Forks and Brushes

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.

[ 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

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.

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.

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!

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!

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:

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!

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.

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!

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