Tuesday 31 January 2017

Monthly Favourites/// January 2017.

Hello!!! 

A whole month of the new year is gone. 
Time flies and I am ok with it. No point sweating over it. :)
January was a good month. 
A long and nice month. 

I read 14 books!

I managed to get 31 posts up this month. 

We had some real winter for a change. 

I watched some wonderful TV shows and movies. 

Wore loads of Indian clothes. 

I journaled and really enjoyed my time spent making my journal as pretty as I can.

You were good month January. 

A good start to a New Year. 


Let's see some of my favourite things from January. 


1. Journal/// I am a list maker and resolution setter. So January is always about making resolutions for the New Year and this year was no different. I set up my new planner and journals and it has made me so happy. 
Above- This is the front page of my journal. I used some botanical die-cuts and some stickers to decorate the front page. 

Below- is my journal for the year. So pretty! It's from Accessorize. 








2. Favourite Mugs/// January was the month of drinking my coffee out of cute mugs! 
I love my Comical Cyanide mug (above) and this beautiful mug from Alicia Souza (below).
There is such a joy from having cute mugs in your kitchen. I think my coffee just tastes better out of a cute mug :) 







3. Favourite Bookmarks/// Gah!! These bookmarks had me at hello! 
I found these bookmarks on Instagram when I chanced upon The Comical Cyanide's Insta account. She had DM'ed me a while back saying how much she liked my account (so sweet) and I loved her art style so much! I had been meaning to get my hands on her some of her stuff and I finally ordered some of these beauties in January. 
I got 2 mugs and 15 (yes 15) bookmarks. A proper haul will come soon! 
:)

I am so in love with these delightful bookmarks! 
You can find these beautiful bookmarks HERE. 


4. Sherlock/// I will admit that this season of Sherlock was not my favourite but still some Sherlock is better than no Sherlock! Always happy to have my favourite show back on air. 


5. Peppa Pig/// I spotted a whole display of Peppa and her family of pigs at Hamley's. I was smitten. I know and knew nothing about Peppa and her show. But I saw this toy and I wanted it so bad. She is so cute and she is even holding a little toy of her own! 
I die! 


6. Stamps/// I have been obsessed with stamps and inks and the beauty they add to my journal pages. There is something so retro about stamps I love them. 


7. Winter Vibes/// My usually warm city was finally cold and wintery for a brief spell! I was in heaven and I got to wear some light sweaters and layer up. 
Ah!!! So happy to have had a semblance of winter. I especially love winter mornings. Quiet and lovely and so still and crisp. 


8. Silver Wearing/// I wore a lot of silver this month and it was my favourite thing. I wore so much Indian style and it made me so happy. I love this pendant of mine, it's Radha handprinted and then framed in silver. It's from Jaipur and it's one of my absolute favourites! 


9. Death in Paradise/// This is the 6th season of BBC's Death in Paradise, a crime show based in a beautiful Caribbean island, where the team of quirky and sweet cops solve murder cases and have a lot of fun whilst doing so. 


10. Unforgotten/// This is a really interesting detective series, which solves crimes that have happened in the past. Last season, the team solved a murder case from 1976 and this season, they're solving the murder of a man killed in early 1990. The cases and the performances are both excellent! 


Mini Book Reviews: Shadow in the Mirror by Deepti Menon & Nothing Else Matters by Vish Dhamija {Kindle Unlimited}





Book: Shadow in the Mirror

Author: Deepti Menon

Pages: 182

Read on: Kindle via our Kindle Unlimited Subscription 

Read in: 2 hours 

Plot Summary: It all begins with a death. Nita, a pregnant woman falling from her balcony becomes the string that unravels the plot. Her death casts a shadow over many lives; her heartbroken father, her husband and Vinny, a young journalist, drawn in by the whiff of foul play and murder.

What follows are stories within stories, eras and worlds colliding with each other, leaving behind splintered relationships and mesmerising slices of lives that appear to be drawn together and driven apart by the whimsical threads of destiny.

As events cast their shadows ahead to link the stories of Vinny, Kavita, Roma, Krish and Nita in an unrelenting knot, a journey starts to uncover the truth. What is the secret that links Nita’s death to the other characters? Will Vinny be able to unravel the mystery of Nita’s death?

Review: This is a pretty interesting book! It handles themes like love, manipulation, playing the victim card, sociopathy and such allied interesting things. At some level, it is kind of obvious, as we start looking into Nita's life, that who could've had the motive for killing her but the way the story unfolds and the way we find out about what drives our killer to kill is actually quite interesting. This is a tiny book (182 pages only) and is a nice and quick read. 

Rating: 4/5 

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Book: Nothing Else Matters 

Author: Vish Dhamija

Pages: 248 

Read on: Kindle via our Kindle Unlimited Subscription 

Read in: ~3 hours 

Plot Summary: Luv Singh is a hired gun; he carries out assassinations for an underworld don. The clients are anonymous, so are the targets.

Out one night on a job, he awaits his target to climb out of the car that’s just arrived at the scene. As he looks through the scope of his rifle, his finger on the trigger, he sees his target accompanied by one of the most gorgeous women Luv has ever seen: Zoya.

Zoya Merchant was Luv Singh’s girlfriend back in college, almost two decades earlier.

He fails to take a shot. He’s betrayed Zoya once before; He cannot assassinate her husband. Knowing that the mafia doesn’t condone failure or dissidence, he still pledges to save Zoya’s husband from whoever’s calling the shots.

Nothing Else Matters is a riveting tale set alternately in the criminal underworld and Zoya and Luv’s college lives and about making choices that impact lives forever. It is crime fiction, but it is also a heart-breaking romance of a love that never dies. 

Review: Nothing Else Matters (apart from being one of my favourite Metallica songs) had the potential to be a much more riveting book. However, somewhere, I think, the author got lost between trying to tell a love story and balance that with a gritty underworld, hafta giving, crime story. The book starts out well, Luv Singh, an ex-Xavierite, is now a hired gun. He has been asked to murder a prominent city businessman. When he is about to take the shot, he sees his college sweetheart- Zoya- with the man and decides against killing him. The book that goes back in time to Luv's college days and his romance with Zoya, how he ended up in the underworld (not the most plausible of tales..) etc. All of that was fine. I do wish, there was more of Luv investigating who wanted Zoya's husband dead and why.. The book is a decent read.. but, like I said, the author couldn't really balance the crime and the love aspects of the book together, making it a very 'meh' sort of read. 

Rating: 2.5/5 

Monday 30 January 2017

Monday Moods/// Bag Haul: Fold-over Tote from Thread Casa.

Hello! 

Time to share some more bag love. I recently did a post hauling a sling bag from Thread Casa, you can see it here. 
I saw this very unique fold-over style tote on the site and I fell in love. 
I love the vibrant colours and how in one bag you get 2 different kinds of prints and how well these said prints go together. 

Let's jump in and see this beauty. 





The straps are made of suede and this is great because it means that the straps don't slip off your shoulders as you are out and about. 
I am so in love with the colour, print and the style of this bag. 
It fits all of the things I need to carry around. 
Fairly roomy and it goes with every outfit. 

:)




Stationery Sunday: The Planner Society Kit // December// Unboxing & Review

Hello, hello!

We've been receiving the gorgeous Planner Society Kit for a few months now and so, I thought I will do a quick unboxing and review of their oh-so-pretty December kit.

We received this kit in early January and somehow this post is going up super late! Oops!

Without any further ado, let's dive in, shall we?!




Here's the envelope in which the kit goodies are packed into! This envelope is then put inside a box, so everything is safe from being jostled around! 




Here are the papers for the month. All winter florals with a touch of red (for Christmas).. What I like about the Planner Society Kit is that they have a very non-festive December kit.. I don't mind the reindeer and holly motifs but sometimes it is just good to have stuff that you can use even after the festive season is over! 




More papers!




Both sides of the papers are printed, so these were on the flipside. 




This month's kit came with a pencil case.. It has two sections and is very roomy! 




The sticky notes this month look like a floral planner.. so cute! 





You can't see these clearly, but these are stencils for drawing on borders and to-do lists in one's planner. So super useful! 




This month's paper clip is a floral vintage chair!! So adorable! 





The journaling cards this month have a sepia theme of sorts.. they are cute.. To be honest, I don't use these as much as I should.. hoarder problems! :)




I love die-cuts! These are not stickers and that makes them so versatile. Perfect for decorating a page/ spread in your journal or even laminating them into paper clips or something. Cute! 





Some close-ups of the die cuts! 




Some more die cut close-ups! 




Tabs! Cute and so useful! I use them to mark off months in my planner. 





Stickers!! I love stickers! Can't have enough of them! 




The nerdy themed glasses are so cute! 





Close-ups! 





This month's stamps were all to do with to-dos and planning.. love them! 



Last but not least, the pen! We got another cute crown pen this month and a little planner notebook. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this quick unboxing!

Have a great week ahead! 


Saturday 28 January 2017

Book Haul/// Books of January 2017.

Hello! 

The month is nearly over and it's time to share the books- physical- I bought in the month of January. 
It's a good way to start the year by buying only a reasonable number of books. 
In total I've bought 5 physical books and 4 ebooks in January. 
9 is a number I can live with and not feel guilty. 
:)

Let's see what I've added to my bookshelves this month. 
I got all of these books from Amazon.




Books Bought: 

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Night by Elie Wiesel 
Jihadi Jane by Tabish Khair
The Serpent's Revenge by Sudha Murthy 
Death Under The Deodars by Ruskin Bond 


I've heard so many good things about this book and I could do with a little bit of inspiration. 



I've been meaning to read this classic true story for a while now. 
I am going to be strong and read it soon. 



I am currently reading this collection of stories from the Mahabharata.
It is full of cute little illustrations and The Mahabharata is my favourite epic of all time. I find it endlessly fascinating. 





A brand new collection of Ruskin Bond stories! 
Yes Please!
How could I possibly say no!? 
:) 




So much happy reading in my future.

:) 


Friday 27 January 2017

Vignettes: Stamp Love.

Hello! 

Stamps are a great way to add some colour and some beautiful prints to your journal pages.
I for one am in love with stamps of all kinds. 
They are gorgeous and add so much character to plain old boring pages. 
I have a goal this year to make my journal pages as beautiful as I possibly can, so I am using stamps, stickers and washi tapes to add some colour and whimsy to my pages. 






All of the stamps shown above are designs by Chemil Garden which we got via Cute Things from Japan. 

They are so gorgeous. Very vintage-y and oh-so-whimsy. 
I am so utterly in love. 
The stamp inks are from a brand called Versa Color which I pick up from Itsy Bitsy


Dreamcatcher! 
This stamp is from Itsy Bitsy's own brand. 
You can take a look at them HERE
I would recommend you get a clear acrylic block to make stamping easy. 
I am so in love! 
:)