’s BreyerFest Marketplace sellers, but in the meantime, you can find her work here.

Keep your eyes on the BreyerFest Blog, because we’ve got a fun reveal for you this afternoon!