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Unboxing: ISpyKawaiiSuppliesKawaii Mystery Box

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My childhood stationery obsession has come back full force, and I cannot stop buying stationery mystery boxes. I had bought one from ISpyKawaiiSupplies at the tail end of 2020, and really loved everything I got in it. I didn’t do an unboxing so you’ll just have to take my word on that one. ISpyKawaiiSupplies is UK based, so I was really happy to be supporting a local seller and knew that the shipping would be quick (well, as quick as it can be in a pandemic!). ISpyKawaiiSupplies has an option on their Etsy that you can pick a character or theme for the smaller boxes, or you can pick a larger box. I think the boxes are the best value for money for any subscription box that I’ve got so far – the smaller boxes are £15 plus shipping, and the larger boxes are £30 including shipping. A bargain!

IMG_8641The first thing that struck me when I opened up my mystery box was how many things were in the box. I could immediately tell that the items were easily worth over how much I spent on the box, which is always a good thing. It was also really colourful and had a big visual impact as soon as I opened it, and I could instantly see some items that looked really exciting! Let’s get into it.

 

 

IMG_8642First up, some really cute pens! I love the design on them. The ones on the right have a highlighter end and a fine felt-tip pen end. They’re actually a lot darker in tone than the pastel outside would let you believe, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as I have plenty of pastel pens as it is! The pens on the left are blue fine-liners, and so cute!

 

IMG_8644Next I got some stickers! The ones on the left came with a couple of pencils too, and are all cat themed and very cute. The right hand ones are Molang, which isn’t something I really know too well, but I also got some Molang stickers in my last box from ISpyKawaiiSupplies, and I thought the characters were really cute then and I still do! As I said before, I really love getting stickers so I can jazz up my bullet journal!

IMG_8645I also got a Sumikko Gurashi PVC wallet file. At first I wasn’t totally sure what to do with it, but I realised it’s the perfect size for a pencil case! Again, I’m not too familiar with Sumikko Gurashi, but I seem to get something in every subscription box I get so I should probably get into it more!

 

 

IMG_8647I’m getting quite the collection of sticky notes! I got these two in my box this time. I love the shiba one, I have used it already for some work reminders that I have stuck up on my desk and every time I look at it I smile, he’s just so cute! I actually just did a quick online search for the pack on the left, and I found out that sadly it is counterfeit art stolen from a Korean artist, so it’s a little disappointing that it’s in the box, but I will give the benefit of the doubt and assume that the seller didn’t know. The original artist is Studio Dalgona, and here is a tweet about the stolen artwork! I will do my best to support Studio Dalgona in future and place an order with them when I can to make up for this as I don’t want to be in the habit of supporting art theft.

IMG_8648To end on a much lighter note, my two favourite items in the box! The item on the left, believe it or not, is a Pikachu themed pair of scissors! They’re just so cool, I’m amazed by them. You pull the top half off, and then the actual scissor mechanism is spring loaded. I’ve used them at every available opportunity this weekend. On the right is some My Neighbor Totoro washi tape, which is something I use a lot of for journalling, so I’m very happy to have it.

 

 

You’ll notice I’m a huge dummy, and there are a couple of items that I forgot to photograph. Firstly a Rilakkuma rubber (eraser!), and secondly some correctional tape. Both very useful items to have!

I hope you liked seeing what I got in my box. I hope you’ll agree that it was really good value for money, and I got a lot of really cool items! What was your favourite thing that I got?

 

 

 

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Unboxing: June YumeTwins

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Who could have predicted this? Apart from everyone, I mean. A mere week after my May YumeTwins box arrived, up rocks my June box. Subscription boxes are like London busses, or something. Anyway, terrible jokes aside, it’s a relief to be back up to date with my subscription boxes after the shipping nightmare. I do still have a July box to come, but I’m not expecting that for another couple of weeks or so. I may be pleasantly surprised on that estimate, but we’ll see! The theme for the June box was ‘Ghibli Night In’.

IMG_5747I mentioned in the last Unboxing post that food and drink items tend to be a recurring theme in subscription boxes, and the June box was no exception. I think the more subscription boxes and the more tupperware and bento boxes I acquire and sneak into the kitchen cupboards, the greater the risk of my mother killing me becomes. I’m hoping these Jiji tupperware boxes get a free pass for being so cute!

My next items, above, were both My Neighbour Totoro themed. The bag looks extremely out of proportion here next to the toothbrush, but I can assure you it isn’t the world’s smallest bag! It’s actually a pretty decent size, easily big enough for phone, keys, purse with room to spare. It’s definitely not an all the time bag, but I think for just nipping out, it’s fine! My lack of forward planning is clearly evident here as the Totoro toothbrush blends in with the colour of my coffee table perfectly, whoops! I’ll be using my new bamboo toothbrush to take on trips with me, so I don’t have to take my electric toothbrush and charger, a huge space saver!

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I seemed to have very good luck with my selection of items, as I got this Howl’s Moving Castle postcard print, which I am extremely happy about as it’s my favourite Ghibli movie!

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Lastly, I got this A4 clear folder with a scene from Kiki’s Delivery Service. I’m trying to make an effort to keep all of my important documents together, so this will definitely come in handy for that!

 

 

That was everything for the June box! What was your favourite from the items I got?

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Unboxing: May YumeTwins

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Due to the good old ‘rona, shipping times worldwide have been totally ruined. Luckily, I hadn’t experienced many issues with this, except for my YumeTwins subscription box. I bought the May box back in April, and so I could get a free gift I bought a 3 month subscription. Unfortunately the box didn’t arrive in May… or June, and in fact came in July. I know this can’t be helped, and YumeTwins have amended their shipping as a result, so hopefully I won’t see this much of a delay with the remaining two boxes in my subscription!

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The theme for the May YumeTwins box was ‘Ghibli’s Delivery Service’, so as a huge Studio Ghibli fan I really couldn’t resist. Like my relationship with most things anime, there’s a sort of bittersweet feeling as I was meant to go to the Studio Ghibli Museum during my cancelled Japan trip back in March, but the sting is becoming less strong! I’m sure I’ll get over it one day…. maybe.

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Anyway, onto the goodies. The free gift that I mentioned was a set of Ghibli playing cards. This was really the reason that I signed up for the 3 month subscription, as I collect themed playing cards. I actually almost bought these exact cards when I was on holiday last year, so I’m glad I didn’t! The ones I got were My Neighbour Totoro ones!

 

 

I’ve noticed that a lot of things in subscription boxes tend to be quite food based. After just a few months of getting boxes, I have more bento boxes and chopsticks that I know what to do with. I’m not complaining though, they’re really cute! I got a bento box of Jiji from Kiki’s Delivery Service, and chopsticks! All of the options for the chopsticks had Jiji on, but the bento was between Totoro and Jiji, so I got a matching set!

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Carrying on the food and drink theme, I got a Totoro tumbler. The options here were all Totoro, but my one is yellow where the colours differed on the others. This fits me quite well, as I have a pastel aesthetic going on! Normally I’m a person who gets the biggest glass possible and drinks pints of water at a time, so this is a little smaller than I’m used to, but I think it will be a good glass for having an alcoholic beverage or two, or taking it on a picnic – it’s plastic so there’s no chance of it getting broken outside!

 

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Also in the box was this cute puzzle of Kiki. It’s only 150 pieces, so it won’t take me too long (although it has been a really long time since I did a puzzle, so who knows?). It’s really pretty, so I think I might even frame it when I’ve done it as it’s such a lovely picture!

 

And finally, the last item in the May YumeTwins box was this origami set of Kiki’s Delivery Service. I’m not sure I’ve ever done much origami in the past, but in theory I think it’d be quite relaxing. I guess that remains to be seen, as some of these designs look quite complicated!

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That was everything for the ‘Ghibli’s Delivery Service’ YumeTwins box. Hopefully my June box won’t be quite so delayed!

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June Purchases

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Another month in isolation down, another month of me trying to buy my own happiness. Of course, it’s not as bad as that really (most of the time), but having less to spend on travelling, commuting and socialising means there’s more money to spend on goodies. I’m determined to have a decent few months saving in the upcoming months because I just bought a car (though that won’t be appearing in the July Purchases post, nice as it is), so if my future Purchases posts are as long as this, then please feel free to give me a serious telling off!

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We’ll start this month off with manga. I have a lot of collections that I’m trying to catch up on, either to the current point of publication for ongoing series, or to completion for those that have finished. This month, I had decided to get a couple of volumes of Ouran, a couple turned into a few, and a few turned into “Ah, I might as well just finish it now.”, so that’s what I did. At least it’s done now! I also bought the latest volume of Haikyuu!! so that I don’t fall behind!

IMG_7674As has become customary, I also bought some BL; Seven Days Monday – Sunday, and Secret XXX. These two are both one-shots, so that’s something. At least I don’t have the collection problem! I’ve read both, and though they’re both very different to one another, I did really like them. Manga reviews are something I want to start doing, so I’ll write something up about them soon!

 

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As with my manga collection, I also decided I wanted to complete some of my blu-ray collections. I had started buying the steelbook versions of the Hunger Games series a few years back, and never got round to buying Mockingjay Part 2. I thought I had missed the boat on buying it, but I found a brand new copy  on eBay for not too much money, so I ordered it and now that collection is complete too!

 

 

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Completing collections must have been the theme for June, as I also bought GOT7’s latest mini-album and completed my album collection (apart from Japanese albums, I haven’t gone that deep… yet…). I got photocards for Mark, Youngjae, Jinyoung and Yugyeom, so a pretty good selection! Jinyoung is my ultimate bias, and Yugyeom is up there, so the only way it could have been better would be if my bias wrecker JB was in there too, but alas, not this time!

 

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Even though it’s not really my genre of game, and I’m a huge wimp, I couldn’t resist getting The Last of Us Part 2. I actually bough two copies by accident, but that’s a whole other thing… I have finished TLOU2 now, so I will hopefully have a review up soon!

 

 

 

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I went a little bit mad with buying anime blu-rays this month (no more so than usual, I hear you yell). I had preordered Promare ages ago, and the collectors edition finally came in. I’m really excited to watch this as I missed out on seeing it in the cinema when it came out. I also added to my Studio Ghibli collection and bought Grave of the Fireflies. I’m not quite mad enough to just buy all the missing movies from that collectio, so that’ll be ongoing for a while. I also bought a few series that I’ve wanted to watch for a while; Beyond the Boundary, My Love Story, and Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto. I could easily stream these all online, but I really like adding to my anime collection, and I always worry that the shows I want to watch will disappear from streaming sites and then I won’t get to watch them. I also think it’s really important to support the industry, so it’s a win win all round.

My last purchases for the month were this cute given pin from Pinfluential. I don’t think that they have this particular pin any longer, but they do have lots of other really cute pins! I also bought these cookie cutters of Bokuto and Akaashi from Haikyuu!! (my OTP). They’re from Tableplate. I haven’t got round to making any cookies yet, but I will, and they will be delicious and adorable. Finally, I got this Howl’s Moving Castle tin from YYKawaii! It also has little post-its with the same design inside. I did also buy something else from her, but I can’t show you because I bought someone else a matching one as a gift!

That wraps up June! Remember, permission to yell at me is granted for the next few months if Purchases posts are this long!

30 Days Of, 30 Days Of: Anime

30 Days Of: Anime, Days 23 and 24

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Day 23: Favourite Studio Ghibli

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I’ve shared my Howl’s Moving Castle cosplay before, but I’m damn well going to do it again. Howl’s is my favourite Ghibli movie and definitely the one I’ve rewatched the most. I also really love Ponyo!

 

 

 

Day 24: Ever been bullied for liking anime?

I think if I had been into anime when I was younger then I think I probably would have been bullied for watching it – the school I went to was an all-girls school, and if you had a hobby or interest that was outside of the traditional ‘girl hobbies’ then they tended to make fun of you, see also: me liking video games. As it is, I got into anime after my uni years, so I’m well past the stage where people bully you for interests (or so I’d hope), and also past the stage of caring. My non-anime friends and my family do rib me for liking anime a bit, but it’s all just good-natured fun and I’ve never felt upset or anything by it.