Crystal Star Proplica Review

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Cardcaptor Sakura Figure and Stationary

Keeping with my magical girl theme. I'd like to take the time to talk about my Cardcaptor Sakura goodies! In terms of merchandising, I find that it's harder to get anything CCS. While Sailor Moon is absolutely booming because of the new Sailor Moon Crystal anime. But Sakura fans are in luck because a few things are being released every few months. So here is my collection so far!

Sakura as a chibi is perfection!

You know what? there are some people who absolutely hate the chibi style. But when you look at Kinomoto Sakura it's just perfect. She's so adorable that I can't stop going "awwww". Okay, I'm going to try and focus now on talking about this.

Zoomed up on her face

Well, for a tiny figure I like how the details on her dress. Such as the ruffles around her arm, they're really well done. The crinoline under her dress could use a bit more detail on the edges like the ones on the arms but the under of her dress has layers upon layers of lace so it looks really puffy underneath.  

So this figure was won through a Ufo catcher by my brother's wife Saori. Yeah, she's crazy good at those games! A majority of the things that I'm going to post about was won by her! For anyone going to Japan planning on trying, it is definitely possible to win stuff at the arcade. It just takes some time and a lot of concentration. Anyways, here's a picture of Sakura from the back.

I forgot to take a picture of the stand but it has the Sun and Moon with Sakura's name on it. Similar to the Clow Card design. 

Moving on to my stationary. 

My little note pad

Originally I saw this online at Amiami and liked the idea of a Clow Card shaped note pad. So when I went to Japan and saw this at the electronic store, Yodobashi I didn't hesitate to pick one up. This was actually the last one there and so I'm torn between using it and keeping it in pristine condition.

The Cardcaptor Sakura part is just a plastic cover for the paper. Here's what the paper looks like when you flip the cover off. 

Yes, that's the note paper the only thing that confuses me about this notepad is whether to write on the Clow Card design or on the back. Here's what the page looks like from behind.

So the back of the page is similar to the real Clow Card except it's blank and Sakura is in the corner. This makes using the notepad difficult since I'd have to turn the page upside down to write on this blank side of paper. Since this is also the first page I would definitely need a hard surface to write on. 

I think that I'll keep this item as something I can appreciate and look at from time to time. Onto the next stationary item! 

I tried this Cardcaptor Sakura Lottery game! It's a really lovely greeting card. The envelope is a really nice touch. 

It's the same size as the Clow Card! The paper is nice and thick. The inside actually surprised me!

A popup Sakura appeared dressed as the Prince from the Sleeping Beauty play! 

A small space to write a message on the bottom of the page. The background is really lovely but I would have to think and compose something short and sweet if I ever used this.

I think this is a little description about the Dark but I'll have to ask Saori when I have time. The matching Clow Book envelope is the final icing on the cake.

There's a nice little spot where you can writhe person's name on the back. 

I really love this greeting card and envelope. I think any fan of the series would love to receive card, the popup Sakura was adorable. 

Finally the matching pen to go along with all of this stationary. 

The sealing wand chain at the end of the pen with a picture of Sakura wrapped around the body of the pen. 

And that's my Cardcaptor Sakura figure and stationary! I think it's a nice little haul that I've come home with. There's a few more things Cardcaptor Sakura merchandise that I got from Japan but that's for another day and another post! 

Legend of Zelda Valentine's Day Theme!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day everyone!

I just wanted to show everyone what I made this year! Now I'm no Martha Stewart but I'm determined as hell whenever I set my eyes on baking or making something crafty. Unfortunately, I planned on making baked goods and making a whatever card this year. The whatever card turned into my pride and joy after I ended up modifying the design a gazillion times.

Without further ado here are my Valentine's Day crafts. Sorry about the picture quality I didn't have time to snap a photo with my DSLR.

Chocoalates that I melted into my new mold

So about a week ago I found some really cute Wilton Heart Chocolate Mold at Michaels and since I had a 40% coupon I snapped up these bad boys in a heart beat. Here's what it looks like from the Michael's website.

The chocolate molds I bought

I'l be honest, I actually have a fear of melting chocolate ever since I burnt some white chocolate chips in the past. The chocolate was over melted but this time I screwed up my courage and gave it a go. My chocolates came out beautifully and I had no problems with the chocolate cracking when removing them from the molds. There were a a few air bubbles but they were unnoticeable anyways. With the guidance and wisdom of Saori I managed to make cute chocolates.

I was ambitious this year and decided to  melt some white chocolate and sprinkle some crushed tea biscuits and placed them in the freezer for about 25 minutes. When the chocolates had cooled down and formed, I melted some milk chocolate and poured it over. For some of the chocolates, I added a fourth layer of dark chocolate. Yeah, it got complicated pretty fast! I'm just kicking myself for not taking more photos of them. I made about 24 pieces of chocolate so it took more or less approximately 2 hours all together.

Now onto my pride and joy which I didn't really even plan for ahead of time. A Legend of Zelda themed card to go along with the copy of  Majora's Mask.

My card and copy of Majora's Mask

I'm really happy with how my card turned out. I found this amazing tutorial on Instructibles called Zelda Pop-Up Valentine Heart Card by fungus amungus It was really easy to follow and I recommend also reading Pixelated popup card by kate12345  for a few extra steps to make the heart pop up easier.

But this is how the card looks originally from the website.

The stock photo from instructables

I loved how the heart and the quote looked but I was unhappy with how the background looked and so my obsession with modifying this card occurred. I probably could have just edited the card on photoshop but I'm absolute rubbish at editing images online.

So I rolled up my sleeves and prepared myself  to manually edit the image with more construction paper. I took black construction paper and cut it down to the size of the card, cut out the shape of the heart and box where the text was and just glued it over. Then I took some white paper cut out a little border and glued it on. Now here's the important part, take a permanent marker and a ruler and just outline the border that you just cut out to make a text box. Then glue any coloured construction paper to the back to finish the card.

Another shot of the finished product of the card!

That took a lot of patience and cutting but I like how it turned out. I added a little white box so that I could write a little message as well. And now  let me show you how the front of the card turned out.

The front of the card

Tada! So I was just planning to leave the front the card empty but it just looked so plain and ugly that I had to do something about it. I looked on google for some some inspiration and saw two that gave me the idea. One of them was the Legend of Zelda Card by Adam Bing that was featured on Kotaku and other gaming websites.

Custom made card by Adam Bing via Albotas on tumblr

The second card that inspired me was Starleaf-Creations Legend of Zelda Valentine . 

Custom made card by Starleaf-Creations on Deviantart

This card is exactly what I wanted to make but with the design that I modified.. So with the card above as my guide I just took some yellow construction paper cute out the outline of the chest glued it on. Took some light brown and white construction paper to make shaded areas and my most trusted companion the permanent marker to make the black outline.

Here's the front of my card again so you don't have to scroll up.

Success! I love how my card turned out and I couldn't stop ogling my card. A part of me was tempted to just keep it for myself haha. Anyways, here's the envelope that I made to go along with it.

A very plain brown card with a pixelated heart from my failed attempt at making the 3D popup heart earlier. At that point I was exhausted and just wanted a cute envelope that wasn't difficult to make. 

And that everyone was my Valentine's Day Project! 

All my little projects that didn't feel so little!

And that's all folks! Until Next Time. 

-April