Washi Tape Haul - Part 2 Taiwanese Designers

Hi Everyone! This is the second part of my huge Washi Tape haul (first part HERE) which features beautifully designed masking tape by Taiwanese designers. All of these tapes were hauled from Etsy and I had several different experiences with sellers:

Ccharetape haul: Crystal Tape, Sleeping Animals Tape, Sailor Moon Tape, Gem Tape, Four Seasons Bunny Tape

 First I hauled from a super sweet seller, 'CC Tao' (her Etsy shop CCHARETAPE HERE). Although she didn't have all the tapes I was after in stock, she had some of my favourites like the Sailor Moon and Crystal design tape. I got samples (2m) of each tape as I could get many different designs that way. Some of the tapes were not listed on her store, but after seeing pictures of them on CC Tao's Instagram @ccsharetape I asked if she had them in stock and she kindly found them for me. 

I was really blown away by this seller's customer service, how beautiful and perfectly wrapped the tapes were and how reasonable and fast the shipping was! I added the 'registered shipping' option to this order as it was just a couple of dollars and was highly recommended. I liked the mini rolls of tape, and as it was close to Christmas CC Tao included a sample of 'Merry Christmas' tape as well! How sweet :)

The next seller I hauled from was FORLAPIN with a store by the same name (HERE).

Plants Planet tape, Eternal Summer Anime tape, Plants Cartoon tape, Animal Desserts tape, Alice in Wonderland tape, Shiro Spirit tape, Bunny tape, Festival Miffy tape, Cute Animal Butts tape

The reason I bought from this seller is because they had some of the tapes that I was hunting that Ccsharetape didn't, and I placed my order from both stores around the same time. I got several samples from this store, and some full rolls as well (as the seller could only give samples of a few tapes). The tapes that were samples were not on mini rolls like they are photographed above, they were on little plastic cards. I re-wrapped them on little rolls (that I had from an earlier tape haul) to smooth out the harsh edges that appear when they are wrapped on card.

My experience with this seller was not the best; I had a very frustrating conversation which endured for 30+ back and forth messages before they managed to put the order together, and their 'combined' shipping is almost the same as the original shipping cost. This means that in a $60 order, you will be paying about $40 for shipping, which is ridiculous, especially when you see the cost of registered shipping from Ccsharetape (boths stores are based in Hong Kong). I did try to reason with them that perhaps they could combine the shipping for my order to which they replied that it automatically combines in the cart.

I was so disappointed that the seller of such gorgeous tape was so rude and hard to communicate with (often replying to me in short one liners with capitals as if they were shouting at me), but now that I've seen that other sellers are picking up these pretty tapes, I will not have to deal with this seller again. That being said, I think if you have plenty of money to spend, and buy the tapes without needing any extra communication with the seller, you would have a much better experience than mine!

Finally, I hauled again from Ccharetape as they had a few rolls of the most difficult to resist Totoro tape in stock!

I also had seen a few other beauties on her Instagram page and so I added a few more gorgeous tapes to the order. 

Totoro and Bunny Masking Tape

 As you can see the Totoro tape is amazingly adorable, and quite a large tape as well. I'm going to really enjoy using this to add a little extra touch to my packaging! The rabbit tape is also gorgeous with soft colours and strawberries, and it came in a beautiful little box!

 

This was a Cherry Blossom sample set, of 1m each tape wrapped on a card. The three top tapes are simply stunning watercolour designed tapes:

Sakura Masking Tape Set

 I got 2m of each of the rest of the samples on pretty little rolls:

Feather, Hydrangea & Rose Masking Tape

Wisteria & Galaxy Masking Tape

 The pictures of the rest of the tape says it all, I think! I was stunned at how gorgeous they were in person, and once again so thankful that this seller is so easy to deal with and helpful! She also included two washi tape wrapping cards for each of the full rolls which I thought was a very sweet touch! I did not add the registered shipping this time but my parcel got here in about a week all intact :) I think kindness goes a long way when it comes to customer service, and I think that if you're planning on selling on Etsy, customer service should be a focus. The fact that I and many others have had pleasant experiences with this seller has made us into loyal customers who want to come back!

One of the bonus tape wrapping cards with a picture of the characters from Totoro on it <3

Take my money, CCHARETAPE! haha (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Washi Tape Haul: Featuring Designer Miki Takei

Hi there! So I recently discovered that I may be slightly addicted to Washi Tape - I thought I was immune all these years, but after getting paws on a few beautiful samples it turns out I'm sooo not!  >.<  My biggest weakness is Taiwanese and Japanese special design tape, which is often done in soft watercolours by up and coming artists and is just gorgeous! Like any good addiction, having company makes it all the more enjoyable so I wanted to share some enticing pictures of all this beautiful tape and where I got it from. I decided to split it up into two posts as there is a lot - Enjoy!

This bunch of beautiful tape is designed by Japanese artist Miki Takei, you can find her facebook page HERE. She is an amazing artist and I would definitely get more of her illustrated works (like diaries, stickers etc.) if they were easier to get a hold of. You can find some of her things for sale on Rakuten namely from THIS store, but I found the site a little bit difficult to navigate. Here is the tape in more detail:

You can find these Miki Takei tapes from several sellers on Etsy. I bought from two sellers: GoodMochi & StickersKingdom. Their price and shipping is great and the service was excellent from both sellers (about 1 week delivery time). I should just mention that some sellers offer 10m (GoodMochi) of the tape while others (StickersKingdom) offer 5m, usually for the same price. I got both kinds as I wasn't really paying attention to the length, and the quality was identical so I'm not sure why that is. Stickers Kingdom had run out of the Swan tape above, which prompted me to find it on another store (and then get a few more tapes for good measure). They asked me which tape I would like as a replacement and included a free cute mint tape (shown below) for my trouble which was such a sweet gesture!

Some weeks later I discovered by chance a bulk lot 10pcs of this same designed tape on Aliexpress (link HERE) for a ridiculously low price (US$8) and with free shipping. The reviews were good so I decided to see for myself if this was original tape. I wanted to get some for my mum and to add to a future giveaway as well :)

Picture from Aliexpress

The shipping took about three weeks which is good for Aliexpress especially over the busy Xmas season!

As you can see they came all perfectly packaged just like the original tape, and although I couldn't choose which tapes they would send, they pretty much gave me all my favourites anyway! This is a stunningly good deal and I only hope the artist isn't getting ripped off in any way as she is a sweetheart! Here is a closeup of the Aliexpress tape so you can see the quality:

It looks just the same as the ones I got from Etsy; I didn't want to actually try it out as these will all be gifts :)
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this haul, and I wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! xox

Two New Tutorials up on YouTube!

So I finally managed to create some video tutorials of my polmer clay creations, and they're up on The Little Mew YouTube channel!

My first one is for some very cute little mermaids:

Here is the LINK

This is the first time I filmed myself and put my mug up on YouTube for the world to see. I did this mainly because I wanted to break out of my fear doing so, and I wanted people to be able to associate a face with the unmanicured hands that awkwardly create beautiful miniatures. So far I haven't recieved much feedback but at least nothing negative. The only constructive criticism I seem to be able to take is 'The only thing wrong with it is I have no idea how you're going to improve on this perfection.' hehe （ つ﹏╰）   I think this is because I work so hard (it took me two weeks to film and edit) at making everything as 'perfect' as I can, and try to find all the faults before anyone else can point them out. Gosh, being so fragile it's a wonder that I have managed to come this far in life without crumbling! Thank goodness that I have positive people in my life and positive people reading/watching my uploads! That being said, the sound quality of my voice in this video killed me! So did the length, going back and forth between tasks, and losing some footage. But I chalk it up to experience and aimed to do better in my next one, which brings us to...

My second Tutorial for the ADORABLE Catbug from Bravest Warriors:

Here is the LINK

I filmed this so quickly, all in one go and edited it the same day! I ended up filming a bit at night as well, but it worked out OK and helped to extend my 'usable work-day time' which is awesome. I realised that at least until I get more comfortable I should make slightly simpler tutorials. Although I recorded it the same way, the sound quality of my voice improved a lot, and I am really happy with how this video turned out! 

You can check out Catbug in Bravest Warriors on Cartoon Hangover HERE
The episodes are only about 5 mins long but jam-packed full of creativity, humor & action - I finished it in two days and them moved on to Adventure Time (which I LOVE).

I really can't wait to make some more tutorials. Next on the list is this Totoro:

Wild Totoro in its natural habitat :)

Let me know any tutorials you would like to see in the future! I am keen to make anything nerdy, from Disney, Adventure Time, Studio Ghibli, any animals or any kawaii character as well!

❤

Collective Knitwear Haul - Glassons, Factorie & Cotton On

 I have a little (ish) haul for you today from Glassons, Factorie & Cotton On. I don't know if I'm growing up or getting old, but this year my clothes shopping has been less about pretty dresses and more about comfy cardigans: I can't get enough of them! I feel like you can wear them over anything, even hotpants or a party dress, and they just make everything more comfortable, relaxed and daytime appropriate. - I'm really late with this haul due to snowboard trip without The Internets so some things are not available online anymore - I've given alternatives where I could, though, and if you're in AU or NZ pop in-store, you may find that they're still there dejectedly lurking in the sale section :)

 GLASSONS:

Longline fluffy cardigan, Pale pink, Sz 'M' NZ$39.99 - here

Longline fluffy cardigan, Black Sz 'S' NZ$39.99 here

 These two cardigans are my favorite. They have pockets, are long, warm and soooo soft! I got the pink on first in a size 'M' which is just a little bit big for me as I have narrow shoulders (I got a bit over-excited when I saw them in store and bought the wrong size as it was the last pink one there, and I have been dying to get my grubby mitts on some fluffy knits for a long time - I have since seen that they have the whole array of sizes and colours available from their online store). The black in an 'S' fits perfectly. I have seen online that they have some new colours and am seriously coveting the Taupe Grey & Sea Foam!

Light blue trapeze dress Sz 'L' alternative here & here - if you're willing to look elsewhere Missguided has the perfect floral trapeze dress here (the only reason I do not yet own it is that I have had to severly cull my basket when hauling from there as EVERYthing is so gorgeous)

I grabbed this little trapeze dress because I loved the colour and wanted a no-fuss dress that I could layer up for winter. It's really sheer which makes it an ideal layering piece. I cleverly got it in a size 'L' which is huge and a bit unflattering on me, but I still love it. I know the alternatives are not that similar, but they would serve the same purpose, especially the white lace top dress which is so pretty :) I always find it funny how they try to come up with new words for colours. 'Moonshadow' & 'Milk' are just so much more marketable than grey and white.

FACTORIE

Suzy cropped sweater AU$19.95 'S' - alternative with numbers here

 

Fluffy crop AU$9.95 - black one here

Westwood flip skirt, Black Sz S AU$14.95 - here

The black 'Oops' fluffy crop is just perfect (and sums me up particularly well). It is just the right 'cropped' length to cover my short torso and I love the warmth and quality. The baby blue fluffy crop is a bit thin and shed all over the place when I first pulled it out of the box. It has stopped shedding after being given a vigorous shake (while yelling at it, 'you just stop it, ok?' Haha no I'm joking, I would never talk aggressively to my clothes). The little velvet skater skirt is a wardrobe staple that I snatched up when I saw the price, and ideal for winter in NZ with some warm tights. I love Factorie, their sales are proper sales, not like the pretend ones you see sometimes :)
COTTON ON

Liana coatigan, Grey Sz 'S' - AU$20.00 alternative colour here

Love this cardigan, it is long, soft and semi lightweight while still being surprisingly warm. The grey colour is a versatile neutral, and if you can fit an 'L' they have a lovely 'Cookies & cream' colour that I actually prefer.

Chunky knit oversized cardigan, Army green Sz 'S' - alternative here

This one is a bit itchy if it's directly on the skin, but is toasty and chunky. If you do find it don't size up too much as they have purposely made it oversized and you will be wading through miles of acrylic knit. They should have added pockets, it's practically begging for them!
I hope you find some things you like! Cotton On has a 30% off your first purchase discount code on signup & Glassons has a 20% one - If it's your first time buying from Cotton On, check out their Typo & Foundation sections, you won't be disappointed. I love fluffy knits and just can't have enough of them, so I'm so happy to see the local retailers stocking them up in beautiful colours and styles!

Fat Totoro Owl Creature (oh it's a cat, sorry)

I will leave you with this picture of my grumpy faced cat, Okami, who watched through the window with disdain as his mummy took photos of herself.