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. 🙂

IGN Summer of Gaming 2022 – Games I’m Excited For

I can’t believe we don’t have E3 this year but instead we have IGN Summer of Gaming, which has been just as good in all honesty! Since me and Dane have been together we’ve always tried to catch E3 every year to check out the newest games coming out on consoles and PC and the more years we’ve been together, the more invested we have been with E3. This year with it being taken over by IGN and the Summer of Gaming, everyday since Wednesday 1st June has been jam packed with game news, which has been amazing!

Last year I shared with you all games I was excited for after E3 2021 (which you can read here), so I thought I’d do it all over again this year… Because why not! I hope some of the games I share with you today are ones you’ve not yet heard about and end up liking the sound of getting yourselves.

At the time of writing this post, there hasn’t been a Nintendo Direct, which is making me sad. I think there’s been rumours of one coming later this month, but we shall see! I’m going to be mainly talking about and sharing games from Wholesome Direct, as well as Xbox & Bethesda, as they were two of my favourites this year.

So, sit back grab a hot drink and enjoy this weeks blog post! 😀

When Wholesome Games host their direct, it fast becomes one of my favourite time of year as majority of the games that are announced find their way onto my Steam and Nintendo Switch wish lists very quickly. I love wholesome games where you can sit down and play a relaxing game after a stressful day. I’ve discovered some amazing games the past two years since they started up and I really love them for that. I’ll try not to go into too much detail about all the games below as there’s quite a few to talk about… Twelve in total! 😛

Little Bear Chef – Release date TBH, on Steam and possibility on games consoles.

A game where you play as a tiny bear chef in a regular sized kitchen. Little Bear Chef is a cosy 3D cooking platformer where you play as a tiny bear chef in a regular sized kitchen. It’s all about coming up with creative and funny solutions to cook the recipe at hand.

Little Bear Chef looks adorable and one that I reckon would be so much fun to play! I love cooking and the little honey bottle inspired bear looks adorable to boot! I was hopeful this might be a multiplayer game, but the creators have stated there’s no plan for this in the future. There isn’t a lot I can really say about this right now as there’s no release date and no website either, just a Twitter page. Keep eyes peeled for this one, I reckon it’ll do really well!

LumberJack – Out now on Steam, Nintendo Switch and Xbox.

Jack is a humble Lumbearjack with a simple dream: to return to nature what is hers with the help of his trusty axe and his animal friends. Through real-time physics puzzles, fight destruction with destruction to thwart the sinister plans of up-and-coming industrial giant Evil Works.

I saw the trailer for this and thought it looks really interesting with the smash up style, but not going to lie, I didn’t quite realise it was a puzzles based game, which let me add I’m not the best at sometimes. This game is out now, so if I ever fancy giving something new a go and it’s on sale, I’ll definitely think about picking this up!

Usagi Shima – 2023 on iOS, Android and Steam.

You’ve been tasked as caretaker of an abandoned island — as you decorate and rebuild it over time, curious (but adorable!) visitors start to appear… Buy toys and and build structures on an abandoned island to entice curious bun tourists to pay you a visit! Discover, take photos, and even befriend a variety of bunnies that visit based on how you’ve decorated and arranged the island.

This game is RIGHT UP MY STREET and looks adorable! I got a quick glimpse of this on the preview at the start of the Wholesome Direct and was curious what it could be! This would be great as a mobile game as I can play it on the go and during lunch breaks at work. I honestly cannot wait for this game, it reminds me a little of Animal Crossing. 😀

Puffpalls: Island Skies – 2024 on PC, mobile, MAC and Nintendo Switch.

PuffPals: Island Skies is a game about eliciting the nostalgic memories of growing up as a kid; exploring the world and discovering everything for the very first time! From traversing new biomes, meeting new friends, and customizing your very own home, there is no shortage of things to do on these magical floating islands! The cozy, warm, yet adventurous and curious nature of being a kid is something we want our players to embrace when embarking on their journey in PuffPals: Island Skies!

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it on my blog yet, but I actually backed this game on Kickstarter about a month ago now and I’m so excited for it! It was awesome to see it advertised on the Wholesome Direct, but not going to lie, I don’t think they needed to advertise it anymore. The adverts were EVERYWHERE recently with the Kickstarter being live. This being said, I am excited for it. It’s pretty much like Animal Crossing but a little bit different and with Fluffnest‘s original characters. I highly recommend checking it out if you love Animal Crossing.

Fall of Porcupine – Release date TBH on Steam.

FALL OF PORCUPINE is a unique story adventure. The collision of work and daily life – an exciting reflection of an unhealthy healthcare-system.

I wasn’t 100% sure about this game at first but since the Wholesome Direct, I’ve watched the trailer quite a few times and really do like the sound of it. Plus the art style of it looks really cute! I’m definitely going to pick this one up at some point.

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly – 2023 on Steam and games consoles.

Dust off your coffee machine and prepare your warmest smile to meet your customers again in the second episode of the much loved coffee brewing and heart-to-heart talking simulator; Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly.

I remember buying Coffee Talk not long after I picked up my Nintendo Switch Lite back in 2019 and I really did enjoy the game, but I forgot to download it onto my Switch, so I’m only just continuing the story since the Wholesome Direct last week! I really love playing Coffee Talk, it’s a relaxing game of talking to your customers in the coffee shop and making them drinks. Nothing much to it other than that! The fact they are bringing a second game out, I must get it! Especially with the slight mystery behind the new characters revealed in the trailer too. 😀

Pekoe – 2023 on Steam. 

Blend tea and friendship in the flavourful world of Pekoe, a cosy cat-filled tea-making simulator about taking the time for self-care and connecting with what makes you happy. Build relationships, upgrade your teahouse, and discover new recipes as you work towards creating a place you can call home.

Pekoe was announced last year at the Wholesome Direct for 2021, which I mentioned at the end of last years blog post all about E3. I’m so excited to see this coming back for the Wholesome Direct this year and especially as it’s now come with more game footage too! Pekoe is such a cute little game about running a cat teahouse, whilst building a home for yourself and making friends. Perfect game for relaxing to.

Snacko – Out 2022 on both Steam, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 and 5.

Former big city kitties Momo and Mikan are starting a new life on a seemingly deserted island. Unravel its mysteries while you rebuild a community, farm, fish, and explore the island and beyond! Lift a curse and revitalized a ruined island in Snacko, where former big city kitties Momo and Mikan are starting a new life! Grow crops, raise fluffy cows, go fishing, exploring, customize and decorate as you please, and much, much more in this farming cat-venture.

This is actually a game I backed on Kickstarter a while ago now and whenever I hear news about it in anyway shape and form, I get so excited about it! I’m also part of the Discord so I’m constantly hearing updates form the developers. Snacko reminds me of Animal Crossing but with cats! I’m definitely swaying towards getting my copy on the Nintendo Switch, I love playing PC games, sure, but I love how easy it is to move around to play you Switch. I’m literally counting down the days now for Snacko to announce when this will release!

Super Mini Mart – Release date TBH on Steam.

Super Mini Mart is a cosy take on the management genre with a charming 3D aesthetic and an endearing cast of characters. Stock, supervise, and manage store activities in a laid-back environment, befriending locals and turning those one-off bargain hunters into life-long loyal customers!

I love games like this one so when I saw the trailer for it at the end of the Wholesome Direct, I knew I’d want to get it! I used to work in retail and I’d never go back to it, but alas I’m happy to play a game all about looking after a shop. Ironic, huh? 😛 I hope this comes out on Nintendo Switch too, as I’d really love to give it a go on there rather than Steam.

Love, Ghostie – Release date TBH on Steam.

Be a wholesome ghost matchmaker and grow relationships between the mansion’s residents! Gift items to brighten their lives, set them up on dates, and watch their love bloom! What romances will you create?

This game is adorable and one I may not pick up straight away, but maybe when it’s on offer or I fancy something new to play? I love kawaii ghosts and that’s exactly what these ghosts are! You need to match match people up in a house and become a ghost cupid!

Bloom – Out now on Playdate.

Bloom is a real-time narrative-driven social sim about starting up a flower shop made exclusively for Playdate. Tend to Midori’s garden while texting friends and family as she starts a new chapter of her life. The game takes place over many real-life days.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen the trailer for Bloom and it semi breaks my heart. I really love the look of this game, but unfortunately it’s currently only available to buy and play on Playdate, a new handheld console. Set in Japan you play as a young woman who has moved to create her own flower shop. It just looks like such a cute game, I’d honestly look at buying a Playdate to play this!

Now that I’ve mentioned the games I liked from the Wholesome Direct, I’m going to talk about Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase. This was one Dane watched before me but we spoke about it as I watched it. It was a good showcase to say the least, much better than PlayStation/Sony, let me put it that way… I’ll be talking about five games in total!

Redfall – 2023 on PC and Xbox.

The quaint island town of Redfall, Massachusetts, is under siege by a legion of vampires who have blocked out the sun and cut the island off from the outside world. Trapped with a handful of survivors against diabolical enemies threatening to bleed the town dry, choose your hero from a diverse roster, grouping up with others to create the perfect team of vampire slayers.

This was the first game to be shown during the showcase and I really liked the look of it from the get go. It reminds me of a mixture of Borderlands and Left 4 Dead, which are both two of my favourite games to play with Dane and friends! Not only is this a co-op game, but it’s also open world, both sound like so much fun! This isn’t due to come out until 2023, but as it’ll be on Xbox Game Pass, both me and Dane will get this for “free” from day one to play together!

ARK 2 – 2023 on PC and Xbox.

Starring Vin Diesel (Fast Franchise) as Santiago and Auli’i Cravalho (Moana) as his daughter Meeka. Survive the past. Tame the future. Awakened on a primal world filled with dinosaurs & humans struggling for dominance, you must team-up with legendary heroes to confront dark forces. Saddle up, & join the definitive next-gen survival experience with ARK 2!

During Covid, me Dane and some friends decided to start playing ARK and we played it for months! It was so much fun to jump on and play altogether each evening and it’s something I do miss. We’re all excited for ARK 2 to come out and as it’s on Xbox Games Pass, I’m pretty sure we’ll all download it to play all over again, but this time it looks like we’ll have a story to play with it too!

As Dusk Falls – July 19th 2022 on PC and Xbox

As Dusk Falls is an original interactive drama. Join friends or play alone, making choices that impact characters’ lives in this uncompromising story of betrayal, sacrifice, and resilience.

I love these types of games and always give them a go at some point or another! I’d love to play this with Dane as you can play with friends! It reminds me a little bit of a mixture between Life is Strange and one of the Quantic Dream games. It was commented on that it was made like a UK drama? I don’t personally see that, but I may when I play it myself? This will also be on Xbox Games Pass, so I’ll try it out for sure.

Diablo IV – 2023 on Xbox and PlayStation 5.

The endless battle between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells rages on as chaos threatens to consume Sanctuary. With ceaseless demons to slaughter, countless Abilities to master, nightmarish Dungeons, and Legendary loot, this vast, open world brings the promise of adventure and devastation. Survive and conquer darkness – or succumb to the shadows.

As Dane is a huge Diablo fan, I knew he would want this game and that I would be “dragged” in to play it with him, which is fine. I started to watch the cinematic trailer and didn’t realise it was Diablo IV at the time, so when it announced it was, I KNEW I would want to play it! I really love the necromancer class, it looks so badass and awesome! I think me and Dane are playing to try and binge play the other Diablo games before this one comes out.

Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden – 2023 on PC and Xbox.

When I heard about this I was super excited! As regular readers of my blog will know, I LOVE Persona 5 and I’m currently on and off playing Persona 5 Royal. I do also own Persona 4 Golden, but I’ve gotten stuck and plan to reply at some point on Steam. However, with Persona 4 Golden AND Persona 3 Portable coming to Xbox Games Pass, I’ll be playing them both on Xbox in the future for sure! The latter was only available on PlayStation Vita and I wasn’t able to get a copy, so this makes me so happy! Of course, I would have loved these to come to PlayStation, but meh.

Finally I want to share a couple of other games I’ve heard about! I’ll mention when talking about each of these where they were announced. 🙂

Super Zoo Story – 2023 on Steam.

Build and manage your own personal zoo in the pixel marvel RPG Game, Super Zoo Story. Construct your park, care for your animals, and ensure the happiness of both critters and humans alike. Maybe even find that special someone while building the zoo of your dreams!

Dane actually showed me this game which I really like the look of! It’s apparently heavily inspired by Stardew Valley, which I’m not a massive fan of… Purely because I just don’t get the hype around it, which in turn surprises everyone. This being said I really love the look of Super Zoo Story and I discovered whilst researching for this post that it’s got a Kickstarter coming soon, which I’ll link here. Make sure to go and check it out if you love building/managing games. I really hope this will come out on Switch, but Steam is fine too. 😀

Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet – November 18th on Nintendo Switch.

Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet offer an open-world experience that only the Pokémon series can deliver—one welcoming even to newcomers to the series.​ You can experience a new style of adventure, with a world that you’re free to explore at your leisure and not in an order dictated by the story. You will, of course, journey to hone your skills as a Pokémon Trainer, but many more discoveries and stories await you. Meet a variety of people and Pokémon, and adventure in the world of Pokémon the way you want to.

OBVIOUSLY I have to share Pokemon announcements here! I know I mentioned a while ago on here about how excited I am for the new Pokemon game, Scarlet and Violet and I already have both pre-ordered with Gamersheek for me and Dane. They’ve announced more details about the game, which, if you’re a Pokemon fan you’ll have seen already I’m sure. 😛 I’m really excited for it and contemplating booking the day off work so I can just play it as soon as it arrives! 😛 I need to talk to Dane about whether or not he fancies us booking off the day to binge play this gen like we did with the last gen. At the time of writing this post there are supposedly leaks from the new games… I’m going to have a nose into those later. I’m never fussed about seeing leaks myself, if anything it gets me more hyped for the game. xD

Roots of Pacha – 2022 on Steam.

Roots of Pacha allows you to build, harvest crops, make friends with animals and help grow your village in single-player or co-op mode. This trailer for Roots of Pacha gameplay shows off some new elements you can experience while playing.

Another game similar sounding to Super Zoo Story, we have Roots of Pacha which looks like such a chill and cool game to play! I especially love that this has co-op mode so it means me and Dane can play together if we wanted to! I’m going to look into this sooner rather than later as this looks to be launching sooner rather than later. I didn’t know that this was a Kickstarter game until researching for this post too.

Choo-Choo Charles – 2022 on Steam.

Choo-Choo Charles is a survival horror, open world, shooter game. Navigate an island in an old train, upgrade it over time, and use it to fight an evil sentient train that terrorizes your home. Charles is hungry; don’t be his next meal.

This is actually one of the first games I saw to be announced from the IGN Summer of Gaming and it’s one I’m not 100% sure about. The concept of it sounds fucking hilarious and one I’d love to try, but at the same time it sounds so scary and I don’t know if I’d like it? I think Dane was interested in this game too, so if there’s a chance to play co-op I can see us both playing this at some point for shits and giggles!

So, there we have it guys, all the games (so far anyway…) that I’ve really loved the look of from IGN Summer of Gaming!

What games have taken your fancy so far? Have you discovered any new ones from this blog post today? Make sure to let me know in the comments below! I’m especially excited for a lot of new games to add to my library!

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

February Favourites ’22

I know February is a short month anyway, but 2022 is flying past and I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m glad, because I want spring to come for light nights and slightly warmer days/better weather, but at the same time, I don’t want time to go too quickly as before we know it, we’ll be back at Christmas all over again!

I was recently speaking to someone about the idea of going to Japan again in 2023 and was met with, “Wait, you only went last year?” I went to Japan two years ago… Proof that as you get older, the years fly by quicker!

Alongside that, since turning 32 in January, February has been a month of me going, “Jeez I’m really getting old now, aren’t I?” and that’s kind of made me feel weird. It’s crazy how quick time flies after you turn a certain age (want to say 21). I do sometimes wish I’d spent more time enjoying my twenties, but that being said I don’t have any regrets.

ANYWAY today’s post isn’t about that stuff and is of course my monthly favourites! February was a strange one as whilst I definitely have things to share with you all, I don’t feel like I have a lot of general stuff to share?

As always, I hope you enjoy reading about things I loved throughout February.

Favourite Beauty Product – SBC Cotton Sensitive Body Wash.

I’ve been so excited to share this body wash with you all today as since receiving it around the start of February, it’s really improved my skin, which in turn makes me happy! My mom is the person who got me into SBC and their skin care, especially their body washes which seem to live in our bathroom for at least half of the year! This SBC body wash smells just like fresh washing and leaves my skin feeling baby soft, which is something I don’t achieve often! I’m shite for looking after my skin with body lotions and potions, not going to lie! A couple of pumps of this on my new silicone shower sponge and I’m guaranteed to be left a cotton scented lather and soft skin after I get out of the shower. This body wash is dermatologically tested which is great for me and my eczema, which recently flared up on my legs. This body wash did really help with it though, with no discomfort or stinging during use. I highly recommend this if you want something fancy in your shower, but have sensitive skin like me.

Favourite TV Show – The Legend of Vox Machina.

The Legend of Vox Machina is a new animated series on Amazon Prime that Dane has been looking forward to since March 2019 when the Kickstarter launched, which he backed. So, when the show finally launched in February, he was all over it for us to watch, which of course I was down for. Vox Machina is based off of the first Critical Role campaign/series, which if you didn’t know is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign written by Matt Mercer and played by a group of voice actors (Marisha Ray, Sam Reigel, Travis Willingham, Liam O’Brien, Laura Baily, Taliesin Jaffe and Ashley Johnson). It’s really popular and has recently gone into it’s third campaign/series! Dane is all caught up on the campaigns and loves Critical Role, I’m not an avid watcher of their campaigns but if Dane has it on, I will watch it on and off. Although the show is based off of D&D (and the Critical Role campaign) Vox Machina can be enjoyed by anyone, even if you’ve never watched the campaign it’s based off like me, or even if you aren’t a fan of D&D! It’s got some amazing adult comedy, bit of singing, lots of fighting and action and all around amazing show!

Favourite Music – Spiritbox – Eternal Blue.

Spiritbox are a band that Dane introduced me to a while ago now and for some reason I thought I’d mentioned them on my blog previously, which doesn’t seem to be the case! The song that caused me to really get into this band is the one I’ve added above called, “Secret Garden”, which is such a nice, mellow rock song to enjoy. I’ve especially been listening to their first album Eternal Blue when I’ve gone into the office to work, as well as when driving to and from places. Eternal Blue came out towards the end of 2021, so it’s a fairly new album, which I didn’t realise until I was writing this post. The band themselves are described as metal (progressive, alternative, etc) so if you like this genre of rock, make sure to check them out!

Image taken from Nintendo Life/Nintendo.

Favourite Game – Pokemon: Legends Arceus.

How could I not mention Legends Arceus this month? It came out at the end of January and every other weekend me and Dane have stayed in the house the whole time playing it. During the weekends where we’ve played it, we’ve snuggled up on the sofa under blankets and with hot drinks as we play this together! I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t 100% sure about the game when I first started playing it and felt a bit nervous of all sorts of aspects, mainly because it wasn’t the same as I was used to, due to the RPG gameplay. However, the more I’ve played it, the more I’ve started to relax and enjoy it, especially with Dane. I’m yet to finish the games story and in all honesty it’s not one I’ve been hooked on/about. In typical Japanese RPG fashion, the talking goes on and on and whilst I’m happy with it in Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal, it’s something I don’t like for Pokemon. Due to this, I’ve mostly skimmed the story, which in itself is a shame. This being said I really do enjoy and love the game, bugs aside too! I’ve recommend it to so many people, it’s definitely one to play as a Pokemon fan, especially if you love RPG.

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pokemon Center Vulpix Plush.

I was so happy to get my hands on this Pokemon plushie at the end of January. It’s been on my plushie grail list for as long as I can remember and after January payday, I decided to finally order one! This cost me less than £20 with shipping from Japan and I’m so glad I finally decided to get it! It’s from the Chiku Chiku Sewing collection from 2015 and I didn’t realise when buying it that it was new with tags, which is even better. I had some people online query if it was a fake plush, which was a tad annoying, but alas it’s very much real.

Image taken from Black Milk Clothing. Unfortunately I don’t have any decent pictures of me wearing this yet… 😦

Black Milk Clothing Ghost Foxes Bishop Longline Dress.

This is a dress I decided to get to replace the Ghost Foxes Mini Strappy Dress, (which I have since sold) I bought back in July 2021. Although I’d removed the tags and washed it, I’ve never actually worn it and seeing the bishop dress style come out, I knew I had to get it. I LOVE the bishop style and already own three dresses in this cut, this one making it four. I’m planning to wear this dress for both work as well as in general. With it being white, it may be more the latter and especially for days out where I’m not eating or drinking anything that could stain and ruin this dress considering it’s white. I also picked up the longline so that it’s longer on me. The normal bishop cuts are okay on me, but if I can have a dress longer, I’ll always go for it! The length of this is amazing, it felt a little bit too long at first to me as I’m not quite used to it, but it’ll be perfect for work especially! The print is beautiful too with the ghost foxes on it. Foxes are my favourite animal, so I’m always a sucker for pieces with them on.

Cute outfits/clothes.

This is something I’m going to talk about in more detail in a couple of weeks on a post but I swear, getting myself some new staple pieces has been a big thing for me in 2022 so far. I don’t know what it is but I decided this year that I would love to do more with my style and change it up a bit. I’ve spent a lot of the past two years wearing the same baggy joggers, t-shirts and hoodies due to Covid and I want to change that. I want to dress up for the sake of it and feel cute whilst doing so, plus I think it would really do my mental health some good. I feel like a lot of pastel and cute prints have come into my wardrobe and I’m so excited to wear them all for work, as well as in general. If you want to see some of the stuff I picked up during February, make sure to keep eyes peeled for that post in a few weeks! For the time being, I’ve popped some of the items I’ll be talking about soon above, including Tallulah’s Threads, Disturbia and The Sad Ghost Club.

New enamel pins.

I ordered a couple of new enamel pins recently which was nice! I don’t know why but I feel like enamel pin purchasing has definitely slowed down a little, which is always good as quite frankly, I’m running out of space!

The sausage dog pin from MossFrogPress has been on my favourites list on Etsy for as long as I can remember. I made some monies from selling some pins at the end of 2021 so I decided to use the money I made to pick up this pin. As it was coming from America, the shipping was more expensive than the item itself, so this wasn’t a cheap pin in that aspect. Definitely worth it now! It’s such a cute pin I get to look at everyday when I get ready.

I finally decided to back FoxLeap’s enamel pin club on Patreon at the end of January so I could snag the Patreon exclusive Lady puppy pin that Sophie had made. Not only did I get my Lady pin (as this was a freebie), I also got a The Cat Returns pin too (which I chose), some prints and even a freebie Alolan Ninetales pin and mini pin! Sophie is one of the kindest and most generous people I know and definitely an enamel pin artist you should check out. Her Patreon is all about you picking what you would like that month, from a list of choices. No one else (as far as I’m aware…) offers this type of pin club.

Finally this is an enamel pin from Depop that I snagged second hand. This enamel pin is by Sugarbones, a Canadian artist I adore! I love her Studio Ghibli and Animal Crossing designs, but she decided in 2021 that she would move away from fan themed pieces, so whenever I see one I missed out on previously, I’m going to try and snag! Haku is my favourite Studio Ghibli character, so any gorgeous pins I see with him on, I have to buy! 😀

Kawaii AF Kickstarter campaigns!

Finally I’m here to share some adorable Kickstarter campaigns I’ve joined or at least had my eye on joining. They’re all so cute! I told myself in 2022 I wouldn’t back as many Kickstarter campaigns to try and save money, but some are just too adorable not to.

Image taken from Kickstarter.

Toast the Raccoon Cute Plushie Toys + Keychains – link (ends April 8th 2022).

This campaign is adorable and straight away as soon as it launched I backed it! It’s by Yencat and is based off of her popular and original character Toast, who as you can see is a raccoon. I LOVE raccoons, they’re my spirit animal due to their love of food and being chubby, I can relate to both of those. 😛 Yencat decided to create a plushie Toast, as well as an enamel pin and plushie keychain. I’ve backed for all of them and already counting down the days until it arrives! The Kickstarter ends in April, so if you like the look of this campaign, you have plenty of time to check it out and back it yourself.

Image taken from Kickstarter.

Delicows ~ enamel pins & more – link (ends March 19th 2022).

I’m pretty sure I mentioned this briefly on my post about Quirkory and their Patreon pin club (you can read all about it here) but if I didn’t, I’m mentioning it again as earlier this week Quirkory released a new Kickstarter campaign, all about cows! Delicows is a mixture between delicious (food and drinks) and cows. Hence, Delicow! There are loads of different types of designs to choose from and I’ve backed for five of the designs in question, Cowpuccino (ideally one with Shugarlump), Moocha Latte, Cowreo, Peppermint Moocha Latte and maybe Darcowness. It feels like there’s a design for everyone in this collection and considering there are 24 plus designs to unlock there’s plenty of choice for everyone!

Images taken from Kickstarter.

Cute Animal Knitted Sweaters and Enamel Pins – link (ends March 3rd 2022).

This is a Kickstarter campaign by Dogzsquadarts I really like the look of at the moment and one I’m tempted to back before it ends in a couple of days! I am trying to be better with my money in 2022 and so far, it’s been going really well! I’ve already bought a shit ton of clothes and I don’t know if I want to buy anymore due to this fact. This being said, two of the pieces from this campaign are adorable and I do feel like I’d love at least one of them in my wardrobe! There’s the Shiba Inu sweater, as well as the Golden Retriever cardigan that I would love to get, but… I don’t know if I can justify it? I’m going to see how I feel about it, they’d both be adorable to get but unfortunately they aren’t pieces I could wear to work, otherwise that would probably spur me on more.

So there we have it guys, my favourites from February! What did you guys love throughout February? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

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

Games I’m Loving This Month

This is a post I’ve been so excited to share with you guys this month. It’s all about games, which you guys know I love. 😛

November is a month where LOADS of games (including updates and DLC too) have been released that I’ve been looking forward to for years/months/weeks, so I thought it would be awesome to share them all with you. Some of these games you may have heard about, whereas some you may not have due to them being indie/by small developers.

I hope you enjoy this weeks post, I know I’ve really enjoyed talking about the games and sharing them all with you. I’ll be sharing them in order of their release!

Unpacking – 2nd November 2021

Available on Steam, Xbox and and Nintendo Switch.

I can’t 100% remember when I heard about Unpacking coming out, but from memory I have a feeling it was during E3 2021 (mid June) through the Wholesome Games stream/community on YouTube.

Unpacking is a relaxing game all about… Well… Unpacking! You’re unpacking someone’s life out of boxes through various stages of their life, from child/teenager, student, adult, etc. You unpack their items and place them around their room/house until everything is away in its rightful place. It’s incredibly relaxing game and I spent most of launch day playing it. It’s not a game you feel you need to rush through and can pick it up and take your time. You don’t ever find out what the person looks like (not 100% anyway), nor their name, anything about their family and more. You get snippets into their life through unpacking their items, which is something I really loved. It was nice to try and put together your assumptions of their life, what has happened and more. I would go more into my thoughts story wise, but it could spoil the game for others.

Alongside the accomplishment of popping away all the belongings, you do also earn stickers for placing items in certain ways and places, which I love! I need to go back to the game again soon to replay through the levels to earn all of the stickers, as well as maybe change things up? Honestly, this game is incredibly therapeutic and I can really see it helping with my anxiety when I just need to zone out for a while.

To The Rescue! – 2nd November 2021

Available on Steam and Nintendo Switch in 2022.

This is a game I discovered one afternoon whilst browsing through Kickstarter back in August/September 2019. I cannot believe over two years have passed and the game is now out, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait for sure! To The Rescue! is a dog shelter simulator game, where you run a dog shelter, helping dogs to get fostered/adopted, all whilst looking after the at the same time. You can hire people to help you, run charity events to get funds for the shelter, as well as encourage people to come and view dogs to adopt. That’s the main part of the game really, getting the dogs happy enough to be adopted and prevent any euthanasia. This game is very realistic about that fact, you can turn off the euthanasia however if you don’t wish to have that theme in your game. I know I have.

I’ve only played the game once so far and that was the date it launched. On day one of the game coming out there were quite a few bugs, so I’ve decided to wait playing anymore since until a lot of the bugs have been fixed, which they sound like they have from release notes. So, I’ll be picking it up again at some point soon.

One thing I want to comment on so far with playing this game is, the story mode is fucking hard! It’s very stressful and takes away the nice, happy vibes that game shows and comes with. Dane is really good at games and even he commented how hard the story mode is. However, the (sandbox) mode is a lot nicer and you feel like you have a lot more control over what you can do with your shelter, and more. I do need to play some more of this game however as this could have changed since the last time I played the game.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update – 4th/5th November 2021

After the Animal Crossing Direct aired in October, I was ecstatic. I’d not felt so happy and excited about anything for a while and alongside that, a massive part of the community I love were all excited for the update too! Everyone was in good spirits, sharing what they were excited for the most and even some people restarting their islands! I couldn’t do that, I love my island and villagers too much. :’)

Anyhoo, the update came out a day early by mistake! I’d booked the week off anyway before the direct had even aired, so I was READY for the update! Dane woke me up around 6am on the 4th to say, “Nat… The Animal Crossing update is out a day early…” I shot up, updated the game, grabbed us breakfast and a coffee and we spent most of the morning/early afternoon in bed playing the update. It was amazing to sit with Dane and cuddle as we both discovered the updates in the game. Poor Dane, he went on an island trip with Kapp’n before speaking to Blathers, so missed out on seeing Brewster… 😛

I’ve been playing Animal Crossing almost daily since the update came out and have really been loving all the things you can do now. I especially love going on the island trips, as well as grabbing my daily coffee (or two) in The Roost and getting gifts for doing just that! I recently gifted Cookie a takeaway coffee after unlocking it and she carries it around with her every now and then. It’s so precious!

One thing however that DOES disappoint me with The Roost is how you can’t help Brewster anymore like you could back in New Leaf. It was my favourite part of the day (especially as I WAS a barista at the time) when visiting my town and it’s such a shame that’s now gone. I’d like to hope it’ll come back in the future, but I don’t think it’s going to happen, unfortunately. I know quite a few people who were gutted this previous feature has been removed… Maybe if we all moan about it enough, Nintendo might bring it back 😛 Who knows!

Aside from that, I am loving the update. With Pokemon coming out, I may end up playing Animal Crossing a little less, but not too much. I’m really enjoying playing it and will be sad when the time comes where I won’t be playing it as much again.

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise – 5th November 2021

I’m not going to lie, Happy Home Paradise has been out for two weeks now and admittedly, I’ve only played it twice.. Shameful, I know. As my mental health hasn’t been too great since the release of the Animal Crossing update and DLC, I’ve not really been in the mood to play the DLC after the main game. This being said, when I have played it I’ve enjoyed it so much. It’s relaxing to put together villagers paradise homes, as well as see their cute interactions on the beach before and after you create their perfect paradise homes!

On the day it came out me and Dane sat together playing it and compared the homes we’d put together, which I really loved. It was nice comparing what we’d done, who we had on our beaches and more. At one point Willow (sheep villagers) turned up on Dane’s beach and he kept commenting how cute she is, which warmed my heart. Now I’m on the hunt for her amiibo card. 😛

The DLC has brought a lot more to the game than just the usual island life, which I love. I remember back in 2015 when Happy Home Designer came out. I was so hyped for it, but the game itself was so boring and mundane, that I didn’t play it as much as I’d hoped to. Happy Home Paradise is so much different. You can do different things, change things up, invite villagers, design facilities and more!

I highly recommend the DLC if you love Animal Crossing and can’t get enough, I know I’ve hardly played mine, but with what I have done so far it’s so relaxing to play. Personally I think my reason for not picking it up to play as much is I worry the homes I design look shit, poor and tacky. This is due to social media and nothing personal to anyone. I’m not as creative as others when it comes to Animal Crossing, but that’s okay! As long as I’m happy with what I’ve done, it shouldn’t be a problem.

I wanted to pop that reminder here as I know due to social media lately, a lot of people don’t like their islands and have stopped playing Animal Crossing due to high expectations. You do you!

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl – 19th November 2021

At the time of writing this post, I am yet to play either Diamond or Pearl. It’s ready to go on my Switch, but I wanted to get this post written and scheduled ready for the weekend! 😛

I’m pretty busy this weekend of doing stuff at home, as well as binge playing either of these games, so I’ll hold off sharing my thoughts on Diamond and/or Pearl until the November favourites in a few weeks!

However, I’m still going to talk about these games because why the fuck wouldn’t I? 😛

I am beyond excited to play Diamond and Pearl. I pre-ordered both as I planned to keep Pearl for myself and give Diamond to Dane. However, Dane isn’t fussed about playing it, so I’ll just keep Diamond!

My reason for choosing Pearl is a simple one, it’s what I picked up and played back in 2008. Back in Christmas 2008 my dad asked what I wanted for Christmas. I’d always wanted a Nintendo DS, but never got one. The red DS Lite was out and as they were only £100 at the time, I asked for that. They were out of stock EVERYWHERE! I called all the GAME, Toys R Us and Curry’s stores nearby with no luck, all gone. This was a week before Christmas by the way. In one last effort to try and bag the red DS Lite, I called an independent games store in the hopes they had them, the guy has one left in stock so I asked him to pop it to one side and we’d be down soon. My dad took me to go and get the DS Lite, as well as some games as well, which I bought myself. These included Pokemon Pearl and Animal Crossing: Wild World. Pokemon Pearl was the only one in stock out of the two, but I didn’t mind.

That Christmas I binge played both of those games. It introduced me to Animal Crossing, but also re-introduced me to Pokemon. I completely bypassed gen 3 due to my dislike of the Game Boy Advance and had spent around five years playing Pokemon Silver… Until the cartridge broke. 😛

Pokemon Pearl really did re-ignite my love for the games again and since then I’ve pretty much played most of the new (and remade) gen games… Apart from Black 2 and White 2 as I didn’t see the point and I’m not even going to talk about Sun and Moon. 😛

I did also play Pokemon Platinum too, but I doubt we’ll get that added to the series this time around with the remakes.

I’m really excited to be able to replay through the game(s) that helped fuel my Pokemon addictions more, I’m especially excited to get Leafeon and Glaceon, as well as go mining, it was one of my favourite things about the game and I was gutted they never brought it back.

So, there we have it guys, just some of the games I have been loving and also been VERY excited for throughout November. I can’t quite believe the start of December is just around the corner now. Maybe if you like the sound of some of these games, you can stick them on your Christmas lists in the hope someone might gift you with them. 🙂

What games have you been enjoying recently? Any of the same ones as me? If you’ve picked up Pokemon, which version did you get? Honestly, share away! I love talking about games!

Until next time all, take care and having a great weekend.

September Wish List ‘21

Not going to lie guys, I feel like my blog is a little all over the place this past couple of weeks! I usually schedule and get posts out on a weekend, but that hasn’t been happening recently. I do apologise, just life has been a bit messy of late. 😦

As always however, one of my monthly posts includes my monthly favourites! Most of the items on this list really are wished for, with one being a pre order I’m expecting this month! I’m on a spending ban for a while now so majority of the items mentioned this month won’t be bought and probably added to a Christmas wish list later this year. 🙂

I hope you guys enjoy the cute items on this months wish list and apologies that it’s a little late this month.

• Good Smile Company Pokemon Marnie Nendoroid (with bonus!) – (link)

First of all with this Nendoroid I want to mention, this is limited and is no longer available to pre order. You may be able to find it for sale on the internet, but I’ve already seem it around for £80 plus, which is shocking!

I’m really excited for my Marnie Nendoroid! Aside from owning a handful of Pokemon Nendoroid’s at the time of ordering Marnie, this Nendoroid really did encourage me to try and collect the rest! I made sure to pre order the one with the bonus too, so I’ll get an angry Morpeko with it too! 😀

• MossFrogPress Sausage Dog Enamel Pin – (link)

I’ve had this sausage dog pin on my wish list via Etsy for who knows how long now. It’s one I discovered through Instagram and I’m still yet to order. The reason I haven’t yet is due to the shipping from the USA costing more than the pin itself! This being said, I can see me getting it in the future when I fancy a treat. It’s definitely a pin I want in my collection, it’s just so bloody cute! 😀

• Black Milk Clothing Good Spirits Bishop Skater Dress – (link)

Black Milk Clothing are bringing out their Halloween collection in a couple of days (late Monday night for the UK!) and this gorgeous ghost dress is part of the collection this year! I love the bishop skater dress style, it’s so flattering on me and makes me feel beautiful every time I wear it. So, when Black Milk Clothing announced this dress with the cute ghosts on it in the bishop style, I KNEW I had to have it! 😀

• Mold Galaxy Bee and Puppycat Pallet Mold – (link)

I really want to get back into resin and this for sure isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned this mold on my wish list! I love Bee and Puppycat, so it would be wrong of me not to own a mold with them both on it! It would be cool to make some keychains of the two for myself, as well as to sell if people were interested! The shipping on this isn’t cheap however… So it may end up becoming a big(ish) Christmas present idea…

• Dathie Poppy Kitsune Fox Enamel Pin – (link)

This is an enamel pin I’ll be ordering once I get paid at the end of the month. Back in 2018 I discovered this pin via the Kickstarter campaign that made it happen! Sadly I didn’t back the Kickstarter, which I’ve regretted since. I recently decided to have a look online to see if I could find the pin for sale and low and behold the person behind the Kickstarter still has some available on their website! I dropped her a DM on Instagram for a chat in regards and when payday rolls around, I’ll finally snag myself one. 🙂

• TK Maxx DW Home Caramel Apple Candle – (link)

Finally we have a candle on my wish list! I do love candles, even though I haven’t bought one for AGES due to using up all my wax tarts from Cushty Co. TK Maxx have really gone for it this year in regards to Halloween goods and I’ve been loving seeing everything! I recently ordered myself through a personal shopper the ghost candle everyone has gone mad for (still waiting for it to arrive…) but I would love to snag this caramel apple candle eventually! I still have so many wax tarts to get through though, so this may never be mine…

So there we have it guys, my wish list for September! I know it isn’t anything amazing, but I’m loving all the cute goodies I’m getting and hoping to get soon or on payday. 🙂

What items do you love on the list? Also, what items are on your wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time guys, take care and have a lovely weekend. 🙂

Nyanzilla The Elementalists Enamel Pin Collection

This is a blog post I’ve been looking forward to writing for a few days now since these adorable AF enamel pins arrived! Well, it’s been on my blog “do write” list for a while, but instead of talking about something else this weekend and wait until August to share these… I’ve sort of swapped my blog post schedule around. 😛

I hope you guys enjoy this weeks blog post! It’s all about Nyanzilla and their beautiful Elementalists enamel pin collection! None of these pins were gifted to me, I bought them all with my hard earned monies. 🙂

At the start of 2021 I mentioned Nyanzilla on a blog post of a enamel pin collective haul (which you can read here). This was the first time I’d ordered anything from Nyanzilla, which was an enamel pin from the RPG Job Class Enamel Pins – Warriors of Cute Kickstarter.

At the start of February this year Nyanzilla launched The Elementalists Enamel Pin Kickstarter. They have previewed all the upcoming enamel pin designs on Instagram and I was SO excited for it! I knew I was going to back for all of the designs and had zero regrets about it! I can’t 100% remember what happened but I know now that the Kickstarter in qu3estion is now subject of an intellectual property dispute and is currently unavailable… Which is rubbish! I wish I could have shown you guys the Kickstarter.

I know that due to being in the UK my Kickstarter pledge was cancelled by Nyanzilla and moved over to Etsy for payment and such. This was handled really well and Kanae even offered to throw some freebies in too for being so understanding.

The Elementalists collection is a Pokemon Eeveelution collection inspired by mages. As someone who often plays as mages in games (especially Elder Scrolls!) and also plays D&D, I knew I loved the collection! It’s something I haven’t seen yet. The first design for this collection was actually posted on Nyanzilla’s Instagram almost a year ago late August 2020! Eevee, Leafeon, Espeon, Umbreon and Glaceon’s designs were shown at the time, but it wasn’t until late January 2021 where Nyazilla posted about this collection again, as well as showcasing the rest of the Eeveelution designs (Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon and Sylveon).

As mentioned I backed for all nine designs, as well as one special design I fell in love with and HAD to have. Originally I was only going to back three designs, those being Eevee, Vaporeon and Sylveon. I’m honestly so excited to show these off to you guys! I’ll be linking back to Nyanzilla’s website as The Elementalists collection won’t be on Etsy. If you are from the UK/EU you can email Nyanzilla in regards to what items you would like to buy and a custom listing will be placed on Etsy for you! 🙂

I’ll be talking about these pins in their Pokemon numbers, because why not!

All designs are available in both their original colours, as well as their shiny colours too, which is an awesome touch! Just an FYI, some of the titles below for enamel pins will be missing their descriptions and this is because they don’t tell you anything more than what the title of the product does anyway!

I want to mention first of all that I didn’t receive any form of customs charges, which surprised me! I was prepared for this, as I spent so much money on these enamel pins, but alas I dodged it… Whether it was due to paying the VAT on Etsy or not, I’m unsure!

The package itself and how everything was presented was really nice! Everything was wrapped in blue tissue paper, with a Nyanzilla sticker being the first thing I saw when I opened the box. It says, “Thank you Adventurer! Happiness boost inside!” which I thought was a really cute touch.

Inside the package itself was of course the goodies I bought, but there is an adorable card/print as well as thank you for backing and supporting the Kickstarter campaign and a discount code to use on the online store! 😀

The image on the card is an Eevee making a potion up! It says “25th” along the table cloth and I wasn’t sure if this was that I was backer number 25 or something else… It’s actually to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pokemon this year! I know this happened this year but completely forgot… And to think I call myself a Pokemon fan… 😉

I received some stickers in my parcel, as well as the enamel pins. I’ll be showing off the stickers first!

The stickers are amazing quality as they’re thick and have a matte feel/look to them, so I’d like to think they’d be long lasting!

• Vinyl Sticker: Sleeping – Cute little vinyl sticker of Sleeping Elementalist. – $3.50 – (link)

Look at this little cutie! It’s an illustration of Eevee sleeping on a book outside. It looks tired out after researching mage spells! It’s such a lovely design and I’m glad I have the sticker version of it. I have a feeling this was a freebie from backing the Kickstarter. This is also available as an enamel pin, which you can find here.

• Vinyl Sticker: Little Helper – Cute little vinyl sticker of Little Helper from the Elementalist collection. – $3.50 – (link)

I’ll be honest, Mimikyu isn’t a Pokemon I understand all the fuss about… But this Eevee x Mimikyu design that Nyanzilla has come out with is adorable! I’m pretty sure this was a freebie from Nyanzilla, which is really lovely!

• Little Helper Enamel Pin – Cute little helpers of the Elementalists! – $10.00 – (link)

Alongside the sticker, Nyanzilla also sent me a freebie of the enamel pin version of this! Like the sticker it’s an Eevee x Mimikyu design wrapped in a snuggly brown hoodie, with some Eevee ears and a cute and derpy little face. I much prefer this design to the original Mimikyu design to be honest with you. 😛 This enamel pin is gold metal plating.

• Flying Enamel Pin – Elementalists are powerful magic wielders each mastering an element to aide them in their journey. But they must also master the ways of flying! – $14.00 – (link)

This is an enamel pin designed I backed for with the Kickstarter. I couldn’t resist it, it’s so adorable! As you can see it’s an Eevee riding a broomstick, with a cute little brown hat on, behind a glitter blue sky! This is a huge pin and definitely the biggest lot of the bunch I received! It just makes me happy whenever I see it and because of that it’s up there in my favourite designs from this collection! This enamel pin is gold metal plating.

• Magic Portal Enamel Pin – Elementalists are powerful magic wielders each mastering an element to aide them in their journey. This is a magical portal the Elementalists use to travel great distances. – $14.00 – (link)

From memory this is an enamel pin that came free from backing the Kickstarter campaign. It’s a gorgeous glass window style design with an Eevee surrounded by all its Eeveelutions and elements. The types of Eeveelutions look exactly like the base energy cards seen in the Pokemon Trading Card Game. This is a gorgeous enamel pin though and I’d love to see it as a keychain that’s see through or a sticker! This enamel pin is silver metal plating.

• Elementalist Enamel Pin – Elementalists are powerful magic wielders each mastering an element to aide them in their journey. Where all Elementalists begin, the first step in choosing their elemental path. – $12.00 – (link)

The Eevee design, the main one from the bunch and it’s one of my favourites! I love how Eevee is wearing a cute little brown fluffy coat, alongside with an Eevee shaped staff too! Eevee looks ready for the winter weather, that’s for sure! I love the little smile on Eevee’s face too, as well as the subtle design on its coat. This enamel pin is gold metal plating.

• Hydro Mage Enamel Pin – $12.00 – (link)

This is another one of my favourite designs, if not my favourite out of them all! Vaporeon has always been one of my favourite Pokemon as I love it’s mermaid/dog look. This design is beautiful though and I cannot get enough of it. I love the flowing blue dress it’s wearing and I especially love that their staff has a Horsea at the top! The detail on this one is amazing and I just can’t get over it, plus the colours remind me of summer holidays in Fuerteventura, which I equally love. I semi regret not getting the shiny variant of this one too, I think I will in the future. Purple is my favourite colour and as this is up there as my favourite design, it’s kind of silly not to? This enamel pin is silver metal plating.

• Storm Caller Enamel Pin – $12.00 – (link)

I love what a little rogue Jolteon is always seen to be, but this design really does show that! The snaggle tooth is my favourite bit about this design for sure! I also love how fuzzy his coat is, it makes him look semi royal and important, which I love! His staff doesn’t stand out to me as anything… unique like some of the others, but it’s definitely cool! I also love how grumpy and serious he looks too. Nyanzilla really nailed this design. This enamel pin is gold metal plating.

• Ember Mage Enamel Pin – The Ember Mage is the Master of conjuring and controlling the flames. – $12.00 – (link)

This design is up there as one of the ones I feel had a LOT of detail put into it, which I always love! I feel enamel pins can never have too much detail. Flareon is surrounded by fire, even the staff is made out of fire! The pop of blue on the outfit really does stand out, which I like as it feels a little bit like the cloaks colour got lost amongst Flareon’s red/orange fur. I feel like Flareon isn’t as serious as Jolteon, but that sort of, “Don’t fuck with me or I’ll burn you…” look going on? 😛 This enamel pin is gold metal plating.

• Mystic Enamel Pin – $12.00 – (link)

Both of the gen two Eeveelutions have a VERY similar theme going on, in the sense they are clearly have face coverings on, which I really like! It makes them appear more mysterious, which they both are amongst the other Eeveelutions. Espeon is a gorgeous purple colour (of course!) and I especially love how much detail was put into their staff, which clearly is to resemble the sun. Their face covering only seems to cover their mouth. A sun brooch is also on their cloak too. This enamel pin is rose gold metal plating.

• Shadow Mage Enamel Pin – The Shadow Mage is the Master of controlling the dark energy. – $12.00 – (link)

As mentioned above, both of the gen two Eeveelutions are sporting face coverings, Umbreon however has more covering their face than Espeon. Umbreon definitely has a darker design than Espeon with their black and yellow cloak. I love that their mouth and nose are covered up as with the darker colours it makes it look more mysterious, if that makes sense! Umbreon’s staff is of a moon and the design of it is really detailed, which I love! This enamel pin is gold metal plating.

• Druid Enamel Pin – The Druid harness the power of nature to protect and aide them on their journey. – $12.00 – (link)

I actually think this is the design with the most detailing on it and due to that it’s up there as one of my favourites! The Leafeon design reminds me of Radagast the Brown The Hobbit, but this is kind of obvious why, isn’t it? 😛 The colour scheme of this design is one of my favourites and I especially love the white themes brought into it too with the flowers on Leafeon’s cloak, hat and staff. The staff is so pretty too to boot. Just everything about this pin is gorgeous! It reminds me of my friend Sarah (Raiin Monkey) as I know how much she loves this design. This enamel pin is gold metal plating.

• Frost Mage Enamel Pin – The Frost Mage controls the battlefield by conjuring storms of snow to slow their foes. – $12.00 – (link)

The Glaceon design is so pretty and it kind of reminds me of the White Witch from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The design is gorgeous and I just love every aspect of it! Glaceon’s cold stare, the snowflake staff, to the fluffy cloak. The colours of this one are perfect too and I especially love that it’s silver metal plating too! I can just imagine Glaceon being a bad ass and not standing for anyone’s shit. Again, this enamel pin is silver metal plating.

• Fairy Enamel Pin – $12.00 – (link)

Finally we have another one of my favourite designs from this collection and one I feel is a firm favourite from a lot of people who backed the Kickstarter campaign! The Sylveon design has a fairy theme to it and the design looks so playful and happy out of all of the designs. Sylveon’s whole outfit reminds me of a cross between Little Red Riding Hood and someone who is into Japanese Lolita fashion. Sylveon’s staff is also a heart shape, similar in style to the staff that Jolteon is holding. I especially love the fact Sylveon is winking. Like Vaporeon, I would love the shiny variant of this one too. This enamel pin is rose gold metal plating.

There we have it guys, all of The Elementalists enamel pins! I’m so glad I decided to get them all, as I know for a fact I would have regretted it and scrambled to try and buy the other designs at a later point.

I know in the future I’d love to pick up some of the shiny variants of Vaporeon and Sylveon, as well as the prints of Eevee, Vaporeon and Sylveon. I’ll be looking to pick some goodies for Christmas too… 😛

Alongside the enamel pins, Nyanzilla did also bring out vinyl sticker sheets and prints of all The Elementalists designs. If you’re interested in any of these, I’ll pop a link below for where you can view the whole collection. Alongside that, you CAN also buy all nine of the Eeveelutions enamel pins in bundle set, which I’ll link here.

Store

Etsy Store (UK and EU customers)

Instagram

The Elementalists Collection

What do you guys think of The Elementalists collection? What are your favourite design(s) and which would you pick up? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend so far and make sure to keep safe during these times.

Games I’m Excited For After E3 2021

The last time I wrote about E3 on my blog was back in 2018 when me and Dane wrote our his and hers reactions. I honestly don’t know why I stopped writing about E3 since then… Maybe so much good stuff happened that I just couldn’t fit it all onto one post? 😛

E3 is actually one of my favourite times of year! Ever since me and Dane have been together we’ve cuddled together with yummy food and drinks and watched the E3 presentations. Granted since COVID it’s not quite the same, but it’s still been good. I’m not going to lie, E3 2021 for us felt a bit rubbish in regards to the bigger presentations such as Xbox, Nintendo, Bethesda, Ubisoft and Square Enix.

The majority of the games I have fallen in love with (both new announcements and previous from last year) are indie and I just had to share as many with you all as possible! Especially since starting to stream on Twitch. Games is something I was introduced to from a young age thanks to my older brothers with Tetris on the Game Boy, as well as various games on the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System).

I’m going to start with my favourite presentation of E3 2021, which was Wholesome Games. It was one of the first ones I watched and I’ve now found out about twelve games! Some of these are games I already knew about or have backed on Kickstarter, but even so it was definitely my favourite direct and I’ve been talking about it and sharing as much as possible!

I’m going to be jumping straight into this! I’ll try and add trailers where possible as well information about when the game will be released and what platforms. Some I may talk about in a bit more detail, whereas others I might not at all. I don’t want to cause the blog post to be too long! I really hope you guys enjoy reading this post, I’ve had so much fun writing it and sharing some cool games with you all.

Snacko – Out 2022 on both Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Former big city kitties Momo and Mikan are starting a new life on a seemingly deserted island. Unravel its mysteries while you rebuild a community, farm, fish, and explore the island and beyond! Lift a curse and revitalized a ruined island in Snacko, where former big city kitties Momo and Mikan are starting a new life! Grow crops, raise fluffy cows, go fishing, exploring, customize and decorate as you please, and much, much more in this farming cat-venture.

This is actually a game I backed on Kickstarter a while ago now and whenever I hear news about it through the Wholesome Games directs I get so excited about it! I’m also part of the Discord so I’m constantly hearing updates form the developers. Snacko reminds me of Animal Crossing but with cats! It looks so damn cute and to hear it’s now also coming out on the Nintendo Switch has got me even more excited!

Behind The Frame – Out 2021 on Steam.

Combining escape rooms and narrative games, Behind the Frame presents a profoundly interactive storytelling of characters’ emotions and plot development. With 360°panorama techniques and an exquisite hand-painted art style, the game takes you into the world of Behind the Frame. Listening to the brisk chirping of birds under warm sunshine, the painter once again picks up her paintbrush as usual. Sometimes she would look out the window and enjoy the scenery outside when she’s having a quick break. However, a short interlude happens during her regular days. A lost cat, the old man painting next door, some handwritten notes… Everything seems unrelated yet familiar…

Loddlenaut – December 2020 on Steam and HOPEFULLY Nintendo Switch. KICKSTARTER LIVE NOW!

A creature-raising survival game on an ocean planet. Explore the depths of GUP-14 as you clean up a polluted ocean, repurpose marine debris, and take care of axolotl-like alien creatures!

This was actually the last game to be announced during the Wholesome Games direct and I’ve fallen in love with it! I’m planning to back the Kickstarter soon, but I’d love to hear about it coming to the Nintendo Switch first before I do finally back the game. I’ll see how I feel, but the Kickstarter ends on July 12th 2021, so make sure to go and check it out!

Yokai Inn – Release TBC.

You are forced to take shelter in an abandoned inn, and the place springs to life with otherworldly patrons as soon as the sun sets! Yokai Inn is a slice-of-life sim game, inspired by titles such as Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, that is currently in the early stages of development.

Bear & Breakfast – Out 2021 on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Build and run a Bed+Breakfast in the woods, but you’re a Bear. Tourists are flooding in, your decoration senses are tingling, and the woods are making a kooky noise.

This is another game I have been hyped for for MONTHS now! Bear & Breakfast looks like so much fun, especially as you’re playing as a cute little bear running their bed and breakfast in the woods. I just love games like this, so when I see animals involved too, I’m always hooked! I’ll be getting this on the Nintendo Switch.

Shashingo – Release TBC.

Learn Japanese Vocabulary! Explore a bright, fictional Japanese city street filled with details and interesting objects to capture with your camera. Each photograph you take will translate the name of the content into Japanese and English so you can learn with your surroundings.

Unpacking – Out 2021 on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Unpacking is a game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home. Part block-fitting puzzle, part home decoration, you are invited to create a satisfying living space while learning clues about the life you’re unpacking. Over the course of eight house moves, you are given a chance to experience a sense of intimacy with a character you never see and a story you’re never told.

This is another game that I am so excited for and I think in the list this is probably number one for me right now! I’ve played the demo of the game twice now and I’m just craving more each time! Unpacking is such a relaxing game where you unpack your life out of boxes and into your new room/home. It’s nice to arrange items around the room and get to know the character who’s items you’re organising. It was announced recently that Unpacking would be coming out on the Nintendo Switch which has made me so happy!

The next directs I’m going to be lumping together are Nintendo and Xbox. I wasn’t too impressed with Xbox, but I was incredibly disappointed by Nintendo. It’s the direct I was looking forward to the most and it really let me down. I know a lot of people were disappointed by either no news about Animal Crossing, Pokemon or even both! I wasn’t bothered about this, it just felt like the majority of games mentioned from Nintendo were remakes of previous classics.

I really wanted to hear news about more retro consoles coming to the Switch Online. I wanted to especially hear the Game Boy/Game Boy Colour and Game Boy Advance coming for us to play! Having the NES and SNES is great, but I want more now!

Mario Party Superstars – Out 29th October 2021.

I’m excited for this game, but at the same time I’m a bit miffed… As someone who already owns Mario Party, it would have been good to get some DLC instead of a brand new game. Eventually I’ll buy this as I love playing Mario Party with both Dane, as well as our friends.

WarioWare: Get It Together! – Out September 10th 2021.

I’ve never played a WarioWare game but I’ve ALWAYS wanted to! Finally I’m going to be getting that chance and I’m super excited for it. The best bit is this is (apparently) the first WarioWare game where two people can play at the same time! I’ll be pre-ordering this as soon as Gamersheek have it up for pre-order. 😀

Back 4 Blood – Out October 12, 2021.

When me and Dane first got together he would always encourage me to play the Left 4 Dead games. I never played games like that previously and I was shitting myself! It really brought me out of my shell in playing shoot ’em up games more and I’m glad for that now. Sadly about five years ago Dane decided to sell loads of his old Xbox 360 games, which including both of the Left 4 Dead games. I was gutted we couldn’t play them anymore and we haven’t since. Back 4 Blood is meant to be just like Left 4 Dead, so I am HYPED for it!

Party Animals – Out 2022.

Party Animals is a crazy and fun fighting game where it’s pretty much a free for all! Me and Dane fell in love with this game purely for how cute the animals are! The otter has stolen our hearts, that’s for sure! As this is a Games Pass game, I know for a fact Dane will be getting it.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – Out Early 2022.

Tiny Tina—the beloved bomb-chucking star of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. In the game, Tina is your guide through an extraordinary and chaotic fantasy realm.

Borderlands 3 is the game that really did get me into playing shooter games. When Dane got it in 2019 he really encouraged me to join him in playing it. I don’t regret it and if anything I am so fucking excited for a Tiny Tina game/DLC to be coming out to play in the future!

Any other games mentioned now are ones that me and Dane have heard were featured or discussed during E3.

Tunic – Release TBC.

TUNIC is an action adventure game about a tiny fox in a big world where you don’t belong. Presented by Finji.
Developed by Andrew Shouldice, TUNIC is a game shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Crafted to evoke feelings of classic action adventure games, TUNIC stars a heroic little fox as they explore a foreign land that hides danger around every corner. Discover unique items, new combat techniques, and arcane secrets as our hero forges their way through an intriguing new world.

I remember this game being announced in 2018 and I even mentioned it on my blog all those years ago! Tunic is a cute little fox who resembles Link from the Zelda games. It’s a fox, so I instantly fell in love with it three years ago when it was announced. Nothing has really been said about it much until now, which is good! I remember back in 2018 saying I was hoping it would be out the end of that year, haha!

Life is Strange: True Colours – Out September 10, 2021.

Alex Chen hides her ‘curse’: the supernatural ability to absorb and manipulate the strong emotions of others. When her brother dies in a so-called accident, she must embrace her volatile power to find the truth — and reveal dark secrets buried by the town.

I am a massive fan of the Life is Strange games. I especially love the first one and have craved a game like that since. I’m so hopeful for True Colours to be more like the first game than Life is Strange 2 was. I’m popping this mention of the game here as I’m planning to pick it up on the PS4. I have all my other Life is Strange games on that console, so why break the pattern?

I will pop some honourable mentions, as well as link to directs or trailers of the games!

Recolit

Pekoe

Button City

Pupperazzi

Amber Isle

Woodo

12 Minutes

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!

So there we have it guys! All the games I loved discovering through E3 2021! I have a feeling there a lot more games I’m yet to discover, but at the moment these are all the games I have seen and fallen in love with. I just had to share them, they’re all so bloody cute and with me now playing games on Twitch, I cannot wait to play some of these games with my friends and viewers. 😀

What did you guys think about E3 2021? Did you love it, hate it? Which game(s) have grabbed your attention? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

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

June Wish List ‘21

I am officially off work for a week! HORRAY! This has been much needed as I can’t actually remember the last time I was on holiday for more than a few days or over a long weekend. Work has been busy lately so it’s much needed! I’m excited to spend time with Dane, as well as some much needed catch up time with friends.

I do have some amazing and exciting news to share with you all for this month wish list post… I made affiliate on Twitch on Tuesday! I always said I wanted to aim for gaining affiliate at the end of May, but I got it on the first day of June instead, which is close enough. 😛

It’s also mine and Dane’s eight year anniversary on Tuesday. The years have flown by! It’ll be nice just to spend the day together. We’re planning to have a chilled day and have a picnic style dinner with drinks and yummy snack foods. 😀

I have decided in June that I’m actually going to be on a spending ban due to being a little bit too spend happy in May. I have zero regrets for a lot of the items I purchased and pre-ordered but yeah, I’ve been a bit silly. 😛

This month there are a few items on the list that are pre-orders and one that is a HUGE wish list item… Pretty sure you’ll already see which one that is, huh? 😛

• Smoko Astro Tayto Night Light – (link)

As regular readers may know and remember, I LOVE Smoko and their cute AF original characters and homeware items. It all started off with Elodie the Unicorn and has slowly moved over to Asian food related items and Tayto. A cute coach potato with big goals in life. Recently he’s been sent off into space, ASTRO TAYTO!  As Smoko is located in America, I always keep eyes peeled on Firebox’s website for any new Smoko releases. Last week Astro Tayto was added to the website and I had to fight the urge to order him there and then. I’d love to get him for my desk, at least in our bedroom to be with the other Smoko night lights I own!

• Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Service Jiji & Soft Toy Jiji Clock – (link)

I’ve had this item bookmarked in my “wish list” folder for quite some time now, but due to the price I’ve just not made the plunge to order it. I would like a clock in our office as we don’t actually have one and a Ghibli themed one would be to die for! This one is of Jiji and toy Jiji together, which I think is such a cute idea personally! Kiki’s Delivery Service has fast turned into one of my favourite Ghibli movies over the years and it was only from being in Japan in January 2020 that made me realise how much I love it. 🙂

• Sanrio PomPomPurin x Miki Takei Mini Letter Set – (link)

I decided in 2020 with everything that went on with lockdown that I would really love to write letters to some of my friends as a reminder of how much I love them, how proud I am of them and sometimes share some old and funny memories too! I bought a wax seal stamp set last year/early 2021 too so I’d love to seal letters with that! As many regular readers will know, I LOVE Pompompurin, the cute little pudding dog created by Sanrio. This letter set is so fucking cute and I definitely want a couple of packs in my life so I can write to my friends.

• JeanaDraws Lakko the Otter Apparel, Bag & Pins Kickstarter – (link)

This is a Kickstarter that I backed at the end of May and also one that doesn’t begin to fulfil until the end of the year in December. I wanted to mention it on this months wish list though because I wish I could have the cardigan I’ve backed for NOW! There are various items to back for, including knitwear, a plushie bag and enamel pins. As shown in the image I’m backing for he brown cardigan. I do love snuggling in cardigans in the colder months and I think this one is perfect for me with both working from home and out and about. I’d also really love to back for the Lakko bag too, but this isn’t my style, sadly.

• Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Tohru and Kanna Plushies.

These are pre-order items from YY Kawaii back in January and I cannot wait for them to arrive this month. Regular readers will know that Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is one of my favourite anime and manga series. When I saw these two cuties available for pre order I wanted to snag them to keep in our bookshelf with all my copies of the manga. I think they’re due around the end of June so I’ll soon be showing them off on Instagram when they’ve arrived.

• Hot Topic Studio Ghibli Kiki’s Delivery Service Oversized Cardigan.

Another Kiki’s Delivery Service AND cardigan item! I saw this for sale on Hot Topic a while ago and fell in love with it, however I didn’t like how much it might cost me to get it to the UK, so I left it. I recently discovered it for sale on a website based in the UK, so in the future I might buy it from them, if not a personal shopper I use in America. It’s a cute and simple cardigan, I like the fact it’s cream as I don’t own anything like that. Most of my cardigans are rainbow colours. It would be nice to have a neutral one for the summer months.

• Maybe a new car…?

Finally… I MIGHT be getting myself a new car this month. I spontaneously starting looking at cars online and I’ve discussed with Dane. I wouldn’t get a brand new one by the way, but I’d definitely opt for a car with a good age against it. My current car is amazing and gets me from A to B, but I think it’s starting to show it’s age of late. I want a car me and Dane can share so if he doesn’t want to use his, we can always use mine in confidence. Plus, it would have something nice like that! I said when I returned from Japan I would get myself a new car, but then COVID happened and messed up my plans. We shall see… I’ve seen one I like which we might go with. You never know. 🙂

So, there we have it! My wish list for June! I’m really excited for June to be honest with you, the weather is already gorgeous and we’re already getting plans organised with people who we’ve missed during lockdown and COVID.

Not only am I interested in what you guys have on your wish lists this month, but do you have plans with loved ones and friends this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time guys, take are and I’ll see you next time!

SleepingWolvesArt – Review

Today’s post is LONG overdue and it’s for a valid reason! I wanted to wait for SleepingWolvesArt to announce their store opening again, as well as their Etsy for UK shoppers. So, finally the time has come to share with you some goodies I bought before the end of 2020 and why you should check them out, especially if you love dogs and puppies!

As you can tell today’s blog post is all about SleepingWolvesArt and their amazing store! I’ve been so excited to share it with you since the start of 2021, I really hope you enjoy reading about this kawaii independent store, especially if you’ve never heard of them before. 🙂

I discovered SleepingWolvesArt back in August 2020 when I discovered their Kickstarter for the Foxy Ita Mini Backpack/Cross-body Convertible Itabag. I nearly backed this Kickstarter but left it in the end due to other itabags I’d purchased at the time. Alongside the itabag you could pledge for some adorable enamel pins, which I fell in love with but didn’t pledge for at the time either. I was gutted and regretted not getting these at least.

Through discovering SleepingWolvesArt on Kickstarter I decided to give them a follow on their social media pages, with Instagram being my favourite place to keep track of any new designs, as well as the Kickstarter. I kept going on and off the website, bookmarking items I liked the look of to order, but I just never did. Couldn’t really say why.

Then SleepingWolvesArt showcased some corgi and shiba designs and I fell in love! I was hoping they’d be enamel pins, but when it was announced they would feature on notebooks, I was a mixture of happy and in trouble. The latter because I’m kind of on a notebook ban, I have too many. 😛

This didn’t stop me though and before I knew it I’d made my first order with SleepingWolvesArt and the two cute doggy designs had been ordered in the form of notebooks! As I ordered these before January 2021 when the new regulations came in, I was able to order directly from the website.

Due to this change that has happened in the UK (I’ve mentioned before) a lot of independent artists/stores have stopped selling to the UK. However, some stores have opened Etsy stores or managed to work on their stores in order to offer us in the UK to make orders I wanted to wait until SleepingWolvesArt had opened their Etsy store for UK customers before writing this post as I know a good chunk of my readers are from the UK, like myself, so at least after reading this post you could make some purchases if you wanted to. 🙂

I will pop all the social media links at the end of this post for SleepingWolvesArt, as well as links to both the main website AND the Etsy store. Some of the items I’m talking about are currently sold out, or aren’t available to purchase on Etsy, but I’ll mention this at the time.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy todays blog post! 😀

• Pink Shiba Inu Notebook (link) and Garden Corgi Notebook (link) – $25.00 each.

As mentioned above, my first order with SleepingWolvesArt was these two gorgeous notebooks, one is green and one is pink but aside from the designs they’re both pretty much identical. I haven’t used them yet either as I’ve been waiting to write this post. 😛 I’ve opened the garden corgi design so I could take a look inside, but I’m waiting to use the pink shiba inu one for another day.

I bought both of these notebooks together in a set for $40.00 and whilst this offer is still going, buying both designs is currently sold out, but you can sign up to be notified when these will be back in stock.

As you will have seen from the band around both the notebooks, these are A5 size and 160 pages/80 sheets which is perfect to keep in a backpack for travelling, or for studies. These are vegan leather which is lovely and soft to the touch and inside have dotted line pages, a type of notebook I’ve never bought before. There is also a bookmark ribbon inside so you can keep tabs on your pages, an elastic book strap to keep the notebook closed when you aren’t using it and a handy pocket at the back of the notebook to keep anything small such as receipts, notes etc. The quality of the paper is thick and if I was to write in them with some fine felt tip pens, it wouldn’t bleed through.

The designs for both of these are exactly the same, with the noticeable differences being the colour of the dogs and the tails. The corgi design is red with a short tail, which the shiba inu design is a grey/purple colour with a curly fluffy tail. There are three different designs with one sitting down, one lying down and one doing a playful stance. I have to be honest, as much as I love both the doggy designs, the shiba inu is my favourite for sure! I love this design/print so much and I would honestly love to see it on a piece of clothing, preferably a dress. 😛

These notebooks not only make great gifts for friends and family, but for yourself too! They’re really good quality for the money and perfect for puppy, corgi, shiba inu fans, as well as people who love to do bullet journaling, sketching, a diary or maybe even somewhere to keep stickers or photos. Personally I think I’m going to keep my pink shiba inu notebook as a mini scrapbook for when I next go to Japan!

For UK shoppers/readers these aren’t on the Etsy store, not sure if this is something that will appear eventually. It’s always worth dropping SleepingWolvesArt a message/email to enquire further if you’re after one. I did end up charged customs for these notebooks which wasn’t cheap at around the £20 mark, but to be honest it was worth it.

To add here, if you like this print but you need to stop buying notebooks (like me…) then it’s also available on a microfiber cleaning cloth! Store links here and here and Etsy links here and here.

After I made my notebook purchase from SleepingWolvesArt I decided to order some enamel pins after it was announced the store would be closing for UK shoppers! All of the enamel pins I ordered are B-Grade, which means there might be some slight faults or issues with the pins. I didn’t mind this personally and in all honestly I’m so happy with all of the pins I bought. Although these are b-grade enamel pins I wouldn’t have thought so in all honesty, they’re such perfect condition to me! Not only am I linking back to the B-grade enamel pin, but also the normal grade AND the Etsy store. 🙂

• Foxy Ita B-Grade Enamel Pin (link) – $9.00
• Foxy Ita Enamel Pin (link) – $12.00
• ETSY LISTING – Foxy Ita Enamel Pin (link) – £11.08

The is the other design I really fell in love with from the fox itabag Kickstarter, so I had to pick it up. As you can see this enamel pin is of a cute little white fox inside of an itabag, with the itabag in question being the design that SleepingWolvesArt had created for the Kickstarter in question. I thought this was such a cute and unique idea! This enamel pin was also a freebie for people who backed to get the itabag, which is even better! I just love the design and the fact it’s an original character of SleepingWolvesArt makes it even more special to me.

Although I chose the lavender itabag design, you can choose from six different colours – mint, pink, teal, maroon, black and lavender.

It’s a double back pin, with purple rubber backs to match the purple itabag. On the back of the enamel pin “SleepingWolvesArt” is etched on the back, which I always love to see on enamel pins.

• Mini Fox B-Grade Enamel Pin (link) – $8.00
• Mini Fox Enamel Pin (link) – $11.00
• ETSY LISTING – Mini Fox Enamel Pin (link) – £10.16

This is one of the two designs I really loved the look of from the fox itabag Kickstarter. This cute little foxy is an original character design and has a maroon coloured bow around it’s neck and the cutest little toe beans too! The little smile on the foxes face is really sweet and the design makes me smile whenever I look at it! It’s on a gold enamel and overall the design is just gorgeous! It’s a nice size too, which I always love with my enamel pins. It means all the detailing is in there and not ruined.

Although I chose the maroon bow design, you can choose from six different colours – mint, pink, lavender, teal, black and maroon.

It’s a double back pin, with red rubber backs to match the maroon bow. On the back of the enamel pin “SleepingWolvesArt” is etched on the back, which I always love to see on enamel pins.

• Black Shiba Bowtie Puppy B-Grade Enamel Pin (link) – $8.00
• Black Shiba Bowtie Puppy Enamel Pin (link) – $11.00
• ETSY LISTING – Black Shiba Bowtie Puppy Enamel Pin (link) – £10.17

This was a whim purchase I picked up to make my overall order worth the shipping and potential customs I was due to pay. I decided to get one of the bowtie puppy designs and again settled on the B-grade version. At the time of purchase this was the only puppy available with a pink bowie or ribbon, which was a shame. I would have really liked the red shiba but the black one is just as cute and the pink bowtie works really well! Alongside all of this, this enamel pin is on a rose gold enamel which really compliments both the black and white shiba and the pink bowtie. I have to say, this is such a gorgeous enamel pin and I’d love to own a red shiba variant in the future.

There are different varieties of designs to choose from with this enamel pin including a white puppy, pink shiba, cream shiba, red shiba, black shiba, orange corgi and black corgi Alongside this you can choose either a bowtie or ribbon design which are either pink or mint.

It’s a double back pin, with pink rubber backs that appear to match the bowtie colour. On the back of the enamel pin “SleepingWolvesArt” is etched on the back, which I always love to see on enamel pins.

Overall I am so happy with my purchases from SleepingWolvesArt and all the goodies I purchased! I’m so glad they have finally reopened the store, as well as their Etsy store too for UK shoppers!

I’ve got my eye on some other items from their Etsy store including the Sleepy Wolf Enamel Pin, Pink Shiba Inu Enamel Pin and the Red Shiba Inu Enamel Pin.

I’m going to pop SleepingWolvesArt’s links down below for you, including their stores as well as social media.

Store

Etsy Store

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

So, what do you guys think of SleepingWolvesArt and their designs and cute pieces? Not only do they design their own original character designs but they do have some Pokemon dogs, as well as Animal Crossing wolf villagers. You can definitely sense a theme that the artist loves foxes, wolves and dogs. 🙂 Make sure to let me know in the comments below, plus what you would buy from her store?

Until next time guys, stay safe and take care.

Enamel Pin Collective Haul

Can you believe January 2021 is over in just over a weeks time? January has FLEW by hasn’t it?

This month I have had so many creative ideas floating my head, both blog related and other creative outlets. There’s been so many blog posts I’ve wanted to write but a lot of them will be coming to my blog in February now, due to timing and such.

Today’s blog post has been one that has been a long time coming, an enamel pin collective haul. I’ll be talking about all the independent artists I’ve bought enamel pins from, whether it be through their store/Etsy/Patreon (in one case) or even through backing a Kickstarter campaign.

As many regular readers will know, I started collecting enamel pins back in 2018 when I bought my first enamel pins from Ayloulou Apparel/Petty Bones Club (store has since closed down) which you can read here. This isn’t the first time I’d started collecting enamel pins however, I’d actually collected them at a point when I was around six or seven. My brother and dad had designed some enamel pins to sell and they gave me some of course. It sparked off my addition back in the day and I grew out of it. 20 years plus later and I started collecting again and I won’t ever look back!

I have decided however in 2021 that I will calm down on my enamel pin buying as I have so many at the moment. I need to buy myself a new pin flag (or at least a big cork board at this point!) so I can start putting them on show. I also have some enamel pins I’m thinking of selling. If anyone would be interested in seeing what I’m thinking of selling, please let me know and I can have a think about listing some items. Friends are welcome to reach out too in the meantime. 😉

Anyhoo, I have a lot of enamel pins to show off, so I’m going to jump straight in! I’m not going to post about these in any order and I will of course link back to where I bought them from and mention if you are able to buy from the artists anymore due to the VAT UK stuff that came in at the start of January 2021.

Sugarnova

Trick or Treat Yo’ Self Ghost Enamel Pin and Lollipop Ghost Enamel Pin.

I bought these enamel pins around Halloween and they’re some of the cutest ghosties I own! Both ghosts are holding sweets/candy and both designs are completely different. Both of these enamel pins are on gold enamel and have double backs with purple rubber backings. They both retail for £7.30 each. Sadly I don’t know much about whether or not Sugarnova is shipping to the UK or not… As far as I’m aware nothing has been said in regards so I assume people of the UK can still shop with them!

For all those who are just there for the treats! Celebrate your Halloween candy horde with this sweets loving ghostie.

The trick or treat ghost is holding various sweets/candies including a lollipop, a chocolate bar, candy corns and some general sweets/candies. He looks really happy with his treats and is smiling with some blushing cheeks.

This mischievous ghost loves tricks AND treats! They will gladly give you a yummy lollipop, but only after they’ve spooked you!

The lollipop ghost is completely different to the trick or treat ghost. This ghostie has a bit of a naughty/mischievous look about him as he holds a MASSIVE lollipop! I think he may have scared someone for his sweet treat and is celebrating his accomplishment.

Lemoncreamsicle

Fishing Fox Enamel Pin.

First thing I want to mention here is at the time of writing this post (22/01/2021) the store is closed and plans to open again this year. Lemoncreamsicle keeps their Instagram up to date so make sure to go and follow! They’re currently talking about new products which is awesome.

The patient fox gets the fish — and you can take that spirit with you wherever you go with this adorable pin!

I’d been after the fishing fox enamel pin for what felt like forever! As soon as the store opened on Etsy I made sure to get my order in. This is actually one of my favourite enamel pins that I own due to how adorable the fox design is. As you can see the design is a little fox whose just caught a fish and judging by the bucket behind him it isn’t his first catch of the day! I especially love that this is an enamel pin with a chain on it, it really adds to the design and the little fish dangling at the end of the line! The dangling fish/line is free dangling and doesn’t have a pin on it. This is a gold enamel pin and has two double backs with pink rubber backs.

Adorablush

Shaymin Watermelon Enamel Pin and Eevee Strawberry Enamel Pin.

First thing I want to mention here is at the time of writing this post (22/01/2021) the store is closed for the weekend to fulfil orders but Adorablush does open often. Make sure to go and follow her on Instagram for updates. She pops timers on too for when the shop will open, which is always good.

I picked up these two pins through the Kickstarter in 2020 alongside Sarah (Raiin Monkey) and I’m so glad I did before the VAT issues. I love Pokemon and fruit isn’t exactly a bad thing is it? 😛 I decided to go for the Shaymin watermelon design as well as the Eevee strawberry design. Fun fact, I’m actually allergic to watermelon and strawberries are one of my favourite fruits to eat.

These enamel pin designs are adorable and have the signature/unique look of Adorablush. They’re both cuddling their desired fruits and looking adorable. The look chubby in their designs and the colours compliment and work well in each design. Both pins are gold enamel and have two double backs with lime green rubber backs. The other enamel pin designs from this collection are gorgeous and I especially love the Dwebble design where he’s with his coconut!

Dinojar

Haku Enamel Pin.

At the time of writing this post (22/01/2021) Dinojar doesn’t have these in stock, but make sure to keep your eyes peeled on their Etsy store to see when it comes back in stock! I picked up this pin through the Kickstarter in 2020 and I love it so much, I don’t own many Haku enamel pins but I do really love this design. It’s chubby, chibi and perfect all around. It’s not an overcomplicated design which is something I really like. You get that it’s Haku! It’s a gold enamel pin and has two double backs with black rubber backs.

Sukarimoon

I Don’t Give a Fluff Enamel Pin.

At the time of writing this post (22/01/2021) this enamel pin is in the sale from $10.00 to $5.00! I wanted to get that out of the way, as if you like this post it’ll be worth going to get it asap if you can! This being said, I don’t know if you’ll be able to buy this enamel pin if you’re in the UK. This enamel pin is SO ADORABLE and is one I’ve had my eye on for a while. I think it’s actually based off of the owners Pomeranian. It’s a little brown Pomeranian, with white feet and across the body in gold it states, “i don’t give a fluff”. Which in all honesty… I don’t. 😛 I don’t know why but I expected this enamel pin to be bigger, but that being said I don’t mind the size as it is. This pin is on gold enamel and has two backs with black rubber backs. There was a limited edition of this pin that was white glitter, that’s how I discovered this enamel pin in the first place but of course I missed out on this one.

Nyanzilla

Warriors of Cute Bard Enamel Pin and Warriors of Cute Mameshiba Mini Enamel Pin.

I picked up this pin through the Kickstarter in 2020 and it recently arrived. It was worth the wait and is such a cute enamel pin! I started playing D&D in 2019 and whilst I’m not a massive D&D nerd, I do enjoy playing the two campaigns I’m a part of. The first character I created for D&D is a dragonborn bard, so of course I had to back the deer bard character from the Warriors of Cute collection! The bard is dressed in green clothing and is holding a harp style instrument. It’s really cute and worked really well! I could have backed loads more but I wanted to be good. I’m also a fox ranger in Dane’s campaign, a design I would have loved to see part of Nyanzilla’s collection. The bard pin is on gold enamel and has two backs with yellow rubber backs. As a thank you for backing the Kickstarter I received the Warriors of Cute Mameshiba mini enamel pin. It’s a cute little shiba head, with a blep (tongue sticking out) and a green tie around it’s neck. It’s absolutely adorable and will make for a great filler in one of my itabags. Like the bard, this is on a gold enamel BUT this only has one back with a black rubber back.

Just to add, Nyanzilla does also have an Etsy store for her international buyers, so if you’re in the UK like me you can still get your goodies. However, I don’t know if the main website and the Etsy store are updated the same. I know at the moment the Warriors of Cute designs aren’t on the Etsy store at the time of writing this post… So it might be worth reaching out to Nyanzilla in regards if you wanted to buy one of these enamel pins from the UK on Etsy.

I ALSO want to add here how Nyanzilla is currently revealing her new Kickstarter for Elementalists that are inspired by Eeveelutions. Go and check out their Instagram for more information and images that have been revealed so far… I already want to back for ALL of the designs and I’ve only seen a handful. 😛

So there we have it guys, just a handful of enamel pins I have bought lately! Some of these dated back from the end of summer last year that I’ve been meaning to show off for quite some time now. I was planning to talk about more independent artists here, but one I’m actually going to give them their own post to talk all about their enamel pins and why you should check them out. Another I personally just don’t wish to talk about them on here… I’ve spoken about them on my Instagram before so. 🙂

Which enamel pins caught your eye? Do you own any of the same designs as I do? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below, as well as any enamel pin artists you can recommend for me to check out!

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