KREATIV BLOGGER AWARD

This is proving an absolutely MAGIC week for me!




First, I get the proofs of the stamps I designed for BladeRubber Stamps - and we have a giveaway on the BladeRubberBlog if you want to enter for it...

....Then I get picked to be Guest Artist of the Month on Vintage Flaire... see the post below this one...

... and now Malisa, The Renaissance Chick, has given me this amazing Kreativ Blogger Award!

My cup seriously runneth over!

Do I accept this award? You betcha! To get this award, here are the rules:

The Rules:

1. List 7 things that you LOVE
2. Link to the person who has tagged you
3. Choose 7 more bloggers to give the Kreativ Blogger Award to
4. Comment on those 7 blogs to let the recipients know you chose them

I am beyond thrilled!

7 THINGS THAT I LOVE

1. My husband. Yes I do. He is Husband No 2 (No 1 is still, to this day, known as The Creep). This one is A Keeper - highly tolerant of all my mess (the computer is in the front room, the art table is in a corner) and highly tolerant of the hours I spend on the computer, which means I mostly sit with my back to him all night. He's a good cook too, and just as well... or we'd be living on pizza if we depended on me!
2. Blogging. I love blogging. To think that I resisted it so long... I love the mix of people and the things they blog about - it's just a shame that I don't have enough hours in the day to read them all properly (ie: every single post). It's the same with magazines: I tend to skim through and mostly look at the pictures. You should see me at the dentist - I ought to get a Speed Read award!
3. Books, books, books: reading them, altering them, making them. I love constructing/building a book just as much as journaling or sketching in it. And I read every chance I get: in the bath, in bed, on the bus, on the train. I take a book with me everywhere I go, and if I didn't belong to a library we'd be bankrupt.
4. DIY. I adore decorating - I can paint, wallpaper and tile. I LIKE being able to say I repainted our wardrobes etc. My husband hates DIY, although he will do the heavy stuff that I can't do myself. He built the computer shelves etc into the chimney breast alcoves for me. I can honestly say that the number of flatpacks we have put together (wardrobes, bedside drawers etc) we've never had a row! But he hates painting (drips paint everywhere) so it's a good thing I enjoy it. Plus I get to pick all the colours. If things had worked out differently, I might have been an interior designer... who knows.
5. Handbags. For some reason, I seem to own more handbags than shoes! I tend to the larger size that will take a purse, a mobile and an umbrella - plus tissues, pens, a book, a sketchbook, shopping lists, a makeup bag... I also seem to favour the colour black - although why I would think I needed more than four black handbags I don't know! Nothing exceeds like excess, I suppose.
6. Art materials. Why buy one item when you can buy lots? As in: why 1 pot of gel medium, when you better buy a spare - oh, make it 2 just in case I don't visit the shop for a while... then some more gesso (yes, I know I already have white, black, red and clear - all in large sizes). And paint: 3 sets of watercolours, 2 sets of watercolour pencils, I don't know how many tubes of gouache, acrylics, Jo Sonja acrylics, Lumieres, Sherrill's Sorbets, waterproof ink, calligraphy ink...don't even get me started on coloured pencils. Paper - gorgeous paper: Fabriano, Bockingford... lots and lots of paper! Then there's the brushes (acrylic, watercolour, thin, thick, fine, hogshair, synthetic...)
   
7. Rubber stamps. Different tools from art materials, because these are toys to play with! And all the stuff that goes with them: ink pads, ribbons, gem stones, stickers, embossing powders, glitter, tape, glue - can you say "ephemera"? Fripperies...

LINK TO THE PERSON WHO TAGGED ME

The wonderful, the adorable, the lady with perfect taste (she picked me! she picked me!)
Malisa, The Renaissance Chick

7 BLOGGERS I AM GIVING THE AWARD TO - AND WHY

My Magnificent Seven are.... drum roll please....

Jo Capper-Sandon at Jo Blogs for her constantly inspiring, original and immaculate artwork. Plus she's a very nice lady!

Deryn Mentock at Something Sublime because she does the most stupendous jewellery, which she also photographs and presents beautifully. I want all of it! (All I need is to win the lottery).

Laure Ferlita at Painted Thoughts Blog because she is a very sweet girl who does the most beautifully detailed watercolours. Her artistry in portraying feathers and fur are at a standard I aspire to, but will probably never reach!

Sally Turlington at Imagine This, who wrote me the sweetest email when I commented on her studio purchase (a brilliant set of drawers). Her blog is great fun, she writes how she speaks and she is so ENTHUSIASTIC about everything, which always cheers me up. A very fun lady!

Barb Thomas at Somethingz To Crow About, who is the original mad Aussie! This lady has a serious crow obsession (see her clock and die of envy) and a really quirky sense of humour. Her work is sassy, irreverant, tongue-in-cheek and FUN.

Trish Bee at Trish Bee's Art-Venture because she is THE most dedicated woman I know for sharing stamping techniques, writing multiple blogs and running yahoo groups and swaps! If there's a technique out there... Trish will have tried it, posted samples and a tutorial! And inspired others to try it too. I admire her tremendously.

Peggy Gatto at My Coloring Book, who is another amazingly talented watercolour artist - also with an irreverant sense of humour. (I have a feeling these ladies are all my age...) Her avatar is a nun with an umbrella, which struck a chord with me straight away. She also takes the most beautiful closeups of flowers, which I have a real weakness for.

Thanks again Malisa. I am so thrilled to think that not only are people actually reading my blog, but also like it! Off now to give the news to the Magnificent Seven.