Dork Adore » Shopping Online

What the Dorks want for Christmas 2011

Emma Cossey — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:00:28 +0000

Want to know what the Dorks want for Christmas this year?

Katie Lee: Dork Editor

Please may I have a Kobo and an E-One laser hair removal gadget? I had both of them in for review this year and they’re the things that have left the biggest hole since they went back. Also, I bought my friend the whole of The Guild to watch and I haven’t actually seen it myself. So I’d like someone to get me that, please.

Emma Cossey: Web dork

I’ve just bought a house, so all I seem to buy at the moment is dull house things. Therefore, I’d love some vouchers to splurge on clothes, Abel & Cole, Amazon and Boots. My other, more extravagant, want is an Apple Macbook Air , because my Dell is destined for that great laptop space in the sky.

Tamsin Worrad: Science dork

I would like:

Babyliss Big Hair style – I’m assured this will end my bad hair days forever. (Emma agrees, amazing hair styler)

Series 3 & 4 of The Big Bang Theory because I am way behind

‘How to live safely in a science fictional universe‘. I feel this could contain important advice

Star Trek Mr Potato Heads: they’re adorable!

Zachary Quinto. I KEEP asking and yet nobody is doing anything about it?

Imogen Hitchcock: Lifestyle Dork

2012 is going to be the year in which I find my inner domestic goddess and I start to do ‘stuff’ around the house. Therefore, dear Santa, I’d like the following in my stocking (please note, industrial size stocking may be required):

A Kitchen Aid mixer in blue willow: it’s so damn pretty!

A sewing machine and a stack load of books on how to use it. I used to do sewing at school but for the life of me, can’t remember where to start. However, I’d rather like to while away the winter months making clothes (or, probably in my case, making hideous monstrosities that I’ll be inordinately proud of)

Some Le Creuset. I’m sure it makes my cooking taste so much better.

I don’t ask for much, do I?

Nick Bryan: Film & TV dork

My big gadget purchase this year was the Kindle, I’d quite like some new books for it, but Santa (yes, alright, my mother) tells me that I am contractually obligated to get something to go under the tree. Still, I’ll finally be reading the Game of Thrones book in some form.

I’ve been meaning to catch up on the Powers graphic novel series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming now they’ve made a TV pilot, there’s a non-Kindle book for the tree.

I might also get the first two series of Misfits on DVD because I miss Nathan. Yes, I’m a sap.

Now it’s your turn! What’s on your Christmas list?

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The five best fashion iPhone apps

Emma Cossey — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:20:06 +0000

I’m a little late to the iPhone party. Like several years late. Consequently, I’ve gone a bit mental in the apps store, downloading every decent app I’ve heard about in the last few months/years, and a few more embarrassing ones (Christmas countdown anyone?). I of course blame this entirely on Frackulous, who have been torturing me with videos of Angry Birds and Remember the Milk apps for months.

As a girl who prefers to conduct her shopping from home, where shopping in my trackies with a glass of wine is considered acceptable, it was somewhat inevitable that I’d make a beeline for the fashion apps section of the iTunes store. An area where I’m spoilt for choice.

So, after spending some time shopping in the name of research *ahem*, here are five of the best fashion apps for your iPhone.

Debenhams: Admittedly, the fact that they’re offering 15% off at the moment when you download the app helps, but the Debenhams app really is brilliant. From the app itself, you can browse clothes in your size, save them into wishlists, and then buy through the actual app. And it’s FREE!

ShopStyle: ShopStyle is a shopping site that allows you to search for products from hundreds of different stores, then click through to the shop to buy them. The free app does pretty much the same thing, allowing you to search by product, brand or shop and save them to view later.

eBay Fashion: eBay actually has several free apps for the iPhone, but the fashion app is great if you’re only interested in shoe, bags and dresses. You can search for items, bid on them, or save them to a ‘closet’, where they can be arranged on a plain background or over a photo of you.

Sartorialist: For real-life fashion, the free Satorialist app allows you to see the latest images uploaded, and share them on your Facebook page. Simple, but entertaining.

StyleBook: The only app in the list with a pricetag, at £2.39. This app makes your Cher-from-Clueless dreams come true. It lets you take photos of your clothes, so you can create outfits, resize pieces, remove backgrounds and check when you last wore it. OCD sufferers rejoice.

As a side note for all you London-based non-iPhone users, you might want to check out Salesgossip. They’ll text you every time there’s a new sale on in the high street.

Did we miss one? Tell us your favourite fashion iPhone app!

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The Provo Craft Cuttlebug: Dork Review

Michelle — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:35:12 +0000

I know it sounds like some sort of scuttly creature, but the Cuttlebug from Provo Craft is actually a rather swish machine for die cutting and embossing paper.

The machine comes pretty much ready to go — all you have to do is attach the handle. The instructions are very clear and the user manual is easy to understand, which is always handy!

The Cuttlebug itself is pretty compact so it isn’t going to take up too much space in your craft room or on your craft table. It is slightly heavier than you might imagine when you first pick it up, in a reassuringly solid kind of way, but it is easily portable with its own integral handle.

So that’s enough talk, what about some action.

Putting the Cuttlebug to the test

The Cuttlebug incorporates a suction system to hold it securely in place on your work surface. It is rather simply activated by lowering down the two platforms, and believe me once you do it ain’t going anywhere!

I received a die cutter and some embossing folders to try out with the Cuttlebug. It was super simple to both cut and emboss the paper following the instructions in the user manual. You do have to give it a bit of welly when you are turning the handle to move the cutting pads through the machine, and to be totally honest I was slightly concerned that I was going to break the whole thing on my first attempt, but it transpired there was no need to worry at all.

I was suitably impressed with the results, which can be seen in the image on the left. The cutting and embossing were even and clean on the first attempt.

Apparently the machine can cut through materials up to a thickness of 1/8″ and it is also possible to use other brand steel rule dies as well as the extensive range offered by Provo Craft themselves.

Conclusion

All in all, I would imagine that this piece of kit would be warmly welcomed by anyone who listed papercraft, cardmaking or scrapbooking in their hobbies!

The Provo Craft Cuttlebug is available from IdealWorld and costs £89.99. Additional dies and embossing folders are also available from QVC.

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Five of the best sites to customise your life

Emma Cossey — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:12:25 +0000

The internet is a pretty wonderful place to shop for the objects of your desire. Filled with every kind of retailer you can imagine, you’ve got a pretty unlimited array of options for clothing, food, transport and well, anything really.

The greatest advantage of shopping online has to be customisation. Worried about turning up at a big family event in the same dress as your Aunt Glenda? Design your own online. Need the perfect present that shows someone how much you love them? Get clicking.

So, fancy pimpin’ up your life a little? Here are a few of the best customisation sites.

StyleShake

Fancy playing fashion designer for the day? StyleShake allows you to design your own dress, choosing the fabric, trimmings and style. You can either browse the current galleries, or start your own from scratch. They’ll even offer free alterations if it doesn’t quite fit you.

Prices depend on the design, but they vary from around £49 to just under a £100. Check out the gallery for some examples.

Upper Street

At the higher end of the price scale, Upper Street offers you the chance to create your own pair of designer shoes. You can choose from an assortment of materials and colours, and cover it in as many embellishments as you desire.

Like StyleShake, there’s an inspiration area if you fancy tweaking someone else’s design.

Prices are around £200 for a style like the red one above, so they’re not cheap, but they’re useful if you need matching shoes for a wedding or event.

Eyes Lips and Face

A much more budgetable way of pimping your life is by introducing a customised make-up palette into your collection. ELF Cosmetics lets you create your own compact from a selection of custom eye, lip and face colours for on the go makeovers.

The compacts are £1.50 and each custom colour is £1.50, so you’ll get the whole customised compact for £7.50.

FoodAdo

There’s plenty of sites around that allow you to put together your own food package or hamper, but FoodAdo is particularly great as it allows you to order and have it delivered by mail order Parcel Force. It also offers an extensive range of products from small artisan food producers, so it’s more about special purchases and treats rather than your usual weekly shop. It’s a bit like browsing a quaint little food market from the comfort of your sofa.

MyVelo

Finally, you can pimp your ride (without inviting the soul-destroying Tim Westwood to your home). MyVelo lets you personalise a bike with your choice of frame, colour and components, and delivers to you in three weeks.

Prices for a bike with all the trimmings, like the pimpin’ Dork Adore bike above, come in at around £375. You’ll get all the eco-friendly benefits too (and time saving benefits for anyone relying on public transport). If you have a generous employer, you might want to talk to them about the Cycle To Work Scheme.

So, there’s a few ways to customise your life. Any other additions?

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SendSocial: Send stuff without an address

Emma Cossey — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:09:57 +0000

One of the downsides of the wonderful world wide web is the amount of personal information flying around for anyone to view. It’s genuinely quite scary how easily someone can find out your home address, contact number and personal email address, but inevitable considering the amount of forms and social networking profiles the average web user completes.

Your address in particular is something you want to keep under wraps, especially given the rise in credit fraud. One way of doing this is by using SendSocial, a service that means you can use social networking sites to arrange a delivery without exchanging a single address.

The only information you need to send someone a package is their email address or twitter ID. You send a message through SendSocial and they’ll contact the recipient for their confirmation. They’ll then collect the address and contact details through their highly secure system, and provide you with an address-free label for your package. Then one of their courier partners, myHermes and ByBox, picks up your package and delivers it!

Costs start from £2.99, which is a decent amount for peace of mind. I can see the benefits in particular with buying and selling on eBay, when you don’t necessarily want to reveal your address to the buyer/seller. The Twitter aspect is appealing too.

What do you think of the service? Would you use it?

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Wishpot: A new online shopping tool

Emma Cossey — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:00:46 +0000

As a certified shopaholic, there’s nothing I like more than scouring the online stores for the perfect dress/gadget/craft item. But when it comes to buying for others, I become a stressed-out crazy lady. What if they don’t like it? What if I haven’t spent enough? What if it’s too big/small?

A new online tool looks set to take the stress out of buying for others. Wishpot.com allows you to create wishlists for things you’d like online, using a handy add button on your toolbar. You can use it to create your own lists to hand out to family and friends, or simply to build up a list of potential lists for others.

For Firefox users, you can install a one click button to add a chose item to your list. You’re allowed several lists, so you can split it into friends, family and gifts, and there is the option of creating a wedding or christening list.

The site has the social aspect of public lists too, so you can browse other lists for inspiration. Whilst I’m not sure how I feel about sending a list to others when a birthday comes round, I can see the benefits of others sending their lists over. Plus, the popularity of Amazon wishlists suggests the site will do well. At least this way you’d know you would be getting them something they actually like.

Would you use Wishpot.com?

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Group Buying: The latest online shopping trend

Emma Cossey — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 09:00:36 +0000

River Wellbeing Spa at The Rafayel Hotel

A couple of months ago, I wrote about the various bargain designer clothes sites available online. Since then, another type of shopping has taken off in a big way, giving consumers the chance to take advantage of group buying for fun activities.

Group buying (also known as mobdeals or groupons) is where a website offers a deal that only becomes available once a certain number of people sign up for it. So, the deal is ‘on’ when they reach their target.

Most of the sites currently offering these deals work on a regional basis, so it’s not just the capitals that can take advantage. The majority of deals come with a 6-12 month voucher, so you don’t have to use it straight away either.

So, fancy getting involved in this bulk buying phenomenon? Here are three of the best sites offering the service.

Wahanda

Wahanda was the first site that made me aware of bulk buying, with their daily MobDeals. Currently available in London, Manchester and Birmingham, the spa site offers deals like 3-for-1 power plate classes, a full spa day for under £30 and spray tan deals for under a tenner.

My City Deal (soon to be Groupon)

My City Deal offers deals on everything from meals out and comedy nights to pampering treatments and paintballing days. They’ve got a good coverage of cities, so you should be able to find something close to you.

Groupola

Groupola works in much the same way as MyCityDeal, although they’re a bit more limited on locations. Recent deals have included hot air balloon rides in Liverpool, Scuba Diving in Birmingham and Zumba classes in Edinburgh.

There are plenty of other sites offering similar deals, including Groupon (which has recently taken over MyCityDeal), Letsgroupit, Crowdity and LivingSocial, but the three above update most often.

Know of any other good group buying sites?

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Where to find bargain designer clothes online

Emma Cossey — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:00:45 +0000

Designer stores scare me. Snooty shop assistants, ultra-organised and therefore intimidating rails, and huge price tags have me running for the high street faster than you can say “so this season”

The thing is, after years of buying cheap and cheerful high street clothes, I want to start investing in a few high quality designer pieces. Sample sales are one of the best ways to access designer pieces at affordable prices, but they’re not particularly accessible to those of us living outside the big cities.

Thankfully, there are now plenty of websites with private sales, so you can pick up a bargain from the comfort of your own home. For your surfing pleasure, I’ve created a round up of all the top websites to bookmark next time you’re on the hunt for a retail treat.

ASOS.com
Probably more well known for its cheap and speedy imitations of celebrity outfits, ASOS has recently expanded into the higher end of the market. Head to the outlet section and you’ll discover pieces from Diesel, French Connection and Twenty8Twelve. For a more expensive splurge, click on the designer section.

Cocosa

Cocosa is an invitation-only fashion destination, giving members a chance to view private designer sales from the comfort of their own homes. Daily e-mail updates alert members as to what sales are coming up, and each sale runs for a limited period of time.

If you’d like a code, let me know in the comments and I’ll send you one!

Rue La La
Cocosa only delivers to the UK, but luckily the USA has Rue La La. You can expect prices to be slashed by up to 50%.

Comment below if you fancy an invite.

Brand Alley
Brand Alley is a private designer sale site which doesn’t require an invitation, just a quick registration. I’ve seen some great sales here recently for Traffic People (dresses starting at £8) and on designer sunglasses (around 50% off)

My-Wardrobe
My-Wardrobe is a fashion focused website in the UK that focuses solely on this season’s collections. Now the sale has kicked in, you can grab some real bargains.

Net-A-Porter
Net-A-Porter describes itself as the “world’s premier online luxury fashion retailer”. It’s an A-Z of designer names and editorial pieces.

Koodos

Koodos is the family choice, with over 170 designer brands for women, men and children. In their quest to get the best for less, they’ve also launched a blog rounding up all the best deals.

Know of any other designer discount sites? Let us know in the comments!

Article adapted from a post on Emma Cossey’s blog

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Nifty nightlights for kids

Emma Cossey — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:00:33 +0000

When you’re seven years old and your evil older cousin has regaled you with stories of the hungry monster that lives under your bed and eats children, you tend to be a little bit scared when the lights are turned off.

Which is where nightlights, like this Beba Light, (Alessi, £16) on the right come in. Providing just the amount of light to help your child drift off to sleep, they’re usually fairly light on the electricity usage too.

Thinking of investing in one? Check out some of the Dork Adore favourites.

Turtle Power

This cuddly turtle toy on the left is not a nightlight in the traditional sense, but the Twilight Turtle lights up whilst beaming thousands of tiny stars onto the ceiling to fascinate your child in three colour options.

Whilst I’m not entirely sure what the link between turtles and stars is, it’s definitely got the cute factor the kids will love.

You can grab it from www.Firebox.com for £29.99

The lights are on, is anyone in?

This Fairy Tale Cottage Ever-Changing-Colour Nightlight is a adorable little nightlight that scrolls through an assortment of colours. Very Wizard of Oz

The only downside about this one is that it’s battery powered, so you’ll have to remember to creep back in and turn it off when they finally drift off to sleep.

Buy it from the Dotcomgiftshop for £4.95

Follow the rabbit to sleepyland

Alice in Wonderland has spawned thousands of fairytale inspired pieces, so it’s unsurprising to find this White Rabbit light (White Rabbit England, £59)

This particular design is classic enough to suit the décor of a child’s room or to add a touch of whimsical charm to your own room.

Eco-friendly nightlight

Finally, this eco-friendly
Love Eco Tooli Nightlight from My Deco (£49.95) lasts up to 6 hours once fully charged.

Sure, fifty quid is a lot of money to spend on a light up decoration, but who cares when it looks this funky?

Seen a cool nightlight? Let us know in the comments

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Last minute Christmas gifts for geeks

Emma Cossey — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:14:02 +0000

There’s still a smidgen of time left to order a Christmas present for that lovable dork in your life! Here’s a few suggestions from us at Dork Adore.

For the vampire fan…

Have you got someone in the family who’s as addicted to Vampire shows as we are at Dork Adore? I think I’ve found the best gift to keep them happy and quiet.

Browsing Ebay, I came across this set of True Blood books for £16.99. They’ll be able to get ahead on the story, and sit through series 2 smug in the knowledge that they already know what’s going to happen.

For the games fan…

Head over to Argos and you’ll find some great console package deals to keep everyone happy. Don’t have a Wii yet? Argos are offering a package deal for £169.99 including the Wii console, Wii Sports game and Wii Sports Resort, along with a bunch of accessories, Big Beach sports game and docking station for free.

For the music fan…

Save yourself a bit of time by nailing your Christmas food shop and present shop in one at Tesco.

They’ve got this iPod Nano, the brand new version with a built in video camera and FM radio, for just £114.97. That will give you enough change out of £150 for a set of speakers like the ones we featured in our Stocking Filler post recently.

For the craft fan…

The Make Lounge is a studio that offers workshops on everything from cupcake decorating to creating your own jewellery. They’re offering vouchers that can be printed or e-mailed to the recipient on Christmas Day.

For the shopping fan…

Pretty much every shop on the high street has some form of gift voucher. This year however, Oasis has stepped up their game with a mobile gift voucher. Simply pay online, and they’ll send your recipient the voucher over text message, which they can use in any store. You can also choose when you want the text to be sent. A great very last minute gift if there’s anyone you’ve forgotten!

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Dork Adore » Shopping Online

What the Dorks want for Christmas 2011

More stories like this

The five best fashion iPhone apps

Did we miss one? Tell us your favourite fashion iPhone app!

More stories like this

The Provo Craft Cuttlebug: Dork Review

So that’s enough talk, what about some action.

Putting the Cuttlebug to the test

Conclusion

More stories like this

Five of the best sites to customise your life

So, fancy pimpin’ up your life a little? Here are a few of the best customisation sites.

StyleShake

Upper Street

Eyes Lips and Face

FoodAdo

MyVelo

So, there’s a few ways to customise your life. Any other additions?

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SendSocial: Send stuff without an address

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Wishpot: A new online shopping tool

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Group Buying: The latest online shopping trend

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Where to find bargain designer clothes online

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Nifty nightlights for kids

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Last minute Christmas gifts for geeks

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