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Thursday 27 February 2014

Inspired By #108: Life

I made this card in 10 minutes, right after I fetched my son back from school. I had some thoughts on life after visited my grandmother at nursing home before fetching my son. I pulled out the Papertrey Ink Life stamp which borrowed from my craft friend, Cindy. The stamps clearly express what I had in my mind. I used the colors and the repeated pattern from the photo of Inspired By #108.



Here's my card:



It is not length of life, but depth of Life. Life isn't matter of milestones, but of moments. It is very true indeed. Actually I stamped the sentiments slanted but it doesn't matter because Life is not perfect too. The up and down make our life great! Don't you think so?

I'm entering this card for


Happy Crafting!

Enjoy and appreciate Life!

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Unforgettable Scent of Love: Way Back into You, Crabtree & Evelyn ( Typewriter Project )



Crabtree &Evelyn, a brand name that I loved since I was young. The name and logo itself, conjures a lovely image in my mind, of the country side, British ladies sitting elegantly in their garden enjoying a cuppa tea surrounded by the lovely scent emanating from the fresh blooms, herbs and fruits.   


When Crabtree & Evelyn arrived  in my country, I was very attracted by their packaging and display. Oh!! Everything that goes with it. The moment I entered the store, its like being transported to an enchanted land. However, I couldn't afford to own these products as I was a student back then. To me, C&E products were luxurious toiletries, gourmet foods and gifts for those who enjoy a sophisticated lifestyle. I would just looked through the window and admire C&E products every time I passed by the store and wished that one day I would have the chance to own these products and enjoy the extraordinary pleasure.

My 1st extraordinary pleasurable experience with Crabtree & Evelyn

Still in my university life, my bestie Min brought me a Crabtree & Evelyn travelling set from London as a gift. What a surprise! Oh dear! I was thrilled beyond words. I felt so pampered. That was the very first Crabtree & Evelyn products I ever had. It was a Rosewater Mini Popper which comprises of :
  •        Soap 40g (Made in Great Britain),
  •        Shower & Bath Gel 50ml (Made in Switzerland),
  •       Body Lotion 50ml (Made in Great Britain) and 
  •        Petit Sachet (Made in China).




Can you imagine how great the gift was? Thank Ewe, Min! And I kept the packaging till today. The photo showed the packaging that I have kept for more than 15 years. (I can’t find the bottle of the Shower & Bath Gel, else it would be nice.)

My 2nd extraordinary pleasurable experience with Crabtree & Evelyn

Before leaving the company, I received a farewell gift from my senior. It was a set of Crabtree & Evelyn LA SOURCE toiletries. I was so touched and absolutely delighted by the gift.


10 years later

I finally stepped into Crabtree & Evelyn boutique to shop for gifts for my bestie and a special friend who loved C&E products so much. Of course, this time I bought some products home to indulge and pamper myself too.

Photo taken during my shopping. 
Had fun during a 'walk' in the Secret Garden. 


***

My 3 favorite products to share

I’ve tried a few products, not much, but it is hard to choose only 3 favorite products. Well, I choose...
·         Rosewater triple milled soap
·         La Source®Intensive Conditioning Foot Mask
·         Avocado Olive & Basil Skin Revitalising Body Lotion


I won’t talk about the Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Therapies (that’s Crabtree & Evelyn speak for hand creams). I know, it’s their famous product, especially La Source® Hand Therapy with one sold every 30 seconds in the world! I just wanted to do something different.


Rosewater triple milled soap


The story of 

Rosewater

The rose is the symbol of love for good reason. Timeless, alluring and majestic, its heady scent and skin-beautifying properties have been celebrated for centuries. In fact, the simple fusion of rose petal fragrance and pure water is a classic English beauty tonic.

Our Rosewater collection starts with a distillation of the legendary 'hundred petal' rose. We then gently blend a delicate fragrance bouquet of violet, peony, musk and hints of dew-splashed foliage for an indulgent, aromatic twist. 
- Crabtree & Evelyn





I opened up the Rosewater triple milled soap. I smelled it and suddenly my eyes were filled with unshed tears. The scent made me think of my bestie and the sweet and bitter times we had been through. Although the scent was a little different compared to the classic Rosewater, the fragrance still evokes the elegant essence of the hundred petal rose, a coveted scent through the centuries that is as captivating now as ever.

“We use a traditional soap making technique to craft our Rosewater Triple-Milled Soap. We blend in beautiful rosewater fragrance, shea and cocoa butters and wheat germ, rose hip and evening primrose oils. So your skin gets gentle cleansing, softening moisture and a light, refreshing scent.” - Crabtree & Evelyn

Rosewater triple milled soap comes in a set of three and 3.0 oz each. It was formulated without mineral oil, parabens, phthalates or propylene glycol and suited to all skin types.

I love the scent of Rosewater triple milled soap. It is not too thick but just nice. It is triple-milled for lasting fragrance, it lightly scents my skin. It softens my skin after wash too. Furthermore, this soap lasts longer than regular soap.


La Source®Intensive Conditioning Foot Mask


The story of 

La Source®

Beneath the craggy cliffs of coastal England, Scotland and Wales lies a wealth of botanical treasures. These underwater algae, mineral salts and seaweeds offer remarkable skin-soothing benefits. We’ve harnessed their restorative powers—as well as the crisp, clean scent of ocean air—for whenever you need to escape the stresses of daily life. Just drift away on the aquatic accords and essences of marine and musk. - Crabtree & Evelyn




I smelled the mask. The fragrant is so familiar and it makes me think of two of my seniors in previous company who very helpful and took good care of me. I missed them so much. The scent is just a crisp and clean reminiscent of fresh sea air.

Our luxuriously rich and moisturising foot mask is the ultimate treat for dry feet. Containing a detoxifying clay to help draw out impurities and a blend of shea butter and mango seed oil to moisturise, feet will be left baby soft and beautifully refreshed. - Crabtree & Evelyn

La Source® Intensive Conditioning Foot Mask is an award-winning product. It is free from mineral oil, parabens or propylene glycol. It is easy to use. Smooth it on, wear the plastic booties provided, let it dry, then rinse it off and it works to moisturize, soften and recondition in just 20 minutes.

I love the scent of fresh sea air. Imagine I am having my food spa at home by the sea…

I like the results of this creamy mask. My feet are visibly fairer; they are noticeably softer like baby soft and smoother after use. The mask will not eradicate callouses, of course but they do soften them a little.


I love the cool and minty sensation. Oh, the great sensation does last long! I washed away the mask and I wear socks after that. I can still feel the minty sensation. This mask   just “Re-boot” my feet. I like how it relaxes my tired feet.

There are some points that needed to be improve. There’s no a spatula, brush or gloves provided for application. I just use my hands to apply.  The 5 pairs of plastic booties included in the box are really long rectangular plastic bags. It would be nice if they had drawstring mouths. It is hard to walk as the bags will slowly recede when I walk and the mask dries easily. So what I did was wearing socks over my bagged feed.




Avocado Olive & Basil Skin Revitalising Body Lotion


The story of 

Avocado, Olive & Basil

From the sun-drenched orchards of the Mediterranean, comes a deeply hydrating blend of plant extracts, botanical oils and emollient butters. Extracts of conditioning basil, rejuvenating olives and creamy avocado combine to comprise our most moisturising collection—a series of elixirs that soften, soothe and revitalise. Your skin will drink it in. - Crabtree & Evelyn




My gifts from Crabtree & Evelyn during my purchase at the Secret Garden. 

I definitely know that avocado, olive and basil are great and delicious to serve in salad and sandwich; and now they are being bottled by Crabtree & Evelyn. I wonder what the outcome is.

I would say that’s the perfect combination for a body lotion. I just fell in love with the wonderful green herbal scent. I applied it at night after shower and it leaves just the most beautiful smell. When I woke up the next morning, it was subtle but it's still there.

Drench dry skin with our Avocado Olive & Basil Skin Revitalising Body Lotion. A blend of energising herbal fragrance and moisturising avocado and shea butters, this award-winning lotion is infused with olive and basil extract to help condition your skin. So it's left soft, scented and ready to face the day.
- Crabtree & Evelyn



I have not applied any lotion on my body before as I hate the greasy feeling after using lotion. This is my first attempt to use a body lotion. Avocado Olive & Basil Skin Revitalising Body Lotion totally wins my heart. The texture of the body lotion is smooth and light,  even though the consistency of the lotion is thick, it is not heavy and it absorbs quickly into the skin once it is applied. It is truly  non-greasy. I just hate greasy lotion. Other than that, this lotion is very hydrating, leaving a thin shiny film  on the surface of my skin to lock in the moisture making my skin really soft and nourished.

***

That’s the stories about my 3 favorite products. 3 different products and 3 different sensations. Just like the post title mentioned, the unforgettable scent of love that brings me back to Crabtree & Evelyn.  Hope you enjoyed reading this post!

This is Tee's Crabtree & Evelyn Typewriter Project.



***
Visit Crabtree & Evelyn's website for more information.
Find Crabtree & Evelyn on Facebook.
For store locations, click HERE

*****

All the products of Crabtree & Evelyn are bought with my own pocket money.

All opinions expressed are my own.

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Inspired By: I Love You (I admit it.)

When I first saw this photo, I just fall in love with it.


May be is the colors that catch my eyes. It inspired me and made my crafty hand itchy. 

Here’s what I came out with.




This is a very clean and simple card. I chose to go with the colors since I love the colors so much. I had 2 hearts too. Can you spot the hearts? Then, I had stripes as what shown in the inspired photo and also JAI Challenge# 202 - Just Add Stripes.

For the layout, I used the sketch designed by N@ Ali from CAS(E) this Sketch #64.



I adhered assorted design washi tapes to a white panel. I punched a heart-shaped and adhere the punched out heart-shaped with foam squares. Yes, I love this card. I admit it. I just love the outcome. Hope you like it too!

I’m entering this card for

Happy Crafting!


Wish everyone have a great time and full of joy and love in this LOVEly month of February!

Tuesday 18 February 2014

My 14 FEB 14

It happens once in 19 years. Valentine’s Day and ‘Chap Goh Mei’ falls on the same day. ( ‘Chap Goh Mei’ itself means the 15th night of Chinese New Year in Hokkien, which also marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. It is known by many as the Chinese version of Valentines’ Day.)

On this special day, Hubby Jay and I celebrated our Valentine’s day with our parents who never celebrate any Valentine’s day since they started dating, and with my friend Lee Joo and her family.  We didn’t want to be stuck in the traffic jam; we didn’t want to ‘squeeze’ ourselves into the crowd; we didn't want to dine in an expensive restaurant on this well-known day. We had our very special candlelight dinner at a very special place called De Balcony Place. A new restaurant? Hmm.. Yes, it’s a new place in town! We had our inexpensive candle light dinner there.

So where’s the De Balcony Place located? Hehe… Actually we celebrated our Valentine ’s Day at my house’s balcony. I purposely named it De Balcony Place because I wanted to make it sounds like we were having our dinner at a proper restaurant. To make this celebration to be a special one, everything we had were all homemade and handmade with love. My dad cooked the main dish and some side dishes; Lee Joo prepared the soup, desserts and drinks; I in-charged of all the decorations; the rest set up the table, got the things done and some other preparation. Of course, the most important was we took turns to take care of our kids and baby.



With such a beautiful moonlight



With the deem light from the street lights



With the LED crystal light.
I reused and upcycled the signage from the backdrop that being used during my wedding reception.


For the table setting, I had the idea of combining the elements from Chinese and western (中西合拼). I had the western tableware but I added the Chinese printed soup bowl and spoon. We had long table instead of round but I had Chinese color: red and orange table runner on top of it. I punched 2 butterflies and a heart-shaped from patterned papers and placed them on top of the red pocket napkin, then followed by a mini mandarin orange (砂糖桔). Red and Yellow serviette were being used. White vase with white flowers and white cottage lantern were part of the table deco.






Lemonade



Creamy Mushroom soup served.



Followed by our main dish: Chicken Chop with black pepper sauce. 
It served with special made salad with mandarin orange in it. 
Kids had their Salmon.



Tony had double shot!


Roasted pumpkin with Bolognese sauce



Konnyaku Jelly and Chocolate cupcake (no photo taken) as dessert



A heart-shaped chocolate cake specially baked by Lee Joo for me as Valentine’s gift. How sweet she was!


Oh dear! Look at the sweet little couple. 
Both of them chased around after their food.



Baby Hang had his dinner under the moonlight.



4 lovely couples and a baby.



We had our wonderful, enjoyable, relaxed and significant Valentine’s Day! 

Happy Valentine's Day and Chap Goh Mei!