August Favourites ’22

How quickly did August go? Too bloody quickly if you ask me! I can’t believe it’s almost September already, as well as August bank holiday. I’ve started my long weekend doing sweet FA, aside from writing this blog post. 😛

This month was an up and down month, with some positives and negatives, so I am semi looking forward to September for many reasons. For a start, it’s my favourite time of year with autumn starting, but we also have some stuff booked too, which we’re excited for! I’m also hopeful that the month will cool down so I can meet up with some online friends for coffee, shopping and maybe yummy Asian food too!

With that, let’s get into my favourites from August!

Beauty – Fenty Skin Cherry Treat Lip Conditioning Oil.

I can’t tell you guys how long it took me to get this bloody lip oil! I’d heard about it through Instagram and then when watching reviews I was hooked on snagging it myself! I mentioned on my August wish list post how I’d ordered it after it came into stock. Not only was I checking the listing on the Boots website daily for it to come back into stock, but also which stores nearby had it in stock too! On a day out with my dad to Stratford-upon-Avon we popped into a Boots store that stated it was in stock, only for there to be none left, BOO! Finally the lip oil did come back into stock so I ordered one. Since it arrived, I’ve been using is almost daily. It smells like sour cherry sweets, is easy to apply and the conditioning feel lasts for hours! I find it use it at work mostly, as well as when I’m out and about. I’ve definitely become a lip oil fan and plan to try more in the future! ALSO please excuse the dust on the shelf in the photo, it’s cleaning day tomorrow. 😛

Gif taken from Giphy

TV Show – Adventure Time.

Recently I’ve decided I wanted to binge watch Adventure Time again, well, at least the first two seasons as this is how far I got originally. To get the Blu-ray it would have cost me a lot more than I was willing to pay at the time, so instead we decided to get a NOW TV subscription, so now I have until the end of the year/a year to watch all of Adventure Time! I’m currently on season five at the time of writing this post and I’m discovering more about Finn, Jake and the Land of Ooo, which I’m really enjoying! I find myself binge watching it whenever I want something to relax to and watch, including cross stitch, writing for my blog, whilst I work from home, and cooking. If you love animation like I do, and, are yet to watch Adventure Time, please give it a go! My favourite character is Lumpy Space Princess, hence the gif. 😛

Music – Beyoncé “BREAK MY SOUL”.

I heard the new Beyoncé song a couple of weeks ago thanks to Instagram and I’ve really fallen in love with it since! Sometimes it comes on whilst I drove home from work and I can really relate to it some days. 😛 I just really enjoy it as a song, some of the lyrics, but especially the beat. It’s so good! 😀

Book – Lore Olympus.

Lore Olympus is a web comic series I was into back in 2018 when it first came out, but I stopped reading it after a while due to one reason or another. A couple of weekends ago I found out that Lore Olympus had released omnibus comics of the series! I decided to order it last week in order to read over the weekend and so far I’ve really been loving it! I ordered volumes one and two, with three on pre-order. I’ve read volume one so far, and I’m yet to start reading two. I’m hoping to over the bank holiday weekend as the series is addictive! Lore Olympus is a romance comic of a modernised Greek mythology retelling of the relationship between Persephone and Hades. It definitely has some adult themes, but I honestly love it! I’ve linked the web comic, so if you fancy a read definitely go and check it out! 😀

Game – LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

I decided to pick up the latest LEGO Star Wars game as I had a £10 voucher for Amazon and had had my eye on this since it came out in April. Since buying this me and Dane have been playing it on and off since and it’s been something lovely to play together during weekends off, as well as in the evenings after work. My only gripe with it is how buggy it plays sometimes, which on the first day of playing really pissed us off! Thankfully since then we haven’t noticed it as much, which in turn has made it a lot more fun to play! If you play the original LEGO Star Wars games, then you should definitely get this one! It’s better than ever now and it’s so much fun too, as you get to spend blue bricks and money on upgrading your characters, which is something new to me for LEGO games.

Just a few of my favourite things…

OkieDoodleStitches Pokemon Eevee cross stitch is COMPLETED!

Last month I told you all about my latest cross stitch project, which was Eevee by OkieDoodleStitches. Well, last weekend I finally finished it and it looks so damn cute, as I’m sure you’ll agree from the above photo! This took me a couple of months to complete, but it was so worth it! I found myself getting lost whilst working on this, as well as binge watching a variety of shows (Adventure Time, Inventing Anna, and The Dog Rescuers to name a few!), which in turn has been really helpful for my mental health. I’m planning to pop this in a frame at some point to put up in the house at some point. I’ve already started my next cross stitch project, but I won’t be showing that on my blog for quite some time, as it’s a Christmas present. 🙂

Yuena Art haul.

I decided to place a cheeky enamel pin order with Yuena Art recently as I noticed one of the pins I really wanted was looking to sell out soon, and I didn’t want to worry I’d regret not getting it. The pin design I was after was mainly Yui the Kitsune, but I did love the look of Shino and Diana too! These are all either b-grade or seconds pins, but you wouldn’t know it as the quality of them all is really good! I’m yet to give them a home, but I definitely need to sort through my enamel pin collection(s) again!

Image taken from My Figure Collection

Image taken from My Figure Collection

Exciting figure pre-orders!

August was definitely a month of ordering figures, Nendoroid but also Hobby Max figures for the first time too! I wanted to show off a few I’m really excited about. I don’t feel like I talk about figures and our collecting of them enough on my blog, but it’s something I’d like to do more! First of all, I decided to pre-order the Hobby Max Nana Osaki and Komatsu figures. Nana is probably my favourite manga/anime series so I couldn’t really pass up not ordering these, even though they weren’t cheap, but worth it 100% as they’ll make me so happy to display in our house. Second of all I ordered Marin from My Dress Up Darling, an anime and manga series I’ve really fallen in love with this year! I’m so excited for this Nendoroid to be released! She’ll be going somewhere special as me and Dane love the series together!

So there we have it guys, my favourites from August! I still can’t believe it’s September soon, and before we know it, it’ll be Christmas. :O

What were your favourite things about August? Anything you can relate to from my favourites? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, have an amazing rest of your August bank holiday and as always, take care!

Tomodachi Store – Review and Haul

Wow, two review and haul posts in a row? I’m spoiling you guys this month, aren’t I? 😛

At the end of 2021 I was inspired to write so many review and haul posts, it’s crazy! If there’s anything I discovered in 2020 through Covid and lockdowns, it’s how much I really fell in love with supporting independent stores and artists and sharing them on here for others to discover and fall in love with too.

If there’s one store I’ve been meaning to talk about for well over a year now, it’s Tomodachi Store. I’ve mentioned them briefly on my blog in the past but since making my first purchase late 2020, I’ve always meant to write about them.

Fast forward another year and another purchase and it’s FINALLY time to talk about Tomodachi and why you should check them out, especially if you’re a Pokemon and/or Animal Crossing fan.

Tomodachi is an enamel pin and mascot designer from Mexico, who loves the colour pink, yummy food and everything cute, which you can tell through their work. Their designs are so cute and adorable, I honestly can’t get enough of them, which is why I now own all of their cereal enamel pin designs. Now, I know you’re saying, “Cereal designs? Why would you want cereal themed enamel pins?” Well, that’s why I’m sharing all of them with you today!

Image taken from Reddit.

The cereal designs in question are Pokemon inspired. Back in 2000 Pokemon had truly taken over, not just over the pond but in the UK too. I fondly remember my hype of it as a kid, especially one day whilst walking through Sainsbury’s. Pokemon cereal had started to be stocked on the shelves of various supermarkets and I remember begging my mom to let me have a box. It never happened and from my mom’s point of view, for a good reason. “You won’t eat them!” and looking back, she was probably right. I’m a fussy eater in general, but cereal is one where one minute I love it and the next I hate it. So yeah, ten year old Nat never go to have Pokemon cereal.

The cereal was basically oat hoops with marshmallow pieces in the shape of Pokemon Pikachu, Poliwhirl, Oddish, and Ditto. They definitely remind me of Lucky Charms but better… Obviously because it’s Pokemon. 😛

Years later Tomodachi would feel inspired by the marshmallow pieces in the Pokemon cereal to recreate them as enamel pins!

At the time of writing this post there are three volumes for Pokemon cereal enamel pins, as well as one volume for Animal Crossing. I own all of them… Because. 😛

I’ll be going through the Animal Crossing volume one collection and then each of the Pokemon volumes too, as well as some of the shiny pins I own too.

Please also bear in mind at the time of writing this post, some of the enamel pins are sold out.

I will also be mentioning the grade of each pin as they vary between A and B. I go a little more into how Tomodachi grades their enamel pins shortly.

The first enamel pins I ordered from Tomodachi were the Animal Crossing volume one cereal collection, as well as Ditto and Gengar, but I’ll talk about them a little later.

Full Set Animal Crossing Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $35.00 / B Grade – $30.00.

Individual Animal Crossing Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade $6.00 each.

The Animal Crossing cereal pins are adorable and although not how I discovered Tomodachi originally, but the Animal Crossing collection definitely caught my eye. In volume one there are seven pins in total; Tom Nook, Isabelle, K.K. Slider, Celeste, Marshal, Fossil and Leaf. Originally I was only going to order Isabelle, but decided to just go for the whole set! I ordered the B grade. It’s obvious on some more than others, but this being said as I display these in my home anyway, it doesn’t bother me much. 🙂

One thing I love about all of Tomodachi’s pins is that the backs match the coloured enamel of the design, which you can see with the Animal Crossing pins too. I always love when enamel pin artists do this, it just adds a little more to the designs, and it’s aesthetically pleasing. 😛

My favourite out of the pins is definitely Isabelle and the fossil. I just love them both so much! Whenever I’ve shown this enamel pin set to people they always love Celeste too.

For anyone new to enamel pins, some sellers grade them. In Tomodachi’s store they have a pin grading policy, which I’ll pop a link to here. Always bear pin grading when buying from enamel pin artists, not all will grade the same either. In Tomodachi’s case, I think their grading system is fair and really good.

For my second and more recent order with Tomodachi, I made a HUGE order and went full out Pokemon Cereal mode! Bar one (Ditto) I ordered all the missing pins I needed to complete volume one, as well as volumes two and three. I was so hyped when all my goodies arrived.

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $6.00 each / B Grade – $5.00 each.

As previously mentioned, I already owned Ditto (B grade) and as the full set of volume one was sold out, I opted to just snag all the pins I needed instead. It worked out well either way!

Volume one contains eight pins in total; Pikachu, Poliwhirl, Oddish, Ditto, Pichu, Wobbuffet, Celebi and Cleffa. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Ditto, Wobbuffet and Celebi, which I’m planning to buy in the future!

The original volume one enamel pins are so adorable and are heavily influenced by the Pokemon cereal from 2000 that I mentioned earlier, as four of the Pokemon from the cereal are in this collection.

The one thing I want to comment on first of all is the packaging that Tomodachi uses for their enamel pins. Not only is the backing card adorable with the oat cereal in the background, but you’ll either receive a backing card that states, “Thanks!” or, “Arigato!” which is Japanese for thank you. It’s such a lovely touch and one I really like. It’s also one that has been commented on by friends over on my Instagram!

The pins I ordered are mostly A grade with Pikachu being B grade. It’s not too obvious (in my opinion) which is awesome. I have to say my favourite design in volume one has to be Pikachu and I think this is mostly down to reminding me of how much I love Pikachu back in the day when Pokemon first came out.

Alongside the eight original pin designs for volume one, as mentioned before, there is also shiny variants too with a blue Ditto, purple Wobbuffet and pink Celebi, which I’m hoping to pick up in the future!

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 2 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 2 – (link) A Grade $6.00 each.

In my second order from Tomodachi I not only bought most of the volume one pins I was missing, but also all of the volume two and three pins as well! For volume two I picked up the A grade enamel pins.

Volume two contains eight pins in total; Slowpoke, Gengar, Psyduck, Magikarp, Skitty, Shuppet, Makuhita and Plusle/Minun. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Margikarp, Psyduck, as well as Rainbow Gengar, with the latter two being ones I’d love to buy in the future.

The first thing I want to say here is how gutted I am that I couldn’t get Minun as you either get Plusle or Minun, so I’ll make sure to get the blue electric mouse next time I place an order!

That aside, this enamel pin set is so adorable and has some of my fondest Pokemon in from the anime, especially Gengar which is one of my favourite enamel pin designs from Tomodachi! I bought a Gengar on my first order with Tomodachi, but with getting one in the volume two set, I decided to sell my first one to my friend Sarah (Raiin Monkey) who loves Pokemon too!

As I bought the whole volume two set, Tomodachi also sent me a shiny Magikarp, which looks amazing! 😀 I’m definitely planning to snag the rest of the shiny Pokemon in this volume, as well as the rainbow Gengar too, which looks so amazing!

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 3 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 3 – (link) A Grade – $6.00 each / B Grade – $5.00 each.

As I mentioned about in my second order from Tomodachi I bought both volume two and volume three! I picked up B grade enamel pins for volume three too. I have to be honest, out of all the volumes I actually think volume three is my favourite so far!

Volume three contains eight pins in total; Jigglypuff, Shellder, Wooper, Applin, Mew, Litwick, Mantyke and Duosion. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Wooper, Shellder and Mew, with the latter two being planned to be purchased in the future, especially Mew!

One of the reasons this is my favourite volume is due to Mew being part of it, which is one of my favourite Pokemon. The Mew design is one I fell in love with back in early 2021 and I knew I needed it. It took a little longer than I hoped to finally add to my collection, but better late than never!

One of the other things I love in volume three is the colour palette, which is mostly pastel themed with pinks, purples, blues, as well as green and red which I also love. It’s not that the other volumes colour palettes don’t work, but this one is just aesthetically pleasing to my mind, as well as fashion styles at the moment. 😛

As mentioned before, I did pick up the B grade for the volume whilst most of the pins look great, there are a couple (Jigglypuff and Applin) where there are a few specks on them, but this being said I don’t mind. I’m always happy to have B grade pins. 😀

Like with volume two, Tomodachi also sent me a free shiny pin with my volume three set, which is a shiny Wooper! It’s so cute with the pink colour, I love it.

Alongside the normal and shiny Pokemon cereal enamel pins, Tomodachi does also sell Pokemon Golden Kanto Pins, as well as Pokemon Cereal Sticker Sheets.

In the near future I’m planning to make a pin hoop dedicated to Tomodachi’s cereal pins. There’s so many of them, they deserve their own hoop now. As there are a variety of colours too, I’m planning to pop the pins on my future pin hoop in rainbow colours… Because why not! 😀 Plus, with a Pokemon volume four on the way (tomorrow from what Tomodachi revealed on this weekend!), I’m going to need to make room for some more amazing Pokemon cereal designs… 😛

From previews I’ve seen of volume four on Tomodachi’s social media we appear to have Caterpie and Haunter… I’m excited already to see who else we may get! I’d love to see Eevee and Dragonite next. 😛

Overall you can really see a lot of love and passion has gone into these enamel pin designs from Tomodachi Store. The cereal enamel pins are so cute and reminiscent to when we were all kids. The colours and designs of each cereal piece is perfect too. I honestly love them!

What do you guys think of Tomodachi Store and their amazing and adorable Pokemon and Animal Crossing cereal enamel pins? Do you own any, or have any on your wish list? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time guys, have a lovely weekend and I’ll see you next week!