Next up, are Izzy and Miki modelling the pink holiday dresses....

Last week, at Value Village, I spotted this old spice cabinet with some really nice scrolled metal door inserts. I figured it could be turned into a cabinet for Santa's workshop, so bought it.

​Jan removed the single shelf inside, and replaced it with two shelves, dividing the space into thirds, which is a better height for doll-size props. He's also built up a new base underneath to raise the cabinet to the proper height for my dolls. He's 'faked' additional drawers with knobs.....

Now the new wood needs to be stained to match, and then I can varnish it.

I finally finished all the Holiday dresses, so now it's time to take pictures.
First up is Kayla in her ruffled turquoise satin with black sequins party dress....

In most of the photos, I found her big bow looking like it was part of the wreath behind her, so switched it to the other side......

But I decided that I preferred her bow on the other side, so just shortened the depth of field so the background wouldn't be as sharp....

Cinnamon and Snowball had arrived to escort Santa back up to the North Pole....

So he donned his hat, stood up, and raised his glass....

"One last toast...."

"It's been a lot of fun, but I have to leave now.."

"So, here's a toast to all of you....my good friends..."

'So, until next year...."

"...and I'd like to invite all of you to come drop in, and see us up at the North Pole if you can."

I'm continuing to work on this year's special Holiday dresses for the Kaye Wiggs girls.  I'm working on the last two sets, one blue lace with blue sequins and the second is black lace with the same blue sequins.....photographed here with the black and silver version  I finished last week....

The goal was to finish them this week so that they'd be available nicely in time for the upcoming Holiday season.  But then Canada Post had to throw a wrench in my plans. They've been on a rotating strike for a month now, with no end in sight.

DreamHigh Studio was shipping out Phairby, Fairy Godmother this past week, but not to Canada, since it's not accepting any parcels from the USA or any International destination. They are actually sending parcels back to the senders.  Iplehouse has also announced it can't ship anything to Canada at the moment due to the strike. I had an order for doll shoes and glasses that was cancelled with a full refund this week, because they can't ship to Canada either.

Outgoing mail is sporadic and not reliable. Some things are getting through, while others are stuck in limbo. There's people on a local doll group who have had impatient customers open Paypal disputes to get their money back, because the stuff they bought has not arrived yet - even though it's been explained to them about the strike, and that they will get their parcel eventually.

The government is talking about legislating an end to the strike, but the Union has already said they are prepared to fight the ruling in court. So, who knows how long this mess will go on.

So, the one year I was actually trying to be proactive, I'm going to be stuck with everything until whenever the strike is over. I almost felt like quitting earlier this week, but decided to finish all the dresses anyways. One can always use a special party dress, and not just at Christmas.

In the meantime I'm pushing onward, hoping to get done with them as soon as possible, so I can take pictures and move on. Christmas photos are calling.....

Everyone was having a great time....

..when two more 'guests' arrived....

Everyone turned to look....

It was Cinnamon and Snowball....

Wishing all my friends to the south a Happy Thanksgiving!

Now, let the Holiday season begin!!

The Wizard was throwing a party with some of his friends....

He took the occasion to serve the wine he'd ordered from Willie earlier that summer...

"This is really delicious!"

Effie made room on the bench for Erzulie.  "You can sit here beside me.."

They were all having a great time....

...and I have photos!!

Later on Halloween, after all the Trick-or-Treating was over, the Wizard had several of his friends over for a 'Farewell' get-together, as he would be leaving his summer residence soon....

I'm sitting here typing on my brand new laptop, with no access to any of my photos at the moment, so I'll just 'talk'.

Our son (IT guy) came over yesterday to do some simple reformatting on Jan's computer, and came across something weirdly suspicious. Upon doing further research, he discovered whatever was going on had transferred to my computer a few days ago as well. So he immediately turned everything off, and we decided it was a good  time to finally upgrade to a new computer.

It was decided that I should get a laptop, so that we could take it along on future trips, instead of our super old, first generation iPad.  So, off they rushed to the Apple store before it closed and purchased a MacBook Air.  It's a nice, shiny new device, but the only things I am currently connected to are my emails and Facebook, and Safari. So I managed to find my way into Weebly. Nothing else has been transferred to this new computer yet, so I'm unable to download photos, process them, or even post any.......since I don't have access to my hard drive yet.

I hate change, and my brain is a fuzzy mess, as I have to deal with all the new technology, with zero access to anything at the moment.  I'm feeling so 'isolated', not being able to go check out all my usual online forums several times per day. And I can't even download any photos I take.....

However, the good news is, that I'm getting an awful  lot done sewing-wise. It's amazing what can all get done when there's no computer distraction!  The next two Holiday dresses are finished, and I'm starting the next two.  I finished the 'fur' trim and beading on 52 small Christmas stockings, which all face to the left, and have started working on the last 32, which face the opposite direction. Hopefully everything will be finished by the end of the week.  Then if Canada Post would get its act together and put an end to their strike, I'll be able to offer the dresses and stockings up for sale.

​Well, I better get back to my sewing.....