Making The Move

Wow this is a big day for Diamond in the Rough!

Guys, we’re officially moving!

For future Diamonding, we can be found HERE

The team has expanded and over the next couple of weeks, hopefully you’ll see the Diamond Project grow and grow and be better than I’d ever hoped it would be!!!!!!

Don’t forget to update us in your blogroll!

The new URL is http://theroughdiamonds.wordpress.com/

If we’re not in your blogroll already, then WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!!!??? Consider it your good deed for the week, cos hey, we’re helping out our fellow bloggers with this!!!!

And if you really want to make us smile, then doing a post on us would be pretty darn swell!

Peace Out!!!!!

See you on the other side….

Newsies!

Hello!

So as you know I’m a little all over the place this week!

The flu is everywhere and while everyone else robbed days off, I am stuck working like a loon to cover for those wasters even though I am just as sick!

Lol, I’m a little bitter.

Yesterday’s blog has been featured today (see below), but unfortunately there’s no profile on our guest blogger due to conflicting schedules which made her unable to answer the interview questions!

However, you know us well enough at this stage, so even without a profile you should be confident that we wouldn’t feature anyone who wasn’t worth checking out, so visit Annabel’s site HERE and say hello!

In other news, August is over.

Which means it’s September.

Which means it’s time for a new theme on Diamonds!

So from tomorrow, our guest posters will be basing their offerings on the following:

Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings…”

Even though I’m no longer in full-time education, September always signals the beginning of something new and exciting, so I figured this was a nice inspirational theme to get things started!

Also there is that surprise I have coming …..

Should I tell you now?

Or should I wait?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm…….

Oh what the heck!

The Diamond in the Rough family is about the expand!

I’ve been authoring solo for the last month and man, although it’s been so much fun and so rewarding, it’s also very stressful!

So I’ve enlisted some help.

Over the next couple of weeks, Diamonds will be moving location so that we can welcome Belle from It’s All Make Believe, Isn’t It ?, Lapin Blanc from The White Rabbit and Nicole from My Teacups in Peony to the full-time team!!!!!

This is only good news, and means we can research further afield and find even more wonderful blogs for you guys to read!

Super awesome right?

Oh and we’ll even have a Twitter page!

The wonder of modern technology, eh!?

So I’ll be keeping you updated and will give you the new URL very soon which I hope you’ll add to your blogroll!

Don’t forget to congratulate our new additions!

And that’s it!

Hermia

oxox

Meet Annabel from Pepper and Chips

The story I had in mind is of a girl who finds love, then loses it, and ultimately finds happiness without it…

—-guest post submitted by Pepper and Chips

Quick Note

Guys I’m so sorry ….I’m a walking mess today and an incubator for germs and infection so I’m afraid the normally-scheduled Monday post will be featured 2moro instead!!!

We’ll be back to the normal schedule on Wednesday, fingers crossed!!!!

Oh and I’m going to have some exciting news for you all soon!!!

Gather round and meet… Poptart

Blog: Poptart

Blogger’s Name: Adele

Location: UK

Why we like her: Eh, have you SEEN her URL …. http://thewizardofoohsandahhsandfalalas.blogspot.com/

WOW THAT’S AMAZING ….and even though cool url is TOTALLY reason enough to read her religiously, why don’t you humour me and tell me some more: Well Adele’s blog is about life: an actual normal person’s life. Yeah, it’s great to read the blogs of aspiring models and PR Agents and party planners and artists, but sometimes it’s nice to find a normal someone who just likes stuff and has interesting stuff happen in their normal life.

Lol, I’ve just made her sound really boring.

Well, she’s not. She has a fun and engaging writing style, she’s kinda quirky and odd and totally sentimental. Check out her answer to our classic “Which 3 People Would You Have Tea and Cake With” question ….

1. Sting. Because I’ve actually had this dream before, and woke up feeling very, VERY excited
2. JESUS.
3. My boyfriend, Ian’s Grandfather. I know it’s a really odd choice, but he was a very integral part of Ian’s life, but died before I got to meet him. It would be nice to meet the man who taught the man I love so many life lessons.

See?

Also she takes some great polaroids!

The Lightning Round

….the place where we ask THE hard-hitting, inportant Life questions that you all need and want to know:

What made you start your blog?
I first hopped on the blogwagon for the simple reason that I wanted to let my family keep tabs on what and how I was doing while overseas for university. It later became a personal creative avenue for me to express thoughts, share moments etc etc.

Do you prefer muffins or cupcakes?
Cupcakes. If muffins had frosting, it’ll be a totally different story.

If you could have one superpower, which would you choose?
I don’t know if this is a superpower but it would be the ability to ingest whatever I wanted without worrying about putting on weight. Like SUPERMETABOLISM WOMAN.

If you could have any three items in your apartment, what would you chose?
1. A heavy chandelier
2. A walk in wardrobe with DOUBLE DOORS.
3. A classic French-style sofa

Now head below and have a goo at her guest post!!!

So we grow up with these preconceived notions about how love is SUPPOSED to be…

When these photos on Disney’s fallen princesses by Dina Goldstein were made public, I think many mothers took action by hiding them from their own little princesses. After all, they weren’t exactly an accurate depiction of the singing fairytale maidens we’ve grown so accustomed to seeing. For starters, they were missing their singing forest friends.

I, however loved this photo series. It’s life after happily ever after. Is it slightly depressing? Yes. Is it perhaps. cynical? Yes. But what it does is tell the story AFTER prince charming rescues his damsel in distress. Nobody ever told me what could have or might have happened to them after their whirlwind romances, whether or not these Disney couples stayed together or drifted apart. So we grow up with these preconceived notions about how love is SUPPOSED to be, and how if them princesses (whom we religiously watched over, and over again) could have that, then why couldn’t we? Before we know it we are in our teens, looking for love, finding them in all the wrong places, or at least never being satisfied with what we come across.

Prince charming isn’t always charming. He might be during that honeymoon stage in every relationship (which is about the span of one of your favourite Disney stories), but once that honeymoon is over, the REAL test begins.

Do we then give up all hope of finding happiness that lasts forever and ever? Most definitely NOT, but what we can do, is learn to be more like Belle, one of my favourite Disney princesses. The only one that wasn’t in need of a prince, who valued her independence and yearned for adventure, only to stumble upon him to discover his most disgusting traits before loving him for who he was.

I am by no means a feminist. I do believe in women in relationships being able to be independent without having their lives evolve solely around their partners. I believe that women in relationships should seek to build their own character, grow in their convictions, and become more beautiful inside and out.

But most importantly, I believe in love. I am in fact in love, and it’s a wonderful thing. I might not have the fairytale relationship that I was taught was ideal, but what I do have is a real, working one. One that will hopefully see happily ever after (:

—guest post submitted by Poptart

Gather round and meet …Her Name Was Lola

Blog: Her Name Was Lola

Blogger’s Name: Lara

Location: New York

Why We Like Her: We love the variety of Lara’s blog. When asked where she got her inspiration from, she said:

My travels, for one. I’ve had ample opportunity over the past few years to live and travel to some extraordinary places. I’m constantly inspired by my surroundings. New York City provides a spectacular backdrop for a lot of what I’m writing about now. Fashion, food, film, theatre, architecture, interior design, you name it; and sometimes it’s the little things that make the largest impression, like French macarons!

She gets her inspiration from so many wonderful areas of life and it really shows in her content, which always makes you want to go back for more.

Awh Wow …..anything else we should know: We like the pictures she features ….a lot ….like this one:

We also like her simple and straightforward writing style: no long-winded novel-sized snore-fest posts here!! Oh and she posts loads, which makes us adore her, cos there’s nothing we like more than a frequent poster who provides us with lots of viewing material.

Oh wait ….we like comment-backers even more than that.

And guess what….

…she’s a really good comment-backer!

The Lightning Round

….the place where we ask THE hard-hitting, inportant Life questions that you all need and want to know:

If you could have tea and cake with any three people (living or dead) who would you pick?
Jane Austen, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Meryl Streep.

If you could have one superpower, which would you choose?
I’d like to have the superpower to pull off the one-piece patent leather jumpsuit Michelle Pfeiffer donned as Cat Woman.

Money can’t buy you love, but it COULD buy you……?
A Vespa.

Who is your fashion idol?
Cate Blanchett walks on the wild side of fashion. I must admit, sometimes her wardrobe can be just a little too far out there, but it’s always exciting and supremely glamorous. She can do no wrong.

If you could have any three items in your apartment, what would you chose?
The Art Deco Vanity from The Paris Apartment Boutique, the Zebra-Motif Mirror from Horchow, and the striped taxi legs print from she hit pause. studios for the wall.

Now go check out her guest post below….

Like little portraits from youth…

At the moment, I’m digging childhood treasures from days gone by; or, rather, their grown up equivalents. So instead of throwing a modern twist on a childhood tale, I thought I would share a few items I am currently coveting that transport me back to another time entirely (specifically: the late eighties/early nineties cusp).

1. My favorite part of childhood trips to the Science Center? Astronaut Ice Cream! 2. I want to support Urban Outfitters + The Impossible Project‘s initiative, by purchasing my very own, limited edition Polaroid camera kit (containing one pack of preserved 779 film and one 600 classic Polaroid camera). 3. The greatest part of growing up in rainy Pittsburgh? Purchasing fun umbrellas come back-to-school time, like fredflare.com‘s Rain Parade mini umbrellas. 4. The Official Tooth Fairy Kit from Office of the Tooth Fairy makes the entire tooth-loosing experience only that much more magical!

5. I adore the old-fashioned feel of Love & Victory‘s Custom Silhouette Charms, like little portraits from youth.

6. I’m keeping fingers crossed that one day Austrailia’s Harper’s Bazaar will send me a grown up paper doll gift box, like the one desiretoinspire received. What could be more cooler? 7. Urban Oufitters’ Bike Shop is supremely cool, and I’m smitten with the banana boat bicycle handles. 8. Remember when Lip Smackers were all the rage? Sephora‘s Schweppes Gold Medal Set could keep a smile on my face for days on end. 9. On the Christmas list: a custom Muppet from the Muppet Whatnot Workshop at FAO Schwarz in New York City. What were your most beloved childhood treasures? It’s quite nice to take the time to remember some of these sweet treats. As always, you’re welcome to swing by Her name was Lola and share! I always love new playmates! Cheers.

Gather round and meet …English Rose Darlingg

Blog: English Rose Darlingg

Blogger’s Name: Sarah

Location: Ooooo it’s a mystery!

Why We Like Her: She describes her blog as “enchanting trinkets from a teenage dreamer” and she couldn’t be more accurate in her description because we’ve discovered so many treasures there. She has the most wonderful collection of pictures and some really beautiful quotes.

Ooooo ….what else should we know: Well her blog design has such a lovely vintage feel to it that you instantly feel at home when you click onto her page. There are noticeable similarities between herself and The Tea Drinking English Rose, but Sarah is far more current, which is what attracts us. However it appears these similarities aren’t a happy coincendence as she lists The Rose as one of her inspirations:

“I get my inspiration from many different things, films, books, magazines. The main things that inspire me are Lula Magazine, the famous Gossip Girl, and my two favorite blogs that I just can’t get enough of, The Tea Drinking English Rose and iCiNG“

She’s also a girl close to our hearts as she posts photo features on wonderfully inspiring people like Marilyn Monroe, Cheryl Cole, Lady GaGa, Diana Vickers and Emmy Rossum.

Basically, Sarah is a talented blogger who can bring the old and new together to create a wonderfully current vintage blog!

OH ….and she loves Queen!

The Lightning Round

….the place where we ask THE hard-hitting, inportant Life questions that you all need and want to know:

If you could have tea and cake with any three people (living or dead) who would you pick?
Wow, this is a hard choice. I would definitely choose Edie Sedgwick, who I feel doesn’t get enough credit. She was one of the most beautiful models, but had a tragic life, yet she would apparently light up a room & not care what other people thought of her.
Freddie Mercury who’s music is just so different and talented, and would spice the conversation a little bit
And finally Johnny Depp. Because…. well, it’s Johnny Depp!

Your favourite book is?
Ohh I have a few! The Twilight series, ‘Rebecca’,'Wuthering Heights’ or ‘The Tower Room’ series by Adele Geras.

What TV show would you like your life to be?
Gossip Girl! With all the fashion, lusting after Chuck Bass, but maybe less of the drama.

Money can’t buy you love, but it COULD buy you……?
SHOES!

What famous woman would you most like to be like?
Hhmmm, other than the obvious choices (Keira Knightly, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn..) I would have to say Katy Perry. She’s not afraid to make fun of herself, she doesn’t take herself seriously and she’s always having fun and being goofy!

—–Now go check out her post below!

What do they teach in schools these days?

“You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you, Peter Pan.”

“…Oh, we walk together, and talk together, and just before we say goodbye, he takes me in his arms, and then… I wake up. Yes, it’s only in my dreams. But they say if you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true, and I’ve seen him so many times.”

*Sleeping Beauty*

Susan Pevensie: “[about Lucy] She thinks she’s found a magical land… In the upstairs wardrobe.
Professor Kirke: [eyes widening, he rushes to the children] What did you say?
Peter Pevensie: Um, the wardrobe. Upstairs. Lucy thinks she’s found a forest inside.
Susan Pevensie: She won’t stop going on about it.
Professor Kirke: What was it like?
Susan Pevensie: Like talking to a lunatic.
Professor Kirke: No, no, no. Not her, the forest!
Susan Pevensie: [stares] You’re not saying you believe her?
Professor Kirke: You don’t?
Susan Pevensie: But, of course not. I mean, logically it’s impossible.
Professor Kirke: What do they teach in schools these days? “

*Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe*

—-guest post submitted by English Rose Darlingg