The Season of Amber! The 2026/27 Hobby Season starts soon, join me!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #warhammercommunity the 2026/27 hobby season will be starting soon so for those alumni who joined in last season it's time to start looking back at your TO DO lists - at what you've TO DONE!, what might have slipped and those lovely unexpected successes that happened despite life getting in the way and loss of mojo - I speak from experience [yet again].

The original plan when I started with 'great big stamps of approval' was that I wouldn't do multi-coloured stamps, just alternate between red and green, but who was I kidding? Once again I have tried to come up with something cool but time has escaped me and I thought it best to stick to what I know best. As I was a big fan of Gamboge, before I went all textured stamps I thought I'd revisit the colour, with a twist. So I give you the  Season of Amber and the  Great Big Amber Stamp of Approval  However I was not happy with the finished results. The contrast was not great on some of them. But time was against us and my Photoshop-fu is clearly lacking after not keeping up-to-date with my creative exploration. So, shock horror, I actually did some AI versions. So, you tell me which you would prefer and which you'll be using. have I sold my soul or actually made something a little bit more legible and representative of what I had in mind

Feel free to download and use them on your blog as and when you get stuff  'TO DONE!' Human intelligence on the left, artificial intelligence on the right.

Or you can record your achievements with an 'unbranded' version.

And should you feel inclined to differentiate your efforts yet further here's the major goal stamps

And minor goals [which I occasionally find a use for].

And I've also got the Big Build...

 and Base [and obviously prime] Stamps done too. I heartily recommend this video from Tabletop Minions to understand where I was going with the 'Big Build' concept, he's touched on and expanded exactly why I created this a few years back. This is definitely the worst version I created. I just wasn't happy with it, which is why I tried AI and got a great result - what do you think?

Just a reminder of what it's about, in 2011 I made my first To Do List, amusingly it now/still looks like this:

• AoBR Tactical Squad
• AoBR Dreadnought
• AoBR Terminators
• Scout Squad
• Ravenwing bike squad
• Dark Angel Drop Pod
• Purity Seal all of my son's Tyranids
• Gloss Varnish all of my son's Tyranids
• Tyranid Prime
• Mycetic Spore
• Paint Vent Tower
• Paint defence platforms x4
• Complete pot pourri vegetation
• Complete future containers
• Complete 40k Cathedral tower
• STC Single story ruin
• STC Hex Defence platforms
• STC Targus Assault Blockade
• STC Vent tower
• STC Athena plateau
• STC Mercury plateau
• STC 40k Cathedral tower
• 60mm Dreadnought crater

So 4 things still haven't been done and quite frankly never will 😉. The purpose was to try to focus my efforts to outline a list of things I'd love to do over a twelve month period and if I achieved any of them - great, all of them, so much better. But more importantly I needed a structure to cling to when my efforts became aimless. That's not to say deviations from the list were forbidden it was more for when I went 'well what's next?'

It became an annual blog post to review what I'd done and set new tasks. Throughout the season I would reveal my 'To Dones!' as completed items both on and off the list. Showcase posts are nothing new to hobby blogs, everyone else does it at the end of the year/beginning of the new year. But for me it was a structure to help build the identity of this blog. Then, in 2014 I invited readers and passers-by of the blog to join in. Well, when you have a good idea why not share it around? I got about 10 people joining in and it looked like we were quite a supportive little bunch. I think over time steam ran out a little bit, but folk continue to join in each season and hopefully the same will ring true for 2026/27.

To help things out a bit I eve created a Hobby Season Facebook group, it's here [but not very popular[:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/278747245819138/

So, if you're joining in just ask and I'll add you into the group, that way you can share your blog posts or any efforts to those also joining in. I hoped this platform will allow more interaction for those taking part and keep us all motivated.

I guess the last question is why 28th August as the start/end date, why not January 1st?

I think back in 2011 it was at that time I thought a structure needed to be in place and it was as good a time as any to post a To Do List, afterall the footy season starts around this time too, no one complains about that, do they?

Anyway, 28th August join me for the new Hobby Season :)