The long-awaited, newest, Forest Dwellers, by Whispering Grass, finally arrived today.
​There's Mr. & Mrs. Khitrula Fox, and a Ginger Raccoon girlfriend for my Smuzhka

They were actually a "Missed Delivery".  Yesterday they arrived in Richmond BC, and went through Customs. Then overnight they flew to Toronto and were sent to our local Post Office. I thought they'd be delivered either today or tomorrow - probably today.

But I had a lot of transplanting to do out on the porch, and the mail 'never' gets delivered in the morning, so I figured we were safe being out there where we couldn't hear the doorbell. After finishing the planting, I went to check tracking to see if they were "Out for Delivery" yet, and it said "Missed Delivery". Oh no!! Like, when does our mail lady ever deliver a package in the morning?!?!?

Well, a little while later we had to go out, and I thought to take the Missed Delivery slip, just in case we spotted the mail lady on our way out of the subdivision.  And sure enough, she was parked right around the corner up the next street.  She said she was sure we were home, since our car was on the driveway, but no one answered the door.

Anyway, we got the package and went on our way. When we got home I unpacked the three of them. The foxes both came with some lovely light blue glass eyes, but I thought they made them look too "foxy", so I switched one of them to a brown acrylic instead. What a difference that made! I think the brown-eyed one will be the guy...

The Raccoon came with some yellow glass eyes. The package said they were 12mm, but the iris filled the entire eyehole, and was considerably wider than all my other 12mm eyes. So I put in some light brown 12mm eyes that came with an Iplehouse BID years ago....

As I was taking photos, the blue-eyed fox was always trying to get the attention of her guy.....

She's one 'foxy' fox.....

Now to go meet everyone else.....

Willie's wine had become very popular, and she had quite a list of orders.  
​Which meant making even more wine than usual.

Willie was very pleased with the results....

Cinnamon was getting tired.   "How much more are we making??"

"I think we need to make double what we made last year."

"Just keep those pots boiling!"

"I'll sort some more dandelions...."

"And we'll keep bottling...."

"I've almost run out of jars...."

"There's some barrels in the back, which need filling too..."

"And here I was hoping that we were almost done...."

"I think this will be the best wine we've made yet!"

DreamHigh Studio released their newest tiny doll for preorder yesterday. She is Phairby Flowers, the Fairy Godmother, and of course I had to order one.....

There are several outfits to choose from, plus wings, and a rooted wig cap that snaps right on with magnets, as a replacement for her usual head cap. But I ordered her blank, with nothing else. I was a bit tempted by the revolutionary new wig design, but decided I'd prefer to make my own.

​So, come fall, my Fantasy characters will be joined by a diminutive Fairy Godmother.

It was a beautiful spring day, and Willie invited several of her friends to help her with the annual dandelion wine production....

Winston was the expert brew-master, so it was his job to gently simmer the dandelion flowers....

...while Nami and Tillie bottled some of the wine....

...and Cinnamon poured the rest into clay wine jars....

 Willie made sure that only the best dandelions were headed into the pot....

It was quite the production....

I'm making four more little BID-size Victorian outfits.  Originally I made the first two with the intention of selling one.  But if I did that then I'd be a BID dress short.  So I'm making four more - two of each colour combination. That way I'll have three different ones, and can sell the duplicates.

Two of the outfits will be green and pink, to match the KID Victorian outfit I already have.  The other two will be a slate blue-gray and pale yellow stripe, with gray, black, and pale yellow, and a brighter yellow sash. All will have white lace, and a matching straw hat.

I think I might have taken photos of Tiny Talyssa with every flowers blooming in my garden, 
​so here's a bunch more.....

I finally made a wig for Rex. I had so many problems, but plodded on. The mohair was curly, so I did my best to glue it on with the curves going the right direction, but the sideburns proved a huge challenge.  

Hair styling has never been my strong suit. Back in the old doll-making days with my sister, I would glue the hair on the dolls as best I could, and do some initial trimming, but she was the one who always did the final styling. Now I have to do it myself, and it's not something I enjoy at all.

I pressed the sideburns back with an iron, used hair gel, and even hair spray, always protecting his face with plastic wrap, and wrapping his head with cloth strips to control the hairstyle as the wig dried. But the more I fussed, the worse it got, with stray bits of hair sticking out in all the wrong places. So I finally gave up and washed the wig with shampoo to remove everything, and just let it dry as it was, and it actually wasn't bad.

​It's not perfect, but at least he has a wig now....

He's still wearing Owen's Musketeer outfit, which i find looks very nice on him.  I've purchased another Iplehouse Tuxedo, so all four of my FIDs can attend some fancy function together. Then, some day whenever I have - or make - the time, then they all need some kind of special outfit, whether it be Fantasy or Historical.

When the granddaughters came over on Saturday, two brought a doll, while the third brought a Raccoon, which used to belong to her Dad when he was very little. They wanted me to take photos of them, but the two dolls were dressed so differently, that they really didn't go together, so we did entirely separate photos of them....

​First Rachel's doll, wearing the pretty lace dress I'd made for her for Christmas....

Then Teagan's doll with Natalya's raccoon.....

Yesterday I received a shipping notice from JpopDolls, for the three Forest Dwellers I'd ordered last October. I took it with a grain of salt, knowing that their 'shipping notices' are automatically generated when they print out the shipping labels, so it can still be days before the doll(s) are actually in the postal system. So I didn't even bother checking the tracking number.

​But this morning I thought I'd check, just for fun, and they had actually been shipped!  So the two Foxes and beige Raccoon should be coming some time next week....

I think I seriously need to make them (and the critters I already have) some clothes. So, just eight more outfits on the endless list of clothes I already need (or want) to make. Sigh.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy they are finally coming. It's just that I already have way too many dolls waiting for outfits. Good thing it's summer, so they won't mind going around 'naked' for a little while.  And is an animal without clothes truly 'naked'?