So I've heard that Google Friend Connect is closing sometime soon? It's part of Google's great plan to piss everyone off and bully all of their users into using Google+

I've reluctantly added the Google+ button to this blog, so you can add me to your "circle" or whatever, but personally I shall just be switching over to Bloglovin' and I seriously recommend it :)

(This blog will remain as it is right now, nothings changing but the options you have to follow. Which is all Google's fault, they don't adhere to the saying if it's not broke, don't fix it)

And I'm in a position to say the camera does not lie

So I mentioned in my last entry that I had a few ideas for this blog, and this is it! ^^ I've wanted to expand into vlogging for a while now and this is my first real attempt at it. I wasn't particularly sure which subject to choose, so I just went for the "What's in my bag?" meme to get myself used to the format, but if there's anything else you'd like to see tackle in video form please do say! 

And don't worry, videos won't be taking the place of regular written blog entries, it's just a little something I'd like to do now and then to go along side.

She wants sparkle and she don't give a damn

Many apologies for being such a terrible blogger as of late! In all honesty there's just been very little happening in my life at the moment, I'm living a very dull life of simply going to work and coming home and doing very little else. At the moment though I'm simply trying to raise as much money as possible for future endeavours (which you will hear about at some point in the future no doubt!). I do however have a couple of ideas lined up for this blog so please don't give up hope!

I don't have very much to show you today, just some simple nail art. I bought these polishes when I visited Japan and I love the effect it creates, it's like a glittery gradient and never fails to impress! 

However if you're not lucky enough to be visiting Japan in the near future to pick up this little pack, I imagine it'd be fairly easy to recreate the look with a plain pearly colour and glitter in a similar colour. The first polish is a simple silver glitter that is applied over the whole nail. Once that has dried, add the second polish that is the pearly colour, and then whilst that is still damp add the final glitter polish to the join between the two previous colours to help blend them. It really is that simple! ♥

Rose Windows

I'm very much a newbie to Putumayo, it's a brand I've fallen in love with only recently, and it was their Rose Window One Piece in Navy that did it. Looking at that dress still makes me catch my breath, but unfortunately I've been unable to find it in my desired colourway. I checked the auction sites and Closet Child religiously, but knew the black was still in stock on TokyoRebel.com and grew more and more anxious that it would sell out so I decided to go for this one until I can get the navy as I have no idea how long that could be! 

I've never bought from TokyoRebel.com before and I was very pleased with their service. My order was shipped just two days after purchase and was very well wrapped and my order included a little hand written thank you note which always brings a smile to my face. I don't particularly like to buy from brand stockists directly as I live in Europe and large customs bills are typical, but I will certainly be happy to buy from TokyoRebel.com again without hesitation.

A nimble elflike creature

So in this previous entry I showed my brand new Demonia shoes and mentioned how uncomfortable they are. My toes touch the end which hurts after a little while, and the top strap cut in to the top of my foot so much that wearing them for an hour caused my feet to bruise! They're obviously just completely wrong for my particular feet, so I've given up and listed them for sale on eBay and bought the closest replica I could, another model by Demonia called "sprite". I very much wanted a patent platform mary jane shoe, which these also are. Visually they don't make my heart flutter like the first pair did but they were originally my second choice anyway, and oh my, they are so comfortable!

Both pairs of shoes are a UK 5 (I always size up with Demonia as in my experience they generally run small) and I measured the insides and both soles are 24cm long precisely. Yet whilst my toes touched the end of the shoe in the last pair, in these I have plenty of wiggle room! Also the strap is higher up on the shoe so it's no longer digging into my foot. It's so strange how the exact size same shoes from the same brand can fit so very differently.

So now I'm very very happy happy with my swap! I just hope I can sell the old pair ^^;;

There is nothing like the sound of a nicely laundered pound

I have to begin this entry by marvelling over the speed of the shipping! This parcel was shipped by Japonica Market (my shopping service of choice all the time) on Monday and arrived this morning, 2 days later! That's amazing! Whereas my parcel from the US was posted via Priority 5th February and I'm still waiting for it to clear customs ¬_¬

I've wanted the Wrapping Ribbon skirt in pink/black for a while now and was at the point where I was searching all of the second-hand and auction sites daily because I wanted it by a deadline. Unfortunately it never came up so I plumped for the cutsew OP. However I hadn't realised just how short it would be >< I'm hoping to get some black chiffon to add an extra little tier of ruffle to increase the length a little.

My long time readers might recognise my new skirt as I used to own it before. It was my most beloved item in my closet, and in a moment of madness I still don't completely understand I sold it. So I was thrilled when Baby re-released the skirt as part of the Memorial Series.

Also, I ordered just as the Usakumya Lovely Wrist Band offer started (it's included free with your order when you spend over ¥10,500.) It works in the same way as those snap bracelets that were so popular when I was a child (where it's completely straight until you slap it against your arm and then it curls around). I adore Usukumya and I'm so pleased with this little gift!

The skirt is slightly different than my older one, which had pleats instead of gathers, a different lace on the hem, and waist ties (the new skirt has a detachable grosgrain ribbon bow instead). The waist ties are what I miss the most, but then in all honesty I usually ended up removing them most of the time so I'm fussing over nothing. The new lace on the hem is much more intricate and I like the little gold charm on the detachable bow.  

The skirt came as a set with a long sleeve blouse, which is actually a very good deal as the set only cost ¥18,690 and buying the two separately would certainly cost an awful lot more! I had planned on selling the blouse but am so charmed with the little details of it that I plan to keep it after all, especially as I don't even have a long sleeved white blouse.

Put cats in the coffee, and mice in the tea - And welcome Queen Alice with thirty-times-three!

I've lusted after these shoes from Demonia for a long time, and hope one day soon to retire my good ol' AP Tea Parties which are in a very battered and sorry state as you can see! The sole is coming off. the ankle straps broke a long time ago and the inside sole is now just a slippery mess, but they've served me very well, I've worn them almost every day since January 2010 which is certainly asking an awful lot of a shoe and so I can't fault them!

I believe this model from Demonia is called "Dolly" and stylistically they're absolutely perfect and just how I imagined in my head. I do however have a problem with the comfort, in that it just doesn't exist >< My toes just reach the end of the shoe which if anything proves that I could probably do with a larger size, but then there's just too much room inside the shoes everywhere else so I have to fasten the straps quite tightly to get the shoes to stay in place on my foot. And so because of this a lot of pressure is put on the bones on top of my feet which hurts a lot. I'm going to try a padded insole to see if this helps the problem at all, but if you have any tips I'd be most interested to hear them!

I also scored this necklace from eBay. I've been a fan of Tarina Tarantino for a long time, and her Alice related pieces have obviously always been my favourite! My heart has particularly always been set on owning a piece from the "Queen Alice" range as QueenAlice has been my online handle for a long long time and it just seemed so perfect. I found this gem being sold at an end-of-line discount and managed to scoop it up for only £25 (usually £60) ♥ It's even more beautiful in person than a camera can capture and I've barely taken it off since it arrived.