Fun, Cute Find: Heart and Bolt Jewelry

Heart and Bolt's Primadonna Php 950 and Morse code bracelet Php550-950 

For Mother's Day, I received some delicate, super cute jewelry from Heart and Bolt.

I love them so much, that I've worn a piece, or three every single day since I got them.

They remind me of Catbird Jewelry, sweet, stackable and makes a subtle statemement.

Except that Heart and Bolt is a homegrown brand, created and designed by Yendy Yu. The pieces are either made from 14 k gold filled non tarnish components, or sterling silver dipped in gold (vermeil), and because it's Manila-based, much more accessible and affordable. 

You can really afford to pile them on, like so:

Or choose to wear a few pieces at time, with your favorite watch. Either way, they're equally stylish.

Here's showing you a few of the designs that Yendy has come up with, check out her Instagram, heartandbolt and Like the Heart and Bolt Facebook page to see more!

Infinity & Primadonna bracelets, Anchor, Initial and wishbone pendants (wishbone is Php1,850)

moon & star necklace

barre bracelet, ballsy ring, horseshoe necklace, evil eye sapphire bracelet

evil eye bracelets

cute packaging - craft paper boxes with black grosgrain ribbon

Before you go grab yourself a stack of Heart and Bolt bracelets and necklaces, I'd like to leave you with Yendy's tips on how to properly care for and clean your gold filled and vermeil jewelry:

About Gold Filled jewelry:

• Gold filled is an actual layer of gold-pressure bonded to another metal.
• Gold filled is not to be confused with gold plating as filled literally has 100% more gold than gold plating. Gold filled is much more valuable and tarnish resistant. It does not flake off, rub off or turn colors. As a matter of fact, anyone who can wear gold can wear gold filled without worries of any allergic reaction to the jewelry
• Gold filled jewelry is an economical alternative to solid gold!

About Vermeil jewelry:

• Vermeil is an overlay of 14kt gold on sterling silver.
• This ensures a quality metal as opposed to base metals under your gold.

Caring for Gold filled and Vermeil jewelry:

• The most important tool against tarnish is preventative care.
• Keep your jewelry in an air-tight bag with an anti-tarnish strip or an air-tight jewelry box. 
• Filled and vermeil jewelry is sensitive to scratching and cleaning, so if you need to polish your jewelry, use only a dry and soft clean cloth. 
• Do not use a silver polishing cloth as it will remove the 14kt overlay from the silver. For severe tarnish or cleaning, you can use a gold polishing cloth lightly, but repeated or excessive use will ruin the surface of the jewelry.

Flaunt Your Finds at Seek the Uniq

Here's wonderful news for you, Seek the Uniq fanatics!

You can make all your STU finds work for you to get a chance to win a carefully curated showcase of goodies from Seek the Uniq's tastemakers and purveyors of style - Mikka, Van and Mariel.

Simply join STU's first ever Flaunt Your Finds contest on Instagram, and you might just get your hands on that sold out piece you've been wanting forever, that you can't seem to add to your cart because so many girls have beat you to it.

We're talking something like this Gypset Donya showcase: A Carioca cover-up, Renegade Folk sandals, a 1969 by Joyce Makitalo necklace, a pineapple resin canister and Butter London lacquer for a total look that says, "I'm bidding Summer 2014 with a huge splash of style!", with matching cocktail on hand.

All three winners will win a crateful of covetable, limited edition pieces from Seek The Uniq.

I've been tasked to help choose 3 winners, along with two beautiful, accomplished and stylish ladies - Stephanie Zubiri and Joyce Makitalo. So exciting!

Ok, so let me cut to the chase, here's how to join @shopseektheuniq's #flauntyourfinds contest on IG!

- Gather your STU Finds and think of a way on how you can present and flaunt it on IG with style and creativity.

- Follow @shopseektheuniq and tag your posts with #flauntyourfinds and #seektheuniq. Make sure your profile is on public viewing so we can all see it!

- The Top 3 most creative entries will win a crateful of covetable, limited edition pieces from Seek The Uniq.

- Promo ends on 15 June 2014, 12MN.
- Promo is open WORLDWIDE.
- You can share as many entries as you wish.

That's it! So easy! We cannot wait to take a look at your entries!

Suiteblanco Loves MOA: An Opening Day Treat!

Suiteblanco opens at SM Mall of Asia today!

As an opening treat, get 20% off on ALL items from May 15-18, 2014 by posting this opening day photo on Instagram using the hashtag #suiteblancolovesmoa

Make sure to also:
1.Follow @suiteblancoph and @themallofasiaofficial

2. Present your mobile with the regram of the opening photo at the counter of Suiteblanco SM Mall of Asia branch to avail of the discount. 

Happy Shopping! Remember, discount is valid only until Sunday, May 18, 2014!

Smart Family Ties + Instagram the Fam!

While Berry & Xavi are too young to be carrying around their own mobile phones, here's something for those of you with school aged kids who have been bugging for their own mobile numbers!

Smart recently launched the Smart Family Ties postpaid plan, which comes with three lines and three handsets. You and your family members get to choose from this array of smartphones like the O+ USA 8.2, O+ USA 8.31, Lenovo A269i, Alcatel Magic, Lenovo A369i and the O+ 8.37:

Family Ties Plan 900 includes unlimited calling within the family circle, unlimited SMS to Smart subscribers and 200 all-network texts, as well as 100MB of free data for each line.

Family Ties Plan 1800 comes with unlimited calls and texts to all Smart subscribers, 200 free all-network texts and 300MB of free monthly data for each line.

If you've got more than one kid, no prob! Family Ties subscribers may add up to six additional lines per subscription by just adding P300 per line for Plan 900 and P600 per line for Plan 1800.

Ayan, no excuse not to stay in touch!

But the best reason why you should go for a Smart Family Ties plan is the SAFETY feature via the Vodafone Guardian app:

In partnership with telco leader Vodafone, Smart will be exclusively offering the Vodafone Guardian App as a pre-installed app on smartphones, available under the Family Ties Plans. 

The Vodafone Guardian app works like a virtual parent in a sense. With just a few taps on the app, parents can set call and text-messaging filters and ban certain numbers from contacting their children, which helps prevent the risk of cyberbullying.

The Vodafone Guardian App also allows parents to block certain features at certain times, such as banning the use of games when it's homework time. The app offers enough flexibility so that parents can tailor-fit how the app protects their children based on their unique parenting styles. 

To celebrate the launch of the Smart Family Ties plan, Smart launched their online promo: #SmartFamilyTies and a TVC just this Wednesday, inviting supermoms Janice Villanueva of Mommy Mundo and SoMoms and PR practitioner Ana Ongpin to talk about how technology helps in keeping families stay closer.

Host Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan, multi-tasking moms Janice Villanueva & Ana Ongpin, Smart Postpaid Marketing Head Kathy Carag and Smart Postpaid Brand Manager Guia Laurel

And now, more on the promo. Smart wants you to post your family photos on Instagram, with a possibility of your family to be featured in their online ads.

There will be different themes in the next few months. For every theme, winners get a chance to win smartphones, restaurant GCs and other cool prizes. The grand prize at the end of the campaign is an overnight stay in Sofitel for the entire amily.

See below for the complete mechanics or visit http://smrt.ph/familytiespromo for more details!

To kick-off, this week's  theme is Graduation! Entries are accepted until March 21, 2014 and the winning photo will be featured in Smart ads from March 28 to April 5, 2014. Join na!

Spread the Love at Brownies! Unlimited

Valentine's Cupcakes (Php 45 each) available only this February at Brownies! Unlimited

Valentine Fudge Cake (Php 250)

Sweetheart (Php55)

This month of February, Brownies! Unlimited is spreading sweet love around, so you and your loved ones can enjoy their limited edition Valentine's Day goodies, on us. All we ask is that you help spread word about these scrumptious treats.

Simply follow @browniesunlimited and myself, @christinedychiao on Instagram.

Regram the posted I've posted on my IG account with the caption, 

"I want to win the VDay goodies that @browniesunlimited is giving away so I can share it with my loved ones! MFOxBRowniesUnlimited"

Tag 3 of your friends! That's it!

Winner will be chosen at random and announced on February 28, 2014. Make sure to follow the instructions and hashtag your entries so we don't miss it! And oh! Repost as many times as you want for more chances of winning! Due to the delicate handling/delivery requirement of the contest prize, contest is open to Metro Manila residents, or those who can provide an address within Metro Manila.

Good luck, Happy Valentine's Day! And we wish you more sweet nothings throughout this entire month of lurve!

Social Media Social-an with Print Social

One of the buzz words during Xavi's party was "Print Social".

As our guests entered Xavi's Seussland, they received a card with the hashtag #XavisFirstBirthday and the instruction that when they Instagram their photos of the party with the hashtag #XavisFirstBirthday, they will get to bring home a print of those photos.

Cool no? So high tech!

Print Social's Instagram Photobooth only works for those with public profiles, FYI

Still fuzzy between the ears? Here's how it works:

There was a TV set-up at the party, as below, where guests could see a slideshow of the photos being uploaded using #XavisFirstBirthday.

The same photos you see on screen are printed and clipped ala laundry line against a small step and repeat banner, like what you see behind Luis of Print Social.

Thanks so much Luis for celebrating Xavi's first birthday with us!

Here's a sample of the Print Social print-outs from their website:

Now here are some of the Print Social printouts from #XavisFirstBirthday:

True enough, Print Social's tagline "cover more ground" allowed us to do just that.

I loved how I got a perspective of what our guests were doing, and what they liked about the party just by looking at their photos.

Some guests took photos of themselves, some took photos of their food and the decor, a few took photos of us candidly, which were all such cute souvenirs of Xavi's special day. Granted that we only had 1 "official photographer" going around, everyone still had photos of their own to help in documenting Xavi's party.

 

And I think our guests also loved the fact that they could choose their own background and subject, angle their own photos, and did not have to line up to have their photos taken at a photo booth. 

You want to get them for your own party, or a corporate event? Here are the Instagram Photo packages. You may even bundle this with a traditional photo booth, starting at Php10,999 if you like:

All three packages include a personalized printout design, personalized photowall, a CD copy of all photos taken, an online photo album and an on-site attendant. It all boils down to how long your event will be and if you will be getting the add-ons.

Is it worth it? Oh yes! Print Social's Instagram Photobooth is just so fun, very convenient, doesn't take up too much space and is just a completely novel and brilliant concept.

It really is like seeing your party through the eyes of your guests!

For more about Print Social, check out their website and Like them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrintSocial

Print Social
Email: hello.printsocial@gmail.com
Telephone: +632 211 6002
Mobile: +63 917 584 6632

Luxury Eyewear Giveaway

Don't miss your chance to win Burberry sunnies because Luxury Eyewear PH is giving away a pair once they reach 5,000 followers on Instagram!

 
Here's how to join!

Step 1: Follow @LuxuryEyewearPH on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
Step 2: Repost the photo on your Instagram and Twitter account
Step 3: Hashtag #luxuryeyewearph to let us know you've helped!

Fashion Forum Instagram Contest

Want to win a pair of Jeffrey Campbell sandals or booties?

 Jeffrey Campbell Puffer at the Ladies shoe section of SM Department Store

Or maybe a Maggy London shift dress, or a party dress from David Meister?

 Tita K with a fabulous flapper style dress from Fashion Forum

Well, it's as easy as taking a photo and sharing it on Instagram, just like I did above! Head to your favorite Fashion Forum boutique inside SM Department Store and shoot and snap away at your must have piece. NO PURCHASE REQUIRED!

Here are the details:

This is your chance to get that one thing you've always wanted at Fashion Forum, without having to shell out your precious pesoses! Enjoy! 

Visit Fashion Forum inside the SM Department Store in Megamall, Makati, North EDSA, MOA, Bacolod, Cebu and SM Lanang.

Instagram

So apparently, we now can visit each other's Instagram web profiles (if you are on Instagram too that is). Which is quite brilliant in the sense that you get a feel of what a person posts on her Instagram, a snapshot/collage of a person's life if you may - enough to maybe make a decision if you'd want to follow that person or not. 

Judging from my Instagram web profile, it looks to be a healthy mix of the kiddos looking cute, home stuff, my so-good-it-must-be-shared-finds, thoughtful presents from friends and brands that come our way, and maybe what seems to be a vanity shot here or there (although I promise you, I was highlighting my oversized sunnies, swear). Oh, and outfit photos too of course!

If I haven't been posting as much here in the blog, you will definitely see me over at Instagram. I've turned into some sort of Instagram addict, posting an average of maybe 8-10 photos a day, yikes! Is that a bad thing? Sometimes I just want to document the cuteness or coolness I come across, that are just begging to be shared. And I guess it's just so much more interactive in the sense that you really see the "camaraderie". The likes, comments, and instant reactions. So fun!

I loved The Man Repeller's post on "Quitting Instagram". I have to admit I find myself more and more into the "snappy, quick-and-easy-to-consume inspiration". Maybe my attention has shortened to such extent. But then with articles and blog posts to write, consultancy work to do, paperwork for the business, taking care of the family, managing a household and a host of other things I should be doing but have forgotten at this point, it just makes Instagram and Twitter so much more appealing. Inspiration and chismis all in easy, bite-size pieces.

Anyhoo, enough of these musings. I know you are busy too!

When you are not here in the blog, see you on Instagram and Twitter! I am @cd_mfo ;)

UPDATE: I am @cd_mfo on Twitter and @christinedychiao on Instagram.