Show and Tell.....A Wonderful Gift plus a Trip to the Kensington Dolls House Festival.

My decorators have gone and I have finished dealing with the fallout of my youngest son's recent brush with the dangers of living in the inner city where burglary seems to be a way of life. So it was a wonderful surprise to find this wonderfully wrapped giveaway gift in my post this morning.

 A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win this fabulous dragon collection from the extremely talented and generous Victoria of Dark Squirrel Miniatures. What a super selection of items, perfect for my Dragon Room. Do go and check out Victoria's Etsy shop there is plenty there to fill a whole Christmas list. 

 On Saturday I went to the Kensington Dolls House Festival which is definitely my favourite fair for drooling and getting very excited by the whole range of miniatures on display.

The shopping started even before I entered the hall as I met up with Nikki Rowe who had very kindly whipped up a batch of her toffee apples for me. As kind as ever Nikki had also included this lovely acorn basket.

 I have been a great admirer and collector of Nikki's work for a few years now and it was wonderful to meet with her and chat all things mini. Nikki is a wonderful artisan and artist who is known for her wizarding and magical minis, recently, however, Nikki has started a whole new range of food and Bramley Hedge inspired minis.

 This collection of bread is beautifully crafted and I adore my pumpkin pie.

 Nikki's Halloween cheesecake with berry topping and a crunchy base. Yummy!!

 Here are a few of Nikki's new cheese range. The attention to detail is fantastic even down to the texture and colour of the rinds. Another shop to visit in time for Christmas!!

 Once in the Town Hall for the festival itself I spent quite a while in the area where most of the stands deal with building projects and the most beautiful houses that you can buy. I had a few errands to run here including buying a whole load of outside door hinges and screws as I seem to have lost every single one! 

While I was looking for slate roof tiles for a new project.......yes, that's right a new project....I saw this piece of wood turning that was perfect for my printer's tray of hand turned items.

 These items should give a big clue to as to my new, very small, in and out project.

 I have decided to make a 'dress' dolls house to match my new front room. I want it to be decorated in ivory, lemons and charcoal and be much more of an ornamental piece than my other dolls houses. 

 So I had a wonderful time looking at all the stands I normally pass by as they are far too pretty for Harry Potter World! All these wonderful shabby chic accessories are from a Italian seller whose card I have unfortunately lost and she does not seem to appear on the floor plan.

 The fireplace was a complete bargain and just perfect for my ivory shabby chic-ness. It is from Halls Miniature Clocks and he has a whole range of period fireplaces.

 I couldn't resist this 'bakelite' telephone from Truly Scrumptious who produce a whole range of eclectic miniatures and I have wanted to add a piece of their work to my collection for a long while.

This is the house I am going to use for my new project. It is an old Sid Cooke house that I purchased in this condition from Ebay a couple of years ago now. It is very much in the style of the type of house I used to live in when I was young and carefree! It is a favourite style of mine and the kit is very compact so it won't dominate my new room at all.

It is going to get a Property Ladder re-furb, in and out quickly and painlessly using lots of pieces from my stash so within budget for once!! 

Well that's the plan!!