November Favourites ’22

Holy shit guys, we are overdue a blog post, let alone another favourites! I’m wary now that I’ve been M.I.A. for almost a month and I do have my reasons why. I thought I’d write my favourites from November, whilst I also share where I went.

November was a mad month, especially towards the end of it, with some highs and lows to finish it off. First of all, I had Covid. Right at the end of November I tested positive and it sucked. I’m negative now, but I still have a cough (and sometimes head cold symptoms) that I’m just waiting to clear out of my system. Hopefully in time for Christmas…

It was my first time with Covid and I hope the last realistically. Self-isolating was the worst for me as it meant I was trapped in one room (two if you include occasional bathroom trips) relying on Dane to look after me and a crappy airbed for comfort of an evening. I didn’t enjoy it and it really did start to give me really bad mental health issues towards the end. The sickness itself was meh. I had a really bad temperature and all around just didn’t feel great, I just wanted to lie on the sofa or in bed all day, which I mostly did the weekend I found out I had it.

As I’ve been sick both at the end of October and the end of November, I really hope December doesn’t decide to join in too. In 2021 I was really sick at the end of December/start of January and that was vile, a lot worse than Covid, so I’m praying not to be sick like that again ever. 😛

Anyhoo, enough of the bad and onto the highs! As we all know, Pokemon came out mid November and since it released I’ve been playing it on and off, and thoroughly enjoying it, may I add! I’ll speak more about this later in the post. I also went to see Electric Callboy in Nottingham, which was amazing! Again, I’ll speak more about this later on in the post!

With no time like the present, let me get onto all my favourite from November, even with sodding Covid towards the end. 😛

Beauty – Lime Crime Wet Cherry Lip Gloss in Black Cherry.

With my lipstick journey I’ve gone from wearing lipsticks, liquid lipsticks, tints, and of late glosses. This has gone around full circle ever since I was old enough to be gifted make up as a young teenager, and lip gloss has made a come back for me! I find if I just want a bit of colour, lip glosses are great for that, alongside lip tints! I watched a beauty account on Instagram showing off some gorgeous black cherry glosses, so I decided to get myself one! I own one of the Lime Crime wet cherry lip glosses, which I love, so I thought I’d get the black cherry one. Prior to getting sick with Covid I was wearing this on a daily basis, as I just loved how light you could wear the colour, as well as how buildable it can be. I highly recommend the Lime Crime lip glosses if you want a gloss with some good colour, smells yummy and isn’t sticky!

Movie – Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl.

Technically this film classes as December, but I thought I’d mention it for November, because why not! We have been waiting YEARS to watch this movie, and finally we were able to yesterday. We’re big fans of the anime Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, so back in 2019/2020 when we heard about there being a film made of a sequel to the anime, we wanted to watch it. However, it’s only seemingly become available to us in the UK more so recently, and even then it’s only through someone uploading the movie onto YouTube. We watched it and it was such a beautiful film. If you’ve watched the anime and would love to know what happens next, make sure to go and watch the movie too. If you search for it on YouTube, you should find it straight away. I don’t want to link on my blog as realistically it being on YouTube isn’t the best.

Music – Electric Callboy.

So, as I mentioned at the start of the post, towards the end of November me and Dane went to see Electric Callboy in Nottingham. It was by far one of the best gigs I’ve been to in my life to date. I originally said it was in my top 5, but now it’s in my top 3!!! The whole vibe of the show was incredible, everyone was clearly there for a good time and everyone did just that. Each track they played from old and newer stuff got everyone going mad, including us of course! We both had a sore throats after attending the gig as we were both screaming the lyrics, and our bodies ached from dashing and moshing as much as we could. We got decent places to stand too as we started queuing quite early, so we were on the balcony, right at the front, which we loved! We’ve already said we want to go and see them again, as we had such a blast! I’d love to book to go and see them in Europe somewhere, or even London at some point next year, but we’ll see! Another cool thing is you can kind of see us on the photo that they took at the end of the gig! We’re on the left of the photo and I’m holding my bright yellow rain coat… 😛

Game – Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

As I mentioned at the start of the post, we got our copies of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and whilst we haven’t been binge playing them, I have really been enjoying playing Violet! Sword and Shield are both games I’ve enjoyed, but found you could complete the story in a day. However, Scarlet and Violet is, to me, a little overwhelming in the sense there is so much more to do! You have the gyms, titans and star challenges, as well as the usual filling up the Pokedex from catching and breeding, as well as battling with people. There’s A LOT to do in Scarlet and Violet and due to that, I really love it! I’m enjoying playing it as and when I want as well, instead of feeling like I need to pick it up to play most evenings. I wanted to show off the cute pictures I got of me and Fidough on my first day of playing. Fidough is for sure my favourite Pokemon to come out of Scarlet and Violet and I can’t wait to get some Fidough merch from the Pokemon Center due to this!

Just a few of my favourite things…

Lumichee 100% Cotton Batbat Hoodie

Lumichee “Monochrome” Mini Batbat Plush Series 4

Adorabubblesshop Ditto Cookie Candy Wrapper Loop Strap Charm

Adorabubblesshop Ice-Cream Pom Candy Wrapper Loop Strap Charm

Tomodachi Monster Cereal Vol.4 Pins

Black Friday

Did I go spend happy over Black Friday? Yep, I certainly did! If I’m honest I didn’t just shop for me either, I did save quite a lot of money on Dane’s Christmas presents, which was incredibly handy as it meant I could spoil him (and me) more. 😛 Black Friday happened when I was really sick with Covid, and not only did I go spend happy for Dane, but I definitely did for me too as I was feeling sorry for myself. As you can see, I bought quite a few bits and pieces from various places! I decided to get some more goods from Lumichee, Adorabubbleshop, as well as Tomodachi! They all had vouchers for Black Friday, which I just couldn’t pass up! I’ll be looking to write a blog post all about Lumichee in January, as well as showing you guys the volume 4 pins from Tomodachi, as I spoke about them at the start of the year!

Wales trip

I’ve been so excited to talk about our trip to Wales, but due to being so quiet on here this is the first chance I’ve had to really talk about it! At the start of November we went to Wales for a weekend to a shepherds hut on a farm in North Wales. The hut itself was absolutely gorgeous and everything we wanted! We made sure to book it in the autumnal months too so we could make the most of some of the features of the hut, which included underfloor heating, a log fire indoor, a firepit outside, as well as a hot tub! We definitely made the most out of all these features of the hut, even though the weather was raining and vile! We managed to dodge the rain every time we wanted to use the hot tub! Whilst we were in North Wales, we ventured to have a go at clay throwing, where we made a pot and a mug each! We are yet to receive these in the post, but as soon as we do, I’ll make sure to show them you guys!

I really can’t wait to venture on a holiday or short trip with Dane again, I really loved our weekend in Wales.

We made a Christmas advent calendar!

Finally I wanted to quickly show you guys the advent calendar we made this year! This project was ongoing for about a month, and even came with us on our trip to Wales, as we had planned to carry on with it there, but never got around to it. We finally finished it on Saturday and we both love what we have done with it! We kinda wanted it to be like a gingerbread house, but it’s not really become that. It’s definitely become our own unique thing and we love it to death! We’ve hidden some of the images of the doors as these are inspired by rooms in our home, so we’d like to try and keep this private. I also added some stickers from Pikarar as they just look so cute and it seemed the right time to use them! We picked our calendar up from Hobbycraft to decorate and it was so much fun for us to do together. If anything, we’ve said how we want to do more crafting together!

So there we have it! A long overdue blog post from me after almost a month and I think it falling around favourites time has worked out quite nicely.

I’d say sorry for being absent but, I’m not going to. This isn’t my job at the end of the day, it’s my hobby and one that just had to take a break whilst I was busy and sick. I do wonder if in the New Year how often I’ll write, in the sense of if I’m too busy, I’m not going to force anything, a choice I’m sure you guys won’t mind. 🙂

So, with that being said – how have you guys been the past month? Have you started your Christmas shopping? Bought any goodies during Black Friday sales? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’ve all been keeping well. 🙂

November Wish List ’22

First of all apologies for the silence from me for two weeks! As I mentioned in my last blog post (October Favourites ’22) both me and Dane were due to have some time off work together, and we pretty much chilled all the week, and went for a chilled holiday the weekend. It was a much deserved and needed break for us both and we were sort of gutted to be back at work.

We just spent a lot of time together, which was also very overdue. We live together, so we are always just a room away from each others company, but sometimes we might be doing our own thing, whether that be online with friends, or solo. I’ve been spending a lot of time on my cross stitch projects lately, whereas Dane has been playing a lot of games, so it was nice to come together to do things we both love… Which was playing games. 😛 Then over the weekend we went to North Wales to stay at a shepherds hut, have a go at clay throwing, and of course explore some parts of the area. I’m going to talk more about our trip soon, so keep eyes peeled for it at the end of the month on my November favourites. 😉

I’ve realised whilst putting this wish list together that not only is it very clothing and plushie heavy, but it’s also very Pokemon heavy as well! Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those things, but if you aren’t a massive Pokemon fan… This months favourites may not be for you. 😛

So, sit back, grab a hot drink and let’s get into this months wish list post! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

• Pokemon Center Vulpix & Alolan Vulpix Snowflake Knit Sweater – (link)

Christmas is just around the corner and with that, the Pokemon Center here in the UK and more have launched their Pokemon Christmas goods! Last year I purchased a Pokemon Christmas jumper, and I didn’t plan to again this year. However, when I saw this Vulpix snowflake sweater appear on the website, I just knew I had to get it. At this moment in time I haven’t ordered it, but, I do potentially plan to when I’m paid at the end of the month. I intend to wear the shit out of my Eevee Christmas jumper this year, but I love the look of this one for winter overall, as it doesn’t exactly shout “Christmas” at you, does it? It’s not cheap at £39.99, and the size I planned to get is currently sold out, so we’ll see what happens. 🙂 I remember last year a lot of people bought the Christmas jumpers and quickly sold them online in January.

• Lumichee 100% Cotton Batbat Hoodie – (link)

Lumichee is an independent store/brand I’ve been in love with for a while now, especially since my own goodies from the brand arrived last month that I ordered! I picked up a plush, and a hoodie and on this wish list I have the same types of items wished after all over again. The Lumichee hoodies are SO COMFORTABLE and by far my favourites in my wardrobe alongside my Pokemon Center UK 2019 one. They’re really baggy too, which is ideal for me as I love an oversized hoodie. I love Lumichee’s Batbat design, so the fact they have released one makes me happy. This probably won’t be something I purchase for myself until after Christmas, for obvious reasons. 😛

• Pokemon Center Plush Flareon Pokémon Fuwa Fuwa Daki – (link)

This is up the top of my wish list right now! Recently the Pokemon Center announced three new fuwa fuwa daki plushies would be available to buy, Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon. These haven’t hit the UK Pokemon Center yet, which I’m hoping they do for a few reasons… The first one (and main one at that) being the cost for shipping is very high… £30 plus in fact, which is more than the plush itself. The second reason being I could maybe ask for one as a Christmas/birthday present then. I’m wary only Dane would order from Japan, but even then I don’t think it’s something he wants to do at the moment. Whilst I’d love all three of these cute fluffy babies, the one plush I want the most is the Flareon. It’s cute little surprised face is adorable, and my favourite out of the three. We’ll see if I get this cutie in the future or not. 😛

• Lumichee “Monochrome” Mini Batbat Plush Series 4 – (link)

The other Lumichee item, and another plushie to boot. 😛 The Batbat plush is one I’ve wanted for about two years now, as I do love bats. 🙂 I recently received my sakura inspired Mousemoth, which I do adore, but I still want a Batbat… This monochrome version is really cute and it’s mini too, so it won’t take over my plushie collection too much! 😛 Like the Batbat hoodie, I do plan on ordering that and the plush for myself after Christmas!

• Pokémon Scarlet & Violet – Dual Pack Steelbook Edition – (link)

The new Pokemon game is out in less than a week now and I am SO EXCITED! I’ve had the dual pack pre-ordered since June and I’m ready for it now. I’ve watched all the trailers, and in all honesty I’ve also seen all the spoilers. I’m sick of seeing other people play it, I want to have my turn now! I ordered the dual pack as Dane will play Scarlet, and I’ll play Violet. We have Friday off work to play this all day together, as well as over the weekend, which I am beyond ready for! If you haven’t watched any of the trailers for the new games, go and do it! I know I’ve linked the dual pack, but I’m wary that a lot of places have sold out of this now, so keep eyes peeled for where you can grab your copy/copies. 🙂

• Pokemon Gastly Winter Coat – (link)

Finally we have the item I’m probably most after on this list, which is a Pokemon themed winter coat, and of course if you didn’t gather by the name, it’s inspired by Gastly! This is from EMP, an alternative fashion website I frequent to every now and then, more so at Christmas for gifts for Dane. I saw a Twitter account share this coat, and some other Pokemon fashion items from this EMP Gastly range and fell in love straight away! If it wasn’t for the fact I’ve had so much stuff to pay for lately, as well as Christmas looming, I think I’d have bought this coat for myself by now! I’m semi hopeful I can pick it up for myself after Christmas as it would be a nice addition to my wardrobe. I love how long it hangs at the back, as well as the hood. Plus, it’s a duffle coat style, which is one of my favourites! I currently own and wear a red duffle coat during the colder months, which I don’t really want to replace.

So, there we have it guys, my wish list for November! Realistically from this point until after Christmas, I probably won’t be buying myself a lot of stuff, as that’s what Christmas is kind of for, as well as my birthday in January.

What items do you have on your wish list? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have a good weekend!

October Favourites ’22

Happy Halloween guys! It’s tomorrow, one of my favourite times of year, and unfortunately, I’m not here for it. I bought decorations and never put them up, and I had a pumpkin to carve (thanks to my dad and his pumpkin patch!) but due to have a cold/flu this week, I haven’t even felt up to doing it. I’m gutted. Halloween this year has been a major flop for me for many reasons, which is a shame.

It’s not all doom and gloom in the run up to November though, as me and Dane are now on holiday from work for a week! We’ve been in need of some long time off of work so we’re both looking forward to it.

October really flew by and I can’t believe it’s November in just a few days. I love this time of year due to Halloween and Bonfire Night, but the weather is vile, which is such a shame. I hope during our week off the weather holds off a little, I don’t want to just have a wet week off work. 😦

I’m not going to waffle on anymore, let’s get on with the favourites!

Beauty – Neutrogena Hydro Boost Body Gel Cream.

This is a body cream I’ve been using for quite a while now, couple of months now maybe? Unfortunately I recently discovered that I’m allergic to The Body Shop’s strawberry body yogurt on my legs, so I’ve had to discontinue using that there, and instead I’ve been using the Neutrogena gel cream. I don’t just use this on my legs, sometimes I will use all over as it’s such a quick and easy body gel cream to use! It absorbs quickly, feels light and cooling and smells lovely and fresh too! This is one where a little bit goes a long way too, and I already know I’ll be repurchasing this, especially when it costs less than £5! I also have the spray version too, which I don’t use too often… I need to use it more!

Movie – Various horror including Rec and House of 1000 Corpses.

The past week we’ve spent many evenings watching horror movies through Shudder, a movie subscription service dedicated to horror! We have a seven day free trial and so far we’ve watched quite a few films on there, but the two that stand out to me are Rec and House of 1000 Corpses, the latter being a movie my boyfriend has wanted me to watch since we got together! Rec is always a film I’d heard of due to the remake, but I never actually knew what it was about. Alas I was surprised as I watched it and I thoroughly enjoyed! If you’ve never seen it, you should watch it too, not the remake, the original!

My boyfriend did pre-warn me about House of 1000 Corpses about how “amateur” it is due to it being done by Rob Zombie, who at the time was more known as a musician than director. This was the first film he directed and you can kind of tell, but that’s what is so charming about the film itself! The film is about a group of teenagers who are kidnapped by a family during Halloween. My favourite character (one I’m sure the film is best known for) is Captain Spaulding. He’s fucking hilarious and I can’t get enough of some of the stuff he says, hence the clip above.

TV Show – Chainsaw Man.

I haven’t read the manga, but I was so hyped about the anime for Chainsaw Man releasing a couple of weeks ago! I’ve always heard amazing things about the manga series from my friend Sammie, as well as from members of the Worlds Apart Discord community. We’re on three episodes so far and it’s constantly giving you action and things to get you to the edge of your seat. We follow Denji, a teenage human boy, who is orphaned, and has to hunts devils in order to pay off his families debt. With his pet devil Pochita by his side, he can do what he needs to. However, something bad happens, which changes Denji’s life. I won’t say anymore as I don’t wish to spoil but… I’m loving this series so far and I already can’t wait for the next episode on Tuesday. 😛

Music – PVRIS – “Anywhere But Here” and “Animal”.

Recently PVRIS released two new songs in the form of a short film, where both songs were featured. I really love both of these songs, more so “Anywhere But Here” as I love the lyrics and melody style vibe and sound behind it. I do really like “Animal” as well as it feels the complete opposite to “Anywhere But Here” with harder guitar riffs and more, with the lyrics being a little more edgy too and with a rebel attitude? I remember seeing around the end of October that PVRIS had something new to reveal to fans, so I was excited it would at least be a new song, but the fact we got treated to two?! I can’t remember if I mentioned on my blog previously, but at the start of August I finally bit the bullet and booked to see PVRIS live, and I’m so bloody excited for it! Since I discovered PVRIS in 2019 I’ve been dying to go and see them live. 🙂

Game – PlateUp!

This is a game one of our friends was talking about, which intrigued me. I watched the trailer above and I just knew I had to give it a go! As it’s a game Dane already owned, we opted to play it on the split screen play together with said friend and since then I’ve been itching to play it! This was only yesterday by the way. 😛 So, PlateUp! is about running a restaurant, including cooking in the kitchen, serving the customers, as well as cleaning after them. Pretty much Overcooked, BUT it isn’t as stressful, which is always nice. One thing I especially liked about this game is the fact it’s couch co-op, so you don’t need two copies for you and a someone else to play! It’s up to four players, so maybe even four of you could play at the same time!

Just a few of my favourite things…

A new cross stitch project!

At the start of October I started a new cross stitch project and it’s one I was so anxious about at first, so much so I left it untouched for about a week? Since then I’ve been picking it up every other night and a couple of weeks later it’s looking as it does above. If you can’t tell, this is a Studio Ghibli inspired piece from Spirited Away. It’s Chihiro’s little yellow shoes, surrounded by soot sprites. As we don’t like shoes on in the house, I decided to cross stitch this design for our home to hang up! I’m planning to have it completed before the new Pokemon games come out mid November. The design/pattern is by the same person who I bought my Eevee design/pattern off, which I’ll link here.

New smock dresses.

If there’s one style of dress I’m mad about right now, it’s smock dresses. I can’t get enough of them, honestly! I received a couple recently, one being a pre-order, the other being a bargain find on eBay! I’ll talk about them in the order shown about.

The ghost smock dress is by Lazy Girl Club, which I mentioned recently on my October wish list here. I pre-ordered this dress over a month ago and a few weeks ago, it arrived! I love ghosts, so I knew I couldn’t resist this dress for Halloween, as well as all year around! The only issue I have with it though is it’s far too big for me, which people have commented on. If I don’t wear a harness or belt around the middle, I look like I’m trying to hide a pregnancy, which personally isn’t a look I want. Due to this I’m looking for a harness I can wear with this a lot of the time. I do have a Black Milk Clothing corset style harness that I’m wearing in the above photo, which works so well with it! I’ll probably try and wear this at work one day and see how I get on! If you’d like to get one of your own ghost smock dresses by Lazy Girl Club, or any other of her pieces for that matter, get over to her store ASAP as she’s just reopened it for orders!

The eBay bargain I found is this Lazy Oaf sally dress! I’ve seen this dress pop up on eBay and Vinted on and off, but when someone popped one on eBay for under £40, I couldn’t resist! It was brand new with tags and a complete bargain. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive so I could wear it to work and more. I’ve worn it a few times and it’s definitely too big for me, but it’s fine with a belt around the middle! It’s very cosy and perfect for colder days with a cardigan layered over the top of it. When I wore it to work I got a lot of compliments, which was really nice!

Lumichee goodies.

Finally, my long awaited Lumichee goodies arrived that I ordered! I can’t remember if I mentioned on my blog, but I placed this order through a courier service as the costs I would have paid through Etsy were a joke! I have no regrets and since the hoodie arrived, I’ve pretty much lived in it. 😛 I went for the mousemoth hoodie, as well as a sakura inspired mousemoth plush. I’m already chomping at the bit to place a second order, but I must be good due to Christmas looming! I don’t want to talk too much about these as I plan to write a blog post about these at some point in November. 🙂

So, there we have it, my favourites for October! Did you find October flew by really quickly?

What were your favourites from October? Anything I’ve mentioned that you’re planning to check out? Also, what plans do you have for Halloween tomorrow and Bonfire Night next week? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have an amazing (and safe) Halloween and Bonfire Night next week!

Quirkory Souls Of Nature Collection

I am SPOILING you guys! Less than a month ago I wrote on my blog about Quirkory and their previous Patreon collection, Baukery. Now, I’m coming to you with their Souls of Nature collection, which released last year through a Kickstarter campaign.

I’ve been so excited to share the goodies I backed through this campaign, but they have taken a while to arrive with me due to some issues Quirkory faced. I don’t know if this upset anyone at the time, but personally I wasn’t fussed, I knew I would get my goods from Quirkory eventually and in all honesty, they were worth the wait!

Quirkory’s Souls of Nature collection had been in the works for quite some time, with original sketches being drawn up in late 2019! The collection itself is huge, alone with a whopping forty four different enamel pin design combinations!

The collection included twelve enamel pin designs:

Twelve designs – Kitsune (fox), okami (wolf), tanuki (raccoon dog), kuma (bear), shika (deer), usagi (rabbit), uma (horse), habi (snake), tara (tiger), tatsu (dragon), neko (cat) and, inu (dog).

There was also four colour types to choose from, Hanami special edition, light, dark, and vaper wave.

Alongside the extensive variety of enamel pin designs and colours, there was also more rewards to choose, A5 sticker sheets, two different sets of mini pins, wooden and frosted charms, pop sockets, washi tapes, A5 art prints, enamel pin display banner, and deskmats.

I opted for two enamel pins, as well as a deskmat. Alongside the goodies I backed for, Quirkory also sent me some pop sockets, as well as wooden charms!

So first of all I will talk about the goods I backed.

Inu (dog) light variant enamel pin.

I have to say, this is my favourite design out of he twelve, mainly due to how playful and cute the design is, but I love dogs, alongside foxes, sea otters and raccoons, they’re my favourite animal. The inu design is adorable in itself, with the inu’s design in a running pose. I opted for the light variant for the inu design too as I felt it worked really well with the white body, blue accents and the red bell collar. I wish I’d backed for some of the other colour variants of this enamel pin so I could pop one on a backpack, or jacket. 😛

Tanuki (raccoon dog) dark variant enamel pin.

Definitely my second favourite design from the collection, and one I knew from the start I wanted to get in the dark variant! As tanuki are grey/dark grey, it made sense to go for a darker colour. I did like the look of the one variant which would have given the tanuki black and pink accents, but as purple is my favourite colour, the dark variant was a no brainer!

Hanami pattern deskmat.

This was probably the item I was most excited for! At the time of backing this deskmat I hadn’t long bought my Eeveelutions deskmat from Japan, so in my excitement I did also back for the Hanami pattern deskmat too. This thing is HUGE, it’s too big for my desk, as you’ll be able to tell on the photos above. It features all of the animal designs, which I think is adorable! It really is bringing a smile to my face whenever I’m working from home, or sitting at my desk. It’s going to be my new flat lay image too, which makes a nice change from the Eeveelution one.

I’ll also share with you guys the items that Quirkory sent me as little freebies! I was not expecting any extra goodies thrown in, so as always, a massive thank you for Quirkory for these!

Inu (dog) and Tanuki (raccoon dog) pop sockets.

Who doesn’t love a good pop socket, eh? I lived for mine during 2018 and then 2020. These days I don’t use one, but as and when I change my phone, I would like to get a case where I could use one! The two designs Quirkory sent me are adorable, especially the inu, which I can’t stop staring at whilst writing this post! They seem really sturdy and good quality! If I don’t manage to use them as pop sockets for my phone, I may end up using them as little hooks for my plushie cabinet… We’ll see. 😛

Inu (dog) and Tanuki (raccoon dog) wooden charms.

These were a massive surprise to see and to be honest, I’m so grateful for Quirkory sending me these, as I do love charms, especially cute ones! Again, they sent me the inu and tanuki versions, with the inu being a light variant, and the tanuki being a dark variant. The tanuki I received a while before my Souls of Nature goodies arrived, so that’s been hanging with a tanuki windchime I bought in Japan in 2020. I do plan on potentially popping the inu charm on my car or house keys… because why not! I’d possibly take the tassel off however as I’d worry about it getting ruined.

A5 sticker sheets.

Finally I received not one, not two, but five sticker sheets, with all twelve designs, as well as the four colour variants, and the special colour variant too! I definitely plan on sticking these places soon, which I’m really excited for!

Overall, I really love the Souls of Nature collection! I remember Quirkory giving their Patreon subscribers a sneak peak years ago and I was extremely excited for the kitsune design! I honestly hope they bring these designs to their store in the near future, as they deserve to be and not just a Kickstarter exclusive collection. 🙂

Some of the designs I’d love to own as enamel pins in the future are the kitsune, okami, shika, and tatsu. They’re such gorgeous designs and I do semi regret not getting them previously.

I’m going to add all of Quirkory’s social media pages and especially their store below:

Store

Store (Etsy)

Instagram

Patreon

Facebook

Twitter

What do you guys like the most about this collection? I do love everything if I’m honest! It was such a gorgeous collection from Quirkory and since then they’ve brought out some more adorable collections, including Delicows and Baukery.

Which design(s) did you like? What colour variants would you put with them? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments!

Until next time, I hope you have a lovely rest of your weekend guys and take care!

Shirayukinikki – Jiji & Lily’s Bakery Glass Tumbler – Review

Today’s post is one I’ve been excited to write about and share with you all for a couple of months now, but as the item(s) I’ll be talking about today only arrived a month ago, I’ve only just had the chance to properly talk about them!

Shirayukinikki is a small business in America that I discovered in the summer through Instagram and specialises in creating lifestyle goodies and more, mostly sponsored by fan art, which is what attracted me to their Instagram page and items initially. I discovered them through their Jiji & Lily’s Bakery glass tumbler, and as someone who likes to drink their iced coffees, soft drinks, and alcohol out of a pretty glass, I kind of knew I wanted to get one (or two) some day.

Shirayukinikki does an assortment of designs, with pretty much all of the glass tumbler designs being fan art. These designs range from Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, Spy x Family, Cardcaptor Sakura, BT21, and more. Not only does Shirayukinikki sell glass tumblers, but also mugs and glass water bottles too!

When it came to placing an order, I sat on it for a while, as due to the cost of shipping from America to the UK, I didn’t feel like one glass was worth it. I contemplated ordering more glasses but left that idea too as I didn’t want to spend more money, you know?

I was sharing my love of the glass tumbler with one of my newest friends (hi Sammie!) and after she eyed up Shirayukinikki’s Instagram page and website too, she fell in love with the Anya Forger glass tumbler! So with that, we placed a shared order together. Finally, we were both getting cute glasses for our drinks!

We ordered our glasses on the 24th July, but they didn’t arrive in the UK until 14th September. We were both aware at the time of a 2-3 week wait when ordering the glasses, but after having a nose on the website three weeks later, we noticed the waiting time differed from previously. It now stated 3-6 weeks which confused us both a little. Since then I have checked both glass listings and they both have different wait times, with Anya Forger having 2-3 weeks, but Jiji & Lily’s Bakery having 3-6 weeks.

We weren’t bothered by the waiting time, as long as got our glasses after 6 weeks, which we pretty much did as 6 weeks later on the 4th September our glasses were shipped! Just be mindful of the waiting times, as like us, they may differ if you order more than one item!

One thing I want to add here is around the 4th September I dropped Shirayukinikki a message on Instagram to ask about an update on our order, as I knew they were due to go on holiday, and quite frankly I didn’t want to wait anymore for an update. Shirayukinikki’s customer service was great and not long after messaging our order was set as shipped and a tracking number supplied!

Prior to ordering our glasses I was wary Shirayukinikki had offered frosted versions too, which I enquired about for if I wanted to order a glass in the future. At the time I was told no, but as I messaged Shirayukinikki anyway about updates to our order, they asked me if I wanted the frosted option still, as Shirayukinikki had remembered me asking previously! It was really lovely that they remembered me asking and I said yes to the frosted option!

Since then the frosted option is now on all glasses, which I think is a good move as with and without a drink in the glass the design is visible, which is good!

Just over a week later and our glasses arrived! I couldn’t wait to get mine out the box to check it out, give it a wash and start using it! I also had a quick look at Sammie’s to make sure it was okay, which it was!

Glasses cost $26 each, roughly £23-£24, which isn’t a bad deal for a reusable glass with your favourite characters on. Plus, you are supporting a small business! I love that Shirayukinikki ships to the UK as there are still some American small business  that don’t ship to the UK or UK shoppers have to purchase through Etsy and get charged more.

Each glass comes with a bamboo lid and a glass straw, although it does state on the listings that they come with plastic straws.

Glasses are recommend to be hand washed, although they are dishwasher and microwave safe it is not recommended as it could cause the image on the glass to slowly fade, get scratched or even bubble. When hand washing use a soft sponge and wash lightly on the design.

Glasses can also be used for hot drinks, which I may have to try at some point with my matcha latte drinks. 🙂

Anyhoo, enough of the product details and such! I’ll show them off below, with links so you can check them out!

Jiji & Lily’s Bakery 16 oz Glass Tumbler – (link)

I LOVE Kiki’s Delivery Service and Jiji is definitely one of my favourite Studio Ghibli characters. Due to the cup mainly focusing on him, Lily and bakery themes I really loved the design for a glass… And maybe a mug eventually. 😛 The images on the glass includes Jiji, Lily, an assortment of baked goods including croissants, bread, etc, the mug with a Jiji doppelganger on and more! I love using my glass for iced coffees, but as the weather gets warmer I am finding myself using it to drink squash, as well as fizzy drinks! Thanks to Sammie she confirmed to me that one glass will hold two cans of fizzy drink! 😀

Washing the glass is really simple and I only wash gently on the outside and inside, as it’s easy to clean!

Anya Forger 16 oz Glass Tumbler – (link)

Sammie was such a good egg and sent me a photo of her Anya glass so I could show it off to you guys today! I’ve also added a picture from Shirayukinikki’s store so you can see some more photos of it too, which show it off in the frosted design. Sammie went for the standard glass (which is no longer available) which I really like! The designs shows up a lot more when there’s a drink in the glass, as you can see from Sammie’s photo. The Anya Forger glass of course has lots of different faces of Anya, as well as a bag of peanuts/peanuts, her chimera doll, and Bond Forger the dog!

Overall I absolutely adore our glasses and since getting it I’ve been using it constantly! If anything, I need to stop using it so much as I’m neglecting my Pokemon Café glass now. 😛

I know both me and Sammie have discussed which glasses and other items Shirayukinikki offers that we’d love to get in the future! Some of mine are as listed below:

Haku, No Face, and Ootori – Sama Frosted 16 oz Glass Tumbler – (link)

Totoro & Friends Frosted 16 oz Glass Tumbler – (link)

I’ll pop Shirayukinikki store and their social media handles below!

Store

Instagram

Twitter

So, what do you guys think of Shirayukinikki? I personally think their creations are absolutely amazing and quite frankly, I can’t wait to own more in the future! The quality of the glasses are amazing and I can see mine lasting a very long time! What do you guys think of Shirayukinikki? Any designs you like in particular? Make sure to let me know in the comments below!

Until next time guys, have an amazing rest of your weekend and take care!

October Wish List ’22

October is well and truly here and I’m getting hyped for Halloween! I know, it’s a good couple of weeks away (just under three!) yet but I do love Halloween, as regular and older readers will know. I really want to do something for it this year seeing as I’m not at work, but I don’t have a bloody clue what! I’m sure I’ll think of something… Any ideas, pop them in the comments!

I felt really stumped this month with my monthly wish list as I just didn’t have a clue what to add! I really do feel like at times I’ve had to stop myself buying things, some were harder than others but alas, here we are. Half of the items on my wish list this month are pre-orders, hence why they were mentioned… I was really stuck for what to add this month!

With Christmas looming, these wish lists may be easier to write as I need to stop buying goods so Dane and my family can have some ideas of what to get me. Plus with costs on the rise, I need to stop treating myself to things too.

So, on that note, on with the wish list!

• Lazy Girl Club – Ghost Smock Dress – (link)

This isn’t a wished after item, but one I have pre-ordered and should be getting by the end of the month. I love ghosts, especially when they look cute, so I really couldn’t resist picking this up. Plus, it’s a smock style too, which is a style I’ve really fallen in love with the past year. On top of all that though, Lazy Girl Club is an independent and slow fashion brand and if there’s one thing I really do want to support these days, it’s just that. I’m excited to have this for Halloween, as well as mine and Dane’s short trip away as I really do want to style it up, and wear it as much as possible! I’m planning to wear it for both in and out of work. I already wear my Black Milk Clothing ghost dresses to work, so I’m up for wearing another one. 😛 This dress will be great for laying too and I’m already planning to try and get a nice black and white striped t-shirt to wear underneath. I’m planning on writing a blog post about this piece in November, so make sure to keep eyes peeled for that!

• Komi Can’t Communicate Shoko Komi Nendoroid – (link)

This is a pre-order from back in March and I can’t wait for it to finally arrive at the end of the month! Both me and Dane love Komi Can’t Communicate, so when we saw Komi was getting a Nendoroid figure, we knew we had to get her! I love all the different poses and faces she comes with too. This will be one I’m sure me and Dane will assemble together so we both get faces and poses we love. As this was a pre-order item from so long ago.

• Lore Olympus: Volume Three – (link)

At the time of starting this blog post I DID have this book pre-ordered, but due to wanting to be good with my money, I cancelled the pre-order. This is a book I’d love to pick up, as I’m really loving reading the series, but I can always ask for this for Christmas or birthday, as before we know it, they’ll be here! There’s a volume four coming out next year too, so I could always wait and pick them up together in 2023!

• Monki Black Mock Neck Top With Heart Cut Out – (link)

This is an item that came to my attention recently as I saw it being advertised on Instagram! I’ve always wanted one of these tops from Monki where there is the heart cut out, but it’s always sold out, or no longer stocked. I have tried to find it second hand to buy but I’ve had no luck finding one. Maybe Monki was aware how popular this piece is as they’ve brought it back! I want this in a big size as it sounds like it runs on the tight side, and tight fitting clothing is not for me! Ideally I want this for work so I can wear it with trousers and skirts. I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for my size to come in stock! 😀

• Sanrio Cinnamoroll Omori Keychain – (link)

This is a keychain I would love to get eventually to keep on my car keys! I feel like they’re in need of something new to them, and this adorable Cinnamoroll ramen bowl full of yummy Japanese food is one I’d love! I’d worry it would make me hungry looking at it though… 😛

• Kate Allan Rise Above 2023 Desk Calendar – (link)

Finally as the year 2022 is starting to come to an end, it’s time for some new calendars to slowly start making their way onto my wish lists. For the first time in 2022 I’ve bought a desk calendar, which is my Animal Crossing one. I’ve loved peeling off each day and having something new to look at, so I’d love to get another one. When I saw that Kate Allan is releasing one, I knew I had to get it! I haven’t bought this yet, but I’m planning to as soon as possible! Kate Allan’s work is amazing and each item she creates includes an adorable animal, as well as an important message for anyone who needs to see/hear it that day. I’d end up keeping each day to give to people who need them! I’d also look to sticking one or two on my desk at work for when I’m not having good days and need something to look at to perk me up a little.

So, there we have it! My wish list for this month! I’m not going to lie, I am incredibly excited for my Lazy Girl Club dress to arrive and I can’t wait to wear it for Halloween, as well as Bonfire Night!

What do you have on your wish list? Have you ordered some goodies you’re excited for? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have an amazing weekend!

September Favourites ’22

I can’t quite believe how quickly September flew by. Literally it felt like yesterday it was the first full week of September, so the fact it’s now the second day of October… It’s just mad!

I’m rather excited for October due to Halloween, as well as Bonfire Night looming. It’s also at the end of the month when me and Dane have some time off together to celebrate the colder celebrations of the year and more. Not to mention the excitement of Pokemon Scarlett and Violet coming out next month too! November is an exciting month, but I’ll save chatter about that for next months favourites post. 😉 So yeah, October is a bit of a calm before the storm kind of month for us.

A lot happened in September with (what felt like) events left, right, and centre! I do just want the world to slow down a little to be honest… I’m wary we’re less than 100 days until Christmas and God knows how many until my 33rd birthday… I looked… 96 days…

One thing I’m especially excited for for the rest of the year is how many people I’m meeting who I’ve befriended thanks to the internet and similar interests. This time next week I’ll be meeting up with someone I befriended through a Discord, which I know we’re both excited for! 😀

I’m going to jump straight into the September favourites, as I’m wary I’m going to waffle on! 😛

Beauty – Dove Body Scrub Pomegranate Seeds & Shea Butter and Dove Body Scrub Crushed Macadamia & Rice Milk.

This was a more recent purchase that I got towards the end of September, and in a short space of time it has fast become a favourite! I love a good body scrub, especially foaming ones as I feel like they’re sort of cleaning as they scrub. Anyone else feel like that? Anyway, to be honest I mostly use body scrubs on my underarms and legs before shaving. However, I will use all over too if I feel it’s needed. I picked up two types of the Dove body scrub, Pomegranate Seeds & Shea Butter and Crushed Macadamia & Rice Milk, as at the time of purchasing (and publishing this post) they were buy one get one free from Superdrug. I have wanted to try the Dove body scrubs for a while now, so didn’t see the harm in taking up the offer! These have fast become a staple for sure as they smell really good and leave my skin feeling soft and moisturised after use. They’re not rough in terms of scrubbiness, which is ideal if you have sensitive skin. I had a horrible allergic reaction on my legs to a body scrub recently (name here) so my legs are grateful for the Dove body scrubs, that’s for sure. My only problem with the Dove body scrubs is that we don’t have as much choice as America do. For example, they have the Brown Sugar & Coconut Butter, which I would LOVE to get one day!

Movie – Kalifornia.

I’ll pre-warn you now, the trailer for this film is so cringe and typical of the early 90’s. I remember watching this film with my parents when I was a teenager, and although it’s classed as a horror/thriller, we found so many parts hilarious due to some of the stuff Early would come out with. Kalifornia is about a writer and his photographer girlfriend, who are planning to drive from Kentucky to California, writing and taking photos for his book as they go. Due to the costs of such a trip, they advertise for people to travel with them, with the advertisement being filled by Early and his girlfriend. Prior to leaving and during their trip, things go from weird, to bad. On my dad’s birthday we spoke about the film again, one Dane had never heard of before, so I decided to buy it for us to watch one evening. I think due to the trailer (and the way we sold it to him) Dane didn’t expect much from it, but by the end of the film, he commented how much he enjoyed! I highly recommend if you fancy giving it a watch! It has a big cast with Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes.

TV Show – Bee & PuppyCat.

I’ve been so excited to talk about Bee & PuppyCat this month! As regular readers may have seen, I did talk about the show prior to it’s launch on Netflix at the start of September (which you can read here). I really loved the updated version of season one, however there were some hilarious and memorable moments from the original that I was sad not to see. I can only imagine they were so good previously that recreating them again wasn’t doable… But I don’t know. I won’t spoiler by mentioning what they are, but in the future I might write a blog post of what I thought of the Netflix version. To conclude here, I’m so excited for another season (there better be one!) as well the hype that is now around the show. I’ve always followed the hashtag on Instagram for the show so I always saw people’s posts about it. Since the show came out last month, I’m always seeing and discovering new people through Bee & PuppyCat, which in turn just makes me so happy!

Music – Electric Callboy Tekkno.

Electric Callboy’s new album Tekkno released towards the end of September, which both me and Dane were excited for! We were also meant to go and see the guys play last week but due to one of the singers falling ill, the gig has been postponed, which is a shame, but at the same time it’ll still be an amazing show! 😀 Tekkno is such a fun album and one I’ve been finding myself listening to lots since it came out, with putting it on in the morning on my way to work, whilst I’m working, as well as on my drive home! Electric Callboy are a band everyone should check out at some point, with their sound being a mixture of metal and electronic. We discovered them in 2020 when “Hypa Hypa” came out. Our friend told us about it and since then we’ve both been hooked!

Game – Bear & Breakfast.

I’ll be honest, as the days loomed for this game coming out, I did contemplate whether or not to buy. A review I watched mentioned how repetitive the game is, which wasn’t such an issue for me, but it did kind of put me off. Alongside that, I already have plenty of games to play so I was a bit torn. In the end, I bought it and have played it on and off the past couple of weeks! Bear & Breakfast is a game where you’re a bear and start a chain of bed and breakfasts in your woodland to try and encourage humans back to the forest. It’s a very basic game, but fun nonetheless if you want a game you don’t want to have to think too much about! Sadly the past week I haven’t touched it, as I’ve been working on some last minute cross stitch projects… More about that under other. 😛

Just a few of my favourite things…

Nature Centre, Birmingham.

I went out yesterday with my bestie and our best boys to see some cute animals at the Nature Centre in Birmingham, then lunch at our favourite independent coffee place. It was so lovely and I’m so glad the weather held up for us, as prior to that it has been fucking miserable! I started to really get into the autumnal feels and I honestly can’t wait for more of that. My bestie loves red pandas, so I told her it was time for us to go and see some in Birmingham! We picked the perfect day and time to go as there were hardly any people there, and with some coffees in hand, we walked around the park, in awe of the cute animals in front of us. I think the red panda knew it was the main reason for us going, as it really did do some poses for us. 😛

THIS IS HALLOWEEN, THIS IS HALLOWEEN!

Back in the summer my dad asked me if I could get him some vegetable seed packets. They didn’t have one he was after, so as I joke I decided to pick up some pumpkin seeds for him to try growing. They weren’t cheap, so I paid for them and we had a laugh about it. The above photo is from yesterday. I cannot believe just how well his pumpkins have grown! They look incredible and I’m so proud of him for giving it a go! He did give one to me to grow too, but we didn’t have the luck he did. This photo just gives me so many autumn and Halloween vibes, both of which I’m excited and beyond ready for now!

“Kiki, look it’s me!”

FYI I will be posting a blog post up all about this glass, and shirayukinikki, the store/artist behind it so keep eyes peeled for that this month! Back a couple of months ago me and one of my newer friends decided to go halves on shipping some glasses by shirayukinikki to us. Since this arrived last month, I’ve been using it for iced drinks, alcohol and even just glasses of squash. I really love the Jiji and Lily bakery design behind it and couldn’t resist. Of course if you aren’t aware, the design is inspired by Studio Ghibli film Kiki’s Delivery Service, which you should go and watch if you haven’t before!

Kawaii goods.

Finally, I want to show off some cute items that arrive the past few weeks, because why not!

The first image is of my honey bear gacha by shigematsu_kun that my friend Emily was kind enough to add to her From Japan order for me! I’d seen someone buy the four honey bear gacha and showcase them on an Instagram reel, I knew I needed them! Once Emily sent them to me, I decided to stick them on my desk monitor as I thought it was the perfect home for them! I love when I’m working from home, or sitting at my desk that I can look up and see the four little cuties sat there! My desk is growing more adorable and I love it!

The second image is of my Toast the raccoon plushie by Yencat! I backed it on Kickstarter earlier this year in February, alongside with a plush pouch too. This guy is a CHONK and I love it! It’s a lovely plush for cuddling due to this, but as I already have one mochi plush I use for cuddling, I’m going to purely keep Toast for display purposes. As I may have mentioned before on my blog, raccoons feel like my spirit animal and due to that I do adore them, but this is actually my first raccoon plush! I don’t think I could have chosen a better one, do you? 😛

So, there we have it guys, my favourites from September! It flew by, didn’t it? 😛 I am excited for October though due to more autumnal vibes and Halloween. 😛

What were your favourite things about September? Are you excited for October too? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and enjoy the rest of your weekends. 🙂

Quirkory Patreon Baukery Pin Club Continued!

Earlier this year in February I told you guys I would be back at some point to show off some more of the Baukery enamel pin designs from the Quirkory pin club. Finally after seven months I’m bringing that post to you all today!

As regular readers (and followers of my Instagram) may know, not only are Quirkory my favourite enamel pin creators, but they’re also my friends, AND I’m their brand ambassador too! So, whenever it comes down to writing for Quirkory it’s always a pleasure to do and a blog post I really look forward to writing. Due to this I have been so excited to show off the rest of the designs from the Baukery collection, which was a Patreon exclusive. Maybe Quirkory will release these in their store in the future as limited edition items? Who knows, but even so I couldn’t resist showing these cuties off!

Since June 2022 Quirkory have moved away from their Baukery collection to other enamel pin collections  and Patreon tiers such as Pocketto Club (fan art), Pun Pals Club (animals and puns), and DELICOWS Club (cows and food). From what Quirkory has stated previously, the Baukery pins look to be coming back in the future, and by the sounds of through a Kickstarter! So, if you do love the adorable food and puppy enamel pins, make sure to keep eyes peeled for this in the (hopefully) near future!

So, for this weeks blog post I wanted to show you all the rest of the Baukery enamel pins, four in total running between February to May 2022.

As I said previously, talking about Quirkory and showing off their cute designs really makes me smile and it especially makes my day when I see new designs come from them. Their Patreon is amazing for showcasing any new and upcoming designs and for as little as £2.50 a month you’ll get access to all this and more! This price does not include their pin club. I’ll go into more detail of how much the pin club costs later on in the post.

At the start of October 2021, the Baukery officially opened! The name of the pin club comes from merging the Italian word “bau”, which means “woof” together with the English word “bakery”. Quirkory felt the perfect blend between the two languages represented them perfectly and hence, Baukery was born!

As you may have already gathered just by the name of the pin club, Baukery is all about adorable dogs from around the world bringing us their countries best and most knowable baked goods! I love dogs, (which I don’t think comes as a surprise to many) and as an avid lover of savoury foods, baked goods is something I adore, so, mixing the two together really did appeal to me when Quirkory first told me about their idea back in 2021!

The overall presentation of the Baukery rewards when they arrive on your doorstep is amazing and as always, Quirkory have really paid attention to every detail, which I always find to be unique to them.

The packaging for the enamel pins is adorable as it came in a white/brown jiffy bag for that month with a thank you sticker with the dog of that month on it. I loved these so much I cut out February to April to keep! Sadly I didn’t receive one for May, which made me a little sad. 😦

Alongside your enamel pin you also received a special sticker with the relevant dogs paw pad which also states which month it is. Unfortunately I’ve either misplaced the 7th month, or I wasn’t sent one.

Each pin comes in a little brown packet that resembles what you may get in a bakery when buying goods. Quirkory even went to the lengths of adding some nutritional facts about each enamel pin, as I’ve shown above. They’re all unique to each dog breed too, so it’s not like a generic sticker that has been added. Each brown packet is sealed with a ribbon sticker that has the Baukery logo on too.

The backing card is like a little book (if you will!) for the enamel pins and each one is the same with a bakery theme. One side you have the café door and the Baukery logo/sign and on the other side you had some seating outside of he Baukery café window. The café is decorated in wisteria flowers, which just give it such a gorgeous look and touch!

Then when you open up the backing card you are presented with your enamel pin of the month, as well as a “Puppy & Treat ID Card”, which Quirkory have partially filled in. I love how the “Puppy name”, “Adoption date” and “Owner Name & Signature” fields are blank for you to fill in.

The part of the backing card the enamel pin sits on is adorable too. When you remove the pin you get to see what the whole design looks like, which is a serving area in the bakery/café. I love that the dog of the month sits on the serving board.

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Quirkory and their attention to detail is 100% and I’m here for it!!!

Finally, it’s time to show off all of the enamel pins with you!

February 2022 – Canada – Labrador and sugar cinnamon beaver tail.

If there is something I learnt from this enamel pin design it’s that Labradors are a Canadian dog breed! I always thought they originated from America! I mentioned previously in February that the baked good in the Labradors mouth reminded me of melon pan (Japanese sweet bun) and how this confused me as it’s actually a sugar cinnamon beaver tail! It’s basically fried dough covered in cinnamon sugar that is said to resemble a beaver, which Canada are known for! I’d never heard of one until Quirkory announced their February pin, so I definitely learnt something new through the Baukery pin club! I love the little detail on the Labradors cheek of the blush, it’s so cute!

March 2022 – Golden Retriever and Cornish pasty.

Out of all seven designs from the Baukery collection, the Golden Retriever design is my favourite! This is another breed I didn’t know was from the UK, I even turned to Dane to ask him and he didn’t know either. I don’t know why, but when I see Golden Retrievers, I think of Canada or America, but I think this is due to the breed being so popular on the other side of the pond. Of course the UK pupper has to be holding a Cornish pasty, it would be rude not to. My reason for this enamel pin design being my favourite out of the bunch is purely for how bloody cute the Golden Retriever looks with its fluffy fur and flappy long ears! I can just imagine a real Golden Retriever running along the beach after stealing a tourists Cornish pasty! Back in February I was so excited for this enamel pin to arrive and since it has, I can’t stop looking at it. 🙂

April 2022 – Siberian Husky and strawberry bun/vatrushka.

When I was in my late teens and early twenties I always wanted to own a Husky, but since then I’ve gone off of the idea. Huskies are an adorable breed, but they’re definitely not one for me! They’re known for shedding, as well as being very vocal, two no no’s for me. 😛 This being said, I’m happy to finally own a Siberian Husky in enamel pin form, especially when it’s as cute as Quirkory’s design is! As the Husky originates from Russia, this little cutie is holding a vatrushka, a pastry in the shape of a ring with quark in the middle, as well as fruit. Quirkory went for strawberry for their Husky, which I love! The red and pink colours of the strawberries work so well with the black and white of the Husky!

May 2022 – Shiba Inu and strawberry matcha roll.

Finally for the last Baukery design in the series (for now!) we have the Shiba Inu, a dog breed I would love to own at some point in the future! As a massive lover of Japan and their culture, the Shiba is also a huge part of that and I won’t lie when I say Shiba merchandise is everywhere there, even Shiba cafes! We went to one when we first travelled to Japan in 2020 and it was such a relaxing experience. Due to this, I was really excited for my Shiba enamel pin to arrive! The little Shiba baby is holding a strawberry matcha roll, not really a bakery item I knew existed previously! Since finding out it was a thing, I really want to try or make one! I love how the Shiba is winking, as well as one of it’s back feet showing it’s toe beans! This is such an adorable design, I can’t get enough of it!

So there we have it! All the Quirkory Baukery designs to date. I really hope Quirkory bring the Kickstarter they mentioned to life, as I would honestly love to own all of the Baukery designs. As I’ve mentioned before, I love dogs and I’m all for pastries and baked goods, so the two together are just perfect to me.

I’m still hoping in the future for designs such as an Australian Cattle Dog holding fairy bread, a Japanese Spitz holding a Taiyaki fish treat, and especially a Miniature Schnauzer holding Lebkuchen for a cute Christmas theme!

Overall I just want to say how much I love Baukery, as well as how proud I am of Quirkory for setting themselves this Patreon pin club goal almost a year ago and really fulfilling it by bringing adorable dogs and baked goods themed pins into our lives and more! Looking at their enamel pin designs daily in my home really does bring a smile to my face and I’m excited for what 2022 brings for them. I’m planning on creating an enamel pin hoop or flag that looks like a park with a café to add all my pins to!

As always I’ll pop Quirkory’s stores and their social media handles below.

Store

Store (Etsy)

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Patreon

If you’re interested in Quirkory’s Patreon make sure to click on the link about so you can go and check it out! They offer

Eight tiers to choose from:

Tasty Pastry ʕ๑•ᴥ•๑ʔ.:*☆ – £2.50 per month

– ̗̀ Stationery Frens club ̖́- ʕ❀^㉨^❀ʔ – £12 per month

Gacha Club ̖́- ʕ „•̪ o •̪ „ʔ – £12.50 per month

– ̗̀ Pocketto Club ̖́- ₍ᐢ๑● Ⱉ ●๑ᐢ₎ – £13.50 per month

– ̗̀ Pun Pals club ̖́- ₍=^･꒳･^=₎ฅ – £15 per month

– ̗̀ DELICOWS club ̖́- ૮₍⍝• ɷ • ⍝₎ა❀° – £15 per month

ᴍɪɴɪ DELUXE Club ʕ„´ ꒳ `„ ʔ❀°。 – £28.50 per month

DELUXE Club ૮ฅ „´ ꒳ `„აฅ ♡ ʕ„´ ꒳ `„ ʔ – £36 per month

Which Baukery design is your favourite? Which dog breeds and baked treats do you hope to see from around the world as well? Make sure to leave plenty of answers and love for me and Quirkory down below!

Also if you would like to save 10% off of Quirkory’s store then make sure to use the code TMBQUIRKORY!

Until next time guys, take care and I hope you’ve had an amazing weekend!

KawaiiKraftsDesigns – Pokemon Cubone Terrarium

You guys know how much I love Pokemon, and especially supporting independent artists/businesses who create amazing stuff of things I love. So, today I’ll be merging both of these together to talk about KawaiiKraftsDesigns and my experiencing with getting a custom Pokemon terrarium!

KawaiiKraftsDesigns is a Birmingham based independent business who specialises in creating terrariums, but they do also sell keyrings, necklaces, 3D frames, hand painted, plant pots and more, plus, they’re all kawaii themed too, hence the name!

I discovered KawaiiKraftsDesigns at the UK Games Expo in June 2022 when I went to Dane and our friends. There were quite a few terrarium creators there, but KawaiiKraftsDesigns stood out to me the most, especially on Cubone design in particular. As we’d not long got to the expo we decided to walk around and get an idea for everything before we decided to do any buying. Alas, when I went back to the stall towards the end of the day, the Cubone terrarium I liked the look of had sold. I was gutted but made sure to grab one of their business cards so I could give them a follow on Instagram, their store, etc.

About a week later I decided to reach out to Jade, owner of KawaiiKraftsDesigns on Instagram to ask when she would be working on commissions again as I was interested. Jade was so lovely and replied relatively quickly to inform me she would be opening them again and asked what I was interested in. I’ve also loved the Cubone funko, it’s so adorable and as Cubone is one of my favourite Pokemon anyway, I knew it was one I would love in terrarium form. Plus, it’s the same Cubone I’d seen at the UK Games Expo, so I knew that’s what I wanted from a terrarium by Jade.

I proposed my idea and paid a deposit that covered the cost of the Cubone figure, as well as some materials. I decided to go for Cubone in a Japanese garden themed terrarium, so I was super excited not only to hear of updates from Jade on my commission, but when it was completed! When Jade was ready to start working in my commission she made a unique listing for me on her Etsy, which was the rest of the monies I needed to pay for my piece.

During Jade working on my piece she constantly sent me updates and photos of how it was going and made sure to ask if I was happy/unhappy with anything. Some ideas were proposed to me that I didn’t feel worked with the idea I was going for, so I politely declined these, but did suggest others. Jade was amazing to work with on bringing my commission to life and once it was completed I couldn’t wait for it to arrive!

Before I knew it, my Cubone terrarium arrived and I couldn’t wait to display it!

You get a little stand with your terrarium so you can display it easily without the worry of needing to make sure it stands up on it’s own, propped up against something, and more. I keep my terrarium near my desk at home so whenever I fancy looking at it whilst working, it’s not too far.

I don’t want to mention how much I paid for my terrarium as prices change all the time, and the last thing I want is for Jade to get guilt tripped for putting her prices up. One thing that I stand by with independent businesses and their prices is that they know their worth, and if we don’t want to pay them prices as shoppers, we don’t have to as they’re not forcing us!

The price I paid for my terrarium was incredibly fair, especially for the time, communication and quality of the item too. 🙂

Overall my experience with Jade and KawaiiKraftsDesigns was incredible and I couldn’t have asked for a better one to be honest. As I said previously, Jade was really thorough with any questions or suggestions she had for me with my terrarium and to boot she was also really lovely to talk to! As you all know, I love supporting and talking about independent businesses on my blog, but I especially love to talk about and share ones who are also from Birmingham like myself. 🙂

I know that Jade has stated on Instagram that her next restock is due this month with a date to be confirmed. I can only assume this is restocks, as well as commissions, so if you’d like to get something like mine yourself, or even as a gift for someone else, then make sure to follow her on Instagram. I’ll pop all the links below.

If you have any questions in regards to commissions I highly recommend going to KawaiiKraftsDesigns Instagram page and view the highlighted stories. All the information will be there for you, and if it isn’t, you can always drop Jade a message on Instagram or Etsy. Both are linked below.

What do you think of the Cubone terrarium I got? Would you like a Pokemon or any other kawaii themed terrarium of your own? If you already own one, what do you have in yours? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care and have a lovely weekend!

September Wish List ’22

It’s officially September and not only has the weather been showing this, but the start of the earlier nights have been a reminder of this too. If you know me, or have been reading my blog at any point over the past ten years, you’ll know I LOVE autumn, and usually the month of September too. Autumn is just a beautiful season, and September always reminds me of fresh starts due to education. I’m hopeful this month will be a good one and fingers crossed, a fresh start for me in more ways than one.

This month has already been an expensive one for me, with too many purchases/treats. I need to stop, or at least be stopped. 😛 To be honest, with the idea of a potential Japan trip next year, I need to save up now more than ever!

That aside, this months favourites does include a couple of items I would love to get in the next few weeks, as well a some I would like to pick up payday at the end of the month. I hope you enjoy this months wish list anyway! 😀

• Bath & Body Works Ghost Car Vent Clip – (link)

This is an item I’m hopeful I’ll get before the end of the month! I’ve sourced it through a proxy server, so just waiting for an invoice now. I’ve always wanted one of the Bath & Body Works car vent clips, but bided my time until a cute one came along. I’m a sucker for cute ghosts and bats, so this one is perfect! Plus it lights up, so will look really cute on drives home from work in autumn and winter when it’s dark. I’ve also asked for some of the fragrance refills too, in one of my favourite Bath & Body Care scents, crisp morning air.

• Poroful Pokemon Dragonair Lake Pin Banner – (link)

I could really do with another pin banner as mine are all full, with any new pins in tins. Ideally I’d like this one as it’s such a gorgeous design and would look cute on my dressing table with an assortment of pins on it. I can’t justify purchasing this at the moment, but I guarantee when payday comes at the end of the month I’ll be picking it up. The Dragonair design is just so adorable, and as the Dratini evolution line is one of my favourites, I can’t not get this!

• Essence Vault Home Reed Diffuser 444 – (link)

Essence Vault is a store I’ve wanted to buy from for as long as I can remember now and soon I might bite the bullet and actually order myself some nice perfume, but I love the idea of my home smelling of some of my favourite perfumes! 444 is a dupe of Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry EDP, but with the cost of the official perfume, trying a dupe would be amazing! The idea of my home smelling of cherries is on of my favourite things. I’d definitely keep this reed diffuser for my bedroom. I also wanted to share this this month as I feel something like this would make a great gift too and with Christmas pretty much around the corner, you may as well start getting ideas now. The only issue I personally have with Essence Vault’s reed diffusers if you can’t buy refill bottles…

• Nintendo Switch Bear and Breakfast – (link)

I have been so excited for this game to come out, BUT even more so for the Nintendo Switch! The game actually came out July 28th, so myself and other Switch fans have been waiting over a month for this to come out on that platform. Bear and Breakfast is pretty much the name, you’re a bear who runs a bed and breakfast. I tried the demo earlier this year and really enjoyed it, so have been eagerly waiting for the game to come out on Switch. I’m toying with picking this up when it comes out in a few weeks, but I may bide my time and wait. I already have games to play and it’s not like I’m itching for something new.

• POP! Vinyl: Pokémon Cubone – (link)

Finally we have a Pokemon item and one I’ve wanted for as long as they’ve been launched. We’re getting more of the Pokemon POP! vinyl figures to the UK now and with Cubone being one of my favourites, it’s a figure I have wanted for quite a while. I’d love him to keep on my desk at home, or at least somewhere in our office. The prices for him vary and at some point in the future I’ll be sure to pick him up for sure!

So there we have it guys, this months wish list post from me! What do you guys like from my list above?

Plus, what items do you guys have on your wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time guys, take care and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!