July Favourites ’21

I feel like I always say stuff like this when it comes to my monthly posts, but seriously… How is it August already?! This year has really flown by, so much so I didn’t realise my boiler was due a service because it only felt like yesterday that it had had one! xD

This month feels like it’s been… Strange? My mental health hasn’t been very good to be perfectly honest but at the same time it actually improved due to dog sitting my best friends dog Eddie. I’ll be talking more about him later… 😉

I’m hopeful for August being a better month. I have lots of fun things planned with friends and I can’t wait to go on some mini adventures with some of them too.

Beauty.

• Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Soap in Peppermint.

This is an all purpose soap that my mom recently gave to me in lavender form. She’d treated herself to some of the scents but had found she had too many. As I wasn’t using it due to having a lot of my on stuff to use, I gave it back to my mom. When I did however, she offered me another scent that she hardly had any of, the peppermint one. This came at a good time with the heat wave we experienced in the UK. This is a multi purpose soap that can be used as a body wash, shaving and even for cleaning around the home! I’m yet to try it for shaving, but so far both me and Dane have used it on the body. As this is peppermint it leaves a lovely cool feeling behind after rinsing off of the skin, which felt amazing during the heat wave! I don’t know if I would go out of my way to buy this soap as I feel for less money I could pick up the Original Source mint shower gel for a lot less money.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Film – All the Jackass movies!

As some of you may know I am a MASSIVE Jackass fan and earlier last week the trailer for Jackass Forever came out, so I was kind of an excited fan girl… 😛 I was so excited that I decided to binge watch ALL five Jackass films, including Jackass 2.5 and Jackass 3.5. I forgot about some of the scenes from the films so it’s always a delight to be reminded of some of them. I can’t tell you guys how many times I’ve watched the Jackass series as well as the films now. Whilst studying my undergraduate degree I remember watching everything over and over again as it helped me whilst I worked on my dissertation. To add here, whilst I’m really excited for Jackass Forever I’m not excited about a few things. 1. The fact Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn won’t be there (who are both my favourite Jackass guys) and 2. This is actually going to be Johnny Knoxville’s last Jackass film… Gutted! It’s obviously the end of an era in a way and the young 11/12 year old Nat probably didn’t even realise how much this show would change her life. I’ll be writing a post all about Jackass towards the fourth film, which comes to cinemas on 22nd October!

Image taken from Tenor

Favourite TV Show – Beastars season two.

Me and Dane literally binge watched season 2 of Beastars as soon as it came out on Netflix. We watched the first season last year and really enjoyed it! As I haven’t read the manga, I didn’t expect there to be another season coming out, so when it was announced a while ago I was surprised! This being said, I was intrigued as to what would happen in season two and other questions about Legoshi (wolf) and Haru (rabbit). For those of you who may not know, Beastars is about anthropomorphic animals where carnivores and herbivores are divided. We follow Legoshi during his time as a student where we see how this divide is affecting students, as well as adults outside of the school/college/university. I definitely recommend watching! You can watch it on Netflix, subbed and dubbed.

Favourite Music – Girl Talk – All Day.

All Day is an album my ex actually told me about over 10 years ago and I still listen to it to this day. It’s a mash up album with all sorts of genres mashed up to make one amazing piece of work. I love listening to this when I have stuff to do, whether it be doing paperwork, blog work or cleaning around the house, it’s the perfect album to put on and listen to. I especially love listening to it whilst driving. There are 372 songs used on this album. Honestly go and give it a listen if you’ve never heard of it before… I don’t think you’ll regret it. 😉

Favourite Game – The Greatest Penguin Heist of All Time.

This is a game that Dane introduced me to about three weeks ago now! It’s an early access game on Steam and it is fucking hilarious! If you can’t gather what it’s about from the title then… 😛 Obviously you play as a penguin and you’re off on a heist, the greatest of all time! This game can be played alone or in a group of four through private parties and it’s one that me and Dane have been really loving playing together, especially on streams. You play various different levels and each time you are set tasks to complete. You complete the tasks successfully, you make big penguin bucks which can be used to buy new areas to play, as well as weapons, clothing and more! As this is an early access game there are bugs and items still in development but this doesn’t bother us too much as it’s still crazy and fun to play. 🙂 If you fancy watching us play it on stream make sure to drop us a follow so you can watch us play games! We stream this game every Wednesday between 7pm-9pm. Dane’s Twitch and my Twitch.

Just a few of my favourite things…

New Black Milk Clothing pieces.

Okay so I found some Black Milk Clothing bargains online in July, but I also picked up the Snorlax Snoozing Snuggle Suit when it was re-released! It originally came out in the second Pokemon collection. I’d been nagging BMC via Twitter for ages to bring it back and it would seem myself and others would get their wishes (and nagging!) come true. I’ve owned it for a month now and I’ve worn it loads when the weather was cool enough to. It’s really comfortable and I feel adorable as fuck in it too! If there’s one thing I realised this year, it’s just how much I love BMC’s snuggle suits and how I need more. 😛

As I mentioned, I did pick up some bargains, two in fact! The Snorlax Apples Apron Dress originally came out in the second Pokemon collection and I snagged for £10 less than what BMC are selling it for! Although I’m yet to wear it out and about, I have zero regrets about buying it! It’s a gorgeous apron piece that I’ve teamed up with a strawberry t-shirt from TU Sainsburys. Apron pieces are some I’ve always been unsure of due to the length, but with leggings or a pair of tights with shorts on top, I’m sure it’ll be fine! I’m planning to wear this outfit soon, maybe on a day trip with a friend or for a picnic date with Dane! It’s the perfect outfit for spring and summer!

The second bargain I picked up is the Mew Sheer Midaxi Dress which came out in the first Pokemon collection. This is a piece I’d always lusted after but… Couldn’t justify the monies. I’d bought the Gastly Evolution Handkerchief Dress and felt that was enough for me. However, months later BMC put the Mew dress into the sale and I started to think more about ordering it. I put it off and just as I went to, it had sold out… I was gutted and it was clearly never meant to be. However, one morning whilst scrolling through the internet I found someone was selling the Mew dress on Vinted for a decent price! It was a size M, so a size down from what I usually buy and after some chat with the seller I placed an order. It arrived a few days later and fits perfectly! I’m so happy I bought it and I’m waiting for the right time to wear it… But with the way the weather is now in the UK I may need to wait a while. xD

Lucky art commission from Claire Likes To Doodle.

About a year ago now my amazing friend Claire/Claire Likes To Doodle would stream whilst doing art over on Twitch channel and as she would stream during the day I would join to watch during work for company. I saved enough channel points so I could ask Claire to draw something quick for me! I asked for Lucky from Animal Crossing and she smashed it! Recently I asked her if she still had that initial quick sketch she did for me and she did! I paid for her to finish it for me and paint him. I met Claire for coffee last weekend and was presented with this gorgeous piece. I love how Lucky has a cute little butterfly on his nose, as well as the bees around the flowers too! I’m currently catching loads of bees on Animal Crossing so I can make lots of bee models for my hive!

If you’re interested in getting a commission from Claire yourself make sure to check out her Instagram page and drop her a DM. 🙂

New clothing in general… 😛

I seem to have acquired some new clothing pieces over the last week of July and I have my reasons for this! xD I’d seen the Disturbia Strange Oversized Skater Dress making it’s way around social media for a while and after a lot of thought, I decided to pick one up! I’d seen and heard in a lot of posts and reviews of this dress that the sizing of it was incredibly generous and as my size(s) had sold out, I had to go for a size I haven’t been able to fit into for a VERY long time. Alas a few days passed and the dress arrived. I was so anxious to try it on in case it didn’t fit, but alas it did and it was still very oversized. This being said I don’t mind it, it feels really comfortable and with a belt around (as shown in the image above) you wouldn’t even know how oversized it is! I’m planning to wear this over the weekend.

This sweater literally arrived a few days ago and as you can see it’s a Space Jam Lola Bunny sweater from George Asda. To be able to order an item I’d wanted for AGES I had to order something else, so I decided to get this sweater. It claimed to be oversized and it had Lola Bunny on it so… Win win really! 😛 I used to love Lola Bunny growing up, so much so my dad bought me a keyring/chain with her on. I loved it! I remember being so hyped for a female bunny character and Space Jam but when it came down to watching the film, I was left feeling disappointed and a bit freaked out by the aliens. xD I plan on watching it again soon.

Dog sitting a cutie pie! ***WARNING IMAGE HEAVY***

Finally I’m here to show off this little cutie pie, Eddie, my best friend and her husbands dog! He’s a Shih Tzu Yorkshire Terrier cross, or a Shorkie for short. Me and Dane love him to death so when our friends were talking about where they could put him (aka a kennel/dog boarding) whilst they go on holiday we offered to look after him! We had him for a week and we loved every minute of it. I wanted to share with you guys some of the memorable and funny moments we had with Eddie during his week holiday at ours! We’ll be looking after him again in August and hopefully September which we’re really looking forward to!

This is our living room and for some reason a couple of days into his stay with us he got obsessed by our living room light. As you can see it’s mirrored and he kept staring at it one day after Dane had come home from visiting his family. Eddie was going crazy after a while, in the sense he was trying to get up to the light, whether it was via my airer or the dining table! We don’t 100% know why but we can only assume he saw himself in the mirror and thought it was another dog. We ended up wrapping the light with kitchen roll in the hopes he would forget about it, he didn’t. 😛

On his way home one day from work Dane brought Eddie a puppuccino from Starbucks. It’s basically just a cup of cream but damn did Starbucks give Dane a big cup! Eddie really enjoyed it but he kept wandering off thinking he was finished, when he wasn’t! We might treat him to one in August/September if we get time to. 🙂

Most of the time Eddie would nap, especially during the work day when I was busy and in the evening when me and Dane were chilling or streaming on Twitch. This was taken the day he went back home after his mini holiday with me and Dane. This was typical of Eddie to have a nap next to me on the sofa, or underneath my desk. Look at his cute little face!

The weather was mostly lovely whilst Eddie was staying with us and one afternoon whenever I let him out for a wee or was sorting my washing, he would sit on our decking (I know it’s seen better days…) and look out at the garden and take in all the smells! It was really nice to sit with him and relax, especially if I wasn’t having a very good mental health day. Taking this photo of Eddie has really added to me want to get a dog to sit and have chill moments with… As well as other reasons of course!

Finally my favourite part of having Eddie stay with us for the week was all the doggy cuddles we got to have… More so me than Dane as Eddie really did get attached to me. Every morning Eddie would come and sit on my lap during my morning meetings and then later on come for snuggles and cuddles on the sofa during lunchtime and then on the bed before me and Dane would sleep. These two photos of him are my favourites as he’s given me those perfect puppy dog eyes for fuss. I mean, who can say no to that face?

I know I said finally before, but the day after Eddie went home, I went to my besties for a hot tub party! Typical Eddie came for snuggles with me… 😛 I didn’t mind of course. 😛

So there we have it guys, those are my favourites from July, with Eddie being number one of course!

What were your favourites from July guys? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time all, I hope you’re having a great weekend and I hope August is a good and sunny month for us all. 🙂

May Favourites ‘21

I honestly can’t believe it’s going to be June in just a few days time… It’s really crazy how quickly 2021 is flying by and I don’t know how I feel about it. 😛

The start of June is going to be hella busy with me, with both mine and Dane’s eight year anniversary, as well as our five year anniversary in our home too! Alongside that my best friend is getting married, which is really exciting! I honestly can’t wait for it.

Aside from that I’m not 100% sure what else June is going to bring… Hopefully some better weather to be honest! I’m always a spring and autumn girl for the cooler weather, but it would be nice to have some decent weather so both me and Dane can go into the garden to do it up, have a BBQ and more. Plus, I have some pretty dresses that need to be worn and right now it’s too miserable and cold to do that. 😛

June is also the month that I need to go on a serious spending ban as I’ve spent quite a lot of money lately and yeah… I bought myself some cool accessories for my desk, as well as LOADS of Pokemon Nendoroid figures too! I would share some of these later on in this post but I’m contemplating having a post for it because… Why not! 😀 My new desk accessories are too kawaii not to share on their own.

Hint – they’re Razer x Sanrio themed… 😉

May I finally add how gutted I am that I won’t be seeing My Chemical Romance in June… It’s been postponed until May 2022 now… I’m happy to wait but, I am gutted. 😦

Anyhoo on a lighter note – let’s get on with this months favourites!

Beauty.

• SBC Propolis Shampoo – (link).

This is a shampoo I started using a good couple of weeks ago now and I LOVE it! It’s one my mom gave to me as she bought one too many and as we’re both fans of SBC, she thought I’d love it. Well, she wasn’t wrong. 😛 This shampoo smells like honey, both in the bottle, whilst using and after drying your hair too. It lathers up really nice and a little bit goes a long way, which is always good for my hair considering how much there is of it. It leaves my hair feeling soft to the touch, thick and without any frizz. It’s honestly been a bit of a gamechanger to my hair care and after it’s finished, I think I’ll buy it again! It’s actually a shampoo for scalp care and personally I have found my scalp isn’t as dry as it has been in the past, which is always good!

So… Now it’s time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month! If there isn’t anything I’ve done I’m not going to mention.

Image taken from GIPHY

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Shows – Taskmaster and Line of Duty.

This month instead of a movie AND a TV show, I’ll be talking about two TV shows, as quite frankly me and Dane have been addicted to both of these in May and I know we’ll be obsessed about them in June too! We’ve been binge watching both of these TV shows recently and have fallen in love with them! Not going to lie, Line of Duty hasn’t been continued recently as we’ve been binge watching Taskmaster.

Line of Duty finished it’s sixth series recently and I decided that I wanted to watch the show from the beginning. I know loads of people who watch and love it and as I had nothing to watch I thought, why not? Dane started watching it with me too and we’ve both become hooked on the show. We’re currently on series four and DAMN so much has happened leading up to the episode and series we’re currently on. The show is about AC 12, a group of anti-corruption police with Steve, Kate and their boss Superintendent Hastings being the main characters. We follow them as they investigate “bent coppers” and sit on the edge of our seats as they do so. The show is amazing and I’ve been recommending everyone I know to watch it. As I said, we do need to continue watching it. You can watch for free on BBC iPlayer.

As I mentioned before, we’ve also been binge watching Taskmaster. I remember being told years ago when it first started to watch it and how funny it was. At the time it didn’t appeal to me and I thought it sounded crap, oh how wrong I was. We’re currently on series five of the show and hoping to get through the rest of the series before my free two week All 4+ subscription runs out. 😛 It’s such a good show to put on whilst we’re chilling out together, especially whilst eating dinner, doing work in the office, in the morning before work, etc. I highly recommend Taskmaster if you want something new to watch and want a laugh at the same time. A funny story to share, we went for a food shop over the weekend and we both occasionally commented on items used in challenges and how we would use them and such. Such geeks, right? 😛

Favourite Music – Tremonti – “Take You with Me” and Boston Manor – “Liquid”.

These two songs have popped up on my YouTube Music playlist this month and you know when you hear a song again and you forgot just how much you loved it? Yep, that. 😛 I have quite a few Tremonti and Boston Manor songs on my playlist and I often love hearing them come on and have a good sing, especially if they come on whilst I’m driving. I don’t really know what to say about these, aside from check them out and see what you think! Tremonti are heavy metal and Boston Manor are rock.

Image taken from Nintendo UK

Favourite Game – Miitopia.

Miitopia is a game that came out back in 2017 on the 3DS and it’s one both me and Dane owned and played to death! Now we play our Switch’s, we don’t touch our 2DS handhelds anymore, so when Nintendo announced that Miitopia would be coming out on the Switch I decided to order a copy for both me and Dane so we could play it all over again! The Switch version has some additional features, including better customisation for characters, as well as being able to have a horse in your party, which is pretty cool. I’ve been playing it none stop the past week as it’s such an easy and laid back game to play. To describe the game – a bad guy turns up and starts stealing people’s faces. You need to travel the land, fighting the creatures who have people’s faces. It’s a laid back and fun game and it’s one I thoroughly enjoy. There is a demo of this you can get from the Nintendo eShop but I highly recommend if you’re in the UK and want to purchase a copy, get it from Gamersheek! They have the best prices around. 🙂

Quite a few of my favourite things…

Animal Crossing and friends!

If there is one thing I have loved doing in May, it’s travelling to my friends islands on Animal Crossing to have island tours, meeting their villagers and exchange goodies! I especially love that my friend Sarah (Raiin Monkey) has finally got her own island to decorate and make her own. I went on a long tour recently and we took so many cute pictures, including the one above! This photo with her favourite villager Lily is PERFECT and I just had to show it off to you guys! If you love Animal Crossing content then make sure to go and check out my friend Sarah, she has an Animal Crossing Instagram account – acnh_kireishima.

Cross stitch.

If there is one thing I recently rediscovered it’s cross stitch. My mom got me into it from a young age and on and off over the years it’s a hobby I’ve done. I feel though since COVID I’ve done more cross stitching more than ever, especially the past month. I’d finished my Cookie cross stitch kit last month and had decided to buy some more in April/May, these being Lucky and Bones. Bones is almost finished and as soon as he’s finished, I’ll be working on Lucky. Then when Lucky is finished I’ll be ordering Cherry, Goldie and Shep. These Animal Crossing cross stitch kits are from DIY Crossing, who creates and makes some AMAZING Animal Crossing goods. Make sure to go and check them out if you’re interested. 🙂

Commissions.

If there is one thing I like getting, it’s commissions. Not only do you support a small artist/business owner but you’re getting something unique and hella cute out of it! I commissioned quite a lot of of people in May and I have ZERO REGRETS!

First commission – Claire Likes To Doodle. Claire recently opened up for people to commission her to draw her original character design Bernard to be cosplaying/dressed up as whatever you want! I decided to go for a Bernard dressed as an Eevee and holding a sign advertising my Twitch channel! It’s so cute and adorable. I have it on my Twitch, as well as on the right hand side of my blog, which you may have already seen as you read this post. 😛 I’ve spoken about Claire and her amazing store on my blog in the past which you can read here and here.

Second commission – mellencrossing. I’d noticed Mel’s work around Instagram and fell in love. The style of her work was so cute and the variety was even cuter! Mel does various styles including full body and a plushie villager, full body and two plushie villagers and two full bodies which is what I went for! The turn around was super quick and Mel was really easy to work with. I told her I wanted me and Cookie playing Switch’s together and for Cookie to be wearing the dreamy sweater. I also sent a photo of me wearing my Bee and Puppycat dress. Mel sent me the commission once it was finished and asked if I wanted to make any changes. I altered Cookie’s mouth from the usual smile to a massive smile. I love the commission so much and plan to print it off to pop above my desk. I’m planning on getting another one or two commissions from her in the future, but instead full body of me with two plushies instead. The one thing I want to mention is how fair Mel’s prices are for how amazing her work is. 🙂

Third commission – lunaquete. Finally I’ll be talking about Leony and her ADORABLE Animal Crossing designs. Leony is quite well known in the Animal Crossing community for her Pantone x Animal Crossing artwork and it’s also how I discovered her. I decided to commission her to draw me a Twitter header with my blog name on, as well as some of my favourite villagers including, Lucky, Marshal, Cookie, Eunice and Bones. It’s such a pretty commission and like Mel’s commission, I’m planning on printing this off to pop on the wall above my desk! I highly recommend checking out Leony’s work if you love Animal Crossing. If/when I hit affiliate on Twitch, I’m contemplating commissioning her to draw me some emoticons. 🙂

Cookie amigurumi.

I HAVE BEEN SO EXCITED TO SHARE THIS CUTIE!!! Back at the start of 2021 I discovered cotswoldscrochet through Instagram and when I found out she was going to open her commission slots for amigurumi, I was ON IT as soon as I could! As Cookie is my favourite villager, I decided to get a huge Cookie amigurumi made to display with my Pokemon plushies. Harriet was amazing when it came down to making Cookie, she asked me loads of questions of what I wanted and how I wanted her to be, showed me the colour of the wool before starting her and more. Harriet faced a few issues when it came to creating Cookie’s head as this was her first dog villager and more. I was happy to wait though for Harriet to work on Cookie a little more to get her perfect for me. Harriet was amazing and finally a couple of weeks ago Cookie arrived and she’s now comfortably at home with my Pokemon plushies. 🙂 I’ll be writing a HUGE review about cotswoldscrochet in June, so make sure to keep eyes peeled for that! Harriet’s commissions are closed but you can check out her Etsy store.

Homemade enamel pin hoops.

I need to add here in case anyone asks – NONE OF THE PINS ON MY ENAMEL HOOPS ARE FOR SALE. IF YOU ASK YOUR COMMENT WILL BE DELETED.

I decided in May that I was going to make my own enamel pin hoops. I’d wanted to buy some for a while but to be honest, the prices people charge for them on Etsy are a JOKE. I saw someone asking £10+ for one that was smaller than the ones I made. For two twelve inch hoops and two different types of fabric I spent £16. The amount of fabric I bought could make 8 twelve inch hoops too… Anyhoo! I decided to make my own as it seemed reasonable (price wise) and fun to do. I picked up the pin hoops and fabric from Hobbycraft whilst going bridesmaid shopping with my best friend and her bridesmaids. Making these was pretty simple and it took me max about an hour to do including popping the fabric into the hoops, cutting down to size and using a glue gun to stick the stray fabric to the hoop itself… I hope this makes sense. 😛

I decided to have one enamel pin hoop dedicated to all the Quirkory enamel pins I own currently. As and when I get more they’ll be added to the hoop. I would happily buy another hoop to create a second Quirkory hoop too! If you like the look of Quirkory’s designs, make sure to use my unique discount code on their Etsy store to snag yourself 10% off your order – “TMBQUIRKORY”. Also make sure to check our their currently Kickstarter campaign about Souls Of Nature. I’ve backed for some enamel pins and one of the deskmats.

I also decided to have a pin flag dedicated to all my Pokemon enamel pins. Aside from Quirkory, Pokemon designs take up the majority of my collection, with Animal Crossing and Ghibli hardly having any, which surprised me! I have more Pokemon enamel pins coming in the future after I backed Nyanzilla’s Eeveelution Kickstarter… I’ll be showing those off when they arrive. 😛 If you’re wondering who any of the enamel pins are by on this hoop, please ask.

Razer x Sanrio Characters mouse and keyboard.

Finally I want to show off something that arrived for bank holiday weekend! I recently ordered the Razer x Sanrio Characters mouse and keyboard from YY Kawaii and I HAVE NO REGRETS. As regular readers will know, back in March/April Dane decided to buy me my own desk for both working from home, as well as for my streaming on Twitch, playing games and working on my blog work. I wanted to have my desk be as cute as possible, so I decided to order the Razer x Sanrio goodies. You cannot get any cuter than this! Over the bank holiday

I’ve been using the mouse mostly (using at the moment!) which is perfect! It also came with the mouse mat seen in the photo which is adorable. It makes me so happy to look at. The design on the mouse is so sweet and not too OTT which is always good. I’ve also been using the keyboard on and off but I’ll be honest, it’s so fucking loud. I knew it would be due to the type of switches inside but yeah… I didn’t think it would be THAT loud. I’ve bought some stuff to try and help quieten the noise down a little. Aside from that, the keyboard is just as cute as the mouse and I cannot wait to use it more in the future for writing blog posts and maybe for work too.

What do you guys think of this months favourites? May has honestly flown by and I seriously can’t believe it’s June already. I know the first couple of weeks of June are going to fly by, which saddens me.

I’m just excited for June. I feel like I’m starting to sort of get back to normal. We’ve visited some friends, sat in the house with my parents to have a roast dinner, planning to go the cinema and planning to go for food and drinks. I can’t wait for the world to get more and more back to “normal” as the year goes on.

What were your favourites from May? Make sure to let me know in the comments. 🙂

Until next time all, I hope you enjoy the rest of your bank holiday as well as the gorgeous weather!

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. 🙂

Art by NIU – Animal Crossing Commission

Hi guys, I’m here this week to share with you an exciting post! Yes… It is Animal Crossing related, but is that REALLY a problem? I don’t think so. 😛

In the UK we are still in lock down and I don’t know about you guys, but with this I have been shopping more online… As well as window shopping. I’ve also been spending most of my free time playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so I have been craving some more Animal Crossing merchandise… Like the stuff I bought from Japan wasn’t enough (there will be a Nintendo Tokyo Store haul coming next month!)…

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

I discovered Art by Niu through a Twitter giveaway she was hosting for someone to win one of her Animal Crossing commissions. Of course I had to enter, the design she was showcasing was adorable and I honestly fell in love. To try for the competition you had to do the usual, such as follow, like, retweet and comment which villager you would have drawn and how you would have them be if you won.

I didn’t win – but before I even found this out I KNEW I had to get my own commission from Niu. I love commissions, especially when they’re kawaii and Japanese inspired and of things I love. Animal Crossing is something I have loved since I was 18 so to get a commission done really did make me happy.

The idea I wrote for my entry into the competition was the same one I asked for when I requested a commission from Niu. I had always wanted the dog villager Cookie to come to my town in New Leaf (she wasn’t around in Wild World) but she never did. So, the fact I was able to buy her amiibo card before New Horizons came out made me happy! I could invite her into my game and be happy. Since inviting her I always love to go and visit her on my island now and her happy, sassy presence makes me so happy t see her everyday.

So, I knew I wanted my commission with Cookie. I decided to go with Cookie singing to me (as she constantly calls herself a pop singer/princess) with the music note emotions over her head and me sitting listening to her music with the flower emotions over my head.

I sent an image of both my Animal Crossing character and Cookie stood together so Niu had a reference to go off of. The price I paid at the time was $20 and Niu suggested that I could pay half now, half when the commission was completed, which I thought was really fair! I filled in a little form that Niu sent me, paid my $10 deposit via PayPal and waited.

A day later I received a pencil/pen line sketch of my design and I was in love. I saved it straight away as I wanted to look at all the details that Niu had put into it, from Cookie singing into a microphone, to me clapping with my eyes closed. I was so pleased and couldn’t wait to see the image in colour.

Fast forward a week and Niu sent me my commission and I couldn’t have been happier! The colours are vibrant and my character is exactly how she looks in my game, even down to the rainbow cardigan she is wearing and purple high tops. Even the colours of Cookie are perfect especially the contract between her pink fur and the retro blue dress she wears.

Honestly, everything about the commission makes me smile and I’ve not only been adding it everywhere online (aka profile photos) and making it my screensaver on my iPad, I’ve been showing it off to people online, as well as via messages to friends.

After I received my commission via email, I sent the remaining payment of $10 to Niu and I had my lovely commission!

When I shared the commission Niu did for me onto Twitter it blew up! I’ve never received so many likes and retweets of a post before and it made me so happy that not only did people share my post, but how much love was being shown for Niu’s work. She deserves it!

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

If you would like to get a commission of your own from Niu, whether it be Animal Crossing related or something else, I have included all the information above that is on her Twitter page… Can you spot my commission on there? 😛

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Niu has also posted some of the Animal Crossing commissions she has worked on so far (including mine), which I thought I would show you all too. 🙂

I thought I would post below some of Niu’s social media handles, as well as other links too:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Tumblr

Overall I am so damn happy with my commission from Art by Niu, so much so that Dane is going to get one with his favourite villager Cherry (dog villager) and I’m already planning to get another one with another one of my favourite villagers Bones (another dog villager).

Are you playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons at the moment? How are you finding it, whose your favourite villager, etc? Would you get a commission from Art by Niu? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay safe and take care everyone!

Claire Likes To Doodle*

If there is one thing I love about being a blogger it’s being able to help out my friends and loved ones when it comes down to promoting something they’re doing, especially a business.

My friend Claire has been a chibi artist for as long as I can remember but she’s also been a great friend to met since the MySpace days which is over 10 years now. How crazy is that? Time does fly when you’re having fun, eh?

As the years have gone on Claire has taken her chibi work from a hobbie to a job and I couldn’t be more proud of her to be perfectly honest with you! She’s worked her arse off to ensure that she can look back and think, “Look what I did!” and fair play to her for it.

At the start of 2019 Claire was lovely enough to approach me to ask if I would be happy to receive a chibi portrait of myself from her in return for a review on her store Claire Likes To Doodle, as well as her amazing artwork.

After months of working with Claire the time has finally come to write the review and share with you guys what an amazing little artist my friend is and why I love her work so much! 🙂

When it came down to Claire and about Claire Likes To Doodle, I decided to conduct a mini interview with Claire about what she does, why, as well as what she hopes for the future! I feel the answers to my questions explain everything better than I ever could.

So Claire first things first, when did you start drawing?

Pretty much as soon as I could hold a pencil! I was a prolific little doodler even from the start, I was always drawing little comics and creating characters and worlds. I actually got into a lot of trouble in secondary school for drawing during lessons in my homework diary… if only my year 9 Geography teacher could see me now.

What made you decide to open your own store?

I did a drawing of a particular wrestling tag team that was very popular on social media, and someone said “Hey if that was available as a print I’d buy it!” So I opened a shop. I’m still tinkering with what to sell on that sort of scale – I tend to do more commissions and things on the fly than anything else.

What’s your favourite things to draw?

I like drawing things that make people go, “What the fuck, really Claire??” followed by a laugh. Recently I’ve found that I absolutely LOVE drawing my daughter – she’s just turned a year old and is getting so funny!

Was there a new style you said you would begin to start drawing in 2019?

I’m really well known for chibi work, but I really want to start working with more realistic illustrative styles. I also want to do some more darker pieces to pull myself out of my comfort zone and explore what else I can do. It’s healthy to venture out of what you know.

What are your hopes for Claire Likes To Doodle in the future?

Honestly, I hope to create the kind of art that people take one look at and go, “Hey, that’s from Claire isn’t it?” I’d also love to really make what I do my full time job. I get to stay at home with my little girl, have the flexibility to take care of myself when I’m not well, and still do something that makes me feel fulfilled.

As I mentioned before, Claire kindly gifted me the chibi artwork she drew for me for reviewing purposes and this review are all words of my own.. Apart from the Q&A, obviously. 😛

Usually Claire would have a chat via emails to determine how you want your chibi character to look, send photos of yourself, etc but this wasn’t the case with myself. She just knew what to draw for me and due to that she did an amazing job! You know you’re working with a good artist when they can just analyse you and work with something great.

For my chibi Claire was such a star and included my Black Milk Clothing leggings and she went out there mixing together colours such as greens, blues and purples to get the iridescent look. She also made sure my chibi was wearing my varisity jacket (because I’m ALWAYS wearing one whether it be my Persona 5 one or one of my Eeveelutions ones from Ohayou! Clothing). She also included my digital SLR camera as well as a cute Eevee on my shoulder. The piece is adorable and I plan to keep it in the office near the gaming PC so I can look at it whilst I play games and such.

So you’re probably wondering by now how you can go about getting your own commission piece done by Claire? Well if you look above there is a price list for all sizes, as well as styles you can have for your commission.

The piece that Claire drew for me is A5 in size and is watercolour – hence making it worth £30 (continue reading for a special discount code).

From someone who has had at least a dozen commissions drawn over the past 6 years, this is an amazing price for so many reasons. Claire doesn’t rush her pieces and always makes sure to create each piece uniquely, with loads of customisation too. She also uses gorgeous watercolours and from what I’ve seen on her Instagram, her colour selection is constantly improving and getting funky! I saw holographic recently and this made me very happy. 😛

Claire is currently open for commissions and can be contacted through either her Facebook page or Instagram. I’ll link her store and all of her social media down below:

Store

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Twitch

Patreon

When it comes down to commissions you can also find Claire over on her Twitch channel Thursday and Sunday from 6pmish GMT where she streams herself as she draws art and occasionally plays games too! Whilst writing this post I’m currently watching her do some commissions for two beautiful blogger ladies I know and let’s just say, they are amazing! 😀

I’m so happy to say that I could help Claire work with some bloggers for Claire Likes To Doodle with the two beauts I mentioned being Estelle from Estellosaurus and Sarah from Raiin Monkey. Honestly make sure to keep your eyes peeled on their blogs and social media for the commissions Claire has done for them, they’re breathtaking!

If you’re a local to Birmingham like myself and Claire then you may be interested to know that on August 3rd 2019 a convention called Not Another Comic-Con will be around for people to attend. BUT that isn’t all! Claire will also be there and she’ll be doing chibi commissions there and then for people, so if you like both the look and sound of her work then make sure to check out Not Another Comic-Con, which I’ve linked.

Alongside everything Claire already does, she’s also recently stepped up her nerdy art game and has started altering Magic: the Gathering cards – a process which involves painting on the cards and replacing the original art with something of her own.

These look amazing and she actually came third place in a competition recently from altering MTG cards, which I’ve added above. Not going to lie, I loved Claire’s design the most… 😉

Overall I really love my new commission by Claire Likes To Doodle and although in the past Claire has drawn various pieces for me, this is my favourite. I didn’t need to ask her what to draw, how I wanted the piece to be, colour scheme, etc. She just did it all from just knowing me as a person, what I like, how I dress, etc and it’s just so personal. Far more personal than any of the commissions I own.

I really do love this piece being in my office by mine and Dane’s gaming PC. I’ve ended up leaving the clear wrap on the piece so that it never gets damaged whilst it sits next to the PC. 🙂

So I mentioned earlier how you can snag yourself a discount through myself to use towards a commission from Claire! The code is “COFFEE10” and is exclusively for my readers. The code will last indefinitely! Don’t worry if you ever want to use the code but can’t find it through the blog quickly, as of now the code will be on the side of my blog indefinitely too – so you can always find it there.

I’m just so happy to have finally worked with Claire Likes To Doodle to not only show you guys her amazing work, but also to talk about how proud I am of my friend. :’)

Do you think you’ll get a commission piece done by Claire? If so what would you choose, how would you have your piece drawn? Make sure to let me know in the comments, I would love to hear what you guys think!

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