an Award - how cool is that

see my son, I CAN use the word cool just fine, I merely don't limit my vocabulary to only that word :-b

Jacq C of A Good Talking To nominated me (yes, little old me, woohoo) for a Liebster Award. Thank you, thank you, thank you :-)

Now, the Liebster Award is awarded to blogs with less than 200 readers to bring them into the limelight and hopefully increase their readership. The rules:

• Post 11 random fact about yourself
• Answer 11 questions posed by your nominator
• Nominate up to 5 other blogs for the award and ask them 11 questions of your own

Hmmm, random facts, well

1. I l-o-v-e the weather, I like looking at weather channel websites, I read about it, I talk about it, I think it is great
2. I absolutely adore vanilla ice cream with hot raspberries and whipped cream
3. My favourite season in Autumn, something we don't really have in Brisbane, but, in comparison with the UK (where we used to live) winter here is like Autumn over there, so it is all good
4. Hurricane Charley hit the US coast two weeks before my son Charley was born and we had decided on the name and spelling months before, so the weather-loving nerd inside me was beside herself with glee
5. I haven't really watched anything on TV for myself for 4 years.  The kids and husband do, but I when we moved 5 years ago my favourite shows where at different places here in Australia, so I had missed some episodes and eventually I lost interest
6. I am always puzzled that the spellchecker for blogger does not recognise 'blog' as a word
7. I was in a classical girl's choir for 8 years when I was a child
8. my favourite country to visit is Egypt
9. when I left High School I wanted to study Geophysics, but I had to take a break, because I had no money and eventually ended up studying Criminology, because I thought that Geophysics wouldn't have been very useful in the UK. Of course, Criminology is soooooo much more useful and now I moved to a mining country ... anyway
10. once I had kids I discovered that I actually really like children. I enjoy being around them, I love their questions and they make me laugh
11. my father doesn't drive and he lives in the German countryside (a house in the forrest) 2 km from the nearest bus. He either takes his bike or walks everywhere

now to answering the questions

1. You have enough money in your purse for one project - yarn or fabric? neither ... it's notions only this year
2. How did you learn how to sew? Books, more books and blogs, oh so many blogs, and still learning with each item
3. What is your 'turning point' garment - the one that made you think you might actually be able to do this? The dressing gown/Jedi Robe for my son 
4. What is the most unusual material you have used in a garment? well, it's not unusual, but the dark brown flannel was certainly the most frustrating. It kept dulling the needle sooo quickly.
5. Where is the one place you have always wanted to visit and why? as I am sweating along here during a heat wave, Alaska seems like the place to be, but in reality it is probably the rest of Australia. We have lived here for 5 years and we have really only travelled to my husband's mother in northern Queensland.
6. Would your teenage self have imagined your life now and, if not, what would it have been like? During my teenage years I had what people describe as ' an unhealthy family situation' so during that time I just tried to keep keep my head down. I really only lived from day to day, the future mattered very little. However, my teenage self now thinks she won the lottery of life :-)
7. If somebody asked your advice about learning a new craft, what would you recommend? Figure out your style of learning i.e. books or demonstrations and just keep doing it.
8. What piece of equipment is on your Wish List and why? It is a large cutting mat and a good rotary cutter. I lost my cutter and I only have a little mat. Ideally I'd like a sewing room, but that's not really possible right now.
9. Do you have the telly or radio on in the background when you sew and, if you do, what is on? There is usually some kids stuff on, but my New Years Resolution for them was less TV, so blissful silence it is (well, you know, as silent as 2 children can be)
10. What is your favourite snack when you're crafting? cucumber and hummus
11. Do you enjoy making things for yourself or others and why? I enjoy it both equally. My children love wearing mummy made stuff, and when I make things for myself I feel great about myself.

AND NOW, my nominees for the Liebster Award are ... drum roll please ...

1. Megan and the (Sewing) machine I really like her and wish she would blog more often :-)
2. Girl, Guy, Dog, Cat Her pictures are just wonderful (her latest with the bird party in the snow make me want to move back to snow, despite not liking the cold) and she is just learning to sew too, like me.
3. How good is that? She is very good and she sews for her elderly mum, which is very awesome in my opinion.
4. Dennis Marquez at Unbound Knits. He's had various blogs, but I do really enjoy both his knitting adventures and travel photography (he works on a cruise ship), so this is his newest adventure.
5. Sew Brunswick she is like wonder woman in the sewing world. She's done over 90 items in the past year and it's not like little things either, it's proper garments. How she manages to do it all is beyond me, but she is great :-)

Questions ... or the section that shows I have no imagination ...

1. What is your favourite craft?
2. How do you learn a new craft?
3. Have you ever lost interest in a craft and why?
4. How do you make time for crafting?
5. What does your family think of your crafting?
6. Would you do your crafting for a living?
7. How did you get started crafting?
8. What is your favourite item you have ever created?
9. and already I am starting to run out of things to ask, so what is your favourite weather or season?
10. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
11. frosting or cake? Do you create more basic items in your sewing/knitting/crocheting that get used a lot or do you have a tendency to go for the special occasion items?

This is, I think, the longest blog post on this blog to date, so thanks again to Jacq C of A Good Talking To who nominated me. Till next time ...