What I got for Christmas 2021

Hello Everyone! Let's just pretend that it's not now almost March, so I can say a Happy New Year to you all! I wish each and every one of my lovely readers a wonderful 2022!! Seriously though, how is it almost three months into the year!? It feels like only yesterday since we were celebrating Christmas... and not just because I'm only just getting around to blogging about what I got! *insert awkward-face emoji here*. I feel so loved to have received so many fantastic presents, so I couldn't not talk about them. I hope you all enjoy reading and having a nosey at my gifts. This post is not meant to be a brag or make anyone feel bad, but a way for me to express how grateful I am, and to celebrate the thought that my loved ones put into choosing presents for me ♥(You guys are amazing!!). I'd love to hear all about what you got in 2021 for Christmas, so please let me know in the comments :) And so, without further ado, here's what I got!

I received the majority of my marvellous presents from my sister, so a huge THANK YOU to Nicole!! After our mom passed away, my sister & I decided to help make getting through the 'most wonderful time of the year' that little bit easier, that we would spoil one another (as best we could, anyway). In the past, we basically never bought each other anything for Christmas, haha! Oops... we have sure been making up for that over the last few years! My sister did a fantastic job as always of picking out great presents for me!! And I hope she loved the things I got for her just as much :)

If you are new to my blog, then you won't know that I have been an avid collector of figures all my life, starting when I was a little kid. As soon as I got to the age when I had my own money to spend on whatever I liked (even though it was supposed to go on adulting things...), I have been very much into vinyl figures. Although, my main love is for blind box collectable series, with those by Tokidoki being a firm favourite of mine, I couldn't help but fall in love with Funko Pops. I own over 100+ now, and I am trying to slow down with my collecting, because I was struggling to find space to store them all, haha. Can anyone else relate? 

Anyhow, when Tokidoki revealed that they were doing a collaboration with Funko, I pretty much lost my shit, as the saying goes XD And now have a mighty need to acquire ALL of the Pops they made (despite the fact that the unicorno looks strange to me in Pop form....). As you can imagine, I was over the moon to unwrap one of these Pops on Christmas morning, especially since the cactus characters are my absolute favourite by Tokidoki. I mean, just look how adorable Sandy is!!

Something that I really enjoy is receiving little gifts, you know the kind that are typically classed as 'stocking fillers'. And my sister always manages to find such awesome ones!! Like these Sanrio squishies! I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to bring myself to take them out of the packaging and risk ruining them because they are too cute. Are you a Sanrio fan? Who's your favourite out of the two I got for Christmas: Chococat or Hello Kitty? It's the latter for me. Hello Kitty will always hold a special place in my heart as she was the reason I got into Sanrio in my early teens. The best Sanrio characters, in my opinion, though are Kuromi and Pompompurin :) 

If you follow me over on Instagram (if you don't, you totally should), then you will likely have seen how much I was craving lebkuchen over the Christmas period! Being a spoonie, I can't get out of the house as often as I'd like to, and when I do, for example to do my monthly grocery shop, I have to try to get my shopping done all in one location, so I don't have to venture out again. As a consequence, I can't go to my local Lidl or Aldi stores to pick up all of the European festive goodies that I love so much, including the fabulous German spiced treats, lebkuchen. Oh my goodness, they are so yummy, and I was so happy to finally get my hands on some thanks to my sister. Yay!

I will be forever obsessed with plushies, and there is almost never a plushie that I don't love as soon as I set eyes on it. If you want to capture my heart quickly, give me a plushie and I will love you for all eternity. Obviously it's not that simple, but you get the picture! :D HOW BRILLIANT IS MY NEW GREEN MONSTER FRIEND!? My sister came across this one-eyed, floppy-eared dude in the sale for only £3 or something crazy like that!!? I am so happy that Ugly Dolls merch became popular in the UK over the last few years, as before then, I could never get any of the figures and such, without ordering from the US. And now I have a whole ass plushie!

Isn't the cover on that Harry Potter book just stunning? Thestrals are one of my favourite creatures from the Wizarding World, and the colour scheme appeals so much to the alternative part of me. The book is filled with intricate paper cut-out art (I have no idea what the proper name for that sort of thing is, so apologises if my explanation is crap...), depicting some of the locations featured throughout the Harry Potter stories. My sister thought it would make for a collection of interesting backgrounds I can use for my toy photography hobby, and I am very much looking forward to trying it out. I wish that I was skilled at doing intricate crafts because everytime I look through the book, I want so much to have a go at creating something similar myself! Alas, I struggle to even cut in a straight line with a pair of scissors...

As you can see, I received another Funko Pop for Christmas. It has become a little tradition for my niece to choose a Funko Pop for me as a gift, and it's just the sweetest thing knowing that she chose a particular character with me in mind :) In 2020, it was a Lion King (live action version) Pop of the character Scar, and this Christmas just gone, when she was deep into her obsession with Disney's Frozen, she wanted to gift me an Anna Pop, which was perfect for wintery toy photography! Little cutie ♥

This is the 'main' present that my sister got for me, and I was so surprised, in the happiest way!! My sister collects snowglobes, and so I always get her one for Christmas, or whenever I go on holiday and such. I really wasn't expecting her to go and get me one, too!! I also collect globes, but on a much smaller level. I think they are really pretty and will buy one as a keepsake from places I've travelled to. I think if I didn't already collect so many other things, I would allow myself to get even more globes, but I need to be sensible XD My life is overrun with enough things and stuff already, haha. I'm like the human equivalent of a magpie!

This Nightmare Before Christmas globe is SOOOO beautiful, and I couldn't have been more thrilled to receive it. I had been ummm'ing and ahhh'ing about getting myself an official Disney globe, but I always prioritised spending my money on adding to my various collections, so it's really nice that someone else took that step for me :) And what a phenomenal one to start with! My most favourite feature of this globe is the fact that it isn't filled with snow, or glitter, but bat confetti!! Yes, tiny little bats float around Jack and Zero when you shake it, and I think it is the most amazing idea ever! Whoever added that design needs a promotion, Disney! The detailing around the base of the globe is so eye-catching, and think of Lock, Shock and Barrell singing 'Kidnap the Sandy Claws' every time I look at it. Sally with her black cat in hand is the star of the show for me though :) Do you have an official Disney globe? I'd love to know which one(s)! 

My brother very kindly bought me a Lush gift set for Christmas (Thanks so much, Chris! ♥), and everything smells so good!! If I'm being honest, I always get a little nervous when someone says they are going to buy me a gift that involves fragrances, because I have so many sensory issues when it comes to certain scents. I can easily become overwhelmed, for lack of a better word, and so I am very 'picky' when it comes to perfume and the like. I told him that my favourite bathbomb by Lush was the peppermint-based Intergalactic, and whoever put together this Happy Daze box did an excellent job of pairing it with another bathbomb, and two bubble bars, with similar scents, in terms of their 'mildness'. 

The relief I felt when I unboxed it all!! It includes The Comforter, a bubble bar that I've used before and love, and then two new-for-me items, that luckily have citrus fruits and ylang-ylang as main ingredients, which are another of my go-to's, the Groovy Kind of Love bathbomb & the Brightside bubble bar. I cannot wait to see what the bathart they create is like! Something I really like about Lush is how colourful the packaging of their gift sets are :) 

Now, I'm going to show you all presents that I was gifted by my friends, who are incredible and I don't understand how I managed to have such great friends as them in my life :') A shoutout to Kim, who blogs over at Chimmyville, for buying me this Harry Potter origami book off of my Amazon wishlist! It was a lovely surprise. Thank you for being awesome!! Everyone go have a read of her blog :) I received some more Harry Potter themed goodies for my best friend, Jess, who knows I love her the most-est ever ever!! We recently spent a weekend in London, and thanks to her family, I finally got to visit the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour!! I will share some posts about it next month for those of you who are fellow fans of the book series and movie franchise, that we all know conjured themselves into existence and have no creator. Keep your eyes peeled for that (I hate that saying because of the imagery it creates, but still continue to use it. Why...). I think it's cool that my bestie chose a Hermione pin for me, since even though she's not my favourite character from the franchise, I relate to her book-counterpart so much! 

My other best friend went all out and did a haul from one of my favourite stores for me!! Thank you so so very much, Aaron, for getting me so many kawaii wonders from Kenji! It is too tough to choose a favourite, because I adore everything!! Notebooks are always welcome, as they are another thing that I cannot ever get enough of. And one of them has a froggo on it!! A round amphibian buddie that's facial expression speaks to me on a personal level XD The long boi panda is so squishy and soft, and somehow my friend managed to pick two of my favourite Asian snacks, milk flavoured Hello Panda biscuits, and cookies & cream (or white cookie, a new name used for Christmas branding?) Pepero. I was in need of some cutesy snacks for some tiktok ideas I have, so what perfect timing to get these as a gift! 

Another Funko Pop from my wishlist has come into my life, and it's all thanks to my amazing blogger-bestie, Natalee, who writes over at There Might Be Coffee. Seriously, if you are of the nerdy persuasion like myself, you need to go read Nat's posts! Ever since, Funko announced that they were working with the brand Tasty Peach, I was delighted!! I have wanted a Tasty Peach plushie for the longest time, but couldn't afford to get one, so vinyl figures of the beloved characters are the next best thing, right? The one I love most of the Funko X Tasty Peach Pop's is the Queen Bee Meowchi, and now it's mine!! Eeeee!

She might be the cutest Pop I have ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on before! I mean, LOOK AT HER! Everything about her is super sweet!! It's fantastic that she's so photogenic as well, and I cannot wait to feature her in some Springtime photography. Who else is counting down the days until Spring is here?? I enjoy Winter (even though my brain does not) but I am craving more daylight and eye-candy in the form of flowers and fresh green buds. I need it to hurry up and get here already! 

So, that's (almost) all of the gifts that I have been given for Christmas, and I hope today's post has put into words how truly thankful I am for the people in my life. I know that love isn't about material things, and my friends give me so much more with their conversation and being there to listen to me and all of my life problems (of which there's A LOT), and making my days better just by existing, but when they take the time to look for a gift that they know will make my little nerdy heart smile, it is so meaningful :') I cannot say thank you enough. Thank YOU, THANK you, THANK YOU! And that also extends to everyone who has taken the time to read today's post, because I know that I have been the world's shittiest blogger over the last several years, so it still baffles me that people take the time to check out my ramblings whenever I am sporadically hit with the motivation to share a snippet of my life with the world. You guys are the best! 

Thank you for reading!

♥

What's something that you gave or did for someone special in your life for Christmas 2021? 

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Flowery Eeveelution Pin by Quirkory

Hey everyone! Long time, no see... can I even consider myself a blogger anymore!? Oops! Before I start today's post, which is all about a gorgeous gift that a super awesome friend of mine picked up for me, I just wanted to say a massive, mega, huge THANK YOU to each and every one of you who still read my blog, and follow along with my shambles of a life over on social media. You guys are the best!! You make me feel loved and interesting and I am eternally grateful for that ♥ Anyhow, enough soppiness, you came here to read all about wonderful nerdy things and to get your daily dose of cuteness overload, so let's go! 

If you're one of those fabulous regular readers of mine, you may remember my Christmas in July post from last year. Time seemed to both drag and speed by in 2020, during those months and months of pandemic life, and like so many others who struggle with mental illness, my brain was all over the place. My motivation and drive to do anything all but disappeared, and as a result, we got to celebrate a second Christmas here on Raiin Monkey, when I was finally able to put together a post for you guys all about my presents :D 

Well, time has repeated itself! It's been a challenge to get out of this new 'normal' state of mind and because of this, my blog has took a back-burner. I feel like I'm starting to ramble... but yeah, if you love Christmas Time then this is your jam (do people even say that anymore? haha!). We are revisiting the ''most wonderful time of the year'' once again, because I want to show you all the most adorable enamel pin that the amazing Natalee who blogs over at ThereMightBeCoffee bought for me! :) Thanks so very much for being such a star, Nat!! I have been so looking forward to showing off your present (even though it's taken me absolutely ages; better late than never, right?). So, fans of christmas and pins and cute fandom things, keep reading. You will not be disappointed! 

LOOK HOW CUTE!! Everything is so sweet! I was super delighted when I opened this package on Christmas Day after it had been sitting on my bookshelf for weeks; I was sooooo tempted to open it early, especially when Nat told me I could. But I did it! I held off until the big day, and was very happy I managed to do so! It was a wonderful surprise to discover that the item inside had been wrapped in pretty Christmas paper, finished with a sparkly silver ribbon :) A huge thanks to Quirkory for doing this! 

If you haven't heard of Quirkory before, it is an amazing independent artist business based in Italy and run by the cutest little mascots, Inari & Mosted (and their human creators, Claudia & Marco). They make all sorts of fandom-related and adorable animal artwork, in the form of enamel pins, stickers and much more! Some of their collections include Pokemon, Animal Crossing, kawaii Greek Gods and their recent kickstarter project is based on spirit animals. You can check those out here. I had been wanting to add something from Quirkory to my ever-growing pin collection for so long, so I was over the moon that Nat helped me to finally do that! And with such a beautiful pin, too!! I love it so so much!! 

This little personalised note card is so nice! I'm definitely going to be displaying it on my art wall. I'm a bunny mom and I literally squealed upon spotting those five chubby bun-buns... aren't they just so precious!?! I love how they are all unique and my favourite has to be the one on the left that's holding his paws up to his cheeks. That was literally me when I saw this note card :D Which is your favourite? 

Something else that I especially adored about this package from Quirkory was the letter from the artists. It was a lovely read and printed onto the cutest paper ever! I just thought it was such an awesome touch for them to add into their orders, and even though I received the item as a present, it's really nice to get something personal, a heartfelt message, when you support artists, as you can tell how much they appreciate it. 

Also, how cute is Quirkory's business card!? As a big fan of canidae species, I find Mosted & Inari so precious!! I think they represent a fox and a wolf, but I'm not 100%. I love the christmassy attire they are wearing on the card, too. A couple of stickers were also included in the package, and I'm unsure whether Nat opted for them or if Quirkory added them as freebies; either way, they were a delight to receive! Inari in Christmas outfits is the sweetest thing, and Eevee sleeping on a flower is like something out of a fairytale! What's not to love? There was a sticker version of the pin Nat chose for me as well, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise until you guys saw the star of the show! 

It's Vaporeon, my favourite Pokemon ever!! The sweetest little water baby! And oh my goodness, he's sitting on a flower, which is just perfect for a nature nerd like me. I'm in love with Quirkory's art style, the chibi characters and how colourful they are! AWWW, TOE BEANS!! Vaporeon's facial expression is the cutest. He's winking and looks like he's sticking his tiny tongue out.  I love his rosy cheeks and the rounded shape of the fins on his head, too. They just look fluffy? Squishy?? I don't know how to explain it, but it's super cute :) 

This pin is part of the 'Flowers Collection' - Eeveelutions sitting on flowers, all of which Quirkory have chosen for a specific reason. Each backing card comes with a description of the 'lore' behind why each flower was picked. Vaporeon has been partnered with the lotus flower and here's what my backing card says: 

'Everyone knows that Vaporeon is a water Pokemon, so it could only be matched with an aquatic flower! What is not well known, however, is that Vaporeon has the ability to walk on water... and Lotus are really good at it, as well! Thanks to their huge leaf and long roots, they can always stay afloat, even in the most difficult situations! Their ideal habitat are lakes, and certainly Vaporeon's Aurora Beam would have no effect on this flower, because it's also frost resistant'. 

How awesome! It's so interesting to learn about why this flower was chosen to accompany Vaporeon in the pins design. It's making me want to buy the other pins in this collection just to find out the reasons why each specific flower was chosen to represent them :) 

Another element I love about this pin is the leaf of the lotus flower, which is very visually similar to a lily pad. Lily pads make me think of frogs and I adore frogs, so whenever I look at the leaf part of this pin, I think of frogs and that makes me smile :D Furthermore, I love the colour contrast between the pale blue and teal shades used for Vaporeon, and the more bold colours picked for the plant part of the pin. It just makes vaporeon stand out even more. The warm orange and yellow pairs very well with the gold plating, don't you think? The petals are almost illuminated whenever the light catches the gold outlines, and it makes me picture the suns rays shining over the waters surface and making all the lotus flowers glow. 

I really like that the rubber backs for this pin badge are blue! As far as I remember, I was yet to own a pin with blue backs before receiving this one and in my opinion, it's cool to have backs that match the colour scheme of the character. I wonder if the other pins in this collection also have backs that are colour co-ordinated with each Pokemon, or whether Quirkory's pins always have a blue rubber back. Either way, it's a welcome change from all the pink or black backs that currently fill up my collection. It's also a nice touch to have the name of the Pokemon included on the back of the pin :) I'm assuming that Vaporus is the Italian name for Vaporeon? I've never seen a pin before that had the name of the design written on it, so much attention to detail! The whole pin is just perfect and I really love Quirkory's interpretation of my favourite Pokemon!! What do you guys think? 

Overall, this package was filled with so much adorableness! It was such a pleasure to open, and there was so much included in there that it just felt like the gift that kept on giving. So many cute things to look at, and you can really tell how much love goes into the preparation of Quirkory's orders. It's a wonderful thing to see! Thank you so much Quirkory, and a huge thanks to Natalee for thinking of me and for choosing a gift that you knew I would adore so much :) I am very lucky to have a friend like you!

Be sure to check out Quirkory's Instagram & Etsy Store. They have so many products that I know you all will love! I have my eyes on several of their Animal Crossing Switch Controller pins right now :) The designs also come in sticker form. Sherb & Flick are on my wishlist! I also have a mighty need to get their witchy frog pin because I love all things that are a mixture of spooky and cute! Plus, FROGS!! (please make a Lily version of the switch controller pins!) You guys should totally treat yourselves, and even better... my friend Nat is a brand rep for Quirkory, so if you use her discount code, you can save 10% off your order!! Since we are revisiting Christmas today, might I suggest starting your festive shopping early and putting something adorable away for the nerdy loved ones in your life? :D Use the code TMBQUIRKORY at checkout. 

I hope you all enjoyed reading all about my 'new' Flowery Vaporeon enamel pin! I will try my very hardest to get back to blogging regularly, so be sure to check my social media for updates about upcoming posts. Instagram is where I'm most active so keep your eyes peeled over there. It's been so much fun to write again about the little nerdy snippets of my life that make me happy! Wishing you all a marvellous rest of the July filled with lovely summery days and ice-cream and happy mail and small steps towards post-covid normalcy. Remember to keep wearing those masks though, guys :) 

Thank you for reading! 

♥

Which of the Eeveelutions is your favourite?

Are you a fellow pin collector? 

If so, I'd love to hear all about the latest pin you bought!

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January 2021 Kawaii & Geeky Wishlist

Hi guys! It's time to share my first wishlist of 2021, and also my first kawaii & geeky wishlist post for MONTHS now!! To be honest, I felt really unmotivated last year when it came to writing wishlists (and blog posts in general, oops...) because well, 2020 was a shitshow; I found myself feeling gloomy for most of the year and not really wanting anything other than books and yummy snacks and gifts for sending in snailmail to my lovely friends across the globe. However, I am crossing my fingers and toes that twenty-twenty one is better! And thus, I'm trying to get back into my usual way of blogging, which includes finishing off each month by sharing a list of cute and fandom-related goodies from around the internet that I am currently lusting over :) Enjoy! 

1. Funko Tokidoki Sandy Pop! Vinyl If you've been a regular reader of my blog for a while, you will know that I am a big fan of the super cute Italian brand, Tokidoki. I have been collecting their vinyl figures for years now and I especially love their stationery, too. You may also be able to imagine how excited I was earlier this month when Funko announced that they have teamed up with Tokidoki to bring us four Pop! vinyl figures. As unicornos were the first tokidoki figures that kickstarted my love for the brand, there's just something about the look of the unicorno Pop! that I don't like, but I will be hopefully adding the other three to my collection! Vinyl toys are one of my most favourite things in the world, and this wishlist, as you can see, is pretty vinyl toy heavy! Sorry, not sorry :D 

2. Kawaii Cat Paw Pastel Switch Case Those of you who follow me over on my social media, particularly on instagram, more than likely know that for Christmas, my sister surprised me with Animal Crossing: New Horizons!! Eeeee! I am very late to the game, as I don't own a Nintendo Switch and definitely couldn't afford one last year with decorating my bedroom and whatnot, so I had to watch everyone playing during the release hype and it sucked T_T. Well, my sister only went and bought a switch, and she has been letting me play around on her island ever since, until I can get my own switch and play the game she got for me! I have recently been looking around for some accessories ready for when I can get a console of my own, and I came across this lovely pastel blue cat themed case. I need it in my life! 

3. PomPomPurin Kitten Plush Keychain This item almost didn't make it onto this month's wishlist because I actually wanted another similar item from Artbox, the larger PomPomPurin Kitten plushie. It's sold out though *cry cry*! I decided that the collection is too cute not to feature at all, and so wanted to show off the keychain version to you guys. My all-time favourite Sanrio characters are Kuromi and PomPomPurin, and I LOVE cats, making this PomPomPurin kitten mascot collection purrrrfect for me. I hope I can get my paws on that plushie some day! Do you guys have a favourite Sanrio character? 

4. Funko Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends Eduardo Pop! Vinyl Ever since I started my Funko Pop! collection back in 2015, I have been hoping that they would create a figure of Eduardo, and they finally have!! The reason why there is so many Funko figures in today's post is because there's been a release event throughout the month called the Funko Fair, and we are getting to learn about all of the upcoming products from the company. This means that the items I've chosen are only available for pre-order right now. Are there any that you guys are excited about? Anyhow, when I was a kid, I absolutely adored Eduardo from the Cartoon Network show Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (2004-2009). He was such a sweetheart, an anxious wreck which I could very much relate to, and I just wanted to give him a big hug! (I loved Coco, too, and would constantly imitate her, haha! Let's hope they create a Pop! of Coco as well). He's gonna look so cute on display in my room :) 

5. A5 Gudetama Spinout Notebook The Sanrio character Gudetama has definitely grown on me! More so after learning about the backstory of this little egg character, and finding that it resonated with me. I'm still not 100% sold on his sad expression, but there's so much cute merch available for him that it's difficult not to like him! This notebook, for example, is lovely. I have to admit that the main reason I want this is because of the Japanese writing, so Gudetama is a bonus. I liked it even better than I read that it's made from recycled paper, which is cool and I am curious to discover what the quality is like. I've not purchased anything from Typo before. I want to change that in 2021! Do any of you like Typo? 

6. Funko His Dark Materials Lyra Pop! Vinyl Early last year, I watched the BBC series that was adapted from a book of the same name by Phillip Pullman, after I saw so many people recommending it. I'm glad I did because I loved it and immediately had a mighty need to acquire the book series. I am very much looking forward to reading them! At the moment, I'm around half way through the season 2 of the show, and it's just as great so far! I'm delighted that Funko have chosen to make merch :) Who else has read the books or watched the show? 

7. The Witcher Wild Hunt Yennefer Nendoroid My favourite watch of 2020 was by far Netflix's The Witcher. I thought it was brilliant!! I've never played the games and am yet to read the books that inspired them all, so I don't know how accurate the show was to the original storyline, but as a late birthday present to myself, I got the book set (thanks to my best friend's parents and the birthday money they very kindly gave me!). I showed it off over on my tiktok when it arrived! Yennefer was my favourite character, and I cannot wait to learn more about her. I have wanted to get a nendoroid figure for the longest time, and I am thinking that this one should be my first! 

8. AMUSE KuneKune Utsubo Moray Eel Plush This is another plushie where I had to opt for second best! Tofu Cute were selling the big eel plushies and they sold like hot cakes, as they saying goes. I really need one in my life!! But a mini one will have to do for now :) I am a collector of plushies from the Japanese brand, Amuse (I collect too many things, haha!), and I think it's so fabulous that they have made eels. It's so random! How could I not want one!? Tofu Cute's Instagram reels and tiktok videos with the eel plushies in haven't helped though!! 

9. PopMart Pucky Forest Fairies Blind Box I have had my eyes on PopMart's wonderful figure collections for ages and I thought it was about time that I looked for a seller in the UK! Earlier this month, I bought my first from Didi Inspired Gifts, and I have fallen in love with them!! They were from the PopMart X Momiji range, so now I want to venture into Pucky territory, starting with a super cute fantasy/nature collection. I blame my friend Estelle, who blogs over at Estellosaurus. Her latest Youtube video is an unboxing of Pucky and more, all of which she purchased from the website linked here. The packaging was so cute and I'm going to have to do a haul soon. It's all your fault, Estelle! 

So, there's my first kawaii & geeky wishlist of the year! I hope you all enjoyed reading, despite it being so full of vinyl figures! I am just a little obsessed with them, and it was a challenge not to include several on every wishlist I've ever written :D I'll be back with another wishlist at the end of February, but for now, I would love to hear what's on your wishlist this month! 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

Wishing you all a wonderful February! 

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Dinojar Ghibli Friends Kickstarter Goodies

Hey everyone! Happy New Year!! Thank goodness 2020 has been and gone... it feels great to say goodbye to those dreadful days. I know the start of this year at least won't be very different, but I'm trying to embrace the whole 'new year, new leaf' thing, and after a year of getting used to the changes, I feel more prepared for deal with this new normal. Fingers crossed I can be more productive because of that, starting with my blog! Anyhow, gloom and new leaves aside, for today's post, I'm serving you a dose of cuteness ♥ Calling all Studio Ghibli fans, especially! I hope you guys enjoy reading :) 

So, back in April 2020, towards the end of the month, I backed a kickstarter project that I was super excited about!! Dinojar/Dinojar Studio, a lovely artist based in Singapore, had set up the most adorable project dedicated to Studio Ghibli characters, focusing on pins, but also offering stickers, too. As soon as I set eyes on the designs over on Dinojar's instagram (be sure to go give them a follow), I had a mighty need to add some of the pin badges to my ever-growing collection! However, the struggle was real when it came to choosing which pins I wanted most!! I limited myself to two enamel pins, and after a few days of deliberation, I finally had my favourites settled on. I cannot wait to show them to you guys!! Although, if you follow me over on instagram then you'll have likely already seen the gorgeous items I received (because they arrived a few months ago now and life has just gotten in the way of me blogging about them, oops...). 

How sweet is this thankyou note! I love when artists/businesses do this :) 

Before I show off the super cute 'rewards' I got, a little more about the kickstarter project. If you've never heard of/used this website before, it's basically set up so that small businesses and independent artists can create products via crowd funding. They will set a goal of how much money they need in order to make the product(s) they are proposing and people can pledge to contribute to the project. If the artist doesn't manage to reach their monetary goal, then the project backers will be refunded. But if they do gain the support they need, then they can make the products, and everyone is happy! Kickstarter is a wonderful idea and it feels great to support small businesses that little bit more than if you were just pursuing something from their online store :) Many artists also offer special reward tiers that will be unlocked once they pass their initial contribution goal, and what's more? Most kickstarter projects come with a promise of a freebie for backers, which is so lovely!

The Ghibli Friends Enamel Pins kickstarter project launched by Dinojar Studio offered twelve potential characters, and as more of the goal was reached, each of these designs was unlocked. Here's a list of the Studio Ghibli characters included: Totoro, Haku in his human form, Chihiro, Pazu, Kiki & Jiji, a Soot Sprite, Mei, the Catbus, No Face, Dragon Haku, Chibi-Totoro with a little acorn in hand, and Sheeta. Honestly, each and every design was stunning and so sweet and I wanted them all T_T. I unfortunately have a budget to stick to, so in the end I opted for Mei and Dragon Haku. The latter pin I knew I would be backing for as soon as I saw the design on Dinojar's instagram. I love dragons so much and the spirit of the Kohaku river is one of my favourites!! So let's see these cuties... 

I am not sorry for the cuteness overload, haha! JUST LOOK HOW ADORABLE EVERYTHING IS!!!! *squeals*. My heart is happy everytime I look at my rewards from the Dinojar kickstarter. How could it not be?! Awww! As you can see above, I also decided to get a sticker, too, because I was torn between whether I wanted Dragon Haku and Haku in his human form more. I am yet to add a pin to my collection of Haku as a human, so I really wanted to, but everyone's favourite dragon boi won in the end... I mean, just look at him!! And Mei was just too cheerful not to get, but again, it was a tough decision between the Kiki & Jiji pin and this one :) It's all Dinojar's fault for designing too many brilliant pins!! :O 

Since it's been a while now, I can't remember prices exactly, but I'm pretty sure the pins were $14 (Singapore dollars) which works out at just under £8 each. What a fantastic price!! And I think stickers were $1! Wow... I was so impressed by the pricing for such adorable and intricate designs, so a big thankyou to Dinojar for being so awesome!!

I fell in love with this little dragon baby as soon as I saw him! This is such a precious interpretation of Haku/Kohaku and I adore it! I really love the mint shade that has been chosen for his mane and tail fur; it's really pretty! I am a big fan of the overall pastel colour scheme of this pin, and think it's fantastic that his horns and whiskers stand out so much. Those whiskers though!! They might be my favourite feature of the entire pin. The depictions of dragons in Asian folklore is so unique and different to European folklore, and the whiskers as well as the snake-like appearance are something I think is beautiful! So, I very much appreciate the attention to detail that has gone in to making the whiskers look so eye-catching. At a very close second, in terms of favourite things, comes Haku's facial expression. It's so solemn and it looks like he's in deep contemplation/ is lost in thought, and I don't know, I can just relate it to a lot. Little solemn and/or moody faces are just too cute!! Wouldn't you all agree? I want to mention just how fluffy Haku looks!! I want to cuddle him! Also, those rosy cheeks go so well with the gold-plating. 

Guys, how sweet is this pin of Mei!? If you're not a Studio Ghibli fan... firstly, get off my blog. I'm only kidding; it's practically impossible to not be a fan of the creations of this amazing Japanese production company!! But if you have yet to enrich your lives by watching the movies, Mei is a character from My Neighbour Totoro (1988) and Dragon Haku is from Spirited Away (2001). I barely ever see any merch of Mei, and so I just couldn't pass up on backing this design. I really love how delighted Mei looks! She's going on a little adventure and has that expression of childish wonder and carelessness. It makes me think of my childhood when I was very young (Mei is supposed to be five, I believe but don't quote me on that) and my little adventures about the garden, collecting cool things I found and looking for bugs. Whenever I look at the pin, it puts a smile on my face, and furthermore, I picture the scene from the movie that inspired this design. It's so very cute! 

I love the contrast between the colours of the Dragon Haku pin and the Mei one. Her outfit and overlook look is bright, with vibrant, strong colours. Very summery and happy, and I especially like Mei's tiny yellow shoes and bag. One of the most precious features, in my opinion, is that Mei is swinging her bucket and water is spilling, because again, this just highlights the careless, free nature of children without a care in the world, whilst they are at play. She's skipping along, and probably hasn't even released that Chibi-Totoro is perched on top of her head. It's the sweetest image! 

Here's a close up of the Haku sticker I also backed. I've already popped this little cutie onto my laptop and he looks perfect, standing out so well due to the bold blue shade of his hair mostly! It's one of the best things about this design for me, as blue is up there in my top five favourite colours. How can a design be beautifully simplistic and somehow detailed at the same time!? Dinojar achieved that with their human Haku design, though! I absolutely adore that Boh (the chubby mouse) and smol version of Yubaba's bird have been incorporated into the design! Haku's got buddies with him and I love seeing these two characters in this form because it reminds me of when they didn't want to change back in the movie (sorry for the slight spoiler there!). 

The tiny smile on Haku's face just completes the whole design, and makes me audibly 'awwww!' every time I see it on my laptop. I don't know if it was a freebie, or I accidently ordered two stickers of the same design, or Dinojar didn't notice they'd packaged two by mistake, but either way, I was sent two of these lovely stickers so I will definitely be giving one away in the future :) 

The backing cards used to display the pins are super pretty. I'm lovin' the green ombre effect, and the dotting of little sparkles looks lovely. I almost wanted to keep them on their cards forever, but they are too stunning not to show off! So, alas, they are now in my ita bag :') Look how shiny the gold-plated enamel is!! I used to prefer silver-plating but gold makes everything glow and just highlights the colours so well. It draws your eyes into the design, and I think that's wonderful for when you out and about to get people to really notice your pins. Both of these pins are double-backed as well, so you don't have to worry that they might fall off your clothing/bags/whatever you pin them onto. Anyway, guys, I'd love to know which is your favourite of the two pins I purchased?

A final note that I'd like to make is that Dinojar launched a second Ghibli Friends kickstarter last year, featuring more adorable character designs and I so wish that I had the money free at the time to back another of their projects. I will certainly be trying to get my hands on some of those pins in the future, via Dinojar's Etsy shop. Most recently, Dinojar hosted another campaign for Avatar pins, so if that's something you're into, definitely go have a look at their instagram account to see the designs! 

I want to give a huge thankyou to Dinojar for creating such beautiful pins, and for always being so lovely on instagram. I am very happy to have some of your work in my enamel pin collection, and I am looking forward to your next projects! I hope you all enjoyed reading my first post of 2021!! Wishing you a marvellous year, guys, with good health and happy moments for you and your loved ones :) 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

What is your favourite Studio Ghibli movie and/or character?

Are you a fellow collector of pins?

Or not, do you collect anything else? 

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Playing Ichiban Kuji with Japan Award: Plushies Galore!

Hello & Happy Sunday, guys! Apologies that my post is super late and that I randomly took a week off, but last week was filled with hard work in the garden, mostly lots of clearing and loading old junk into a skip. I was too exhausted to function afterwards and it took me a good few days to recover, but most of the pesky garden stuff is out of the way for now. I also had more clearing of stuff inside to do, since we finally had the opportunity to throw things out with hiring the skip. Woo! Adulting sucks... :D I have also come down with a cold, which isn't helping! Currently, my concentration levels are almost non-existent. Oh well, nevermind. At least a post is here now! 

It's been too long since I last blogged about one of my favourite YouTube channels, Japan Award. This fantastic channel is dedicated to Japanese nerd life: ichiban kuji, arcade games & toys! Some of the things that make my kawaii little heart super happy :) 

I've shared all about playing kuji through Japan Award before; click here if you'd like to read my previous posts ♥ However, it's been quite a while since then and I've played lots! A few of my friends have told me they'd be interested in reading all about the adorable plushies I have gathered, and so being the ever-eager-to-please person I am... I'm delivering, haha. Enjoy!

I usually start off my Japan Award posts by giving an introduction to the fabulous game that is ichiban kuji, so I guess that's what I should do now! Ichiban kuji, mostly referred to as simply kuji, is Japanese for 'number one lottery'. It's an activity that involves buying tickets to win prizes :) Something that I absolutely adore about kuji is that you always win, so it's not like those ticketed fairground games you guys might remember playing during your childhood, where most of the time, you walk away after spending far too much money trying to pull a ticket ending in a 0 or a 5, with no prize to show for it! 

As I said, each and every ichiban kuji ticket coincides with a prize, all of which are usually brilliant because they are themed, and you wouldn't be playing that particular lottery if you weren't interested in the fandom/theme itself anyway!  The aim of the game is to pull one of the top prizes, which are typically A, B & C. There are fewer of these tickets up for grabs, and obviously more of the lower letters, i.e. F prize. Most people I know actually want to win some of the lower prizes, and so you can play the game however it suits you. For example, I am a huge fan of charms/keychains. These are usually in E, F or G categories and often come in blind box form. If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'll know that I LOVE blind boxes!! 

Anyway, most of the time, A prizes, and even sometimes B & C, are big plushies that are exclusive to the kuji and thus are highly sought after. I see a lot of them ending up on eBay being sold for ridiculously high prizes >.< ugh. It's really not fair when you are normally looking at only £7-£15 per ticket. It really does feel epic to win a massive limited edition plush for like £8, one that would easily cost you £30+ from kawaii supplies in the UK!

I hope I explained that well enough :) I tend to go off on a tangent when I'm excited! I still can't believe I won these plushies though!! Despite having pretty much ran out of space to store and/or display them, I couldn't be happier to have them in my collection! The quality is always superb, as well. But, it's about time you guys saw them for yourselves.... 

LOOK! It's everyone's favourite round pink boy, Kirby! This is the first A prize I ever won, so I had to show him off first. He was a part of the Banpresto KIRBY STYLE Relax ichiban kuji. Almost all kujis are hosted by the company Banpresto, which you might of heard of already if you're a fan of anime figures. I won him back in November 2018, but didn't receive him until early 2019 as Japan Award always lets me start a box that I can fill with kawaii goodies over time, until it's full and ready to be shipped. It's amazing :) 

I was over the moon when I won this adorable guy! Because throughout my life, I'd never seemed to have much luck when it came to winning prizes and whatnot. Since then, the magic of Kirby seems to have unlocked my winning streak! And thus, I've got a bunch of top prizes to show you all. 

I love the texture of this huge Kirby plushie; it makes him so fuzzy to snuggle! The design is so sweet. I mean, look at those rosy cheeks!! I've always loved Kirby's big feet/shoes, so naturally that's one of the best features for me. They are usually bright red, but I really like the more muted salmon shade that they've chosen for the design of this plush. I like the overall colour scheme in general, as I'm used to Kirby being super bright pink. It's a nice change to see him in pastel. 

His vibrant blue eyes are precious. They are very 'puppy eyes', wouldn't you agree? And his hat is lovely, especially with the pom-pom on top. Are you a fan of round pink boy? What do you think of this plush? 

It's Tokage!!! My favourite Sumikko Gurashi character ever! Oh my gosh, I am soooo delighted that I have a plushie of him now. And how amazing that it's so big and squishy and special!! *imagine squealing here*. Tokage is the word for lizard in Japanese and if you didn't know already, lizards (and reptiles in general) are my favourite - herpetology is my jam :)

The story behind this character is too cute: 'Tokage is actually the last of the dinosaurs. It pretends to be a lizard to avoid being caught'. Awww! I can't help but love him the most out of all the other Sumikko Gurashi characters. I very much love the sky blue colour of this character, and it matches so well with the green 'clover' crown. Green is my all-time favourite colour, and blue sky follows that, so the colour scheme is perfect for me! 

This particular kuji was called 'I Met Brother Neko'. Neko is another character in the franchise by San-x. The A Prize was a plush of Neko himself and as you can see, B prize was the lovely Tokage. I played this kuji back in February 2019. Japan Award actually bought out an entire set of ichiban kuji because it was in very popular demand with viewers. He did a live stream on YouTube, pulling our names at random and getting his adorable daughter, Vivi-chan, to open tickets for us ♥ It was super fun to watch! 

My name was pulled last in the draw, which is fantastic!! This is because all ichiban kujis have a 'last prize', meaning there's a special prize just for the person who purchases the last remaining ticket available. You get two prizes for the price of one! It's such a lovely gesture for Banpresto and the other companies involved to offer this, because kuji is amazing so people would play regardless of this, which makes the last prize like a huge thankyou for your patronage gift, and I won it! Eeeee!!

And so, I got another massive, huggable plushie, this time of Shirokuma, a polar bear who dislikes the cold weather, haha! Isn't she the sweetest? I absolutely adore the flower crown she's holding. It's so bright and eye-catching, since it stands out against Shirokuma's white 'fur'. Her little pastel pink ears are super cute, too! Do you prefer this plush or the Tokage one? 

Now it's Eevee's turn :) I won the adorable plushie, that you can see in the first photo on today's post, playing the kuji 'Eievui & Melodies'. Eievui is the Japanese name for the Pokemon Eevee. This was such a gorgeous kuji for a Pokemon fan like me! Vaporeon happens to be my favourite Pokemon so I couldn't have been more thrilled when I saw that the kuji was themed on Eevee and all of its eeveelutions. I was delighted at the prospect of winning some Vaporeon goodies! 

And I did just that! I got a blind box charm of Vaporeon, plus a towel featuring it, along with lots of other wonderful prizes! It was an spectacular kuji and I still cannot get over the fact that I actually won the B prize. Let's take a closer look at it! 

If you hadn't guessed from the name, this kuji was music-themed. All of the keychain charms, for example, featured each Eeveelution with a different instrument. Vaporeon had a harp, and I also won an Eevee & Umbreon. Umbreon was standing on a keyboard and Eevee had a background of music notes. I actually won a duplicate Vaporeon, but luckily, I had a friend who also played and she wanted to trade her duplicate Leafeon charm for my Vaporeon. Leafeon is my second favourite of the Eeveelutions, and he came alongside a violin. How pretty they are all! If you guys are interested in seeing my charms, let me know and I can share a photo over on my instagram. 

Anyway, the B prize features a sleeping Eevee on a piano. What's not to love about this design!? I've always wanted one of the sleepy Eeveelution plushies that are sold at the Pokemon Centre stores, and now I have one... and it's so much more cool because mine's also a cushion. The cushion is made of a smooth, satin-like material which isn't something I'd enjoy resting my head against, but it's lovely for displaying nonetheless. The Eevee plush itself is very soft, and I kind of wish that he was detachable. But I'm still happy with winning him. The A Prize was an Eevee plush dressed in a bow-tie, fashioned to look like a orchestral composer! Super cute :) 

I also have a couple of smaller plushies to show you all. I won them playing two of the Sanrio ichiban kujis, 'Sanrio Characters All Stars' and 'Sanrio White Winter'. When it comes to Sanrio kujis, the prizes are categorised using numbers VS letters, and instead of having various colour and style options available for specific prizes, such as E prize being a towel, where the winner will get one of four different designs, with Sanrio kujis, each individual variation will be lettered. That was tough to explain in a sentence... I hope it made sense :D This means that there ends up being 50+ prizes available and it can get confusing. 

One of the tickets that Japan Award pulled for me whilst playing the Sanrio Characters All Stars kuji was a 5, which won me a plush puppet of Pochacco. It's really sweet and I used to love these kinds of puppet plushies when I was a kid. However, Pochacco is one of my least favourite Sanrio characters and I would have preferred to win one of the other puppets available: Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty or Keroppi. I'll probably end up giving this prize to my niece when she's a little older, so it's still an awesome win :) Who's your favourite Sanrio character, by the way? Mine are Pompompurin, Corocorokuririn and Kiki of the Little Twin Stars. 

Speaking of Kiki! This is him; the blue-haired boy twin from the Little Twin Stars franchise. He has a sister called Lala who has pink hair, and they are the loveliest pair of pastel buddies ever! I have never seen something Little Twin Stars themed that I didn't love! These cuties have a story behind them, that they were born on a star inside a dream cloud and that they travelled to Earth so that they could learn to be the shiniest, greatest stars they could be. Cannot get more adorable than that, right? I love stars and anything starry-patterned, so along with the pastel colours, I think that's what drew me to these characters as a teenager. 

You can imagine how happy I was when I discovered I had won Prize 2, of which you could get either Kiki or Lala, and thankfully I got Kiki! The quality of this plush is so fantastic. The fabric used is so smooth and the attention to detail on his outfit is marvellous. I love the ribbon bow with pom-poms under his chin. And the star on his back, of course! 

The final plushie that I'm including in today's post wasn't one that I won playing kuji. But as I mentioned before, Japan Award also shares videos featuring the wonder that is Japanese arcades. They look incredible & the prizes you can win there compare to nowhere else in the world! Before the corona virus came along, Japan Award would often visit arcades to pick up certain toys for his customers and share videos over on Instagram stories. I spotted the most adorable Amuse plush ever whilst watching Japan Award's stories and I had a mighty need!! 

I collect Amuse plushies and I have several now. Each time I go to Comic Con, I can't come home without something by Amuse, as they make the most fabulous plushies ever! I once blogged about my collection, which has grown quite a bit since then but click here if you would like to have a look at some of my other Amuse plushies :) I asked Japan Award to try to win me a super cute pink hippo plush!! I've only ever seen probably two hippopotamus plushies in my life until seeing this one, and none of them were nearly as precious as this one! It reminds me of a Moomin!! 

If you also loved the show The Moomins growing up, you will understand how much this resembles one and I couldn't not get it because it's massive and so soft and perfect and squidgy and he is now the best plush in my entire Amuse collection (sorry Alpacasso's!). I don't remember how much Japan Award won it for now because so much has happened in my life since then, but it was a fantastic price for such an amazing plush and nowhere near the price you'd be looking at for a Japanese plush of this size here. My photo doesn't really show how big it is either, but its head hangs off the top of my square unit! I am very impressed with this plush and his name is Smushy-Smush, if you guys wanted to know :D 

The labels for Japanese products are like no other! They are always so cute and colourful and enticing for a kawaii lover like myself! I am super thankful that I stumbled upon Japan Award's channel in my suggestions one day. They're so brilliant and I am very happy that I'm now able to get so much gorgeous Japanese merchandise :) Thankyou for always being so lovely to talk to and for searching for things I want; you're awesome, Japan Award!! Definitely go and give their channel a follow, and don't forget to check out their instagram, too. I can't recommend them enough! 

I really hope you guys enjoyed reading all about my ichiban kuji haul/entire collection of plushies won via Japan Award. I had a lot of fun writing all about them and showing you guys the cuteness overload! I guess that's a positive to me not blogging as often this year... you get to see a load of cute things all at once :) Please let me know if you'd like to see similar posts in the future, because they are my favourite to do. I hope you've all had a great weekend, and wishing you a fantastic week to come. It will be my birthday week!! 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Have you ever played ichiban kuji? Or purchased some of the prizes online afterwards?

Do you have a favourite Japanese franchise/character? 

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