I recently submitted an anime layout. You can see it here:
http://www.geodata.soton.ac.uk/~csms/createblog/anime.html

It got refused. I just want some ideas/advice from CB website layout experts who can tell me what i can do to improve this so it's accepted.

Thanks in advance.
Kitty

Well personally I would say that
- It doesn't look like much work was put in to it.
- Its too plain.
- The tables dn't match.
- The way your tryng to make the tables fit desn't fit that specific layout since its too plain and it looks like you just threw the tables into the layout.
- The girl loks a tad bit weird.
- It looks bad how the navigation tables extended while the blog stays put.
- Also the headings could stand out more.

Thats just me, and my opinion on it. Yea
Sorry if I sound harsh but don't really mean too.

hm, I remember this ^^
um, the girl is a bit too blurry, I think it could use some more brushes, and some more work put into.
Overall, try again when you have the chance ^^

I can't read the text. That's always a major tip-off that I'm not going to like it. Because, I have bad eyesight (even with my glasses) and I like being able to read the text. It's the wrong colour. The text colour is too close to the background colour. You should really define your font size in either pt or px.
Beyond that, it's a rather low-quality image and it's boring. If you were to... -thinks- Get a higher quality image, put some... Feeling into the layout, and add a title (or even just text)... It's be a lot better. Oh, and if you were going to do the blog/navigation like that... It'd look better if structured like this. It also seems that this would be better if you imagemaped some navigation onto it, seeing as your main image is only one column. Yeah, and I agree with the other 2... A lot more effort could be put into it.

needs more blending, background, more css, and better quality graphics.

If you look through the layouts that have been accepted here, you'll see that there's sort of a standard, and once you're familiar with what that standard is, you can keep practicing and try something that works.. I'm guessing the reason it was rejected was that it's a pretty simple layout with just a few colors and an image that really hasn't been manipulated. Without repeating what everyone else has said, I can only suggest that you look around here and get an idea of what we're looking for.

The layout is unbelievably simple. It's a good overall design, but some things need work. Like what Reili said, the text of the main content section is kinda hard to read (I suggest white), and just basically follow everybody else's tips. I've seen some of your layouts, and they are good. A little more practice, and you'll be there. You aren't a bad designer; your codings just need a little work.