Well, life must go on, and Santa's castle is all set up at the mall.  
​Lisa got herself a job as photographer...to take photos of the kids when they come visit Santa....

Taking a break....

Lots of people are waiting patiently in line....

Elin was given the job of handing out candy canes...

"Ten minutes sure seems to take forever!"

I don't really like to talk about personal stuff here, but I think I really need to share now.

Last week I was told that I needed a hysterectomy.  They said I was considered 'priority', and that it would likely be by February.  That was a hard enough thing to swallow. After five years of tests and biopsies, there was no longer any choice anymore.  High risk or not, I had to have one. Okay, I thought. At least it's after Christmas.

But then they called Monday and said they have me booked for December 20th.  What!! So soon??? But it needs to be done. So I agreed, thinking "Well, there goes my whole Christmas this year!!"

Then yesterday they called again and said there had been a cancellation, and I could have it done December 8th instead - next week Friday.  Allrighty then.  So much for all my doll photography plans. 

​So now I have to focus on getting things ready for being out of commission for several weeks. Today I tackled my plant room, and pruned all the hibiscus that are finished blooming. There's still a couple of plants blooming, and I'm really enjoying the last few flowers...

I need things to do to distract me, so made a bunch of candy canes yesterday.  I needed some for the one photo shoot that I think i can still manage, but the smallest candy canes at the store were so deformed and ugly, that I had to make some from Sculpey. Today I varnished them.....

Sigh.  So much I wanted to do, and so little time left.....

Well, now that I have a Santa, the next thing I need is a fireplace.  It's only logical after all.  So Jan is building me one.  Here's the parts as they are this morning.....

The whole unit is a couple of inches deep so it can be photographed from side angles, and not just straight on. The wall above the fireplace had to be high enough so the top never shows in photos. He still has to add the mantle, which will go around to the sides.  And it still needs the firebox in behind.

​He's made a 'brick lining', which I'll have to paint up to look like bricks. The mantle and lower woodwork will likely be stained and varnished, while the upper wall will get painted.

Of course, now I'm going to need a painting above the fireplace, and a wreath for when it's Christmas, and some Christmas garlands, and stockings.

As far as a 'fire' goes, my idea is to find some similar-looking (but much larger) logs and burn them outside in our brick barbecue, take lots of photos as they are burning, so I can Photoshop the flames into this fireplace if I need to.  I should have thought of that last week when the chestnut tree was thinned and all the branches (big & small) were cut up and put out for 'Garden waste'.  Then they'd certainly have looked the same.  But it's too late. They are all gone.  People driving by took it all for their own firewood. So I'll see.  Maybe the dolls won't actually need a 'fire'.

I finally finished Santa's coat.  Sewing in the lining was quite a chore. Some seams had to be picked and re-sewn several times. I decided the coat needed a collar, so had to piece that out of the leftover fake fur. Once it was sewn on, it was time for a few quick photos......

And since Tilie and Talyssa happened to be having their portraits taken at the same time, they were lucky enough to be the very first to have their photo taken with Santa.....

I had several dolls who really needed some new eyes, so finally ordered some recently.  The lucky recipients were......

Tiny Talyssa, who always reminded me of my sister's granddaughter, but not with the dark brown eyes she came with.  I'm not partial to dark brown eyes, as I find they really don't photograph well. I had wanted blue glass eyes, but the company was out (they always seem to be) so I got violet instead.  I like her much better now.....

Then there's my Chloe.  I've never been happy with any of the eyes I gave her, so tried a selection of the new glass eyes I had ordered. She ended up with these lovely 'amber' ones.....

And then there was Tillie, standing there staring at me with her huge cheap acrylic eyes.
​ It was high time she got some nicer glass ones.....

I took a photo of this week's prop finds.....

They include;
- two owl Christmas ornaments from Vandermeer's - for Kassia as the Snow Queen
- two sectioned wooden boxes, to be used as cabinets, from Len's Mills
​- three sets of tiny bottles, from Len's Mills, which I filled with sprinkles, spices and beads.
- two tiny puppy collector plates, and another tea set, from Value Village
- four tiny Thomas 'Super Hero' train engines from Canadian Tire - to become gifts for Christmas
- metal grate and brass log holders I've had for awhile, and were found at Value Village, but the logs were cut from the cut branches of the chestnut tree that was thinned this past week. They will go with the fireplace Jan is building for me.

People keep wondering how Iplehouse's FID line works with their other smaller dolls, so I took some photos to show how they do, and do not, work with each other.  At least in my opinion.

​Here's JIDs Owen (Steve) & Leona, KID Lonnie, and BIDs Ringo & Bono (Holly) with FID Miho....

I like how the JIDs, KIDs, and BIDs work together. They are all the same aesthetic with  more doll-like proportions. Miho on the other hand, is a different aesthetic. She's more realistically proportioned, so even though she's just a touch taller, she has a far smaller head. The FID guys are even taller than MIho, and also have the smaller heads. (sorry, my Lawrence is still naked in his box)

Personally I think the FIDs (Iplehouse Fashion Dolls) are a stand alone group of their own. The only way I can see using them together with the others, would be as part of a Fantasy group like in Lord of the Rings, where there were several types of human-like characters - humans, elves, dwarves - and each their own size and proportion.

However, I can see people putting the FIDs with just the children. Even though proportionately the kids have much bigger heads in comparison (they are dolly proportioned), but since the world of dolls is an imaginary world after all, and open to each owner's vision, who knows?

This morning I sanded down the Apoxie additions.  I probably should have removed the paint and sealer before starting this project, but quite honestly, don't know how to do that, so didn't even think about it.  I did damage his paint job a little, but I'm not very concerned. He is what he is.

​The dowels with the rolled paper came out relatively easily...

His arm length is now much better.  It was just a centimetre, but makes a world of difference....

He went to his doctor for a final checkup...... 

So now I can get back to his coat....

So this morning I marked my Wizard's upper arms - so I'd know how the parts would live up after being cut - and them Jan cut them.....

I used a 3/16 dowel to align the pieces, and cut two strips of paper just less than a centimetre wide, which I wrapped around the dowel between the two arm pieces, to a thickness matching the holes in the arms.  Then i mixed up some Apoxie and partially filled the spaces....

Then later in the afternoon, I mixed up some more Apoxie to finish filling the spaces....

Once it's cured, I will sand the Apoxie so it's perfectly flush with the resin.

The further I get on my Santa costume, the more I'm bothered by the doll's short arms. Specifically his short upper arms.  His outside of his upper arms are the same length as his lower arms, and then there's still his hands. It already bothered me when he was wearing his Wizard costume.
​
So I undressed him to take a closer look.......LOL...he looks so skinny without his fat suit.....

 His elbows bend way too high compared to his body. ​

After sewing the underarm and side seams and turning the coat right side out, I tried it on my guy

I had been afraid that if I lengthened his arms then the sleeves would be too short.  But I saw that was not the case, so that gives me the green light to go ahead and modify his upper arms.

In the meantime, I'm continuing with the embellishments on his coat.  It's weird that even though both front pieces were exactly the same when i cut them, one is now shorter than the other.  And even though I added lots of extra length to the trim that had to go up the front edges, one end still ended up too short. But I expect to eventually hide all that under a fur collar....

​

The next step is to add the fur edging and do all the beading.