Updated Sneak Peak into My Jewellery

Hey Guys,

Quite a while a go i did a blogpost on my most worn pieces of Jewellery and since then my collection has grown, changed and adjusted so i thought toady i would share some of my favourite pieces with you.

One of my most worn pieces of jewellery is my Pandora bracelet, this was originally my 16th birthday, as i got the bracelet and the charm furthest to the left as my present. Since then my family and i have been working hard and now my bracelet is pretty much full. Since my last blog post i have brought the good luck coin with my first pay check before my A2s. As shown last time the rabbit and crown were a Christmas present from my parents and the hot air balloon was my treat to myself after GCSEs. Most recently were these two charms the fleur de lis and the Aries charm which my parents got me as a results day gift and a getting in to Uni gift. The final clip was my 17th birthday present from my grandma as it is a daisy which is the flower of April, when my birthday is. This list shows why i love Pandora so much as it is a collection of gifts and stories, i like how people in my life give me different charms and each means something. I wear this bracelet so much and it is so comfy for me. If you are looking for a charm bracelet that people can add things on, definitely go for Pandora as they are just really high quality and i love it. 

 If there was only one way of wearing jewellery i would only wear necklaces. Everyday i wear my Tudor rose necklace, and so i'm a little addicted to necklaces so i have quite a few. This one was my 18th birthday gift from my grandparents, as the only thing i asked for was a suffragette necklace, which i got. This necklace is thought to be a suffragette jewellery as it contains white, green and purple/  violet gems...Code for Give Women the Vote. I admire the suffragettes immensely as they were all so brave and fearless and if i could have a small fraction of their determination and courage in order to help the word, i would be so happy. This necklace is so lovely i like to wear it over jumpers as it come to just the right length.

 What a surprise, another necklace, this again was an 18th present, this time from my aunt, i wore this in the summer as an alternative to my Tudor Rose necklace as it went really well with a top i had. I like this necklace as i love silver jewellery and this is such a nice, simple and classic necklace to wear if i don't want to wear to much jewellery. I like the little R stamped on to it as although it is my initial it also can stand for Ravenclaw or Rivers or anything else you know beginning with R...

Lastly... It's a necklace, wow. This is one of my favourite piece of jewellery. This was my 18th birthday present from my parents and i love it. The opal is so pretty and the necklace is so elegant and simple which is right up my alley as i like simple and classic jewellery designs. I'm not a massive fan of modern jewellery so this a pre-owned vintage necklace. I'm so glad me and my dad decided to buy this as we walked passed it an i had to stop and look at it for a while and everywhere we went we kept referring back to it. I wore this at my end of school ball and every time i wear it i get so many compliments, its just so lovely. 

I hope you enjoy this sneak peak and i'm sure you have so many special piece like i do in your collection. 

Love, 

LadyoftheRivers x

Book Review- The Cursed Child

Hey Guys,

I recently read The Cursed Child as I have definitely caught the Harry Potter Bug recently after finally getting round to finish reading the series. So I thought I'd carry this new fascination on to reading the new play 'The Cursed Child'. Now I have heard some mixed reviews about this, some vehemently dislike it others ,myself included, really enjoyed it.

This play is right up my ally, i am a sucker for epilogues and fan fictions that take the characters and put them in different places with new problems. For those who haven't read it the play is based around Harry Potter's son Albus Severus Potter ( I know it's a ridiculous name) who feels like the 'Cursed Child' in his house as he is sort off the odd one out. Without spoiling the play he goes on adventures with his only friend Scorpius Malfoy ( A Potter and a Malfoy are friends...What ever is next)

For those who have read it, will know the crazy and insane things that happen, and i kind of loved that, the 'weird' things for me represent the wizarding world where literally anything could happen. I also really loved the 'villain' in this, for me it literally came out of nowhere and i honestly believed the character was completely innocent for over half the book.

I think i also really like the play because the characters for me were really interesting. I connected a lot more with Albus than i sometimes did with Harry in the original series and because it was a play every dialogue Albus has is meant to show you parts of his personality that would normally be described in a novel, and i really like that because Albus is then as a character more open to interpretation. When you read this Scorpius Malfoy will have your heart straight away, he is the sweetest, loyal and lovely character, there are parts where he shows his capacity for evil but most of him is focused on having adventures with friends, which is all he ever wanted.

One of my favourite thing about the play was Harry's nightmares and night terrors, i think that shows how deeply the war and the constant struggle for 8 years with Voldermort damaged him. It gives each character something else and thats why i really liked it, it was a continuation of these characters, exploring them differently and changing them up, which is one of my favourite thing to read.

I am beyond excited to see how they are going to stage and act this play... But if you haven't got tickets or want to revisit
the Harry Potter world or even see what all the hype is about, I would 100% recommend reading the play as it was something i really enjoyed.

Hope you do too.
Love,

LadyoftheRivers x

Elizabeth Ist and her Portraits

Hey Guys,

SO today ( the 7th of September) is Elizabeth the 1st birthday. She for those of you who are familiar was a Tudor monarch who ruled England from 1558-1603. I think that although she did have some flaws she was a pretty great monarch, especially in the style department. Therefore i wanted to share with you today some of my favourite portraits of Elizabeth and even analyse a couple.

1. The Coronation Portrait.

This portrait is one of my absolute favourite of hers, you might have seen glimpses in the latest drama series about Victoria. I don't know why i love this portrait so much but i just love how apologetically regal she looks, painted in full garb with orb, sceptre and crown she is basically sticking a middle finger up at anyone who doesn't believe women can rule and is proving that she is every inch a queen. 

2. 

This is one of the earliest full portraits of just Elizabeth and is one of the first portraits i saw. David Starkey did a really interesting analysis of this portrait as he said she is of course with the bible open behind her and her hand marking the place in a book showing scholarly and pious attributes. But he pointed out the french hood pushed back, the bed canopy open behind her and her intense eyes remind or have hints at her mother's provocative nature. 

3. 

Now this is one of her lesser known portraits. Now, you might be wondering, what on earth is in her hands... Which is a wooden sieve. Basically like the pearls Elizabeth always wore, this sieve is another image of virginal status, as it comes from a story when a women showed her purity by carrying water in a sieve and none came out. ( Or so I believe). Therefore this portrait shows how obvious Elizabeth's imagery can be, literally the sieve is the only focal point of this portrait so it like she is highlighting to everyone "Look How pure i am..."

4.

The rainbow portrait. This is one of my favourite portraits of Elizabeth, because i feel it is a portrait of her just throwing shade across all of her courtiers. Elizabeth here, is wearing a gown covered in eyes and ears, which translates as saying she can hear and see all in the country. Not only that but this portrait is full of symbolism, the snake on her sleeve represents wisdom, it has a heart in its mouth showing Elizabeth lets wisdom rule her heart. She is also holding a rainbow (hence the rainbow portrait) which implies peace, showing that she is literally holding peace and prosperity. 

5. 

Lastly, the infamous Armada portrait. The crown, hand on the globe, scenes of the Armada being destroyed and her fantastic gown all scream images of royalty and queen-ship. The still image links to the medals which had the phrase: "God blew and the where scattered" as it shows the English fleet serenely sitting on still water. The fan is a classic Elizabeth symbol of royalty and elegance. 

hope you enjoyed this little post full of portraits,

Enjoy, Love,

LadyoftheRivers x

Guide Back to School- Dyslexic Addition

Hey Guys,

If you don't know for all my life i have suffered with the horror that is dyslexia.

Dyslexia if you are not familiar is a learning disability that google defines as:

"a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence."

And this means it really affects life when you are at school.

Finally as i have finished school, I am able to escape the hell it created, but that means many of you are  still suffering through school, made especially hard if you too suffer with dyslexia. Therefore i have decided to give you a few top tips if you are in need of help. 

1, Get Tested.

The first thing to do if you fee like you have any sort of learning disability, get tested. Therefore you can understand exactly what you have and what you can do to combat it. Getting tested is easily, go and organise a meeting with an educational physcologist They will do really easy brain test and IQ test, don't worry about that.

2.  Speak to your teachers

Some problems can arise when your teachers believe you are being stupid or lazy- which you are not you are just trying to be a normal human. Speaking to your teacher so you can highlight the areas you have problems with whether it be reading, writing or numbers. If you can get your teachers on board life will become a lot more easier.

3. Find a way to revise

What i found hardest about dyslexia was my memory, that meant i have to start to revise a lot earlier than others- i;m talking October rather than when they start in like blooming May! I revise by A5 notebooks which i right summaries of all topics, and then to increasingly amounts of practise exams and essays.

4. Have the right equipment

If your handwriting is messy or takes you quite a while, see if you can get computer in exam, or at the very least 25% extra time. This will help make the HORROR that is exams, they are literally designed by Satan.
( If you can't tell. I hate exams)

5. Plan essays

This was the best thing for me, although you will always have the comments of can you plan your essays despite the fact you do, planning essays means you structure is a least on point. Planning is so important and without it my essays would be such a mess, so planning is a massive necessity just for getting all your ideas down in a coherent way.

I hope this helps anyone going into the horror of school tomorrow!

Good Luck

Love,

LadyoftheRivers x