Very Inspiring Blogger Award

I was very surprised to see that I received a nomination for an award from A Frolic Through Time!

It makes me happy to know that I can help add back to the blogging world — after all, I used to be too  nervous to give things a try. With all the great information online, as well as such encouraging people, I’ve been able to push myself to try many things I never would have dreamed I could attempt.

To accept the award, one must:
1. Display the award and link back to the person who nominated you.
2. State 7 facts about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 bloggers for the award.
4. Notify the winners.

I’ll admit, most of the folks on my list have already won the award, so I’ll be skipping #4, but wanted to keep it with the rules list. I also will add some non-sewing things, and one non-blog… just ‘cuz.

Facts about myself:

1. I love birds. I used to have a parrot, as well as other smaller birds. I will make a fool out of myself doing cutesie-talk to a bird. My favorite (although it really is hard to pick just one) is the mockingbird.

2. I’ve mentioned it on one of my costume pages, but I can’t stand anything on my lower ears especially. Tried it once and had an ear double pierced, and couldn’t even bear to touch it or handle anything on it. It didn’t help that it didn’t want to heal properly, but I also get a little icked out by piercings of any kind. Not sure why that is, since it seems like most of the world has piercings.

3. I used to have an art contract with an NHL goalie (it was a blast going to practices and getting waved at by him when he’d recognize us watching — usually my husband, since you can’t miss him). I also planned to play hockey myself (goalie), but never finished getting the gear. I did have a custom mask made by the maker and painter. I’d tried on one of the NHL goalie’s old masks and the fit was close enough, so I had one made up for myself from my own design.

4. I have some phobias — such as claustrophobia, and I’m overly shy and tend to want to run from large gatherings and crowds, along with a few other phobias — but I absolutely hate spiders. Hate ’em. Surefire way to get me to block or hide someone is if they randomly post a photo of one. I don’t want to hurl my laptop across the room when I suddenly see it. Ugh!

5. Similar to #2, I am overly protective of my eyes. It’s a little embarrassing to admit that my doctor had to practically pin me down and avoid getting kicked so he could check my eye once. I make a huge fuss over putting in eye drops, even if I’m miserable. My husband hopes to get contacts some day and I’ve asked him to please not mess with them in front of me.

6. I never played role playing games before I met my husband, but I’d always wanted to. We mostly used GURPS and it was usually superhero-related. Lately, thanks to the Hobbit coming out, my husband and I have been gaming again with fantasy characters (an elf for me, of course — he was always a dwarf fan). We’re still using GURPS, but we might try another system soon, and I finally have my own dice so I don’t keep borrowing his. It’s fun to play in groups, but we adore just playing by ourselves. I love how fun, over-the-top, and creative he can be. You almost don’t even care about rules at that point.

7. I’ll be changing things up on my costume list soon. There is a big project I want to make with my husband (for him) that is going to take a long time. I’m sure I’ll post about it on the blog in the near future. I just hope we’re able to do a decent job. This one makes me nervous, but it should be so much fun!

Blog Nominations:

1. Rockin’ the Rococo: I’ll admit, I’m guilty of forgetting to take a lot of step-by-step photos and writing information. Thing is, my page isn’t necessarily a how-to since I’m muddling through quickly so I have things to wear with friends. I adore blogs and websites that do have great photos and information, and this blog — although it hasn’t been updated in a while — has been one of the places I head first when I’m considering a new project and want to push myself to attempt new things.

2. Festive Attyre: Okay, so I think this is one of the blogs that show up frequently on these awards lists, but I have to admit she not only shares a lot of great information online, I’m lucky enough to know her in person and she’s just as encouraging and helpful. Another great blog that inspires me and I return to over and over to see if I can find help for new projects.

3. The Fashionable Past: Another well-known blog, but I have made SO many petticoats thanks to her tutorial. It’s awesome to not only be inspired by a blog, but to also be able to look at the information and feel more confident that “hey… I can do this!” 🙂

4. Before the Automobile: I think we all want to be able to do even a tiny fraction of the awesome she’s able to make. Such beautiful work!

5. Mistress of Disguise: An upcoming project of mine will be requiring new skills — I just may have to dig through past entries to look for more inspiration here. Lots of great costume variety here!

6. DFW Costumers Guild: I’m sure it sounds like a weird choice for an inspiring link, but this is the group in my area that puts on events for costumers, and I’ve had to force myself to slow down because everything looks like fun. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time and budget to do everything, so I have to stick to certain eras and themes. Nothing like the thought of a big fun gathering to inspire someone to get cranking with sewing!

7. Madame Isis’ Toilette: Lots of great information, and I could definitely see myself giving period makeup a try someday.

8. Kleidung um 1800: Wonderful garments, and I really enjoy the progress photos here as well!

9. Kitty Calash: Great information, and not just on sewing itself.

10. Three Dresses Project: She does a wide variety of clothing — costume and regular-wear. Lots of posts about fittings as well.

11. Needle ‘n Thread: Great website and blog, and not only are there photo/text tutorials, but there are lots of video tutorials. I loved that part, and the information was so clear and helpful it made me finally give embroidery a try.

12. The Replica Prop Forum: Okay, this isn’t a blog, but I’m going to cheat and list it anyway. Talk about inspiration (not to mention wanting to make so many things). I had to log off and not go back to it for a long time because I knew I’d lost my mind to so many projects. 😉 I’m logged back in there now for an upcoming project — I’ll definitely need inspiration (not to mention tips) from this place.

13. The Traveling Pear: This will make you want to pack your bags and see the world. Beautiful photos.

And as if I needed a reason to get inspired by food, two blogs with yummy recipes that I’ve been adding to my collection:

14. Chocolate Covered Katie.

and

15. FatFree Vegan Kitchen.

This was an incredibly hard list to come up with. I ended up repeating some of the blogs I’ve seen others post, but it probably can’t be helped (especially with a list that long). Keep up the great work sharing online, everyone!