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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Illustrator Jake Pins

Hello & Happy Monday! I am so excited to share this post with you all! I was super lucky to win a giveaway over on Instagram from an artist that I have been following for a while!! They create the most adorable art and sell the cutest enamel pins! And guess what? I won some of their pins back in late 2019, and I just know you guys are going to love them as much as I do. If you're a fellow collector of pin badges, love Nintendo, or just like reading me ramble on about my nerdy interests, then this is the kind of post for you! :)

The artist that hosted the giveaway I won is Illustrator Jake. If you use Instagram & browse the kawaii, geeky/nerdy or gamer hashtags, then it's very likely that you have come across some of Illustrator Jake's brilliant artwork. They create not only pin badges, but much more: clothing, stickers, backpacks, and most recently, a super gorgeous collection of dragon-themed ita bags! Head over to Illustrator Jake's website to have a look for yourself at just how cute they are!! 

Illustrator Jake is based in the UK, and makes fanart of all of our favourite characters, inspired by such franchises as Pokemon, Studio Ghibli (just look at how adorable Haku is on their business card!!), Animal Crossing, Zelda and lots of others. If you, like me, are a fan of all things kawaii, and the chibi art style in general, then you will seriously fall in love with the artwork by Illustrator Jake! I have been wanting to add some of their enamel pins into my collection for the longest time, ever since my lovely friend Natalee showed off an Aggretsuko pin by them over on her Instagram! 

I am so happy that I now have some of my own to show off, especially when I'm out and about (even though it's taken me forever to finally get this post written... 2020 has been fantastic...)! My post today is going to dedicated to a certain smol round pink cutie that we all know & adore :D Of which, Illustrator Jake creates such wonderful artwork... but you'll see that for yourself! 

TA-DA! I can't believe that not only did I win one pin, but three!! *squeee*. How lovely it is of Illustrator Jake to offer such an amazing prize in a giveaway! I can't put into words just how happy I was when I received my package from Illustrator Jake and saw just how gorgeous the pins were in person. They looked fabulous online, but wow! They are so bright and eye-catching... I LOVE THEM! 

I am in love with the expression on the face of this Kirby. He looks so excited!! I can just imagine him dancing around like 'look at me, I've got stars'! This pin just makes me smile as soon as I look at it, so it will be perfect to wear on days when I'm having a bad mental health day, to cheer me up. I also really like the idea of this pin putting a smile on other people's faces. I mean, how could you not smile at this precious happy boi? :) 

I'm very much lovin' how sparkly these two pins are! I've found with a lot of sparkly pins, the glitter can be too much but that is definitely not the case with these. The glitter is subtle but still stands out. My favourite of the glittery details are the clouds! It makes me picture sunshine shining through the clouds on a bright day!

Another thing that I adore about these pins is how colourful they are, and how much the colour pops despite being mostly in pastel shades. The rainbows on either side of the Nintendo Switch pin are super pretty!! As someone who dresses alternative, in mostly black clothing, I like to wear pins that really contrast my outfits, and so all of these Kirby pins are right up my street, as the saying goes. 

I usually opt for silver outlined pins, but the gold matches so well with the colour scheme of these pins and helps to give them an overall warm glow, which I really like. Sometimes when gold pins catch the light, they look almost magical and these pins do just that! I think the heart-shaped cheeks in the same golden colour are a marvellous touch, too. So sweet!

It was tough to choose, but my favourite of these three Kirby pin badges is the Kirby X Deku pin (the one in the green jacket). Deku is a character from the anime, My Hero Academia, which I still haven't watched... oops! However, I just love the look of the jacket that Kirby is wearing, it reminds me of the puffy coats that kids used to wear in the 90s (nostalgic much), and I also really like the colour combination of green & pink. Another detail I like about the Kirby X Deku pin is how big it is. I feel less worried wearing pins of this size when I'm going out, as I feel like I'd notice if it somehow fell off. All of these pins are very well-made and feel super sturdy though! 

I hope you all enjoyed checking out these stunning pins by Illustrator Jake. If you haven't already, be sure to give them a follow over on Instagram (they have a twitter as well), and if you can, treat yourself to some of their incredibly cute merch! It's even more important than ever now to show your support to small/independent businesses & artists, because of this silly virus. Why not surprise your loved ones with a gift? :) 

I totally forgot to take a photo of the pins without the backing cards, so here's a shot I got when I actually realised, haha! Before I finished this post, I wanted to mention how much I love the backing cards themselves... all of those sweet little illustrations on it! I really appreciate it when its clear to see how much thought and attention to detail has gone into every aspect of an artists' products :) Seriously though guys, how much do these pins stand out!? I'm over the moon with them! I've decided that I'm going to keep two and gift the Switch one to a friend of mine, because I know how much they'll love it! Not that I don't love it, but I can't afford a Nintendo Switch at the moment and I have the blues because I WANT TO PLAY AC NEW HORIZONS *cry cry*. Plus sharing is caring, right?

I just want to say a massive thankyou to Jake from Illustrator Jake for hosting such an amazing giveaway! It's so kind of you!! I adore my Kirby pins and I cannot wait to add more of your pins to my collection in the future ^.^ Let me know which is your favourite of these Kirby's, guys, and I wish you all a wonderful week! 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

Are you a fan of Kirby?

Do you collect pin badges?

 If so, tell me your favourite from your collection! 

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Super Cute Pin Club by Stami Studios | Review

Happy Friday guys! Yay, the weekend is almost here! Although the thing that's most exciting for me today is the fact that Netflix is releasing Season 2 of The OA!! We've been waiting for almost three years for another season of this brilliant sci-fi/fantasy show and I cannot wait to find out what's in store for all of the characters and where the storyline is going to take us next :) And well, I get to watch Jason Isaacs, too! *all the heart-eyed emojis*. Anyone else a fan of The OA? I'd love to know who your favourite character from S1 was? But before this post accidently ends up as a review of The OA, on with the topic at hand :D 

Last month, I signed up to my first pin badge subscription! I've been looking for a subscription like this for years but I just couldn't find one that I was really drawn to, until I came across Stami Studios and their monthly 'Super Cute Pin Club', that is! I've been so looking forward to blogging all about it and sharing the cuteness with you all ♥ Enjoy! 

It's clear to see just from the card above just how adorable the artwork by Stami Studios is! I was so delighted that this was the first thing that I was greeted with when I reached into the padded envelope and pulled something out :) The cats are so sweet and the colour scheme is gorgeous! I was very intrigued to see what I would get for my first pin!

To explain a little about the Super Cute Pin Club subscription... it's only £7 a month, with free shipping within the UK (although they ship worldwide). I thought this was an absolutely marvellous offer after browsing through all of the products on the Stami Studios website and seeing how good they looked! I had been following them on Instagram for a while, admiring their pins and 'gameboy' ita bags (which is how I first came across them), but I didn't realise that they had a pin club until I decided to have a nosey on their website one day in February. I'm so glad I did!

I couldn't resist signing up and giving this pin subscription a try considering it was only £7! I was too curious not to after seeing the range of pins created by Sam Rostami, the artist behind Stami Studios; there was so much variety and lots of designs inspired from fandoms/franchises that I love, like Pokemon, Nintendo & Studio Ghibli. I saw that the pins were limited editions too so that intrigued me. So which pin did I get in the March Super Cute Pin Club? 

Here's what I received! It's a Magical Girl Kit pin! I think it's a lovely, unique idea for a pin and I love how much detail it has :) The quality is fantastic, and I was super impressed considering the subscription was cheaper than the price of pins available to buy on the website. I love how colourful the pin is, it's very bright and eye-catching! I wouldn't usually choose a 'girly' pin like this, but I actually really like it! It's nice to get a new pin for my collection that I've never seen anything similar to before. Let's take a closer look at it... 

I love all of the gold stars dotted about all over the pin! They remind me of a particular star emoji that I love and use a little too much, haha! It's more of a sparkle than a star in my opinion and I like it a lot. I also love that this pin features some sceptres/staffs resembling the moon sticks from the anime series Sailor Moon. 

Despite all of these pretty things, my favourite detail of the pin is the paper scroll that says 'Magical Girl Kit'! I very much like its curled over edge and the colour of it; it's great that it stands out against all of the more vibrant shades surrounding it. Not only does this pin look like as it's described, a magical girl kit, but I also see it like a dressing-up box for children and that just makes it even more of a sweet pin! What do you all think of this pin badge?

I really like the backing card for this pin too. I was unsure whether or not the pin would come on a backing card as it would if I was to purchase a pin individually from the online store for example, but it did and I was very glad about that. The pin is a great size, meaning it is more likely to get noticed and also I'm less likely to forget that I'm wearing a pin and somehow manage to knock it off when moving my hair or bag strap, etc., oops! I've done that a few times whilst wearing pins >.< My new magical girl kit pin is also double backed and the backs are made of a nice, smooth rubber material so they are less likely to irritate my skin or scratch at my clothing. Double backs are always better for securing the pin, and giving it that extra attachment so it's less likely to come off. I was really happy to see these backing features on my new pin. It is seriously worth so much more than £7, and who doesn't love getting more for their money!? :) 

Have you guys noticed from my photo above that there's the back of another pin there too?!! 

I was so surprised when I received another pin inside my package! I had completely forgotten that the website said that all new subscribers would be sent an extra pin from one of the previous monthly Super Cute Pin Club's. How awesome is that though!? Firstly the subscription is a fabulous price and then I get a free pin just for signing up! How lovely that it also came inside this wonderful presentation card :D 

I have no idea if this character has any relation to a fandom... does anyone know? I instantly thought of something like Dungeons and Dragons because of all the different types of dice! Whatever it is, I absolutely adore it! The colour scheme is beautiful and this little demon dude is very cute! I really like the little wings coming out of its hair, and the sparkle in its eyes. What a excellent pin! 

Overall, I am very happy with my new pins from Stami Studios and my first impressions of the Super Cute Pin Club is that it's awesome! Not only are the pins really nice and fabulous quality, but the attention to detail that has gone into all of the presentation is brilliant too! I am so looking to April's edition of this subscription ^.^ I hope you enjoyed this post! 

Thankyou for reading!

♥ 

Which is your favourite pin of the two I received?

Are you also a pin badge collector? 

I'd love to hear all about any new pins you've been buying lately!

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Magical Maidens Pin Haul | Reviews

Hey guys! Hasn't the weather been lovely today!? Even though I'm not the biggest fan of hot weather, 1) because it effects my fibromyalgia & 2) because my wardrobe consists almost entirely of black clothing, I still enjoyed the sunshine today (mostly from the comfort of the shaded areas of my garden, haha, but still!). I had to pop into my local town centre this afternoon to pick up my eBay click & collect order... I thought it was a cool idea to purchase a Viking helmet to wear at one of the Eurovision semi finals in support of my favourite song of 2018, the Danish entry, which is all about Vikings and is just fabulous! :) Whilst I was out, I decided to make the most of it and find a geocache too, and it was such an interesting cache idea, very creative and well hidden. I ended my little outing at subway *nom nom*. Back at home, I spent the rest of my day relaxing out in the garden, playing with the dog and watching butterflies. I am so happy that I'm starting to see so many butterflies appearing! How did you all spend your day? I hope you had fun whatever you did!

Another awesome thing that happened today was that I received the most wonderful mail, including my pre-order from a super kawaii pin creator called Magical Maidens! If you've been a regular follower of mine, you'll know how much I love Studio Ghibli and so when I spotted the new Ghibli X Pokemon inspired pin collection coming soon to this great store, I couldn't resist ordering some for myself! I really wish I could have bought them all!! If you love pin badges, Japanese animation, or just all things cute, then this is a post for you. Enjoy ♥

On the adorable postcard above that I was sent along with my pins (this had a nice note from the seller on it), you can see an array of examples of the various Studio Ghibli pins that are available from Magical Maidens. There are even more  designs than these available too so you totally need to go check out their website and etsy to discover what other character pins they've created. I had been noticing more and more of these gorgeous pins popping up on my Instagram timeline, and was finding it so hard to choose which ones I wanted more!

Can you guys tell which Pokemon is also incorporated into the design of these pins? If you thought Ditto, then you are correct! These pins remind me of the Ditto transformation plushies that are available from the Pokemon centre and I absolutely adore them! I'd been putting a little bit of money aside each payday to finally add some of these marvellous pins to my collection when I noticed a special offer code... Magical Maidens were offering a free pin if you purchased five pins or more, and so I of course jumped at this chance and purchased my pins right away!! Keep reading to find out which characters I chose :)

The first pin I added to my shopping cart was Calcifer, the little fire demon from Howl's Moving Castle (2004). This movie is my second favourite Studio Ghibli and Calcifer is definitely one of my favourite characters from across all of the amazing animation movies! He is so adorable, grumpy but with a big heart, and I am really happy to finally have a pin of him!! I really love the vibrant colours of this pin badge, as well as the wiggly edges/outlines of the design. I think it's super cute that Calcifer is sitting in the shovel that Sophie uses to move him around in the movie. It is a very eye-catching pin and the gold outline matches really well with the orange and yellow colouration. 

Next up we have the Catbus from My Neighbour Totoro (1988), which is literally the cutest of all of the Studio Ghibli movies. It is about two little girls who move into the Japanese countryside and meet the ancient forest spirits that live there; one of them being the Catbus! It is like a bus X cat X caterpillar, which is both hilarious and adorable! It is such a random and unique creature, and I love the how perfectly this pin resembles it. Even the tiny mouse shaped headlights of the character have been included. I love the paler brown shades used for this pin, and I feel like it will go well with any outfit no matter what colour. I really like the tiny cat paw detail on the foot of the Catbus, it's so sweet! I've not seen as many Catbus pins available VS some of the more well-known Ghibli characters, so it's nice to see one this cute! 

You can never have too much No Face merch in your life in my opinion! I LOVE this character & I will literally buy anything I come across featuring him, so there was no way that I would be checking out without purchasing the No Face pin! This is the only pin of this character from Spirited Away (2001) that I have seen where he's holding the gold from the movie! Without going into too much detail for those of you who might not have seen the movie yet (you seriously need to!), this character tries to bribe and trick people by offering them gold! And so it's super awesome that he's holding a pile of gold in his hands! Another thing that I like about this pin is how simplistic it is, it looks so cool just having the characters most iconic features and nothing but the gold coins to distract from his overall look, if you get what I mean. Overall, it's just a very nice pin badge :) 

I'm pretty sure this little cutie was the first Magical Maidens Ditto X Studio Ghibli pin I saw and it had me lusting after the collection from then on! It's been exciting to follow the store and see all of the brilliant designs that they have come up with! Of course any Studio Ghibli set wouldn't be complete without Totoro, the character which is the logo of the company itself! He's obviously from My Neighbour Totoro, and he is a troll, a guardian of the forest and a big friendly giant basically! Am I the only one who's sad that he's not real? I wish I could give him a hug because he looks so fluffy! He is magical and can control the natural elements around him, along with his two little sidekicks, Chu-toro and Chibi-toro (I would really love to see these two as pins in the future too so I could wear all three of the trolls together!). This is another pin with a simple design, which is not a bad thing at all. Totoro is an iconic character and he is wonderful just the way he is in terms of design. I cannot wait to show him off to the world! 

YAYY! I'm over the moon that Magical Maidens included a Turnip Head pin in their collection! I very rarely find pretty merchandise for this Howl's Moving Castle character, which is such a shame because he's so charming and endearing! His character is an interesting take on a scarecrow and I just think he's fabulous! This pin is so well-detailed and illustrates all of Turnip Head's best features, even down to the smallest detail like his legs and the flap on the top of his hat!! I am lovin' his bowtie, it stands out! He's in my top 10 favourite characters by Studio Ghibli, and I think he might be my best out of all of the pins I bought in my haul. When I showed my dad (who's never watched a Ghibli movie in his life by the way!) my new pins, he immediately pointed out Turnip Head as his favourite too. I think his character doesn't get as much attention as it deserves, so Thankyou Magical Maidens for creating a pin of him!! 

The sixth and final pin that I chose was this Soot Sprite one! It was hard to resist it, with that huge happy grin and all of the colourful stars! These stars are actually a traditional Japanese candy called Konpeito, and they became famous worldwide amongst Japanese animation fans when they were featured on the movie Spirited Away. The soot sprites had made an appearance in other movies by the company, however they weren't focused on as key characters until we see them as the workers in the boiler room in Spirited Away. There's a scene where they are given these sweets and they are all so excited!! It's too cute! I have actually tried Konpeito myself because I was so curious about what they tasted like. You can read my review here if you're interested :) 

I love that the Soot Sprite pin has these candies in it's design because not only are they pretty but they also make me picture the adorable movie scene I mentioned everytime I look at it! I like that the shape of the Soot Sprite is also a little different than the typical design we see; this pin makes them look more like a ball of fluffy dust and adds even more cuteness to the overall look of the character! It's just another wonderful pin badge and it feels great to have it in my collection. 

I wanted to show you guys this photo above because it captures how pretty the gold outlines of these pins are! They are all like that and so when they catch the light, the gold shines and makes them even more eye-catching. I've always preferred silver to gold, and I don't own many gold accessories so I wasn't sure what I would think of the gold detailing before they arrived, however I can confirm that I love love love it! I think the gold shine makes these pins look so presentable and fashionable, and it just adds that little extra something to them, especially the character pins with the more simplistic designs, like the Totoro one above. What do you guys think of the gold outline? 

An additional thing that I find fantastic about these pins is that they can be worn on their own because they have such bold and colourful designs that make them very noticeable, but they can also be paired up and would look fabulous together. Oh, and they also have rubber backs which I prefer, as they are less likely to rub and irritate your skin VS the traditional metal pin badge clasp. 

I couldn't be more happier with my new Ditto X Studio Ghibli inspired pin badges from Magical Maidens. They are all great quality and in perfect condition, with the most beautiful designs and detailing. I think they are also such a bargain for only £7 each! At this price, I am super tempted to go back for more once my bank account has recovered after my upcoming holiday! I still cannot believe I got one of these pins for free because of the special offer, what an amazing deal! I have a mighty need to fill my life with more of the pins from this collection. I hope that you've all enjoyed having a nosey at these Studio Ghibli goodies. Do you have a favourite pin? Please let me know in the comments guys?

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Are you a fellow pin collector?

If so, do you have a favourite pin in your collection?

Also fellow Ghibli fans, what's your favourite movie and/or character? 

Pin Badge Haul #2 | Kye Cheng & JennifairyW

Happy Thursday guys! Also, Happy Thanksgiving to any of my readers from the US! I hope you all have an awesome day :) I am currently typing this post up on a new laptop... I repeat A BRAND NEW LAPTOP!! If you've been a regular follower of mine for a while now, you'll know how crappy my last laptop was and how it was broken, making blogging or doing anything on it ridiculously stressful. It would take hours and hours to edit a few photographs, pages would be loading for ages and it would crash constantly. My fan had also been broken for so long, which made it make a really annoying, loud buzzing sound. Watching shows and movies was definitely a challenge when I could hear buzzing over the voices of the actors! But, I don't have to endure that anymore because I finally saved up enough to get myself a nice new machine!! And I am so excited to be using it! It's so shiny and perfect... oh my gosh and the screen is also 17'' so it's going to be great to watch stuff on. I'm not saying all of this to brag but I am just so glad that I will now be more motivated to blog and that I don't have to deal with all of those irritating things anymore. Yay! 

Anyhow, as promised, here is another pin haul post for you all :) On my first pin haul post, I mentioned how I'd been getting a little overexcited and buying lots of pin badges lately, some that I'd had my eyes on for months, because I will finally be able to display them! We are currently in the process of decorating my bedroom; I used to share a room with my sister however we now have our own bedrooms and so goodbye to the days when my pins had to stay tucked away in storage. With somewhere for my pins to finally be shown off like they should be, I have been collecting some super pretty pins from independent artists on Etsy and I can't wait to show them to you all. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have had a glimpse of them already but I still hope that you enjoy reading this post nonetheless. So here are some more of the gorgeous new additions to my enamel pin collection...

This post features two shiny new enamel pins, from two wonderful artists, Kye Cheng & JennifairyW. They are all reflections of my geeky interests, and are based on two of my favourite Japanese animation characters. They are both super cute pins and I'm really happy with them! I will definitely be making more purchases from these very talented ladies in the future. Firstly, I'll show you what I ordered from Kye Cheng :)

I'm a huge fan of Studio Ghibli movies, with my most favourite being Princess Mononoke. As soon as I set eyes on this amazing pin badge of Mononoke in her iconic 'wolf' mask, I just had to have it! Just look how bold and striking the colours/design of the mask are! I absolutely love it. All of the gold outlines make it so much more eye-catching too. It's just a beautiful pin! Did you know that Hime means Princess in Japanese? So, Mononoke Hime translates to Princess Mononoke basically :) Also, I really like the presentation card that this pin came on... isn't it so cool?

As well as receiving this gorgeous pin, Kye Cheng also very kindly added an adorable mini print of Princess Nausicaa and the Ohmu (an insect-like thing) from the Ghibli movie, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.  She also surprised me  with a vinyl sticker of a radish spirit from Spirited Away, which I was absolutely delighted with as Spirited Away is my second best of the Ghibli movies, however I forgot to add it to my photographs when I was taking them! I put it away with my other vinyl stickers and totally forgot to get it out, oops! It's such a sweet sticker!! Are any of you guys fans of Studio Ghibli? If you are, I'd love to know what your favourite movie is in the comments :) I really like the design of Kye's business card with all of the sweet colourful flowers and leaves; it's super cute. Keep reading to see my order from JennifairyW.

I love love love my new pin badge & vinyl stickers from JennifairyW!! How flippin' adorable is that chubby little Eevee hugging it's tail though!? I adore Pokémon, and Eevee is in my top five! I have wanted one of the fabulous Eeveelution charms on Jenn's Etsy store for a while, obviously the Vaporeon one, however when I was just having a nosey on her Instagram page, I spotted this pin and fell in love! 

I am so delighted to finally have a Eevee pin in my pin badge collection! This one has gold outlines and eyes so when it's turned in the light, the gold either looks dull or shines bright. It looks very cool :) I love the simplistic colours in the pin's design too. This Eevee looks so fluffy and cuddly! I couldn't resist purchasing the matching sticker to this pin. It's a little different too which I love, as it has rosy cheeks. I think they really add to the chibi appearance of the Pokémon. It would have been nice for the pin to have this characteristic too, but I really like it how it is so I'm not  certainly complaining or anything, haha.

Since the stickers were only £1.50 each, I couldn't not get another one! I choose the magical Sailor Moon inspired bunny sticker, which has a pretty crescent moon symbol on it's forehead and a rather solemn expression that I think just makes it look even sweeter! If you didn't know, Sailor Moon's actual name is Usagi, which means rabbit in Japanese so it's awesome that this sticker is an adorable bunny! 

I almost forgot to mention the prices of my two new pins, the Mononoke Mask was £7.78 and is shipped from Hong Kong for just under £4, which I think is not bad at all considering I've paid £2.90 P&P for orders sent in England. My chubby Eevee pin was £7 and the store is based in the UK. 

I am so impressed with my new pins, omgosh I just love them so much! Everyone that I've shown the Mononoke pin to has said how awesome they think it is. I love that it's such a super interesting design, that no one will be able to identify unless they know the movie/character, and I can't wait to rock it! My JennifairyW Eevee is so so cute! I really hope that she releases a Vaporeon pin in the future too! Or any other of the Eeveelutions, because her charms are lovely and I imagine that the pins would be a similar design. I hope so! Well, that's it for my second pin badge haul :) I hope that you all enjoyed reading. Which pin is your favourite? I'd also love to hear if you've ever shopped at either of these Etsy shops before and what you bought :)

Thankyou for reading!

♥

What would your dream pin badge be? Like if you could have any character or design that your heart desires, what would you choose? 

Do you prefer pins or keyrings or charms? What's your favourite type of accessory?