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Wednesday Wishlist – Pop Funkos

May 4, 2016 by Bel 1 Comment

As always, I want a whole bunch of Pop Funkos and with my birthday coming up, I’ve started to think about which ones are top of my list. I figured I’d put together a variety options, in case anyone was looking to get me one ;)

Pop Funko Wishlist

 

Pop Funko Wishlist

I’ve tried to group the Pop Funkos somewhat, though it’s still a bit random. The first section is Disney. To be honest I would always be happy with a Disney Pop Funko but there are actually very few I really want. Merida, Alice, Mushu and the Evil Queen are my main picks. Honestly the Queen has been on so many lists now – she’s top.

Next is Harry Potter. I would like Harry, Ron and Hermione (though I have two Harry variants) but they aren’t my top picks. Since Megan has Luna, Sirius and Dobby would be my other choices so far, though I’d love Hagrid too.

Next is Superheroes and the main man, Stan Lee. To be honest there are hundreds of DC and Marvel characters that I would love to collect, especially when Chris started me off with Oliver Queen (unmasked). The new wave of Avenger ones are definitely better than the first wave, though I prefer the Iron Man from 3. Along with all these, Deadpool would be great but I had too many that looked like him (Spider Man, Flash and Iron Man) to add him too!

Once Upon a Time has got to be one of my all time favourite TV series and I love the Pop Funkos too. The only one I have so far is Killian Jones (a Captain Hook variant) but I would love his regular version too. Regina is my top pick for OUAT though and she has been on many lists. Snow and Prince Charming would also be a great addition.

Last but not least is the odd one out of Katniss Everdeen. There are actually a couple I would like from Hunger Games (especially Effie Trinket) but Katniss is my top pick and I didn’t have much space left! Megan has her in the red dress and Mockingjay dress (with wings) so I would like this version for my collection).

What are your top Funko picks?

Filed Under: about me, wish list Tagged With: alice, Captain Hook, DC Comics, Deadpool, Disney, Dobby, Evil Queen, hunger games, Katniss Everdeen, Marvel, Merida, Mushu, OUAT, pop funko, prince charming, Regina, Sirius Black, snow white, spider man, Stan Lee, thor, vinyl figures

Comic-Con Cosplay Choices!

April 30, 2014 by Bel 6 Comments

As you will know from my post about London Film and Comic-Con, I am going to Comic Con this year!! One of the biggest reasons for this decision, was to enable Amy and I to dress up like Disney characters! I know that probably sounds a little crazy, but to be honest as an adult, you rarely get a chance to dress up. Even less so, as something like a Disney Princess.

It’s been a couple of months since we officially decided and at least a month since the tickets actually arrived. All that time I’ve been trying to think who and what I want to go dressed as, but I’m not having much luck!

The first go to, as I mentioned before, is Disney Princesses. There is one very obvious choice for me and that’s Belle.

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For as long as I can remember, Belle has been my favourite Princess. She is one of the few brunettes in existence, she has an awesome name (haha) and she basically just rocks. Numerous times I have likened myself to Belle and in my birthday murder mystery last year, I even took on the role of her (sort of…). I love Belle, but in all honesty, do I want to wear that poofy yellow monstrosity?

Following in the Disney theme, my second choice would be Megara from Hercules. She isn’t a Princess, which often makes her underrated, but I’ve always loved her sassiness and of course – another brunette.

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I would love to dress like Megara and I adore her dress. However sadly, at a size 16 and very unhappy with my current weight, I know I wouldn’t feel happy in a dress that tight (or, from what I’ve seen, silky).

One of my kids favourites, though perhaps a little childish for me, is Vanellope from Wreck-It Ralph.

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She’s a fun, quirky kind of a character but more importantly her costume is incredibly simple. A hoodie, a skirt and some tights would make a very easy AND cheap costume.

My final Disney interest, would have to be Queen Elsa, from the latest Disney animation, Frozen. Again, not technically your tradition Disney Princess, she is awesome. Clearly I do not have blonde hair however, so that would require a wig. Also, as much as I love her blue flowing ice dress, I don’t really like the real life representations I’ve seen of it. Instead, I would like Coronation Elsa.

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However, from what I’ve seen, this costume would be incredibly expensive to buy. It’s not something readily available yet, so it would definitely be a custom made. Definitely a tempting option if I could splash the cash.

Moving on from Disney, but not from Fairytale, I considered playing on my fandom of Once Upon a Time. My instant thought is Regina, the Evil Queen.

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I adore Regina and always have – both as the Mayor and as the Evil Queen. However her evil queen costume would be far more interesting to wear, than her regular clothes version. I have always had a love of Disney Villains and so that’s possibly another Regina appeals. Let’s face it, who’d want to dress as Disney’s Evil Queen, or better yet, Ursula?

Still keeping in theme with Once Upon a Time, but also connected to my previous suggestion, is Belle.

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I loved Emilie De Ravin from her days in Lost and I love her even more as Belle. She has beautiful versions of the traditional Belle costumes, making me more than happy to dress up as this version of Belle.

My final consideration from Once Upon a Time, is Ruby aka Red Riding Hood. Sadly she doesn’t have a very big part but the part she does have is kick ass (apparently she’s not actually even in it from Season 3 onwards).

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She has a very simple yet beautiful costume, which I don’t think would be too hard to put together. Yet again she’s a brunette (noticing a theme here?) and I love the colour red!

Past Disney and Fairytales, I’m having a bit of a blank. Though I do have a million fandoms, a large amount of them have very nondescript dress, or are basically just average humans. I made my way through a few other things I liked, finding only these four options.

Game of Thrones: Daenerys Targaryen

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While I don’t really have the figure for a large amount of her costumes, this one pictured above is fairly simple and doesn’t require me to be super thin. Also the actress who plays Daenerys is naturally a brunette, which gives her dark eyebrows and a blonde wig which I could also do.

Game of Thrones: Margaery Tyrell

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I wouldn’t necessarily say that Margaery was one of my favourite characters but she does have some beautiful dresses. I’ve seen a few I like on Etsy, so she’s definitely a consideration. Not to mention, the actress who plays Margaery – Natalie Dormer – will be at London Film and Comic Con.

Harry Potter: Hermione Granger

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Well not technically Hermione I don’t suppose, but a Hogwarts student. I’d love an excuse to buy a proper set of robes and this could be just that excuse! Plus I could pretty much wear whatever I wanted underneath, making it a fairly simple costume.

Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen

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Katniss has a lot of pretty dresses, but even her simple outfits are nice. She’s another brunette as well and being Katniss Everdeen would be a good excuse to learn how to fishtail braid.

I’ve racked my brains and I’m really struggling for other suggestions. Velma or Daphne from Scooby Doo perhaps? Tomb Raider? Star Trek costume? What I do know is that it won’t be anime, like a lot of Cosplay is – and it won’t be Superhero, owing to the fact those costumes are usually skin tight. I’m open to suggestions if anyone has any but right now I’m hoping to pick one, if not two of these suggestions above.

Filed Under: about me Tagged With: comic con, cosplay, costume, Disney, fairytale, fandom, game of thrones, geek, harry potter, hunger games, London film and comic con, movie, once upon a time, OUAT, TV

A life update

December 12, 2013 by Bel 1 Comment

So I haven’t written here in what feels like forever. In fact its actually only been a month – almost exactly – but still it feels like a long time.

Life has been fairly hectic around here, filled with both highs and lows. As I mentioned very briefly the last time I posted, Chris was in a motorbike accident back in November but luckily he was okay. That said he’s been having dizzy spells ever since and is now off on sick leave.

The rest of the month was filled with jewellery making and a Hunger Games murder mystery (oh and I saw Catching Fire at the cinema too!). One of my best friends (Nat from But a Mask) had a birthday on 27th November and in honour of that we had a murder mystery dinner. I had found a cheap (and dodgy) Hunger Games murder mystery on Etsy where all the parts were female. Luckily our bunch of friends are all up for a good laugh and so even the guys were willing to dress up and take part. Sadly we didn’t have any group pictures taken again but here are a selection of the pics. The rest can be found here.

Guests included me (top right), Hollie (from Touch of Magic), Nat (from But a Mask)
Amy (from Cocktails in Teacups) and Chris (from This, That and Everything Else)

So other than planning the Hunger Games murder mystery (which I might get around to posting about separately but perhaps not), the rest of the month and the beginning of December was filled with jewellery making – as I mentioned before. Rhiannon (from The Sparkly Panda) and I had decided in October that we would do Lincoln Christmas Market together, sharing a stall. There was a lot of prep to be done for that but luckily it was all done on time.

I made a Facebook page here for my jewellery and I have a website here too. Please check them out as I will be listing my left over stock shortly.

Anyway, Christmas Market was December 5th to December 8th and while it was crazy busy, it was also a huge amount of fun. Despite the chaos and terrible organisation by the person in charge, we all had a great time and even came away with a bit of spending money in our pockets. Now we’re just trying to decide if it’s something we’d want to do again next year…

Our stall at Lincoln Christmas Market

Rhiannon and I are both incredibly geeky person and so that’s pretty much what our stall was made from – geekery. You can find Rhiannon’s stuff here on her facebook page Rosy Red Apple. She also wrote a blog post about Christmas Market which you can find here.

In between the murder mystery, the jewellery and the Christmas Market, we did manage to find time to put up our Christmas Tree too. We’ve gone for a whole set of new decorations this year and the girls are really pleased with our Disney themed tree. We still have another one to put up yet but this is the main one in the lounge.

Finally this week has been topped off with both some bad stuff and some good stuff. Saturday Lily performed in her first ballet performance. She was a munkin in Over the Rainbow and she was adorable. Sadly we weren’t allowed to take pictures and so I don’t have any but I do have a program to remember it by. However on Sunday she came down with a really bad sickness bug and has been ill ever since! I took Monday and Tuesday off work but went back Wednesday reluctantly. Its definitely made me think twice about the pros and cons of being a working mum…

Yesterday however was a happy occasion, despite all the illness and worry. My eldest daughter Megan turned 9 and although I can’t believe where the years have gone, I have managed to bring up a beautiful, smart and amazing (not so) little girl. Though the day was not entirely a happy one, we did manage to make it a good day in the end. It had a Happy Ending at least.

Lily seems better today which is good but I’m still holding my breath as she isn’t eating properly yet. However we’re all looking forward to the weekend and Megan’s birthday party. We’re heading to the cinema to watch Frozen and then to ASK for dinner.

So that’s my life update for now and hopefully I’ll be back in the blogging spirit soon. Till then!

Filed Under: about me Tagged With: birthday, cake, christmas, costumes, friends, hunger games, Hunger Games Murder Mystery, illness, jewellery, kids, life, Lily, Lincoln Christmas Market, Megan, party, update

#BEDM – Food Glorious Food

November 4, 2013 by Bel 2 Comments

I often write on my blog about going out for dinner or even recipes that I cook sometimes. I also work with food every day and of course feed myself and my kids daily. I wondered what exactly I could write for today’s topic, that was until I decided to work on my next murder mystery last night…

Today I bought, this:

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Yep! Remember I mentioned how our next Murder Mystery is Hunger Games themed? Well last night I discovered this book and today I made the decision to buy it. I can’t tell you how incredibly excited I am to have a flick through it and decide what we might have for dinner at the murder mystery!

I also discovered this YouTube channel, which is called Hungry for Hunger Games. I ended up watching loads of them last night and I already have some ideas on what to do! There was also this website Fictional Food, which although isn’t solely Hunger Games related, it does have loads of Hunger Games themed food. A bonus to stumbling onto that site also meant I found a recipe for Minecraft cookies! Which means my 8 year old (turning 9) will be incredibly happy when her birthday rolls around in December.

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Do you love to cook? Is your cooking ever geeky or based on a fandom? 
How about themed birthday cakes? Excuse me while I go geek out some more…
Blog Every Day in November badge

Filed Under: bedn Tagged With: blog challenge, cooking, food, geek, hunger games, minecraft, murder mysteries

Addiction – #1 T-shirts

June 23, 2013 by Bel 3 Comments

I’ve not been massively active on my blog this week as unfortunately I’ve been ill. However that has given me some time to think about a few posts I’ve wanted to make. This one sees a new feature, that will come up as and when I think of anything. Welcome to Addiction…

Addiction Number 1 is t-shirts.
My name is Bel Smith and I am a t-shirt addict. It’s been five minutes since my last purchase…

Just over a year ago, my brother bought me a t-shirt from a website called TeeFury. He’d mentioned the site to me a couple of times but I’d never really taken much notice, until he got me this t-shirt.

The basic concept of the site is that one t-shirt is printed every day and is only available for those 24 hours. Once its gone, its gone. Artists submit their original work, usually mashups of two tv shows, two movies, two games etc. and so they’re not t-shirts you’ll find everywhere else. That’s not to say you won’t find them elsewhere, but just not in the high street shops. The site usually features most mainstream fandoms, so if you’re a typical geek then you’ll love it. I have the site bookmarked on my browser and check it daily (see? addicted!).

Over the past 12-13 months, I have purchased all these t-shirts from TeeFury:

In this selection there are references to; How I Met Your Mother, Game of Thrones, Big Bang Theory, Dr Horrible’s Sing-along-blog, Wizard of Oz, Beatles, Iron Man, Iron Giant, Indiana Jones, Bubble Bobble, Walking Dead, Geek Symbols, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Alice in Wonderland and Dr Who. Looking at it, this covers vast majority of my fandoms.

However my addiction isn’t limited to just TeeFury. Oh no. A few months later I found another site called Qwertee. This is a UK based site (or at least Europe somewhere), whereas TeeFury is US. The prices are very similar at $11 plus $4 for TeeFury and £8 plus £2.50 for Qwertee. That said, Qwertee t-shirts do come a lot faster than TeeFury (location of course) and Qwertee’s t-shirts also come with free Haribo!

Sometimes you see duplicates across the two sites of course – artists submit to as many sites as possible I imagine – but often you also get a lot of new stuff. The advantage even to duplicates is that if you missed it on one site, you often can catch it on the other.

My Qwertee collection looks like this:

Here you have references to; Game of Thrones, Thor, Iron Man, Ghost Rider, Nightmare before Christmas, Captain America, Disney, Walking Dead, Care Bears, Avengers, Princess Bride, Harry Potter, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Lord of the Rings, Tea & Coffee, How I Met Your Mother, Monsters Inc. and Wikipedia.

If I’m not at work, you can just about guarantee I’m wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. At roughly £10 a t-shirt I have no problem buying these tops as and when I see ones I like. Though it may seem like a lot, if you consider that there is a t-shirt a day, over two sites, for at least the last year – I’ve done pretty well to only have about thirty five tops in total. Mind you, that’s not to say I haven’t bought other t-shirts.

These t-shirts above are ones I have bought from other places, not Qwertee or TeeFury. Not all of them are “original artwork” like the other two sites, but they’re still pretty unique. The “I am a Muggle” tee is from TruffleShuffle, while the Avengers one is from Play.com. True Story, the Toy Story and HIMYM mashup, along with the Ravenclaw Qudditch team one, are both from RedBubble (both ones I missed originally on TeeFury). Finally the GoT meets Street Fighter (or similar games) mashup is from a site I’m relatively new to called RIPT.

While these are a look at all my current owns, I have to admit that I’ve recently stumbled onto a billion more sites to keep an eye on. I probably shouldn’t be encouraging anyone else to get addicted, but if you love fandoms and t-shirts anywhere near as much as me – and if you can definitely appreciate a good mashup plus original artwork – these are the places to look at.

24 Hour Tees
TeeFury – $11 tees (plus ability to pick 1 of 3 colours), long established and offering a good rate of postage
Qwertee – £8 tees, long established, cheap postage and free sweets!
RIPT Apparel – $10 a top, also offering kids t-shirts, hoodies, iphone covers etc. good postage rate.
Shirt Punch – Pop Culture or TV – basically 2 sites but 3 designs, t-shirts, hoodies, iphone cases, posters etc. Starts a $10 and reasonable postage.
Shirt Woot (part of a whole Woot site) – $12, not sure about postage, lots of other designs also available but varying prices. Other products also available on one day Woot.
TeeVillain – a very very new site that I haven’t yet ordered anything from (opened only this week). Basically designs all featuring Villains. $11 each.

Slightly longer, but no more than 2-3 days
Epic Embrace – 48 hour tees. $11
The Yetee – 48 hours. $11 (other tees available)
OtherTees – 3 days. $11
TeeTee – 72 hours. €12
NwB – 3.5 day tees. $12 tee, $32 hoodie (other tees available)

Other sites to check out, with longer listings or more variety than one design
Pop Up Tee
Tee Turtle
Freshly Brewed Tee

However if you can’t be bothered to check all these, every day. Go here: Shirtoid

Shirtoid is basically a site that rounds up all the cool tees and puts them in one place. It features links to the one t-shirt a day sites, the every few days t-shirts and even the ones that are there longer term. It links to Redbubble artists shops, along with artist shops on other sites. Its also followable on Facebook and Twitter.

Now go, go! What are you waiting for? Go find yourself a really Legen… wait for it… dary T-shirt!!

Filed Under: about me Tagged With: addiction, artwork, avengers, Disney, dr horrible, dr who, fandom, game of thrones, geek, harry potter, himym, hunger games, iron man, links, nerd, qwertee, shirtoid, shopping, t-shirts, teefury

Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a forty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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