Jewellery

I love jewellery. There is no doubt about it. Here is my ethos when it comes to collecting jewellery.

1. I rarely spend more than £1 on each item of jewellery because...
1. Jewellery is generally quite cheap to produce, so I think it's absolutely ridiculous for some shops to sell a pair of earrings for £15. 
2. Most jewellery from high street shops are absolutely TERRIBLE quality. Very few items that I own haven't broken within a few weeks of purchase, so usually end up having to be soldered back together/ fixed with pliers/ super-glued back together by either me or my dad. 
3. I will probably lose it. Making this post has made me realise just how many of my favourite items are missing. They are just so small, and easy to lose, most of my items are probably sucked up in the vacuum, or in a field somewhere. 
2. I don't buy...
1. Really beady jewellery. It's just not my thing. I do like pearls and turquoise though.
2. Cheap, chained metallic necklaces, because I think that I'm probably allergic to it, since it can be really irritating on my skin. I only wear the ones that I currently own under a collar or something similar to provide a barrier between the metal and skin. 
3. Long, dangly earrings, mainly because I have a phobia of my earlobes stretching or ripping. I am being deadly serious, as I have honestly had recurring nightmares about this happening, and it is very traumatic. 

So yes, here are a few of my favourite items of jewellery, catagorised into themes (click the pictures to see them larger!) They are mostly from the Topshop sale or Accessorise sale, since you can get items for actually reasonable prices.

Tribal and Ethnic

Here is a real mish-mash of stuff from all around the place. Surprisingly, most of these items are from lots of different places that I/family members have traveled to. I absolutely love the yak skull necklace (which I got from I almost went to Tibet last year)and the large silver necklace, just need to think of a way to wear them out more! Not too sure why I have 3 turquoise earrings though.

Studs and Skulls 

This group of jewellery are the items I actually wear the most frequently, by far! Possibly my favourite item (ever!) is my brass pyramid earring (right hand bottom corner) but as you can see, there is only one, as I lost the other one at a party, leaving me distraught. I am ever on a search for a replacement, but I can't seem to find any as good. Loving the collar-esque necklaces at the moment.  

Girly and Kitsch 

These items are all quite old, but I don't really wear them much at all at the moment, as my style has changed.  I still love my Winnie the Pooh bracelet though (which I dad actually found on the floor - we aren't hobos, honest), but it is currently in need of a new battery. 

So there you go, just a peek inside my jewellery collection, as this literally isn't even half of it. I am still upset that I have lost my favourite fish bones dangly earrings and blue and gold earrings, since they are some of my favourite items. This is why in half term, I'm planning on making some sort of jewellery solution, to actually store these items. At the moment, I've got this make shift Ferrero Rocher box which I drilled holes in to store my earrings. 

At the moment, I have lots of items that I want to buy, such as some collar tips, body armour necklaces, evil eye rings, ear cuffs, more collars etc. But this is the only item that I'm really craving. 

Opal Studs by Regal Rose

Cool tings,

Rebecca x

P.S. Please excuse my terrible attempts at some arty-farty depth of field. I also didn't bother editing the colours/ cropping the images too, as my laptop is far too slow, so they are look really grey. Once I sort things out (such as the dimensions of this blog) I will have better clearer and larger images for you guys.

P.S.S I have been really liking this one song, need to check out some more of their songs!

It reminds me of Sleigh Bells - (who's new song "Comeback Kid" sucks.)

I want...

Here is a random list of stuff I want to achieve sometime in the future; some are more serious than others.

1. To fill my ears with dance/house/dubstep/techno music
2. To go to Covent Garden and buy some funky clothes
3. To go to a charity Shop in search for some clothes to make me grannified
4. To sleep
5. To dye my hair again or chop it all off
6. To stop procrastinating
7. To learn HTML or use photo editing program
8. To learn how to use the Nikon
9. To spend more time with friends
10. To visit every single continent in the world before I am 30 (except maybe Antarctica)
11. To get the Arkwright Scholarship!!!!!
12. To go on the Headstart course
13. It to be half term
14. To be extra nerdy and go to a science fair
15. To make a jewellery box
16. People to be less close-minded
17. A skull choker necklace from Topshop
18. To increase my vocabulary
19. To buy some posters for my room
20. To write a blog post which is actually interesting, instead of these filler posts
21. To jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
22. To change the world we live in
23. To be better at Chinese
24. More pairs of heels
25. To have time to get some decent violin practise done
26. To roll around in the snow
27. To get a second ear piercing
28. To catch up on all the Desperate Housewives that I’ve missed
29. To start a business
30. To improve my presentational skills
31. Some Uni Hellraisers
32. Glee club to be a success
33. To be on the prom committee
34. Blogger to not be so glitchy
35. To eat some really good seafood
36. To learn more chemistry
37. To stop being so anti-social
38. To go to the Radio One’s Hackey Weekend
39. To not have so many spots on my forehead
40. To SUCCEED

Number 11 is definitely what I want most at the moment, perhaps number 31 too, but that's not going to happen.

What a terrible collage.

Yours,

Rebecca x

P.S. I am actually planning to write some interesting blog posts tomorrow, instead of just making boring lists. 

P.S.S Woop! 1500 views! Thanks guys, it's like nothing compared to most blogs, but I am content. I plan to post every other day, so keep checking back. 

Pinch, punch, first day of the month... NO RETURNS!

I bet you didn’t expect to see this post today! First and foremost, I would like to apologise for the lack of posts recently. The blogging hiatus – which I predicted in my post last week – has indeed, come true. In the end, having an exam daily for a week, has taken the toll on the frequency of my blog posts. I have not lost interest in blogging, in any way, although when I started writing this post, I did feel like I was out of the swing of things, but fear not! Luckily, I only have 2 left this week, so more posts will be coming towards your way!

On one hand, I can’t believe that it is February already, but on the other, thinking of how much work/exams I have had in the last few weeks, New Year certainly feels like it was a long time ago! I think it’s time for an update organise my life out. I doubt this post is going to be interesting to read, but I like having it for my own personal reference. You can just skip to the P.S. if you want to read something slightly interesting!

This month I have...

1.  Been to S.A.’s Party
2. Had lots of “fun” revision sessions with M.
3.  Lost my bloody phone!!!
4. Done around 921743788719432813621 science past papers
5. Climbed out a window at the Chinese New Year party and also got an “I ate all my lunch” sticker

Update on New Year’s Resolutions

The Serious Business

•  GCSE’s get some great results YES

Well, it’s a bit early for that, but I have had 3 science module exams, and I feel that they have gone satisfactory. As for other subjects, I feel like I really need to do some Music and French coursework, but I am happy with how Resistant Materials and Geography are going.

• Manage my time more effectively NO

I certainly have failed at this, considering I have been going to sleep 11.30pm+ every single night and waking up at a ridiculous time too. I think I am going to go unsubscribe to loads of people on YouTube and keep my ukulele in my case, as I am wasting so much time, watching pointless videos and strumming the same chords, over and over again! I think I’m going to start doing a “to-do list” for every single day because I like being meticulous, otherwise it’s hard to juggle everything.

• Be a bit happier YES

Yup, I think that I have been quite positive this month.

•   Make 2012 the best year ever

Hmm, a bit too early to decide that!

More Light-Hearted stuff

• Stop saying “init” so much YES
•  Look after my plantNO

This is certainly something that it has failed in... The plant is looking increasingly glum and dying. The leaves are really quite yellow, thus my B2 knowledge is telling me that it is lacking in Magnesium.

• Become a ukulele masterYES/NO

Kinda, ish... I have been playing my uke far more often, but I would hardly say I was that good.

• Improve my appearanceNO
• Stop making duck faces and get a new Facebook profile pictureNO
• Actually try and complete my music courseworkYES/NO

Only my 2^nd composition and ensemble recording left!

•  Blog at regular intervalsYES/NO

It is addressed above. I have, although, managed to write 15 posts in January, so I have stuck to my blog every other day commitment. Depressingly, the number of views I am getting has really decreased quite dramatically, but I am just reminding myself, that this blog is for me, and my own enjoyment.

What I want to achieve in February (half term more specifically)

• Start going charity shop shopping, but don’t tell my mum as she thinks its skanky and I will get diseases from the clothes?!
• Start my style blog and work out how to use my dad’s Nikon SLR, so I can actually get some decent pictures.
• Finish/make significant headway with my second composition
• Recorded Bach violin double for GCSE Music ensemble
•  Upload everything on for Duke of Edinburgh
•  Blog every day during half term (and you can shout at me if I don’t!)
•  Have sent off my application my Headstart course application
• Watch all the Desperate Housewives that I have managed to miss!
  
  
  
  I think that is it!

Here is another list of potential blog posts for the next week (just so I don’t forget to write them)

• Tribute to my Dad
•  Intelligence and GCSE’s
• End of my chronicle series*
• Stuff I want to buy *

*would perhaps go on the new blog that I want to start.

Okay, this blog post sucked. But it’s more of a reminder/to do list for myself.

Ciao for now,

Rebecca x

P.S. Pinch, punch first day of the month, no returns!

P.P.S A kick and a flick for being so quick/ a d*ck/ a pr*ck.

P.P.P.S A stab in the eye for being so sly.

P.P.P.P.S A thumb on the back for being so slack.

P.P.P.P.P.S Pull your hair for being un-fair.

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Why is violence always used to celebrate a new month?

Uke News, Attractive Men and Year 7s

Hello there. Similarly to Tuesday’s post, I’m going to show you some other really awesome things I have liked in the last few days.

Sherlock (parody) | Chris Kendall

Crabstickz is probably one of the funniest Youtuber out there. His impressions and accents are so hilarious, and this video is probably one of his best, simply because it’s about Sherlock.. I was literally laughing out loud for probably a good 10 seconds after finish watching the video, which, for me, is a rarity.

Jamie N Commons - The Preacher Official Video

I found about this dude from the BBC Sound of 2012 list, something which I look forward to each year, since it always has some AMAZING artists on it. I haven’t managed to listen to many of the artists on the list this year though, but I have heard a few songs from this band and I am honestly so excited to hear their album. This is my favourite song so far and www.abeano.com describes it as...

“ A dusty, stomping ballad about religion and death performed with a five piece band, it’s stormy wild west meets Jack White’s Detroit (with nods to Johnny Cash and Nick Cave thrown in for good measure). There’s only really one problem; I’ll need to see a birth certificate to believe that he’s only 22 years old. Jamie sounds like he has been glugging whisky for years.”

All he needs to do is grow a beard and do a duet with Laura Marling (this song is very similar to Devil’s Spoke – one of my favourite songs – since it’s a powerful ballad about such a dark subject matter), then my life will be complete.

Onra ft. Jin - The Learn Chinese Anthem (Mashed up by Mo Ellah)

Onra is a French hip-hip/beat maker/ producer sort of musician. The beats he makes are super cool, and in his album, “Chinoiseries”, where old 60’s Chinese and Vietnamese samples are used- two genre’s which juxtapose surprisingly well. The beat used in this remix –The Anthem – is quite well known as was used in a Coke advert for the 2008 advert. I quite like this mash-up with this random rapper, even though I don’t know he is... Oh well, it has Onra’s beat in it, and I think he’s seriously good looking.

Nice Year 7s
What? That's right, some year 7's these last few days have actually been so nice! In our glee club rehearsal, this one girl printed off some lyrics for me, even though I didn't ask her to. Also, yesterday, I was doing my eyeliner in the loos and this random girl who I've never seen before told me that I was "really pretty"! Awh, perhaps behind the giant rucksacks, they are actually nice people.

Ukuleles
My new ukulele has finally arrived.  I am so happy! It’s a Lanikai LU-11, and I love it.

Aren't they pretty?

Quick Review and Comparision:

Mahalo:

Price: £15

+Comes in rainbow colours

+Plastic coated covering, sound is not as good, but makes the instrument very durable

+Geared tuners are shaped like dolphins

-Sounds like turd as the intonation is quite poor

Lanikai:

Price: £50

+Surprisingly loud and resonant considering the size

+Aquila strings are lush

-Lack of attention to detail: Lanikai logo and rings around sound hole look quite tatty

-Made out of plywood, which is going to chip/flake off

In conclusion, basically, if you want a uke to simply look cool, get the Mahalo. If you want to play music, get the Lanikai!

Buying ukuleles is actually so addictive, I want to expand my collection further!

Awesome.

Ciao for now,

Rebecca x

Cool Findings of the Interwebz

Time to take a break from the hair posts, and present to you some cool things I have encountered on the internet over the past week or so.

Jeff Buckley- Grace (BBC Late Show)

Grace is one of the set works which you have to learn about in the GCSE music course. I do like quite a lot of the pieces, but this is the only one that I would truly listen to for my own choice. I was just searching it up on Youtube for some further listening and found this version of it. His performance is generally so intense and amazing, plus it’s pretty hilarious when he lifts his hands up when his is said to also share his father’s “extraordinary vocal elasticity”, at 00.28. Shame both father and son had such early deaths, we can only imagine what great music they would’ve produced.

Lykke Li & Bon Iver doing 'Dance Dance Dance' in L.A

Lykke Li is one of my favourite female artists, along with Florence & the Machine and Regina Spektor. She with Bon Iver (match made in heaven!) simply jamming and dancing in the street with their sleigh bells, kazoo and accordion is so organic and delightful. I remember seeing this video a few years ago, it’s only recently I just rediscovered it from Jazz’s blog, which may I say is absolutely beautiful – I wish I could produce such amazing illustrations!

The Golden Key –Sea of Shoes

This is a beautiful blog by a beautiful girl, but I especially love this blog post. Her hair is so striking, even Arial from The Little Mermaid would be jealous!

"Copy-cat!"

Go Beyond The Cover: Behind the Scenes

A very simple, yet effective advert, where Zombie Boy (a man covered with head to toe tattoos) has his entire body of tattoos covered with some concealer, inciting ideas about “judging a book by its cover. I find it really interesting, and is it odd I find him kind of attractive?!

I first found this video on OogleMakeup’s blog, probably one of the eloquently written and insightful blogs dedicated to make up and beauty. My favourite posts of her’s are usually about consumerism and the beauty industry as a whole, as they are so often very thought provoking about society’s perception of beauty.

That’s it! I really do hope you look at some of the videos/pictures I have linked, as I find them so interesting!

Toodle pip,

Rebecca x

Chronicles of Ombré Hair: Part 2 – IS IT FOR YOU?

Don't understand what this is about? Click here to read from the first post.

Let me clear up a few things before we start in the actual dying process...

1.       These posts is going to extremely extensive/in depth/over the top for something so trivial. I am going to state absolutely everything I know about hair-dying here, because I know that if I had something like this to read before I were to dye my hair, it would’ve been so much easier! I am going to try and make it slightly easier to understand, but it is going to be a lot of writing. If you are not interested in dying your hair, then press the little x in the corner right now.

2.       This is not an instructional post about dip-dying hair. They both involve two different colours of hair on one’s head, but they are slightly different.

~BONUS NUGGET OF KNOWLEDGE~

Ombré literally means “shaded” or something like that – French is most definitely not my best subject.

Anyways, this means that there is a gradation of shades between the two colours, as one slowly blends into another. Dip-dying is more about having two different colours that are abruptly change into each other- I.e. there is no fading into each other.

The Hairington Twins

3.       I am mainly going to explain how to ombré to red from black, but of course this will also work with other colours. I will state in italics if any steps will change if you wish to ombré blonde/blue/rainbow/etc, from any other hair colours.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU OMBRE YOUR HAIR:

·         Do you only want this semi-permanently?

Well, if this is the case and you have very dark hair (like black Asian hair, like mine) then it is simply not going to be possible to ombré your hair to a lighter colour. If you use a semi-permanent dye, the colour on the box will NOT be the colour that will come out of your hair. If you use a coloured semi-permanent dye (like a red or purple colour, which seems to be all the rage nowadays), your hair will have very little difference, unless you are directly under sunlight, then a slight tint would be visible. If you want an ombré which is actually visible under normal light, a permanent dye will HAVE to be used. The only way of removing this colour from your hair is I suppose chopping it all off, or dying it all black, as that would be the only colour dark enough. I have seen colour removal kits on the market, but I doubt it would work on dark hair, purely because they only remove hair colour which is darker than your natural colour.

If you have light hair such as blonde, then it will be possible to use a semi-permanent or temporary hair colour to achieve ombré to a darker shade or colour, but not a lighter ombré.

·         Do you want to keep your hair in perfect condition?

If so, this will not be possible. Obviously, if your hair is already strong, healthy or resistant to split-ending, the damage could be reduced. However, there will always be a negative impact to its condition when dying hair, regardless of whether you use semi permanent or permanent dye. There are temporary hair dyes that are vegetable based dyes (e.g. manic panic) which are ammonia and peroxide free, but still will dry hair out to a certain degree. Of course, aftercare is highly important and can prevent any further spilt-ends from forming, but subjecting your hair to such strong chemicals inevitably will cause significant damage.

·         Do you do lots of water sports/swimming/wish to shower a lot?

If so, then this may be a slight problem. If you are wishing to dye your hair an unnatural colour (such as red for example), even if the small print of the packaging says that it is permanent, the colour will undoubtedly fade and also bleed when in contact with water. If you are in contact with water a lot, then the colour is not going to last very long at all, plus chlorine from swimming pools also cause detrimental effects on the colour – you don’t want green hair (unless you are going for that look!).

IN SUMMARY:

If you are aware that...

1.       Ombré hair is going to be a permanent commitment (unless you chop it off or dye over with black)

2.       Your hair will be damaged by it

3.       When you go swimming, you will leave a trail of hair colour behind you

And you are still not put off...

TIME TO COMMENCE THE DYING PROCESS.

Yay,

NEXT STEP WILL BE UPLOAD TOMORROW

Peace,

Rebecca x

Chronicles of Ombré Hair: Part 1 – INTRODUCTION

Hello there cool people. I had such writer’s block about what to post next, but as my “Whip it Real Good” has proven rather popular and I always get asked about it in real life, I’m going to instruct and inform you about how to achieve ombré hair.

Magritte style, mainly because my face looked silly, and apples look cooler

What on earth is ombré hair?

“Ombré hair colour is generally darker at the roots through the mid-shaft and then gradually gets lighter from the mid-shaft to the ends. It is usually achieved using a balayage technique and is ideal for clients looking for a low-maintenance style.”

That is the definition from About.com and I have to agree with it. Last year it was very popular both on bloggers and celebrities. One reason why it is probably so popular is that it is just so low-fuss and budget friendly as root touch ups are not required- it basically just having really bad roots. That sounds so easy doesn’t it? Just slap on some peroxide on the ends of your hair and then you’re done! Well, yes if you want to turn your hair into straw. However, I don’t have the ever so popular brown to blonde ombré, instead mine is black to red and dying black hair to any colour (which is lighter) without bleach is usually pretty hard. Nevertheless, I have managed it and I really would like to spread my knowledge of not just the method in achieving that hair colour, but also the science behind it (because I love chemistry- sounds lame, doesn’t it...), to everyone.

After I started planning my initial post, I realised that it was going to be absolutely ridiculous if I were to put it all into post, so I am going to create a mini-series on my blog called “Chronicles of Ombré hair”. I’ve decided to break it down into bite-sized chunks that will be easier to follow, rather than a never-ending essay with me over-analysing filamentous biomaterial sprouting out of one’s head.

Expect to see reviews of hair dyes, explanations of the science behind how hair dye works and colour theory, maintaining hair colour and easy to follow step by step tips on taking the plunge.

Keep checking this blog and especially this post, because as each part of the guide goes live, I’m going to link them all back to this post.  I hope to try and add a section each day!

*CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE CHRONICLES OF OMBRE HAIR!*

再 见,

Rebecca x

P.S. I can’t believe I’m starting a series about something as trivial as this. I’ll try to make such a superficial topic as in depth and scientific as possible (LOL WHAT A JOKE)

P.S.S Sorry for all my readers who probably don’t care at all about hair dying, I will continue with normal posts next week!

P.S.S.S Just noticed that the three pictures of me, Jessie J and Snooki all involve some sort of animal print in it... weird!

Disclaimer:

I would first like to say I AM NOT A HAIRDRESSER nor do I claim that my method is the “correct” way of doing it. I have simply done a lot of research before proceeding onto the dying process, so I wouldn’t end up of with a hair disaster. Since I am just so nice, I am going to inform you about everything I have gained from experience and research, so you don’t end up with a hair disaster either (not guaranteed!).

I is bare cool, init?

Today, in English we started our Spoken Language element of our GCSE language coursework. Now, usually hate English with a passion, I wouldn’t even think about it outside the context of our classroom, but today I was compelled to write this blog post about it. Bizarrely enough, I actually found what we were studying really quite interesting (I can’t believe I’m saying this, what has the world come to?!).

We commenced by exploring what actually is spoken language. It is not just when you have a conversation with someone or if you give speech, but then could also be an online conversation. That means that it’s anything which is intended to be said out loud first rather than written down and edited. In that aspect, I suppose my blog is spoken language, considering that I simply just write down whatever the train of thought is in my head. Some of my friends at school even mentioned today that when they read my posts, they read it with my voice in their head.

Next, we moved onto accents. People associate them with foreign people and dull (what is the opposite of funny and witty?) comedians, but everyone has an accent. Even in our class there were a variety accents, however there were a few which were most prevalent and reflective of our entire year group (all images copyright WANG)

1.       The majority of the people just have a southern estuary accent; however laziness in annunciation is common.

2.       Some people have Home Counties accents with perfect diction and speak eloquently, but are slightly audacious and arrogant. It is clear that their parents probably whipped them every night to make sure they don’t drop their T’s.

3.       Other people have been whipped by their parents to speaking in Received Pronunciation, due to peer pressure, attempt to add in slang, (such are “bare” and “allow”), thus sounding rather ridiculous.

4.       The FOBs. FOB stands for fresh off the boat, i.e. they have just moved to this country from another. Most common FOB accents in our school include American and Australian accents.

5.       A few people have a London “youth accent” in order to seem “hard”. I don’t get it either. (sorry the picture is a bit stereotypical!)

As I was writing these categories for my school, it struck me that an accent is not only the way you speak or where you come from – it can also suggest social status and stereotypes. It’s amazing how something so intrinsic can have just a prominent affect on how you are perceived to be like. However, this is not always a negative; everyone has their own unique accent and style which is almost like a vocal fingerprint. The English language is constantly developing and accents can often offer meaning beyond just the letters. If everyone had to speak in RP, what a monotonous world it would be.  I think regional accents provide personality.

So, what category do I fit in?

Being a BBC (British born Chinese), my parents hardly ever communicate to me in English, thus they would not have influenced my accent in anyway. This must mean that my accent has been mostly affected by my schooling.

1.       I always drop my T’s, probably because almost everyone around here does. After our English teacher pointed this out, I attempted to perfectly pronounce my T’s, but in the end, I thought I sounded slightly silly.

2.       I used to always say “f”, when it’s supposed to be “th”. For example, I used say “f”ursday, instead of “th”ursdays, probably because this is a trade mark of being brought up in “emel. I remember my sister always used to tease me about it, so I tried to change it. Another reason could be because, in the Chinese language (Mandarin), there is no “th” sound at all, so I probably grew up not using it in both languages, since it wasn’t used in one. I still find it slightly hard to pronounce to this day and sometimes the devilish “f” does still creep in out of habit.

So yes, in conclusion, I believe that spoken language is something which should equate to more than a measly 10% of a GCSE. The way you speak/talk is just so imperative to every walk of life – that is unless you decide to move to another country and never utter another word in English ever again. Apart from grades and what is written down on your CV, the second most important factor when in an interview situation is the way you converse and portray/sell yourself with your words. Therefore, English teachers, I think you should teach us less about pointless poetry and make us write fewer critical essays, and teach us the skills that will be invaluable all throughout our life.

Here is a hilarious video of this one guy attempting 24 English accents. By the way, it contains lots of swearing.

Wow, I can’t believe I wrote an entire post about English.

“F”anks for reading!

Rebecca x

P.S. I am planning to blog every other day this month! So far, I have managed to stick to this goal, and it’s something I really do want to keep to throughout the year, so check back regularly for more content!

P.P.S. I have far too much fun using MS paint...

"I want to be pretty..."

Poor blog!

... I hear my blog cry. Yes, I think it is about time that I make my blog aesthetically beautiful. I’ve decided that February* is going to be the month of home improvements on ScatterrBrained. As you can probably tell, I have made quite a few changes already. RIP old format! (I should’ve print screened it)

What I have done already:

1.       BACKGROUND - Probably the most obvious difference is the omission of the cartoon brain, tiled background. I loved the obnoxiousness and quirky aspect of it, but I think it’s time to opt for a more mature look. Instead I have changed it do a dark purpled-toned gray.

2.       HEADER – Gone is the loathsome bubblegum pink back ground and childish font, since pink is my least favourite colour. Instead I have replaced it with an image of a real nebula, which I took from my “Tag! You’re it!” post, as I just realised how pretty it is. I usually hate the font Courier New but I thought that it suited the space aged look.

3.       PAGES - Deleted them entirely since I only had 2 pages, 1 which was home with all my posts, and 2, a “About me” page which was completely vacant.

4.       FAVICON – I changed the favicon so it is a cute little brain!

What I want to do, but can’t seem to do as Blogger is pissing me off/I’m a noob at HTML:

1.       HYPERLINKS – for some annoyingly annoying reason, all my hyperlinks are a grotesque bright blue colour, even though I’ve changed the settings template’s advanced settings. Perhaps it is just a glitch, but it’s genuinely ruining the entire aura that I am trying to convey on my blog.

2.       BORDER AROUND THE HEADER – Why is there that horrendous light pink boarder around my beautiful nebula? I google-ed it, and it told me to change some HTML code. Even though editing the HTML to be feels like open heart surgery, I found the bit of code I was looking for, but it said the value was 0 already!!! If anyone is a wiz at that sort of stuff, please could you help me!

Here are some of my favourite fashion/style blogs which also happen to be absolutely gorgeously made too.

1)      Zoella

a.       Very popular blog, with quite a girly design.

2)      Cats and Rocking Chairs

a.       Mentioned in my post about Inspirational blogs, this blog is very simplistic with its design, but well put together. I particularly like the hand drawn header, and how the images in the posts are cool toned to match the colour scheme of the blog

3)      Meek~N~Mild

a.       The design has, as the post there mentions, very clean lines, making it look very professional and sharp. I like how everything is centred, rather than aligned left.

4)      VIPXO

a.       I really like how the aquamarine colour is used as a highlight throughout the blog, and also how the image of her is a .GIF.

5)      Noir Nouvelle

a.       Probably one of best put together blog, with a consistent theme that is light water colours.

What I have noticed in all these blogs:

1)      Consistency: probably the main thing which I have noticed in these blogs is that, whatever theme the blog has, it is consistent through out.

2)      Width: The screen shots are quite deceiving, since I zoomed out when taking them, but something which was common was that very little background as the width of the blogs were very wide, with only thin margins.

3)      Big Pictures: most images are very large, pretty much filling the entire width of the blog.

4)      Large Headers: most headers took up about 1/3 of the web page space, and very clearly stated the name of the blog.

What I am planning to do in the future:

1.       FONT – I want to change the entire font of the bulk of my text, to something more sophisticated and chic than Calibri. However, at the moment, I am writing my posts in Microsoft Word and then copying and pasting them into Blogger, the text is already formatted in that font, and so I’m not sure how to change the whole lot of it. I have a feeling this will involve some more HTML editing though, eek!

2.       ABOUT ME – I want to have a little icon and description this blog and me in at the top of the right hand margin.

3.       CUSTOM URL – I am tempted to buy my URL (it’s only $10) so it is memorable and professional. However, the typo in ScatterRBrained, would bug me so much, but I think it’s too late to go back now!

4.       MAKE IT LOOK BEAUTIFUL AND PROFESSIONAL – This is my end goal.

So, with an entire new look and atmosphere surrounding ScatterrBrained, I feel like its optimum time to also slightly change the direction of my blog. Of course, there will be the usual impromptu posts of whatever comes into mind and the ~bonus nuggets of knowledge~, but I also want to start to include more fashion/styling posts. The January sales mean that I have bought quite a few new items, so I finally feel content with my clothing. Thus, I am going to commence a new series on this blog, where I am going to post outfit’s of the days, or in my case, outfit of this Saturday. Why Saturday? Well the other 5 days of the week I wear school uniform, and on Sunday, I usually lounge around in whatever, so yeah. I’m currently thinking of a name for this series, perhaps Saturday Stylings, but not so lame?

So everyone, be honest, do you prefer this format or the old one with the brains? Comment below!

Thanks for your support!

Rebecca x

P.S. *you are probably wondering why it’s home improvements February, rather than January. Until the end of this month, I am ridiculously busy. By that I mean, biology, chemistry and physics exams, Arkwright exam, 2x maths mocks, 2x speeches to prepare for, all my resistant materials coursework in for next week (ARGH!) and two sets of music coursework to be completed by the end of the month, even though I haven’t even started my second composition yet. I honestly don’t know I’m wasting my time at the moment writing this post! I want to stick to posting on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday and Sunday, if there is a slight blogging hiatus, this is not because I have disappeared off the face of the earth. That is of course, unless I get abducted by aliens... 

P.P.S The HTML of this post is for some reason messed up too. Darn computers.