“I’m not surprised someone finally decided to put Mat out of everybody’s misery, but if you think it was me, you’re sorely mistaken. True, Sophie and that bimbo Katrina saw me leave the table just before Mat was killed, but I was in the upstairs bathroom at the time, trying to keep those awful cupcakes down.”

And it’s all true.  Have you worked out who did it yet?  Head over to Twitter via the #BloggerMystery tag to get involved questioning us suspects, and be in with a chance of winning £100 worth of Waterstones vouchers!

Naomi x

In celebration of the Agatha Christie Festival this week, Waterstones is holding the first ever Blogger Murder Mystery event.

Waterstones needs your help, dear reader. There’s been a crime most horrid committed against fellow blogger Matthew Pike at http://www.bucketsandspadesblog.com/. We need your help to find the culprit and be in with a chance of receiving a £100 reward of Waterstones vouchers. Detective Michael Scott is on the case, so be sure to follow him on twitter @DCIMikeScott where he will be revealing clues throughout the week until Friday 20th September. You can question any of the bloggers using their twitter handle and the hashtag #BloggerMystery to find holes in their alibis.

The list of suspects are:

Naomi @Bewitchery_ https://bewitcheryblog.co.uk/ (You know I wouldn’t do it though, right?)
Jane @ITYDarling http://isthatyoudarling.wordpress.com/
Lucinda @ljbarton http://www.bakesbooksandmyboys.com/
Katrina @carouseldiary http://carouseldiary.com/
Sophie @sophiepatricia6 http://ileftmyheartinmiami.blogspot.co.uk/
Kel @kellovesclothes http://www.kelloves.com/
Eleanor @ebsnare http://threewordoutfit.com/

And here’s what the detective on the case has to say…

From DCI Michael Scott

“Waterstones invited six prestigious fashion and beauty bloggers – Elly, Kel, Sophie, Naomi, Katrina Louise and Mat – to its very first Fabulous Fashionista of the Year Award, held amid a lavish cupcake dinner at Cryptic Hall. However, events have taken a dark turn and Mat, the winner of the award, has been found dead in the bathroom. Foul play is most certainly suspected.

Details of the night are still sketchy, but we know all six fashionistas were known to each other at the time of the killing and enjoyed a friendly rivalry in the world of fashion blogging. Also in Cryptic Hall at the time were Jan, the owner of the manor, and a chef, Lucinda, who was hired to put on a delicious spread of cupcakes for the guests.

According to my interviews, the guests arrived at Cryptic Hall at around 6pm or just before. They sat down to enjoy Lucinda’s cupcakes and discuss their blogging with one another. There was a short break for coffee at around 6.40pm, during which time many of the guests seem to have left the table for various reasons. At 6.55 or thereabouts, we received a phone call from the suspect who found the body, claiming there had been a murder at Cryptic Hall.

Unfortunately, many of the suspects seem unwilling to cooperate, for reasons that are still being established. If you think you can tease more information out of them, ask them about their activities on that night via Twitter – and when you think you ascertained the culprit, the motive and the method, please relay your suspicions to me, DCI Michael Scott. Together, we can get to the root of this tale of intrigue, jealousy, high fashion and sweet, sweet cupcakes.”

Now, I wasn’t particularly keen on going to the award ceremony because Mat, my ex-husband, was bound to win and I didn’t really fancy spending any time with him. He was going with his new girlfriend Katrina, too.  But I went anyway just on the off-chance that I was chosen as winner, and I thought it’d be a good opportunity to score points against Katrina.  I don’t know who did what to Mat at the ceremony, but of course you know it wasn’t me!

So, get thinking…  Who do you think did it?  Once you think you know who the culprit is send a tweet to the detective giving the name of the killer, the motive and the method by Friday 20th September at Midnight. The winner will be selected on Monday 23rd September.

Good luck, sleuths.

Note: this competition is only open to UK residents

Don’t forget to tweet me and the other bloggers your questions to help work out whodunnit!

Naomi x

Will you be attending your local Pride event this year?

Naomi x

Victoria British Boutique (VBB) is a vintage boutique owned by the lovely Vikkie, which specialises in a mix of unique, vintage pieces and current, stylish designs, both evening and day wear, all of which are British.  The boutique is situated online, on eBay, so people from all over the country can browse and buy from Vikkie’s store.  The boutique also prides itself on aiming for 100% customer satisfaction, so you know you’re going to get good service when you buy from VBB.

On the night there were a lot of one-of-a-kind outfits and items of clothing for sale at very reasonable prices, with most of them being modelled on the catwalk by six gorgeous nurses who work at local hospitals.  I was lucky enough to get a front seat next to the catwalk so I had a really good view of the show and the clothes on offer.  There were some really lovely pieces for sale, including a purple floral dress and a green and purple skirt suit which you can see below.  I just wish they were my size!  The models did a great job and were really well-received by the audience, and the show was a lot of fun to watch – well done, ladies!

As mentioned earlier, the aim of the evening was to raise as much money as possible for the “20-20 Voice” Cancer Appeal, so there were also stalls selling handmade jewellery and other goodies, and there were several raffles and competitions to join in with.  Unfortunately we didn’t win anything, but congratulations to everyone who did!

Overall, all three of us had a great evening at the Victoria British Boutique Vintage Charity Fashion Show and I hope it raised a lot of money for such an excellent cause.  You can find out more about the “20-20 Voice” Cancer Appeal here, and you can find Victoria British Boutique here.  You can also follow Vikkie’s boutique on Facebook and Twitter if you want to keep up-to-date with all the latest news from VBB!

Naomi x

The event started with a chance to meet the brains behind the brand, including Company Directors Dean Clarke and Brian Brady, and Zatchels Creative Director and celebrity stylist Gemma Sheppard, who it was great to meet.  We also got to preview some bags from a few new collections which are yet to be launched, and they are absolutely stunning!  This pretty little thing was my particular favourite…

Once everyone had arrived Dean and Brian took us on a tour of the Zatchels factory, which had a friendly atmosphere and bright interior, what with all the piles of different leathers – it was amazing to see!  We got to watch how each bag is made by hand, from selecting the leather, cutting it and putting all the parts together, right up to quality control and packing.  It was so interesting to see the process from start to finish, and I can assure you that so much care and effort is put into every single product.

After the tour, we were taken to the factory shop for its official opening.  There were some yummy ‘Best of British’ nibbles on offer, including Zatchels cupcakes from Bitsy’s Cupcakery and Sweet Eve strawberries, and we had the opportunity to browse the bags on offer and have another chat with the other guests and Zatchels directors.

The Zatchels Factory Shop is based at 10 Charter Street, Leicester, which is located very close to the city centre (about a 5 minute walk) and has ample parking.  The shop will be open every Wednesday to Friday from 12pm until 6pm, and Saturday 10am until 5pm, and there is a mix of factory seconds and sample bags for sale, as well as quality retail products.  Every bag in the shop has been graded and priced accordingly, as follows:

Grade A – Perfect Quality – Full Price

Grade B – Slight Imperfections – 30% off

Grade C – Stitching Imperfections or Scratches – 40% off

I checked lots of the bags over myself to see how noticeable the imperfections are, and even the Grade C bags are still brilliant quality (I could barely find anything wrong with them) so you really can get yourself a bargain.

I had such a fun day at the Zatchels VIP event.  It was really nice to meet some other Leicester bloggers and chat to the Zatchels team, and I loved having a look behind the scenes at the process that goes into making every single Zatchels bag.  All guests left with a goody bag too, which was a really nice touch.  I plan on doing another post soon with advice on how to style your Zatchels bag, so keep an eye out for that!

Naomi x