Shop Small UK Guide – Christmas 2021

We are officially less than two weeks away from Christmas now and DAMN it’s starting to feel real! I’m just about finished now with most of my Christmas presents in the run up to the big day, but in some cases I’ve been and still am in need of some inspiration. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve really struggling this year to find the perfect gifts for Dane, my friends and especially my mom! My dad has been the easiest person to buy for this year, which makes a change. 😛

Alongside my Christmas present woes, I always enjoy writing and sharing gift guides with you all and this year is no exception. Last year I wrote about independent businesses in the UK that you should buy from and I wanted to do that again this year. The past twenty-one months has been hard for everyone, especially independent businesses, whether or not they existed before or after COVID began. This doesn’t just apply to the UK, but I’ve seen a lot of small businesses struggle lately, and in worse cases close down due to not being able to make enough sales to keep going.

I really want to continue to do my bit in helping these businesses as much as I can. Not only do I hope it helps you gain some new gift ideas, but I also hope it introduces you to some businesses you may not have heard of before and decide to shop with going into the New Year!

I still love a lot of the small businesses I mentioned last year, so I will link that post here! I won’t be mentioning businesses again that I spoke of last year, just so it’s fair on other businesses mentioned here.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this blog post today! I’ll be mentioning stores last dates to order for Christmas too.

Image taken from SplashJaguarCo

SplashJaguarCo – Kawaii home and stationary items inspired by Animal Crossing. Rugs handmade in West Midlands, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – 2nd Class 18th December and 1st Class 21st December. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

If there is one thing people have been really loving towards the end of the year, it’s been Animal Crossing! With the new update and Happy Home Paradise launching at the start of November, Animal Crossing fans have gone mad even more than ever. If you know someone who loves Animal Crossing, as well as stationary you should definitely check out SplashJaguarCo! Not going to lie the Cookie washi tape pictured above is on my Christmas list and I really hope I get it this year. I plan to use it to decorate my diary for 2022 and more. There are various characters to choose from to have on washi tape including Maple, Marshal, Tangy, Roald, Stitches and more! A roll or two of these cute little washi tapes would make perfect gifts for any Animal Crossing fan of any age or gender, whether it be for Secret Santa, a stocking filler and more.

Image taken from BeaconCandlesUK

BeaconCandlesUK – Scented candles for Gamers, Readers and Film Fanatics handmade in Manchester, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – The store will be closing on Sunday 19th December. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

BeaconCandlesUK is a brand I’ve known about for as long as I can remember now and have always wanted to order from. I can’t remember how but I discovered them through their Lavender Town candle that is clearly inspired by the town in Pokemon. Not only does it sound amazing, but it looks really cool with the Cubone skull and bone on the top of the candle too. Alongside Pokemon candles you can also get some inspired by Final Fantasy, Animal Crossing, Lord of the Rings and more! The scents sound delicious and I’m sure these would make great gifts for any candle lovers out there! I’m contemplating buying some of these for friends this year for Christmas. I feel like candles make amazing gifts for people and it’s one of those where even if you aren’t sure what smells someone will like, if you bought a Pokemon fan one of the Pokemon candles, they would be so thankful!

Image taken from PokieMinx

PokieMinx – Terrariums and vanity desk gifts inspired by Pokémon & The Moomins. Handmade in South Yorkshire, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Unfortunately orders for Christmas have now ended. This being said the store IS still open with items being sent 1st Class tracked and signed so they arrived within 1-2 business day. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I couldn’t not share PokieMinx and her adorable creations! These would make perfect gifts for any Pokemon or The Moomins fan out there, especially if they’re like myself and have started to work from home part time. A terrarium with their favourite Pokemon inside sitting on their desk could really brighten their day. Or maybe a mirror? The Cubone one shown about is gorgeous and I can’t stop looking at it whenever I venture over to PokieMinx’s website whenever I take a look at it. Anything from PokieMinx’s store would make amazing and personal gifts for any Pokemon or The Moomins fans, especially as everything is handmade by Kimmy! There are also enamel pin/earring stands too so if you know someone who has started to get into collecting pins or earrings, these would make amazing gifts too.

Image taken from ARTBOX

ARTBOX – Cute character goods from Japan and Korea. Based in Covent Garden London, UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at the time of writing this blog post. If you’re based in or around London, the Covent Garden store will be open on Christmas Eve from 11am until 4pm. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

I wanted to mention ARTBOX here as whilst it isn’t as independent as some Etsy sellers and independent stores might be online, it’s a great place to buy Japan and Korea based items, whether it be online or from their store in London. I’m yet to come to the day where I actually order something from them, which might be later today! 😛 ARTBOX would be a great place to get items for your friends and family who love Sanrio, Pusheen, Rilakkuma and BT21. There are all sorts of different items to buy from and at all price ranges so it’s perfect for anything and everything. Personally I’m toying with treating myself to the PomPomPurin plush shown above, which you can pose and dress up! How cute is that?!

Image taken from Stitchtothepast

Stitchtothepast -Video Games Cross Stitch, Patterns & Kits! Based in the UK.

Last date to order for Christmas – Not known at the time of writing this blog post. However, as Royal Mail are struggling at this time of year due to Christmas AND the new COVID variant, please bear in mind delays may occur. If you want to guarantee item(s) to arrive for Christmas order as soon as possible.

The final store I wanted to mention on today’s post is about Stitchtothepast, which is a store I discovered in the summer. If you’re a newbie to cross stitch, or a “pro” like me there is loads of choose from. Personally for gifts the cross stitch kits from their store would make great gifts for anyone, especially if they’re into Nintendo video games series such as Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Zelda, Kirby and more. I personally really love the look of the Animal Crossing Celeste cross stitch kit where she’s stargazing. It’s such a gorgeous design and one I would love to do and display in my house in the future. The kits are really good and come with a cross stitch guide, a wooden hoop, thread and a thread organiser, pattern, a needle and more. If you know someone who would like to get into cross stitch in 2022, one of the kits might make a great gift for them!

So, there we have it, my 2021 guide to small shops you should buy your Christmas gifts from this year! All UK based of course. 🙂

What do you guys think? I didn’t cover off as many stores and themes as I did last year, but I felt like last years post was so detailed, I couldn’t really improve on it as good this year. Please do check out last years guide too, those stores are still around and amazing to boot!

Honestly guys, I hope you enjoyed this post today as much as I enjoyed writing it. I watched Christmas movies whilst writing, as well as chilling with Dane in our office. It’s made a lovely change sitting at my desk to do blog work.

Are there any small shops in the UK that you feel I should know about? Make sure to let me know and I’ll take a look for next time and promote on my Instagram page before the big day. 🙂

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

Currently #2

I know it hasn’t been too long since the last currently list (just over two weeks to be exact!) but I felt the need to do another one, as I have currently been doing, and loving so much stuff! All whilst working a lot… Which is the reason I’ve been so quiet on my blog lately.

Watching: I’ve been watching Jackass again lately. Every time I re-watch it I am once again reminded how much I love that damn show, but at the same time I forgot just how much I miss Ryan Dunn. As well as Jackass me and my boyfriend recently downloaded the Crunchy Roll app, and we are in love with it! It’s an app like Netflix that allows you to watch anime, as well as Japanese drama, and regular readers will know how much I love all things Japan (apart from octopus balls… Ew) so this app was a definite must have for us. Thanks to the app I was able to finally watch Himouto! Umaru-chan, something I have wanted to watch for AGES! It’s an anime about a high school girl who outside of her house and in school appears to be perfect, in every way. However as soon as she goes home, she turns into a lazy, gaming nerd. That is legit me… Apart from the perfect in every way… That isn’t me. 😛 BUT it is such an amazing anime and I am already a huge fan. I recommend anime fans to check it out ASAP. I’ve linked a video above with the introduction to the show. I don’t want to link anything that will ruin the show for anyone.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Playing: There’s one game I’ve been playing loads this month and that’s Lego: The Hobbit game. I had neglected it for a while until recently when I decided it was time to finish it… I’m not even halfway through it… DOH! I loved The Hobbit films, and although a lot of people disliked them, they were my favourite out of the Lord of The Rings series… Please don’t hate me LoTR’s fans! Alongside that me and my boyfriend finished Life is Strange, after the last episode came out last week. I’ve loved that game so much, and I really want to play it from start to finish soon. The story was amazing, and the way it ended was incredibly sad and not at all predictable like most games, movies, books, etc are these days. I recommend Life is Strange if you like gaming, especially games like Heavy Rain, and Beyond Two Souls where you need to choose how the story ends.

Listening: I honestly haven’t listened to much different from I usually do… I usually listen to Bloodhound Gang of late, but alas this hasn’t been the case the past couple of weeks. On my drive to work and back I’ve had my iPod on shuffle, but this being said a certain band has stuck out lately, and I’ve listened to them quite a bit not just in my car, but also in my boyfriends car. I grew up listened to Limp Bizkit’s album Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (gosh, what a mouthful!) so whenever I listen to it now it takes me back to when I first started to discover nu metal/rap metal and how much I loved it. To name a few of my favourite songs from the album would have to be, “My Way” (which is my favourite Limp Bizkit song tbh…), “Livin’ It Up”, and “Getcha Groove On” (which I have linked above in a YouTube video as it’s my favourite song from the album).

Image taken from weheartit.com

Eating: I’ve been eating so much Japanese food lately, it’s crazy. With the new Grand Central opening in Birmingham, and also a new Yo! Sushi opening up in there too, me and my boyfriend thought we would treat ourselves to Japanese food there. Only to do the same again the weekend after, but at a Japanese restaurant in Coventry called Chi Bar. My friend also wanted to visit the new Yo! Sushi, so I went again, and like before we also went to the Chi Bar that same weekend too! It sounds really bad eating so much Japanese food, diet wise, but oh my it was so worth it! I’m such a fan for the sumo bowls at Yo! Sushi, as well as any flavour gyoza. Yummy!

Image taken from weheartit.com

Wearing: I’ve still been wearing my Dr Martens boots loads, but sadly they have been giving my feet a bit of trouble so they’ve been retired for a few weeks to allow my feet a much-needed break. Instead I have been rocking my Star Wars Vans again, a pair of shoes that I have been loving all of 2015 so far, and I know this will continue. They’re so perfect and easy to wear, with any outfit really. I really want to pick up another pair, just incase my current ones fall apart or anything worse! I do however have some new Vans, which I will be showing off on Friday!

Image taken from Jeffree Star Cosmetics official Instagram page

Wanting: Honestly there isn’t all that much I am lusting after at the moment… Which comes as a shock to me to be perfectly honest. 😛 If there is one thing I really want right now, it is one of the Christmas shades from Jeffree Star Cosmetics, this one of course being Hoe Hoe Hoe. It is a beautiful dark red shade, with pink shimmer running throughout. I haven’t seen anyone else do this with a liquid lipstick, and not to mention it is very beautiful! I’ll be ordering one as soon as they are put live on Cocktail Cosmetics website!

What things are you currently into? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below. I apologise that I have been so quiet lately, I am now working full-time at work again so I am trying my best to try and juggle work and my blog. It’ll all be okay! ^_^

Until next time all, take care and I hope all my readers are having a lovely week so far.

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Film Review – Guest Post!

Another amazing guest post from my friend Gabriella and this will become a regular monthly post from her now, film reviews! I’m happy to announce that the first one will be the third and final Hobbit film.

Image taken from fortitudemagazine.co.uk

Category:

Fantasy/Action

Ideal For:

Fans of fantasy and anything to do with Lord of the Rings/Tolkien.

Rewatchability Factor (out of 10)

8

Overall Rating (out of 10)

9

Review:

Because of the truly spectacular end to the Lord of the Rings trilogy with Return of the King, and the controversy surrounding a 300-page book being split into three films, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies had a lot to live up to. Thankfully it lived up to it all.

Set at the end of their quest, having finally reached the majestic halls of Erebor, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the rest of The Company have accidentally unleashed the evil dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) on the unsuspecting Lake-Town. However, as the name suggests, this film isn’t merely about a fight between Dwarves and Dragons, but rather a larger battle that is the primary focus of the second half of the film.

Although the seriousness of the story is obvious throughout all three films, BOTFA takes it to a new level with the lengthy, blood-filled battles, the realities of war and showing how an overabundance of pride can devastate a world. There is still humour to be found though, most of which is a well-timed relief from the sombre tone of the film, but there were a few occasions that seemed a little more forced.

At just under two hours and thirty minutes, it is the shortest of the trilogy but is still fairly lengthy, but it never feels as though it drags on. So much is happening within the film, including a side story with Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) and The Necromancer (Benedict Cumberbatch), that it doesn’t feel like a long film. The changes between scenes, from the Dwarves, Elves Legolas and Tauriel (Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly), and the Race of Man such as Bard (Luke Evans), are all nicely paced. Even when the main battle begins, the other parts don’t feel rushed or unnecessary.

In the book, Bilbo Baggins is the main focus of the story, and because of this, there was an expectation for Martin Freeman to leave the most lasting impression, and he does do a wonderful job, but it was Richard Armitage that well and truly stole the show. Because Thorin had to undergo a major personality change, there was a chance that the change would have felt unnatural or disingenuous, but Armitage’s interpretation felt incredibly real and the struggle within his mind was so superbly done that his madness was almost tangible. Richard Armitage deserves an Oscar for his performance, although the likelihood of this happening is unfortunately incredibly slim. Regardless, a part of what makes BOTFA so great, and gives it such a deep emotional resonance, is Thorin Oakenshield.

After two viewings of BOTFA, there were only two issues with the film. The first is the CGI. While most of it was absolutely superb, there was simply too much of it, and some parts seemed unnecessary. The character Dain (played by Billy Connolly) appeared to have a CGI beard, which looked bizarre, and some of soldiers in the battle looked copied and pasted in places. While this is not a major issue, it made escapism difficult in places.

The second issue with the film was the focus on some characters that left others being ignored almost completely. Legolas had a significantly longer screen time despite not being in the original book than characters that were, including a long battle scene that could have easily made room for other characters. An original character, a human male by the name of Alfrid (Ryan Gage) also ended up with considerable screen time, most of which was tedious and irritating; the film would have been just as perfect without him.

With all the hype and build up over the last two years, there was concern that it would end up collapsing under the weight of all the expectations. However, the final film was a masterpiece that truly deserves to be recognised as one of the greatest film of 2014. A poignant but fitting farewell to Middle-Earth.

Quick Review:

Positives: Great end to a brilliant trilogy; amazing acting, particularly by Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman; emotionally compelling; great battle scenes

Negatives: Poor CGI in places; irritating original character; not enough screen time for other characters.

Thanks again Gabriella for this film review, it was amazing!

Did you go and watch this when it was out? If so did you like it? Let us know in the comments!

Disaster Designs Paper Plane Satchel & Bonus What’s In My Bag

Recently I bought myself a new bag and after a few weeks of using it, I’m finally getting around to showing it off on my blog!

It’s my gorgeous new Disaster Designs bag! It’s the Paper Plane design and it’s been about for ages, since my second or third year of university and that was back in 2009-2011! One of my favourite shops in Birmingham used to sell the whole Paper Plane’s range but as a skint student I just lusted over the expensive bags, never buying one for myself. At the time it was out in the shop in question it cost either £40 or £50, a lot of money for a bag and I couldn’t justify paying that much. To make matters worse a girl in one of my classes at university had this bag and I envied her every class we had together!

As regular readers will have seen, I mentioned this bag in my February Wish List earlier this month and how much I was in need of a new one and when I remembered back to this satchel that I had wanted all those years ago, I went straight to eBay to try and find a good bargain.

There were a couple of these on there but they were either new but too expensive or used and in terrible condition for nearly just as much as the new ones on there. Eventually I stumbled across this bag, brand new and bloody hell did I have to do some bidding to get it! Eventually I won the bid and snapped this beauty up for £30.00, with £4.00 for P&P.

Since test driving this bag over the past 2 weeks, I knew I had to do a post about it, and as well as writing about my new bag, I thought I’d show you what I keep in there too. Think of it as a bonus!

But first of all, about the bag!

This is definitely a different satchel than ones you would normally buy, and that’s what I like about it! I love the Paper Plane theme and it looks so pretty and cute. You can buy all sorts of bags from the Paper Plane collection but this one just grabs my eye that little more than the others, probably because of its letter and plane theme. It just seems frightfully romantic and really does bring out the writer in me.

Not only does the bag look gorgeous with the style of it and design, but the cute little features on it too really do stand out and make it rather unique to anything else you would find out there. The front of the bag has little features such as a bird, which looks to be a swallow, as well as a red and white bow on one of the buckles, a hanging postage stamp shaped piece that says, “travel in style” with a swallow in the middle, and in between the two buckles on the flap of the bag it reads, “Return to sender” which I love the most about this bag.

Even on the back of the bag there is some detail, but only one! In the middle of the back of the bag there is a little white square with a red envelope inside, underneath it says “S.W.A.L.K” and quite frankly I don’t have a clue what it stands for! So, I went to Google and I found out exactly what it means (I found out the meaning on Wikipedia):

S.W.A.L.K. is an acronym usually seen on a love letter of a courting couple. It stands for “sealed with a loving kiss” and is one of several acronyms that seemingly originated during the Second World War. A variant is S.W.A.K., sealed with a kiss.

If I didn’t love my bag before knowing this, then I must be IN love with it now! It’s such a gorgeous think to put on the bag and makes the bag seem even more beautiful than I already thought it was.

I love this bag so much and whilst some websites do still sell it, your best bet might just be to pop onto eBay like I did. I typed in “Disaster Designs paper plane satchel” and you should at least find one bag if not a couple.

So, what’s IN my bag?

Yes it’s time for the bonus part of this post where I show what I’m keeping in my new bag. I took these pictures after a close shift at work, so this is what was in there when I got home. I didn’t add or remove anything either, so I’m not cheating. 🙂

I always make sure to throw a book in my bag if I’m going to work or if I’m meeting a friend as I like something to read before I head into work or if I turn up somewhere early or a friends running late. I’ve recently started reading Simon Pegg’s autobiography called Nerd Do Well. I’m only on chapter 2 and I love it already! It’s such an amazing book and so far with the way he’s planned it out it’s great. I can see me writing a huge post about it once I’ve finished reading it.

Of course I must have my iPhone 5 in here. I actually slipped it into the case I use at home, which is my rubber Game Boy case, but when I’m out and about I use my hand red case as if I were to drop it with my Game Boy case on, it could smash… Which isn’t good!

Another necessity for anyone, whether you have a bag or not are house keys and some money. I love my house keys, they’re multicoloured tartan but it’s my key rings that I like the most. Three of them are Lego related, one being R2D2 from Star Wars (this is my second one of him, as my first was 10 years old and the print faded), whilst my other two are of Frodo Baggins and Bilbo Baggins from Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. Finally I have a glass seahorse that was a recent purchase when my friend Poppy and I visited The Sea Life Center in Birmingham. She bought the same one, so now we have matching key rings, which is somewhat cute.

I love my wallet so much, as I love foxes, but also because it reminds me of my Gran. For my 22nd birthday in 2012 she gave me some birthday money, which I used to buy this wallet and as regular or old readers will know, she passed away nearly a year ago. Not only is it a gorgeous wallet, but it holds so much stuff in there too! It’s by Loungefly and whilst it wasn’t cheap, for the two years I’ve had it, it’s doing me well! I thought about buying the matching purse and bag for this but sadly I can’t find them anywhere to pick up!

As I drive I keep my car key and my car stereo in my bag whenever I’m at home as I drive pretty much everywhere now! I really don’t know how I could travel via the bus, it’s all cars and trains for me now. I love my car and what better way to show it than a couple of cute key rings! I was going to have small key rings on my car key but I knew it would be impossible to find them in my bag and I didn’t want to keep my car key with my house keys… So I opted for a massive plushie key ring for my car key! As well as that when I saw this cute 101 Dalmatian key ring in the Disney Store years ago, I couldn’t leave it behind and bought it to keep on my car key too.

My stereo is pretty standard, I listen to must a lot whilst driving, but I HATE having to make a new CD to listen to every few weeks.

Just some standard things a woman will keep in her handbag… A mirror for when I top up my lipsticks, hand sanitizer, paracetamol, tissues and some hand cream. Nothing special!

Finally we have what I keep in the little zip pocket inside my bag… I know I have a lot of lip balms, but I shall explain why! I bought the Carmex one on a whim that I was loving the original and wanted one to keep in my handbag. As you can see this one is in Strawberry and it’s vile! I can’t wait to use it up, but at the same time it does do a good job when applied over lipstick, but it tastes fowl! I think my favourite lip balm every has to be my Apple Chapstick and I think I’m running low on this too. It’s not the best lip balm in the world though, it just tastes and smells delicious! The best one out of the three is my Palmer’s Cocoa Butter. It’s really creamy and out of them all is the only one that I can actually feel working when I apply it, but at times I think my lips are allergic as they tingle and hurt. Either way I keep three in my bag incase I lose one… Good enough reason, right?

As well as those I keep a little hand cream in here which is the same as the large one in the previous photo as well as a lip product. The one I’ve been using a lot this week is this lip gloss by Collection 2000 called Lock N Hold. I might review this soon but I know one thing I will say, it doesn’t last 6 hours at all! I wear this at work and have to top it up every hour, which doesn’t bother me, but when I’m on a shift for less than 6 hours, it’s concerning. Let me know if you want me to review this!

So with an empty bag, I’ve thrown everything back in and got into bed!

I love my new bag so much and it’s going to be featured a lot on future What I’m Wearing posts, which I want to try and get back up on my blog again.

So, what do you think of my new bag? Love it, hate it, or not arsed? 😛 Let me know in the comments!

If you have any questions about the bag, or anything else mentioned in this post, please feel free to ask in the comments too.

I hope you’ve all had a great week so far and here’s to the weekend!

Until next time, take care all.