Oh Looky! A Liebster Award!

About two weeks ago, the very lovely Roma at Craft Odyssey nominated me and the Beasties for a Liebster Award. While we were all supremely grateful – her adventures in cottage renovation, crafting and keeping a neurotic cat and exuberant puppy in check never fail to make us chuckle – time to consider her questions and pick out some fellow bloggers to nominate always seemed to elude me. Until now! Well, better late than never…

Now, bring on the questions!

1 Tea or coffee ?
TEA. With a capital T-E-A.

2 What was the first book you remember reading ?
Possibly “The Nickle Nackle Tree” by Lynley Dodd. A few years ago, I was working in a bookshop and a new edition came in. Before putting it on the shelf, I opened it and had a flick through… it was like meeting an old friend again!

3 What is your favourite pastime ?
Hanging out with Boyfriend, watching horror films and knitting monsters. Yes, I can do all three at once!

4  What one item would you buy if money was no object ?
I wouldn’t buy a thing… but I would take A LOT more holidays.

5 Name an ambition you harbour
I’d love to have my own craft studio. Although I suspect it would end up looking like this:

(Image of Francis Bacon’s studio sneakily borrowed from http://www.francis-bacon.com)

6 Describe your perfect day
Cold and rainy outside, warm and cosy inside and no reason to leave the house! Extra bonus perfect day points would be awarded for the inclusion of copious amounts of tea, home-made tasties and craft beers. Oh, and if I were to try out a whole lot of new ideas for Beasties and have them all work out exactly as I imagined on the first attempt that would be AMAZING.

7 Describe yourself in 3 words
I couldn’t possibly.

8 What can you see from your sitting room window?
For now, more houses. But when the trees get their leaves back in a couple of months, it’ll be a jungle out there!

9 What made you start a blog?
I just wanted a place to showcase and archive pictures of my Beasties. I never imagined for a second that I’d end up as part of this great online community!

10 How did you come up with your blog’s title?
I stole it from the name of my little crafting business!

11 Where will you go next time you leave the house?
It looks like it’s going to be the supermarket. I lobbed everything in the kitchen into an improvised stew last night, so the cupboards are officially bare. Oh, the glamour!

Next up – the random facts!

1. I can’t drive a car.
2. I speak a little bit of Japanese.
3. I lived in France for a year when I was a student.
4. I wasn’t won over to the merits of beer until I was in my early twenties.
5. I walk everywhere. Well, within reason.
6. I grew up in Northern Ireland, but I’ve spent pretty much my entire adult life in Dublin.
7. I once worked in an office for a year. That was enough.
8. I’m a real wimp when it comes to spicy foods, but I LOVE mustard and wasabi.
9. My one big indulgence is holidays.
10. I’ve seen the Northern Lights.
11. I still have real difficulty making lists of random facts about myself.

Thanks for reading! Now, the important bit – the nominations! I choose…

The Snail of Happiness – A blog about all the things that are good… handcrafts, living sustainably and, most recently, cheesemaking!

Funky Air Bear – For divine hand-knits, homebakes and life in Canada.

Make+Do – Lovely handcrafts and savvy business advice.

A Rottweiler at The Cottage on the Green – Okay, this one is a VERY new arrival… but I have a feeling Oscar the Rottweiler has a great blogging future ahead of him!

I’d also like to give honorable mentions to Tatie’s World and Beak Up Crafts – Roma already nominated them, so I’m sure they don’t want to have to come up with another 11 interesting facts about themselves just yet, but if you haven’t checked these blogs out already, you really should!

Nominees, your questions aaaaare…

1) Christmas or Hallowe’en?

2) Trip to the cinema or night on the town?

3) City break or sun holiday?

4) E-book or paper book?

5) Ghost stories or fairy tales?

6) What’s your favourite treat?

7) What’s the first thing you ever made?

8) What do you like most about where you live?

9) What’s the most interesting (or weirdest) job you’ve ever had?

10) What’s your favourite childhood memory?

11) What, for you, is the best part of writing a blog?

Should you accept this award, you’ll need to know the rules, which are:

1: Acknowledge and accept the Liebster Award by leaving a comment on the blog where you were nominated.
2: Copy and paste the Liebster logo onto your own blog.
3: Link back to the blogger who awarded you.
4: Answer the 11 questions put to you by the person who nominated you.
5: List 11 random facts about yourself.
6: Nominate and link to 3—11 other blogs you enjoy that have less than 3000 followers
7: List 11 questions for your Liebster Award nominees on your blog.
8: Inform your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog.

And that’s it… looking forward to hearing from you all! Have a monster week…