For May I will be featuring two artists, from whom I have bought from before. Their drawings, stickers and trinkets can be found at a local shop called de Zilveren Vos. If you wanna do fun workshops like magic potion making, figurine painting, they are the place to be.
Cloverpunch – Artprint and stickers
I love Cloverpunch’s style. Last year I got prints featuring the white cat when I visited de Zilveren Vos. Still not framed, bad person I am. My dream is a wall with art prints. When I am going to Japan, I want to buy an Inu Hariko (one of the stickers) and I keep forgetting the name. So I ordered it, to be stuck on my travel diary as a reminder. The art print looks like it was coloured in markers and I just love bright colours, it is a demon television haha. The Katamari Damashi sticker on the bottom left was a gift but as a Katamari fan, this was a most welcome and fitting gift.
Catzero – stickers!
You can see that Catzero is massive dungeons & dragons fan and incorporates it in her stickers. I love her style and her humor. And these statement stickers are the bomb. Afcourse we goblins are against bigots and I need to show this off :D. The Brushbuddies are from the Witch Hat Atelier manga/anime. I haven’t watched it yet, but I have been hearing good things about it. On one of my previous shopping trips to de Zilveren Vos, I had bought a D20 two-sided key chain from her. As a D&D-player myself, and frequent thrower of 1’s on a D20 it was a little reminder that games should always be fun.
Happy to give my support to Dutch based artists. Keep on creating!
Small business owners are always hit the hardest when inflation hits, prices of materials rise, unfavourable political decisions and now a new threat has appeared called AI.
I dislike AI a lot, it poisons you cognitive brain, it threatens peoples employment, it kills nature and humans alike and it is used to spread misinformation, bullshit and slop. AI-cunts use it as an excuse for disabled people, but frankly its being used with people who are jealous, lazy and have absolutely no inch of talent. Mega corporations use the loom and doom of AI to make you fearful of your job position and I am not falling for that trap. Fire me and replace me with AI, I don’t give a flying fuck.
What I do care about is that I see a lot of people who have been succesful creating art and fun stuff struggling with AI encroaching on their livelyhoods. So I made it my goal to buy from at least one small business each month to make them and myself happy. They have made a sale and I have wonderful and often thoughtful items in return.
I had already expressed how addicted I am to the handmade platform Minne. While it is not possible to order directly, you can use different proxies to act as a Japanese address for this platform.
Two brooches created by Beat_to_Abe. Left: Strawberry Right: Swallow
I had put these two brooches on my favourites on Doorzo (proxie service) for a while now and decided to have my next purchase not be only a Pokemon Center haul but also one thing handmade. And when these brooches arrived I was blown away by the craftsmanship. The fabric used is corduroy with beads to accentuate the thing it is trying to envision. I don’t think my camera does it justice. They look away better in person and I am looking forward to wearing them.
I had posted the purchase on my Instagram and tagged in the creator which lead to a wonderful exchange as she was surprised that these ended up in the Netherlands via a Japanese proxie. She used my review to tell the travel story to her own followers and I hope to buy from her again in the future. I love the bear brooches but she does not have them up on her shop yet.
Thank you for your purchase from minne! 🍓🐦 I was surprised to receive your message since the shipping address was within Japan! 😳💓 I learned that there are services that help people outside of Japan enjoy shopping on Japanese websites! 💡 I learned something new today! ✏️ It fills my heart with joy to know that my little brooches are being used by so many customers today. 😌💓 I hope to continue creating pieces that will bring warmth and comfort to everyone’s hearts. ✨
One of the artists I follow on Bluesky reposted Evan’s felt bird charms and I knew then I needed to get one for myself. Birds and cats are my favourites when it comes to sticker purchases and a handmade felt bird charm is something extra special to me.
I had a hard time making a choice between the different design, but it became the Common Kingfisher in the end. This is a very cool bird, that is spotted in the same province that I live in and the charm is so cool because of the vibrant colours. And I must say I have worked with felt myself, I can never achieve such neat stitching like Evan did. 10+ craftmanship.
Little info card on the common Kingfisher, a drawing of the common kingfisher, a button with a bisexual birdo pecking on colourful seeds, a felt common kingfisher hanger with a charm clasp, the hanger is 3D as its stuffed with fiber, and three gamer bird stickers, a budgie with a handheld console, a parrot with on a laptop and a cockatiel with a purple controllor.
Normally packages are announched in my postal app but it has been wonky lately so this one showed up unannounced when I got back from work. I needed a pick-me up and this was just what the doctor ordered. Colourful birds and a cool bag charm. Just need to find the perfect carabiner or strap to lenghten this charm as I do not have side zippers on my Uniclo bag.
Check out those Sea Slug Magnets, they are the best!
Small business owners always go out of their way to make you, as a customer, feel special. A follow up e-mail after your order with the expression of gratitude for your support. A little thank you note, a small drawing or scribble. It just makes the whole experiance a hundred times better. I know it is not always possible for them to do this, but it is much appreciated when it is included. <3
I hope one day I will be able to open up my own shop, go to fairs and conventions and make others happy with what I have created. I have so many ideas and just started creating 6 different stickers of the photos I took. Maybe it will hit off, or maybe not. But I am having fun creating myself and buying from other creators and small business owners.
I must confess, I have a lot of hats and helmets for my Blythe. More than Blythes that could display them all. *sweatdrop* For me cute and funny headgear for Blythes is what makes the hobby fun, eventhough collecting them costed me an arm and a leg. But which hobby is without cost?
This blogpost is dedicated to all the hats/helmets that I currently own. The three models assisting me today are Spooky (a Pinkle Winkle customized by Fiona), Bridget (an Icy custom by RisRas) and Margarite (a stock Flowergirl of Happiness).
I found out that I cannot trace back whom I’ve bought some of these hats/helmets from in the past. If you recognise any, please let me know and I will amend the page. Some of these were prizes and others just purchased. 🙂
