Mood & Music Mosaic #20

Christmas Waltz - Mindy Gledhill

cardigan - brooch - wax seal - christmas card - earrings

I'm finishing up my holiday shopping and gift wrapping everything. I actually haven't listened to any Christmas songs yet, but I think it's time to whip out my seasonal CDs too. Can't celebrate the holidays long enough, can you?

How is your holiday planning coming along? Almost done or are you a last-minute shopper?

Lullaby for Fox

Sonia from Lullaby for Fox is a very creative lady that works in lots of different mediums. Her shop is filled to the brim with a big range of items. She has a very unique style though, which is easy to recognize no matter the format.

It's easy to see that Sonia has a great love for animals. Most of her work features some sort of creature. They are usually very magical and often anthropomorphized, yet still very much in touch with nature and the seasons.

I am always blown away by the new brooches that hit the shop. They have such stunning details (sometimes even real pearls!) and the ones with faces always look so cute and friendly. Just looking at their pictures tends to make me smile!

One design has even been made into a sterling silver pendant. Because of the silver, it's one of the pricier items in the shop, but it's so beautiful and, I imagine, well worth the money as it'll be a very durable and timeless piece.

Like I said, the shop is pretty packed, so there is lots more to be seen than I managed to share in this blogpost. Definitely take a look, and maybe give the facebook page a like to receive updates and the occasional giveaway.

In the Mail: Shop Miss Ella

When I laid eyes on all the illustrations and items from Shop Miss Ella I knew I had found something really special. It's not every day you find something that manages to combine pretty much everything you've ever dreamed about!

Here were my favorite colors, styles and textures I love, cats and woodland creatures, Alice in Wonderland, and even crafts like sewing and knitting. All wrapped up into beautifully illustrated items that I could wear, hang, send or use.

So I quickly ordered some of my favorite things. I was so excited to receive them in the mail! Everything was beautiful and of great quality, I loved the pink gift bags for the brooches and there was even a cat sketch on the parcel itself.

Ella is doing such a spectacular job filling her Etsy with lots of different items! Notebooks, mirrors, mugs, buttons, patches, prints and jewelry. And she always seems to be working on something new entirely. And although I highly recommend you check out the entire shop, here is a glimpse of the cool stuff you can currently find at Shop Miss Ella.

If you're as smitten as I am, I also urge you to follow this lady on facebook. It's where pictures of new items show up first, but also were you can see sketches, as well as Ella's amazing personal sewing projects! Think illustrated cat dresses;)

Mood & Music Mosaic

小塵埃 - 貓大人息怒

blouse - mugs - lip balm - art print

It is officially spring! And though it doesn't feel like it yet, the fact alone is a huge moodlifter. It's like there's suddenly a lot more to look forward to. Even Tofu seems to think so, haha; he likes having birds to spy on through the window.

Does it already feel like spring where you live? And what are looking forward to about this season?

Lovely Movies: Kiki's Delivery Service

Sorry for another hiatus. I was forced to hibernate and take it easy, but I hope to be back blogging now… Anyway, I finally found myself a Kiki's Delivery Service DVD and watched it recently. It was just as lovely as I hoped.

It's quite unexpected that a movie about a teenage witch should be one of the most normal Studio Ghibli films, but somehow it is. It is still very imaginative and enchanting, but not quite as crazy as some of the others.

This might actually be one of my favorites though, and I expected as much from what I had heard about it. It had so many lovely things in it! Including a gorgeous painting! If I could get a huge print of it, I'd hang it above my bed.

As always I recommend the original version, but here's the US trailer:

Anyway, this is an adorable story with lovely characters and I already know I will watch this over and over again!

Have you seen any Studio Ghibli movies recently? I plan to watch all, and I think I'm about halfway there now...

P.S. There's also a non-animated remake of this story, but it seems they ditched Jiji, her cat sidekick, which is quite a shame!

Review: Kawaii Box

I love happy mail! So subscription boxes always got me excited, but few actually made it to my part of the world. Until Kawaii Box showed up! They are definitely the cutest subscription service and they kindly sent me a box to review.

My expectations were pretty high, but I was still blown away when my very own Kawaii Box actually showed up! I can honestly say that there wasn't a single thing in there that isn't adorable. So lets have a closer look, shall we?

When I opened the box I saw exactly what you see in the picture above and I instantly knew it would all be great! The thank you-card was very sweet with its handwritten note, and the bunny post card was the first actual product I saw.

After that it was a huge splash of color -mostly pink, of course- that contained one cute thing after the other! This make-up bag/coin purse for instance. I love the design and the fact that it has two zippers. So cute, yet so practical as well!

I also got some candy-shaped hair ties and a sheet of pink pearl stickers that might actually make it onto my phone.

An adorable Rilakkuma raspberry macaroon squishy. It looks quite edible actually, made my mouth water a little…

So it's a good thing they sent some actual candy along too. Here is some grapefruit flavored Puccho!



This towel made me super excited! I love those little Japanese towels, but they are hard to find outside of Asia. This one is actually quite big too. And it even has a little name tag in the upper corner. A very clever touch, I think!



This cute cat below is a pencil sharpener. It actually has holes for both regular shaped pencils, and for bigger ones.

I find these lovely bunny stickers quite hilarious. Some of their positions and facial expressions are so funny!

The Hello Kitty pen is one of my favorite items in the whole box! The fineliner pen itself is really cute and writes wonderfully, but the main feature, of course, are the charms on the top. One Hello Kitty and one chocolate bar!

And last, but definitely not least (in fact, another one of my absolute favorites from this box!), is this amazing cat plushy. It's so soft and so cute, I just adore it! It also reminds me of my actual cat. I'll need to find a good place to hang this one!

That's it for products, however, there was also a coupon for 10% off at Blippo so I can get even more Kawaii stuff!

Final Verdict:

I'm a fan! It's a very affordable way of surprising yourself with a whole bunch of kawaii items, in fact, thanks to the low price I didn't even have to worry about paying any extra custom fees.
Anyway, the anticipation of receiving this made me excited already, and the actual box made my day! I really enjoyed the things they picked and would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes adorable Japanese stuff!

In case you're interested in subscribing…

Kawaii Box is only $18,90 a month and worldwide shipping is included. You can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time. So even if you're looking for something to just brighten your dark cold winter months, this is perfect!
Please note that the boxes go out at the beginning of each month. So if you subscribe now you'll get another box of 10-12 original/licensed Japanese and Korean kawaii items in the mail in November. It's still a surprise what's in there!

P.S. Alhough I did receive a one-month subscription for free, all opinions are honestly mine. It genuinely made me super excited!

Lady and the Siamese?

It's been ages since I last saw Lady and the Tramp. I didn't even remember there were Siamese cats in it. But my mom recently forwarded the little clip. She thought I might enjoy it now that I have a Siamese myself. She was right!

Sale Tip! / Wishlist

Threadless is having a big warehouse sale, so I thought I'd post a couple of highlights. They have some lovely things!

I know I've posted this pet bowl before, but I just wanted to let you know that it is now on sale for $2.95 instead of $15.

Another adorable cat item is this pair of cat socks. From $10 for $5.95.

Threadless also has some of the Select collection on sale. Like this tee.

There's a lot more in the Threadless warehouse sale though, so check it out if you're looking for some nice new t-shirts with fun prints. Or laptop/ipad cases, because a lot of those are on sale too!

Intrigued: Thorunn Arnadottir

Thorunn Arnadottir's candle idea is so simple, yet so unbelievably brilliant! These little cats reveal a skeleton as they burn up. The whole burning process is so cool, but it also leaves you with a little something after the wax has gone.

Unfortunately you can not order them yet, but you can sign up for the newsletter. If you want a candle for yourself, I suggest you do that because you'll then be updated when the designer's Kickstarter project goes live.

UPDATE! The Kickstarter is now up and running until November 22nd!

An Owl and a Pussycat

No, this isn't a story. This is an actual friendship between an owl and a pussycat. Fum and Gebra are real life besties!

And thankfully there's a cute montage of the two. I love how they even catch mice together. Check it out:

And if you can't get enough of them, be sure to follow them on facebook. Yes, they even have their own page.

Greek Cats pt.2: Lazy Cats

During this trip I've seen some of the most relaxed cats I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Pretty much any direction you'd look, any street you'd walk, any shop you'd enter, had a cat. A true cat lover's heaven!