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 – Mostari Mystery Pack Review AND An Exciting Announcement!

Guys I’m back to talk to you about Quirkory, what an amazing independent artist/store they are… As well as some exciting news, which I’ll be sharing first because I just can’t contain my excitement!

Image taken from GIPHY

Drumroll please… I have become Quirkory’s brand ambassador!

Not only has this made me really happy (because we all know how much I love Quirkory as a brand, he couple behind it and of course their kawaii designs!) but I feel honoured too. I’m honoured to be able to become an ambassador for a brand I really do love and especially love talking about on my blog, to people on messages/social media and more!

Quirkory were lovely enough to recognised how much I loved them and offered me to become an ambassador towards the end of 2020, with it all starting to become official on my birthday! If you didn’t know, Inari and Mosted are based off of the couple behind Quirkory and are their kawaii mascots for the brand. So, when they suggested me becoming an ambassador a while ago, we also discussed them creating a mascot all of my own to represent me! I gave them an idea and on my birthday they sent over the finished design, which I’m happy to finally show you all!

I went for a raccoon, as they are for sure my spirit animal (as well as one of my favourites alongside foxes, dogs and red pandas), so it seemed right for me. As well as that, I went for a purple bow around their neck, as that’s my favourite colour. I loved the idea of having my mascot with food/drink of some sort, especially considering the name of my blog is to do with coffee! We didn’t go with coffee however and instead opted for a matcha bubble tea, as this is one of my favourite beverages! The end design is so adorable and I couldn’t be happier with it! I’m planning to buy a print of it from Quirkory so I can pop it in a frame and hang it in the house. I’m honestly a mixture of happy and proud to now be more than just a fan/buyer of Quirkory, but now working with them too.

Of course, with being a brand ambassador I do get a special discount code for you guys to use to snag yourself a bargain or two! This code will be “TMBQUIRKORY” and gives you 10% off of Quirkory’s Etsy store. Don’t worry if you need to quickly grab the code in the future and can’t find this post, there’s a few ways this discount code will be accessible.

I’ll be adding the discount code and image, as well as this post under the “Quirkory” section of my blog, as shown in the image above. As well as that, I will of course have the discount code image on the right hand side of my blog, which will be added after this post is live!

Anyhoo, exciting announcement over, it’s time to talk about Quirkory’s Mostari Mystery Pack! This is an item Quirkory revealed and launched towards the end of 2020 and it’s something I KNEW I had to pick up for myself. It’s always nice to pick up a surprise box/bag to see what goodies you get. I know I often talk about Quirkory on my blog and for people who may have never bought anything from Quirkory before and interested, the Mostari pack may be a great way to introduce you to Quirkory!

I’m going to explain what the Mostari pack is all about, as well as prices, what you’ll expect as well as what I received in my pack! I have also done an IGTV video about this over on my Instagram account, which I will post here if you’re interested in watching that alongside reading this post.

The Mostari box comes in three different sizes, bag, mini box and large box.

Bag (£20.25) – You will receive three different pins or two different random pins and one surprise item.

Mini Box (£27.98) – You will receive three different pins or two different random pins and one surprise item. You will also received one art print and either two jumbo vinyl stickers or one stick pack/sheet.

Large Box (£41.59) – You will receive five different pins or four different random pins and one surprise item. You will also received one art print and either two jumbo vinyl stickers or one stick pack/sheet.

I went for the large box, because why not? 😛 It arrived before Christmas and I was SO HAPPY with all of the goodies I received. Quirkory made sure that I didn’t receive any duplicate items and I couldn’t thank them enough for this! To be honest, if I had of received some duplicate enamel pins, I would have gifted them to my friends. 🙂

Image taken from Quirkory’s Etsy store.

First of all the image that Quirkory designed purely for the Mostari pack is absolutely adorable! It’s Inari and Mosted looking inside the Mostari box in front of them, which is full of sparkle! The name Mostari is also a mash up of Inari and Mosted to sound like mystery!

Inside the box it is full of shredded pink and blue tissue paper, as well as the goodies all in their packages and such. I’m going to talk about all the goodies I received, honestly I couldn’t be happier with them! There is also a thank you card in there with some cute animal designs on! I’d like to think these are Quirkory’s pets…

Every box may contain common, discontinued or new/unreleased items. Due to this each box will have a random different rarity grade:

Common- if containing items with a stock of more than 30 pieces.

Rare – if containing items with a low stock.

Vaulted – if containing items no longer on sale or out of stock.

Surprize – if containing a new item not yet listed for sale/not yet shown to the public.

• Sticker Pack – Chillin’ Pals Sticker Set (link)

When I saw this in the box, I was so surprised! I’ve been meaning to buy this sticker pack for the longest time, but just keep leaving it for a rainy day when I fancy a treat. I finally have them and they’re so cute! The stickers themselves are matte and not shin. There are four stickers in the pack, all to do with dogs and cats and are original Quirkory designs and even have their own names.

Luci is a black cat and white cat with a blue beanie on and a book in front of them. The book has sparkles and swirls, which I assume are to show Luci getting into the magic of the book.

Doteki is actually my favourite from the bunch and looks to be a shiba who is chilling on Petflix with some film/TV show snacks and even a hot water bottle! Plus, he’s got cute little feet pads and a little cross to show his bum… So cute!

Snoozin is a ginger and white cat who is asleep under the blue fluffy blanket. They’re dreaming about sleeping in a box in the sunshine. Snoozin also has a cute little red bow around their neck.

Yuki is the final design and is a cute little shiba wrapped up for winter months. I don’t know why but this design reminds me of Japan in winter. Yuki is a brown and white suba, with pink earmuffs on, a massive chunky blue tartan scarf and some cute little pink mittens.

• Art Print – Happy Togedeer Art Print (link)

I’ve seen this print before receiving it in my Mostari pack due to being a Patreon and it was actually a design they released as wallpapers for computers, phones and tablets so it was so cute to receive in my pack! It’s two deer snuggling together, one is white and one is brown, with a little heart above them both. The pale blue background works really well and it says, “Happy Togedeer” at the top. It’s printing on photo paper and feels really lovely. I’m planning to keep either stick this on my plushie cabinet, or keep it somewhere safe for when I eventually get my own desk. 🙂

• Rare – Mew enamel pin from the Mythical Rising Star collection (link)

This Mew enamel pin is from Quirkory’s first Kickstarter which launched back in March 2019. It’s crazy to think that was almost two years ago! I hadn’t discovered Quirkory at this point but if I had I know for a fact I would have backed for this enamel pin design. Mew is one of my favourite Pokemon and they really captured how playful and cute the psychic Pokemon is with this design! Mew is sat against a blue stained glass design, with a purple bow design on its tail and some star designs hanging from its tail too. This is a chain design enamel pin so it does have something dangling off of it. With Mew the design is a pink and purple swirl, which I assume is based off of it being psychic Pokemon. It’s on a rose gold enamel, is a two back pin for the main body of the design and then another back for the pin for the dangle/chain swirl design too. As well as that on the back of the main design of the piece is Quirkory’s logo. There are loads of designs similar to this one including Diancie, Victini, Celebi, Shaymin, Jirachi, Marshadow, Manaphy, Zeraora and Meloetta.

• Rare – Flower Eevee enamel pin from the Cute Eeveelutions collection (link)

This series of flower Eeeveelution is from the Kickstarter that helped me to discover Quirkory after buying some of the Greek Eeveelutions designs through it, as well as after (you can read all about the Greek Eeveelution designs here). The first enamel pin I opened from my Mostari box was this design and it made me smile so much! This cute little Eevee is laid back on a white flower, with it’s fluffy tail dangling below it, I think it’s having a snooze! I love the big green leaves for this flower too, as it compliments the overall colours of Eevee and the flower. This is a gold enamel pin, with two backs and Quirkory etched into the back.

• Rare – Flower Flareon enamel pin from the Cute Eeveelutions collection (link)

Again, we have another Eeveelution design from the Kickstarter I backed back in 2019. As you can see I also received the Flareon design which really did make me smile. Back when I discovered Quirkory they thanked me for all their support by sending me the Flareon Greek God design, so it’s really nice to get Flareon again! The Flareon, like Eevee is lying on it’s back, but Flareon has its paws up to its face, almost like its giggling at something. It is lying on a purple flower, which like the Eevee design compliments the colours of Flareon’s orange and yellow so well! Alongside the Eevee and Flareon designs, you can also pick up the other Eeveelutions too – Leafeon, Vaporeon, Sylveon, Espeon, Jolteon, Umbreon and Glaceon.

• Rare – Yamper Corgi enamel pin (link)

The Yamper design is adorable and one I’ve toyed with buying for a while. I actually think the Quirkory design for Yamper is better than the original by Pokemon… 😛 It’s not an overly complicated design and the Yamper definitely shouts corgi when you look at it. It also has a little blep going on, which makes it even more adorable, alongside with the way it’s sat. This is a gold enamel pin, with two pin backs and Quirkory etched into the back of it.

• Vaulted – Bulbakura Enamel Pin (link)

Alongside the Mew enamel pin, this Bulbasaur enamel pin is also from Quirkory’s first Kickstarter from March 2019. To me this Bulbasaur design is different to anything Quirkory has done since and because of this I’m glad to finally own it! It’s a gold Bulbasaur with a pink cherry blossom on it’s back instead of the bulb we all know and recognise the Pokemon for. Due to the Bulbasaur being gold, of course the enamel is gold too and like pretty much all of the pins I received, it has two backs as well as Quirkory etched into the back of the enamel pin. It’s quite a thick enamel pin to be honest, which is really nice to hold. I can’t wait to display this in the future, the gold makes it lovely and shiny so it’ll definitely be a conversation starter in the future.

• Surprize – Totodile Patch

This was actually such a surprise and was the first thing I opened when in my Mostari box! I’ve never seen Quirkory sell patches before so if this is an upcoming project I’m excited for it! This is a patch with Totodile on and he’s holding a hose pipe which he’s shooting water out of. It took me a while to realise what it was, but coming out of his head is a needle and thread, which looks really cool and unique. I’m not sure what I’m going to put my patch on yet but I’m sure I’ll find something soon. 🙂

I also received some other goodies in my pack, but this was more of a thank you from Quirkory for supporting them, plus as I’m a Patreon, it was also a thank you for that too! As always, Quirkory also sent a really lovely thank you note. I’m not going to share it as it feels more personal, and I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before on my blog, but all the thank you notes Quirkory have sent me, I’ve kept. 🙂 They also sent me a special discount code for their store as a thanks for being a Patreon.

• Detective Pikachu Sticker (link for sticker pack)

This Detective Pikachu design looks to be from a sticker pack, but I honestly love the design I was sent. Detective Pikachu is holding his little takeaway coffee cup and looks adorable as anything! Why do I feel Quirkory sent me this because it’s to do with coffee? 😛 It’s a matte sticker by the way. I don’t have a clue where I’m going to stick him yet, but I’m sure I’ll find something.

• Whipped Ghost Sticker (link)

This is another design I’ve seen floating around Patreon and one that reminds me of autumn/fall in America. It’s a pumpkin pie with little candy corns on it, as well as a happy dollop of cream! It’s so bloody cute. This is a vinyl sticker. I think Quirkory should definitely do more food themed designs. 😛

• Inari & Mosted Christmas and Autumn Stickers (Sorry no link…)
  

Quirkory sent me some of their mascot stickers and I always smile when they send me some! They’re so cute and I actually have quite a lot of the mascot stickers on my iPad case, including the Christmas Inari and Mosted they sent me from last Christmas (2019). Inari has reindeer antlers on, whilst Mosted wears a Christmas hat. These are small stickers and matte. The other two designs they sent me look like they’re from autumn. Inari is dressed up a cream squirrel and holding onto an acorn whilst Mosted is dressed as a squirrel too but is a dark brown and is holding onto a toadstool/wild mushroom. These two designs are adorable!

Sadly neither of these designs are available to buy on the store, however here are some Inari and Mosted designs you can check out instead – Halloween Stickers and summer stickers.

So that is the Mostari box! I’m so glad I picked one up before Christmas as it was so exciting to open it up! I don’t know if any young Brits from the 90’s remember, but there used to be such a thing as a “surprise” bag you could buy from the shop where it was a sealed bag full of exciting goodies to keep you busy! It would have an activity book, some crayons, as well as a toy and sweeties. My mom would buy me one every now and then and I really did love it. I just googled it ad FOUND IT! It was called Dick Turtle Surprise Bag. This is exactly what the Mostari box reminded me of and it definitely brought back some nostalgic memories, which have been lovely.

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

Store (Etsy)

Instagram

Patreon

Facebook

Twitter

So, do you think you’ll pick up your own Mostari box? If so, what size would you opt for and what goodies would you hope to get inside your box? Of course if you are interested in getting a box of your own, you can use my discount code to save yourself some monies as well, which is always good! 😀

Let me know what you think in the comments below and make sure to say hello to Quirkory from me if you find yourself making a purchase, posting on their social media and more. 🙂

Until next time guys, I hope you’re all doing well and keeping safe during lockdown with everything going on. Take care all! 🙂

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.

Store

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Twitch

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. 🙂

September Favourites ’19

Image taken from GIPHY

How are we now in October? My favourite month whizzed by so damn quickly and I didn’t get much chance to see or enjoy it. I did really love September though, it was a month of going out and doing things, as well as staying in and spending time with Dane, which I’ve really loved.

September was also a bit meh and I received some crappy news, including the Japanese language course I enrolled to being cancelled last minute (I got my money back FYI), I found out I can’t get anything to help with my anxiety on flights and I found out I have the first potential signs of cavities in my teeth. People who know me know how much I love my teeth. I’m using some special toothpaste now that may help to reverse this and I really hope it does.

So yeah… September wasn’t the best, sadly. 😦

I’m glad we’re in October now as I’m excited for so many things this month! Halloween, the Pokemon Center having a pop up shop in London, a week off with Dane and even some days off to relax. It’ll be a lovely month to chill and start enjoying autumn.

Anyhoo, enough of me rambling, here are my favourites from September!

• Philosophy Amazing Grace Eau de Toilette.

I love this EDT so much from Philosophy and I’ve owned it for what feels like forever! My mom gifted me this whilst I still lived at home as she received it in a set and didn’t want to use it herself. It’s a gorgeous soft scent and isn’t like anything else I own. I use this daily for work as it’s my go to right now, but once a week I’ll change it up for something else. It’s just perfect and the scent isn’t too strong either so if I don’t want anything heavy, this perfect.

• LISTERINE® Total Care Mouthwash.

Since my dentist breaking the news about my teeth that I mentioned earlier, I was recommended to mouthwash after meals, which I do after every meal right now. If I don’t, I used chewing gum instead. I bought some little miniature bottles so that I could carry these around, take to work and even think about taking on holiday in the future. I also have some Colgate mouthwash too, but I love the LISTERINE one more! I plan to pick up a big bottle of this in the future and I can fill up the little bottles. This mouthwash really does leave my mouth feeling clean and fresh, which I love! The Colgate one doesn’t do that.

• Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream.

I’ve owned this since the start of 2019, as I planned to use it loads to help my cuticles go lovely and soft. However, it was only from the start of September that I began to use it properly! When I cut my nails and paint them, I decide to use it all over my hands, as well as my cuticles to help my eczema. It’s been really bad lately with the change of weather but the cuticle cream really is helping. 🙂 It smells gorgeous too!

• Tangle Teezer Aqua Splash.

I picked this up towards the end of September and it’s by far one of the best things I have bought in 2019! I love the Tangle Teezer brushes and discovered them last year and since then I am so grateful that I finally gave them a go. I decided I wanted to give the wet version a go, but I wanted to try and pick up the old version as it looked good. Since buying this drying my hair after washing it has already become so much easier! When I brush my hair in the shower after washing, I feel like I’m brushing away loads of excess water, as well as smoothing is ready to be brushed and dried after. It really is a pleasure to use! I picked mine up from TK Maxx for £7.99, which I thought was a decent price.

• Yankee Candle Snowflake Cookie.

This was a brand new candle at the start of September, one that Dane had bought me years before and that I have only just started to burn! I love burning candles, especially during the colder months so when September started, I knew I had to start getting my candles going again! I decided to start burning Snowflake Cookie as it was one of the few large Yankee Candle jars that just appealed to me. Christmas scents from Yankee Candle are my favourite, so I make sure to burn them all year around!

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from Seventeen.com

Favourite TV Show – 13 Reasons Why Season 3.

I binge watched this at the end of the month (mostly as I worked through my October newsletter, this post and even my October wish list post) and I LOVED it so much. I worried that this would make me think, “Oh God they’ve ruined it even more!” after how bad season 2 was. To be fair, nothing could top season 1… So when season 2 came out I wasn’t expecting much. It felt like they were constantly bashing Hannah and it was boring. However, season 3 has really brought it back and I loved it! I don’t want to talk too much about it in case of spoilers, but something has happened to Bryce and everyone is trying to find out what and how, all whilst trying to keep their shit together. It’s crazy! The show (as it does) covers a lot of serious topics that are good to be spoken about and it’s good. If you’re yet to watch season 3, then get to it! If you’ve never watched 13 Reasons Why then I recommend it, but be careful if you have mental health issues like I do. Season 1 was good, but some of the topics were upsetting, especially as suicide is a massive factor.

Image taken from GIPHY

 

Favourite Movie – Detective Pikachu.

I know this was mentioned on my monthly favourites back in May but I have to mention it again 4 months later as this film is now out and I made sure to pre-order it ready for when it came out. The day it came out me and Dane played games instead of watching, but the day after I cooked us a yummy dinner and we sat down to watch the movie as we chilled out. It was just as good as I remember it being in the cinema and we even watched all the extras too, which were decent but sadly not as good as I feel they could have been. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t feel that extras and behind the scenes stuff on DVD’s/Blu-rays are as good as they used to be…

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Erm…

Yeah I didn’t read throughout September. Which sucks to be fair. I read so much in August and then September came and I read sweet FA. I either didn’t have time due to busy, or I didn’t want to as I was playing games instead. I’m terrible for reading manga these days and due to that I do feel sad. I still have Elfen Lied to start reading again, as well as catching up with Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and Himouto! Umaru-chan. I know I’ll catch up with reading… I honestly will! I’d take manga to work but I like to play Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and do blog work on my break.

 

Favourite Album – My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade.

I loved this album back in the day when it came out and I remember buying it from HMV as I had some gift vouchers I needed to use. I loved it and listened to it all the time… Even if my friends at the time hated it. I made some friends through this band, one of them who is now my best friend. One of the best live performances I’ve seen was MCR when they toured for this album. They played the set in the order of the album, it was amazing and I adored it. I’ve started using Spotify at work so I have my music on that I want to listen to, without annoying YouTube adverts coming up every 5 minutes. So I decided to add loads of my favourite albums, including this one. This album just has so many memories behind it and I love it.

Image taken from GIPHY

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Borderlands 3 and Untitled Goose Game.

I couldn’t just mention one of the other of these games this month. Both deserved a spot on here!

First of all, I LOVE the gif I chose to use for Borderlands 3 because these two characters (Zane and Amara) are the two that me and Dane play when we play together. The day the game came out, me and Dane both booked it off so we could play together and relax. It was awesome! The whole weekend we pretty much played this game nonstop! This has got to be the first time I have played a first person shooter game without dying constantly (like seriously every 5 minutes!) and rage quitting. I love this game, it’s hilarious and fun to play with people. I’ve not been playing it much the past week as I’ve been busy chilling out, or playing other games instead. I never played the previous 2 Borderlands games but that doesn’t matter anyway! Honestly, go and pick this game up. 🙂

I wrote in September how excited I was for certain games to come out (which you can read here), with Untitled Goose Game being number one on that list, as it was coming out the soonest. I got home from work and downloaded it to play. Everyone was mad for this game when it came out and so was I! Both me and Dane played this game together and it was absolutely hilarious to play! We still have some bonus stuff to do, even after “completing” the game, which is proving to be so much fun. Honestly, if you own a Nintendo Switch or a Steam account, definitely download and play. Some people said to me that they don’t see what’s the point of this game before it came out. Those people clearly don’t know how to open their minds to new things. 😛

So those are all my favourites for September! September did indeed go by in a blur and I can’t believe we’re in October now. Before we know it, it’ll be December and Christmas will be upon us. It’s crazy!

How were your September’s for you? What were your favourites throughout the month and overall how was it? Please let me know in the comments down below.

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

Autumn Tag 2018

We are officially 2 weeks into autumn now and whilst I was walking home yesterday after a lovely sushi and shopping date with my friend Sophie, I took some pictures.

Earlier that day Michael from mnealewriting tagged me to take part in the autumn tag. I can never turn down a tag post, especially one about autumn! Over the years I’ve done more autumn tag posts than I can remember. I don’t care though, my thoughts on autumn seem to change each year. 😛

So get yourself a lovely hot drink and a blanket as this is going to be a long tag, enjoy!

What signifies the start of Autumn for you?

When the trees start turning into that gorgeous orange colour we all know, that chill in the air in the mornings and evenings as you travel to and from work and when it starts to get darker earlier.

What is your favourite Autumn scent?

I definitely love scents like salted caramel and other baked scents. Especially when they’re warming and comforting.

What is your favourite Autumn colour?

Mustard, for sure! I do like burgundy too, but my love of this shade has diminished as the years have gone on. Mustard has always been a firm favourite though.

Are you a fan of PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte)

Hell no. It tastes of sugar, type 2 diabetes and heart failure.

What is your favourite Autumn drink?

I can’t say I have a favourite to be honest with you. Autumn and winter are definitely times when hot chocolates rear their yummy heads and I’m always down for a mint hot chocolate, but I associate that more with Christmas. Salted caramel latte is always a good choice.

What’s your favourite coffee shop and their drink of choice?

Anywhere really, I don’t have a favourite. I’ll go to Costa for hot chocolate and flat white and Starbucks for anything else. I love an independent coffee shop near where I live as they do creme brulee in any drink and it’s pretty damn amazing! I love independent coffee shops the most to be fair.

Apple Pie or Pumpkin Pie?

Neither. I find pumpkin flavoured things to be so American and it’s really took off over here. I don’t know why though.

What TV show, new or old, are you looking forward to in the next few months?

South Park! They have their new season out at the moment, which me and Dane need to watch actually. We’re also watching Attack on Titan and loving it. I keep binge watching This is England 86, 88 and 90 at the moment and it really makes me feel warm inside. It’s one of my favourite shows. To be fair I don’t really watch much TV, only catch up stuff. It’s gaming that’s happening for me the rest of the year!

What is your favourite Autumn fashion trend?

As you may have noticed I’m not all that fashionable anymore. BUT in my world of fashion… Erm… 😛 No I’m loving the tartan trend right now! I’m wearing red tartan with cream, blue/green tartan with mustard and grey tartan with anything really. 😀

What is your favourite comfort food to enjoy in the colder months?

ALL THE FOOD! No, I especially love macaroni cheese, katsu curry, fish and chips and toad in the hole with gravy and roast potatoes. All the carbs basically.

What is your favourite Autumn activity?

Going out with Dane for walks and looking at Halloween and bonfire related goodies, just before all the Christmas stuff kicks off. I also like going out for Bonfire Night, we did that for the first time together last year and it was so much fun. I’m so excited to do it again this year already.

Do you like horror movies?

LOVE THEM! We watched one with our friends Jacqui and Chris yesterday evening. We watched the new IT and it was amazing! I’d watched half of it to be fair but the ending was good. SPOILER there’s going to be a second film coming out! But we’ve all planned to watch more horror movies and probably spend Halloween together.

Do you ever do anything fun for Halloween?

Not anymore to be honest, I’m getting too old for that now. Last year we did the house up the week of Halloween and got some trick or treaters at the door. They were only little kids with parents and THEY WERE ADORABLE! I made sure to have loads of sweets for them and this year I’ll do the same if I don’t go out for Halloween. I did really enjoy their faces when I told them how scary they looked, it’s so sweet. If we go out, we’ll probably go watch a horror movie, or go watch one with our friends.

What was your favourite part about Halloween as a child?

Well I only went trick or treating once and whilst it was fun, I felt wrong knocking peoples doors for free sweets. So that never really was my favourite thing. What was, however, was every Halloween a local stationary store stocked Halloween goodies and they just seemed to have LOADS of bat themed goodies! My mom would always buy me something and one year she bought me a blow up bat you were meant to hang on the wall. A couple of months later that bat broke and it wouldn’t inflate anymore. I was upset and gutted. When Halloween came the next year, they stocked the blow up bat again and my mom bought me another. It’s still at her house somewhere! To this day I try to buy a bat themed product over Halloween.

I just thought! You know what I really looked forward to over Halloween? Greggs cupcakes with the Halloween rings on the icing! I always wanted the bat one, but one year I managed to collect all three! A pumpkin, a skull and of course the bat. Oh man, how easy we had it when we were kids. 😛

Are you a bigger fan of Bonfire Night or Halloween?

Bonfire Night. To me it’s just the icing on the cake for autumn! As soon as Bonfire Night is over that’s it, everyone gets excited and their bodies are ready for Christmas! As I said before, me and Dane went out for the first time for Bonfire Night last year and we loved it! We had such a good evening and I have some very fond memories of it. I can’t wait to find somewhere to go this year already.

Where is your dream destination to visit in Autumn?

I don’t know to be perfectly honest with you… I would like to go to Bristol again soon as whilst I felt a bit out of place when I went for our anniversary in June, I do love that little city and the artist side of it. Otherwise I don’t know really. I’m going to Essex/London on at the start of November so that will be lovely!

Do you always forget about the clocks going back?

Ha I actually did to be honest with you! I just had to Google when it is as I can’t for the life of me remember.

When do you usually start preparing for Christmas?

I already have to be fair. 😛 I usually do the start or end of October. I like it all done mid November to be honest with you so I have the rest of November and all of December to just chill out and enjoy Christmas and having money for meals out and German markets.

There we have it, that’s the autumn tag! I don’t think I’ve ever done this one before in all fairness and I LOVED it! 😀

So, who am I going to nominate?

Anyone who reads this post and loves autumn, I want you to give this tag a go! 😀 I would have tagged certain people, but I feel like the past few times I’ve just tagged the same couple of people recently and that just isn’t fair.

What’s your favourite season and why? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend. 🙂

Autumn Tag 2017

Image taken from weheartit.com

Another year, another autumn tag!

Just want to say first of all, HELLO! I feel like I haven’t been around for forever, when it’s only been about 3 weeks. As many will know I just got back (early hours of Thursday) from a 2 week holiday in Fuerteventura. It was amazing and to be honest I just felt like I’d gone home (which I kind of did tbf seeing as I’ve been there for more times than I can count and have a house there…) and had time off of work etc.

I’ll be writing LOADS of posts Fuerteventura related over the next couple of weeks so keep your eyes peeled for those! For now however I need to get an autumn related post out there. Autumn started whilst I was on holiday and Thursday morning when me and Dane went out for a very naughty McDonald’s breakfast I noticed that autumn well and truly started whilst we were gone.

Every year I do a post with an autumn tag, and this year is no different from the rest. I hope you enjoy this one, I’ve tried to find one that isn’t an exact replica of previous years. 🙂

This tag is floating around everywhere to be honest but I found this one through Lotte’s Beauty Box, so please make sure to go and check out her answers!

Quick disclaimer… The use of both the terms Autumn and Fall kept chopping and changing throughout this tag and whilst I didn’t notice it, Dane did as he was sat next to me. His point about fall being an American term for autumn and the chopping and changing of the two was very accurate… So I changed Fall to Autumn. Got to be British and accurate/correct, right? 😛

Image taken from weheartit.com

1. What signifies the start of Autumn for you?

When the leaves start to change in colour. I just love the yellow, orange and brown colours of autumn so much and it’s when the leaves go this colour that I know I can start saying we’re in autumn territory.

2. What is your favourite Autumn scent?

I always forgot about how much I love it but La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain is definitely one I love to wear as the weather gets colder. Since the day I first smelt it it has always reminded me of Lush’s discontinued Space Girl bath bomb. It has a warm blackcurrant/blackberry type scent which I love. I’ve owned this for ages and it’s still lasting so well! As soon as it runs out I’ll definitely be buying a new one!

3. What is your favourite Autumn colour?

Mustard yellow and burgundy. Always have been and always will be! Which in turn reminds me that I need to get a new mustard yellow jumper. I’ve seen one in Zara which I’ll be picking up very soon. My previous one was from there and it was so damn comfortable!

4. What is your favourite Autumn drink?

I’m always down for hot drinks… But I wouldn’t say I’m much of an autumn drink gal. I’m more of a winter hot drink person. If I could pick anything thought it’d definitely be something salted caramel related! I can’t remember when BUT I do remember Starbucks bringing out a burnt salted caramel latte and it was amazing. I wish they would make it permanent. 😦

Image taken from weheartit.com

5. What TV show, new or old, are you looking forward to this Autumn?

I’m definitely excited for Stranger Things 2 to come out! I’m also really excited to continue to binge watch American Horror Story with Dane. Now we’re back from holiday we’ll be starting on season 3 very soon… AKA later on today. I’m also loving that seasons 21 of South Park has kicked off, as well as the new season of British Bake Off, which I am loving this year.

6. What is your favourite Autumn fashion trend?

It’s got to be Dr Martens boots and sweaters with prints of my favourite things on! I’m really after a new pair of Docs this year and I’m forever after new sweaters! 😛 I bought a new one whilst I was in Fuerteventura (which I’ll be showing in a haul VERY SOON!) and I’ve seen a sweater dress from Bershka that I’m going to buy soon too.

7. What is your favourite frugal Autumn activity?

I don’t really have one to be honest… BUT since being on holiday I want to go for walks with Dane in the countryside. We did loads of walking when we were away and if there’s a season I want to do this with, it’s autumn.

8. What is your favourite makeup look come autumnal weather?

As I only wear lipstick, a gorgeous dark and vampy look is always a good look no matter what! I’ve bought a new dark purple recently by Barry M (which I’ll be reviewing soon!) and it looks stunning, especially for autumn.

So that was the autumn tag! I’m so damn excited to be at home as it’s started to kick off. I never had it when I lived at home, but in my own home me and Dane have the best autumnal view in our front room, which I love more than anything.

I tag whoever loves autumn to take part in this! So… That’s practically everyone then. 😛

Until next time, take care all and have a lovely Sunday.

Fall for this Autumnal Home Décor

So, before I begin, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Hayley, a professional freelance Copywriter and Content Writer who absolutely loves blogging (and home décor, as you’ll soon find out)! Therefore, when I came across Nat’s tweet explaining that she needs guest bloggers to fill in for her whilst she’s on holiday, I jumped at the opportunity. I enjoyed reading her clothing wish lists, so decided to do something similar for homeware, because who doesn’t love a fancy cushion or two? Just me? Anyway, I’ll stop rambling now and get into the post:

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Whilst I’m going to miss the warmer weather and bright evenings, we’re now officially on the second day of Autumn, so it’s time to embrace the new season with open arms. The beautiful orange leaves, the cosy clothes, and copious amounts of hot chocolate definitely make it easier to say goodbye to Summer (plus, it’s almost Hallowe’en).

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit of a home decoration enthusiast – any opportunity to give my home a fresh, new look is welcomed in my books. I always think that changing seasons are perfect times to add little pieces that reflect the weather, either through using different colours, patterns, or even textures. The best part about this is you certainly don’t have to break the bank to do it!

Before I began writing this post, I got thinking about what I associate with the season because it’s always useful to have a ‘theme’ which will ensure that all the pieces look good together. I’ve compiled a little list below which helped me to find the items I included, so, should you want to look for more yourself, you’ll have something to refer to:

– Rustic wood
– ‘Earthy’ tones (think burnt orange, brown, mustard yellow)
– Leaf patterns
– Rough textures

So, let’s take a look at some pieces you’ll fall for this Autumn (get it… fall? Okay, sorry).

Yankee Candle in ‘Brilliant Autumn’

How much more perfect could the name of this candle be? It’s a must for any Autumn lover who wants to bring a little bit of the woodlands indoors. To me, there’s nothing cosier than having some beautiful smelling candles burning on the coffee table whilst you relax on the weekend! Plus, it’s a gorgeous orange colour that will complement the other items in this list (any other home décor enthusiasts will agree that this is very important).

Image taken from fragrancedirect.co.uk

Item: Large Yankee Candle (Brilliant Autumn)
Shop: Fragrance Direct
Price: £14.50

Cosy blanket

When updating your home décor, you can’t go wrong with a big, fluffy blanket. The neutral ‘mink’ tone of this one from Wilko means that you can mix ‘n’ match it with a range of different colour schemes throughout the year (because, let’s be real, the UK is chilly around 80% of the time). I personally love the soft ‘waffle’ texture on this as it prevents the blanket from being too plain, but it won’t clash with other patterns!

Image taken from wilko.com

Item: Waffle Throw (Mink)
Shop: Wilko
Price: £16

Burnt orange cushions (bonus points if they incorporate a tartan pattern)

Dunelm are currently selling these statement tartan cushions in a perfect earthy, burnt orange shade (though they do offer lots of other colours if you’d prefer to mix it up). The tweed texture also gives it a lovely rustic feel that provides your home with instant cosy-factor fit for a pub in the countryside. Cushions are a great way to instantly change the colour scheme in your living room as they’re much larger than some of the other items on this list, but still relatively inexpensive!

Image taken from dunelm.com

Item: Tweed Woven Cushion (Terracotta/Orange)
Shop: Dunelm
Price: £14

Wicker hearts (or any shape you want)

Sometimes, just having random little knick-knacks in your house can make it feel more like a home. You can grab this set of three wicker hearts for under £10 on Amazon* (bargain!), and have them delivered next day if you’re a Prime member. The adorable gingham ribbon and rustic wood texture also give it a little extra bit of detail that screams ‘Autumn’.

Image taken from amazon.co.uk

Item: Large Rustic Wicker Heart Decorations
Shop: Amazon
Price: £9*

Cute Mugs

Whilst these are more functional items than decorative ones, they still make the list, because what else are you going to drink hot chocolate from whilst you sit in your newly-decorated living room? I’m a sucker for anything with a cute animal design plastered on it, so I just had to include these Fairmont & Main bone china mugs from Amazon. I love how autumnal the design is, from the range of beautiful colours, right down the leaf print. Ahh, let’s get the kettle on!

Image taken from amazon.co.uk

Item: Fairmont & Main Bone China Mug (Orange)
Shop: Amazon
Price: £4.99

So, there you go – updating your living room on a budget is easy (and fun)! What will you be adding to your home this Autumn? Let us know!

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Psst, if you enjoyed this post, you can find more of me (and my company, DTM Copywriting) here:
Website (including my blog): http://dtmcopywriting.co.uk/
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @dtmcopywriting
Email: hayley.andrews@dtmcopywriting.co.uk

*Please note that prices on Amazon are subject to change.

I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Hayley for writing this post! She was such a joy to talk to via Twitter and email and was so professional and lovely at the same time. It’s made me so excited for when I come back from Fuerteventura to have a mooch around the shops for some lovely autumn editions to add into our home this year!

What items do you like buying as the season changes from summer to autumn? Please make to sure to let me and Hayley know in the comments!

Until next time take care all and I hope you’re doing well!

2016 Autumn Tag

Image taken from weheartit.com

Another year means another autumn tag AT LEAST! I love autumn and it’s definitely my favourite time of year for various reasons but I’ll save that for another post.

Autumn for me has changed dramatically this year. I’m now in my own home, in a different area, with Dane and therefore with our own rules. So to speak. I am more excited for it than ever before and don’t even get me started on Christmas!

I’m currently wrapped up in bed with a cup of lemon Lemsip as I’m poorly. BOOHOO! So whilst I’m semi bed ridden I thought I would do some blog work. What better way to start than with a new autumn tag for this year! I found this one through Jemma’s Simple Life and I can’t wait to have a go myself. ^_^

Image taken from weheartit.com

1. What is your favourite thing about Autumn?

Definitely the weather. I know that sounds weird but due to the weather it affects so much! What we eat, what we drink, what we wear, etc. So I love that it starts to get chillier and means I have to start wrapping up in jumpers, sweaters, Dr Martens boots, special hot drinks from Costa and Starbucks for autumn and winter, etc. I also love that the clocks go back and it starts to get darker. I also love wrapping up with Dane in the house. It makes me happy.

Image taken from weheartit.com

2. What is your favourite Autumn colour?

It has changed over the years from burgundy, to mustard and to navy. I still don’t know what my favourite colour is though to be honest. I think it’s those colours mentioned but I’ve always forgotten about tartan! I love wearing it all year around but especially in the colder seasons with big fluffy jumpers and coats. Also can’t get enough of red this time of year too.

Image taken from weheartit.com

3. What is your favourite Autumn drink?

I love all sort of hot drinks but mostly anything mint flavoured to be honest. I love mint hot chocolate the most as it does purely remind me of Christmas. I’ve been drinking lots of tea lately and I put that down to being poorly the last week. Flavoured tea is always good in winter time, especially if you’re walking around the shops and need something to warm you up. I am so excited to see what Costa and Starbucks are going to bring out for Christmas this year. Yay!

Image taken from weheartit.com

4. What activity do you like doing during Autumn?

I love when I start to do my Christmas shopping so popping out to various shops and malls in the midlands area is always fun to do! I also love being able to go and look and take photographs of the leaves. I really want to go out walking this year with Dane to see the leaves and the change of the season together. I also love the excitement of Halloween and Bonfire Night. Oh I’m so excited just writing about it! 😀

Image taken from weheartit.com

5. What are you looking forward to the most this Autumn?

Spending it with Dane is what I’m looking forward to the most for definite! Going out together and doing things all the time will be nice as we usually were only able to do stuff like that together on weekends when I was off of work. I’m also looking forward to going to London next month to see my friend Sophi for shopping so it’ll be nice going down to London at that time of year. I’m just excited to spend the evenings with Dane mostly chilling out and wrapping up warm in our blankets and in bed. So many things that I am looking forward to. I can’t wait for us to find somewhere to go to for Bonfire Night too. Oh the excitement of being home owners for the first time. ^_^

So that was the autumn tag! It wasn’t a large one like previous tags I’ve done have been, which I like. I’ll be writing more about autumn in the future.

What do you love about autumn? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’ve had a great week so far.

A/W 16 Games I Am Excited About

I am a nerd, gaming is my thing and since moving into the house I have realised how much I love playing games. They’re something I get to mong out in front of and just relax. It’s also nice to be able to take out some frustration and stress on them.

My current favourite to play right now is LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which I am currently trying to complete 100%, because I’m sad like that.

Alongside that I love playing Minecraft with Dane, as well as our friends online. Can never go wrong with that game!

But with so many games announced at E3 this year, I thought I would put together a post today about which games I am excited about for the remained of the year.

• South Park: The Fractured But Whole – Release date 06.12.16 – £43.99 (link)

I love South Park, no denying that! I never got to play the first game The Stick Of Truth when it first came out but eventually my old job at Costa gifted me this and I was so hooked onto it. I even completed 100%, woohoo! So when Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced this a year ago I was so damn excited! Over the past year it has been developed and finally given the end of the this year the launch date. I won’t be waiting until Christmas to get this, it’ll be pre ordered a week before it’s due out. I’m so damn excited!

• World of Final Fantasy – Release date 28.10.16 – £33.99 (link)

I’ve never been a gamer who can say, “OMG I LOVE all the Final Fantasy games!” Until 2011/2012 I had never played any of them and I’m not going to lie when I say that I don’t feel like I lost out. I’ve always been interested in the stories behind the games, but whenever I’ve played them I’ve never been a huge fan of the game play. Recently when I tried the demo for Final Fantasy XV I fell in love with the new game play. Due to being excited for this game (which will be mentioned on this post!) I started to get excited for other Final Fantasy games. This one included. I mean for a start the characters are so adorable looking, very kawaii and right up my street! All I know about it is you play as two twins who go to a different world from their own and fight, etc. Just all the chibi characters are adorable and pulled at my heart.

•  Final Fantasy XV – Release date 29.11.16 – £42.00 (link)

This has so far been the only Final Fantasy game I have actually liked the look of and played feeling excited about too. I don’t know if it’s because the game play has changed with this game (according to a lot of people I know who love FF it has…) which I didn’t realise to be honest, but it is definitely due to said chance that the controls don’t seem as complex as they did before. The demo was a joy to play too, especially the cute little fox that you follow around throughout. The story just looks awesome too with the brothers and their emo alternative looks. I won’t be in a rush to pick this up, but I hope to eventually!

• Detroit: Become Human – Release date TBC – £46.00 (link)

I can not express how damn excited I am for this game! I’m a massive fan of all David Cage’s games including Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls so this one HAS to be a part of my collection. It’s a very interesting concept revolving around robots and them becoming human, instead of just doing as we humans say. The trailers are beautiful and David Cage hasn’t let us down again! There have been so many trailers leading up to this game, so I advice you to YouTube search for them if you wish to see more. I hope this gets a release date for this year!

• The Last Guardian – Release date 28.10.16 – £44.00 (link)

This game has been in the works for almost ten years now and it’s amazing that it is finally going to be released! Do you know what though? I waited so damn long for this game that I’m not as excited for it as I thought I was going to be… It won’t stop me from buying it though as it’s a game I am still excited to play. I guess it’s just a shame that it took so long to get it where it is today. The creature in the game is what has sold out to everyone is you ask me. The graphics of the game don’t look that amazing in all fairness, which is something a lot of people have been commenting on with this game. However this doesn’t bother me, as it still looks like a lovely game to play.

• Mafia III – Release date 07.10.16 – £42.00 (link)

I like the Mafia games and I felt that the second one was ignored quite a bit due to Grand Theft Auto 4 coming out, which I thought was a bit of a shame! However now Mafia III is out and there isn’t any GTA game to compete with! I love the look of Mafia III too as it’s set in a period I love as well as in a part of America I would love to visit one day. The plot is very strong and I know I will love playing this game. I get a bit anxious playing games like this as I worry of shoot ups in missions and such that I won’t get very far as I’m not that great at playing games like this. However I am hoping that this game will help me gain some confidence as I really do want to get it.

• Pokemon Moon – Release date 32.11.16 – £32.00 (link)

This is one of the games I am super excited about… Don’t think I need to explain why really. It’s Pokemon and that’s all you need to know! 😛 No I kid! I am excited for this, it’ll be cool to see what they’ve done differently with this game like the new Pokemon, the aloha evolution for older Pokemon such as Vulpix, Raichu, etc. I’ve also heard that you don’t battle at gyms or in the elite four anymore either, which will be odd! I’ll be getting this the day it comes out and probably playing it until I finish. I hope Dane will get it to play with me too, and if not I’ll buy it him for Christmas. 😉

So that was the list of games I am super excited about for 2016! I am going to be so poor by the end of the year I swear to God. 😛

What games are you excited about coming out this year? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend.

Leighton Denny I Am Goddess High Performance Nail Colour Collection – Review

Although these are from Leighton Denny’s autumn/winter 2015 collection I recently picked them up from the M&S sale, as they were super cheap! I managed to pick up three, even though I only really wanted one or two. I will already state that online none of these shades are left to buy, but you may be in luck in store, like I was with two of these shades. You can still pick these up as well on the official Leighton Denny website (link here) but they’re still at the full retail price of £11.00.

So, on with the review!

Thanks to my mom, I discovered Leighton Denny a couple of years ago, but I haven’t as of yet owned any of his polishes until now, and boy was it worth the wait!

These are some of the nicest nail polishes I own, due to the quality of the nail polish, it’s lasting time, and of course the price! But I’ll go into detail about all those in this review.

L-R : Aphrodite’s Love, Queen Hera, Athena Love

I picked up three of six shades from the collection:

Aphrodite’s Love – An olive cream with a metallic duo-chrome finish.

Queen Hera – A metallic gold with chrome finish.

Athena Divine – A deep, midnight blue with metallic shimmer.

For £11.00 you’re paying for 12ml bottle, with a high performance nail colour. I found with all of these I only needed two coats max to get a really good pay off. All the shades are really pigmented, which I was pleased about.

Lasting time on these was amazing too! Aphrodite’s Love is currently on my toes, and has been the past week. It’s not chipped at all, not even during my pole fitness classes! Which is great to be honest. When I wore Queen Hera all weekend it lasted throughout, and didn’t chip once. Again, I was really pleased about it. I haven’t had the chance to wear Athena Divine yet, but I’m going to wear it next weekend and see how the lasting time is, but if it’s anything like the other two shads, it’ll last ages.

So here are some swatches of the polishes themselves!

Aphrodite’s Love:

One coat

Two coats

Queen Hera:

One coat

Two coats

Athena Divine:

One coat

Two coats

I have shown all the polishes with both one, and two coats, just so you can see the pigmentation!

My personal favourite has to be Athena Divine. Like the name, it is a divine colour and I’ve never seen anything like it. I can’t wait to rock this when I next have my holiday from work (FYI in a months time!) as well as when it’s mine and Dane’s anniversary in June, which will soon be here!

It’s a shame these are limited edition nail polishes, as they are truly stunning!

Will you be trying to pick these up in the M&S sale? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

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