Saturday 26 January 2013

....the reason for a very happy few days!

A little over a week ago Hilary from lemon loves... left a comment on one of my blogs to let me know she wanted to pass the Liebster Award from her blog to mine. Colour me very shocked AND very smiley :)



The Liebster award is passed on from new or small blogs to ones they've found inspirational. Here's the information I've found on it by going to visit Hilary's website and then Gina's website who nominated Hilary!

"The Liebster Blog Award is an award given by bloggers to up and coming bloggers, most of whom have less than 200 followers (or have been blogging for less than 6 months). It is to show newer bloggers that they are appreciated, and to help spread the word about new blogs. It was created to promote appreciation and recognition among the blog world. Liebster translates to “dearest” (or favorite/best) in German. It is also known as the Love Blog Award."   

I'm still stunned that Hilary knew my blog! And then that she liked it enough to nominate me - there are so many crafty bloggers out there, this is such an amazing thing to pass on, and to have in existence at all.
So there are rules of sorts :) Hilary has given me, and the other blogs she nominated, 11 questions to answer about ourselves. And we also share 11 random pieces of information about ourselves! Here are my questions and then some random trivia:
1. What gets you out of bed in the morning?
I only realised this today, since Christmas I have been finding it really hard to get out of bed in the morning. But today I was back to my regular early(ish) rising, hopping out of bed to see the dog and let her out and feed her. What changed? I booked flights a couple of days ago to go and see Paul in DC. So, it turns out that he gets me out of bed in the morning...

2. Who do you admire?
I'm finding this the hardest to answer. I admire people who are very open about their emotions and problems, shortcomings, etc... I strive to be more accepting of those things in myself and more open about them too.

3. If I gave you £100 /$100 what would you spend it on?
Fabric - total no-brainer. Possibly Happy-Go-Lucky by Bonnie & Camille... Or a complete bundle of Sketch! Oh, but just had another thought - I could do a course in either digital photography and/or web design! Always looking to improve my blogging skills now ;)

4. Sausages or prawns?
Sausages, with mash and gravy!

5. What is the last thing you read?
Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Though Ender's Shadow (Orson Scott Card), Cujo (Stephen King), and Migraine (Oliver Sacks) are all currently on the go!

6. What is the last thing you made?
I finished a table runner for Rachel @ Stitched in Color's Curves Class - it shall comprise part of my blog post for tomorrow!

Sneak peak!

7. What is your favourite childhood memory?
Long summer days spent running about the woods and the fields around our estate, with frequent tree climbing.

8. What makes you laugh out loud?
Stand-up comedy - particularly Irish comics, Dara O'Briain, Des Bishop, and Tommy Tiernan are just the tip of the iceberg!

9. If you had to choose a word to describe today – what would it be?
Recovery (first day proper sewing since before Christmas, getting over yesterday's migraine, and no appointments today - woop!).

10. Mountain top or beach?
Mountain top, no hesitation.

11. Why do you blog?
I was doing a pretty isolating job, leaving no time to get to quilting guilds, and learning all of my sewing and quilting skills from online blogs until the end of last summer. I then moved back to Ireland, and realised that I was giving away everything I was making as presents. I had no record and nothing to show if I ever did join a real-life guild! So I decided to record my journey and projects with a blog! It's also made me become more engaged with the online community, so instead of being a spectator I feel part of something wider.
Random Aoife Trivia:
- My name is Irish, and causes strife everywhere I go. I'm frequently mistaken for a man on online hotel bookings. It's pronounced Eefa, and no one gets it right first try - except for one security official in Boston's Logan Airport. That was seriously impressive. Her name was Ifeoma (Eefoma) and so she got it in one!
- I always tend towards being verbose. Gotta cut that down!
- I use way too many exclamation marks!
- I have a PhD in geology.
- It has not improved my knowledge of when to use commas. I throw them in everywhere!
- I have been learning to drive for 4 months.
- I believe honesty and manners are the two most important things in a person.
- When stressed I get efficient, Paul calls it rude, others might say I get even more blunt.
- As a teenager all I wanted as an adult was a fridge of my own.
- I have bought fabric since I was a teenager, but only very recently acquired the patience to sew it together.
- I'm considering stopping watching tv... but willing to be persuaded.

Now I have to nominate another 11 blogs and ask them 11 questions to help us get to know them better! I will provide links to their blogs, and hopefully, eventually their specific Liebster posts.
The blogs I nominate are:

They are all great blogs, which I really enjoy visiting regularly! Many of them I've chatted with on email and in comments sections, they are all helpful and considerate and pretty awesome... Go check them out :)
Here are my 11 questions:
1) If you could try out any craft other than stitch-y things, what would you do?
2) What's the reasoning behind your blog's title?
3) What was the first music album you bought?
4) What would be your dream job and how is that different to when you were a kid?
5) If you had time and money, where in the world would you choose to go visit?
6) Do you have a new sewing  technique you want to try out and learn this year?
7) What is your all time favourite movie?
8) If you could get rid of one chore from your life, what would it be?
9) What is the greatest source of creativity for you?
10) What are you most proud of in your life?
11) What thread-related project are you working on right now!?

Wow, those questions were harder to come up with than I expected. But also great, things I don't think about very often. And it's really really awesome to let the blogs I love know I love them!

I <3 Liebster!

PS Here are those rules, written out nice and concise:
1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
2.  Answer the 11 questions given by the nominator.
3.  Create 11 new questions for those you nominate.
4.  Choose 11 new blogs (less than 200 followers or blogging for less than 6 months) and link to them in your post. (Will those I nominate please leave a comment on this post with a link to your Liebster post so I can learn more about you? Thank you!!)

3 comments:

  1. Great post ~ I love your answers, I remember tree climbing from my childhood too ~ and was lucky enough to see Dara O'Briain live at the Hay on Wye festival a couple of years a go, very funny man! Thank you so much for taking part, I am now off to explore your nominated blogs :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Hilary! I'm still slowly making my way through yours and Gina's nominees :) such a good way to find new blogs! x

      Delete
  2. Thank you again, Aoife! This was super fun! :)

    http://hotpinkquilts.blogspot.com/2013/01/liebster-goodness.html

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for commenting! I love hearing your honest thoughts and opinions on whatever I've been harping on about :)

I email replies as soon as I get the chance.