What I Bought in London | Haul

Hey Everyone! Happy Spring!! I'm so delighted that the season of flower growth and newly-emerged butterflies and blue skies and cute baby animals is here :) Goodbye season depression, and hello days of being able to read outside in the mild sunshine. I cannot wait to get out and about more with my camera in nature, and for the stores to start filling up with cutesy pastel things! What are you most looking forward to this Springtime? 

At the beginning of February, I went on a trip to London with my best friend and her family. It was my first time properly visiting the city. I went there once with my university to go to the Natural History Museum (which is fantastic, by the way!), but it was a straight-there, straight-back kind of trip and I never got to explore the surroundings. This time round I was actually able to experience London, and despite hearing how much of a nightmare it can be for people with social anxiety, like myself, I was surprised by how similar it was to other cities I've visited with regards to how crowded it was (well, apart from how busy the restaurants were!). Even the infamous London Underground wasn't the hellish experience I had tried to prepare myself for, but I didn't actually have to do any of the navigating myself, so that helped a lot! If you're like me, I recommend going this time of year, and also planning where exactly you want to go beforehand, because London is massive and it can be so overwhelming. But this isn't a post about how to survive London as an anxious wreck of a person, so on with the topic at hand, haha :D

I personally love a good haul post, and so I thought I'd share one of my own, for those who are curious to see what I spent my money on whilst visiting the capital of my country. I hope you all enjoy reading anyhow! 

So, I didn't actually pick up many things whilst I was in London, or go to many shops for that matter, because that wasn't the main objective of our trip. We were there to go to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour, and we were only staying down south for the weekend, so ended up with just a couple of hours to actually shop. My best friend & I chose to head to Covent Garden, because it's just one of those places that's an iconic part of the city, and I was curious to see it with my own eyes. Plus, ARTBOX is there and as a lover of all things kawaii, I felt it would be atrocious for me to not go! There are not many stores dedicated to 'kawaii culture' in the UK, ones that sell only officially licensed goodies from Japan and Korea, so I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to visit. Now that it's obvious that I went to Artbox, I guess I'd better show you what I picked up from there first :) 

The first thing that went into my little basket was one of these Hamtaro Re-ment blind boxes!! I have been a fan of this super adorable anime since I was a kid, and this was my first time ever encountering official merch in person. I could have cried with excitement, and it didn't take me long to circle back around after browsing the store to pop another into my basket, haha! If you want to read more about my love for the anime, and are just a fellow fan of this adorable bunch of hamsters, check out my previous post all about my new Hamtaro nendoroid :) 

If you've never heard of Re-ment before, it is a Japanese company that makes miniature toys. Their most well known products are blind box series, like the Hamtaro ones I bought, containing a selection of tiny set ups, which once all variations are collected can be display together to create a scene. This series in particular will allow you to create the perfect little Ham-Ham Club House, with all the furniture and accessories needed to add character to the scene. The ones that I was hoping most to get where set 4 with the little sunflower-print bed & hamster slippers (featuring the characters Howdy & Dexter), and also set 1, which comes with ham-ham desserts and a tiny figure of the main man himself, Hamtaro. To be honest, I would have been happy to unbox any set because I would love to complete the entire scene some day. I'll show you guys the two sets I had inside my blind boxes later on in the post :) 

I seriously cannot go anywhere without buying a new notebook! And London was certainly no exception. I picked up this super sweet hamster notebook because how could I not when I had hamsters on the brain? The design is so eye-catching, and the back of the notebook shows the little ham-ham's butt, which made me laugh. It's blank inside so I can use it for anything: a journal, a small scrapbook, a sketchbook for crappy doodles, and it was less than £2 if I'm remembering correctly. 

As I rarely get the chance to buy blind boxes by Japanese brands in person unless I'm at Comic Con, I was determined to get a few different ones in Artbox. If I'm honest, I was expecting there to be a lot more selection in store, considering their website is packed full of goodies, but I discovered the shop was small and they didn't have a lot of the products I was hoping to see. I was sure I would be leaving the store with a big plush, and also some Pusheen blind boxes, but that didn't happen. I admit I was a little sad about this, especially because we had to queue outside for half an hour just to get into the store! Nevertheless, it was still fun to finally be able to visit Artbox, and I love the things I picked up, including this Sanrio My Melody & Friends keychain blind box. I kind of regret not buying another one now after seeing how pretty the keychain was!! Have you ever been to Artbox in London? If so, I'd love to know what you bought, and also what your thoughts about the store itself were. 

Before I share my unboxing finds with you all, I wanted to talk about the other store that was at the top of my list of places to visit in Covent Garden, The Moomin Store! When I was really young, I adored watching The Moomins cartoon, and still know all of the words to its lovely theme song (which I now have to take a momentary break from writing to sing and get out of my system so I can continue... oops!). I have only ever found a few official Moomins products whilst out shopping, so I was very much looking forward to the array of products I would find in the London boutique shop, and it did not disappoint! Sure, the store is super small and very tough to get around with lots of people also in there trying to squeeze past one another down the narrow 'aisles', but I feel like the size of the store gave it more character. It was so cute! And I adored the way that they decorated in the entrance and up the stairs leading to the boutique. It was really difficult to choose what I wanted to take home with me! 

I decided as soon as I walked through the doors that I was leaving with a plush of Moomintroll. He just looked so small and cuddly and precious; I couldn't resist :) I love the simplistic design of these iconic hippo-esque trolls! Who else is a Moomin fan? I'm pretty sure that they had a few other plushies available, but I can only remember Moomintroll and Snork Maiden for definite. I am super happy with this new addition to my plushie collection! He's so smooth and fantastic quality, and he wasn't overly expensive. I was expecting everything to be super overpriced because I've heard that's commonplace in London, but all the items were priced similarly to what I've seen online. 

I collect pin badges, among so many other things, and was hoping to find one I liked in The Moomin Store before I even got there, as I was yet to own a Moomin pin but also because I wanted a keepsake to commemorate the trip. I love how cheerful the design I chose is! Moomintroll looks like he's living his best life dancing in the sunshine, and I thought the quote on the backing card was sweet! It says 'I only want to live in peace and plant potatoes and dream!' And it made me instantly think this is something Samwise Gamgee (from The Lord of the Rings) would say, and I just had to have it. I bought the postcard because a) I also collect postcards XD, and b) I wanted something to display in my bedroom that I can look at and have remind me of the trip. This one caught my eye because of how colourful and vibrant it is, and also because Snufkin is on it. Snufkin, the flute-playing guy sitting in the tree, was my favourite character when I was a kid. I also love Moominpappa's top hat, aka the Hobgoblin's hat.  

Here's a closer look at the eight different designs you could get inside the My Melody Acrylic keychain blind box. I wish I knew the name of the product to tell you guys, but I think it might be something like the 'Good Friends Share' series, featuring My Melody & Piano. My Sweet Piano was this adorable fluffy little sheep characters original name and she's My Melody's best friend. The charms I wanted to get most were the first one shown, My Melody holding a tiny plushie of her bestie, and also Piano with tiny bunny ears. Am I the only one who thinks it's a little 'weird' for My Melody to be wearing extra bunny ears? I've heard that she's supposed to be a little girl dressing as a bunny, just like Hello Kitty is in fact not a cat, but why wear a bunny hood and then another pair of bunny ears? :D So that's the design that I was hoping not to get, as well as the one with Piano & My Melody's backs facing towards us, because I want to see their cute faces! Who's ready to see which one I received?

YAYY!! I got the one I wanted most! That almost never happens to me, so I was over the moon :) And I was so impressed by the size of these charms! I was expecting something tiny but this keychain charm is big and so pretty. I love the pastel lilac outline, and the way the shading has been done, with an almost airbrushed look. I don't know if that's what it's even called, but I love how the colour is faded around the edges. My Melody's rosy cheeks are the sweetest, but by favourite feature is the tiny plushie of Piano, which I feel like I need for myself in the real life now! The charm itself is thick and well-made, and features the design on both sides. It looks sturdy but I won't be risking putting it on my bags and ruining it. I don't trust those types of keychain not to come loose either. Which would have been your favourite to receive?

As for the Re-ment boxes, here's what was inside the first one I opened. I got number 8, the bench set! How flippin' cute is that bench though!? I need a life-size replica in my own garden :D Even though this set wasn't one of my favourites, I couldn't be more happy to have unboxed one that came with a tiny hamster figure!! This pigtail-wearing cutie is called Bijou, and I'm lovin' that the tiny present matches her in colour. Included with this set are some stickers to decorate the green book, however, I decided not to try to stick them on before I took the photos because I am very uncoordinated and will properly misalign the stickers and mess everything up. My favourite character from the anime series has always been Sandy, and she's one of the tiny hamsters on the pages of the book, so seeing that made me smile! Here's what I got in the final blind box...

It's number 3, which I think is supposed to be a living room type set! As you can see, you get a wooden cabinet, a little lamp(?) type decoration, a picture frame and a tiny Bijou figure! It was a bit of a shame to have gotten another Bijou, however, this doesn't really matter because it means I'm another step closer to completing the collection :) 

This re-ment came with some cut-out's instead of stickers, but again, I might ruin them so I am hesitant to try to cut them out. There are two photos to display inside the frame, and also a rug. I love that Sandy is there again, with her rhythmic gymnastics ribbon in hand! The other photo is of Hamtaro munching on a sunflower seed, and on the rug, we have the sister characters, Pashmina & Penelope. My favourite part of this set has to be the tiny Penelope decoration, which I assume is supposed to be a little lantern. What do you think? Penelope always makes me think of a little ghost, so this piece reminds me of a Halloween decoration and that makes me love it even more. For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, Penelope is incredibly shy and so she permanently wears a blanket over her head. Sometimes I feel like doing the same when I leave the house, so I vibe with Penelope, haha!

How cool do these sets look when they are displayed together!? And that's only two of them. I cannot wait to see a full completed scene. It will look marvellous! After setting up this photo, I realised how much smaller the other Bijou figurine was so I feel like one of them is supposed to be a plushie of Bijou, because why would there be two of the same character? Plushie bijou is a treasure and must be protected!! I think it's awesome that the cupboard doors can be opened and there's space inside it to store things. So much attention to detail! I need more re-ments in my life! Which is your favourite of the two sets? 

So that's all of the adorable merchandise I picked up whilst visiting London, aside from what I bought at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. I am kind of glad that I didn't have much time to shop whilst there because I might have been recovering financially for a long while *insert embarrassed emojis here*. I am really chuffed with everything I got, and I hope you all enjoyed checking out my haul. I wish you all the loveliest of Springs, lots of yummy snacks at Easter time, and months of sunshine wherever you live :) 

Thank you for reading!

♥

What was the last cute thing that you purchased? 

Have you ever visited London? Tell me your favourite thing about it!

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PokoPins Haul | Review

Hello guys! It's almost the end of the first week of September and gosh, where did the last five days go!? I hope you all had a fantastic start to the month, and that your weekends are just as fantastic. If not, *big hugs*. Today, I have some gorgeous, super adorable things to show you and help brighten your day, hopefully! If you follow me over on Instagram, then the topic of this post has been long awaited for you. So, enjoy! And if this is your first time stumbling upon my little corner of the internet, welcome :) 

Back in May, I received my pin I'd purchased from PokoPins, and I posted 'unboxing' videos on my IG story where I discussed my initial thoughts. And you guys loved watching! I promised to blog all about it, but then something amazing happened :) The artist behind PokoPins watched my videos and loved them, too!! As a thankyou, Beth very kindly offered to send me a free pin with my next purchase from her store. How lovely is that!?! When I made my first order at the beginning of May, it was such a challenge to choose just one pin, but I had a budget to stick to. I planned to get myself another as soon as payday rolled around, so this gesture from Beth was so wonderful!! When payday finally arrived, I headed over to the PokoPins website and popped another of their stunning enamel pins into my shopping cart. Then I got to chose another!! 

Before I show off the latest additions to my ever-growing pin collection to you guys, I just wanted to say a huge thankyou to Beth!! It was so very kind of you! ♥. And now... let's look at these beauties! 

So, the very first pin that I got from the PokoPins Ghibli Beast Dangle Pin Collection was Moro. I HAD to have it as soon as I laid eyes on it, as I hardly ever see fanart/merch of this character. If you didn't already know, Moro is a character from the Studio Ghibli movie Princess Mononoke (1997), which is my absolute favourite movie by this phenomenal Japanese animation company! There are several reasons why I love it above all of their other brilliant movies, but the main one is the legendary/mythological creatures. Moro is one such creature; she's an ancient wolf god and she's epic. It's so fantastic that PokoPins included her in this collection, and even more so that she's been made cutesy! I love kawaii Moro, the cutest god of the wolves there ever was :D 

And just look at those charms! As a nature nerd, I fell in love with the pin after seeing those tiny leaves (as well as the bed of leaves Moro is sitting on), and I love that Beth incorporated Mononoke's mask into the design. It's so eye-catching and just makes the pin stand out even more. Of course, the gorgeous gold plating/outline helps. I've said this so many times, but I used to always prefer silver or darker plated metals when it came to pin badges, but I've been sold on the gold! The way it shines when it catches the sun on a nice day, almost illuminating the design. It's kind of magical! Wouldn't you agree? 

The second pin I purchased was of The Baron, who is a character from both Whisper of the Heart (1995) and The Cat Returns (2002). This dashing little feline gentleman who's full name is actually Baron Humbert von Gikkingen (what a name!) is a statue living in an antique shop, who comes to life at night-time. As soon as I discovered this fabulous character, I instantly adored him :) I have been a fan of anthropomorphic (humanised) cats since I was a small child, and the 1998 movie production of Cats the Musical is to blame. I was obsessed as a kid, still am now to be honest, and The Baron reminds me of a mashup of several characters from T.S. Elliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. This book was the inspiration behind the world famous musical. 

I am super happy that I now own some artwork of The Baron; the pin design of this character by PokoPins is the best I've seen so far! And he's even more dapper in person; you could say he's purrrfect... I'll never tire of using that pun. Please don't hate me :D

How adorable are his little top-hat and bow tie!? He looks like he means business, especially with his stern facial expression. The gold-plating matches fabulously with The Baron's ginger coat, and I really like how subtle the touches of red and blue are to his outfit. The sparkles dotted about are so pretty as well, and his ears!! They are so pointy! His dangle charms are of Toto the crow, another enchanted statue from The Cat Returns. And it's super cool that Beth has chosen him for the charms, as he's a very underrepresented character when it comes to fanart. This is actually the only time I have seen him!

This incredibly sweet pin is the one Beth very kindly gifted* to me (this was not in exchange for a review or anything, just as a thankyou for my videos, which I appreciate so much! I have anxiety disorder and videos are tough for me to make, so it's a lovely reward!). Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea is a 2008 Studio Ghibli movie, with a storyline that somewhat mirrors popular mermaid-to-human fantasies but with a twist. The star of the show is actually a goldfish who longs to be a human. She's magically transformed into one when her friendship with a little boy called Sosuke blossoms. It is such a cute and heart-warming tale, and Ponyo is a sweetheart. She is so captivated by the human world (instantly sings *Ariel, listen to me! The human world is a mess*. Uh oh, the Disney fan in me is trying to come out!), and it's such a joy to experience the journey of her first time on land alongside her. If you've seen the movie, the scene with the ramen!! If not, get it watched immediately! Heads up, if you're in the UK, it is on Netflix :) 

This pin though!! It's so bright and colourful and attention-grabbing. It's also quite bigger than the other two pins, so that makes it further stand out. I can't wait to wear it! It is marvellous that the design is of Ponyo jumping/running on top of the waves, and that her hair is flowering with the current. So adorable :) Her little happy facial expression makes me melt from the cuteness overload each time I look at it! 

The charms are super precious! The green bucket is the one that Sosuke carries his new friend around in. The boat is his toy that he's playing with in the ocean when he meets Ponyo for the first time. And the egg & pork is from that ramen scene I mentioned, so you can imagine how delighted I was when I saw this feature of the pin!! 

Guys, I need more of these Ghibli Beast Dangle pins in my life! There's so many others available; including: No Face, a soot sprite surrounded by konpeito candy, Totoro, Calcifer, the Catbus, Haku as a dragon, Jiji and Howl in his bird form. They're all stunning and their charms are so well thought out! I'd really love to buy the Haku pin next (because he's the greatest dragon ever!) but he's sold out T_T. Fingers crossed that he is backed in stock next time I visit the shop. 

All three of the pins I've talked about today are 'grade B'. If you are not familiar with this term, it refers to pins that a bit cheaper because they have the tiniest imperfections. However, as you can see, mine are all beautiful and it's really hard to notice the minuscule 'blemishes'. I have always been kind of weary about ordering grade B's, but I'm not anymore! I'm over the moon with the overall quality of the pins I received from PokoPins. Oh, by the way, the grade B pins are £10 and the standard ones are £12 each. When I placed both of my orders, there was a 10% discount offered so I only paid £9 per pin. And if you're a fellow Brit, the P&P was such a great price at £1.15! Worldwide shipping is also available, though.

Each of the pins is double-backed with two pink backs/clutches/clasps- I don't know what the heck these things are called XD But yeah, I'm very glad they are double-backed because the likelihood of them being accidentally knocked off my clothing by clumsy me is very slim, haha! One of my concerns when I first spotted these pins was that the o-rings, connecting the charms to the main body of the pin, would be flimsy and leave me worrying I'd loose a charm when I was out and about. But they seem very sturdy; i'm impressed, but only time will tell! I've not been able to persuade myself to wear them yet because they are too lovely. I have a problem. So many pins never worn... who's the same!? At least I have ita bags ordered I'm waiting for to pop my favourites in. I'm looking forward to being able to display them, without the risk of wearing them. Honestly, I have lost pins before because I've forgotten I'm wearing them and as a consequence have haphazardly took my backpack on and off whilst shopping. Oops! 

Finally, I just want to mention how smooth the enamel is. The surface of the pins have a great finish! If you have a friend or family member who's a lover of all things Ghibli, you should totally put one of these awesome pin badges away for them for Christmas, or treat yo'self. You know you want to :) 

Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading about these superb enamel pins. Which is your favourite and why? Please check out Beth's shop and give her a follow on instagram. Her artwork is soooo cute and always cheers me up whenever I'm scrolling on IG and spot her posts! Now, I'm gonna go watch The Cat Returns :D Have a nice evening, lovelies!

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Are you a pin collector?

What's your favourite Studio Ghibli character and/or movie? 

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Another Kawaii Haul: Mi-eau

Hey lovelies! Happy Tuesday! I hope you're all having a wonderful start to the last week of June! … As if it's the last week of June, there goes another month of 2019, the sixth month is almost through... why is time going by so fast!? Do you guys feel the same? So, there's only five more days remaining of June and this is my first post of the month, oops! The only word I can find to summarise the last three weeks is ugh; well actually, one of those weeks was fun! If you follow me on social media, you'll most likely know that I got to spend five days away holidaying with my mom and sister (and Aurora the pupper) in the Lake District. It was lovely to get away, to the countryside, and to just take a break from my everyday life and surroundings! I didn't want to come home, but alas I'm back and it's about time that I shared a post with you guys! As my title suggests, I'm going to finally get around to showing you all what I bought over a month ago (and then some) from Mi-eau! Enjoy :) 

I first came across the incredibly adorable artwork by Mi-eau over on Tumblr! Tumblr may have its downsides but I have to be thankful to it for bringing to my attention so many wonderful artists and their fabulous products. As soon as I saw Mi-eau's super cute illustrations, I fell in love and couldn't resist ordering something as soon as payday came around. I can't wait to show you guys how fantastic the artwork is! You can also find Mi-eau over on Instagram and DeviantArt. So here's what I bought... Cue the cuteness overload!

*Eeee!* SO MUCH CUTE!! It's impossible for me not to squeee everytime I look at these products! I was sold after seeing the neko girl character, but I fell head over heels when I browsed Mi-eau's website and discovered the Hamtaro badges! Seeing anything Hamtaro-related hits me with all the nostalgia, because I used to be obsessed with it back when I was around 11/12. I would watch it every evening on Fox Kids after coming home from school, and I even named one of my hamsters Hamtaro :) Did any of you watch Hamtaro, too? If so, did you have a favourite character? Mine was Sandy. 

So back to the neko girl, I am a big fan of all things nekomimi and cats are just amazing in general. I also enjoy cat cosplay (and some NSFW themed dress up :p), and happen to have a blue tail and ears set, so when I saw this character with her blue outfit and dark brown hair, it instantly reminded me of myself and I had to have something with this illustration on! I wanted to purchase a phone charm with the same design, but they were sold out and thus I chose another because all of the designs were equally adorable :) 

Before I show you the products up-close and let you know what I think of them, I just had to mention this lovely note that Victoria from Mi-eau included with my order. How sweet! I really love when artists/companies, etc., put in personalised thankyou notes; it makes receiving orders feel kind of like getting happy mail from a penpal, and also makes it clear that the artists really appreciates their customers. I was also sent the most adorable happy Shiba Inu sticker for free along with the note! Thankyou Mi-eau!

Let's talk about the star of the show first! I think they are AMAZING!! I love how each and every one of the Ham-Ham badges has a unique design that reflects the personality of the characters so well. The badges come in all different colours too, which I really like and there's just so much detail. There were two button badge sets available, each having six badges, and I really wanted to buy them both T_T I will definitely be picking up the other one as soon as my budget permits! The other set includes a badge of Sandy, the one I mentioned was my favourite character from the anime, however, so many of my top five were included in this pack so after changing my mind several times, I added these to my shopping cart! 

The four badges above feature Bijou (blue), Oxnard (green), Pashmina & her 'adopted' little sister Penelope (pink), and Jingle (red). Bijou is one of my all-time favourite characters... I love the first episode that she was in, it always comes to mind straight away whenever I think about the show. I don't want to spoil it though, and recommend that you go and watch Hamtaro for yourselves. It's so cute!! I love her little pigtails and her expression is literally me everytime I see something kawaii XD As I got older, I began to relate more and more with Oxnard because he's a nervous wreck and very much loves his food... and that is me in a nutshell, or however the saying goes. I love that in the design of this badge, he is stuffing his face with sunflower seeds and looks so delighted! 

The pink badge is just lovely. The shade of pink Mi-eau has used is so pretty, and Pashmina & Penelope's expressions are super cute! (Side note: there needs to be more words for cute in the English language!) Penelope is another adorable character, she's very shy and as a result wears a yellow blanket over her head and we never get to see what she actually looks like. She also acts almost like a toddler and can only say the word 'Ukyu!'. The Jingle illustration is perfect because he looks so into the song he's playing on his tiny guitar. Which is your favourite of the four? 

The final two badges are of Stan (yellow) and Snoozer (blue). Stan is the twin brother of my favourite Ham-Ham Sandy, and the two are very energetic.. Stan is always dancing around and shaking the maracas that he's holding in the artwork above, and Sandy is into gymnastics, especially rhythmic gymnastics/dancing with ribbons. Stan is a cheeky Ham-Ham character, who flirts with all of the girl hamsters on the anime, so I love that he has such a cheeky and excitable expression on the button badge. My favourite thing about the design has to be the colourful confetti though! It looks like he's having the time of his life dancing away with his maracas and it makes just me happy when I look at it, haha. 

Snoozer, as his name suggests, is characterised by the fact that he's practically always sleeping. He reminds me of a hamster version of the Pokemon Snorlax! He sleeps inside a sock like its a sleeping bag, which is just the cutest thing ever, right!? When I was younger, this inspired me to give my own pet hamsters socks, which they always stuffed into their little bed boxes :D Who do you guys like more, Snoozer or Stan? So, those are the Hamtaro button badges! They are incredible and I adore them!! I'll certainly be wearing them out and about because they are too brilliant to never be shown off, but I won't be putting them on my bags and such, like I usually do with badges, as I don't want to risk losing or damaging them. 

Now it's time to discuss the illustration that first grabbed my attention! Isn't it one of the most adorable things you've ever seen!? This super cute neko girl is one of the four animal cosplay/kigurumi characters, all holding matching plushies. The others include, the Shiba Inu girl on the charm I bought, plus a rabbit and a bear one. Whilst we are on the subject of animal kigurumi, which of these animal onesies would you love to own? I've seen a flying squirrel one and a red panda one that I really want (unfortunately the majority of kigurumi aren't available in plus sizes T_T). 

I love the yellow and blue combination on this neko/cat girl illustration, those colours go so well together. The little star details are awesome too, especially the star in her eye. I think black cats are beautiful and they are definitely one of my favourite type of cats, so I like that she is holding a black cat plushie. I also love the paw gloves and how she's holding her 'paw' up, and together with the fact she's winking, just makes her look super adorable! I could go on and on about why I like this illustration, but I'll stop now before I bore you all, haha! 

Here's the Shiba Inu/Puppy kigurumi girl, and she's just as wonderful as the neko version. My favourite things about her design are her chubby cheek that looks like she's squishing her plushie against it! Also, the doggo paw gloves and the excited look on the plushies face. Shiba Inu's are one of the cutest dog breeds there is! 

This charm attaches to your phone via the earphone port. The back of it is blank and is made of a smooth, felt-like material, and the part that has the artwork on is raised and kind of squishy. The cord is elasticated, which is great because it makes it less likely to break if it gets caught or whatever. Whilst reading up the product info on Mi-eau's website, I found out that the smooth material is actually microfiber and can be used to clean your screen... so that's brilliant! 

I am in awe of how bright and cheerful all of this gorgeous artwork is!! It makes my heart happy :') Ooops, I almost forgot to tell you all how much the items cost. The charms are $5, so just under £4 each, which I think is a great price for such a cute, well-made charm that doubles as a screen cleaner. The sticker was $2.50 aka just under £2, fantastic in my opinion for a vinyl sticker that's quite large (7.5 x 7 cm) and very eye-catching. The item that cost the most was naturally the set of six button badges, priced at $8.50 or £6.69 according to Google. That is an amazing price for these stunning Hamtaro badges, and was a deal that I couldn't pass up on! The postage & packaging/shipping was just over £5, and Mi-eau is based in France so I didn't have to pay any customs fees, etc. All the pricing was in USD because I did my haul via Mi-eau's Storenvy. 

So those are all of the items that I purchased from Mi-eau. I hope you guys enjoyed today's post, and apologies that I pretty much ghosted my blog for a month >.< I'm going through some tough things at the moment that are putting a strain on my mental health, but writing up this post has helped to brighten my day and I just had to share these super cute items that will hopefully brighten up your day too! I think that the Mi-eau store is taking a short break at the moment, but here is a link so you can have a look through the marvellous products. Have a lovely rest of your week! 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥ 

What is your favourite item from my haul?

Have you bought anything nice lately? 

I'd love to hear all about it!

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Little Haul from Firebox

Hey everyone! I hope you've all had a wonderful start to the week! Mine has been pretty great, probably because I've had my head stuck in a book for the last few days, and have been 'away with the fairies' as people like to say, since I'm currently in the process of planning and outlining an idea I have for a story :) Today has been an awesome day too, even though I slept through most of it, haha! I woke up to discover that I came 1st place in a daily photo challenge over on my toy photography Instagram account (you can check that out here if you're interested), so that was great! Also I played my first ever Japanese gem pusher arcade game through one of my favourite YouTube channels, Japan Award, and got some adorable prizes!! I received mail today too, yay! And that gave me the kick up the butt to finally blog all about one of my recent hauls :) If you're a fan of the cute and the quirky, then this is the post for you! Enjoy! 

Early last month, I finally bought a couple of things off of Firebox.com, which, if you've never heard of it before, is a website that sells the most fabulous, unique products; there's something to suit every taste on there and I have lusted after so much of their stuff for ages! Being high quality and fantastic products, they can get on the pricey side, however I discovered they had a sale on and jumped at the chance to get some goodies! Even more amazing was the fact that one of my awesome fellow blogger friends has a code that gets you a fiver off!! Thankyou so much Nat for sharing it with me :) (You should all go and check out her content over at There Might Be Coffee). So yeah, here's what I got! 

All of my items came in perfect condition, and were packaged really well with lots of paper padding. The box that everything came in was also really cool as it was covered in lots of really random illustrations, which made me smile :D I thought it was super sweet that they included a tiny packet of Haribo inside my package! It was Super Mix too, which is my favourite Haribo! I love when stores include little things like this, it makes it feel so much more personal and like they appreciate your order. 10/10 for postage & packaging Firebox Team! 

The main reason that I placed my order was because I couldn't resist getting myself this Water Bear plushie whilst it was on sale! It's so so cute!! I then noticed, when browsing through the rest of the sale section, that a candle I fell in love with as soon as I saw it was reduced too, so I couldn't not add it to my basket! 

First, let's talk about the star of the show! My new super squishy, extra soft Water Bear! I love getting plushies of obscure creatures that not many people have heard of or that are not conventionally deemed as cute, so this one is perfect and just had to join my plushie collection :)  Water Bear is the 'nickname' of a microscopic animal known as a Tardigrade, they dwell in water and are strange-looking little things. They are pretty amazing because they can survive in some of most extreme environments on the planet too. I have always found unique animals fascinating and I'm really happy that I now have a Tardigrade in plush form :D 

Just look how adorable he looks amongst some of my other plushies!! He's so chubby and round, which makes him super cuddly. I just love him!! :3 He's usually £12.99 which I know is kind of expensive for a small plush, but he is brilliantly made and is very unique, so I don't think it's too bad a price. Plus I technically only paid £7.99 for him, as I was using the discount code :) I very much like the pale blue colour that they've chosen to make him as well. What do you think of this Water Bear plush? I still need to think of a name for it :) (Yes I'm 26 and Yes I name all of my plushies!). 

I am so over the moon that I finally have this Crying Unicorn Candle set, because I think it's gorgeous and have wanted it for the longest time! It is a Firebox exclusive item so you can't get it anywhere else (unless of course they've sourced it from Firebox), and I've seen so many candles popping up in stores that have been inspired by its design. It's very adorable!

I think it's awesome that it comes with two candles... I didn't read the item description on the website, so was only expecting to receive one. It was another item that was well packaged and I really like when a lot of thought has gone into the design of a box, like with this one! It's so lovely with its pastel shades, rainbows and stars, and the super cute crying unicorn cartoon. It's the type of box that I don't want to throw away, even once I've got the candle out on display :) 

One of the main reasons why this candle appealed to me so much was because of how it's subtle yet kawaii af! I love items that can be displayed as homeware in any room of a house, but still have a design that the kawaii lover side of me adores! Its simplistic design just makes it all the more stunning! I really like that its pretty white porcelain, and the rainbow horn just adds a splash of vibrancy to it! I need to get myself a little white plate to use with it, since the candle wax when melting runs down the unicorn and will end up all over the surface if there's nothing to collect it :D 

This item usually retails at £19.99 which I think is an excellent price for it! I was really lucky to grab it in the sale for just £8.99... like how could I resist at that price!? 

Here's what the unicorn looks like once you've added the candle. Oh my gosh, how cute does that look though!? I'm so glad I got a spare candle, because I don't think I would have been able to bring myself to melt it if there was only one :D With two, I now get to use one and save one to just keep for display :) I can't wait to see what the candle looks like once it melts and runs out like tears. I bet its going to be so colourful and lovely! 

I hope you guys all enjoyed reading about my Firebox haul, even though I only bought two items. I had a little bit of money left over after the Christmas holidays to treat myself and am really glad that I was finally able to get some products from Firebox. Here are links to both of the items so you can pick them up for yourselves: Crying Unicorn Candle & Stuffed Water Bear. I'd love to hear what you think of the two items I've featured, in the comments... do you prefer the water bear or the unicorn candle? :) 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

What's the most random plush that you own?

Also, have you guys bought anything lately? Tell me all about it! 

Banpresto CraneKing Figures | Japan Award Haul

Hi guys! January is officially going to be the month of catching up on posts that I've been meaning to write for a while! Better late than never, right? :) I'm so happy to finally be sharing this post because I've been really looking forward to showing you all the absolutely marvellous figures that I purchased through one of my favourite YouTube channels, Japan Award! It's seriously been so hard not to share any photos of them on social media, but that would have ruined the surprise! 

Back at the end of October, I blogged all about my first time playing Ichiban Kuji, which if you didn't know is a Japanese lottery game where you buy tickets and are guaranteed to win a fabulous prize each time you play. You can learn more about kuji and see my prizes here. I mentioned in that post that I had some other items to show you guys and that is what is going to be the subject of today's post. I also said I'd blog about them a week later, but we all know how fun 2018 was for me, so yeah, that never happened... :') But it's happening now, and I hope you all enjoy! 

I was so over the moon to have stumbled upon the Japan Award channel one day through my recommended videos; not only is the channel super fun to watch, but after years and years of wishing I could get the amazing products from Japan that I so desperately wanted in my life, I now had the chance!  Of course, there have always been a few ways to source products from Japan online, but I could only ever find sites that were pretty pricey and this is all back when I was still a student, so I couldn't really afford to pay what they were asking! 

I love ordering through Japan Award because Horacio & Lin, the YouTube hosts, are super friendly and lovely people! They make you feel really welcome and together with all the other followers, it feels like one big happy kuji-loving family :D As cheesy as that sounds, if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that I have anxiety disorder and this means that I have a really tough time interacting with people, but they are very approachable and sweet, and I can't thank them enough for making it easy for me to get in touch :) 

Anyhow, before I get carried away with myself, let's get onto the toys!! *insert lots of heart-eye emojis here*. Something that I think is absolutely amazing about Japan is their arcades. Honestly they are so fantastic, and the quality of the games and the items that you can win there is wonderful! Yes, all of these figures come from an arcade game! You know those grabber-machines? The ones that in British arcades are always filled with cheap plushies, that are most of the time really difficult to win because they are rigged? Well, those crane machine arcade games are where my beautiful figures came from!! How brilliant is that? (Why can't we have awesome prizes like these T_T ). Can I get a drumroll please... because now it's time to show you what these figures look like out of the box! I'd like to just say how much I love the presentation of these items too. The boxes are almost just as pretty as the figures themselves! This post is going to get pic heavy from this point on, because I can't not display the figures at every angle, obviously XD

~ Super Saiyan Vegeta ~

I have been a fan of the Dragon Ball anime franchise ever since I was very young. I must have been around 7 years old when I watched Dragon Ball Z for the first time and I immediately fell in love with it! Especially when it comes to the character of Vegeta, with his sarcastic, grumpy personality which I thought was hilarious and for some reason, endearing. I have always been more drawn to the darker characters, the misunderstood ones, the types that were labelled as 'villains'. I love how multi-dimensional these characters were, and they were so much more interesting to me than heroes, as much as I liked them too! Vegeta started out very much as a enemy of the main protagonist of the anime, and little Sarah decided he was her favourite character. Adult Sarah still agrees, haha! 

I have always wanted a figure of Vegeta, and I was super happy when Funko started making Dragon Ball characters... I mean I love my Vegeta Pop! Vinyl figure and even though I am a collector of Pop! and love them, there's just something so much more special about having a more realistic figure. After watching countless kawaii and nerdy bedroom tours on YouTube, and seeing people's Japanese figure collections, I wanted some for myself so badly. I loved how eye-catching and incredibly detailed they were. So, you can imagine how happy I was when I saw a post over on Japan Award's Instagram showcasing the new Dragon Ball Z Absolute Perfection collection of figures by Banpresto. I had to have it! 

As soon as I took my Vegeta figure out of his box, I was blown away by how detailed he was! It's really amazing how much detail has gone in to a figure that you can win for around £20-£25 (obviously sometimes it takes more, like any arcade game it's all about luck and perseverance!). From his muscles and the parts of his armour/uniform that are taut, to his epic iconic hair and the badass look on his face, he just looks incredible and I am so happy to have added him to my toy collection. This might sound weird, but I don't care, even the butt on this figure looks good XD When they named these figures absolute perfection, they weren't kidding ;) 

The colours used for Vegeta are so bold and vibrant; I mean, look at that blue! It just pops, and he's going to be tough to miss when he's displayed up on a shelf in my room. Not only do you get the figure himself but he also comes with a base to attach to, a super cool looking rock featuring the awesome flame that surrounds Saiyan's when they are in full power, fight mode.  The design of and the shade Banpresto have used for this flame attachment matches perfectly with his hair. Another thing that is so fantastic about this figure is that there's no damage, the paintjob is amazing, and he just looks so clean, which as a collector of Funko products, I can say really surprised me because we all know how annoying they are with their manufacturing errors (ugh >.<). Okay, here's one more photo of Vegeta... it's so hard to not show you guys every single small detail on this brilliant figure! 

~ Disney Q Posket Maleficent ~

Here is another type of figure that I have had my eyes on for a while, Disney Q Poskets! I first started seeing these super kawaii figures around on Tumblr and it took me a while to discover that they weren't something that was bespoke or designed by an independent artist somewhere in the world. I honestly believed that they were going to be really expensive and difficult to obtain, because they just look so beautiful! However, one day I randomly found them on a website, I think it was for a company based in Australia, and I learnt what they were and that they were in fact made by Banpresto. I was sad when I couldn't find many of them available in the UK and I didn't want to pay too much for shipping when I was just buying one figure, and not doing a haul or something. So I just resolved myself to the fact that I wouldn't be getting a Q Posket any time soon. But thanks for Japan Award, I now have one of my very own! 

I have never really been a particular fan of Maleficent to be honest, I love all Disney movies and very much appreciate their animation and story creation, so I don't dislike many characters at least, but I just got so overexcited upon seeing a Q Posket that I felt compelled to buy her right away, and I do not regret a thing! Again, as soon as I set eyes on this figure, I was in awe of just how pretty she was in person! The big eyes that brought the figures to my attention in the first place just made me adore chibi Maleficent, and then I looked at the rest of her design and just thought wow!. 

Seriously though, how cool is this figure!? I am lovin' every part of her, from the fabulous, flowing enchantress ropes, to her awesome sceptre/staff, and her headdress. Something I have always loved about Maleficent's look is her headdress, and how much it resembles demon horns. It's so unique to her character and we all know I'm all about that spooky stuff. I love the flashes of purple and red throughout her robes, and how it matches her red nails and purple eyeshadow. Can we just talk about how on point her make up is? I love how something can be both simplistic and yet so detailed in design at the same time. Her face just draws your eyes towards it, and I think it's so cute how she's got a little cheeky smile! 

There were actually two variations of this figure available in the arcades, one with Maleficent holding a golden staff and also the green one that my figure has. I much prefer the green one because well, green is my favourite colour but also because there's just something about the colour green that suites the magical aesthetic. Japan Award won me the gold variation and another follower very kindly traded with me so that I could have the green one :) Everyone in the Japan Award community is just super kind like that.

 It seems that after purchasing this figure, I am now seeing so many incredible photographs of other Q Poskets shared within the Instagram toy community and it's made me super excited to take mine out and about and get some proper photos of her. It has also added fuel to the fire, in the sense that I now NEED more Q Poskets :D At this point, I might have to sleep on the floor because figures are taking over my life!! Here's another shot of Maleficent to show you the stand that comes with these stunning figures; I like how they've even put a floral design around the base. Again, it's phenomenal how much attention to detail has gone into these figures, considering they are usually obtainable for less than £30!  

~ 25th Anniversary Jack Skellington ~

I actually purchased this figure along with my second haul from Japan Award, which I can finally blog all about later this month and show you guys more ichiban kuji goodness! If you are a fellow fan of Tim Burton's work and/or just someone who loves The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), then you will know that November 2018 marked the 25th Anniversary for the movie! In celebration, there were so many companies that made special releases, including Funko, who brought out lots more characters in Pop! form as well as Mystery Mini blind boxes and all sorts of other awesome toys. Banpresto didn't miss out on the occasion and released this marvellous anniversary figure of main man, Mr Jack Skellington himself. Look how beautiful he is! 

This figure of Jack is the tallest figure I have ever owned, he stands at 30cm in total and his super long legs look so impressive in his iconic pinstriped suit. I really like the design and how they've incorporated the stand, or podium thing, that Jack is leaning his arm against, that also acts as a support for the figure. As you can see, there's a stone at the top of this podium that says 25 Years, and I think it's great that they've included this. Of course, the most gorgeous part of this figure is the design of Jack, his outfit is perfect! It's wonderful how they made the end of his blazer/jacket looks like it's flowing in the wind, and that they made his collar so extravagant! I am lovin' how eye-catching the little cat detail is! 

Isn't Jack's facial expression super cute!? I have always loved how simple the design of his face is but how striking it looks nonetheless. One of my favourite things about this figure are Jack's skeletal hands, the detail is really nicely done and they look incredible, even in the way they are positioned. I wanted to show you guys what the base of the figure looks like; despite it being very plain, it really does look like the base of a podium, and I personally think it finishes the overall look of the figure very well.

The only downside to this figure in my opinion is how flimsy it feels. Not the figure itself, but in the way it attaches to the base. With my other Banpresto figures, they feel very secured once I have pushed all of the slots into their corresponding parts, and I can move the figure around without worrying that it's going to fall apart. However with this Jack Skellington figure, they feel very loose and the 'pegs' or whatever you call them are always popping out of the slots whenever I move the figure. It just doesn't seem to sit right, but to be honest, it's not a big problem, and when I have this figure up on a shelf or something, I won't need to move it other than when I want to photograph it. It was also very decently priced so I don't mind :) 

I just wanted to conclude this post by showing you all what the figures look like in full. Don't they all look super terrific!? I'd love to hear what you think about Vegeta, Maleficent and Jack Skellington in the comments. I am sooooo delighted with my first ever figures from Japan and I will treasure them! They are really pretty and I have never owned anything like them before. It's going to be a struggle to save money from now on :D RIP bank account. I hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing all about these fantastic figures. Apologies if I got a little carried away with myself! I cannot recommend Japan Award enough, be sure to check out their YouTube channel & Instagram if you love all things Japanese nerd culture related! 

Next, I will be blogging all about what I got for Christmas, so pop back within the next few days to see that. I'll post a notification on my Twitter when it's up so go follow me over there if you don't wanna miss that :) 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

What is your favourite figure out of the three I featured in today's post? 

Do you own any figures? If so, I'd love to hear all about them!