Peace of Art: Winged Barbie Creation

I wouldn't exactly consider myself growing up with Barbie. But a part of me always dressing and designing clothes and looks for my dolls (now my daughter). When Wings of Art popped up in my feed, there was quite a bit of excitement on my end. First of all, some of my favourite artists contributed designs to the auction collection. They all looked great in photos and I really wanted to check it out!

Secondly, these were all for charity. And so, I decided to do my part too and bought the family a doll to dress up. Each ticket was pretty hefty (cost about $85), it is definitely cheaper if you were to buy your own doll and materials. As they were an approved beneficiary, the donations allowed a tax deduction of up to 250% of the donated amount (the norm).  

At the event, we were basically given a doll (no choice) - I got a black unicorn doll which wasn't too bad cos my old collection (from the 90s) were not that inclusive. My son went to pick the fabrics and materials (which was quite varied in nature) and I was bossed around by the kids to create the "masterpiece". It was pretty hard because no thread was provided. We ended up bringing a good deal home for me to continue working on it. 

For the auction pieces, I thought it was interesting that the auction price was pretty much determined by the "artist perceived value" instead of the popularity of the artist itself or the actual design. Wonder what mine would be valued. But probably priceless and not for sale. Overall, I personally thought it was a nice event, just that it might be priced a little above most Singaporeans' budget. Even for if it is for charity, it is not that easy to folk out that S$85. Fingers crossed, let's hope they Peace of Art raise their desired funds!

Toy Story: Starbucks Claw Machine

 

Starting March with an exciting toy for myself, totally need to clarify this because a lot of people thought I got it for my kids. Believe it or not, I actually camped for this because I was not sure if there were others as interested as me. For me, I like Starbucks and claw machines. So when something like this which is a 2-in-1 is launched, I am ALL OVER IT!

It was nearly a $100+ including delivery fees and some free drinks. My friends were split between "Team Overpriced" and "Team Cool". When I received it, I thought it was worth every penny (even though I didn't get the golden star and 100 free drinks) because it was really well made and extremely fun. My children were in love with it and so am I. Moral of the story: The only person who genuinely wants you to be happy is yourself, so indulge in yourself once in a while!

If you want to see videos of it, check out my IGS!

Toy Story: Lego Mini Steamboat Willie

If you have followed me long enough, you will know how much I love my Legos. I was searching around for a gift and I ended up buying this for myself. Like WTH right? But as you can see from my obsessive photographs, I was so blown away by this because its cute little intricate details. Also, it is my first black-white lego. 

I took really long to get myself this because I was worried that the white would yellow. So long that official Lego was no longer selling and I had to get them from a reputable secondary seller. But when there was a sale, I thought it is time to pamper myself a bit. I anticipated myself not having time to build it, but my kids wouldn't leave it alone. I ended up building it with the toddlers. 

I have never imagined that to be possible, but it sure was. We managed to complete the whole set by 2 hours. Among my Lego, this one was pretty special because it has gears. I thought it was very innovative how they split the different sides (by colours).  I definitely had good fun building it and was amazed by how each part interacts. My smartest piece to date and I am immensely proud of it. 

Advice to all Lego lovers out there, make your decision fast. I feel sometimes I hesitate and it gets sold out and I have to buy from the secondary market. You can never be 100% sure of its authenticity when you buy from a secondary market and it took me quite a bit of research before I found this seller. Hope my sharing helps :D

Ultraman Collectibles from Coolplayfun

 

For the (wo)man child in everyone of us, rejoice if you are an ultraman fan because Coolplayfun has released 2 more characters collectibles for the Anime "ULTRAMAN" Die-Cast Action Figure product line. I am not sure if we are from the same gen but I did grow up with Ultraman so collecting items that I can recognise and have sentimental value is rather important to me. 

Each figure is about 1/12 scale which is around 18cm in height, quite a nice height to fit a display cabinet but yet not too un-noticeable to be unable to see the details fully. There are currently 4 in total to pre-order by 30 Sep HERE so that you can receive your items by Feb/ Mar next year. The price range US$95 onwards which is still quite reasonable.

If you like paul frank, they also have a series for pre-order available. They have 3" , 8" and 24" but in different designs. 24" is only good if you have lotsa space in your house. Otherwise the 3" and 8" look pretty good for display. I am really excited for those as well esp. the blind boxes cos they are a lot smaller and easier to display. Hopefully, they can sell in smaller quantities because 100 blind boxes really a lot! Haha

BrickHeadz - Lucky Cat

If you have been following me around for sometime, you will know that I actually love to play with toys. And one of my favourites is Lego. Lego, please sponsor me please haha. I am that sort of person that have boxes of Lego in storage, waiting for the day I have time on my hands to build. 

And I do have time now, because I am on maternity leave! This is my first time playing with BrickHeadz. Design wise, I prefer the original  Lego, I only got this because I like Lucky Cats hehe. BrickHeadz looks a bit dorky don't you think?

I won't deem this to be super complex. I took 1.5 hours max. to build it (including trying to find an error).  But I have to say the instructions menu was rather confusing. First of all, the bricks are packed into packets but there didn't seem to be any correlation between the packings so you had to pick the pieces here and there. 

If you are like me who just skim through instructions and will modify as you go along, you will hit some errors LOL. Tip: Don't tighten the bricks too hard unless you are super confident cos it can be quite hard to tear them apart, esp. 3D ones like this. But me, I thought I am good so I don't bother about my own tip, haha. 

You know for Lego builders, there will be those that follow the rules strictly. I used to be one of those. But now I am more of a rebel. So I will use the spare parts and mess around the design. I really didn't feel too much for the original design so I gave it a horn and messed with the whiskers. Now I am pleased. I also kinda of take pride that this is an original :)

One item off my maternity leave bucket list. I feel like I have been doing nothing much lately for myself. Feeling kinda of morose, so this me-time is really appreciated. 

Handicraft Time with Yunie's Handmade

So you know when a girl is in love, she would always want to have similar things with her better half. “你一个， 我一个， 一人一个， 多好!” Maybe it is just me. But I do notice a good deal of couples having dolls that look like them. And it looks cute in photo shoots and shots. So, I jumped the gun and custom made ourselves one. 

I can't do any domestic work for nuts. So mine comes from Yunie's Handmade. She is very experienced in couple dolls so you and your lover are in safe hands. I don't really have much distinct features, so I am a little sailor girl. The BF is in his trademark sky blue shirt. I forgot to make his pants beige LOL. But never mind, I will buy him a pair of white shorts HAHAHA!

But the whole point of this post is not just on the couple dolls, we have another giveaway!!! Claps Claps. And we, okay is actually Yunie, will be teaching you how to make them if you don't win it. Too lazy to make it yourself or clumsy with needles like me, you can hop on to her etsy store to get one for yourself.

So as usual, we will not make our giveaway too hard. Cos we really want to make people happy in this depressing weather and economic climate. So, just

Follow Yunie's Handmade on Facebook (Compulsory)

Leave me a comment when you are done. We will give away one Octie for every 15 followers. Chances are still decently and reasonably good! I know we are just so nice people!!!

If you are a Crochet enthusiast, this are some of the items you would need to make your own. It is quite basic and you can find them at craft stores. And if you are making your own, do tagged us in your photos on Instagram, you can #yunieyarnyawn so that we can see them! :D We might even feature your crafts too!!!

So here are the instructions to help you create the parts. Looks a bit like a sperm right? Haha.

And tada, for assemble them together and you will have a cute octopus which you could make into a keychain.

For some of you who may be really crafty, you might want to check out Yunie's blog. She has free templates to share and for her past works, you should best look at her Facebook for inspiration. She makes crafting look effortless.  

And if any of you would want to showcase your craft, don't hesitate to contact me. Or if you are curious about a particular form of craft, write in to me and I will see what I can do :D Have lovely weekend, people!

Pokemon Cafe Review

From the photos, I think it is no surprise where I went to chase my Monday blues away. Yeap, it is the Pokemon Cafe. :D Sent a number of my friends an editorial picture of it and was kinda of expecting nobody to follow up with me (as always) - cos I am suggesting out-of-the world ideas and usual and this is one hell of an expensive place.

But, apparently, a Pokemon-craze friend followed up with me and there I am. I picked Monday night cos I intelligently expected it to be less crowded. And true enough, we didn't even queue more than 15 minutes. Amazing or what!

Although it is called a Pokemon cafe, it is pretty much Pikachu themed. Hate rodents? You really shouldn't be there. Don't want to break your bank, please shy away from there too. Generally, the food is decent. What you are looking at is nearly $100-worth of cuteness.

Located at Bugis Junction on the 4th floor, I took the escalator up and down just to take photos of the surrounding. Xiao Za Bor or what. I am not really that ardent of a fan, but when I looked up from my phone and saw an army of Pikachu surrounding me...well, yes I am simply overwhelmed by the kawaii-ness. *swoons*

Not going to be embarrassed to admit that I am there to just take photos. There were supposed to be Pikachu mascots. I guess that's just me. Chey. But it's alright, I can happily self-entertain. And so we just took photos and more photos. $100 entrance fees all for this. #IknowIamFrivolous

And just when I thought I was the mad hatter in the family. Someone in my family went to take photos at a cemetery. Damn good ones too. But, I am too chicken for that, so well you have to live up with the cute me. Hehe.

Supposed to get a free cup, but dang it is out of stock. Come back in July folks. But...I got S$5 off. Haix not meant to be mine. And we got toasters...the cheap papery kind. Just kept one for momento. They were also "table mats". Can't remember what that crap is really called, cos it is just a piece of lousy paper.

Basically, all the free gifts sucks. But cos, I am Singaporean, I am gonna go "Better than nothing"! (Only the cup is decent, but it is OOS) I thought I was going to bring a merchandise home. But when I saw the price, logic got the better of me. LOL. 

Ending off with an anniversary-like photo. If this were a Bromance, I would have been labelled gay. But I am a girl, so society accept affectionate behavior from me. Heheh. I have good art skills yea.  And if you are wondering why it looks kinda of messy...erm cos they served the dessert first?!? So being a smart alec, I thought we should just put it aside.

Who knows the Pokeball couldn't stand the test of time, Pikachu refused to be caught and escaped!!! The table was really small too. Zzz. Overall, I think it is quite a novel experience. You definitely have to pay for novelty so the price ain't much of a surprise. Will I drop by again? Excuse me, I am not made of money OK!

P.S. Sorry, Mondays makes me bitchy

Vanilla Dreams: My Little Pony

I am sure some of you know by now, I am a huge My Little Pony fan. :D

I would think I am more of a boyish little girl but I think what makes me super adore My Little Pony is because it is positive and focuses a lot on good moral values. Plus it is really dreamy and cute, a stark contrast to the gloom reality.

So, I sprained my ankle last weekend if you follow me on my Instagram. It was a case of pure suay-ness, but now I am feeling more positive (resting on odd intervals). I can just fall alseep at odd timing 11am/ 3pm. Maybe I am just very exhausted so this is a very good "wake-up" call. Irony.

Lately, I have been on a streak of bad luck. Not just one, but it is like waves of them. I won't say that each is worse than the last. But it is just morale breaking when all of them come at a rather similar interval. Even nature bullied me, sending lots of insects to venture and explore my injured foot :( 

Before all the bad things happened, a friend of mine galloped in my life. I posted its cutie mark on Instagram. He is AJ - AppleJack. (I know it is a "she" but cos it shares the same initial as my BF so it represents more of a he in my life.) I am not usually a soft-toy person. But during low points in life, a comfy softie like him is very comforting. You can bury your tears in him and feel less alone in the world.

More about AJ, among the ponies, AJ is the the most hardworking and resilient (a bit like my BF). There is so much to learn from him (both AJ and BF haha). Despite his cute appearance (his big emerald eyes and long blonde mane warms my heart) and sexy little butt, inside lies a hardy personality. I wish it could really gallop and neigh a little. That would make me squeal in delight.

So, I got a mini Rainbow Dash keychain/ bag charm on top of my Rainbow Dash plushie. Hehe. You may not know but my character is most like Rainbow Dash/ Pinky Pie among the ponies. But my favorite is Rainbow Dash because of his rainbow mane. She has a slightly deeper personality than Pinky Dash, but I am both rolled up in one. (I happened to be born in the year of Horse too :P)

Here's a closer look at my customised key chain. It is in navy blue theme, with my name on it. You can pick your own pony and your own charms. But I chose to let the owner pick the charms for me cos I am actually not very good at matching nice stuff (apart from clothes and accessories :P) 

I really love the fact that it is multi-functional. I can even use it as a key chain if I want to. But my Mum thinks it is too chio to be a key chain so I will be using it as a bag charm instead. My favourite part is the duo "kiaps" (clips). You know how some owners only give the round coil which is very painful to use and spoils easily. I prefer the kiap so happy the charm comes with it. Now, it is so easier to use it inter-changeably.

This is how I am using it now. Pretty, isn't it? It makes every thing so much cherry. For those who are concerned, I am feeling a lot better now :) Because, nice things happen in my life too. There are people whom I don't know dropping me nice notes and that's very sweet and heart-warming. I humbly thank you all and mankind for its generosity in encouragement and kindness.

For those who are feeling down or just Ponies fan, I have something nice for you too. All these beautiful ponies came from Vanilla Dreams. For our readers, quote "ForFunk" and you will receive a S$3 discount off original price for the customised bag charms and 6 pieces of My Little Pony Bubble Stickers (worth S$5)! While stocks last, so please hurry!

Because Vanilla Dreams are having 1 year anniversary sale, you will receive an additional 20% off their plushies. Please keep a lookout for their discount code on their Instagram account. Do follow them @vanilladreamssg because apart of the discount code, there will be a giveaway of not 1, not 2, but 3 bag charms once they hit 200 followers!!! It make me happy just typing this. Keep a lookout for my instagram posts too, cos I saved a nice photo to promote there. Hehe. 

Toy Story: Micro Block Sailormoon

Previously, I did a fortune cat nanoblock and it was effortless. This time round I challenged myself to do Sailormoon. And it was...a humbling experience.

Overall, I think it looks good right. (Hope you can't tell I modified it a little) There was so many steps (and errors). Halfway I just didn't want to do any more recordings cos I would look dumb. So this time round, it is all photos! *Give myself a big thumbs up*

And why is it so difficult to build? It is partially cos of the blocks. They are not the real nanoblocks. They are like the cheap imitation, BoYu microblocks. I am not sure of their origin. China maybe? The biggest difference is that BoYu microblocks has no grids!!! It makes them flexible, but fragile as well.

In terms of pricing, it is half the price of the originals.@beau.SJ is the cheapest in town at S$6. BoYu in comparison has more variety for designs and is more generous with the number of spare bricks. 

BoYu blocks are more intricate in the sense they have so many blocks of different shapes and sizes. As I am not comparing apples to apples, so I can't be sure if it is true for all cases. But at least for Sailormoon Vs Fortune Cat, the Sailormoon is much tougher. 

 Even though BoYu is an imitation goods, it doesn't compromise on its attention to detail. Check out Serena's dress. Whether from front or back, it is both gorgeous. The biggest problem I had was with the legs, because there was no grids, her legs were pretty much sliding.

You can't tell from the pictures, but the whole architecture is pretty flimsy. You definitely have to put it in a protective box and keep it away from young children. The different body parts are easily dismantled.

As promised, the photos as I pieced Serena together. Overall, I would suggest BoYu bricks if you are a "build" fanatic. If you want something that is more ornamental, you may want to opt for the originals instead.

It is a really nostalgic design isn't it? If you have no clue who Princess Serena is, it just means you are really young or really old :P So which one are you?

Oh yeah, if you want to get any BoYu microblocks, you can quote "ForFunk" and receive 10% discount off your total bill when you spend S$25 or above @beau.SJ on Instagram!

Toy Story: Gonna Catch Em All @beau.SJ

This is where it all begins. This day may start out like any other, but this is a special day for me. This is the day I am going to embark on my own Pokémon adventure! I will travel the world, see a lot of interesting places (oh really) and meet lots of interesting people. But most of all, I will set out to become one of the greatest Pokémon trainers the world has ever known.

Hello, I am Ashley Ketchup, the female Ash Ketchum. I also have a Pikachu, who won't stay in his Pokéball. Professor Oak says that keeping my Pikachu out of its Pokéball would make it happy. But my Pikachu is mischievous, running around my house appearing in random places. :(

I thought they were different Pikachu (considering he sometimes lie flat on the ground and act like a pillow/ cushion, yet at times crouch on 4 acting like a darn cute pet)  and frantically tossed my Pokéball(s). An absolute waste of my balls and patience. Dad has kindly nicknamed him "Pinocchio?!?" Like WTH. My life is one big joke...It was then I knew I will never be a Pokémon master. 

But still, Pinocchio makes a good pet cos he is so fluffy and is adorable beyond words. Unfortunately, Professor Oak doesn't gift his kind for free in reality. Just SGD30! For the premium price, you get to pet soft lavish fur, and ooo at his fat cute face. Super adorable, even my Dad is in love with him.

uh-oh.Pinocchio is angry and want to go back into his Pokéball. Guess it's kinda late...I want to curl back into my own nest too. If you want to get your own Pokémon, you can find Professor Oak @beau.SJ on Instagram. He has now come out with Nano-style, Socks-Style versions of Pokémon!!! Quote "ForFunk" and you can get 10% discount off your total bill when you spend S$25 or above!

I hope didn't make you feel too nostalgic. If so, it just means you are my era and we are both so old-skcool. Purposely spelling with a "cool" to make us feel so much better of our older selves. Hehe. SG50, I guess, flashback to the past. There will be so much more coming up!  

Handicraft Time with Let Moo Fly

 

I am sure you noticed my cute little friend on my Instagram. Yup, his name is Mr Beary Pink. He is in delightful pastel pink and is lovingly born from the nimble fingers of Angela from Let Moo Fly.

The moment I laid my hands on Mr Beary Pink who has a tubby little tummy. I was full of oohs and ahhhs. Angela's workmanship is impressive. She brought my bedtime friend to life. Young or old, I am sure you will love the friends and family of Mr Beary Pink. We are very fortunate because Angela is kind enough to show us the photos how Mr Beary Pink is being brought to life.

#1 Preparation
#2 Start with the nose
#3 Photo of the completed nose
#4 Continue to knit the face from the nose

#5 Front view of the face
#6 Back of the head
#7 View of the whole head
#8 Knit the ears

#9 Prepare 4 pieces of the ears
#10 Making of the body
#11 Body in process 1
#12 Body in process 2

#13 Body in Process 3
#14 Body Completed!
#15 Complete all the parts required
#16 Stuff the head and ears

#17 Stuff the body and legs
#18 Stuff and sew the arms
#19 Combine the head
#20 Prepare the nose

#21 Sew the nose
#22 Ready to tumble to his new home

Mr Beary Pink took 1 day before he could wobble and tumble around. The photos look effortless but for a knitting nut like me, I can try a lifetime and maybe end up with bundles of tangled knots. For those who are interested to know more about Angela, she is an easy-going working mother who not only does knitting but crocheting, felting and other forms of crafting. To know more about her work, I would strongly suggest you follow her on Facebook.  

And for any of you looking for unique gifts for your loved ones, I do suggest a visit at her Carousell shop here. Mother's Day is coming soon too, perhaps you would find something lovely there.

And lastly, I hope you love the crafts we share today. Till next time~ Meanwhile, I shall berate Mr Beary Pink endearingly for being cuter than me!

Toy Story: The City of Kre-O

If you have been following my blog long enough, you would have known by now I am crazy about Building Bricks and Nerf Guns as well as cute cuddly plushies.

I have never tried other building bricks apart from Lego. But haha, my caption won! (Am I funnily creative or what?!?) And I got myself a set of Kre-O Cityville Haunted Hideaway to test out.

I actually tried it out on the 2nd day of CNY when my BF popped over to my house *gasp* for the first time. Haha! I was quite worried there was nothing much to entertain him since we didn't have cable TV or anything so I smartly opened my box. He have never played with toy bricks before. 0.o Gosh what sort of childhood it is! So I thought "Hey, let's just share with him and not save it for my offsprings!" LOL!

It also explains why there is not a lot of photos cos he always think I am weird when I attempt to document every moment of my life down using my trusty camera phone. Geez

Generally, I would say there is not much difference between Lego and Kre-O. I personally felt Kre-O was a little more challenging maybe cos I wasn't as used to it. They have more odd sizes brick, meaning more realistic modeling at the same time the structure is a bit less stable in my opinion. Still, I find it is good fun. My BF had a great time (I heart-ed out his face as usual but he is beaming behind those hearts...cute) And he has successfully built a miniature car with the help of the instructions manual. 

For couples, I think it is quite fun actually and builds teamwork. We were like separating the bricks and splitting up the task (and at the same time competing who was the smarter of the 2 as we built the landmarks). We took around 2 hours with food break in between. Healthy couple activities *Thumbs Up*

And Tada~~~ the product of our labour and love :) It is really quite nice and I would love to put it up on display. Actually, I feel like investing in such display sets. But I don't have much space at home to showcase them. My bro was like saying to dismantle it so that you can re-play them, value for money.

But I don't know I am not comfortable with destroying my hard work *sobs* Now we know how Hashbro etc earns money from people like me. We just keep buying don't we? I know there are a lot of cool toys out there lately. I will try to review them. But my Mum is not very supportive of me spending my money on them. So if there are any toy sponsors who want to collaborate on such review, do hit me up! :)

Toy Story: Mini Me with nanoblock

Nope, it's not magic but my Fortune Cat at home has shrunken to a mini height of not more than 6cm! Incredulous, isn't it? Such detailed precision despite being so small in size.

I am pretty most of you have seen nanoblock even if you don't know they are called nanoblock. So far, I have seen them in bookstores and even in Singapore Science Center!

They are pretty much like Lego bricks just that they are extremely small with the smallest part being a mere 4x4 mm. Despite being so tiny, they are equally precise and fits perfectly on each other and provide BIG GREAT (oh the irony, LOL) fun even for a young lady like me. :)

The finishing product I have to say whether from the back, the front, or even from the side, it is detailed and looks good from all angles.

And I really like the fact that it is not too difficult to build even though the blocks are really small. The really difficult block is those 1" x 1" tiny pieces. Because it is so small, even I seem clumsy with them.

And since it is a mini little project, it doesn't really take much time. I took about 15 minutes in all and this includes setting up the camera. You can check out my video below. 

Tips

• You can paste the stickers on both sides so that your Fortune Cat can show 2 well-wishes.

• It is a lot more easier to build them if you rotate them as you build instead of positioning it at the same place. (I did that when I was filming initially.)

• The smallest block is the toughest one cos it is hard to push something tinier than a seed of an apple into the right position.

• Don't sweat too much if you lose a piece. Each set comes with extras. And if worse comes to worse, you can always contact their distributor, Lancashire Marketing!

• For newbies, don't worry there's a guide to show you step-by-step. And when you grow to become an expert, you will be able to even build minions with the spare blocks you accumulate!!! :) :) :)