My Favourite Video Games As A Kid

Hello Everyone! Today has been a slow albeit lovely day in the end for me :) I don't know if you guys care/are fellow nature lovers, but I had my first ever encounter with a Silver Y (Autographa gamma) moth, a daytime species that I've always wanted to see! It visited my buddleia bush, with its last remaining blossom, and even landed on my hands!! It made my day, if not my entire summer! I might sound like a dork for getting all excited over a moth, but... well, my long-term readers will know by now that I am one :D Anyway, what was the highlight of your day?

Did you know that it's National Video Game Day? So in celebration, I thought why not do a themed post? I recently stumbled upon a load of my old PlayStation games and so I decided today's post would be dedicated to my favourite games as a kid. Enjoy! 

I was always a PlayStation kid. It was my very first console and as such, it holds a special place in my heart. I must have been around seven or eight years old, when Santa Claus delivered me a PS1 for Christmas; it was one of the tiny models, if anyone remembers those? Along with my uncle's old TV. Gosh, that thing had seen better days (an understatement)! I actually had to bang it sometimes to get the screen to stop filling up with black lines- oh growing up 'poor' in the 90's- what fun times! But much appreciated nonetheless, as I felt so grown up having my own TV and console in my bedroom and had to pretty much be pried off it at bedtime, haha! My love for PlayStation has stuck with me, and after owning an Xbox 360 in college, I very much decided PlayStation's were the better consoles- sorry not sorry, Xbox fans! I'd love to hear which of the two you all prefer :)

But, what were my favourite games? 

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil

Whenever I mention this wonderful game, no-one seems to have played it! Have you?? It was so good! I first met little Klonoa, the Dream Traveller who looks like a lop-eared bunny, on a demo. It featured the original 1997 game- Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, and I just fell in love with it! I grew up playing a lot of games in their demo versions, as my parents couldn't afford to buy me new games all the time. As an adult, I understand that and I am so thankful they saved up to get me my PS1 and PS2 consoles, however for little me, it sucked that I never got to play past the first few levels of games! I pestered my mom for the full Klonoa game so often, and being the most amazing mom that she was, she searched for it everywhere she could but didn't manage to get it. What she did come across though was the sequel for PlayStation 2, and thus, when I was around 10 I was reunited with Klonoa and his fantastical adventures! 

I have been a fan of Japanese animation for as long as I can remember. I've always been drawn to it, so it's no wonder that as soon as I set eyes on Klonoa, I adored it! It was produced/created by Namco and the sequel was released by Sony throughout Europe and the US in 2001. The graphics, the storyline, the gameplay, the soundtrack- everything, is so beautiful! I am so glad that I still have my original copy :) 

Tomba! 

Again, as a child, I only ever played the demo version of this 1998 game. It was first released in Japan by Whoopee Camp (another Japanese game, of course!) and then a year later by Sony. In the game, you play as a caveman-esque little boy with spiky pink hair. I was immediately wowed by this feature as it reminded me of the iconic Saiyan hairstyle from Dragon Ball Z, my one true love at that time in my life :D Tomba is on a mission to find a precious bracelet that is stolen from his grandfather by the antagonists of the story, the 'Evil Koma Pigs'. Tomba must venture through a world that has been taken over by these pigs, who have used their powers to destroy the land, wreck havoc and set obstacles in the way of the hero's journey! 

I loved the mix of prehistoric scenes and creatures from Tomba's homeland, and the fantasy-based elements of the rest of the quest. There's also these adorable little leaf butterflies in the game that I wished were real, AND a puppy you've got to rescue!! What's not to love!? I didn't get to play this game properly until I was at university, when my flatmate let me buy it on his PS3 and oh my god, it was a delight to relive the nostalgia and then some! I'm hoping to come across the game for a reasonable price some day. 

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped 

This is one of the first games I remember asking for as a Christmas present. I played it a little at a friend's house when I was eight and I had to have it. I'm not gonna lie, it was the medieval level and the frogs that sold me... I mean, huge frogs though!? And I've forever been a history-obsessed human, so I was over the moon with this element of the game! Crash Bandicoot is one of those classics that is so well-known that I don't really need to describe it, but just in case... Crash is a bandicoot, obviously, that escaped from an evil doctors laboratory after an disastrous experiment and then fights, along with his friends, to stop Dr Neo Cortex from taking over the world. In Crash Bandicoot 3, the Dr teams up with Uka Uka, a vengeful spirit, to hunt for some magical crystals that are hidden throughout time and space. Crash must stop them from completing their evil mission. It's seriously such an engaging game, full of action and the different levels are so creative. Everyone should play at least one of the Crash Bandicoot's in their lifetime! Who has a favourite in the series? I loved Wrath of Cortex for PS2, as well.

Sonic Heroes 

Twelve year old me was very eager to get her hands on this game. I grew up listening to one of my brothers always going on about Sonic the Hedgehog, which he was a big fan as a kid in the 80's. I had already decided Knuckles the echidna was the best character years before I ever played a Sonic game! And he still is to this day :) Anyone who's ever played Sonic Heroes will know much of an awesome game it was. That theme song is catchy af! (And now it's going to be in my head for days, oops!). 

Sonic and his buddies aim to defeat Doctor Eggman as always; this time, by collecting the 'chaos emeralds' before he does. I don't know what else to say about this Sega game, other than it was heaps of fun to play, very action-packed, and the storyline was great. I know there's a lot of people that didn't rate the game, but I love it, so yeah :D 

Puchi Carat

Okay, so this might seem like a very random choice to my gamer readers, because there were so many other brilliant games in the 90's and early 2000's, but I fell in love with this game for the characters and storyline alone. It is a Japanese arcade game produced by Taito in '97, and was one that my mom found whilst out shopping and surprised me with ♥ Those graphics are just wonderful... so much detail has been put into a very simplistic arcade game! I was a fan of anime from around six years old, so I couldn't not adore the characters of this game. I had just started to have an interest in crystals and birthstones, things surrounding magic and the like, and the characters were based after just that! There's one for every month, designed to represent that birthstone. To this day, I have memorised those gems thanks to Puchi Carat! 

Paz, the villain of the game, the character for November's birthstone Topaz, made me think of Kagato, the bad guy in the anime series, Tenchi Muyo! Another thing that I was obsessed with at that age :) I even named my pet Mongolian Gerbils, Ryoko and Sapphire, after my favourite Tenchi Muyo! character and my childhood best friend's favourite character from my Puchi Carat game. Once a nerd, always a nerd, right? 

Anyway, the quest of the game is to try and help the characters collect the 12 gems, so they can have their wishes granted or something like that. You battle against other characters via the arcade game, which is a basic retro classic that I can't remember the original name of now. Nevermind! Its a game that is weirdly relaxing to play even though it gets more challenging as the game progresses. It certainly helps with concentration skills! This is a long shot, but did any of you guys ever play this game? 

Well, those were my all-time favourite games when I was growing up, but here's a few honourable mentions. Disney's Tarzan was up there, and was so close to making the list! The movie is one of my favourites, and through the gameplay, you unlock little video clips from it. You get to listen to the gorgeous soundtrack by Phil Collins, and it's just excellent to be able to pretend you are living in the jungle and swinging from vine-to-vine. Not so much running from those terrifying baboons! Some of my go-to games when I wanted to wind down or when I was having a particularly unmotivated day, were Tony Hawk's Pro Skater & Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (which had an ace selection of music on their car radio channels!). I couldn't end this post without also including Rayman, which is a marvellous game, and Spyro, which I unfortunately only ever had demos of. Regardless, I thought that little dragon was so cute, more so Sparx the dragonfly :), and I enjoyed harassing those frog characters, haha!  I better stop typing now or we'll be here all night! 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

What were your favourite games when you were a kid?

Did you grow up on demos like I did? 

Do you remember the first game you got?

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I'm Obsessed with Colouring Books

Hey lovelies! I hope you're all having a marvellous start to the week :) Do you have any nice plans? I'd love to hear all about them! Today's post, as you've probably gathered from the title, is all about colouring books, and my current favourites that I've been using throughout these times with Miss 'Rona (I watched a lot of YouTube so this name for the virus has stuck!). I was inspired to do this post thanks to National Colouring Book Day, which is on the 2nd August, however as some of you guys will know, that month is a very triggering time for me, and so this post is a month late. But who cares!? My blog, my rules :D And I hope you'll all enjoy reading it just as much now as you would then! 

I have forever been a fan of colouring books, since being a small kid. Of course, most children are, but my love for them never went away. Thus I'm almost twenty-eight years old and still derive joy from colouring in. Who can relate? You can probably imagine my delight several years ago when the market for adult colouring book was booming. I mean, there's always been books available to colour in, but it was wonderful to have ones catered to grown-up's (even if, like me, you don't always feel like one!) in practically every store! 

As a result of the popularity of these adult versions of colouring books, which I believe were and continue to be so well loved because many grown up's feel childish for enjoying colouring, or for doing anything that is bright and happy and has an air of whimsical fun to it, apparently... And these books being sold specifically for them made it feel more socially acceptable. If you're someone who feels this way about anything, I want you to know that it's okay to enjoy things! 

My bedroom looks like a child's room with literal children's wallpaper and plushies everywhere you look, but life is too short and often miserable, or stressful or filled with boring adulting stuff, to not appreciate or partake in something that makes your heart happy, or your inner child. But there's really no such thing! Your childhood experiences, your interests from back then, your likes and dislikes, makes up a lot of who you became as a person, and it's fantastic when you let yourself embrace those things. So, you like colouring? Own that! I don't care what people think of my interests. If I want a giant fluffy alpaca plushie in a sailor's hat for my birthday, then that's what I want! And there ain't no-one who can make me feel bad about it :D

Apologies, guys; I seem to have gone off on a tangent! But the original point I was trying to make was that adult colouring books make so many of my fellow grown humans feel better about enjoying colouring, and if that encourages more people to do it then I'm all for it! Plus, its led to the creation of tonnes of really cool themed colouring books. There's seriously a book for everything and anything you can imagine- wanna colour in some serial killers? You can do that! How about trains? Yep, there's a book for that! And my favourites that have come out of this hype are sweary books :) Keep reading if you like these, too. 

Two of the colouring books I'll be talking about were very kindly purchased for me by my brilliant friends off of my Amazon wishlist! THANKYOU, GUYS!! And the other is one I picked up myself. I'd love to know which is your favourite! 

Look how adorable this witchy colouring book is!! It was the first that I received of the three I'm including in today's post, so I thought I would talk about it first :) I popped this lovely item onto my wishlist because a) I'm a big fan of all things witchcraft-related & b) because the illustrations are done in an anime style! As a lover of Japanese anime, this feature was probably the main reason I was drawn to this particular colouring book. And I was delighted to discover, upon flicking through the book when it arrived, that the company (Fritzen Publishing) have various themed colouring books designed in this style. There's a partition in the middle of the colouring book that lists other colouring books from Jade Summer, and also has two sample pages from other books. I now have a mighty need to start another collection! Can I ever be stopped!? 

One of my favourite things about this colouring book is how many different designs they are inside and how varied they are. There's 26 in total, and each of them is unique, featuring a witch or two doing completely different things. They are all such gorgeous illustrations, too!! I am just in love with the artwork! I want to put them up all over my wallpaper walls, to be honest :D 

I almost didn't want to start colouring them in because I thought my messy colouring would ruin them. Luckily for me, you get a double of every single picture!! When the book arrived, I was impressed by how thick it was, but I soon realised that there are the first set of illustrations, then the promo stuff I mentioned in the centre, followed by another set of the illustrations. I have both positive and negative opinions about this! It would have been amazing to have 52 unique designs to colouring in. But if I don't like my finished page, I can always do better on the extra sheet. Also, it would be ideal for parents with two children because you can cut out an identical page for both of them and not have to deal with them fighting over specific pages! I think it would be cute for couples to do together as well, because you can compare afterwards to see which colours you chose for certain parts of the illustration, etc.

How pretty is the first page of the Cute Witches colouring book!? It's the same design as on the cover and although my colouring in abilities don't do it justice, you can still see just how marvellous it is! The designs are very spacious, which is great for me who as I mentioned before is messy when it comes to colouring. I really do struggle to keep in the lines. Good old dyspraxia! 

Here's an example of one of the pages I've yet to colour in and as you can see, it's very different to the design of the first page. I'm delighted with the detail that has gone into the design of each illustration!! Another feature that I really like about this colouring book is how each illustration has its own page. You can see in my photo above that the backs of each page are just black in colour, which is superb as it means whatever you are using to colour with won't bleed through onto another design. This was always something that irritated me when I was a child, especially when I was trying to colour with felt-tip pens. I've not tried those in this colouring book yet though! 

You can find Cute Witches: An Adult Colouring Book for yourself here. It's available for only £4.99 which is amazing, considering the fact that it has 52 pages! The paper used is pretty good quality as well. I was a little surprised about this with the book only costing a fiver! All-in-all, I am super happy and I will definitely be getting more of Jade Summer's books in the future. Colouring in this book has not only been something to fill the time, but the designs have got my imagination going! I've found myself creating little tales and scenarios in my mind for the witch characters in the particular scene I'm working on. It's wonderful! A huge thanks to the lovely Estelle for getting this colouring book for me. She's a blogger, too, so definitely check out her blog as well as her YouTube channel :) 

I was certainly spoilt by my wonderful friends!! This colouring book was another that I added to my wishlist because if you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'll know that I love all things related to Japan: the language, the art, the history and culture, everything is fascinating! The design on the front of this book is so beautiful! And even though its available for only £1 more than the other book, the overall quality is better, including the cover which has a finish/texture to it that makes it seem like it would cost even more. 

I am a lover of surprises and so I was very much looking forward to find out what Japanese things would be featured inside this colouring book, and I was not disappointed. It looks as though lots of different artists were commissioned to put this colouring book together, as the style of the artwork differs from page-to-page. I like some more than others, but it keeps colouring in this book an interesting experience! 

As with the Cute Witches colouring book, the first page matches the design on the cover, so I've decided to show you a random page within the Japanese Colouring Book. I'm quite happy with the finished look of this page :) There are lots of beautiful scenes like this in the colouring book, so if nature and architecture are your thing, you'll enjoy it! It's relaxing to sit in the garden on a sunny day, colouring in outdoorsy scenes like the one above, whilst listening to the sounds of nature. 

This book has 32 illustrations in it, and no repeated designs, so it's a lot thinner than the other colouring book. And again, each is on its own individual page so you don't have to worry about the colours going through to 'ruin' another design. The blank backs of the pages in this book are white, which I prefer to the black. However, the paper feels a lot better quality in this book so I can understand why the Jade Summer book has backs that would hide most of the colours that might bleed through. 

Would it even be a Japanese themed book without at least one koi carp?? Spoiler: this books got many! I am lovin' the range in these colouring books though. It's been nice to turn to something new each time I open a page to start colouring. With the designs being so different in style, some are more intricate and have smaller sections to colour in, and this makes them more difficult, at least for someone like me. This is a feature of the book that I like because I can work on the tougher pages when I'm feeling in the mood for a challenge. Doing colouring that requires a lot of concentration makes me feel very focused, and I am often quite productive for the rest of the day after I have finished working on a page like that. 

The book is produced by a business called Creative Coloring Co, and you can purchase it on Amazon here. The final pages of the book have a few sample sheets from other books, and this is something I prefer. The samples being at the back I mean VS being in the middle, like with the first colouring book I mentioned. Thankyou so much to another fellow blogger friend of mine, Natalee, for surprising me with this colouring book from my wishlist :) Make sure to have a read of her blog, too! 

The final book that I wanted to show off to you all is the sweary one! It's made by Sugar & Sloth, a shop run by a fabulous artist called Anita, who makes the most adorable products! Just look at the cover of this colouring book and tell me that it doesn't immediately make you think 'AWW'! I am a subscriber of Sugar & Sloth's Tiny Party Club and receive monthly goodie boxes (they are so much fun!). And so I follow Anita's social media accounts, where I got to see the process of this spectacular adult colouring book coming to life! I even voted in the polls to determine whether the cover should be yellow or blue. I voted blue so I was so glad that it was the winner! I pre-ordered a 'Love Yourself, You Stupid Bitch' colouring book as soon as I could :) 

COLOURS GALORE!! I love love love the design of the inside of the cover! It's so eye-catching and vibrant and aesthetically-pleasing. What's not to love? There are so many adorable creatures on there, and it's excellent to be greeted by cuteness overload as soon as you open your colouring book! 

One of my favourite things about Sugar & Sloth's artwork are the bold outlines and how chunky the characters are! And this translates into the perfect colouring book style for me :) The design and the cute yet simplistic style of the illustrations mean that there's a large surface area to colour in, and that's why I can colour with less risk of going outside the lines, haha! 

I'm a huge fan of Anita's creations and the major reason for that is the contrast between the sweet little chubby animals and the captions that accompany them! As a adult who is fond of cursing as a form of expression, but who also likes to fill her life with all the kawaii things, this really appeals to 'both sides' of me. I am super happy to have a book full of them now, as each and every one of the illustrations in this colouring book makes me smile when I look at it! The book is titled as a self-care colouring book and its already doing a spectular job before I even get started with the actual filling-in of colour! 

The designs in The Sweary Self-Care Colouring book are very relatable for me. Anita, like myself, has anxiety and so a lot of her wording speaks to me on a personal level. It's kind of cathartic to see words that could pretty much have come from your own brain on paper in cutesy form. I don't know how to explain my feelings, but I hope that made some sort of sense, haha! 

This fantastical product is £12, which it is definitely worth considering how beautifully designed it is and the illustrations are printed onto super thick paper that feels closer to card. It's very unlikely that colours are going to bleed through that thickness, but I've not tested it with felts yet :D There are 36 illustrations to colour and they are very varied in design, so you won't get bored colouring in this book! The only element that I would change is that the pages are printed back-to-back. Because of the thickness of the paper used, I would love to display these around my room, but this means I won't get to see the illustrations that are on the backside of the paper and as the designs are all so nice, there are lots of pages where I would love to display both sides, but I'll obviously have to chose between the two! It will be challenge to decide, but this isn't something that has an impact on what the book is for? It's still wonderful to colour in! 

Thankyou Anita for putting together such an epic book filled with hilarious swear words, like cockwomble!!, and lots of lovely phrases of encouragement. Both help to brighten my day whenever I open up a random page :) You can get yourself one over on the Sugar & Sloth website. Go support an independent, small business during these trying times!

It may sound silly, but colouring really has been a big help for me over the last few months. I've found that on days when my mental health is bad and I can't find the motivation to complete the tasks written on my to-do-list, such as trying to blog or doing photography, I can open up a colouring book and get lost for a while. I can fight away the intrusive thoughts that pop up to tell me how much of a bad person I am for being unproductive! And this is because there is something so satisfying about finishing colouring in an illustration. You can admire your work and think 'I did that!', even though all you did was colour in someone else's artwork. It still feels like the artwork is partly your own creation, as you've bought it to life with colour :) I don't know about you guys, but it always makes me feel that little mood boost that comes with accomplishment. It's the little things, as they say! 

So colouring for me as been a form of self care, and I am so grateful to my friends for helping me more than they know (or at least, knew before reading it here!). I really hope that this has been an interesting read, despite the fact that my mind is all over the place today and I can't seem to stay focused on one topic at a time! Maybe I should go do some colouring?

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Are you a fan of colouring in?

If so, what's the best colouring book that you own? 

I'd love recommendations!

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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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Pokemon Mask by Igor Canova | Review

Hi Everyone! Happy September!! It's now one step closer to my favourite season, and I am so excited! I've said this every month of 2020 so far, but I am seriously gonna give it my all to get my blog back to normal this month. Definitely quote me on that :D. Well, things will be back to normal with some changes thrown in; I've now decided to get myself back into a routine, since this year has been a bit of an unorganised shambles (which I'm sure most of us can agree with!). I need some structure... not even kidding, my brain fog just had me like ?? structure ?? how's that word go again? So it's safe to say, I am in dire need of some in my life, haha! I'm going to be aiming to post every Tuesday and Saturday. We'll see how that goes! It's awesome that this month is kick-starting on a Tuesday because there's just something so satisfying about blogging on the first day of the month. I don't know why. Can any of my fellow bloggers relate? 

Today's post is going to be all about the super cute reusable mask I picked up a couple of months ago because I can't not blog about it! I hope you all enjoy reading this review :) 

So, I got this mask quite a while ago now but that's allowed me to get a good impression of what it's actually like to wear, etc. It arrived during the first week of August, after I purchased it back in mid-July. So it got to me really quick! I came across these wonderful masks over on twitter and discovered that there had been so many gorgeous Pokemon designs created by the artist! Igor Canova is based in Brazil and can be found at twitter, instagram and tumblr. Be sure to go check out their social media (give them a follow, too), since it's even more important than ever during these hard times to show your support for small businesses and independent artists. And you should totally get yourself a mask! I mean, how could you not want one of these Pokemon designs? 

Look how brilliant that design is though!! I opted for a water type design because it represents Vaporeon who's my all-time favourite Pokemon (I so wish my little water baby was included in the design!!), and also because I felt like this colour would match well with most of my outfits, and also my eye colour, which would be cool since that is all people would be seeing of my face whilst I'm wearing it :D It was seriously tough though to chose only one design... they're all fantastic! I very nearly opted for a purple ghost type mask instead, but it was the little Wooper and Panpour that sold me the one I bought in the end. How sweet are their happy little faces!?

The masks cost $16.99, but I only paid $11.89 at the time since I googled around for a discount code before making my purchase. I always do this now when I shop online! Igor's shop is on Society6, which actually has the masks at a reduced price right now, so you can get one for the same price that I paid without having to go search for a discount code yourself :) The P&P cost me $5.00 (around £3.70) which is reasonable for worldwide shipping and handling costs. All in all, I paid £13.97 for this super adorable mask & I'm happy with that! Here's what I love about my 'new' mask... 

The reason I chose this mask, apart from the lovely design, was because I saw it was machine washable. A lot of masks I've seen around are for hand-wash only, but as a chronically ill person it is much more suitable for me if I can just throw it in the washer. I'm assuming that all of the masks of this particular style available on Society6 are washing-machine safe, too. Another thing I love about this mask is how soft the material inside is! I have sensitive skin and have even found my face getting irritated by those disposable paper masks, so it was a lovely relief to find that my new mask was perfectly fine in this regard :) 

A feature that I was also looking for when trying to find a mask was the structured type- I don't know how to explain it; hopefully you all get what I'm trying to say! I wanted a mask that has folded horizontal seams that expand to cover your face. I have come across many cutely designed masks that I was put off buying simply because I'm not a fan of the kind with vertical seams down the middle. It sounds fussy, but I was quite concerned that my piercings (I have snakebite piercings, with very long, pointy studs in them) would catch on a mask, so that's why I wanted one shaped this way. 

As you can see, the mask has a very nice fit. I really like how it looks on, as it's shaped very well and is super comfortable The scraps are elasticated and sit great on my ears, so they don't annoy me. Obviously, I would have endured any annoyance to be safe and keep others safe, but it's a bonus to feel snug and secure at the same time. I have always had an aversion (if that's the right word?) when it comes to certain textures rubbing on my skin, such as labels in clothing and sunglasses behind my ears, so it's a big deal for me that I find wearing this mask okay :D 

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that there's a gap in the front of the mask for you to slide in one of those filters that I've seen people mention online, but I'm happy with mine as is. I don't leave the house much, even before the pandemic, because a n x i e t y, but when I do occasionally, I feel protected just fine in my new mask. 

Even Hello Kitty suits it, don't you think guys?

I'd show you the inside, but I've managed to stain it a little already with concealer. Oops! In hindsight, I should have scrubbed it before putting it in the wash... nevermind! The lovely, soft inside fabric is white in colour, which gives it that surgical feel almost. And that helps to relieve worries for many people, or so I've heard. It's always nice when medical-related things look blank and sterile, it makes them seem that much more hygienic or whatever. 

The only negative thought I initially had about the mask was that the print didn't look perfect quality because it had been enlarged to fit the mask. It's still adorable though, so I can't really complain! Also, the colour did fade a little in brightness after just one wash, which was a shame, but I guess that could just be because of something I specifically did? Either way, I think my mask still looks awesome! 

How do you think my water type Pokemon mask looks on me? I like that there's a range of colours incorporated into the print, so I can coordinate my make-up whilst still being able to do something different with my eye look each time I wear my mask. I know this isn't important, however it always helps you face the day when you feel like you are rockin' your mask! 

Well, that's all I have to say about my Pokemon mask by Igor Canova. Don't forget to give them a follow! Wishing you all an excellent month, filled with sunshine and all of the wonderful things that come with the lead up to Autumn. Let me know what you're most looking forward to this month :) And remember guys, no matter what the government advises, it's still really important that you keep wearing a mask when you go out in public. Wear the correct PPE & help save lives! 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

What's your mask(s) look like? 

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Stina Glaas Jewellery

Hey lovelies! Can you believe it's August now!?! It's one of those years that feels like it's going by too fast, but super slow at the same time! How is that even possible?? I'd be happy if this year continued to speed by, or at least this pandemic anyway! I wanted to do so many things in 2020 and hope I get a chance to do if only a couple of them. But obviously, I'm more concerned with following the advice of the scientists and doctors and not the UK government, which has been so confusing with their guidelines... but the subject of this post isn't politics, so let's not get into that! Stay safe, my lovely readers! 

Today, I actually wanted to share something with you guys that has been one of the highlights of my year. Something that made me feel loved and I'm very thankful for that :) I've needed it! So, I hope you guys enjoy reading all about the gorgeous jewellery that my wonderful friend made for me ♥

As many of you know if you follow me over on instagram or if you've been reading my blog for a while now, one of my hobbies is toy photography. I've been collecting figures and toys for most of my life, and so you can imagine how delighted I was to discover that there's such a huge community of like-minded people over on IG. It's been amazing to share my passion for both photography and toys with people from all over the world, and I have made a lot of friends through the toy community. Friends that have really helped me get through the first year without my mother, and they provided me a place to escape from my sadness as my mother's health declined. I'm not sure where I'd be without the kindness of my online friends! 

One of those friends is a beautiful person, inside and out, by the name of Stina. We become fast friends once we got talking, because we have so much in common. Honestly, Stina has been a rock for me; she often helps me get distracted from my struggles, and to focus on the things that make me happy and keep me going. She's a ray of sunshine and colours, and also the perfect person to rant to about all the shitty things in life, which is equally important. It's cathartic and I need it... because I hate people XD (I'm only kidding, a little at least). So Thankyou Stina for being a brilliant friend!

Not only is Stina a fantastic person, but she's also a talented artist! And along with painting the loveliest colour-filled artwork, she makes jewellery as well! And as you know, that's the main reason for today's post. I wanted to show off my friend's handiwork, since I love what she made for me, but also because it's even more important than ever right now to show your support for independent businesses/artists. 

Before I show you all the creation from my friend, I just wanted to show how cutely she packaged it! She included a Pusheen badge!! Awww, it put a big smile on my face :) I love her little 'business card', too. The combination of all those colours, patterns and shapes makes my heart happy. She actually created a big painting and cut it up into small pieces to make her cards, and I think that's an awesome idea! It feels a lot nicer from a customer point of view to receive a note card like this VS a printed one (not that they can't also be lovely). 

Stina very kindly offered to make me one of her bracelets as a gift, because she is just that fabulous of a friend ♥ So let's talk all about the bracelets that she makes...

HOW PRETTY IS THIS!? As you can see, Stina creates leather bracelets that have a beautiful simplicity to them. You can choose from various colours/shades of leather, but darker shades will lighten over time. Stina can add any caption you like and I've also seen her add a little star or two along with the words! She offers the bracelets for 250 Swedish Krona, which is around £21, and for that you can have any one line of text added.  

So what do the words that I chose mean?

'Var nyfiken' means stay curious in Swedish :) I wanted my bracelet's caption to be in Swedish because I think different languages are beautiful, but also because I have always loved the Nordic countries, especially Sweden. Not only is the history fascinating and the natural landscapes breathtaking, but I'm a big fan of the Eurovision Song Content and Sweden always put on such a great show with their Melodifestivalen shows, to select the musician(s) who will represent the country each year. So yeah, I couldn't not get the wording I wanted in Swedish! 

But why 'stay curious'? For me, this statement has an important meaning. I have always been full of curiosity, since being a little kid. I have had an avid thirst for knowledge for as long as I can remember. Getting lost between the pages of factual books filled up so much of my childhood, and without getting too deep for a Saturday afternoon, I used to hate a lot of aspects about myself growing up... except my curiosity and need to discover all that I could about the world around me. And so this attribute of my personality has always been my favourite thing about me, and therefore I hold it dear to my heart. 

Furthermore, I love to encourage other people to keep learning and exploring and trying to soak up all the knowledge they can about everything around them. It is never too late to be taught something new and it's good for your brain to keep those cogs turning! I'm getting rambly, so back to my bracelet :D 

I opted for a dark shade of brown, because most of the clothing I wear is black so I thought this would bring a little colour to my overall look, but wouldn't be so bright that it clashed with any of the dresses I have that also have a splash of colour to them. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but myself XD 

I'm also a lover of earthy tones, and the brown shade of my bracelet from Stina makes me think of trees. Gosh, do I love trees! Because of this, it's like wearing a happiness reminder on my wrist. 

Here's a photo of the bracelet on. It's so comfortable to wear! The lining is very soft and doesn't rub/irritate my skin after wearing it for an entire day, which is brilliant :) I've had lots of problems like this with bracelets in the past, probably due to a mix of sensitive skin and crappy material choices. But you don't have to worry about that with Stina's bracelets!

They fasten via a press stud (also called a snap fastener), so they are easy to get on & off, but still very sturdy. My little niece tried to open my bracelet and couldn't, so looks like they are small child proof but don't quote me on that, haha! 

Something that I love about the bracelets that my fabulous friend makes is how they are very gender neutral/unisex. This very much appeals to me. I grew up as a 'tomboy' and although I am very happy embracing my feminine side as an adult, I still find that a lot of my tastes reflect my childhood personality(?). I don't think that those tendencies were un-girl like even if society does, to the point where they have to single out a girl who likes 'boy-typical' activities (whatever they are?) as a tomboy. However, that's a whole other discussion for another post! 

I love the outdoors and mud and moss and getting on my hands and knees in the overgrowth, and the colour of this bracelet appeals to my inner goblin child :D (I think I spend too much time on tumblr...).

Stina's bracelets are custom-made so you can get the right size for yours to fit snugly or loosely, whatever your personal preference is. I decided to get mine at a size that would mean it would sit a bit further down from my wrist. This is due to the fact that bracelets can annoy me when I'm writing or typing if they are on my wrist. I've had no such issues so far doing these things whilst wearing the bracelet crafted by Stina! 

I wanted to let you guys know that my friend makes other jewellery pieces as well, including necklaces and bracelets with different thicknesses and designs. All at very affordable prices :) You can find out more over on Stina's instagram and have a look through the photos she has of her pieces (plus lots of flowers and other pretty things!). Go give her a follow here. 

I thought I'd show off the adorable way that Stina packaged my bracelet. I absolutely love when artists present their work in such a lovely way, in which you can tell that a lot of thought and care has gone into it. As a customer, you feel that they really appreciate your order and it's just a sweet touch. I mean, who doesn't enjoy opening pretty mail!? 

Check out how fancy Stina's signature looks! Mine is like a child attempting to write cursive for the first time :D I'm not even joking... I seriously need to up my signature game. Anyhow, I am really impressed with the bracelet that my wonderful friend very kindly made me as a gift. It's aesthetically pleasing, goes well with every outfit I have worn it with, I've even gotten in soaking wet whilst gardening and it came out unscathed! These bracelets, and the other creations by Stina, would make such awesome presents for your friends and family; you should totally make an order now that Christmas is going to be with us in a few months time! 

I hope you guys enjoyed reading all about my stay curious bracelet by the fantastic Stina Glaas, and checking out my photography of it. Isn't it super beautiful!? Today is actually Stina's birthday and her artwork deserves your love!! I've been meaning to write this post for a while but I recently decided what better day to share it on than her birthday. I wanted to champion my friend and her talents! Wishing you the most marvellous day filled with cake and sunshine and relaxation and all things pretty, Stina! Thankyou for being an amazing friend to me!! Have a lovely rest of the weekend, people :) 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

What would you get written on your own personalised bracelet? 

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