June Favourites ’22

I can’t believe we are already on day three of July! June really did fly by due to how much fun me and Dane were clearly having with our week off, Manchester, seeing friends and other stuff. But, at the same time it sort of dragged towards the end of June. I remember mid June having a phone call with my dad and saying, “It’s July next week!” and it was due to me thinking about payday… Oh dear! July wasn’t due for another two weeks at that point.

Speaking of payday, I was SKINT after Manchester in June and I’m already “skint” this month too. I made some big purchases I probably shouldn’t have, as well as recouping all the monies I’ve put on bills and such as well. Due to that, after my payday treats this month, I’m going to be really good with money from now on, especially as me and Dane are hoping to make a big purchase for our home in the near future…

That aside I’m not sure how I’m feeling about July yet. At the time of writing this post I’m miserable as fuck in general. A lot of crap news has come up in the news, as well as personal so right now I’m just going with it. I don’t really have a lot planned for July, aside from meeting up with friends I’ve not seen for years due to Covid, as well as lots of D&D game nights! I’m hopeful my mood will lift as the month goes on however, I don’t want a sad one. :’)

Anyhoo, enough of my woes, on with the favourites!

Beauty – The Body Shop Banana Body Yogurt.

Back in 2018 The Body Shop brought out their banana range and I fell in love with it! They brought out a shower gel, body butter and body yogurt and I bought all three of them of course. I managed to get through a lot of them, but I still have some of the products left brand new, including the body butter and body yogurt. As regular readers will know, I started to use body lotion as my skin was honestly screaming out for it and I feel so much better for it since. It’s come to the time where I need to start using the body yogurt as my stash is growing quite low. I’m sad to because I know I won’t be able to pick it up again anytime soon, but at the same time, it means I can get some new goodies in. Hey, maybe I’ll find another banana body lotion soon? The Body Shop body yogurts are amazing, especially during the warmer months as they’re thin, cooling and still very moisturising. Plus, a little bit of this stuff goes a long way! As strawberry is my favourite scent from The Body Shop, I’m planning to pick up the strawberry one in the near future!

Movie – Everything Everywhere All at Once.

First things first, this film is amazing and it isn’t what I was expecting at all. The trailer didn’t really do the film justice for me, but at the same time that wasn’t a bad thing either. I knew this was a film Dane wanted to watch and I was happy to give it a go, because why not. The film is about Evelyn, owner of a laundromat with her husband. Her father lives with them and their daughter appears to have moved out. Evelyn has a lot going on, along with accepting her daughters sexuality and girlfriend, her father needing her care, as well as her business being in trouble money wise. Everything Everywhere All at Once is broken up into chapters, like a play, and whilst the film is a little bat shit crazy, it’s done really, really well! I highly recommend checking this out, no matter what genre of movies you prefer, it’s amazing and I get the hype of it being titled film of the year.

Image taken from Giphy

TV Show – The Boys Season Three.

As regular readers of my blog will know, I love The Boys. It’s a hilarious show with a unique concept, with the show being created off of a comic book series. We’re not on series three of The Boys and it’s getting darker and more intense with each episode. I don’t want to say too much as I may end up spoiling it for some but lets just say there some hilarious adult humour, some fucked up deaths and stuff I didn’t expect Butcher to do. It’s also now been given the green light for a fourth season, which in turn makes me really happy! The original comic book series is by Garth Ennis who also wrote the comic book series Preacher, another TV Show both me and Dane loved. Both are on Amazon Prime Video, so make sure to go and check them out if you haven’t already!

Music – PVRIS – Use Me.

This is an album I’ve found myself listening to a lot towards the end of June and I honestly can’t stop. I’ve been listening to it when working from home, driving to work, and even in the office when I need to get my earphones in and head down to concentrate. I love all of the songs PVRIS work on and release and whilst Use Me isn’t my favourite album (All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell is my favourite) but it’s a close second to be honest with you. I keep meaning to book tickets to see PVRIS in January 2023, but I feel like each payday, the right time isn’t appearing. 😦

Game – Sniper Elite 5.

This is a game me and Dane randomly started playing together after he started to play it on his own. It’s on Xbox Games Pass, so was “free” for us both to pick up and play together. Sniper Elite 5 is set during World War II and your goal is to try and defeat the Nazi’s taking over parts of Europe. It was such a fun game to play with Dane and the more levels we got through, the better we got! We’ve completed the game now, but we’re planning on buying the DLC very soon so we can play some more of the game together. It didn’t take us long to complete the game, I’d like to say a week but that being said, it was a lot of fun! I’ve been asking Dane if he can find something similar for us to play next.

Just a few of my favourite things…

Image from greetings.nerds

For my other favourites this month, I wanted to talk about some small businesses I feel deserve to get some new shoppers, or at least some new followers on their social media pages. I read the above post on Instagram by greetings.nerds earlier this week and wanted to take a moment to share some people who I feel deserve to be mentioned. With the changes to the world from Covid and now the current conflict happening in Eastern Europe, the changes are affecting some people drastically, where others just slightly. Small businesses all over are being affected sales wise, and with social media platforms making it harder than ever to reach new customers, they could do with as much support and help as possible. Which is what I have strived to do since 2019 on my blog, and Instagram page. Even if you can’t afford to make a purchase from any of the mentioned small businesses today, please drop them a follow on their social media accounts. They’re all down to Earth, amazing and friendly people. They’re also my friends and I wouldn’t be friends with them if they weren’t any of the points mentioned. 🙂

Happy Place Cosmetics

Store, Instagram, TikTok.

Cruelty free and SLS free handmade cosmetics, based in Scotland. I’ve been a massive fan of Happy Place Cosmetics since before 2020, but it was only during Covid and lockdowns that I finally bit the bullet and placed my first order! Since then I won’t got anywhere else for my body scrubs AND I’ve become such good friends with the owner too. HPC don’t constantly have stock in, but instead release themed beauty and wax melts boxes for us to buy, with themes including 90’s, horror, pop culture and more! Alongside that HPC will of course release certain stock every now and then. I like the way they release their goods, because it means I can really treat myself to goods! I recently had some new wax melts arrived, with some smelling of Lush Tramp shower gel, an old favourite of mine and the owners! I burnt one yesterday and it smells AMAZING and to boot the scent lasted ages in our office, even after my tea light had gone out. She also included some Calpol scented wax tarts too, which I’m so excited to burn.

Claire Likes To Doodle

Website, Shop, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

Claire is one of my oldest friends and for years I encouraged her to turn her art from a hobbie to a job, which she did a couple of years ago! I’m so proud of where she has come, her work is unique and beautiful and every time she posts something new on Instagram, it really does make me smile. Recently alongside selling art, she’s started to play with clay to create pieces of her original character Bernard. In the near future I am hoping to commission her for a piece myself… 😛 Please make sure to go and check her out and maybe even give her some support over on Ko-fi and maybe buy some goodies from her too!

Quirkory

Shop, Pin Club, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Quirkory are by far my favourite enamel pin creators. Their work always makes me happy to see and really does brighten my day. I discovered them in 2019 and since then I’ve been supporting their work, as well as befriending them over the years. Currently I’m loving what Quirkory are doing with their Patreon/pin club and Discord communities, their new designs and ideas for the future are kawaii AF and I cannot wait to see more in the future! Plus don’t forget I have a discount code for Quirkory where you can save 10% on purchases with code TMBQUIRKORY.

Worlds Apart, Birmingham

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Worlds Apart is the oldest comic book shop in England and for that fact alone I’m proud to call them my local and favourite comic book shop! I can’t speak for Worlds Apart or other comic book shops but with places like Amazon selling comics and manga online, as well as bigger businesses such as Waterstones too, smaller comic book shops can struggle at times to get custom, especially during Covid! One thing that Worlds Apart did during Covid was open up orders through their Discord, as well as through Instagram, which I used often during lockdowns to get hold of merchandise and manga. I’m a part of the Worlds Apart Discord, which is full of amazing people! I highly recommend if you’re from Birmingham to support Worlds Apart if you can, even if it’s just promoting them online.

So, there we have it guys, my favourites from June! June did really fly by and I’m just wary the rest of the year is going to follow suit, which I don’t want. I mean, I’d love for cooler months to come by so I can start layering my clothes and feeling cosy!

What did you guys love throughout June, and what are you looking forward to in July? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you have a lovely weekend and great start to July.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Usagi Shima – 2023 on iOS, Android and Steam.

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

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

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

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

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

Fall of Porcupine – Release date TBH on Steam.

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

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

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

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

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

Pekoe – 2023 on Steam. 

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

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

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

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

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

Super Mini Mart – Release date TBH on Steam.

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

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

Love, Ghostie – Release date TBH on Steam.

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

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

Bloom – Out now on Playdate.

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

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

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

Redfall – 2023 on PC and Xbox.

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

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

ARK 2 – 2023 on PC and Xbox.

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

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

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

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

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

Diablo IV – 2023 on Xbox and PlayStation 5.

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

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

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

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

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

Super Zoo Story – 2023 on Steam.

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

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

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

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

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

Roots of Pacha – 2022 on Steam.

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

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

Choo-Choo Charles – 2022 on Steam.

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

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

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

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

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

Games I’m Loving This Month

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

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

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

Unpacking – 2nd November 2021

Available on Steam, Xbox and and Nintendo Switch.

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

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

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

To The Rescue! – 2nd November 2021

Available on Steam and Nintendo Switch in 2022.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise – 5th November 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Games I’m Excited For After E3 2021

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

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

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

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

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

Snacko – Out 2022 on both Steam and Nintendo Switch.

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

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

Behind The Frame – Out 2021 on Steam.

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

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

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

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

Yokai Inn – Release TBC.

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

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

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

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

Shashingo – Release TBC.

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

Unpacking – Out 2021 on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

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

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

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

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

Mario Party Superstars – Out 29th October 2021.

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

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

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

Back 4 Blood – Out October 12, 2021.

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

Party Animals – Out 2022.

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

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands – Out Early 2022.

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

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

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

Tunic – Release TBC.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recolit

Pekoe

Button City

Pupperazzi

Amber Isle

Woodo

12 Minutes

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!

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

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

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

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. 🙂

August Favourites ’20

It is finally my favourite month of the year and I can already feel autumn slowly making its way to us… I AM SO EXCITED!

August was such a strange month for me, but not in a bad way. I decided to go on a spending ban, venture out a little more since lock down in March and wait patiently for exciting purchases. August went by in the blink of an eye for sure and I’m glad we are finally into September now.

September is the month where I like to venture out into the countryside with Dane for walks, lunch in cafes and more. However, that will be very different this year and instead of going into cafes for lunch, we’ll pack a picnic and eat as and when. We did it yesterday for bank holiday Monday and it was amazing. We’ve already researched where we can venture to in the future and explore. I’m already really excited for our autumn adventures. Would you guys like to see where we venture to? Would you want to see here, or over on Instagram? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Image taken from The Latest Kate Twitter

For now though, it’s monthly favourites time!

• Childs Farm Hand Wash Grapefruit & Organic Tea Tree Oil.

I’ve mentioned this brand on my blog time and time again and it’s all because they deserve it. Their baby body lotion really helps my eczema on my hands so I thought I would give their hand wash a go as well, to see if that could help my hands even more. I definitely feel like I’ve noticed my skin not flaring up as much and cracking! This hand wash has such a light, uplifting scent to it, which I really love. It lathers up easily and doesn’t leave my hands feeling dry and sore afterwards. I’ve since bought another three of these, with the bottle used for the above image being my second bottle. The only issue I have with Child’s Farm is that it isn’t cheap, so I have to stockpile it up when it’s on offer to feel like I’m getting my “moneys worth”.

• Collection Velvet Kiss Lip in shade Cream Cotton.

This is a lip product I have had in my makeup bag for years, at least 8 years now. This is a new tube however, don’t panic! It’s just one of those that I think I’ll always repurchase until it’s discontinued and I can’t buy anymore. I ventured out a few times throughout August and wanted to wear a pretty colour, but didn’t fancy wearing a lip tint, or a lipstick, so I went for this. It’s a pretty candy pink colour which is really comfortable to wear and lasts for ages! It’s definitely been one I’ve reached for loads in August and I can see me reaching for it throughout September too.

• Sanctuary Spa Cloudberry & Lychee Blossom Body Mist.

This was an item I received in a gift set for Christmas last year and I’m surprised I still have any of this body mist left! When we had the hotter weather in August I was using this daily to try and refresh my skin a little, as I was very sweaty and wanted to make sure I was fresh throughout the working day… Even if I was just at home. Alongside that, I’ve used it on my skin before getting dressed and popping out for the day, as well as spritzing all over to add some more scent. It’s definitely a body mist I enjoy using and I’ll be a little sad when it’s finished, as this isn’t something you can find very easily. The scent lasts on the skin for ages and if you CAN find this, definitely pick one up!

• Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream.

I have mentioned this cuticle cream time and time again on my blog this year and I’m here mentioning it again, because like Child’s Farm, it’s an amazing brand. Not only have I been using this loads on my cuticles but the reason I’m mentioning this product again this month is due to my eczema. My hand has been so dry and sore due to some potential dermatitis issues I have on my hand, which the cuticle cream has been helping with on and off throughout August. As the cuticle cream is so thick and buttery, a little goes a long way. I apply some to the sore part of my hand after washing my hands and it really does help to soften and help. I’m getting close to the end of the tin and I’ll be glad to get a new one… I swear though, when I bought this tin originally it was between £7-£9, but not this costs less than £5!

• Happy Place Cosmetics Buffday Cake Bath & Shower Whip.

This is one of the first Happy Place Cosmetics items I picked up and this is actually one I bought through someone on Depop. It was brand new and not used at all, which is awesome. I’ve been using this loads in August to as bubble bath, to wash with in the shower and as a shaving foam/cream too! It smells just like Lush’s Rock Star scent and is so damn yummy smelling. It smells of creamy vanilla and reminds me of back in the day when I first discovered Lush. I personally prefer to use Buffday Cake as a shave foam/cream and bubble bath, rather than to wash with. The bath and shower whips from Happy Place Cosmetics are AMAZING for shaving with and they’re by far some of my favourite products to use when in the bath and shower now. If you love Rock Star soap from Lush and want something multi purpose with the same scent, definitely check out Happy Place Cosmetics. Check them out anyway as they’re an amazing indie shower and bath brand!

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

Favourite TV Show – Pose.

I’ve had Pose saved on my Netflix watch list for ages now and finally decided to watch it. I fell in LOVE and was fast trying to find the second season on the internet, only to discover it was on BBC iPlayer the whole time. So, I binged both seasons and loved them both the same. Pose is set in New York in the late 80’s, early 90’s and is about African-American and Latino LGBTQ Houses that compete in competitions in an underground club. Alongside this you watch as characters grow in things they hope to do in the future and see how the aids virus affects various characters too. It’s a powerful TV show and one I cannot recommend highly enough for people to watch!

Favourite Movie – Angela’s Ashes.

I didn’t watch many films throughout August and to be honest, I feel like I hardly watch any newer ones lately… Maybe it’s due to binge watching TV shows? For years I’ve always been interested in watching Angela’s Ashes but never got around to watching it, until a few weeks ago. The film is based off of a memoir, which is set during the 1930’s and 1940’s and is about an Irish family who moved to America for a better life, only to be forced to move back to Ireland due to money issues. It tells the story of Frank McCourt and his family. It’s definitely worth a watch if you’ve never seen and fancy something different.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Erm…

I’ve fallen off of the book reading bandwagon again… Oh dear… I’ve just felt like I’ve been so busy this month and every time I’ve wanted to continue reading my manga series, I’ve just… Not. I am going to try to read more, but at the same time I feel like if I work through all the remaining/current volumes I have for series, I’ll NEED to buy more and I’m trying to not buy manga for a while. Urgh, vicious cycle is vicious. 😛

Favourite Music – Ellie Goulding – “Lights” and I Prevail “Every Time You Leave”.

I feel like recently I discovered some golden oldies that I adore, as well as some newer songs. “Lights” by Ellie Goulding is one of my favourite songs and I cannot for the life of me tell you why… I just adore the lyrics, the tune itself and I especially love the bass line on the song. Fun fact, this is the first song I learnt on my bass and it was semi self taught too! I’ve listened to it almost daily since mid August and I have zero regrets.

I’ve also added I Prevail on here as whilst I discovered them last year and bought their album Trauma, I’ve not listened to it as much as I wish I could say… However, I recently rediscovered it and forgot how much I love “Every Time You Leave”, so much so after listening to it a few times during and after work, I had a dream about me and Dane singing it to one another!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Aggretsuko: The Short Timer Strikes Back.

Yes this has returned to my favourites for another month and it’s because it’s an amazing bloody game and I have quickly fallen in love with it! I feel bad that lately I’ve played this more than Animal Crossing: New Horizons but… I kinda have because it’s just easy to pick up and play, I suppose? You basically have to match up certain icons to remove blocks, etc etc. I’m currently borderline level 200 and I’ve loving it! This has become an app I play throughout the day as my hearts come back and I just love it. I also love how the more you play, you begin to unlock the original Aggretsuko mini episodes, which I love watching.

So there you have it guys, my monthly favourites for August!

I feel like August flew by, but in all honesty I also felt like I hardly posted in August and same for July too… I know I said at the start of 2020 though that I wouldn’t be writing on my blog as much as I once did, as my blog was becoming less fun and it’s so true.

I’m so much happier just writing once a week and I feel like I look forward to writing and getting that post out, you know? I’m also wary that I only get 3-4 posts out a month, when last year I was doing that in a week! It’s just strange, but I am so much happier.

Are you guys happier seeing one post a week? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Of course, also let me know what your favourites are from August, as well as what you think of mine, add comments!

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

Kawaii Face Mask Wish List

Guys we are less than two weeks away from September. Can you believe it? It has also nearly been a month since the UK were told to wear face masks in shops. That month has flew by and it only feels like yesterday I was panicking about buying some more face masks.

Well, that mini panic is what inspired today’s post, which is all about face masks and which ones I have on my wish list (as well as one I bought). I know a lot of people went into panic over getting face masks before the 24th July, which thankfully wasn’t me. I was just panicking about which one to buy! I didn’t buy any funky ones, just a couple of black ones for both me and Dane. However, I would still love some funky and fun face masks, hence the wish list. These are also all going to be reusable!

I really hope this list helps people who may want to get some fun masks to wear during (and after) these times we are facing at the moment. Whether you believe in it or not, wear a face mask if you can and keep yourself and others safe.

• Firebox Smoko Pearl Boba Tea Reusable Face Mask (link)

This is the first cute face mask I found and typical it was after I bought my face masks in July, boooo! This one is sold by Firebox but is by American brand Smoko (who also made my Elodie ramen bowl – which you can read about here) who I love! They have three different designs on the website – Little Bao Dumpling, Tayto Potato and the one I’m mentioning here, Pearl Boba Tea. The little bubble teas are adorable and some have cute smiling faces on them too. They sound and look really good quality and I would love to pick one of these up in the future, especially as I love (and miss) bubble tea. 😛

• Society 6 Igor Canova Shadow Sneak Face Mask (link)

This is a face mask designer my good blogger friend Sarah (Raiin Monkey) has bought herself and told me about. There are so many face masks to choose from, all with adorable Pokemon themed designs, 21 to be exact! Out of all of them, the ghost Pokemon design jumped out at me and I really would love to pick it up in the future. The design itself has various ghost Pokemon – including Gengar, Misdreavus, Shuppet, Litwick and Phantump. Alongside the Pokemon there are some ghost type moves dotted around, which make for a good print overall!

• PaperandPotionsArt Soot Sprite Face Mask (link)

It wouldn’t be a wish list on my post if it didn’t contain something Studio Ghibli related! I discovered PaperandPotionsArt years ago at Comic Con and straightaway followed them on Instagram. When I saw they’d created this Soot Sprite mask I knew I had to add it to this list. It’s nothing too elaborate and is a rather “simple” design, which I like! It works with it being white too, due to the Soot Sprite’s being black. I have some black face masks similar to this style and to be honest, they’re not the best due to how thick they are and with how warm you can get whilst wearing one of these, this may get a bit stuffy.

• Sunflower310 Japanese Shiba Face Mask (link)

My Instagram friend Emily (Meimi132) shared some face masks stores and designs with me and this is one of them. It’s a gorgeous Japanese inspired design that has various Shiba in different poses, Mount Fuji, sakura, geta footwear and dango. The design just screams Japan to me and reminds me of my trip there, as well as my love for the country. This is a face mask I would really love to pick up in the future, especially for any future trips to Japan.

• ClumsyCritters Animal Crossing Celeste Face Mask (link)

This is another face mask that Emily shared with me and it is so adorable! Celeste is so precious and I’ve always adored her since Wild World but I feel in New Horizons she’s so precious and adorable. Walking around, give you recipes and more to do with the stars. It makes me smile. Aside from the design, one of the things I like about this face mask is how the ear sections have adjustable beads on them, which I think is such a good idea.

• LenacchiStore Pikachu in Space Reusable Face Mask (link)

Finally we have another Pokemon themed face mask that I would really like to pick up  in the future! It’s a gorgeous space themed mask, but with Pokemon! Pikachu and Pichu are in space alongside various Pokemon including Mew, Jirachi, Clefairy, Clefable and various more! Both the Pikachu and Pichu are dressed in little astronaut outfits, which look so adorable! It’s just gorgeous, I love it so much.

I thought I would mention below the face mask that Dane bought for both of us as it’s amazing and deserves a recommendation!

• AALTRADE Resuseable Face Mask (link)

I didn’t want to add it onto the wish list but these masks come in various different colours, but we picked up the black one above. We got 2 each to ensure we had enough and we certainly do. You can pop filters inside, but when we’ve gone to do that it’s really awkward, so sadly we haven’t bothered. We both wear glasses and personally I haven’t had any issues with fogging, but I think Dane has from memory. If you don’t want to go for a kawaii design, you can always go for one of these plain black ones. 🙂

So there we have it! My kawaii face mask wish list! I know this weeks blog post isn’t anything special, but I thought it was both cute and important considering the planets current situation with COVID.

What do you guys think of the face masks I mentioned? Any you like, or already own? Do you have any face masks you recommend? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and keep safe. 🙂

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! 😀

August Wish List ’20

I can’t quite believe it’s August already and to be honest with you, I’m pretty damn glad. July was good because it meant my bathroom was completed, however it was incredibly stressful and I wasn’t very well for the majority of it.

I’m glad for August to bring a fresh month, something new and also a month for me to save the money I spent on the labour for the bathroom too.

Although I am trying to save my money this month, it doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to still have and share my wish list with you this month! That and I bought three pieces from the Black Milk Clothing x Pokemon collection last week… Oops! 😛

I’m really loving the variety on it and I hope you do too. 🙂

• Insert Coin Persona 5 Morgana Hoodie (link)

If there is one thing I love seeing, it’s when Insert Coin reveals they have a new collection out and it’s clearly Persona 5 related. They recently announced more items that were joining their ever growing collection and I for one love everything! I especially love that not everything is a high cost too. The new pullover hoodie they’ve brought out is so gorgeous! I don’t have a red hoodie, so this red is right up my street and I love that Morgana is on the front of it too. I wont be purchasing this for a while… But the time will come when I do decide to pick it up!

• Goodsmile Company Nendoroid A Clockwork Orange Alex DeLarge (link)

I feel like I haven’t had a Nendoroid pre-order arrive for quite a while, so I’m definitely overdue now. For those who may not know, I’m a big fan of A Clockwork Orange and have been since I was about… 15/16 years old. When I lived at home I used to have a canvas up of Alex DeLarge, I dressed up as him once for Halloween and I own some t-shirts with Alex DeLarge on. SO, when this Nendoroid was announced when I was in Japan in January, I asked YY Kawaii if she could get him for me, which she could and did! I’m so excited for Alex DeLarge to arrive this month! He looks perfect. If you haven’t watched A Clockwork Orange before then definitely give it a go, but it is a dark film, with some strange themes. There was a lot of controversy surrounding it due to a lot of the themes that went on in the film and I think it was banned from the UK for a time. I still recommend it though. 🙂

• Pokemon Four Seasons Collection Re-ment – Vulpix (link)

I was recently gifted an amazing parcel by YY Kawaii which contained some items she was giving away over on Instagram (the giveaway is now closed!) and within that there was some re-ment figures, including one from the four seasons collection. I was really hoping for the Vulpix re-ment but instead I got a Wartortle and Sandygast one which is really summery and cute. As Autumn is one of my favourite months, this Vulpix autumn re-ment is shouting out to me! I’ll buy it eventually, but for now I can wait. 🙂

• Kickstarter Adorablush Pokemon Fruit Salad Enamel Pins KICKSTARTER NOW ENDED (link)

This Kickstarter is adorable and it’s one both me and Sarah (from Raiin Monkey) have backed together to save on postage… Smart, eh? 😛 We both loved the look of this Kickstarter campaign for fruit Pokemon enamel pins. There are eight designs to choose from, I’ve gone for the watermelon Shaymin and strawberry Eevee and Sarah has gone for the strawberry Eevee too! Alongside the enamel pins you also get prints that match, which will be awesome! I’m so excited for us to receive our pins. I’ll be sending Sarah’s off to her when it arrives, with some other goodies too… 😛

• Lunaticgumis Puppycat Sticker (link)

If you guys didn’t know by now, I am a MASSIVE Bee & Puppycat fan! I’ve been after some more merchandise from the TV show/comic book for a while, but it’s lacking AND not easy to get hold of in the UK. This sticker is from Spain and delivers to the UK, which is always good. It’s really cute and would love to add it to my “sticker collection”. During  lock down I’ve gathered quite a lot of stickers but I don’t quite know what to do with them.

• Cushty Co Unicorn Blood Soy Wax Melt (link)

About 10 years ago I discovered a brand called Lily Flame and their gorgeous scented candle called Fairy Dust. I’ve owned a few since then and they’re amazing. However, I can’t justify buying any new candles right now and sadly Lily Flame aren’t exactly cheap. Cushty Co do a dupe of this scent, which I’d love to give a go myself in future! I’m still trying to get through my candles and wax melts at the moment, but sadly they’ve been hurting my throat so I’m trying not to use them too frequently at the moment.

• Disney Store Lady Small Soft Toy in Box (link)

This Lady plush is very much sold out/out of stock at he moment and I’m semi gutted. My favourite Disney film is Lady and the Tramp for so many reasons so when I saw that the Disney Store were selling this lady in a box, just like in the film I knew I had to have it. Of course, I’ve missed that window due to setting myself on a spending ban, but at the same time I was being indecisive. I’m really hoping the Disney Store bring it back as I would love to purchase this cute Lady plus.

• Costa Coffee China Unicorn Mug (link)

Finally we have an item I pre-ordered through YY Kawaii a month or so ago. I saw her mention that Costa Coffee in China were making unicorn mugs and merchandise, which looked and are adorable! There were two takeaway mugs and two mugs. I went for the glass unicorn mug to drink my teas and coffees from. I don’t exactly need anymore mugs in my life, but this was kind of too cute to pass up and as I used to work at Costa Coffee many moons ago, I thought it would be nice to add one of the unicorn designs from China to my kitchen!

So there we have it, my wish list for August! Some of the items are pre-orders or have arrived already, such as my Nendoroid Alex DeLarge, which arrived last week. This being said, as I mentioned at the start of the post I’m going on a spending ban for August. I will only buy items that are essential or occasionally buy items that are limited edition or limited time, but that probably won’t happen much.

What items do you have on your wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments below, as well as to what items you like from my list!

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

July Favourites ’20

I can’t believe it’s August already, can you? I for one am glad as July was so bloody stressful and it drove me mad due to that fact. I just couldn’t wait for it to end to be honest, it started to affect my mental health, which is never good so to have a new month will be good. Plus, September is my favourite month of the year and I want to make sure to have a relaxing month before that favourite comes up. I could write a post every year as to why I love September… Maybe I’ll do it again this year? Let me know if you’re interested.

July wasn’t just a month of being stressed out however, it was also a month of getting good things done, including our bathroom and my nails. We had some issues with our bathroom in May with water damage and decided instead of just getting the water damage repaired, we would look and see if we could justify getting the whole bathroom done. Alas we did justify it and a couple of months later the work was completed and we now have our gorgeous new bathroom! We’ve had the work completed for two weeks now and I have loved it so much. I was going to show off the completed bathroom on my blog, but I have since gone against that as I’d like to keep some privacy.

As well as my bathroom being done, nail technicians were able to open their salons again, so I went to get my first gel manicure done in almost 4 months, which I was very happy about. Yesterday I went and got them done again and I went for black and holographic silver, because why not. 😛

Image taken from The Latest Kate

As always I like to share a positive photo here from The Latest Kate as I find her images are really sweet and the message behind them meaningful.

Here’s to August being a relaxing month, before my favourite comes. 🙂

• Bath Bake Love Cherry Lime Sugar Whip.

I have know about Bath Bake Love for quite a long time now through Instagram, but I’ve never bought from them until now. I feel like I’ve been missing out for a long time as I honestly love their products. So far I’ve bought quite a few of the sugar whips (including Frosting Fairy, Billionaires Shortbread) and some other items they create and sell. The one sugar whip I have fallen in love with is Cherry Lime, it smells just like it and it makes me so happy. I haven’t used it as much as Frosting Fairy, but that’s because I’m savouring it a little. The sugar whips are really creamy in texture and like a mousse, which make it really easy to lather them up and wash with. They make you smell really good and feel soft! The Cherry Lime scent is very zesty and summery, hence why I’ve loved it so much this past month. I can’t wait to use it more and I’ll definitely buy it when it’s restocked next. PLUS look how pretty the product is with the bright pink and green foil inside! It’s actually inspired me to potentially get my nails painted in these shades towards the end of the month.

• Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Toilette.

I decided to use some of my “older” perfumes up that I’ve had for quite some time. Years ago my mom bought me a set of mini Marc Jacobs perfumes and I’ve never used them… Until now! These bottles are TEENY and they aren’t the easiest of bottles to work with, but I just dab some of the scent on my neck, wrists and inside my elbows. For an EDT this scent lasts ages! It’s really light and I rather like it, although I doubt I would buy the full sized bottle. I’m not a massive fan of the Marc Jacobs scents, although I really do love Decadence.

• Revolution Skincare Blemish and Pore Refining Serum – 10% Niacinamide + 1% Zinc 30ml.

My good friend Claire recommend this serum to me a while ago, so I decided to buy myself a bottle of it back in June and since then I have on and off used it. I do really love it and I ended up buying some more niacinamide items from Revolution Skincare too, which I’ve been using alongside the serum. Niacinamide is good for oily skin types as it balances oil production and improves texture by making pores look smaller. Considering how warm it’s been towards the end of this week, after using this on my skin in the morning with my moisturiser, my skin hasn’t been as oily on my nose as it usually is! I’m going to keep trying this though, as I do feel like it’s starting to do something for my skin.

• romand – Juicy Lasting Tint Autumn Fruit Series Shade Cherry Bomb.

In June I ordered some goodies from Yes Style and it was a mixture of regret and happiness. I was happy to finally own some more Korean lip tints but regretted it due to the fact it took a whole month to arrive and I was paranoid about customs charges. However, looking back I don’t really regret it and I think I was just on edge and anxious. I’ll happily order with Yes Style again, especially as I’ve seen some stuff I would love for the future. That aside, I ordered two lip tints by romand and out of the two, Cherry Bomb has been my favourite. It’s a gorgeous cherry red lip tint that really does last ages on the lips. I’ve found myself wearing it on the rare occasions I’ve left the house, but I’ve mostly worn it whilst working from home. I recommend these lip tints to everyone and I already know I’ll be buying more romand products in the future.

• The Body Scrub Peppermint Candy Cane Body Scrub.

This is one that I received a couple of Christmases ago and have FINALLY gotten around to using! It’s one of The Body Shop scrubs and I honestly wish I had used it sooner as it’s amazing. It’s a very thick sugar scrub which really does scrub away! I’ve been using it on the tops of my arms, bum, thighs and even my feet. It’s worked amazingly on the latter but has left me feeling a little smoother than usual everywhere else. This was only a small pot as it was part of a set, but if I ever see this pop up in sales on the website in future, I may have to buy a bigger pot. It also smells AMAZING by the way!

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

Favourite TV Show – I May Destroy You.

First of all, this TV show is amazing and I cannot recommend it enough to you right now. In all fairness this does have some warnings due to scenes of sexual abuse/rape. The show is written and stars Michaela Coel (who also wrote Chewing Gum) and is about a writer who goes for a night out to take a break from her work. The next day she can’t seem to remember what happened during the night out, or how she even got home. Everything begins to unravel and she soon grows to realise she’s been raped during her night out. With the help of her friends she gains support, as well as tries to get justice for what happened to her and more. I definitely recommend watching it, it’s an amazing show.

Favourite Movie – A Whisker Away.

This film was an absolute delight to watch and after a takeaway me and Dane snuggled together and watched it on the sofa. It’s about a girl who is in love with a boy and the only way she can get close to him is by turning into a cat. We watched it dubbed, but it is subbed on Netflix as well. The story itself is adorable and we have all been there at some point in our youth with lusting over someone but not being able to get them to like you the same way! My only gripe with this film is that both me and Dane felt like it went on for a little bit too long… Which started to ruin the film for us. This being said, I would happily watch this film again as it did make me smile and the kitten that the girl turns into is adorable!

Image taken from Tumblr

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid manga.

FINALLY I HAVE READ SOMETHING! Can you believe it?! I had a quiet weekend in July and decided to start making my way through some of the volumes I haven’t read yet in my manga collection. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid was a priority to me as it’s one of my favourites and I know quite a few volumes have come out for this and the spin off volumes (Kanna’s Daily Life and Elma’s Office Lady Diary) too. I feel so much better for catching up on my manga series but I do need to read more! I feel like I need to just assign myself two evenings a week to just read, as I’m terrible these days for reading and I don’t know why? I’m going to blame gaming as I feel since I bought my Switch Lite I’ve neglected reading, which is a shame. Not only do I have manga to read, but comics and even “normal” books to read too!

Favourite Music – Dai Numo – SUITED.

Years ago on Soundcloud I discovered Dai Numo and I have never regretted that day. I LOVE his music and keep wanting him to release more. I listened to his album on and off to and from Japan, whenever I visit Fuerteventura and when I really need to knuckle down with work of any type (work or personal). I thought I’d share a couple of songs above, but I’d highly recommend you go and check out his Soundcloud AND Bandcamp where you can download the album. I can’t describe what kind of music this is… It’s like chillout hip hop? I love it either way and I definitely recommend it for everyone to check out.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Aggretsuko: The Short Timer Strikes Back.

First of all guys I just want to say, I am still playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, however I am not on it ALL the time. It has began to “bore” me a little, but lately I decided to sort out my island and redo parts of it, so every other day I’ve clocked onto Animal Crossing a couple of hours. However, recently an Aggretsuko game came out, ready for when the third season hits Netflix at the end of the month. This isn’t an in depth game in anyway shape or form, but towards the end of July I got addicted to it! It’s a free game and I can’t recommend it more if you want a puzzle game to play.

So those are my favourites from July! Again, I can’t believe it’s August already, the eighth month of the year! Next month will be my favourite month of the year and then before we know it we’ll be in autumn, Halloween, Bonfire Night, winter and then Christmas before we get a new year!

2020 hasn’t been amazing due to COVID, but we’re over halfway through this year now.

How has July been for you? What were your favourites? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay safe and take care all!