Easter Flipbook

Hi guys! I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter weekend and that you treated yourself to lots of goodies :) I know I did! I have consumed a ridiculous amount of chocolate over Easter (and before Easter, oops!) and I still have more left to eat! I spent my weekend down in Derbyshire at my lovely friend's engagment party. Congratulation to the both of you! It was great fun and it was so nice to see some of my friends from university that I hadn't seen since we all graduated. I was also pretty proud of myself for going because it was a challenge to be around so many people I didn't know due to my anxiety, but I did it! 

I was supposed to get this post up by Easter Monday, however my body had other ideas and my insomnia has been really intense for the last few days making me too exhausted to do much of anything. So finally, it's time to show all my fellow crafty/stationery lovers, an Easter and Spring themed flipbook made by my very talented sister *pic heavy*. I wish I could make the things that she can! I hope you all enjoy reading :)

I absolutely love the layout of this flipbook; the pages are shaped like Easter eggs, which is such an awesome idea! Each side of the paper is decorated with a pretty floral or Spring design using an array of different ephemera. They all look super pretty! Much like a more traditional flipbook, most of the pages containing pouches/pockets filled with crafty bits & pieces for whoever it is being sent to. If you've never heard of or seen a flipbook before, check out my Birthday Flipbook post for more details on what they are, etc. The rest of this post is going to be filled with photos of this incredible flipbook! 

How gorgeous is this flipbook!? I love it soooo much! My sister's penpal is going to be over the moon with this. I love all of the pages so much: the colour schemes and overall themes, all of the different materials used and the way they are set out. They are so vibrant and eye-catching, with so many pretty little details. I adore the entire flipbook, but of course I have my favourite pages. These are the blue polka dot page with the rabbit, funky pink pattern thing and the daffodils, as well as the lilac leaf print page featuring the super cute foamy lilac bunny and 'bloom and grow'. I also really love the page with the little garden gnome on and the pink flower-shaped button. How about you? Which are your favourite pages and why? Let me know in the comments! 

This flipbook really illustrates all of my most loved things about Springtime: flowers, pastel colours appearing throughout nature such as pink pale cherry blossoms, baby animals, new growth and sunshine. Looking at the flipbook made me excited to get out with my camera and capture the essence of Spring in photograph. I hope you all enjoyed today's post :)

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

What's your favourite thing about Springtime?

 Check out some of my other Easter/Springtime posts:

 | Easter Lush Haul | Earth Day 2016 | 20 Things I Love About Spring |

Kawaii-eek Boutique Mini Haul

Hello lovelies! It's been a while since I shared a haul post with you all, so I thought I'd show off the super cute items that I ordered back in February from an etsy shop that I'd been lusting over for ages! Rosewine's Kawaii-eek Boutique sells the most adorable items, including mugs, pin badges, purses, etc. My favourite products are definitely all of the pokemon themed merch. The artwork created by Rosewine is just so brillant! I hope you all enjoy today's post :) 

I fell in love with the gorgeous kawaii designs by Rosewine as soon as I spotted their Eeveelutions mug in my recommeded section on Etsy. I browsed the store and pretty much right away ordered myself some items. It was really hard to just stick to a few items because there are so many fabulous things for sale! However, I had to bare in mind the shipping costs from the US and also the annoying customs charges. So here's what I chose... 

I was so impressed with this Eeveelutions case that it was the first item that I added to my basket and I did it pretty much immediately after looking at it, haha. I mean just look at it!! I absolutely love Eevee and it's evolved forms, and the chibi illustrations of all of them are just so bright and adorable and awesome! I couldn't not get a button badge with my favourite pokemon on; I wish that I could have ordered one of each of the Eeveelutions. The last item I chose was a sweet little fox pin badge. As a collection of pin badges, it was almost impossible for me to not purchase at least one of the awesome pins that Rosewine has available. 

 Oh my gosh, how adorable is this Vaporeon illustration!? It looks so sweet rolling over like a puppy, and winking too! I just love it so much. It was only £1.86 for a single button badge or you could get 3 for £4.96, which I was very tempted by. The badge is a fantastic quality and bigger than I thought it was going to be, which is great because it just makes the design more visible. I can't wait to show it off on one of my bags. Which Eeveelution button would you choose?

 I love this item so flippin' much!! It's incredibly cute, and I am so so happy with the quality of it and how pretty and bright the design looks. All of the pokemon have such happy faces! It was definitely worth the £12.39 that I paid for it. It's a really good size (9''width, 6'' height) so it has a variety of uses. I'm going to use it to carry my meds and hygiene items. It even has an zip compartment inside. I think it would be perfect to use for carrying a Nintendo DS, especially since you could put your accessories in the zip compartment, too. 

Everything from this store is so very cute! I love the unique theme of this range of pin badges. There's several similar kawaii animal pins available in the 'Put a butt on it!' design, such as this fox, plus some cats and dogs. I want them all! I decided on the fox though because they are one of my favourite animals, and I loved the vibrant orange colour. I'm over the moon to add this fantastic pin to my collection; it's quality is great! 

As you can tell, I'm really happy with these items and I would definitely recommend this Etsy store to all my fellow kawaii lovers! If you order from Rosewine's Kawaii-eek Boutique, let me know... I wanna see what you choose! I'll definitely be doing another haul when I can :)

Thankyou for reading!

♥

What's your favourite item from my haul? 

Oh and also,what are your top five Pokemon? 

Enjoyed this post? Check out some of my other kawaii-themed posts:

| December Doki Doki Box | Blind Box Haul | Comic Con Photo Diary | The Teenies TYs Collection | February Kawaii Box | Tokyo Otaku Mode Haul |

 

 

Everyone, Meet Aurora ♥

Happy Thursday! Today's post is going to be all about the adorable new furry addition to my life... warning: will contain extremely high levels of cuteness! Its been such a struggle not to post photos and videos all over my social media, but I was determined to introduce her on here first haha. So without further ado guys, THERE'S A PUPPY AT MY HOUSE! In February, Aurora the super cute Shih Tzu puppy arrived, and its been so amazing to have her around. Puppies are so excitable and friendly and playful, and she just instantly puts a smile on my face. She's my sister's puppy and she will only be staying with us until my sister's girlfriend gets her own place. They were planning to look for a puppy when she'd moved into her new place but my sister came across Aurora and fell in love. It's impossible not to fall in love with her because she looks like a teddy bear! All of my friends want to steal her :) Time to show her off ♥

Look how adorable she is!! She reminds me of an Ewok from Star Wars haha so I've nicknamed her Ewok. She's almost 16 weeks old and she's a little terror, but shes also really affectionate too. I have always preferred to sit cross-legged on the floor VS on the sofa, and she comes over and sits on my legs. It's so sweet! When she rolls over on her back to have a tickle, her ears point up and she reminds me of a little bat for some reason, haha.

Above are some photographs of Aurora's first time going out into the garden, and it was lovely to see her go from nervous to so excited and curious about every scent and sound :) As you can see from my photos, she's a messy little pup and always seems to have a wet face from sticking her muzzle into her water bowl! She's such a quick learner and can now sit, lay down, give paws and roll over on command. After she's had a drink, she sometimes pulls a face that makes her look like she's smiling. It's the cutest! She wants to eat everything including PJs and socks. If you lay on the floor, she climbs on your back and sits there. I could talk about her all day! 

Here are a few of the ridiculous amount of photos I've collected on my phone of Aurora so far! Anyone who follows me on instagram or snapchat, be prepared from this day on to be spammed with photos and videos of this gorgeous girlie! 

 Thankyou for reading! 

 ♥

Do you have a dog? Tell me all about them in the comments.

If not, what's your favourite breed of dog?

 Mine are Groenendael Belgian Shepherds & German Shepherds 

 

Where Have I Been? | Life Update

Hey everyone! Wow, it has been absolutely ages since I sat down to write out a blog post, and for that I am really sorry guys! Since the last time I blogged, life has thrown so much at me; it has been such a stressful start to 2017. My mental health has been at the worst it has for quite some time and it hit me so hard. I tried everything to pull myself out of depression's clutches, to try and dig deep to find the motivation to blog but no matter how much I tried, I didn't possess the energy, concentration or 'zest' to do much of anything, let alone blog. Just when I seemed to be heading down the right path towards recovery for my anixety, shit started happening all at once. My loved ones were going through tough times which were really hard to watch, my fibromyalgia decided to give me hell and cause some of the most intense pelvis pain that I've had, and my depression apparently wanted in on the action so upped its game to make me feel even worst. I hope that I'm not sounding like I'm being too dramatic, but honestly it's been such a crappy last two months for me.

As if all of that wasn't hard enough to deal with, my finances then suffered too. Many of you will know that I've not been able to work since I graduated from university, because of the state of my mental health (read more about it here), and that I receive the Employment and Support Allowance benefit to help me out whilst I can't work. At the moment, the government has been cutting so many people's benefits; I'm sure you've all heard some of the shocking stories in the News surrounding cases of people in need having their benefits stopped because they have been deemed 'fit for work' when clearly going to work would have a massive impact on their physical and emotional well-being. It's ridiculous! 

So, back in January, I went to my first ever ESA re-assessment appointment after being granted the benefit a year or so previously, with my mental health being still in the same way as it had been then (if not worse in areas).  The only difference was that I had started therapy with a new mental health service and am now taking anti-depressants, however the health care professional who intereviewed me decided that I am 'fit for work' in her opinion and so all of my benefit was stopped. I had to go through a process of requesting her decision be reconsidered, even providing a letter from my GP saying that I'm not mentally 'well enough' to work, and a month later they've wrote back to me stating that they are not willing to change the decision. I now have to go through a potentially lengthly appeal process :( 

It is so emotionally-draining having to prove to peoplle that you are unable to work, especially with the way mental illness is still overlooked and undermined by the government. When this situation with ESA started, I was working with my therapist to make my first steps towards my anxiety recovery to help me try and gain some of my independence back, something I have been working so hard towards for the last year to be suddently faced with the stress of this just when things were looking up. 

My depression has really suffered as a consequence of their decision to decide that I'm okay to work when I can't even leave my house alone, talk on the phone (even to my family and close friends) and so many other things that would be required of me if I was to go to work. One thing that has been so hard to endure is the constant reminder of what I cannot do. It's honestly made me feel so sad because I've been thinking more about the fact that I'm not able to do so many things I wish I could, and it's easy to feel trapped at home when you don't go out as much as you'd like to. On top of all this, my laptop (which has been playing up since I finished uni) has broken even more so that makes blogging even harder to get done. Ugh.  

Last week, I had my last therapy appointment and I now have to find a way to power through all of the stress as best I can to work on my recovery. The first step is getting my life back on track and picking up on all of my hobbies that I enjoyed so much, so... here I am :) My blog means so much to me and I feel terrible that I've neglected it these last two months. Thankyou so much to all of my fellow blogger friends for still being there; I really appreciate you all still tagging me on twitter Friday Follow posts and interacting with me on my other social media. I'm back now and I have lots of post ideas for April. I have so many of your blog posts to catch up on reading so expect some comment spams from me soon, haha.

I just wanted to include a reminder to everyone but also to myself... It's okay to take a break. It's okay to put yourself and your needs first, and to take time to rest and recover from wahtever is going on in your lives. Don't beat yourelf up for having to focus on your self care. You deserve a break, you deserve time to recuperate. You are trying your best, and your health and well-being should take priority. People will understand ♥

So here's why I haven't been around for so long but I promise that Raiin Monkey will be back to normal from now on. I hope you're all doing well; I can't wait to read your blogs and find out what you've all been up to. Sorry again for disappearing for so long!

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

I was also curious, what does everyone personally get out of blogging?

 What do you enjoy most about it? Let me know in the comments :) 

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December & January Pop in a Box

Happy February Everyone! I cannot believe just how quickly 2017 seems to be going by already!? January went ridiculously fast and was full of so much stress. February will be better, starting with today! Oh my god guys, I'm going to see Green Day tonight!! They are my favourite band ever and I have been a fan since I was eleven years old! I saw them back in 2009 with my best friend, and they were AMAZING! I can't wait. I've been dancing around the house all day!! :) Are any of my lovely readers Green Day fans? If so, let me know your favourite songs by them in the comments! Okay, so on with today's post. As you all know, my blogging schedule has been all over the place for the last two months (sorry guys!) and so I haven't shared with you all my latest Pop in a Box subscriptions yet. That's what today's post is going to be all about. I hope you enjoy reading!

Every month, I receive two random Funko Pop figures in the post. If you are regular reader of my blog you'll know how the Pop in a Box subscription works, but if not, let me explain :) When you sign up to this subscription service, you are greeted with a list of available Funko figures which you have sort through. You can opt for a 'thumbs up' if you would like to receive that specific figure, a 'thumbs down' if the figure doesn't suite your fancy, or if you already own it you can add it to your Pop inventory. I absolutely love this system as it ensures that you will always get a Pop figure that you love! 

In my December Pop in a Box, I received the lovely Disney's Mulan figure! Mulan is one of my top five Disney movies and she's such a badass character, so I was over the moon to receive her! I was also sent another Disney character Pop, which I had put a 'thumbs up' to because it's one of my best friend's favourite characters, and I thought if I ever received it I could save it for her birthday or surprise her or something :) Conveniently, I was sent it in December so I could give it to her for Christmas haha. Thanks Pop in a Box! The character was Tinkerbell from Disney's Peter Pan. 

In my January Pop in a Box, I was sent a super cute Gremlins figure! I was supposed to get a second Pop, however the company emailed me to say that the figure wasn't currently in stock and they would send it as soon as possible. To be honest, I found this a little annoying as they could have just sent me another figure from my list. I was disappointed that in the email, they also told me which figure it was, and the main reason I subscribe is so that I am surprised each month. Telling me which Pop I'll be getting pretty much defeats the purpose of a surprise subscription box :( Nevermind! 

I absolutely loved the Gremlins (1984) when I was a kid. I would be excited around Christmas time because I knew it would be on TV at some point, and I even had some Gremlins merch. My favourite was a plushie of my favourite mogwai Stripe/Mohawk, that you could turn inside out to reveal the Gremlin version. It was so awesome, and I really wish I still had it! I think this Funko Pop figure is adorable! I love all of the detail that has gone into the pattern on the Gremlins body. It's really colourful and stands out well against the mossy green colour. 

I really like the Gremlin's black claws on it's feet and hands, and the hair is awesome! I didn't get a photograph, but the back of the figure is great too. It has more colourful paintwork and bumps that resemble the kind that we saw on the movie Gremlins. The entire body is splattered with blue dots, and the only problem with the figure is that this paintjob is a little messy. Other than that, the figure is wonderful :) 

Just look how fabulous this figure is! I LOVE it! Mulan looks so pretty and it's a really cute figure. I love everything about the design. I think her outfit looks lovely, with it's simplistic design and bold colours. Her hair is awesome, especially the little piece of hair that falls down across her forehead, just like on the Disney movie. She's wearing the medallion/crest of her family around her neck, and I'm really glad that they included this detail into the design of the figure. I really like Mulan's eyebrows, too.

The sword is my favourite part of this Pop! If you've never seen the movie (you need to watch it right now!), it's the sword of Shan Yu, the leader of the Mongolian Hun Army. I love the shape of it as it resembles the tail of a dragon. I think Funko did a great job of it. I am super impressed with this figure! Oh, and it comes with a clear plastic stand because it doesn't stand up on it's own. 

Which is your favourite Pop out of the two I received, and why? Apart from the revealing of the Pop figure that's not available yet, I am happy with my last two Pop in a Box subscriptions. The boxes were in great condition and they are always packaged and shipped well. I recommend this subscription to anyone who loves Funko Pop's. 

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

Do you collect Pop figures? How many do you have?

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