The Crumpet: April - My Favourite Things ... and a Holo-oh-oh Haul

Hi Goddesses

These are rapidly becoming my favourite posts to write - I love picking the highlights out of the month. Let's chew over April shall we?

Well the month was largely frustrating - nail breaks and sinuses almost killed me between them. I had a week's holiday where I had lots of fabulous polish and writing things planned, and no, it didn't happen, but the pain did. Bummer. It's taken me about 6 weeks to get back on track, and it's such a great feeling to be almost back in control lol.

Things are going to start changing a lot soon on The Crumpet. I love my nail art, but we all know I'm not really a swatcher, and to be honest, some of those posts don't get massive amounts of views either. So, the blog is going to be moving to a more "chatty", magazine style, with different types of posts, more opinions and reviews, and (crucially) more writing. You've already started to see some of that with Crumpet's Choice, and there's lots more stuff in that vein to follow, including a lengthy How To series.

I also introduced Drool Britannia, and that will be a constant focus, promoting British polishes, as well as Digit-al Dozen, Theme Week and the Tri-Polish Challenge. And any other mad things I think up.

I'm really excited about the changes - I think they'll make it a better blog, and a blog where there's always interesting content :)

So, let's see some of this month's favourite things -

Favourite Polish of the Month -

This has been really hard, because I didn't actually get round to showing my real favourite polish of the month on the blog lol. So she'll have to stay secret for another month!

Of the ones I've blogged this month, it would have to be OPI DS Couture - just too gorgeous for words.

Highlights of the Month

To be honest, the genuine highlight was last weekend. I spent the entire weekend in the nail room, did over 20 manis (incl nail art and 2 challenges) and did lots of writing and editing and catching up. Total bliss. The perfect weekend as far as I was concerned :)

In other highlights, Barry M released a whole load of summer, and I'm honoured, as always, that I get to play with them before the rest of the world. The Gellies arrived today and my oh my they look gorgeous!

I've also bought some mighty fine polishes this month. It's been all about holo for me and I have about 40 new holo babies to play with. Oh momma so happy :)

Bummer of the Month

Definitely the sinuses and the nail breaks, which I blogged about here. The nail break not so bad, but if you've ever suffered from bad sinuses, you'll know how they just suck the living life force out of you. Horrid things.

Music of the Month

Ah, it's STILL all about Glee. This series started off a bit lame musicwise, but it's really kicked into gear the last few weeks. Beth and I are currently loving Anything Could Happen and we damn near wet ourselves when Sue did Nicky Minaj - genius!

TV of The Month

Beth is still obsessed with David Tennant and Doctor Who, and I've got to admit, I do now realise what all the fuss was about.

Also, I am majorly loving the mystery of Clara in the new series.

Stats of the Month

Total page views - 41k, so still going down, although it has FELT like I've had more views, so maybe it's because I've been trying to post less. Either way, I've not felt like the blog had less love this month.

Number of Posts - 51 - a little bit less, but still nowhere near the 1 post a day lol.

Highest Viewed Post - The Crumpet Amateur Nail Art Contest - 686

Highest Viewed Post - Swatch - Drool Britannia - 250

Highest Viewed Post - Art - Barry M Nail Art Pens - 481

Also, this is the slowest month EVER for growth on The Crumpet. I think I've gained about 20 GFC followers, compared to 50 to 60 on both Facebook and Blog Lovin. I am assuming that's because people think GFC is about to disappear when Google Reader does ?

2 blogs I'd like to spend some time raving about. I've been following them each for a couple of months, and I've yet to see a bad post.

First up we have Accio Lacquer - this is a nerd meets polish blog, where lots of awesome indies get the geekiness they deserve. Utterly brilliant swatches.

But seriously, this is only half the story - you need to click HERE to see how Mishka puts her posts together. Utter genius.

2ndly, Polished Elegance, a brilliant nail art blog which is ... erm, elegant lol. Her art blows me away.

Rose manicure nails rose nail art flowers vintage nail art

Rose manicure nails rose nail art flowers vintage nail art

flower manicure flowers spring roses daisy nail art nail polish white flowers blue gradient

Ok .. and now .... would you like to see some hauls ?? As I mentioned above, I've been obsessed with holo-oh-ohs again lately, so I er, bought a couple ..... as well as a few other bright summer bits and pieces.