Family

I made a little ragdoll figure set of my family! This is the kind of thing I'll be selling for about £2.50 (I think this is a fair price? it takes me an hour or so to do a big set..) - it could make a good present for somebody maybe? so if anyone's interested or in anything else like single ragdolls/pets etcetera just email me at the-raivoloution@hotmail.co.uk

Indie Cutie: Love Hearts and Crosses

I'm into jewellery again at the moment, and Love Hearts and Crosses is one of the cutie sites I stumbled on from someone's blog a while back. Can you tell I'm loving bronze and gold tones at the moment? Gorgeous shades for summer ♥

Seaside Town

I had an interview today for a catering job on the Pier. It's yet to be completed since the old one burnt down but it looks amazing and would be a brilliant job. Apparently to stop employees getting bored you work on a ice cream counter one day, a bar the next and so on. Quite exciting! Not holding up much hope since I have no experience with food-based retail though. I'm applying for 15 hours a week which is more than enough for me. I had to get the train this morning, my mum was going to give me a lift but the car decided not to coorperate so I had to run for it, only to find it was 20 minutes late. No ticket person came round though so I got off without paying, wrong I know but it made my day a little better. I also went in New Look and got a cutie playsuit (that's long enough! rejoice!) in the sale, and nipped into Boots for some going-away supplies. I'm so looking forward to this weekend! It's two nights in the hotel rather than one, which I hadn't realised. There is a dress code at the hotel of 'smart casual' so I'm hoping I'll be ok in one of my dresses, eek! Edd and I will feel so out of place. Anyway, fingers crossed for the job and at least I've got this weekend to look forward to, Cornwall here I come!

Cookie Button Giveaway

Sammy over at The Cookie Button is hosting a

super-cute giveaway of crafty goodies, check it out!

Five of the Loveliest Peacocks Dresses

I adore peacocks, though the shop near me is a little grubby and their underwear is a bit dodgy. Recently they've started doing lovely dresses (though the price has risen to nearly the same as new look) and here's five of the website I have to work hard to resist;

Posh Hotels and Calvin Harris

I am so excited, you guys! I've won a First Great Western competition to go see Calvin Harris live at the Eden Project on Saturday with Edd - and two days in a four-star spa hotel 'The Cornwall Hotel'! Squee! Altogether if I'd paid myself it would've come to about £500-odd pounds, amazing right? ^o^

Ragdoll Invasion!

Here's a few more I've made, I can't remember all the blog addresses or anything so I'll leave that out, you guys know who you are anyway! I was thinking about maybe making more complex ragdolls for example family groups, with pets, doing activities etc. or a set of them (different outfits or something) for a small fee or minumum donation (like £1.50/$2.50) - is anyone interested? I was also thinking about charging maybe 50p/$1 for normal ragdolls, trying to save for Uni here! I can also make vector-y images like this for maybe £2.50/$3.00... is this fair? Opinions please people ♥

Real Life Strikes Again

Had to go to the Jobcentre today. It turns out I conveniently wasn't told I now have to show up every week and that it's in a different place in the building. I absolutely hate going in there, I feel like I don't belong or something, sat next to these blokes in tracksuits and girls in microminis pushing prams (not an exaggeration) and they're always late to call me so if I get there early it's a 20 minute wait. I'll be glad when I go off to Uni, getting out of all of this. Edd took me to town and sat and revised in the sun for his final exam (Sociology, tomorrow,) and I got him a skittles milkshake to make him feel better. At least the sun was shining, I suppose. My afternoon shall be spent eating spaghetti, watching Ashes to Ashes and drawing ragdolls.

Topshop = Love

I don't go into topshop very much, and if I do I make a beeline for the sales just in case I see a stunning dress and need to spend two weeks worth of money on it. Browsing the topshop website, here are some gorgeous, unique dresses that make me 'squee' and will probably make you do the same - these are what I'd buy if I happened to have a spare £206 lying round;

Five of the Cutest Spring/Summer Coats

As most people from the UK know, festival season is upon us and this means, more likely than not, it will rain buckets - though this year seems to be an anomaly. The shops are preparing themselves for the showers with some practical yet at the same time cute waterproof parkas. I tried one on in internacionale that I adored, but unfortunately they don't do a proper website. Sigh. So aside from that coat here are my top 5 raincoats for the summer;

[g21 at asda, criminal damage, new look, miss selfridge, topshop]

A Day in the Life...

I don't post much about my life, so consider this an experiment! If it bores too many people I won't again but if you guys are interested I might a bit more. Yesterday night I stayed 'round the BF's (who shall henceforth be known by his true name of Edd) because today we went to a big family-and-friends Barbecue for Edd's eldest sister, who is moving to Gibraltar with her boyfriend to be nearer their Dad (Edd and his two sisters). It was gorgeous sunny weather and Edd's parents, other sister and boyfriend, Aunts, Grandparents and Cousin came with us. His cousin, Alfie, is a toddler and really adorable, Edd and I spent most of our time playing with him, he has the best laugh ever. Edd's sister's boyfriend's family were a bit snooty and basically look down their noses at anyone not rich like them, so therefore didn't talk to us and are all rude and chain-smokers. But apart from that it was pretty nice, really. Didn't even get sunburnt, and though I did have to be sociable I didn't have a complete nervous breakdown and I got to eat an awesome burger. Also, got a phone call on Thursday and I was turned down for the Animal job :c Boo.

20 Followers Giveaway Winner!

Wow, It's been a week since I started my 20 followers giveaway and the number of my followers have more than doubled since then... truly amazing! I realise I didn't list the details of the giveaway as clearly as I could have, but it is one winner for all the items, and without further ado, and using the power of a random number generator, the winner of my giveaway is....

.... Amy of Forever Curiouser!

Just send me an email with your address and your prize shall be sent ASAP.

Thanks everyone for entering! ♥

(Slightly) More Modest Beachwear

Personally, and I don't know if I feel the same as anyone else here, I would never, ever wear a bikini. Even if I were a size 10 and looked like Katy Perry and Dita von Teese's lesbian love-child. It's just something I'm not comfortable with, things might fall out or become unattached and it's too much worry. Besides, I like swimming, not sunning myself lobster red on the beach. So here's a little thing I put together of more practical (and cute!) beachwear...

[blue swimsuit: topshop, playsuit: matalan, brown sandals: peacocks,

pink swimsuit: new look, gold sandals: priceless, pink coverup: topshop]

Truffle Shuffle: Retro Cute

I have this weird aversion to having anything close to my neck, so normal tees are not something I would normally wear. Even when I wear jeans the top is normally a little low cut to allow for this and I wear dresses 90% of the time anyway! But if I were more of a tee shirt person I would love to own these. If I were better at sewing I'd get them anyway and repurpose them into cute dresses...

Ragdoll Tea Party

This is probably the last set I'm going to post as they're probably boring you all by now! However I will still make you one, same rules as before - credit me and follow me and we're good! EDIT: I am now asking for a 75p/$1.20 donation for ragdolls, if possible. As per request, here are the lovely Maggie, Lynzy, Ashleigh, Courtney and Laura ♥

Giveaway: Only One Day Left!

The winner will be announced tomorrow morning, so if you haven't followed/blogged/commented yet you'd better get to it to win some super-cute jewellery ----> click here to enter ♥

A Couple More Ragdolls

I did a few more, as per requests etc. ♥ As before, if you want your own let me know in the comments with a photo of yourself included/via email (the-raivoloution@hotmail.co.uk) and I'll get it done ASAP - the only rules are link me if you use it online, and though I would love you to be a follower it isn't required! EDIT: I am now asking for a 75p/$1.20 donation for ragdolls, if possible. Featured here are the adorable Kaelah, the lovely Laura and the bow-mad Vic.

A Selection from Select

I remember going into a Select in Wales a couple years ago and all they had were sequin leopard print boob-tubes and micro miniskirts, generally fashion catering to the chav in each of us. However in the recent years they're become close competitors to peacocks and new look with cute, wearable clothes that don't show off cleavage at both ends at once(!) so here's my pick from their new season range:

Outfit Post: Pink, Yellow and Blue

Today is quite busy, first going with my mum to the tattoo shop (she's getting my dads name on her) and then off to Bridgwater with the BF to help take down the exhibition, and see if I can steal away any art that's going to be thrown away! Should hear back from Animal today, my fingers are crossed but I'm not getting my hopes up too much... This necklace was made for me when I was very into steampunk (I still am, but it's a very expensive hobby to fund!) and it is really lovely, though very heavy to wear everyday. I may have to remove it later. And again today, more followers! Hello to the 40-odd of you, thanks for following! I feel like the geeky girl in school who suddenly has friends :3

dress: matalan

cardi: new look

leggings: internacionale (with braiding on the bottom!)

necklace: handmade for me by my lovely BFF becky ♥

So Much Kitsch!: Heidi Seeker

Guys, I am desperate to buy everything on this site. If I don't I think I might have some sort of breakdown due to lack of adorable jewellery in my life ♥ I'm dying to buy the 'valley girl mystery bag' but £18 is out of my budget right now even for 17 things! Here's some things that right now I feel I can't live without:

Outfit Post: Seabirds

Good morning! It's a lovely sunny day today and to celebrate this fact I'm not wearing leggings! Gasp! Anyway, I got this dress in the New Look sale a week or so ago, isn't it lovely? Fits in nicely with the Miu Miu print trend going at the moment, and for only £10! You've seen this necklace before but I put it on a different chain for a longer length, I dislike necklaces right up against my neck.

dress: new look

cardi: new look

necklace: ji ji kiki

Dorothy Perkins: Pick of the Sales

I got an email in my inbox this morning from Dorothy Perkins, depicting in giant red letters '50% OFF'. Now of course I was intrigued and clicking over to the website there is some really cute things in the sale that normally I wouldn't buy in a million years since the top price I pay for dresses is £20 and most of their stuff is double that. Here's some things I've been contemplating now the prices don't rival topshop - nothing for more than £20;

Giveaway: Three Days Left!

Only three days left people! get following, blogging and commenting to win some super-cute jewellery (for free!) ---> click here to enter ♥

Hairbows

Inspired by all the crafty-ish blogs I've been reading lately I thought I'd attempt to make a couple hairbows out of old/ripped clothes. The results are less than brilliant but I'm proud of them since I'm rubbish at hand sewing and everything (as you can probably tell) and I didn't think before I stuck them on the clips so they're at funny angles. Still, here's a photo:

Tagged ♥

I was tagged by Alex of Alex's Wonderland to do this post... so have some random trivia :3

What is your shoe size?

I have annoyingly big feet like a human penguin ):

I vary between 8 and 8.5, sometimes even size 9.

This is UK so in US size I am a size 11.

Where do you work?

Looking for a job since December.

Fingers crossed for the Animal Interview I just went to...

Your favorite blog?

Oh, there's way too many to say!

Vic of Pretty Bows and Borrowing Grannies Clothes is lovely,

but other than that I adore every single one of the blogs in my links >>

I couldn't possibly choose! ♥

Do you have any pets?

Two Jack Russells, Stanley and Charlie, and a Fish.

How many siblings do you have?

One little sister, Jody, aged 12 going on 15 |:

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

I think somewhere in Japan. Or possibly the wizarding world.

What were you doing before this?

Reading through my bloglist :3

Your favorite food?

Pasta! I j'adore it, eat it way too much ♥

Do you have a middle name?

Emma :D

Favorite websites?

Blogger, Geekologie, College Candy,

and too many Webcomics to name.

Who do you tag?

I choose you, Vic! Use Flamethrower!

Internet Thrift: A Guide To Shopping on eBay

I very frequently buy clothes on eBay, and especially dresses since there are lots of lovely ones to be found that were stuck in the back of someone's wardrobe for years without ever being worn, or worn once and never fitted again. This means you can quite easily find clothes that you will probably never see anyone wearing since the shop no longer stock it and people normally don't keep clothes that long when they're worn often! However, eBay isn't foolproof and from my experience here is a couple things to look out for:

• Set yourself a budget. Sure, that 1950's style dress is really nice but what if you pay £20 for it, get it and find it doesn't fit? Unless you're SURE it'll fit you (for example the eBayer provides exact measurements or it's oversize) don't get caught up in a bidding war for something you might never, ever wear because it hangs off you/won't do up.
• Don't buy something without a picture. If something is described as 'rare topshop dress' but there is no picture don't assume the person has no camera and bid judging on description. Often you'll end up with a hideous 90's polyester sack that may be from topshop but definitely isn't trendy.
• New without tags doesn't always meant new without tags. Sometimes people consider wearing something once as it being new. Meaning the hem might be unravelling, it might have pit stains and it might be stretched. Bid with caution and study images carefully. If the image if off a shop website or other eBayer's photos then leave it.
• Check their feedback. Most eBayers are quite nice and since humans have a perpetual need to be praised they will do most anything for positive feedback. However, there's the occasional arse who is happy to let their reputation slide by accepting your £15 and not sending your item. eBay does all it can to resolve these situations but merely banning them doesn't get your money back.

I hope my little guide was helpful. Happy eBaying, everyone!

Ice Cream Pastels

According to a very reliable source (Gok's Fashion Fix, who else?) Ice Cream pastels are going to be an 'in' for this summer, which I am very much looking forward to. Who doesn't adore pretty candyfloss and mint shade summer dresses and 1950's inspirations? Anyway, here's my pick from the websites of cute creamy shades:

[necklace: heidi seeker, sunnies: dorothy perkins, dress: topshop, heels: asos, shorts: miss selfridge]

Outfit Post: Slightly Surfer

Today's outfit is almost completely from Animal. No, I'm not being a bit of a label whore, I have an interview there! I really want this job so wish me luck, the interview's at 10.30 this morning :3 Oh, and hello to all you new followers! I went to bed with 26 followers and woke up with 33, what an amazing feeling! ♥

dress: animal

jeans: dorothy perkins

cardi: animal

bag: animal

necklace: past times

More Ragdolls

Here's some more of my favourite girly bloggers in ragdoll form! The adorable Ashley, the beautiful Natatree, the lovely Pink Haired Princess (with signature heels) and the crafty Thera ♥ If anyone wants their own ragdoll I'd be happy to make one, just comment with a link to a photo of yourself and I'll try to get them all done! The only condition is if you use it online link back to me in some way, and though I'd love you to be a follower you don't have to be :3 EDIT: I am now asking for a 75p/$1.20 donation for ragdolls, if possible.

A Little Bit Formal

The other day I went to the Golden Tape Awards at the BF's college, which is a little bit of fun where everyone dresses up glam in suits and posh dresses. I got to the day before the awards and realised my whole wardrobe basically consists of cotton dress and the dress I won off eBay wasn't going to come in time! In the end I went with a cute black dress from Peacocks but it still didn't feel formal enough. So if I had the ability of time travel these dresses are what I might have picked instead (unless you can't tell I'm loving the prom style dress right now!);

[topshop, new look, miss selfridge, matalan, peacocks]

Giveaway: Five Days Left!

Five days left of the giveaway! follow, blog and comment to be in with a chance of winning some kawaii geek chic jewellery (for free!) ---> click here to enter ♥

Outfit Post: Navy Birds

How cute is this dress? I picked it up from ASDA in Bristol yesterday, and it has the cutest pattern and the nicest navy-ish shade ever. The sleeves and everything will hopefully ensure I don't get burnt today, unlike the day before yesterday! The back of my neck is killing. I'm off to the jobcentre today because they are going to tell me what I already know; I've been unemployed for six months and really need a job. Yeah, thanks for that. I also got loads of stuff in preparation for Uni at ASDA, since it was all really cheap - I spent £15 and got nearly everything I need kitchen-wise, other than saucepan and colander I think.

dress: ASDA

leggings: peacocks

necklace: past times

Crafty Pirate's Giveaway

Lovely lady Thera Joyce of Crafty Pirate is having a fantastic giveaway on her blog, so if you want some cute handmade goodies get your bums over there now!

Ragdoll Cuties

I was making myself a new image for my sidebar because of my new hair, and I liked the final picture and style so I decided to do a couple more of my favourite bloggers of the moment, Carla, Vic and Alex! What do you guys think?

Outfit Post: B'dazzled Blue

More crayola colours! I don't know how long I can keep this up but it'll be fun to try! I felt like dressing up today, we may be going out for a meal for my dad but nothing's certain yet. It was just a makeup kind of day, and I only have them about 3 times a month! I may wear dresses and love girly things but makeup's never been my forté. Ah well. If you can see on my chest I'm sunburnt. We walked the dogs yesterday and it was a bit overcast so I didn't bother with suncream... big mistake! No-one else was burnt but my back and neck are lobster red. Damn you, sensitive skin! This photo is a weird pose, I know, but it was the only way I could get the bracelets in properly. It looks like I'm about to break into a 90's pop dance routine or something.

dress: new look

leggings: peacocks

necklace: ji ji kiki

bracelets: found, ji ji kiki, gifts

New in at New Look

Happy Father's day to all dads out there! I got a bit of dad-ness into this post with the tie tee-shirt, isn't it adorable? Anyway, this time round New Look is bringing some amazingly cute stuff onto their website and instore, I want to spend all my money right there now! Not to mention the HUGE sale they're having, I barely missed an adorable nautical dress reduced from £30 to £6 but someone grabbed it first. Here's my pick of the new cuteness hanging about the site. I am totally in love with the bag, I need it in my life otherwise I might rot and wither:

New Camera

Isn't she beautiful? She doesn't have a name yet, any suggestions? According to Google she's from the 1970's, 20 years older than me and she works perfectly, including light meter, which is pretty impressive for a near 40-year-old camera. It's a shame film is so expensive but until I can afford it she makes great decoration. I'm actually tempted to get out the acrylics and make her lovely pastel colours ♥

Outfit Post: Cosmic Cobalt

I'm on a roll with crayola-coloured titles! This one reflects the blue in my dress! Compared to my last picture it looks far better with a cardi done up over the chest - makes me a bit less in-your-face! First outfit post with new hair go me :3 I also re-pierced my ears and decided to wear metallic barbel-hoops, a little punk right? I haven't been up to much today, went to Worle with ma mere et ma souer but none of the charity shops were open so I came home empty-handed. Did some painting in the afternoon and watched Doctor Who (so sad! ;_;) so an uneventful day in all.

cardi: tesco via ebay

dress: new look

leggings: primark

WANT: Nautical

I love the nautical trend, the stripes and primary colours, the blues mixed with reds and denim and it can be either casual or formal and very easy to do. Here's a little nautical outfit I put together that I could imagine wearing every day of summer :3

top: topshop

clutch: dollydagger

shorts: matalan

shoes: office

necklace: miss selfridge

sunnies: new look

The 20 Follower/200 Posts Giveaway

As promised, here's my giveaway! Thanks to all of you who followed me, it makes my day to see that little number rise! Let's hope it keeps going higher and higher. Without further ado, here are the prizes:

[geek chic bracelet, ji ji kiki jet necklace, junksucker oneup necklace, dinosaur ring and some fairydust for luck]

So here are the rules of the giveaway:

• you must be a follower on blogger to enter
• comment on this post for one entry
• for a second entry blog about this giveaway then comment here again

The giveaway will end on June 26th. Good luck!

WANT: Swallow Print

Everyone's seen the iconic Miu Miu swallow print by now, and the highstreet shops have really gotten in on the action with some gorgeous dresses and accessories (in fact I got a dress in New Look today for £10!) Here's some of the most cutesy prints, patterns and shades of the trend;

[necklace:new look, scarf:monsoon, studs:miss selfridge, dress:dorothy perkins, crop top:topshop and dress:miss selfridge]

5 Things About Me

I've noticed these 'things about me' posts floating their way on a meme cloud (apparently pronounced meem not mimi which makes me kind of sad) through the blogger stratosphere so I thought I'd do one. I apologise if mine doesn't have as much depth as other peoples, I'm a little boring and ordinary I guess...

1♥ I am seriously bad with people. I can hold a normal conversation and all but I don't get much out of it, I'd much prefer to hide in my room and be antisocial never talk to anyone other than the BF ever. I have maybe two proper friends in real life (who I talk to/see on a monthly basis right now) and a dozen or so people I know-ish.

2♥ I want to go back to how I was when the BF and I started going out, I lived in jeans, gamer teeshirts and a black 'game over' hoodie, proper geek chic. I love being girly and wearing dresses but sometimes I feel this pressure to look nice all the time that I didn't used to. I don't play enough videogames anymore or spend money on geeky things.

3♥ I don't eat fruit or vegetables. Really unhealthy of me, I know. I have onion in some things and I like potato but I eat an apple maybe once a month and have orange juice sometimes but that's it. I know this is unhealthy and I want to eat better but they just ick me out.

4♥ I have had three boyfriends in my life, one for three years, one for a month and I've been with the BF two years or so. I don't think I'd ever be very good at short-term relationships (not that I'm not super happy and in love with my BF ♥)

5♥ I don't think I'm great at anything. I'm good at writing but I procrastinate, I'm OK at learning stuff, I'm average at arty things and I'm sort of good at HTML. I don't think there's anything in my life I'd say I have a talent in.

Bridgwater College Art Show

Yesterday I went to the BF's College Art Show and there was some seriously amazing stuff there. This morning I was helping him steward the exhibition so I took the opportunity to take photos of all the amazing artworks and dresses and photographs. The standard was so high, especially since a lot of it was A-level, meaning though the work was done over the year it was part time with 3 or 4 other subjects. Click on the image below to go to my flickr album and check out all the awesome work;

Giveaway.

When I reach 20 followers I'm going to do a little giveaway thing. Nothing big (I'm too poor for that) but if there's any anonymous people out there reading but not following now is the time to start! ♥ Here's a little glimpse at some of the giveaway items...

Haircut.

Outfit Post: Razzle Dazzle Rose

This post title is named after the crayola pink. Such a cool name, don't you think? I've been listening to Lemon Demon's 'Ode to Crayola' this morning, hence the inspired title. I'm getting my hair cut today and then it's off to the BF's art exhibition, where I'll hopefully take a couple pictures to stick up here. Today's outfit it very pink, isn't it? I'm in a pink, warm kind of mood. There will be pictures of my hair later too :3

dress: matalan

cardi: tesco via ebay

leggings: peacocks

hairclip: sainsburys

Fashion Inspiration ♥

I did this a very long time ago, back when I was a new blogger with one follower (my mum) and I had very different fashion and blog tastes. Here's currently who is inspiring me in the world of fashion blogs...

1) The gorgeous Alexandra of Alex's Wonderland. She is one of the first blogs I started following, and her fashion sense is impeccable with cute floaty dresses and gladiator sandals, waistbelts and wedges and generally cute mismatching accessories. Not only that, she's a brilliant cook, too (I've made those ice-cream cupcakes for myself and they are amazing)

2) The edgy-cute girly girl Kaelah of little chief honeybee has an adorable, eclectic style and the most brilliant hair. Her staples are definitely cute dresses and hairbows, and accessorizes with her Georgia, the sweetest bulldog. I took an ad out on her blog not long ago, she's very popular. She also makes hairbows and things for her etsy shop and in light of her recent problems (click through to her blog to read) I'm sure she'd love you to buy some.

3) Fellow student Vic of pretty bows and borrowing grannies clothes is probably one of my closer blog friends. She has a lovely assymetric fringe haircut which suits her amazingly and brilliant taste in shorts that I wish I were brave enough to wear. Her style is all about the bows, and trust me you can probably find one in almost every outfit she posts.

4) Punk-rock cute Carla of MessyCarla: A Fashion Blog in Size 16 shows perfectly you don't have to be tiny to rock the same looks as the skinny girls, and in fact look three times better! She has great taste in prints and patterns and always seems to be right on the pulse of the next trend while still dressing in clothes that look brilliant on her.

Golden Tape Media Awards

This evening I went to the BF's college for their award-show type thing for media-based courses. I got one last year for this clip from a crime drama I made. Unfortunately, the BF didn't win an award but a couple of our friends did for ND Media Installation and Animation which was nice. This is the second year the college has done the show and it improved so much this year, it was really nice! There were loads of really good films and trailers, lots of people (especially in the ND Class) I can imagine doing really well in Media in the future.

Outfit Post: Military Chic

Three outfit posts in a row? What is the world coming to! :3 I picked this dress up in town yesterday in the sales expecting to return it today because of fit, but it actually fits perfectly. I love the slightly stiff material of the skirt, though I'm not sure the necklace goes. Something a bit.... tougher might have worked better in retrospect. Off to town again today, on a CV writing course and then tonight I'm going to the Golden Tape Awards at the BF's college. He's nominated for an award! Hopefully I'll take lots of embarrassing photos of him to stick up here...

dress: internacionale

leggings: george at asda

necklace: topshop

bracelet: found it on the floor :D