The Shopping Sherpa

Showing posts with label Wanderings - International (New Zealand May 2015). Show all posts

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Tic Tac too...

Airplane boarding pass with a pile of Tic Tac minis piled on it.

There was one other miniature-related souvenir I brought back from New Zealand with me (in a bad case of the 'Me-too's).

I'd considered ordering them online for pick up on my return to Australia, but decided against it. The look of utter disappointment and despair on my face when I realised that there were none on display in the arrivals duty-free store caused one of the lovely shop assistants to scuttle off and return five minutes later with an armful of packets from the (bigger) store in departures.

Now that's customer service!

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Minis at the markets

On Saturday, friend Sandra and I made the now obligatory visit to the Wellington Underground Market to check out the miniature possibilities.

The first stall we came to was PixieMoon, who had a selection of 'Fae dwellings' (and furniture) for sale.

A woman peeks through a display of necklaces on a market stall above a paper house.

A room in a miniature house made of paper.

A miniature fairy sofa covered in leaves and plants.

I had neither the space nor budget for anything so, after a lovely chat with the owner, we moved on.

On the Hanley Soloway, Sutlers stall, we spotted a container of sculpting tools,

Corner of a market stall with a container of sculpting tools for sale, along with a mannequin head wearing a pith helmet, and a microscope.

A container of sculpting tools for sale on a market stall.

which we were tempted by, but ultimately didn't buy. After more chatting (and a quick photo of the owner), we continued on our way...

A man dressed in colonial attire, holding a steam-punk-style model gun, in front of a sign saying 'Hanley Soloway, Sutlers: Weapons of brass destruction'

... to the point of the visit. Blue Star Kiwi.

Woman browsing the goods for sale at a market stall selling dolls' house miniatures.

(Yes, we bought things!)

A market stall selling dolls' house miniatures.

After checking out the rest of the stalls, and buying a couple of non-mini items for mini use, we stopped for a coffee and to review our purchases.

Cup of coffee on an outdoor table, along with a number of dolls' house miniature items arranged neatly below it.

(New Zealand-themed card pack from maya albums, 'yay' brooch from JuliaHuyserDesign, deer brooch from Whirlwind, and oven dish, sunflowers and food from Blue Star Kiwi.)

A New Zealand-themed card-making kit, two brooches, a dolls' house miniature oven dish containing miniature fruit and vegetables,, miniature sunflowers and a plate of miniature pancakes with banana.

Yay to a great day!

Woman holding up a brooch in the shape of the word 'yay' next to her mouth.

(Image above courtesy of Sandra Monk)

Monday, June 01, 2015

Emporium euphorium

Within four hours of arriving in Wellington, two people had mentioned that I might like Pete's Emporium. And since one of them was a fellow miniaturist, and we had a shopping date the following morning, it was almost certain that our first stop would be to check it out.