Little Ivy Rose & Co – Pokemon Wax Melts*

I am so excited to talk about something a little different on my blog than usual! I don’t think I’ve ever spoken about wax melts on here before, but candles have definitely come up in the past!

I LOVE candles and have especially fallen in love with burning wax melts since I started working from home in 2020 due to Covid. These days I burn wax melts when I’m working from home, or having lazy weekends at home with Dane. I don’t own as many candles right now, but they tend to get burnt when I’m too lazy to burn wax. I just love my home smelling gorgeous no matter what time of year! I tend to burn a wax tart both upstairs and downstairs, usually with the same scent burning, but sometimes I do mix it up to make my own unique scents. I recently tried one of the wax melts I’ll be talking about today alongside with a scent (by another brand) that smells like Lush’s Yog Nog and the house ended up smelling like a lemon meringue! It was so good and I want to do it again!

Today’s blog post is all about Little Ivy Rose & Co and her amazing wax tart store! Tasha’s candles not only smell gorgeous, but they’re definitely aimed at people who love their characters, such as Pokemon, Disney and Harry Potter.

The Pokemon themed wax melts were all kindly gifted to me by Tasha as a thank you for supporting her and her Etsy since it opened towards the end of 2021. This being said, I’m still going to mark this post as gifted, as I did mention to Tasha that I was planning on writing a blog post all about Little Ivy Rose & Co on my blog as soon as the chance came up! Apart from the descriptions of each wax tart scent, all words are my own and items that are gifted will be marked with an *.

Before I really talk about Little Ivy Rose & Co and the gorgeous smelling wax melts I was sent, I want to share a little bit about Tasha and her business first!

Little Ivy Rose & Co began in April 2020 making wreaths, but in December 2021 Tasha began to make candles and wax melts, which is when I discovered her! I discovered Little Ivy Rose & Co around the end of 2021 on Instagram when her sister (PokieMix) was advertising Tasha’s candles on her stories. I saw a Snow Fairy dupe (Winter Fairy) and knew I had to check her out! For anyone that isn’t aware, I LOVE the smell of Snow Fairy, so whenever I hear of good dupes of it, I’m all over that. I want my house to smell of Snow Fairy all year around. 😛

I really wanted to pick up one of the large Winter Fairy candles but due to spending so much over Christmas and a huge collection of candles and wax melts waiting to be burnt, I had to leave it. Unfortunately due to that, I missed out on snagging this candle. If this is still available when I’m paid next, I may need to order one to burn whilst me and Dane have lazy days together, as he loves Snow Fairy too!

Just before the start of 2022, Tasha announced she would be bringing Pokemon wax melts to her store, which I was super excited about! I’ve always wanted to try Pokemon themed wax melts before from sellers on Etsy, but just never gone for it. There has always been a few scents I’ve loved the sound of and a newer one especially, all of them will be spoken about on today’s post!

One of the wax melts I’ll be talking about wasn’t gifted by Tasha originally but was actually bought for me for my birthday in January (thanks Sacha!). I’d always planned to talk about this wax melt in question, but now it’ll be down as gifted seeing as I have a brand new one to burn! 😀

Each pack of wax melts comes with six cubes. I found each cube gave me between 8-12 hours worth of burning time, which is pretty good in my opinion! So, overall for one pack you’re looking at between 48-72 hours of burning, which is really good in my opinion for the cost of them! Each packet costs £4.00, which either way I think is a decent price too for how much burn time you’re getting!

There are a range of scents to choose from and there’s definitely something for everyone. There isn’t just Pokemon either, as mentioned previously in the blog post, there’s also Harry Potter, Disney princesses and none themed wax melts too. I love how there’s something for everyone as everyone’s taste in scents differs. I much prefer food and sweet smells myself, whereas some cannot get enough of floral scents.

Image taken from Little Ivy Rose & Co

As all the wax melts I will be sharing today are Pokemon themed, I wanted to share all the Pokemon scents so far below (ones in bold are what I’m talking about today).

Pikachu (Lemon Sherbet), Bulbasaur (Fresh Cut Grass), Charmander (Woodsmoke & Leather), Jigglypuff (Candy Floss), Snorlax (Lavender), Meowth (Dark Opium), Wobbuffet (Midnight Jasmine), Squirtle (Cypress & Sea Fennell), Psyduck (Seychelles), Ponyta (Amber Orange), Slowpoke (Birthday Cake) and Eevee (Chocolate Orange).

Enough chatter, let me share with you these gorgeous scented, kawaii wax melts!

Pokemon Pikachu Lemon Sherbet Wax Melt* – £4.00 (link)

Juicy lemon and lime and a splash of sweet orange and hints of red fruits, strawberry and raspberry followed by a fizzy tongue twisting sherbet.

This wax tart is so delicious and I’m sad it didn’t last me very long the first time owning it, as I just couldn’t stop burning it! This Pikachu wax tart smells of lemons, but refresher sweeties type lemon which is sharp but still sweet smelling. The throw of this is amazing and can leave a room smelling amazing for hours, it’s definitely one I recommend if you want to try something with lemon in and especially great to gift to someone who loves Pikachu. Due to the wax tart being lemon scented, as well as Pikachu inspired the wax melt is of course yellow.

I’m sure I speak for many when I say one of the reasons I love wax melts and candles is due to some scents giving you nostalgic and happy memories (as well as some cringe worthy ones you’d rather forget!) when you smell them, which is definitely something this wax melt does for me! I remember as a child/early teenager me and my dad would go to arcades to play on the 2p pusher machines and they usually had prizes them in such as keyrings and sweets. We always tried to win both of them but one day I remember we both came home with a small bag of lemon refreshers that lasted us ages! This is exactly what this reminds me of. It’ll be one I’d burn throughout the summer, as this was usually when we visited said arcades.

Pokemon Jigglypuff Candy Floss Wax Melt* – £4.00 (link)

A sweet candy floss accord with sticky sweet sugar notes and hints of strawberry, raspberry, vanilla and sherbet.

I’ll be honest straight away when I say out of the three wax melts here, the candy floss Jigglypuff scent isn’t the strongest of the bunch when smelling it in the packaging. That being said, this isn’t a bad thing as I know a lot of people who dislike strong wax melts and candles as they find they get headaches from them. Plus it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the same once it is burnt in my wax burner, which it honestly wasn’t! The throw of this one was so creamy and sweet and one that Dane really loved! It reminded us both of Bonfire Night in 2017 when we bought candy floss to eat whilst we watched the bonfire. As Dane loves this scent so much, it’s definitely one I’ll burn when we’re both at home together!

Pokemon Snorlax Birthday Cake Wax Melt* – £4.00 (link)

A mouth watering birthday cake depicted here by a blend of fresh fluffy sponge encasing whipped double cream and fruity strawberry jam.

Not going to lie, this is my favourite scent out of them all and one I’ve been really excited to try since Tasha announced it on her Instagram around the end of January/beginning of February. About a month ago me and Dane went to Homesense (because, why not…) and I took to having a nose at the candles, as you do. I bought one for my mom but left without one myself, which I was a tad gutted about as they had the most AMAZING birthday cake scented candles! So, when Tasha announced the Slowpoke birthday cake wax melt, I KNEW I had to get one! This smells like everything I imagined it to and because of that, I am in love!

As it states on the description, it sounds like a strawberry vanilla cheesecake type cake and it definitely reminds me of that! In the packaging the wax melt is very strong scented and even more so when I burnt it in my wax burner! The throw lasted hours and really did perk me up on a miserable, stormy day! It reminds me of the summer and having ice cream and sweet treats whilst exploring a countryside town. I already know I’ll be buying some more of these for myself, as well as other for their birthday’s!

So those are all the wax melts I was sent and have tried from Little Ivy Rose & Co to date! There are so many I want to try though at the moment including Ravenclaw Blueberry & Vanilla and Disney Meeko Biscuits (which I inspired Tasha to create!).

If you really like the sound of what Little Ivy Rose & Co are offering but don’t know where to begin when it comes to burning wax melts, don’t panic, Tasha got your covered!

So, what do you guys think about Little Ivy Rose & Co? I personally love them! If anything it’s really encouraged me to use more of my wax melts now I’ve gone through a big chunk of my stash.

Although I’ve popped the Little Ivy Rose & Co store and Instagram page throughout the post, I’ll pop them below too:

Store

Instagram

I want to say a massive thank you to Tasha for being so lovely to me the past couple of months since we started talking on Instagram. Our love of candles and raccoons has really flourished and I’m so happy I got the chance to write about her on my blog today!

Any scents or themes you like the sound of more so than others? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time guys, have an amazing weekend and stay safe and well. 🙂

Tomodachi Store – Review and Haul

Wow, two review and haul posts in a row? I’m spoiling you guys this month, aren’t I? 😛

At the end of 2021 I was inspired to write so many review and haul posts, it’s crazy! If there’s anything I discovered in 2020 through Covid and lockdowns, it’s how much I really fell in love with supporting independent stores and artists and sharing them on here for others to discover and fall in love with too.

If there’s one store I’ve been meaning to talk about for well over a year now, it’s Tomodachi Store. I’ve mentioned them briefly on my blog in the past but since making my first purchase late 2020, I’ve always meant to write about them.

Fast forward another year and another purchase and it’s FINALLY time to talk about Tomodachi and why you should check them out, especially if you’re a Pokemon and/or Animal Crossing fan.

Tomodachi is an enamel pin and mascot designer from Mexico, who loves the colour pink, yummy food and everything cute, which you can tell through their work. Their designs are so cute and adorable, I honestly can’t get enough of them, which is why I now own all of their cereal enamel pin designs. Now, I know you’re saying, “Cereal designs? Why would you want cereal themed enamel pins?” Well, that’s why I’m sharing all of them with you today!

Image taken from Reddit.

The cereal designs in question are Pokemon inspired. Back in 2000 Pokemon had truly taken over, not just over the pond but in the UK too. I fondly remember my hype of it as a kid, especially one day whilst walking through Sainsbury’s. Pokemon cereal had started to be stocked on the shelves of various supermarkets and I remember begging my mom to let me have a box. It never happened and from my mom’s point of view, for a good reason. “You won’t eat them!” and looking back, she was probably right. I’m a fussy eater in general, but cereal is one where one minute I love it and the next I hate it. So yeah, ten year old Nat never go to have Pokemon cereal.

The cereal was basically oat hoops with marshmallow pieces in the shape of Pokemon Pikachu, Poliwhirl, Oddish, and Ditto. They definitely remind me of Lucky Charms but better… Obviously because it’s Pokemon. 😛

Years later Tomodachi would feel inspired by the marshmallow pieces in the Pokemon cereal to recreate them as enamel pins!

At the time of writing this post there are three volumes for Pokemon cereal enamel pins, as well as one volume for Animal Crossing. I own all of them… Because. 😛

I’ll be going through the Animal Crossing volume one collection and then each of the Pokemon volumes too, as well as some of the shiny pins I own too.

Please also bear in mind at the time of writing this post, some of the enamel pins are sold out.

I will also be mentioning the grade of each pin as they vary between A and B. I go a little more into how Tomodachi grades their enamel pins shortly.

The first enamel pins I ordered from Tomodachi were the Animal Crossing volume one cereal collection, as well as Ditto and Gengar, but I’ll talk about them a little later.

Full Set Animal Crossing Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $35.00 / B Grade – $30.00.

Individual Animal Crossing Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade $6.00 each.

The Animal Crossing cereal pins are adorable and although not how I discovered Tomodachi originally, but the Animal Crossing collection definitely caught my eye. In volume one there are seven pins in total; Tom Nook, Isabelle, K.K. Slider, Celeste, Marshal, Fossil and Leaf. Originally I was only going to order Isabelle, but decided to just go for the whole set! I ordered the B grade. It’s obvious on some more than others, but this being said as I display these in my home anyway, it doesn’t bother me much. 🙂

One thing I love about all of Tomodachi’s pins is that the backs match the coloured enamel of the design, which you can see with the Animal Crossing pins too. I always love when enamel pin artists do this, it just adds a little more to the designs, and it’s aesthetically pleasing. 😛

My favourite out of the pins is definitely Isabelle and the fossil. I just love them both so much! Whenever I’ve shown this enamel pin set to people they always love Celeste too.

For anyone new to enamel pins, some sellers grade them. In Tomodachi’s store they have a pin grading policy, which I’ll pop a link to here. Always bear pin grading when buying from enamel pin artists, not all will grade the same either. In Tomodachi’s case, I think their grading system is fair and really good.

For my second and more recent order with Tomodachi, I made a HUGE order and went full out Pokemon Cereal mode! Bar one (Ditto) I ordered all the missing pins I needed to complete volume one, as well as volumes two and three. I was so hyped when all my goodies arrived.

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 1 – (link) A Grade – $6.00 each / B Grade – $5.00 each.

As previously mentioned, I already owned Ditto (B grade) and as the full set of volume one was sold out, I opted to just snag all the pins I needed instead. It worked out well either way!

Volume one contains eight pins in total; Pikachu, Poliwhirl, Oddish, Ditto, Pichu, Wobbuffet, Celebi and Cleffa. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Ditto, Wobbuffet and Celebi, which I’m planning to buy in the future!

The original volume one enamel pins are so adorable and are heavily influenced by the Pokemon cereal from 2000 that I mentioned earlier, as four of the Pokemon from the cereal are in this collection.

The one thing I want to comment on first of all is the packaging that Tomodachi uses for their enamel pins. Not only is the backing card adorable with the oat cereal in the background, but you’ll either receive a backing card that states, “Thanks!” or, “Arigato!” which is Japanese for thank you. It’s such a lovely touch and one I really like. It’s also one that has been commented on by friends over on my Instagram!

The pins I ordered are mostly A grade with Pikachu being B grade. It’s not too obvious (in my opinion) which is awesome. I have to say my favourite design in volume one has to be Pikachu and I think this is mostly down to reminding me of how much I love Pikachu back in the day when Pokemon first came out.

Alongside the eight original pin designs for volume one, as mentioned before, there is also shiny variants too with a blue Ditto, purple Wobbuffet and pink Celebi, which I’m hoping to pick up in the future!

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 2 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 2 – (link) A Grade $6.00 each.

In my second order from Tomodachi I not only bought most of the volume one pins I was missing, but also all of the volume two and three pins as well! For volume two I picked up the A grade enamel pins.

Volume two contains eight pins in total; Slowpoke, Gengar, Psyduck, Magikarp, Skitty, Shuppet, Makuhita and Plusle/Minun. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Margikarp, Psyduck, as well as Rainbow Gengar, with the latter two being ones I’d love to buy in the future.

The first thing I want to say here is how gutted I am that I couldn’t get Minun as you either get Plusle or Minun, so I’ll make sure to get the blue electric mouse next time I place an order!

That aside, this enamel pin set is so adorable and has some of my fondest Pokemon in from the anime, especially Gengar which is one of my favourite enamel pin designs from Tomodachi! I bought a Gengar on my first order with Tomodachi, but with getting one in the volume two set, I decided to sell my first one to my friend Sarah (Raiin Monkey) who loves Pokemon too!

As I bought the whole volume two set, Tomodachi also sent me a shiny Magikarp, which looks amazing! 😀 I’m definitely planning to snag the rest of the shiny Pokemon in this volume, as well as the rainbow Gengar too, which looks so amazing!

Full Set Pokemon Cereal Volume 3 – (link) A Grade – $40.00.

Individual Pokemon Cereal Volume 3 – (link) A Grade – $6.00 each / B Grade – $5.00 each.

As I mentioned about in my second order from Tomodachi I bought both volume two and volume three! I picked up B grade enamel pins for volume three too. I have to be honest, out of all the volumes I actually think volume three is my favourite so far!

Volume three contains eight pins in total; Jigglypuff, Shellder, Wooper, Applin, Mew, Litwick, Mantyke and Duosion. However, there are also some shiny variants for sale too, including Wooper, Shellder and Mew, with the latter two being planned to be purchased in the future, especially Mew!

One of the reasons this is my favourite volume is due to Mew being part of it, which is one of my favourite Pokemon. The Mew design is one I fell in love with back in early 2021 and I knew I needed it. It took a little longer than I hoped to finally add to my collection, but better late than never!

One of the other things I love in volume three is the colour palette, which is mostly pastel themed with pinks, purples, blues, as well as green and red which I also love. It’s not that the other volumes colour palettes don’t work, but this one is just aesthetically pleasing to my mind, as well as fashion styles at the moment. 😛

As mentioned before, I did pick up the B grade for the volume whilst most of the pins look great, there are a couple (Jigglypuff and Applin) where there are a few specks on them, but this being said I don’t mind. I’m always happy to have B grade pins. 😀

Like with volume two, Tomodachi also sent me a free shiny pin with my volume three set, which is a shiny Wooper! It’s so cute with the pink colour, I love it.

Alongside the normal and shiny Pokemon cereal enamel pins, Tomodachi does also sell Pokemon Golden Kanto Pins, as well as Pokemon Cereal Sticker Sheets.

In the near future I’m planning to make a pin hoop dedicated to Tomodachi’s cereal pins. There’s so many of them, they deserve their own hoop now. As there are a variety of colours too, I’m planning to pop the pins on my future pin hoop in rainbow colours… Because why not! 😀 Plus, with a Pokemon volume four on the way (tomorrow from what Tomodachi revealed on this weekend!), I’m going to need to make room for some more amazing Pokemon cereal designs… 😛

From previews I’ve seen of volume four on Tomodachi’s social media we appear to have Caterpie and Haunter… I’m excited already to see who else we may get! I’d love to see Eevee and Dragonite next. 😛

Overall you can really see a lot of love and passion has gone into these enamel pin designs from Tomodachi Store. The cereal enamel pins are so cute and reminiscent to when we were all kids. The colours and designs of each cereal piece is perfect too. I honestly love them!

What do you guys think of Tomodachi Store and their amazing and adorable Pokemon and Animal Crossing cereal enamel pins? Do you own any, or have any on your wish list? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time guys, have a lovely weekend and I’ll see you next week!

Ocean In Space Nana Patreon Exclusive Print – Review

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m so excited for a bank holiday this weekend! I have a fun day planned with one of my best friends over the bank holiday and I’m so READY for it! I’ve officially broken up for the long weekend now and wanted to spend the start of it writing about a brand I purchased a Nana item from recently. Those who know me, or have been around my blog or social media a long time (Twitter/Instagram) will know how much I LOVE Nana.

Ocean In Space is an independent artist/store I’ve known about for quite a while now but she especially came to my attention at the start of July when people were sharing a post on Instagram, which was a Nana print she’d designed. I was in awe of it and KNEW I had to buy! I’ve always wanted a Nana print to pop in a frame and hang in the bedroom/office, but I’ve never managed to find one I liked and was able to ship to the UK… Until now. 😛

I got it through Ocean In Space’s Patreon as it was an exclusive for backers for the month of July. I backed as soon as I could and towards the end of July my print arrived. Since then I’ve been DYING to share it with you guys.

I don’t know what it is… But I feel like through COVID a lot more people have discovered and fallen in love with Nana! I’ve seen it spoken about and plenty of fan art and fan made merchandise being shared and brought out on Instagram. I’m not complaining on bit. Nana was one of the first anime and manga series I watched and read and I’m still heartbroken neither of them are completed.

Get yourselves a hot drink (or an Asahi beer like Nana Osaki :P) now because this post is going to be a good and long one, especially for Nana fans. 😛

Nana is a manga series that ran between 2000-2009 before it went on an indefinite hiatus and is by Ai Yazawa. Yazawa both wrote and illustrated the manga series of Nana, I’m unsure about the anime. The reason for the hiatus is said to be due to Yazawa suffering health problems.

Nana is about two women of the same name (Nana, obviously) who meet whilst stuck on a train that is heading to Tokyo. Nana Komatsu is moving to Tokyo to be with her boyfriend and friends, whereas Nana Osaki is moving to Tokyo to kick start her career as a singer in a punk rock band. The two Nana’s lose each other after departing the train, but are joined together again when they both view the same apartment. As the apartment is meant for more than one person to live in, they decided to share it together and become roommates.

The series goes on to show how their friendship blossoms, as well as their relationships and how they impact each others lives. It’s an amazing series and I recommend it to everyone I talk to about manga and anime. Be warned though, it has heavy adult themes, some which have been discussed in a lot more detail lately. I won’t go into them too much, you can soon Google.

Now I’ve spoken about what Nana is about, I want to talk about Ocean In Space and the beautiful print.

Below is taken from Ocean In Space’s website:

Ocean In Space began in 2015 after I decided to make a t-shirt for myself. After an overwhelming amount of positive feedback online, I decided to start making them for other people as well! Ocean In Space was born from my love for all things bright, colourful, and happy. My #1 goal is to make people feel happy when they see my work. And what’s better when you can wear it!!

As soon as you venture onto Ocean In Space’s website it is incredibly colourful and you even get to see the artist behind the piece(s) you’re buying too, which I really like!

Via Patreon the print cost me £15.50, which included shipping too. I could have paid an extra £4.00 to sign up for the sticker club too, but I have way too many stickers as it is, so I left it… Which I semi regret.

The print came with a special thank you letter, as well as a image of Nana Osaki drawn as a cat (it’s a joke in the series) which I’ll show. It was really lovely to read Ocean In Space’s thoughts about Nana:

I’m super happy NANA won this month because it finally made me bite the bullet and watch the series.

The print itself is stunning and I honestly cannot get enough of how perfect it is. Of course, I’ll be talking about it in more detail. 😛

The print reminds me of the 00’s due to the bright colours and the stickers (they remind me of Lisa Frank too), which I love considering when the manga first came out.

Both Nana’s can be seen in a carefree and fun embrace, almost like a selfie sort of pose in a way. Nana Komatsu is the one with the long red hair, dressed in sweet clothing, whilst Nana Osaki is the one with purple short hair, the punk rocker clothing and of course an Asahi beer in hand! I love all of the details added onto both of the girls, but especially Nana Osaki. She loves Vivienne Westwood and has clothing and jewellery from the fashion designer, including the armour ring (something I’ve always wanted because of Nana).

I have one critique of this print, just one. I would have loved to see Nana Osaki’s lotus flower tattoo on her left arm instead of the tartan armband. This tattoo is (in my opinion anyway) a big part of Nana as it’s actually to symbolise her love of Ren. Nana Osaki argues with Nana Komatsu at some point of how it’s a ren flower, so…

Aside from this, the print is beautiful and I do really love it. You know me guys, I like to be honest here. 🙂

There is even a print of a “rough” sketch of the print as Ocean In Space was working on it, which I think is such a nice touch, especially with stating it was part of the July 2021 Patreon rewards too. You can also watch the process of this print over on Ocean In Space’s Instagram, which I’ll post a link to at the bottom of the post.

Overall I absolutely adore this print and cannot wait to get a frame for it so I can hang it up somewhere in the house. I’m undecided as of yet, but I’m thinking in the office about my desk so I can look at it whenever I need to feel inspired or a pick me up.

As mentioned, I’ll pop the links for Ocean In Space below!

Store

Patreon

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

So there we have it, a review of the Nana print that I bought from Ocean In Space’s Patreon page! What do you guys think of this beautiful print? Are you fans of Nana too and managed to snag one of your own? Will you be checking Nana out after me talking about it? Make sure to let me know in the comments below!

Until next time guys, have a lovely evening, as well as an amazing bank holiday!

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.

Pikarar – Review

Guys I’m back after a weekend off and I’m so excited to be sharing with you an independent artist/store that I fell in love with towards the end of 2020!

As regular readers (and followers of my Instagram) will know, I do really love to share independent artists/stores with you all. If anyone needs our support (purchasing wise) right now, it’s these guys! Plus, their designs are so much better. 😉

I discovered Pikarar around October/November 2020 when Yapfrog shared one of Pikarar’s designs over on Instagram. It was a shiba version of K.K. Slider and was ADORABLE! I went over to her store to check out her work straight away and made an order. I also pre-ordered some goodies towards the end of November 2020 for the New Year. I’m already planning to buy from Pikarar again, but I wanted to talk to you guys about my experience (spoiler it was amazing!) as well as share the goodies I picked up. 🙂

I first of all want to mention here that the store isn’t open at the moment, but I have reached out to Pikarar to find out roughly when it’ll be open again. At the time of publishing, I haven’t received an answer in regards.

Pikarar is based in America so I already hear a lot of you in the UK worrying you may not be able to order… I don’t think we have to worry! Granted, I avoided the VAT related issues that began at the start of 2021, but I’m still in the frame of mind that Pikarar will offer to ship to the UK, which is amazing!

I want to get this out there first, shipping was NOT cheap, but it was worth every penny for how bloody quickly everything arrived. Both my orders arrived to me a week after they’d been shipping and as I had tracking with both too I was able to track the process. 🙂 I also didn’t get customs charges either, which was AMAZING! We all hate those, don’t we? I paid $20.00 shipping but personally this was worth every penny to me. 🙂

On the website there is a section where you can preview what will be for sale, but these are view only images. There aren’t any prices at the moment I’m afraid. I can’t 100% remember how much I paid for some of pieces I bought either, which is frustrating so sorry I can’t give exact prices on some of the pieces I picked up. I’ll mention what the rough price is on some items and the actual prices on others.

One thing to mention here is any clothing you buy, Pikarar will send you an apparel care guide, aka how to wash them etc. You need to wash the clothing inside out in cold water. I hate hand washing stuff and with my dermatitis on my hand, it isn’t something I can really “afford” to do. Instead I opt for popping the pieces into my washing machine inside out on a lot heat for a short amount of time and I hang it to dry naturally. You can tumble dry low if you want to, but I don’t personally.

I really hope you enjoy this blog post today guys! Alongside talking about Pikarar’s designs and the pieces I picked up, at the end of the post I’ll also share the website again, as well as their social media. 🙂

• Eevee Crane Sweater – Between $45.00-$55.00.

This was the first piece I popped into my basket! I love Pokemon and I’d seen this item shown over on Pikarar’s Instagram page shortly after discovering them. As many of you know, I love Pokemon and Eevee and the Eeveelutions are one/some of my favourite Pokemon. I couldn’t pass this sweater up in all honesty, the cream brown colour isn’t a colour I have in my wardrobe either so it’s something new!

As you can see from the design, this is a crane machine but instead of plushies it’s full of Eevee’s and they’re all doing different and cute poses. My favourite is the one at the front in my middle who is pushing its whole body against the glass of the crane machine. All the designs are adorable though and whenever I’ve shown me wearing this on camera to friends, as well as photos on Instagram/Twitter people have always commented how cute it is!

I’ll be honest, when it arrived the little white patches where the Eevee’s are smushing their faces, hands and bodies against the glass I thought the little white patches were a flaw in the print. I reached out to Pikarar in regards who was really lovely and understanding of my confusion and explained what it was.

Alongside how cute the design of this sweater is, the sweater itself is so bloody comfortable! It’s super fluffy and soft inside, as well as being really warm. It’s definitely been worn and loved loads since buying it in October/November last year. The sizing is unisex and I went with an L. I can get away with an M no problem but I wanted something really big and baggy which this sizing choice has done perfectly.

• Shiba Crane Sweater – Between $45.00-$55.00.

The shiba crane sweater is actually my favourite out of all the crane designs I own from Pikarar. Shiba’s are adorable and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the breed. After returning from Japan I’ve kind of fallen in love with the dog breed more and more often now than before if I see a design of the breed I like, I may go for it. This shiba crane sweater included.

It’s the same sort of design idea as the Eevee crane sweater but with shiba dogs on it instead. I actually prefer the shiba design due to some of the poses the dogs are in. They’re very similar to the Eevee’s but there are some minor differences and such. My favourite shiba dog is squished by the drop/win section of the crane game. It’s little face is squashed up against the glass and it looks a little fed up.

I went for this gorgeous baby pink colour for my sweater. Pink isn’t a colour that you’ll see often in my wardrobe, so it’s nice to have some variety. I wear this sweater quite a lot and it’s fast become one I reach into my wardrobe for when I want to wear something warm and comforting.

When I recently went for an eye test at my opticians one of the women who worked there commented how cute this design was and asked me where it was from. I love clothing that can become a conversation starter, especially if people know of the artist whose pieces your wearing, or if they love that animal, character, game, etc.

Like the Eevee crane sweater, the sweater itself is so bloody comfortable! It’s super fluffy and soft inside, as well as being really warm. It’s definitely been worn and loved loads since buying it in October/November last year. The sizing is unisex and I went with an L. I can get away with an M no problem but I wanted something really big and baggy which this sizing choice has done perfectly.

• Shiba Samurai Sticker – Between $2.00-$5.00.

I actually bought this sticker for my boyfriend as since he bought himself a laptop in the summer last year, he’s started to pop stickers on it for fun. I saw this shiba samurai sticker and thought he would love it. I haven’t allowed him to stick it on his laptop yet as I wanted to show it off to you guys first! 🙂

As you can see it’s a black and white sticker of a shiba holding two katana style swords and looking a mixture of cute, serious, and ready to fight! I knew my boyfriend would love something like this. There was also a sweater with the same design on that I contemplated buying him for Christmas, which I didn’t in the end. I’d still like to pick this up for him in the future, or maybe even for myself as it’s such a cool design!

The quality of the sticker is really good too. It has a matte texture and it feels lovely and thick, so you know it’s going to last a long time on whatever you decide to stick it against!

It’s nothing to do with the design but I wanted to mention here that whenever you buy a sticker Pikarar pops it in a cute little envelope, alongside with a thank you care and your apparel care instructions, if you’ve bought any.

• Shiba Good Girls Hoodie – $55.00.

This was one of my pre-order items and one of the items I’d wanted to snag the first time I made an order with Pikarar. I missed out, but I was happy to wait for my pre-order. I went for the mustard yellow/gold colour hoodie and the “Good Girls” slogan on the back and arm of the hoodie. You could also choose black and the “Good Boys” slogan. I don’t have a mustard yellow/gold hoodie and whilst I was anxious to wear this bright a colour, I knew I’d be able to pull it off. Since it arrived last month I’ve worn it quite a few times now. It’s been my go to hoodie for when I want to look and feel cute, but I don’t want to be too warm.

There is a shiba design on the back where it’s wearing a black hoodie and underneath it says, “Good Girls” alongside with “Pikarar”. The shiba looks so cute and happy as it’s smiling and it sort of reminds me of the shiba cafe we visited in Harajuku, Japan last year. The hiragana on the arm reads something along the lines of “good”. I did work out what it said the first couple of times I wore it, but I’ve since forgotten. 😦

This hoodie isn’t as thick as I thought it was going to be, which I first thought was going to be a problem. Thankfully this isn’t the case and it’s actually been a great hoodie to throw on when I want to be warm, but not super toasty. It’ll be a great hoodie to wear for spring, cooler days in summery and autumn and winter days when I want to wear a long sleeved shirt underneath. This hoodie is also a little see through… Which is annoying from someone who wears a lot of dark t-shirts… This being said it could be worse. I picked this up in a size L, as like the unisex sizing for the sweatshirts this is nice and baggy. 🙂

I actually have a defect on the hoodie from where Pikarar has printed the design on the sleeve. There’s a green/black mark near the hiragana which I reported to Pikarar who has been kind enough to offer to send me from free stickers and a discount code when the store opens. At first the offer was for me to send the hoodie back to her and she would send a replacement. That sounded like it was going to cost Pikarar a lot of money, so I suggested a discount instead to make things easier and less faff.

• Pikachu Crane T-Shirt – $25.00.

The final piece I bought and own by Pikarar (so far anyway…) is the Pikachu crane t-shirt. I decided that I needed the other Pokemon crane design in my collection, but I wasn’t quite sure I wanted another sweater. A part of me regrets not getting the sweater, but at the same time I don’t. It’ll be good to have a t-shirt to wear in the warmer summer months.

This t-shirt is also the same colour as the shiba good girls hoodie, so that mustard yellow/gold colour. I wasn’t feel as anxious about wearing such a bright colour with a t-shirt as it can always be styled with a darker pair of jeans or a skirt. This being said I actually really love the colour and both pieces have received lots of compliments during work calls!

The Pikachu design on the t-shirt is really cute and is very similar to the Eevee and shiba designs. Unlike the other designs, I can’t pick one Pikachu that I love and adore more than the others. The Pikachu’s in this design are all so sweet and adorable to look at! The one in the claw about to get won is pretty adorable, but so is the cutie at the front pressed up against the glass. I’ve really loved wearing this design. I picked this up in a size L, as again like both the sweatshirts and hoodie this is a unisex size. I could have gotten away with an M in this, but glad I got the L for that slouchy, comfy fit.

It’s adorable and out of the three this one reminds me of my childhood the most. Hot summer days during the school holidays and miserable rainy weekend days me and my dad would venture to a local town in the countryside where there are loads of arcade games to play! We’d pay the claw games and he’d win me teddy bears. One year he won me a fake TY bear that looked like Harry Potter. I cherished it for years and it’s still in my parents house somewhere. I think that’s the last time he won me anything on the claw games before they got “rigged”. I have to say, when the world starts to go back to normal, I’d love to go there with my dad for a day out together. It would be my treat and we could play arcade games, grab fish and chips and just have a fun day together. 🙂

I would love some other things in this design, including a mouse mat if that’s something Pikarar would look into doing in the future.

That’s everything I picked up from Pikarar though! I’m really excited for when she opens her store again to potentially grab a few more pieces and maybe even snag some goodies for my boyfriend for his birthday in April!

Overall I’m so happy with everything I’ve bought from Pikarar so far! Her designs are so unique and adorable. I just want to snuggle and squish all the cute animals she draws. I’m really excited to see what she comes out with next. I know she recently announced she’s creating a sticker Patreon soon so if you’re interested make sure to follow her on Instagram.

The same goes for when Pikarar announces when she will be opening her store. Following her on Instagram for updates in regards is the best place to be. 🙂

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

Store

Instagram

Twitter

Twitch

For Fans By Fans (Store)

What do you guys think of Pikarar and her unique shiba and Pokemon designs? 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.

Sugar Bunny Shop – Review

I’ve mentioned a few times now on my blog (as well as social media) but in December I went very shop happy and not just because I had Christmas presents and sales goods to buy.

It was announced by the government that there would be changes made to the VAT and how it’s treated on overseas goods sold to UK customers. Due to this a lot of independent stores/artists in America had to say no more to selling to the UK from 1st January 2021. I was gutted as more and more stores/artists I wanted to buy from announced no more sales in 2021 to the UK, so I went shopping. Sugar Bunny Shop was one of the stores I bought some goodies from and I had to share with you what I bought, as well as a bit of a back story in how I discovered Sugar Bunny Shop and why I’m glad, but also gutted (due to the VAT stuff) to have finally bought from them.

Before I talk more about Sugar Bunny Shop, I want to just address the VAT related issue here for people in the UK who may want to order. I did reach out to find out more information in regards to what may be set up/happen in the future for people in the UK looking to order. I know some American stores are looking to open Etsy stores for UK shoppers, as well as discuss further options etc.

Sugar Bunny Shop/Samantha did in fact reach out to me in regards to my query. I want to thank Samantha for taking the time to reply to my email and for how lovely she was too! 😀

Unfortunately I don’t have a resolution to the UK issues at the moment. I’ve considered using Etsy, but the fees are so high it’s not an ideal solution. I’m hoping the UK/EU will figure out some kind of solution to this for small businesses as they iron out the wrinkles in how the new VAT system works.

I wish I could offer a solution so that any of your readers could immediately order stuff if they wanted. My best suggestion is to recommend they maybe follow the shop on social media or sign up for the newsletter to be notified in any updates regarding UK orders.

I’ve known about Sugar Bunny Shop for years, I feel like it’s been since around 2011, so for the almost ten years and it’s only in 2020 I actually finally made an order. This being said, this isn’t the first time I’ve had something from Sugar Bunny Shop. Back in 2014 my boyfriend bought me a Doki Fox sticker sheet (which I spoke about here). He didn’t buy it direct from Sugar Bunny Shop (think he said it was on Crunchyroll’s store?) so when I opened it and said, “Oh my God! How did you know I loved Doki Fox?” He was taken by surprise.

Over the years I’ve been really interested in the Doki Fox original character, as well as a red panda original character called Ponwan. I’ll pop a little bit below about Doki Fox. I love that Sugar Bunny Shop wrote a little blurb about the cute fox character she’d created!

Silly li’l dumplin’ fox, Doki is a cheerful ball of fur that can’t contain his joy for pastries!

This plump little fox is cheeky, playful and so very fluffy! Small, dumpling-shaped chicks are his best friends and they love to follow him around, though sometimes he confuses them for real dumplings. Especially when they mingle with his food. He would never eat them, of course! But when he’s stuffing his face too quickly he sometimes discovers the taste of feathers. P’tooie!

Eating and sleeping are Doki’s two favorite hobbies, and he can often be found napping contentedly with his peeps after stuffing his tummy with tasty food. Aside from snacks and sleep, this wee fox enjoys soft grass and warm sunshine, which is the perfect spot to laze the day away.

Although dumplings are his favorite food, he also enjoys trying all kinds of other treats as well.

Text and image of Doki Fox taken from Sugar Bunny Shop

Doki Fox has been through some design changes over the years and doesn’t look as chibi as he used to. That being said, he’s still absolutely adorable and I’m glad to finally own a piece of clothing and some more stickers with Doki Fox on!

Short story behind my main reason for ordering from Sugar Bunny Shop. I asked Dane if he would be able to buy me the Doki Fox sweatshirt for me for Christmas/birthday and I’d somewhat hoped he had. Christmas passed and the size of the sweatshirt I was after came back into stock. I’d asked Dane in passing if he’d bought it for me and he said no. I rushed to the Sugar Bunny Shop website and got my order in for the sweatshirt, as well as some stickers! A part of me regrets not ordering more, especially as I’m unsure when I’ll be able to buy from Sugar Bunny Shop next…

• Doki Fox Chick Pile Sweatshirt – $55.00 (link)

This sweatshirt is gorgeous in every way shape and form. I remember when it was announced around autumn time in 2020 and I fell in love with it. The design, the colour, the autumn vibes and most of all that it’s on a sweater! This is a dark brown sweater that is so fluffy and soft inside and makes me feel like I’m wearing a cloud of marshmallow! The sleeves has yellow and orange autumn leaves on, which I love. Autumn is my favourite time of year, so this is already perfect for me! Of course on the front we have the Doki Fox design – he’s lying on his back with a cute little smile on his face and is surrounded by his dumpling chick friends, who look to be really happy to be around Doki Fox. There are more orange and yellow leaves surrounding them, which I like. The design is just so adorable and it makes me smile whenever I see it.

• Doki Fox and Chicks Vinyl Sticker – $4.00 (link) and Doki Fox Playful Vinyl Sticker – $4.00 (link)

I decided to order myself some stickers from Sugar Bunny Shop as I’ve become a bit of a sticker hoarder lately! Of course I couldn’t resist the Doki Fox stickers and both of the designs I bought are adorable. Both stickers feel like amazing quality due to the thickness, as well as the matte finish. I don’t mind shiny stickers, but I do prefer matte sometimes. The first design is of Doki fox lying on his belly and surrounded by his little dumpling chick friends. It’s such a sweet design and makes me smile! The second design is Doki Fox on his own, lying on his back, with his front and back legs in the air in a playful position! Both stickers are adorable and I regret not ordering two of each.

So that is everything I picked up! I regret not ordering more to be honest, so just wanted to share below just a few of the items I wish I could have picked up.

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop

• Red Panda Ponwan Parfait Vinyl Sticker – $4.00 (link)

I had so many regrets not buying this sticker and it was only JUST AFTER my items had been dispatched that I noticed it! NOOOO! Red pandas are one of my favourite animals and I swear, Sugar Bunny Shop has designed this so perfectly too, from how happy and fluffy the Ponwan is, to how yummy the parfait Ponwan is holding looks. I hope that Sugar Bunny Shop designs more Ponwan goodies in the future. 🙂

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop

• Lavendeer Fawn Floral Sweatshirt – $55.00 (link)

I don’t so much as regret not buying this sweatshirt, but it would have been awesome to have picked up considering how lovely my Doki Fox version is. This is something I’d definitely love to pick up in the future if possible. I love and live in sweatshirts, especially since working from home due to COVID. I love the colour purple and the Lavendeer Fawn design is so damn pretty!

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop

• Doki Fox Playful Bee Unisex Shirt – $25.00 currently on sale for $22.00 (link)

If this hadn’t of been sold out in my size, I would have ordered. The only size that is currently left is an XS and that wouldn’t have fit me AT ALL! I’m really gutted I couldn’t pick this t-shirt up as Doki Fox is adorable. The design is more spring/summer than my sweatshirt design and has Doki Fox playing with a bee. It’s really cute and I hope (again) in the future I can pick it up, or maybe even another/newer Doki Fox design.

That is everything I regret not picking up and hope to in the future from Sugar Bunny Shop and with that we have come to the end of this review.

Overall I’m really happy with my order and I’m glad I bit the bullet and placed it. I’d have regretted so much not picking up that Doki Fox sweatshirt. I’ve already worn it almost a handful of times and it just makes me feel so happy to wear.

I’m going to pop Sugar Bunny Shop’s links down below for you, including their store as well as social media.

Store

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Art Prints Store 

What do you guys think of Sugar Bunny Shop and her adorable AF designs? 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. 🙂

Quirkory – Mostari Mystery Pack Review AND An Exciting Announcement!

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

Image taken from GIPHY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image taken from Quirkory’s Etsy store.

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

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

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

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

Rare – if containing items with a low stock.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Art Print – Happy Togedeer Art Print (link)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Rare – Yamper Corgi enamel pin (link)

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

• Vaulted – Bulbakura Enamel Pin (link)

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

• Surprize – Totodile Patch

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

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

• Detective Pikachu Sticker (link for sticker pack)

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

• Whipped Ghost Sticker (link)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Store (Etsy)

Instagram

Patreon

Facebook

Twitter

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

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

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

Shop Small – Claire Likes To Doodle*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Flower Crown Bernard – Sticker (link)*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Store

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Twitch

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

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

Quirkory Lunar Plushie Spookies Enamel Pins – Review

I can’t believe Halloween has now come and gone already… Was it really two weeks ago? It feels like a lot longer to be honest with you! I was so hyped up for Halloween this year but when it came down to the actual day it wasn’t as spooky as I’d hoped.

We visited a pumpkin patch and grabbed ourselves a huge pumpkin each to carve. Dane carved Calcifer (Howl’s Moving Castle) and I carved a spooky Pikachu. It was so much fun to do and they looked really cool in our kitchen window… They only lasted a few days though and I was a tad gutted. 😛

Back in August Quirkory released their Halloween collection Lunar Plushie Spookies enamel pins on their Etsy store for pre-order. I was on it as soon as they released and purchased two of the designs as well as some stickers.

I know Halloween has come and gone now, by spooky season is here all year for me, especially after this year and the designs Quirkory brought out aren’t just Halloween exclusives either.

I want to pop this here that this past year I have fallen in love with Quirkory’s designs and I get along really well now with the owners of the brand. We talk often and they’re so lovely to talk to! In September they opened their Patreon and I LOVE being able to see their updates weekly now about upcoming designs and projects, as well as some Patreon exclusive goodies.

For now let’s get down to the review of the spooky pins I picked up! I also want to mention here that due to being a Patreon and as a thank you from Quirkory they sent me some free goodies too. I was over the moon to see some extra goodies in my package. I won’t be marking these down as gifted but I will state which goods I bought and which were gifted.

The Lunar Spookies originally came out last year alongside the Eeveelution Greek Gods Kickstarter campaign and around a year later Quirkory decided to revamp those original characters to bring them into a plushie form! They even brought out a couple new characters too! Personally I much prefer the plushie revamp versions to the originals. Don’t get me wrong, the originals are adorable, but I feel with the plushie versions Quirkory’s unique style and eye for detail has really come through now.

Originally there were only five designs which consisted of Moodey the Spider, Tab the Bat, A-Ghostine the Ghost, Meowny the Cat and Moose the Mouse.

These have all been revamped, alongside with some new characters added to the mix too including – Poomkin (a mini enamel pin), Froogie Boogie and Meowny the Cat (lilac version).

I will pop a link here so you can check out all of the Lunar Plushie Spookies.

To start this post fully I’m going to be talking about the two enamel pins I bought, as well as one that Quirkory kindly gifted to me. 🙂

First of all, all designs are on a gold enamel with two pin backs, which is always good at making sure your pins are extra secure! They also all come with the etching “Lunar Spookies by Quirkory” on the back of them, even the mini pin! I always love when enamel pin artists have their brand names etched on the back of the enamel pins. It’s great when looking/showing pins off to people so you can tell them there and then who designed it. I have so many enamel pins, sometimes I forget who they’re by. 😛

Another thing to mention here is how cute the backing cards are! They so spooky with the full moon in the background. Did you know, on Halloween this year we had a blue moon? I ended up forgetting about it due to eating McDonalds and watching horror movies. 😛

One final thing to add that I love about this collection is the cute little tags that they all have on them to symbolise they’re plushies! This is what I mean when I say how I love Quirkory’s unique eye for detail. They put so much intricate detailing into their designs, whether they be enamel pins, prints or even stickers!

Flapping here and there, faster than wind, he’ll come on Halloween night to… suck… all your lollipops, and candies he can find!!!
Little Tab here has no qualms… He’s too much evil muhahahah.

Tab Enamel Pin (link) (original design)

I love bats and always have when it comes down to Halloween, which was down to a bat blow up decoration my mom bought me as a child. So when I saw the revamp of Tab I fell in love with him. He’s a mixture of light purple  with darker purple wings and patches on his body. Tab has clearly been loved and cuddled very much OR been through some battles as he has two patches, one on his ear and one on his body. I love the detailing of the patches with the little stitch marks and where it’s obvious a different material was used to fix him up. He also has a cute little smile, which makes it look devious due to his fangs. I think deep down he’s a little cutie, especially with his blushing cheeks and stars dotted around his body. I love this design so much! It reminds me of when I was a little kid with that bat toy my mom bought me. If Tab were to be a real plush, he’d definitely become a part of my collection!

Woooohhhhh… woooooohhh… scritch scratch… Strange creaks come from the room next door. Chills down my spine… the air is suddenly turning cold. S…s…some…something touched me?!?! A high-pitched squeal breaks the silence! But it’s not mine…
*DUMP!* Heyyyy is that you, A-ghostin?? What are you doing here in the dark?! And you… turned the air conditioning on?!
You scared me with all this noise and fuss!
You weren’t that cheeky last year! Since when you’ve become famous, met lots of people and went around their homes… you’ve also become all puffed up! And now you even do everything all on your own, tinkering here and there. You used to hide yourself always underneath that lil’ pumpkin… didn’t you?
How much has changed in a year! From a shy and curious lil’ thing to an effusive cuddly “soul” of the party! He now DEMANDS for YOUR cuddles.

A-Ghostin Enamel Pin (link) (original design)

I think A-Ghostin has stolen my heart. I forgot what his original design looked like and honestly it’s so adorable! It’s safe to say that out of all the Lunar Spookies, A-Ghostin is my favourite. I love ghost designs, there’s just something so adorable and mysterious behind them and throughout Halloween this year I have bought SO MANY ghost themed things. Out of them all though, A-Ghostin is up there as the best and my favourite. Like Tab, A-Ghostin’s design received the same attention to it’s design and it works so well! Of course A-Ghostin is white, he’s a ghost but he too has been through some wars of his own and has needed patching up. I love the Halloween themed colours of orange and purple that were used on him. The design of the patches are the same as Tab too, which is good. I especially love the cute little :3 smile that A-Ghostin has. He’s a shy little boy and his smile shows this, alongside his little arms and blushing cheeks. I love this design and if Quirkory don’t bring out a plushie of him… 😛

Ohhhhh but… yeah, it’s just Poomkin!!! He’s still too young to join the team, but he tries whenever he can to take part in their forays against crime! Such a little naughty rascal! After all, his dream is to become a real member of the team one day… and even the leader, no less! 😯 Well, it will certainly not be an easy task… but he’s already trying his very best aaaaand who knows, maybe thanks to his determination he might succeed at some point!

Poomkin Mini Enamel Pin (link)

This is the enamel pin that Quirkory sent me as a thank you for not only being a Patreon, but for also supporting them throughout the past year. So I just want to say a HUGE thank you to them for sending me this little cutie!

Poomkin is new to the Lunar Spookies and he’s so small and precious! I’ve never been a massive pumpkin fan in anyway shape or form, but I really do love this design. For a mini pin he packs a punch and as always there are those unique details from Quirkory in there. I love that his stem is purple, keeping with the Halloween themed colours. His smile is so precious and baby like, but all with the Jack ‘O Lantern theme too!

As I mentioned alongside the enamel pins I also ordered some stickers as well! I decided to order a pack of the Lunar Plushie Spookies vinyl stickers, but Quirkory sent me LOADS for free as well as a thank you. 🙂

Lunar Plushie Spookies Vinyl Sticker Pack (link)

I knew I wanted to get some of the stickers of the characters from the Lunar Plushie Spookies as whilst I loved all of the designs my heart truly fell in love with just the two (three if you count Poomkin after he arrived!). The stickers are so cute and I’m glad to not only have Tab and A-Ghostin, but the whole gang! They’re a great size and the quality feels lovely. Each character also has a colour background around them which I thought was a nice touch. Most of the stickers I own by Quirkory are paper so it makes a nice change to have vinyl. I think I also received a sticker of everyone in one big signed due to pre-ordering my enamel pins. This one is especially cute! 😀

Inari & Mosted Halloween Sticker Pack (link)

This is another extra thing that Quirkory sent me as a thank you! It’s almost like they read my mind as I’ve been meaning to order the Halloween sticker pack ever since I discovered them! Now I don’t really need to and I’m so grateful for that. :’) As always, thank you so much to Quirkory for being an amazing independent store to make my geeky and kawaii purchases from.

I didn’t get a full sticker pack but I got a lot of stickers from the pack and more! I was set a small and large size of both Inari and Mosted dressed up for Halloween! Inari is dressed as a witch and Mosted as a vampire, he even has tiny little fangs. SO CUTE! I also have a large sticker of three pumpkins and some little ones of bats, a sweet/candy and candy corns. 😀 These are so damn cute!

Inari & Mosted Little Summer Sailor Popsicle Stickers (link)

I know these aren’t Halloween related BUT I had had my eye on the Inari & Mosted summer stickers for ages and forgot to order them when I placed my Lunar Plushie Spookies order. I mentioned this in passing to Quirkory and they sent me them anyway. Honesty Quirkory make me feel so loved. 😥

The Inari & Mosted designs are so cute and I really do love them! I love how they’re both dressed as sailors and clutching onto their ice lollies (which is what we call them in the UK). Inari is holding a watermelon ice lollie and Mosted is holding a lemon one. Not going to lie, I think I’m with Mosted with lemon! 😀

Finally one thing I received was a print, which I think may have been an exclusive item for Patreon subscribers. This print is gorgeous in so many ways, for a start it’s super spooky and PERFECT for Halloween! It was a design that Quirkory put on their Patreon for Halloween and it was downloadable to have as a wallpaper on you phone, laptop or tablet device.

The print itself has a matte/velvet sort of feel to it and it feels really plush in a way and expensive… I hope it wasn’t expensive for them to make! I’ve kept this away somewhere safe as I worry if I pop it up somewhere on my plushie cabinet it may get damaged. I’m going to try and find something to put it inside so it doesn’t get damaged when I do put it up. 🙂 As this is an exclusive print I can’t link it back, sadly.

So that is everything I picked up (and some bits I was kindly sent by Quirkory!) from the Lunar Plushie Spookies collection! 😀

As always I am so impressed with everything I ordered as well as how well packaged everything was. I haven’t shown it, but I also received a lovely hand written note from Quirkory that really made me smile. Since buying from them last year I’ve kept all the notes that they’ve sent me, personal or not. 🙂

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Also if you enjoyed this review, make sure to go and check out my other Quirkory reviews below:

Eeveelution Greek Gods Enamel Pin Review

Animal Crossing Gimme My Joy-Con Review

What do you guys think of the goodies that I picked up? I know Halloween is over now until next year, but would you pick these up? Oh and do you think spooky season isn’t just once a year? 😛 Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time guys I hope you’re staying safe during lockdown two and are having a great weekend. 🙂

Jenni Illustrations – Haul

August is the month of a very much needed spending ban… Which may go into September as well to be honest with you so I can try and save up some more monies ready for when Christmas is upon us.

I’ve mentioned before on my blog how during lock down I have saved and spent a lot of money on things I’d had my eye on for ages but never had the spare monies or urge to buy. I decided to on some things and have had zero regrets, even if my bank account doesn’t agree. One of the independent artists I finally took the plunge and bought from is Jenni Illustrations.

Jenni Illustrations is a Australian kawaii illustrator/designer who draws all sorts of designs from cute animals, some Ghibli inspired characters and even some of her own original characters, which I adore.

Jenni had recently closed her store and reopened it, just in time for me to make some purchases. I bought three things in total and I am here to show them off to you today in a little haul post. I really hope you enjoy it, as I’m so excited to share the goodies with you! 😀

As I mentioned before I picked up three items, a print, a sticker and of course an enamel pin.

• Soda Dog Sticker (link)

One of Jenni’s original characters that I have fallen in love with is her Soda Dog design. Not only do I love dogs but the colour of the soda being blue reminds me of Japanese ramune, which is what I think it’s actually meant to be. The sticker is a decent size and bigger than I thought it was going to be, as well as amazing quality. On the store it does tell you the size and about the quality, but I didn’t check to see how big or small it would be as I didn’t mind either way. 🙂

As you can see the design is of a soda bottle with some blue soda inside, a red lid and Soda Dog as the mascot on the label. There is some Japanese on either sides of the bottle too, which in all honesty I cannot read. I tried to see if the Google Translate app on my phone could help, but the only bit it could translate was the part on the left hand side which read “Soda Dog”. It struggled with the part on the right, but kept trying to say inu which I knew was wrong. After a lot of playing around with Google Translate I worked out that it says, “ramune”. Which makes sense! The Soda Dog design is so adorable, but I want to go into more detail about him when I talk about the enamel pin I picked up next.

So far I’ve not stuck my sticker to anything, as you can see. Instead I’ve stuck him on the side of my plushie bookcase.

This sticker cost $5.00 AUS, or £2.69 which I think is really decent for a sticker of this size and quality.

• Soda Dog Enamel Pin (link)

This is where I’m going to talk more about the Soda Dog design itself as I can’t not talk about it! I mean, look at it. 😀 Soda Dog is a little white puppy, but the bottom half of his body is blue ramune soda! He has a little red bottle top on his head, a floppy ear in the shape of a heart and massive pink cheeks. Oh and a red collar to match his hat red bottle top! This Soda Dog is of course supposed to be a bottle of ramune which has almost been finished and I think it’s such an amazing idea. When I saw that Jenni had an enamel pin design of this cute boy, I KNEW I had to buy it!

The enamel pin itself is really good quality! It’s on a gold enamel and has one back. The enamel pin itself cost $14.00 AUS, which is £7.54. I think this is an incredibly reasonable price for an enamel pin and I plan to buy more in the future from Jenni, which I’ll be showing at the end of this post.

• Kiki A6 Print (link)

First things first, at the time of me writing this post this print is currently sold out… I hope it comes back into stock because the Ghibli designs Jenni does are gorgeous! I’ve always liked Kiki’s Delivery Service, but I especially feel since my Japan trip in January that I really do love it. Japan especially love it, so whenever you go into a Ghibli store (or at least one that sells Ghibli goods) there will always be plenty of Kiki’s Delivery Service items to choose from. I actually regret not buying more. Before my trip to Japan I had my eye on this print, I love so much about it. The one thing I always love about Jenni’s designs is the eyes. They’re so three dimensional and gorgeous, I could stare at them for ages.

As you can see from the photo, it’s a design of Kiki holding Jiji, the overall design is adorable and it really brings joy to my day whenever I walk past it in the bedroom. Like the sticker, I have stuck it onto the side of my plushie bookcase. I would love to see more character from Ghibli movies drawn similar. I feel like Jenni did one of Chihiro from Spirited Away ages ago, but I can’t remember…

This print cost $8.00 AUS, which works out to £4.31, which is reasonable! If anything, I would have loved the option of having a bigger print. I would have definitely gone for an A5, maybe at a push an A4 as I honestly love this design.

So, those are all the goodies I picked up on my first order from Jenni Illustrations.

Due to COVID the items took just under a month to arrive to me. I have to be honest here and say I didn’t think shipping was cheap at £9.69, almost £10 for shipping from AUS to the UK. I didn’t care about paying the costs at the time as I really wanted the items but next time I make an order I’ll feel like I need to order plenty to make the shipping worth it.

This was a MASSIVE treat for me as I’d wanted these items for a while, but if you think the shipping is a little on the high side for you, it might be worth making an order with a friend whose also after these items and you can split the shipping fee.

Overall I am in love with my Jenni Illustration goodies and I’ll definitely buy from her store again and plan to in the future! I already have loads of items on my wish list that I plan to buy in the future and wanted to share them with you below.

Blue Clues Sticker Sheet – I loved Blue’s Clues growing up so these would be a nostalgic trip for me!

Animal Crossing Sticker Sheets – I don’t need to explain why I want these, but I do want them all!

Froggy Chair Sticker – I explained on my July Wish List ’20 post why I want this sticker.

JiJi and Lily 6×6″ Print – I would love this print to go with my Kiki print.

Dragon 6×6′ Print – This print shouts Haku from Spirited Away, who in turn is my favourite Ghibli character. I need this print in my life!

Lucky Kat Washi Tape – Whilst in Japan I discovered a love for washi tape. I would love to add this lucky cat washi tape my collection.

Chester Pin and Fern the Fox Pin – These are two more of the original characters that Jenni has drawn. Chester is a cute little red panda and Fern is an adorable fox. These are two of my favourite animals… What’s not to love, eh?

Soda Dog Keychain – I actually regret not ordering this at the time of my order, as I would have loved to add this onto one of my bags, or a set of keys. I definitely plan on adding him to my basket next time I make an order with Jenni Illustrations.

So there you have it guys! What do you think of Jenni Illustrations? Which item(s) are your favourite that I picked up. Plus, have you bought anything from Jenni Illustrations yourself? If you haven’t yet and plan to, let me know what you’re going to buy!

OH and don’t forget to check out Jenni Illustration over on Instagram too, where she shares new designs all the time. 🙂

Until next time all, take care stay safe and see you next time! 😀