Club Nintendo Gift 2012

I woke up today and found a small package waiting for me. I wasn't sure what it was since I haven't ordered anything lately. It wasn't until I opened it, I realized what it was! It was my Club Nintendo gift for being a PLatinum member!

The nice thing about Nintendo is that if you join their club and buy their products, almost all of them come with registration codes which earn you points. You can redeem those points for online download games or for some other rewards such as pencil cases, cards, etc. You can get something using 10 points, up until 1200. (On average, a game will probably get you only 30 points).

To reach Gold member status, you need 300 points and to reach Platinum you need 600. @(*o*@)''

Club Nintendo Platinum Playing Cards 2012

At first, my reaction to the initial gifts did not appeal to me since there were better gifts in previous years. The options were posters or calenders, or you could get some classic games for your DS/3DS/Wii. I just opted to get the playing cards since it was practical (the calendar was also practical, but was a Gold member award, the cards were Platinum only.) From the prototype picture and description it was Super Mario themed playing cards on clear plastic and it looked fancy. However, I have to be honest, I didn't have too much expectation for it. Plus, I submitted my choice in July/August and it didn't arrive until today. The fine print on the site did say that it would arrive before Christmas though. . .

Mario!

After I opened my package and took out the cards, I was really surprised! The metallic print on the plastic is very sharp and has a great sheen to it. The cards are done on clear plastic and the designs have void spaces in the design to accent that fact. My camera had a hard time trying to capture the designs on the back of the cards!

Mario, Peach and Luigi

Mario, Princess Peach, and Luigi are the King, Queen and Jack, and Bowser is the Joker! I am really amused with these cards and I'm not sure when and if I will use them because I really like them. It kind of defeats the purpose of it being practical, right? >3<;

All in all, Nintendo, you've impressed me! This gift exceeded my expectations and although it took almost 4 months for it to arrive to my house, it served as an unexpected Christmas gift. It's nice that Nintendo awards it's members for their loyalty though. They don't have to but it is a nice gesture. 

Anyone want to play cards with me?

♥

Casual boy

One of the things I've stumbled on lately on Den of Angels was Kakeru's default outfit that he wears in his promotional pictures and documentation papers. It was completely by accident as I wasn't actively looking for it, but I took the opportunity to get the set! It's not officially his default outfit, rather it was sold separately, and it was called, Cool Vest Set. 

The package arrived quite quickly and I was very amused by all the stamps the seller used on the envelope! Always amused when I see and get new stamps...although I don't collect them! I think there's something eclectic to it.. (^_^*)!

Olympic stamps!

The set itself is simple and cute. I like it since I don't really have a tiny sized boy wardrobe for Sora...so he's safe from wearing dresses for now! The outfit comes with a shirt, vest, belt, cargo pants and shoes.

Volks Cool Vest Set

Honestly, I'm glad the print on the shirt makes sense! I was afraid of some odd engrish translation of some sort. The print says:

We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream. 

Wandering by lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate streams. 

Time to show a picture of Sora in his new outfit!

Rilakkuma hat Kiiroitori makes an appearance too! 

Sora, a Volks YoSD Kakeru

Until next time!
♥

Luts 2011 Winter Event Order

My sister, Keiko and I did a group order from Luts during their Winter event a few weeks ago when they had the 20% discount promotion on their wigs, clothes and shoes. Since I'm usually the 'leader' of the GO, I did the down payment for it. We managed to get it over the amount to get the free head. I think I'm inheriting the head since my sister and Keiko don't need it (for face up or doll purposes). Considering I do all the face ups for their dolls when they need it...yeah, so I'll just keep this random floating head.... (>_<)"

Mom received the box for me since I got off a night shift and was sleeping when the post man came. I rolled out of bed to check what it was since I have a few packages coming in this week. I saw the big Luts logo on the side of the box :)

Bunny Gloomy hiding my address!

The box is a lot bigger than the previous purchases I've done through Luts. I usually get the smaller HDF box? I believe this one is for KDF (mini) sized dolls... :)

The goodies!

After I took out some of the newspaper stuffing, this is what was inside! It was very neatly packed and lots of bubble wrapping. The big bubble wrapped block in the center is the event head.

My sister's Luts order.

I'm actually missing a pair of shoes in this picture. I added it into Keiko's 'lot' because I didn't remember she ordered two pairs until I consulted my list later on... (^__^);; The coloring of the red wig is really lovely. I quite like it actually! You can't see what the wig in the circular tub looks like, but I think it's a long wig with some light curls at the end? (I'm not sure, since I didn't open it to look at).

Keiko's order

Keiko bought the most out of all three of us! Most of it is supplies for her dolls since she's recently gotten more interested in this hobby. (In a previous post, I ordered a Sirenita Pine for her :) ) She got some MSD sized things for her doll. The box is an eyeball case and there are a couple head caps and a doll stand. The heeled shoes belong to my sister's stuff. 

Lut's Acrylic eyes. Ocean Blue

There were a couple smaller packages in the box wrapped in an additional layer of bubble wrap. Turns out one was Keiko's eyes and the other was a hair accessory I ordered. This is the first time I've put an order through for eyes, so it's interesting to see the packaging. I quite like the color!

Luts Winter Event Head 2011

Luts Winter Event Head (side)

 I don't think I would have purposely tried to get the head from Luts. I'm not a huge fan of the sculpt, but considering we were putting an order through, I figured if we reached the mark to get the event head, why not? I think it's the nose that bothers me? Or the eyes...I can't really put my finger on it. Perhaps with a face up the head will look better to me? :)

My part of the order!

 I bought a couple outfits, since I figured it would be nice to give a couple of my girls some new clothes. I haven't had a chance to make more stuff, and the prices were reasonable because of the sale on Luts. I bought a honey-pink wig for Zephyria. It's for a project that's in the works...I should have taken a picture of it on her! It looks quite lovely ♥ 

The little accessory is a crown. I've been a bit obsessed over it for awhile ever since I saw it on the promo pics for HDF Cream....and since I don't plan on getting Cream I figured getting the hair accessory is the next best thing. \(^_^-)/!

Ventus and Delilah

Here's Delilah in her Muto set from Luts. She's not wearing the stockings or the headpiece from the set right now, but I think it's a very cute set! The set comes with 5 pieces and it's very well made! Even the blouse has some great lace details on the front.

Zephyria and Chester Cat

Here's Zephyria in the Sweet Love set. It comes with the dress and a pair of black stockings. At first I was hesitant to get this dress because although I liked it, I thought it was still a bit overpriced because it didn't come with a lot of pieces. In the end I got it because I kept thinking about it. I thought it wouldn't fit Zephy because in the packaging it looked a bit small, but it fits very nicely on her!

 

Until next time Luts!

♥

Lareine arrives! Box opening pictures.

Yesterday, I was woken up by the postman who had two boxes for me! How exciting :) One was the Luts order I made with my sister and Alice, the other one was my newest doll that I just finished on layaway about a week before. 

I immediately went inside...squealed, and called my sister telling her that she had to get her bum over to have a box opening welcome party for my new doll. And to pick up her items from the Luts order...and mooch some of the food in the house. LOL

I've been pining for a Rosen Lied Sage for awhile actually...and it doesn't help that the LE editions of Sage are so lovely. I saw this girl up for adoption on DoA, and I immediately contacted the seller. She is the limited time release from earlier this year between Jan-Feb.

Lareine, a Rosen Lied Tuesday's Child Sage WS

Zephyria, Airy and Ventus come to welcome Lareine. 

Delilah sits strategically to block out my name and address. ♥

It just so happens...that my dolls were in cosplay when she arrived..just because I was making outfits for Ventus...and Delilah seems to enjoy her Hinaichigo outfit. (But they do look cute...so I didn't bother changing their outfits ^__^' )

My sister's Airy helps open the shipping box :)

Lots of peanuts and bubble wrap later, my sister and I pull out the lovely box.

The box was really beautiful. 

Delilah comes to investigate...

My sister and I pulled all the extra bubble wrap and protection aside and laid everything out nicely in the box. The certificate and manual are on the side.

I see her...one eye?! LOL

I love that teddybear case..it's so cute and amusing. I was surprised to see that the extra bunny ear parts (hidden in the top left hand corner) and the dress were not opened by the previous owner. Her wig is not the standard default one that came with this set, however I did not mind that fact. I also bought the pair of boots off the seller since I thought they were super cute...♥

The face up was custom by the previous seller. I think it's so lovely, she did an amazing job on it ♥

The Rosen Lied headplate. It's so pretty!

Her she is all dressed up. The wig is Very beautiful. My sister and I were staring and admiring it for a bit.. ;)

Delilah comes to say hi... :)

The welcoming committee!

I decided to try on the wig that I had gotten from Luts on Lareine today. It's definitely a different look...but I like the blond :)

It took my sister and I almost half an hour to change one of her hands. It was painful...since the stringing was so tight and the hook was so tiny. It was a major workout...so I didn't bother to change her other one.

The next post, I'll focus more of the swag I got from the Luts order, like the puppets and stuff I got.

I love this doll....I'm so very happy to able to have her!

Thanks for looking! ♥

A Kiss of Paradise

So..when I went by my sister's place last week, I picked up some of my stuff from the Volks order I did for her. Yay for more ZM spray and water wax :) That stuff is amusing! While I was looking around at their display cases of stuff, I noticed they had Kingdom Hearts manga, which I thought was weird cause I have all of them (or the ones that have been released here..), and I mentioned that to my sister, and she was like "Really??" 

I moved some things around cause I was picking up the random manga she had lying around..and I found my old Paradise Kiss manga books. LOL Now I know where those went...along with Vol.2 of xxxHolic. 

I've been reading them slowly over the week, I really still love this series. The anime was a great adaptation too. Too bad I don't follow Nana at all, I tried with the anime, but I found it kind of lacking..and the manga wasn't really going anywhere fast...

Plus, I really liked the Nobu & Hachi pairing. When my friends would update me what was happening, I was kind of disappointed in the plot so that pulled me further away from reading it again.

I love Arashi in Paradise Kiss...I think I just like the punk characters Ai Yazawa creates :)

Randomly, I was just looking up Paradise Kiss on the internet yesterday, and apparently...A PARADISE KISS MOVIE WAS MADE?? 

Um....I don't really approve of the casting too much. George doesn't really...look like George...

Isabella shouldn't look so obvious..cause she/he looks like a horrible drag queen!!! Like...it's like really bad >__<; I can't get over it. 

But...maybe cause I already liked Yusuke Yamamoto to begin with...but I approve of him as Tokumori. (Probably cause I'm a fangirl..LOL). What are your opinions?

And I think that dress looks lack lustre. I can only see a clip of it in the video about...but it doesn't compare to the manga or anime. I've seen cosplayers pull it off better! But..they might be trying to make a more 'edgy and modern' type of design for the movie. I'm 50/50 about it...

I didn't really like the Nana movies..this is probably going to be the same type of disappointment...? :(

~~~~~

So....Canada Post is still being a pain in the bum with their strike. Which is such a hindrance cause I really want the stuff I bought :( Further more, one of the sellers I bought something from can't ship the item to me because of the strike. I mean...it affects all parties negatively. It's so bothersome...*sigh*

Plus, because of the strike, my new visa card is somewhere in limbo! I applied for a US visa card and to get a new one to replace my old one. The US one came lightning fast...but the card that I actually need to use is...somewhere. Bah humbug. 

Since this stupid strike was happening, one of the purchases I made off of Den of Angels had to be shipped to me via FedEx. The seller was so lovely and understanding, but the shipping through FedEx was murder! The quote on shipping she gave me was way off...but only asked me to send me a bit more to help her out, and not the full amount. I had no problems with sending her more money..considering how much she paid originally. Yikes.

Anyways, I got my item halfway through this week, and it's so cute...I'm getting cavities...*o*

Delilah is so cute...♥

This is the Volks lamb suit they released in late 2009/ early 2010.

~~~~~

I've had some crazy shifts for the past week. It does suck that work functions on 24hr shift work, but I mean...I still need to pay off bills and stuff, and a job is a job no matter what. But midnight - 8am shifts are really tough. I can do the 10pm - 6am, it's not as bad, but for some reason this one is just horrid. My sleeping schedule has completely been messed up...either I couldn't sleep or I just sleep at off and random times. Hopefully it gets back to normal...as I have 'normal' shifts this coming week.

Well, that's my update for now. Going to sew...and relax. And eat some BBQ.

On nom nom :)

AN'11...CC...Maid Cafe...Money...BJDs

Have mercy. This is going to be a long journal I think. LOL

So, the production sweat shop has been moving along. Not at the pace I want it to be..considering I had planned to have all the plushies finished by now. I didn't make all the ones I initially planned for since 1) Either I was missing fabric 2) too complicated to make in short time 3) not enough time.

I've been having movie marathons with Studio Ghibli stuff and Adventures of Sherlock Holmes while I sew and finish up the 'army divisions'. Can I say, I love the Granada series with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock! LOVE. 

I've finish all the porings and almost done the plushies. I'll have about 35 completed for the convention. I have to say I've never made so many at once and it's quite taxing. I just finished all the hairstyles today and the glue fumes are pretty intense. It's not toxic or anything but man oh man....My room is going to stink for a couple days. I better try to air it out tomorrow before I leave for work. Ugh!

I'm worrying about the progress for the BJD items. However, I think it will just be that I'll have a small amount done and not the amount I would initially like to sell at the convention. I'll live though, I'll just look at it as a trial test to see if things sell. I finally re-ordered some business cards last week, hopefully they come in time...cause that would be a mega fail if they don't! I still have the old ones from 3 years ago, and although my old website has died, my devArt is still alive and well, so it's not a huge problem to use the old ones if the new ones don't come in in time.

Am I excited for Anime North? I'd like to say I am. A few years ago I would have been freaking out around this time trying to complete costumes and what not. However I think I learned over time to finish my costumes almost a month ahead so I wouldn't have to think about it. I just remember waking up the day for the 'big' cosplay and being so nervous and not being able to eat anything. Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure what I was nervous about...perhaps that the costume wouldn't fall apart? LOL

The practices for the maid cafe have been coming along well :) 

It should be a fun year, I just need to remember the last part of the old dance, cause for some odd reason I can't remember the moves I need to do right now when I visualize it in my head. 

Here's a picture from last year with all the maids ♥

I'm in the front making the heart with my hands.

Photo: Jordan Smith from the Cafe Delish fan page on Facebook.

Hopefully some friends will pop by and see us in action! As much as I think it's a bit embarrassing, I think when we're at the convention it all doesn't matter...cause everyone's all dressed up and what not. But at the same time, I've learned to deal with the whole pride issue a long time ago. Once I got into cosplaying, it was just weird explaining to people who didn't understand the concept. I just said I liked making....historical costumes...and they said 'cool'. LOL

So maybe you'll catch me in my maid outfit on Friday or Saturday. I'll be dancing at the opening ceremonies on Friday and be at the cafe on Saturday.

Work~ Since I deal with large amounts of money, and I see a lot of old rare bills all the time, my sister had a request for me. She wanted me to find this bill.

I personally think it's very beautiful. I've never seen one nor do I have one in my own collection actually! I have old bills with the Queen on it, but I've never seen this one with the RCMP on the back.

Anyways, this past weekend, I managed to find it while I was sorting. However, when I wanted to exchange it for my own 50 dollars, I noticed...I had like 7 bucks to my name. LOL I had spent it all the day before. But the good thing is that the lunch room has an ATM machine... was just charged a bit extra since it's not the bank I normally use for banking. 

I'm quite happy with finding it! It's in pretty decent condition even though it's obviously been through a bit of circulation. It's not perfect, but it's better than the fake one we found later on that had 8 crease marks on it! LOL

On other random news, the postman has certainly been ruining my beauty sleep! Besides my sister shipping stuff to my house and me receiving my own items, I've gotten some pretty cute things lately for my dolls. One outfit was an impulse purchase in a sense...I thought about it for a day and it was still on eBay when I got home so I decided to go for it. Love Rosenlied outfits ♥

This one in particular I thought would look great on Delilah since it was red...and red really suits her. I would post up pictures, but I don't have a camera right now.

Which also explains why I don't have progress pictures of the plushies in making, etc.!

The Luts order that Alice, my sister and I did still hasn't been shipped, and it worries me...so I've sent them an e-mail asking them about it. Such is taking a long time for them to ship it out. I've noticed a lot of the items have also been sold out, I hope it's not the case of they don't have a certain item anymore and they're going to hold the order until it gets back into stock. I will be so Very annoyed...

I just happened to be on Rosenlied's website today...and they are going to release basic Louie on May 20! Rosenlied, how I LOVE & HATE YOU. I really love his sculpt, although when you look at his head without the face up or wig he looks like he has an alien head...HOWEVER, I think he is so adorable. How tempting it is, but I must stand my ground and let him be on a wishlist. Sage is the one I really want...and very soon she shall be mine!

This is the LE release of Louie for Rosenlied's 4th Anniversary. He was limited to 10 worldwide! I just gave up then when I saw that.

I knew he would be released as a basic since he is the first Wednesday Child to be released..so I'm not worried about that. But he's so adorable, and that Sherlock Holmes inspired outfit really gets to me!! It's so cute..I'll have to make something like that for Ventus.

Recently Alice has pointed out to me some of the discussion threads on DoA that are quite amusing and random to read. I must say some of the topics are so...how do I put it, serious? Hard core? I know some owners really covet their dolls and treat them like their own children, but some of the topics discussed are just really comical in my mind. Of course, we all have our own opinions..and I'm just going to stick to the fact that I like collecting them because I think they're very beautiful..and it's just another outlet for me to sew cute things...even if it doesn't fit me!

Well, I'm off to bed since it's almost 3am in the morning!

Until next time~

BJD Face ups..Hm...

I got more mail today! So exciting when I get mail :) 

I purchased a 100/0 Artetje brush from a member on DoA. I love it, it's probably the thinnest brush I've ever used/seen. Thanks to Alice for showing it to me with the comparison to a needle!!

The eyes, that's for a surprise for later. Anyone take a guess for what they are for?

Sorry about the bad lighting...got lazy and decided not to edit the pic in photoshop...

So I decided to test out the new brush! It's pretty amazing, however I found it took me a good 30 mins before I got the hang of doing decent brush stroke for the eyelashes. I've been wanting to fix the face ups on Zephyria and Ventus for awhile...so here's Zephy!

I wanted to fix her lashes and see how it would be if I 'opened' them up. It's quite a different look! I then went in and removed the old lashes and redid them. Took awhile since I don't do face ups a lot. Then added the small points on the mouth to define her smile. I wish I had long luscious lashes like hers... >__<;

On other news, mom bought me a winter jacket today. We've been stalking this particular jacket for weeks now waiting for it to go on sale. LOL I know, so cheap and asian, but I wasn't Dying to have it...so I told mom to wait. After a couple weeks, it got marked down from $149 to $119!! However, they had a size 8 left in the Petite section...

Got it anyways since it should be pretty easy to take it in! The size 6 at the store fit me pretty well before..so a bit of tweaking will be ok. The sales associate there thought I was a size 2 or 4. LOL When I told her I was trying on the 8, her eyes bugged out like this: O__O

Going to be going on a trip soon...I haven't started packing yet :( Nor have I completed the Poring army! Boo!! Gotta get cracking on that...almost there!

Sis got her Volks SD16 Daria a couple days ago! SHE'S HUGE. Towers over my resin children. XD

Ventus barely comes up to her elbow!! And Delilah...ohh so tiny Delilah! She came up to her knee cap...LOL

"Auntie Saber and Auntie Alisanne meet Ventus and Delilah"

Ven: "Is this thing a hat?"

 Photos taken from my sister's Flickr.

That's it for my update today! Hopefully something exciting happens before my trip that I can blog about :)

See ya!

Love getting mail!! Duckie & Delilah are here!!

I received this earlier in the week.

LOL. Some ghetto packaging! It came from Hong Kong...and I find it amusing, cause seriously, who uses twine to keep a package together anymore? I haven't seen it used a long long Long time!

The surprised that's inside, hidden beneath the random shopping bag and bubble wrap?

"Quack!"

 DUCKIE!!
I was wailing about this for days. Darn Volks and their Limited Items...Grr. And Curses to the person who was selling it on eBay at an obscene price!! GRR! My sister was nice enough to get it for me on eBay. THANK YOU <3 <3 <3
BUT, it's so darn cute, I don't care!

While I was typing this blog, my doorbell rang and my latest purchase had already arrived at my door! I'm very impressed with the seller, she shipped it Xpresspost! Since I've had Marketplace place access on DoA, I've been checking regularly just to see what dolls have been listed up. Since Alice has been 'subtly' hinting at me to get a Tiny BJD and I've succumbed to the cuteness of them, I found one on the site for a good price. I really liked the sculpt and the face, and when I looked her up on the official website, I was sold!...This hobby is gonna break the bank. (This will be my last BJD in a long time though..where's my job when I need it?!)

So here is her box opening! My first one! (Since my other two dolls were kits that I had to put together...I've never had a doll that I bought that was all put together before)

~Delilah~

DollnDoll Heart MO

The box.

My other dolls come to greet my new girl <3

Her box is so tiny! It's so cute!

 The certificate and I see Delilah! Her head is twisted funny..LOL

Her certificate. She was put together on Dec 29, 2010.

 Enyka was kind enough to even send me an extra! Mmm donut...:)

 I see her!

It's kind of like the mummy...she's got lots of bubble wrap protection.

Standing. LOL, Kam Kam knows something..

Her default face up is beautiful.

She came with default blue eyes!

I went away to get my other BJD boxes, cause I had the Tiny wig and outfit in them..

The picture is cute though.

Her other hands, I haven't opened them, but the shape/pose is similar to the ones my other two have.

With the princess wig. LOL Sis bought it for me intending it for Zephyria...

But Mandarake fails on packaging, cause the outside package said S/M.

Inside tag said S. So it didn't fit on my Minis. Fits on Delilah now though!

I love her hands! They're so small and dainty! <3

 The only YoSD size outfit I have. LOL The duckie!

I had to put Zephy's other wig on Delilah's head cause I don't have a short hairstyle in her size...

So it's only staying on because of the hood...^__^'

She's so adorable. Love her!