Shop Small – Claire Likes To Doodle*

Can you believe Christmas is now less than a month away? With Christmas comes Christmas present shopping, have you started yours yet? I have and I’m almost finished! I know some people who wait until the last minute to buy their presents and some who buy them throughout the year.

I like to get my shopping done early and always have done so that I have more money for Christmas parties and trips to the German Market throughout December… None of those are happening this year due to COVID… 😛

However this year I have decided to shop small and mostly buy Christmas presents through small and independent artists. Some own their own stores online and host on websites like Etsy. I’ll be writing and sharing more stores with you in the coming weeks.

Today I want to talk about my good friend Claire, who owns Claire Likes To Doodle. I spoke about Claire and her commission work last summer (which you can read here) and we have decided to work together again, but this time to talk about her online store!

Claire opened her store again around July this year and since then she has filled it with loads of amazing goodies – especially her original character Bernard.

Since working together last year Claire wanted to share an update in regards to how her work has changed since then, as well as how Claire Likes To Doodle will be in 2021!

The last time I was featured on Nat’s blog, it was primarily for my chibi work. That was my main focus for commissions and merch too. I’m still a commission artist, I do watercolour pieces and portraits, MTG alters and tokens. My personal work has changed up a fair bit though!

The great (and sometimes frustrating) thing about being an artist is that you’re constantly evolving and changing up your work and style until you settle into what you love creating best. I found that when I was doing Inktober 2019 and I introduced a little monster called a Bernard. Since then I’ve been creating more and more work around Bernards and their world, and people have fell in love with them! I now have an active shop with Bernard goodies, original art and other oddities.

I’ve got big Bernard plans for 2021, watch this space… Once again, thank you Natalee for featuring me and letting me introduce Bernard to your lovely readers!

I really love when independent stores/artists I work with have an input in my posts to tell me all about them and how they got started, their store and plans for the future.

I have been friends with Claire since 2006 and our friendship has grown more and more as the years have gone by. I’m so proud of Claire for how far she has come and I have a feeling 2021 will be her year!

Inside this package there was a lovely note from Claire that really made me smile. As someone who has anxiety and depression this note is very much appreciated. Whenever people write down words like this, whether it be on a letter or a text I keep them and read them back when I feel down. I’ll be doing the same with this note too. 🙂

Claire kindly gifted me all the items in this post (apart from one item which I bought with my own money) for reviewing purposes. Apart from the quote above from Claire, all words are my own and items that are gifted will be marked with an *.

Claire has a variety of goodies on her store to buy from stickers, badges, original work, paintings, stationary and more. I was sent a little bit of everything to show to you today!

First things first – if you are UK based like Claire is – she offers Free UK shipping on certain items. If she does offer this, it will state it on the item in question e.g. stickers and badges. I felt this was an important note to add as I know a lot of people in the UK may be looking for small gift and stocking ideas for Christmas and throughout the year.

The cut off point for ordering in time for Christmas is Monday 14th December 2020. Commissions are now closed until January 2021.

Finally before I start to share the goodies share sent me – Claire Likes To Doodle is having a Black Friday sale! When you use the code “YOULLBEBACK” at checkout you will snag a cheeky 20% discount on everything in her shop. This is valid between Friday 27th November 12am GMT – Sunday 29th November 12am GMT. So, if you like the look of anything here, make sure to go and grab a bargain.

Oh… I also have an exclusive 10% discount code for Claire Likes To Doodle’s store, which will be on the right hand side of my blog moving forward. I have added it here though too for readers who my see some good below and want to make an order. 🙂

Finally… I’ll share with you the amazing goodies that Claire sent me! 😀

• Autumn Bernard – Square Sticker (link)*
• Autumn Bernard – 38mm Square Badge (link)*

A square sticker/badge with a cozy autumnal Bernard, enjoying her favourite pumpkin spice beverage and wrapped up warm. Take a bit of autumn with you wherever you go with this unique sticker.

As regular readers will know, I love enamel pins, badges and stickers! Badges remind me of my emo kid self back in the day, I would stick badges all over my bags and jackets to try and show off who I was as much as possible. This autumn Bernard is so perfect to me purely because I love autumn. It’s my favourite time of the year and Claire has captured that perfectly with her autumn Bernard design. My favourite colour is purple so I love that Bernard is wrapped up in purple accessories and is holding a warm drink. I also love the little pink flushed cheeks, just showing how cold it is where Bernard is. You can show really off your love of autumn all year around with both the badge and the sticker, as well as show off and support Claire’s original character.

• Chill AF Bernard – 32mm Badge (link)*

Need a little calm in your life? I get it. So does Bernard. May this 32mm button badge be a reminder to take a step back every now and again.

This chill AF Bernard is a reminder for everyone right now to take a deep breath and relax whenever you can. With the way the world is at the moment I think everyone could do with this badge as a reminder to step back and take a few minutes for yourself. It can also help with anxiety too to remind people to take care of themselves. I really love this badge and I think I’ll be sticking him on my work laptop bag to remind me to relax for five during the busy work day and grab a drink and maybe a casual chat with colleagues. 🙂 To add as well by the way that both of the badges I received from Claire are amazing quality. They feel really well made and sturdy!

• Flower Crown Bernard – Sticker (link)*

Original design – take this summer-themed Bernard wherever you want to go!

This Bernard reminds me of the summer, drinking with friends in beer gardens, going to festivals and basically summer vibes and activities with friends and loved ones before COVID. This is a sticker that reminds me that we need to be patient, because when COVID is gone – we can all have fun with our loved ones again and make some amazing new memories. The flower crown Bernard is so precious and I love how colourful the crown is! I wish my garden could look more like this. 😛

• Halloween Holographic Stickers (Halloween exclusive piece – not available to buy)*

Sadly these stickers aren’t available anymore, but Claire sent them me so I wanted to show them off to you guys! These were exclusive for Halloween and only stuck around the shop for a short period of time. There were two designs released with a baby Bernard inside of a pumpkin and a Bernard flying on a broom. They’re both so adorable and the fact they’re holographic too makes them feel even more spooky and seasonal for Halloween. The quality of these stickers is thicker than the other two stickers Claire sent me which is really cool! I might not stick these anywhere and actually use them as decorations for the Halloween season and stick them on my kitchen window! 😀 In the future keep your eyes peeled on Claire’s store for more store exclusives!

• Round Cat Painting (Twitch stream piece – not available to buy)

This is a painting I purchased on one of Claire’s streams in the summer during lockdown and sold pieces she painted on stream. Due to to COVID I’ve only recently received it due to not being able to meet up and such. I paid £10 of my own money for this print and have been so excited to add it to my little growing collection by Claire. It’s a little round cat that looks like a Siamese breed. It’s so derpy and cute that I just had to buy it! I’m not a cat person to be perfectly honest with you but the derpy look in this cats eyes just had me! It feels so… Expensive(?) if you will due to the special art paper Claire has used. It was so relaxing watching Claire paint this piece, it’s cool to now have it in person. 🙂

• Artgust – Original A6 Watercolour Paintings – Electric (link)*

Through the month of August 2020, I did a painting every day based on a prompt list put together by myself and my wonderful Discord community. A mix of funny pieces, sad pieces, portraits and Bernards done over 31 days! Each piece is A6 size, painted in watercolour.

The final piece I want to talk about that Claire sent me I was taken back by. I didn’t quite expect her to send me one of her watercolour paintings but I’m not going to complain, especially considering she sent me a Pokemon themed print! Back in August Claire took part in Artgust where you draw/paint something everyday of the month. This was day 28 of August and it’s titled “Pikachu”. As you can see it’s Claire’s original character Bernard who is surrounded by hearts and has a Pikachu on his head. It’s so bloody cute and I love it! This is going to go on my plushie cabinet alongside my other prints. I’ll be keeping it in the cellophane packet it came in to keep it safe. For an A6 print size it packs a punch and not only looks amazing, the quality of the piece itself feels high quality too and expensive.

Claire still has quite a few prints left from the Artgust challenge, as well as one she took part in in October called Annarack October that are all looking for homes! The prints created during October are all Bernard themed too, so if you like the look of Claire’s original character and would like to pick up something with them on, definitely go and check those prints out!

They’re all A6 size and cost £15 each. They’re also unique one of a kind pieces, no reprints here. Once they’re sold, they’re gone. For example if you go onto the website the Electric print is sold out, because of course I own it now.

I’ve had my eye on one for a while now and definitely contemplating buying it soon! It’s the Black design from Artgust. I’ve always loved the look of it and if there’s one style of art Claire does really well it’s the blackout style. She did it for a time on her Instagram page and it’s one I always find myself gravitating towards. Who knows, I may end up buying it after this post is live… 😉

Something else I may pick up soon for when I return to the office for work is the ‘Distanced’ A4 Year Planner 2021. Not only is it handy but also really nice to stick on the sides of my desk for a bit of artwork… Nothing wrong with livening your desk up, eh? 😀

So there you go guys, the first of many independent artists I’ll be talking about during shop small in December! I’m so happy that Claire Likes To Doodle could be the first one I talk about.

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What do you guys think of Claire’s designs and store? Will you be adopting a Bernard of your own in the form of a sticker, badge or print? 🙂 Make sure to let me know in the comments below!

Until next time, take care guys and stay safe. 🙂

Animal Crossing Independent Artists Wish List

At the time of me writing this post, Animal Crossing: New Horizons still has another 4 days to go until it’s out and I honestly cannot wait anymore… BRING IT ON! I NO LONGER WANT A LIFE!

BUT when this post is live on my blog, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will have been out over 24 hours and all the Animal Crossing fans who are swamping Twitter will go quiet…er. 😛

P.S. I’ve written this post early because I want my Friday and all weekend to myself to play this game! When I said I no longer want a life, I meant it. 😛

I thought considering Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out yesterday, it would be appropriate for me to talk about some items and independent artists who have created some amazing pieces that are Animal Crossing inspired!

A lot of the items below may be from Etsy as personally if I don’t discover a new artist through a con or Instagram, it’ll be from there! 😀

So, I hope you enjoy this blog post today – whether you are playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons or self isolating at home due to the COVID-19. Don’t forget to stay safe guys. 🙂

• Illustrator Jake Froggy Chair Enamel Pin (affiliate link)

This is actually an enamel pin I made sure to pre-order when it came out last week on Illustrator Jake’s website. The Froggy Chair from Animal Crossing has become a HUGE meme and I honestly couldn’t tell you why haha! I thought the design was cute though so just had to order. This will go inside an Animal Crossing itabag I’ve ordered. 😀

• Reddachi DJ K.K. Print (link)

I honestly love this print that I found on Etsy a while ago and would love to buy it to hang in the house somewhere. However, I wouldn’t have a clue where to put it in my house in all honesty. I just love all the details on the print from the glasses Tom Nook wears, to Resetti looking adorable and like a fan girl.

• NerdieNiftiesEU Isabelle’s Berry Muffins Candle (link)

Who doesn’t love scented candles? So, when you cross scented candles and Animal Crossing what do you get? Home perfection! 😛 I love the scented candles that NerdieNiftiesEU has on their store and I especially love the sound of this Isabelle berry muffin one. This would be ideal to burn on a summer evening whilst you relax and play Animal Crossing: New Horizons or whilst you have a relaxing bath.

• Shop Azula Pouch (link)

I recently discovered Shop Azula through Instagram who has created some gorgeous Animal Crossing inspired enamel pins, but as I’ve already mentioned some enamel pins on this post I wanted to showcase something else, aka this pouch. You can never go wrong with having a nice pouch, whether it be for stationary, beauty, gaming related items and more. You can always keep this pouch in your handbag/backpack or keep around the house. The print on it is gorgeous with various characters such as Isabelle, Tom Nook, Celeste, Blathers, Katrina, Reece, Cyrus, K.K. Slider and more!

• paolinamissio Lily and Marshall Onsen Holographic Sticker (link)

This sticker is so adorable and not only does it shout Animal Crossing to me, but it also personally reminds me of my holiday to Japan, due to the villagers bathing in the onsen. You can see Lily and Marshall bathing together in the tub with a wooden tub full of apples in between them. I especially love how the sticker is also holographic, which is cute! I’d love to set up an Animal Crossing style notebook, it would be full of Animal Crossing: New Horizons stuff!

• Samantha Whitten Sunflower Pup Print (link)

I honestly love Samantha Whitten’s work and have wanted to buy some of her pieces for the longest time! She also owns Sugar Bunny Shop and has the adorable fox Doki, which is the pieces I have wanted to buy for agggges! But, the Animal Crossing prints she has designed and released are gorgeous and I would honestly love one to hang up in either our living room, or in our bedroom. I may have to invest in buying some new prints soon! 🙂

• Zellerpins Many Bells Motel Keychain (link)

Who doesn’t love a cute keychain, right? The one thing I like the most about this keychain is that it’s unisex and with the new Animal Crossing game coming out now, this would make an awesome gift for someone who just just bought the game, or will in the future! This is the kind of thing I would buy someone who is a huge Animal Crossing fan as a birthday or Christmas present. 🙂

• SpiruttsCrafts Isabelle Floating Sticker (link)

Finally we have this adorable Isabelle sticker where she is chilling in a pool float. She looks so damn happy! Again, this is a sticker I would put in/on an Animal Crossing notebook/journal. You can also get a floating Tom Nook and Daisy-Mae, who I know everyone has gone crazy for lately! These stickers just remind me of summer!

So, there we have it! Some independent Animal Crossing merchandise ideas for all you Animal Crossing fans out there!

UPDATE – Also make sure to use my discount code below on Illustrator Jake’s store to snag yourself a nice 10% discount! 😀

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With everything that is going on at the moment in the world with Coronavirus, it was really important for me to share independent artists more than anything. I know a lot of independent artists are struggling right now so I want to definitely showcase some of my favourites here. 🙂

Are you guys playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons this weekend? If so, how are you finding it so far? Also, do you like any of the goodies I’ve spoken of in my post? Again, make sure to let me know in the comments.

Anyway guys, I’m getting back to Animal Crossing, I have an island to run! 😛

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far!

Wish List Wednesday – Home

I was going to do a WHOLLLLE post about the garden soon and show off some inspiration about how I want to do the garden, but I wanted to write a wish list Wednesday post up this evening, so I thought why not do it now?

Me and Dane are both taking a week off next week together to work on the house together. Just any little bits and pieces we want to finish off and in June we should be doing up the garden!

There will be all sorts on this wish list from furniture, pictures and even some home appliances! So get yourself a cup of tea and have a read. I know I have a cuppa whilst I write this and I’m binge watch K-ON! with Dane. This list is obviously from both of us but I’ll be the only one writing, unlike my last wish list Wednesday list which was about Nendoroids both me and Dane want. You can read that post here.

• IKEA FLEKKE Day Bed – £349.99 (link)

Me and Dane are planning on putting a sofa bed into our spare room/office so that one of us can sit on it whenever the other is on the computer and for when we have guests over so that they have somewhere to sit. They recently brought out this specific bed in a dark brown colour, which makes us happy! It’s not cheap at nearly £350 but it’s so worth it! I’d want to get loads of pillows to pop on this as well as some cute plushies to jazz it up a bit. As there is storage underneath we could use that for all sorts of things which is great.

• The Range Borneo Luxury Egg Chair – £249.99 (link)

I WANT an egg chair for the garden, I don’t know why but I do. They look so snugg to cuddle up on with a book and just chill out. This is of course what I want to have by the back door, or even on the grass by the shed… When we get the shed built. This one isn’t cheap however but it’s the nicest one I have found so far. We would of course look for a similar one but at a much friendlier price. 😉

• B&Q Fresn Iridescent 3 Lamp Plate Spotlight – £30.00 currently reduced to £23.00 (link)

I’ve been after two of these spotlights for the upstairs and downstairs hallways since we bought the matching shade of these (which is here) for our front bedroom. Now they’re on offer, we have some cash spare to splash AND they’re on offer we may as well get them on our week off and get them fitted! Will mean we can get rid of the old ones that were here when we moved in.

• Complexwish Sprited Away Print – From £8.09 (link)

I LOVE Studio Ghibli films and I especially love Spirited Away. It’s one of my favourite films so whenever I see any prints in relation to the film I more often than not want to buy them. This print is gorgeous to be honest and whilst I have a lovely one by Josie Sexton, I WANT MORE! I would pop this print in a frame and pop it up behind out bed. I’d probably get quite a big version of this print so that it fills the gap behind the bed. Either that or I’d end up putting it up above the fireplace in the living room.

• Homebase La Hacienda Icarus Fire Pit – £53.28 (link)

Both me and Dane have always wanted a fire pit and now we have our own place we can do just that. We wanted to buy one last summer but never got around to it, so as the weather gets warmer we’ll be buying one of these babies for long and warm summer evenings in the garden. Homebase had loads when we popped in on Saturday and for the price this was one of the best ones we saw. We’ll definitely be keeping our eyes on it!

So that was our short and sweet wish list for home related matter! I do apologise that it wasn’t longer but there isn’t a whole lot we need for the house, we just need little bits and pieces now really.

I’m sure when it comes to it I’ll be posting some garden inspiration on here. I’ve been using Pinterest to gain some ideas, but so far nothing is really helping…

Do you have any home related items on your wish lists? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely evening.

Birmingham Anime and Gaming Con (Haul Inc.)

On Sunday me and Dane went to the anime and gaming con which was held in Birmingham. The con ran on both the Saturday and the Sunday and although we wanted to attend both days, Sunday stood out to us the most. We’re so glad we only went for the one day though. We had a lot of house stuff to do Saturday and if we had attended both days nothing would have been done. Oh the joys of being an adult and homeowner eh? 😛

The con itself was amazing and everything we imagined it would be like and more, so I thought I would write about it today for you all, as well as share what we bought at the con as well. Sadly I didn’t get any pictures of the con as we were too busy enjoying ourselves. I’m awful at getting pictures at places like this. 😦

As old readers will know me and Dane have been to a couple of conventions now including Birmingham comic con and Hyper Japan and this one was very different to those two. For a start the con as tiny in comparison to both of those, but that wasn’t a bad thing! We liked that it was small as it meant we got chance to really look at what everyone was cosplaying as and even get the chance to talk to people if we wanted to. It also meant that we could look around everywhere without having to queue, there not being enough room to walk around and even the worry of forgetting about looking at anything.

We also never bothered dressing up for the con as we’re boring farts and never really bother with anything like that. We could have worn our South Park outfits but meh. I wore my Iron Fist dress with Dane’s plaid jacket, tights and some brothel creepers. I loved my outfit and whilst I was a little self conscious in it, I felt comfortable for the majority of the time. I of course had to wear my Sailor Moon Luna bag that Dane bought me last year at Hyper Japan. I forgot how much I love that bag!

When I mentioned to people at work that I was going to the con I got a lot of questions such as, “Ooo will there be Japanese food there?” and to be honest I wish there was. Sadly there wasn’t any food stalls there but there was food offered by the place it was held at which was good! It was lovely weather on Sunday and it would have been lovely to have an ice cream van outside of the con… But I know that isn’t the organisers fault, problem, etc.

At the event itself there was always something going on which was great. There was the main hall where there were dealers and artists, a stage and a video gaming room. A corridor away there was the activities room and bar where you could go for something to eat and drink, watch anime, chillout, have your photograph taken in your cosplay outfit, play some games (TCGing, board games and RPG) and talks and workshops. Later in the evenings in this room they held karaoke and parties which we wished we had gone to.

We attended a couple of the workshops which were really interesting! The one Dane was most excited for was about the yakuza in Japan and although Dane knows quite a bit about it, I don’t and it was very interesting for me to listen to. The guy who got up to talk about it was great too and went into a lot of detail. The workshop I was excited for was about plushie making, which sadly got cancelled due to the host of it being poorly. There is always next time!

The stalls that were around selling things were good, although a lot of them were selling fake merchandise. As readers will know me and Dane collect Nendoroid figures so we know a fake when we see one! It was sad that we spotted three fakes and then saw that they had all sold. Very sad times.

Speaking of which lets get onto what we bought at the convention! We bought quite a few things most of them being mine to be honest. 😛

We picked up two Nendoroid figures from a seller who was selling legit merchandise. She was reasonable with her prices too! I bought Isabelle from Animal Crossing and Dane picked up One Punch Man. They’renow living in our Dane also bought me a cute little Umaru secret figure box too! I got one of Umaru lying down on her tummy which is so cute.

As well as fakery there were also some legit and lovely sellers at the event. Some who were selling their own work which is what we bought most of at the event. One guy was selling prints to people… A bit too heavily and forceful for us two. He was trying to get us to buy 10 prints for £40. Would have been a good deal if we wanted that many prints! We ended up buying one, this water Pokemon print for our bathroom.

As well as that we got two artists to draw for us, one of which isn’t actually finished yet. The first picture we got drawn was this chibi picture of me and Dane which is from one of our favourite pictures that we took not long after we got together. The artist is also going to draw and colour a digital image of us too, which we’re excited about! Another artist draw a picture of Dane from when he was in his band days. He would dress up in funny costumes whist on stage. This picture is from a costume he wore in Sheffield which of course is of him in a banana. It’s perfect and he loves it!

These are probably my favourite buys from the day, which are these two adorable Eeveelution t-shirts by Ohayou! who I’ve been a fan of for a while through Etsy. She does more designs than this which I really want to get. The two I picked up are one of a Sylveon print that says “dragon slayer” (if you don’t get it look it up) and one of an Umbreon looking sad… I couldn’t not take that t-shirt design home! The only thing I don’t like about these is the plastic feel of the print but it’s nothing serious. I’ll be wearing these all the time with some jeans, shorts and skirts. I plan to buy more of their goods in the future, or at least ask for them for Christmas. 😛

Alongside those goodies I picked up some little bits and pieces that were dotted around. I picked up some dog and red panda stickers, three Totoro pens, a Romantic Bear peel off lipstick (which I love! I have more of these on the way so I’ll be reviewing them all then), a pack of Eeveelution stickers, an ice verion of Ninetales sticker, a Lady Rainicorn sticker, a picture of Haiku in dragon form, and various badges.

As well as my opinion on the convention I wanted to get Dane to talk about his views.

Well, we had a really good time and were amazed at the incredible cosplay on show, but i think that was the biggest gripe for me. Too much emphasis on the cosplay aspect, not enough for those not so into cosplay to do. The talks were not very well organised and I felt sorry for a lot of the speakers as they had to alter their presentations due to technical errors and last minute changes and fillers. We didn’t watch any anime which is a disappointment as I was expecting a great chill-out atmosphere to watch anime and socialise. What we got was a tiny screen and a couple rows of chairs. To make people want to watch anything at an event you have to make it an improvement to what people may have at home. Personally, I can watch any of the anime shown on a much bigger TV, on a nice comfortable sofa with amazing sound. There was no incentive for us to take part.

I completely understand it is the very first one held in Birmingham so things may not always go to plan and there may not be enough funding to create the best convention ever. For the price we paid it was completely worth it and I can only expect to see it grow. I would like to see it in a bigger space with more artists and shops, more emphasis on gaming and the talks/panels, interesting food options and a more inviting experience for viewing anime.

Overall we loved our day at the convention and it reminded us how much we love going to events like this. It’s made us realise how much we really want to go to Birmingham Comic Con in November so we’ll be booking to go to that very soon!

Quirky Home Decor Ideas

Now I have officially announced that I have a mortgage, I am a home owner, and thus I am a motherfucking adult. Oh boy! 😛

One of the many exciting things about buying your own home (and your first at that!) is that you can decorate it however you do so wish. As regular readers of my blog will know, I am a massive geek, and so is Dane, whom I will be sharing my new home with. We of course knew that we would want some quirky bits and pieces in our home, and we’ve already bought some items, and we still have our eye on some bits and pieces.

I thought I would do a blog post today about some of the quirky things that we have our eyes on, or what we have already bought.

• Marvel Deadpool Doormat and Deadpool Coin Bank.

I don’t think I need to say anymore how much me and Dane love Deadpool. Sadly at the time of writing this post the Deadpool doormat is now sold out! Which is bad news for us, because we want it for our front door! We’ll keep our eyes peeled for this mind.

• Marks & Spencer Origami Swans Wallmount.

I’m unsure if I would buy and place these on the wall myself as at first I rather liked the look of them, but after a while I kind of thought they were a bit… Weird… However I am liking the look of these again, and would love to put them up in the hallway upstairs to give the walk down the stairs a bit of something different. I do rather like the vintage look of the three ducks you can buy, but I would want to get something vintage, instead of the reintroduced trend that M&S are trying to come up with. That and I could make these myself… But out of paper. 😛

• Ototo Nessie Ladle.

I know these are bloody expensive, and you can buy knock off ones, which I would be after picking up instead due to money. I love quirky items like this, and as I love making soup, and noodle soup (ramen in Japanese) I would be in awe of this little cutie to serve me and Dane dinner with. I’d want a red one to fit into the theme of our kitchen, but we shall see!

• Disaster Designs Fox Lamp.

I love foxes, and have always been after a fox lamp, so when I spied this on Lisa Angel I knew I had to have it. As of yet I haven’t ordered it, but I will be when we’re settled into the house and ready to buy more decor. This will go on my side of the bed in our bedroom, if not on the bedroom shelf.

• Marvel Deadpool Coin Bank.

With the coin bank I would love to pick something up like this for our spare room/office for us to pop change into to use towards our savings. You can’t go wrong with a coin bank in the shape of Deadpool’s head.

• Temerity Jones Mason Jar Cocktail Shaker.

I love making cocktails, and what better way to make one than in this quirky shaker that is in the shape of a mason jar? This was £5.00 at one point which is how much I was willing to pay for it… Now it’s back to full price, at £10.00 and whilst it is gorgeous, I don’t personally feel it is worth that price. I may as well make my own with a normal mason jar! I’ll keep my eye on this in the future for it to be back in Lisa Angel’s sale.

• Fox Coasters.

Again! I love foxes, and I couldn’t be without these gorgeous wooden coasters in our living room, and maybe upstairs in our bedroom and spare room/office. You get six in this set, so that would mean being able to put two in each room, and grabbing them altogether for when we have visitors over. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind buying two sets so I can have one upstairs, and one downstairs!

• Luckies Jumbo Elephant Drainer.

I really am liking buying stuff for our kitchen, and considering we’re doing it up the possibilities are endless for what we can do with it. We have a red, black, and white theme going at the moment, and whilst this grey elephant doesn’t fit that theme, it is kind of too unique and pretty to turn my nose up at. You pop your cutlery in this cutie, and he drains all the water away, out of his nose! Eek! Super cute! 😀

• Etsy Artwork.

There are various pieces of artwork I wish to buy from people on Etsy, the one on the picture about is a Spirited Away inspired piece by idrawrainbows. She has LOADS of these available on her store, and at one point me and Dane contemplated ordering all of them… However when we discovered how much it would cost us in postage alone, we ended up deciding against it. Nearly £10 she wants to ship these to the UK, and whilst I know this isn’t her fault, it’s a bloody lot! I will be making a separate post about what artwork, or tattoo artists I wish to buy for the house, and where I want to hang them!

So those are all the quirky home goodies me and Dane have our eyes on at the moment for our home. I hope to have some haul posts soon showing off what goodies we have bought for the house, but until that time comes I’ll be trying to get as many posts on here as possible. I’m incredibly busy right now with the house, and I’ve only currently got a couple of posts written because I’m awake into the early hours trying to catch up. Oh sleep, I want you right now!

On that note, it is bedtime! What quirky items would you like for your home? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and see you soon

5 Unique Items Tag

I’m starting this tag off, because I can’t find anything else like it on the internet and it is something I would LOVE to do. This is the unique items tag… Well not so much unique, but not something everyone will have in their room/home. You name five unique items in your room/home that not many people would have. They can be anything from a signed album by your favourite band, a limited edition frame, something from a different part of the world that not many Brits would own. You get the picture.

I love having unique and different things that I know not many would have and since being with my boyfriend, my collection of uniqueness has grown!

I really enjoyed walking around my room and picking things up to talk about. I do hope you enjoy this tag!

• Nendoroid Penguindrum Princess of the Crystal.

This was one of my birthday presents this year from my boyfriend and one of the best I received. I’ve wanted a Nendoroid for years and this is my first one! These aren’t exactly in every home in the UK, considering they’re pretty nerdy and look like children’s toys. Yes, they are toys but if you ask me they’re for adults. These are made and sold in Japan and whilst they state on the boxes that they aren’t meant to be sold outside of Japan, they are all the time. I watched Penguindrum when me and my boyfriend first started talking so I have fond memories of the anime due to this. But onto the doll. I love this doll so much, she’s just so pretty! With her red hair and pink eyes she’s just adorable and she even comes with the three penguins that the three main characters have. So cute! This doll is pretty rare for quite a few reasons. One being that the anime isn’t actually that popular in the UK, but alongside that this doll was made and sold in 2012, three years ago! Plus this isn’t opened and to be honest I don’t intend to open it. I don’t care, I want her to stay special and rare.

• Sooty clock.

This is probably one of the oldest things I own and I’ve owned it since I was 3 or 4. I remember the day my mom ordered it for me from the official Sooty magazine and she asked me which colour I would like. I still own it over 20 years later and I love it. It’s still in working order and the image of Sooty always makes me smile and reminds me of my childhood. I’ll definitely take this clock with me when I move out, I just love it too much to leave it behind. I doubt many 25 year old’s have Sooty clock’s in their rooms eh? 😉

• Skribble This artwork.

This is a chibi version of me that was drawn by Skribble This. She was at Comic Con in Birmingham in November and me and my boyfriend loved her artwork that much we wanted some artwork done by her. I love the picture of me so much and it always makes me smile. It’s just so cute and definitely makes me look better than I actually am. She really did draw me how I wanted her to as well. I know in the future I want a massive piece of artwork drawn by her, but that won’t be until I move out.

• Pokemon Valentine’s Day tin.

I love Pokemon, as regular readers will know so it was super cute when my boyfriend bought me this tin for Valentine’s Day this year. It came with loads of little chocolate cornflake bites inside and damn they were yummy! The tin itself is covered in male and female Pokemon and the cutest couple on the tin are definitely the Pikachu’s. They just make me happy when I look at the tin itself. I don’t know what I’ll be using it for, maybe some Yankee Candle wax tarts, or even something else. Either way it’s just so cute and would look lovely on a shelf. This came straight from the Pokemon Center in Japan (well my boyfriend bought it from a seller in the UK, but you know what I mean). So it has a little bit more of a special place in my bedroom than some of my pieces.

• Totoro plushie.

I thought I would save the best for last and that’s my Totoro plushie. My boyfriend bought me this for Christmas, as he knows how much I love the anime film and also how much I wanted one of these plushies. Way before we even met I’ve always wanted one so when I opened this and it was THIS big I was over the moon. It’s a really hard plushie and you can give him a good squish when you really need one. I like to cuddle him whilst I read or play games as he’s just really comfortable. We have looked over whether or not this is official and we do have a feeling it is, but either way I still love it all the same. I would love the little white and blue Totoro’s to add alongside this one. Hopefully in the future!

So those are my 5 unique items. So who do I tag? EVERYONE! Give this tag a go, it’ll definitely make you think.

Do you own any of these items, or at least ones similar? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all and I hope all my readers are well.