You might have heard of the old Micropets and now Takara Tomy has released a new, more interactive version of this critter. Ahw, just look at it:

The series consists of nine different pets, new versions such as adorable bunnies and tigers will be released later this year. The robo-animals, with names like Whipped Cream and Mocha, can move around and avoid obstacles themselves.

Each pet moves at the snap of your fingers, in four modes:

1. Chase mode - chases after its ball or other objects.
2. Stroll mode - moves around while avoiding obstacles.
3. Song mode - sings one of the two installed songs.
4. Duet mode - sings together with another micropet.

Watch this youtube video to see the micropet in action.

You can adopt them at Strapya World or Brando for about $20,-

Can’t get enough of this pet? Enjoy yourself by playing this simple game - move the micropet along with your mouse to collect candy, but avoid all obstacles. Or put a cute paper home together for your pet.

Yes, I’ve been gone for a while, let’s call it a summer break. The last month and probably until Christmas (=vacation!) I’m up till my ears in work, but I do hope to blog more often. Also I’ve finally updated the cute links directory at http://www.kao-ani.com/cute

As you might know I really enjoy cute food illustrations and goodies. Some people even take it to the extent of creating real kawaii food. My hubby stumbled upon this cake on the internet:

It’s a birthday cake for a girl who wanted Octonauts themed cupcakes. More sweetness, including a pizza cake , Can be found at Coco Cake.

Hello Noami has probably baked a million of cute cupcakes, considering her impressive Flickr account. One of my favourites are these creations a based on Puccho - Japanese candy:

Hungry? You can find lots of recipes on the internet, like these ones. But if your oven has just broken down -like mine- you might like to create a treat with no calories. How about some plush cupcakes?

Instructions and a pattern are available at Fantastic Toys

To end this sugary sweet entry in style, I would like to plug the Tummie Friends .

Twitter icon from Mirkku

Today I was looking for a nice bluebird to decorate my company Twitter with. Next week I’m giving a small training about Social media like Twitter. So I though it would be suited to have a more professional Twitter to show. But I still designed a cute theme, I just can’t help myself.

In my search for a pretty bird, I came across a Finish company called Design Mirkku. Not only does Mirjami offer Twitter Icons, there’s also a set of cute RSS Feed icons available. You can download those for free at Smashing magazine:

• Cute Tweeters Icons Set
• Feed Me Animals RSS Icons

Although the Mirku set is my favourite, I think these icons are also worth mentioning:

• Free Twitter Birds - from Luc Latulippe
• Twitter badges - from Pasquale D’Silva
• Twitter illustration and icon -  from Pasquale D’Silva
• Icons set - from Dryicons
• Twitter bird logo - from iPotion

One last thing that you might enjoy is Twitter Keys. It provides symbols to use in your Tweets.