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Showing posts from 2015

A Nespresso Coffee Machine for Christmas? #CoffeeWithCurrys

For any coffee lovers, the best Christmas present is probably a quality coffee machine, so that to enjoy a fresh cup at home every morning. My top choice has to be Nespresso. I own their smallest machine called Magimix . It was around £80, very affordable price tag, with coffee capsule averaging about 30p each. I love my machine so much that you could imagine my excitement when I was  invited by Joes Blog to attend the Nespresso x Currys event. 

Life Updates and Snapmas 2015

Hey, how’s everyone doing? I could not believe how quick the past few months have gone! I originally planned to have a month off from blogging to get re-inspired and to settle into my new job. And before I realised, we are almost in December!

Summer Holiday Starts now!

It's time to start a summer vocation! Not that I am going away to anywhere.. August is my last month to be with my current company, which I have work for the last 10 years! It's not easy to leave to the job after such a long time, but the time has come to move on to the next challenge. So I have decided take a break from blogging to settle life, I need to refresh myself and get inspired again... Wishing everyone a great summer and I will see you all again in Autumn with a fresh start! With love, Georgina P.S. I will still be active on instagram @forksandbrushes for general updates in life!

Paper Library : Marks and Spencer’s Stationery Department

Marks and Spencer is known for their pretty yet affordable greeting cards and beautiful wrapping papers, but did you know that they have a proper stationery department too? I certainly don’t! Not until I came across it at Westfield White City.

(It’s Probably) The only UK planner stickers shop on Etsy – EllieBeth Designs UK [UPDATED]

[ UPDATE: As from 5th Oct 2016, EllieBeth Design UK is no longer on Etsy but has launched her own website www.elliebethdesignsuk.com ! With a bigger collection of stickers and other goodies too!  ] As a planner addict, Etsy is THE place to go (online) to buy all washi tapes and stickers. Tons of shops are selling all sorts of designs and colours, never short of choices. However, the problem for me is that I live in the UK, and 99% of these Etsy shops are in America. Despite each sticker sheet is priced reasonably, the total often shoots up when adding the shipping costs on, which to me, it makes every order just a bit too expensive. And of course it’s the time that it takes from the ordering date to the date the stickers actually arrives, the whole process probably takes about 4 weeks (2 weeks production and 2 weeks shipping). Like now although it is only the beginning of July, I have already placed orders for August Kits (ideally September Kits too), because if I order any July

SPOILER ALERT - What's in my June Little French Riviera Box

As summer has officially started, don’t we all want to spend our summer holiday by the sea? My Little French Riviera Box has brought us help to make sure we look chic on the beach!

Zara’s Mixed Leather Mini Bowling Bag

When I was ordering this bag from Zara’s website, I was 50/50 about it… It looked quite small in the photos, plus the price, £69.99… ouch! But hey, I thought I could return it if I don’t like it. And I am so glad that I have ordered it because I just love it so much!

Estee Lauder Enlighten Dark Spot Correcting Night Serum

Lately I have been obsessed with the Estee Lauder Enlighten Dark Spot Correcting Night Serum . In the past I tried the Kiehl’s Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution, it was alright but I didn’t find the result that amazing. So when I got a sample of for this Estee Lauder Enlighten Serum, I didn’t have high hopes … But how wrong I was! The sample bottle lasted me for two generous weeks and after that I rushed out to get the full size. Although it is called a serum, it is a light milky lotion texture, it is easily absorbed into skin and it feels moisturising. With the sample bottle, I used it every night after my cleansing routine. I can see visible results to my face after two weeks. My blemish marks are significantly lighter (my main concern) and the skin tone for the rest of my face is visibly more even.  Now I have the full size bottle (30ml, also available in 50ml size), I am going to follow the instructions to use it both day and night. Use it at night to reduce

Etsy Stickers Haul 3 and Stickers on the go tips

I admit that I am having a problem with stickers and Etsy, I just can't stop looking and buying them! You can see what I bought here and here , and I have bought even more!!! And at the end of this haul, I also want to share how I am taking the stickers with me in my Filofax.

YSL Volupte Tint in Oil

YSL Volupte Tint in Oil came to my attention because one of my favourite Hong Kong YouTuber Elizabeth Yeung mentioned it too many times in her regular videos and vlogs, so I had to see for myself. And I am so glad that I have! These (yes, plural, because I bought two!) have swiftly become my new favourite lip product!

SPOILER ALERT – What’ in My May Little Provence Box

With May’s My Little Box we are experiencing the South of France without leaving the country and we can dream our summer away... 

Foodie Friday #24 : WA Cafe, Ealing, West London

WA Cafe is not any cafe, it is a Japanese patisserie. WA is an independent cafe and have their own bakery on-site to make cakes and buns freshly everyday.

Filofax Personal Willow Planner Set Up 2015

I was quite happy with my Moleskine Monthly set up . However, as my Notes sections grows, I started to think a ring binder system would suit better so that I wouldn’t have to worry about transferring notes from diary to dairy each year. I tried using my Kikki K Dark Mint Medium , which is so beautiful. The problem with that (for me right now anyway) is that Kikki K is a bit too big and bulky for my summer handbags as I tend to carry a smaller bag in summer. The solution came when I had a random browse in Ryman Stationeries the other day and I saw their Filofax series were on sale!  So I picked up the Personal size in Willow right away as it was reduced from £30 to £20, with all the inserts included!! Filofax Personal Planner is slimmer than a Kikki K Medium as the rings in Filofax are smaller. It’s the maximum thickness for me in the summer. I want to share with you of how I set mine up. Hopefully you might find a few tips and tricks that would help you to organise your planner.

Etsy Stickers Haul Part 2 (and Affordable Stickers Organiser/Storage)

This is the second part of my recent stickers haul on Etsy. First batch of my stickers arrived last week , and the rest arrived this week!

Etsy Stickers Haul part 1 (and shipping to UK experience)

With my crazy obsession with planners lately, I HAVE TO get some stickers!! I do have some stickers already but they are more for decorative purpose. I wanted to get some that are specialised for planners – page flags, To-Do list, Weekend banners and icons for appointments. Lots of planner girls on YouTube or blog always talk about shops on Etsy, so I decided give it another go. (I used Etsy once years ago, the person I ordered from was not good at all, after lots of complaint emails back & forth, I finally got the refund, and since then I’d never looked on Etsy again). This time I started off with shops that people mentioned time and time again on YouTube and blogs. Most of the shop owners design their own stickers!! I was jaw dropped by how talented these people are!! This is just the part 1 of my haul because some of the stuff haven’t arrived yet. At the end of this post, I also want to talk a little about the shipping experience. So let’s jump right in!

Laneige Two Tone Lip Bar

I was ecstatic when I received this surprise lipstick from +Cynthy Chui  . How could a lipstick reinvent itself and be exciting? The Koreans seem to have endless creativity in recent years. The latest lip trend is what the Korean called “petal lips” – using two colours to create a gradient effect, lips look more 3D and have the “just bitten” attractiveness to them.  But instead of putting on two lipsticks one after another, any other easier way to achieve this effect? The latest renovation is Laneige’s Two Tone Lip Bar. Laneige has cleverly created this two-tone lipstick – one swipe will give the gradient lip effect instantly!

SPOILER ALERT - What in my April Little Dream Box

Woo hoo! It’s time of the month again to share with you the latest My Little Box. The theme of April is about daydreaming… Could be just no purpose daydreaming… or it could be daydreaming our dream life and we should go out to get it! In April’s My Little Dream Box, we have:

#PlanWithGeorgina : Have you joined the #ListersGottaList challenge?

I have!  This challenge is hosted by Cori from The Rest Girl . Cori is a brilliant crafter. Her work is super fun & creative , I am obsessed with her YouTube channel . She just let her camera roll during her project, so that the viewers can see her creative process from the start to finish.  Cori was inspired by #30daysoflists challenge and she is now hosting her own list! The idea is: there is a prompt everyday, you list out your answers, and go wild to decorate your page! The prompts are designed to reflect / capture the moments of life. You can download the list FREE . Although it is one per day prompt, don't feel pressure to do it everyday! It's perfectly ok to be days behind or to skip a day, or just treat this as a craft project on any time scale!

#PlanWithGeorgina: Where to get planner supplies in London UK?

As my planner obsession grows, I now spend my free time to go looking for washi tapes rather than lipsticks. In the UK, card making community is much larger than planner decorations. Cute washi tapes and cute stickers are lacking. The most obvious places to go would be Hobby Craft, WH Smiths, Paperchase and stationery section of department stores, or order online from Etsy. However, I just prefer to hold the stuff in hand rather than looking online. I have found a few more options apart from the obvious mentioned above.

My New Kikki K Planner and Shipping Experience

If you have read this post , you should know that I have been obsessed with planners and all related stationeries and accessories. The planner I am currently using is the Moleskine Monthly Notebook. However, with all the new planners videos that I have discovered on YouTube, I was desperate to have either an Erin Condren planner or a Kikki K planner . At the end, I chose Kikki K because I like to carry my planner with me everywhere, whereas Erin Condren is more of a desktop planner as it is quite big in size. It took 3 weeks for it to be shipped from Australia to the UK, but it is worth the wait!

SPOILER ALERT – What’s in March My Little SuperBox

The theme of March My Little Box is “every woman is a SUPER HERO in our own way”. So the contents of the box is designed to pamper effectively so we can get through each day fresh and full of energy, hence the name “My Little SuperBox”! Inside My Little Superbox, we have:

So Susan Lip Love Subscription

The latest contender to the UK beauty subscription is So Susan’s Lip Love Subscription. Up to now, all beauty boxes feature a mix of skincare and makeup products (with My Little box throws in lifestyle items to the mix), but there isn’t one that focus on one particular area. So Susan Lip Love stands out in the crowd by focusing on-trend lip products every month. Each month you get 4 items - 3 of them are lip products plus 1 for the rest of the face. You might think, “all lip products? Do I really need more lipsticks each month?!” BUT, So Susan put clever twists on their products, these lipsticks are meant to be multi-tasking. Their launch bag, February 2015 is full of fabulous goodies that every makeup addict will love!

#PlanWithGeorgina : Introduction to Planners

Today's post is something a bit different... 

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous year!  恭喜發財!祝大家身體健康,心想事成!羊年事事如意!

#WLog : Chinese New Year in Hong Kong #1

I am starting a new word called "wlog", it means  "Weekly Log". Video Log is "vlog", so the blog version of a random daily or weekly posts about what's going on in life is "wlog". ;) I am in Hong Kong now. Today is Chinese New Year's Eve.

Life updates: Where have I been?

I have moved house! Since after Christmas, my family and I have been packing, giving things away to charities and throwing stuff away. When you have lived in the same space for over 10 years, you really don’t realise how much stuff you have accumulated over the years. I found that I literally stuffed every inch of gap with things… I just don’t understand how can ones have so much stuff!! It seems like my belongings had their own lives and grown in numbers!! The past three weeks have been solidly on the house move. It was so stressful and I have neglected a lot of people around me, including you my dear readers. My blog will be slowly getting back on track as most of the unpacking are now done and we can all start settling in and slowly getting our lives back to normal. Thank you for those of you who haven’t yet clicked “unsubscribed” or “unfollow” button. I really appreciate your support and patience. I also want to say I have a really exciting February planned

Happy New Year!!

Happy new year!!!  May we all have a beautiful and delicious 2015!!!