Thank you so much to Deborah over at DeborahJane for nominating me for the One Lovely Blogger Award! You are too sweet. She’s a third year biomedical science student (I know, crazy) who shares her thoughts on science, crafts and happenings in her life. Seriously though, check out her blog. It’s always a good read.

The rules are as follows:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog in your post.
2. List the rules and display the award logo.
3. Include 7 facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 10 others and let them know you’ve nominated them.

So, 7 facts about me… hmmm.

1. I rarely watch TV but I could watch Criminal Minds all day long.
2. Green is my least favorite color.
3. I’ve been practicing yoga for 3 years.
4. Pinterest is my favorite search engine.
5. If I could wear leggings and a hoodie all day, every day I would be the happiest girl on the planet.
6. Make Something Mondays got me the job I currently have.
7. I hate cooking.

Now, for the important part: the nominations in no particular order.

1. Sophies Foodie Files
2. Find the Beauty
3. My Guilty Pleasures
4. Fozzie.M
5. My Scrap Muse
6. A Twist of Couture
7. Cricket Muse
8. Live and Learn
9. Marina Kanavaki
10. Elenacaravela

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I received the Blog of the Year 2012 award! Thank you so much to FluxNews and Home Creations Every Day for nominating me 🙂 These blogs are definitely worth checking out! Thank you very much for your support and being a consistent visitor of my posts. So, one more time: THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!!

The rules for this award are simple :
1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award.

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award –http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/ and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!).

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them.

5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.

6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…!

The nominees for this award (in no particular order) are :

1. The Tragic Whale– This is one crafty lady! Kerry makes all kinds of crafts and just about anything to do with whales. Her Etsy shop is pretty awesome too! Check it out. The link is on her blog.

2. Barbaraelka– A very creative photographer we have here! Some awesome posts!

3. Lead.Learn.Live– A husband.  A father.  A leader.  A manager.  A grinder.  A reader.  A learner. AND a real blogger: someone who blogs because they love it.

4. Arlen Shahverdyan– an Armenian blogger with great posts! I highly suggest you take the time to translate his blog because it is worth it!

5. photography of nia– Another great photopher and blogger!

6. Marina Kanavaki– A FANTASTIC artist and designer. You will be missing out if you don’t click her link…

7. A Twist of Couture– Couture Stationery for Weddings,Social & Business. Texture, Color, and Font Addict who has a great blog!

8. spilledcookies– This lady inspires me to stay creative and always find something more. If you are an artist, musician, writer, etc, you should check her out! Even if you aren’t it is worth looking at.

9. Canvas & Thread–  a unique and fellow artist who has been with me since my blog was created a year ago. Visit her blog for some great work and a good story!

10. Elenacaravela– Artist and illustrator of children’s books. An amazing blog!

Congratulations to everybody !! 

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The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

I’ve been nominated for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award by the very talented bloggers: Arlen Shahverdyan and ajaytao2010. Please be sure to visit their blogs. They are very inspiring as well.  Thank you for nominating me 🙂

Rules:

1. Link back to the person who nominated you: Thank you again Arlen Shahverdyan and ajaytao2010 for nominating my blog for this award. I’m very thankful for your support!

 

2. Post the award image to your page.

3. Tell 7 facts about yourself.

1. I played volleyball, basketball and soccer in school. I also participated in gymnastics and dance (hip hop and jazz).
2. I typically wear black or pink.
3. I’ve been dating my boyfriend for about 5 years.
4. I considered going to college to be a journalist or politician.
5. I am a bridesmaid in four weddings this year. Congrats to all of my friends who have been married and are getting married!
6. I enjoy learning. A lot. My goal in life is to take in as much knowledge as I can AND to use it.
7. I like heavy metal music.

4. These are my 15 nominations (in no particular order).

1. http://isabellart.wordpress.com/
2. http://cravesadventure.wordpress.com/
3. http://marinakanavaki.com/
4. http://barbaraelka.com/
5. http://photographyofnia.com/
6. http://wannabephotographer87.wordpress.com/
7. http://jensinewall.wordpress.com/
8. http://craftcrazygran.wordpress.com/
9. http://redisnotdead.wordpress.com/
10. http://adetailedhouse.com/
11. http://mystudentstruggles.wordpress.com/
12. http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/
13. http://elenacaravela.wordpress.com/
14. http://leonidasvillegas.wordpress.com/
15. http://notjustamummy.wordpress.com/

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The Sunshine Award!

I have been nominated by http://wannabephotographer87.wordpress.com/ for the Sunshine Award. Awww! Thank you!  This is a blog you should definitely check out, especially if you are into photography. It is great watching the photos improve as she continues to write. Not something you would want to miss out on. Thank you!

The award has some guidelines to be followed.

1.  Include the logo in a post on your blog.

2.  Answer 10 questions about yourself.

3. Nominate 10-12 marvelous bloggers.

4. Let your nominees knows about their award by linking them to the Sunshine Award in their comments sections.

5. Share the love and link the person who nominated you!

10 questions for the Sunshine Award

1. Favorite Color: Black. I know it sounds depressing but it really is the perfect color
2. Favorite Animal: I have no idea… something tropical maybe.
3. Favorite Number: 25
4. Favorite Drink: coffee or tea
5. Facebook or Twitter: Neither
6. Your Passion: Art of any kind
7. Favorite Pattern: Anything that is black and white
8. Giving or Receiving Gifts: Giving for sure!! I’m always excited when I find a gift I know that someone will love.
9. Favorite Day: Saturdays
10. Favorite Flower: I really dislike flowers. I know I sound all pessimistic here, but I never understood the whole giving flowers as a gift tradition. You give someone flowers and a week later they are all dead. Not my way of passing along joy. I’ll make paper flowers and enjoy them for as long as I want 🙂

The following talented bloggers have given me non-stop encouragement and sunshine to my dull days:

http://notjustamummy.wordpress.com/

http://spilledcookies.com/

http://bcommanderinchic.com/

http://brainsnorts.wordpress.com/

http://belopotosky.com/

http://artprofilesworld.wordpress.com/

http://whatifoundwhilewalkingaround.com/

http://elenacaravela.wordpress.com/

http://cravesadventure.wordpress.com/

http://gregoryeuclide.wordpress.com/

When I logged into my blog yesterday I had noticed that my views went through the roof and I had about 100 comments that needed tended to. What is going on? I was FRESHLY PRESSED! Great, but what exactly does that mean? I had seen the freshly pressed page and had looked at the posts before but I thought they were all chosen at random. I decided to do some research on it because I kept seeing “Congrats on being freshly pressed” in my comments section. It has to be more than random then.

With the help of WordPress and google I stumbled upon (not literally, I did not use StumbleUpon.com) Mahfooz’s Expositions‘ blog. This post that I found gave me some insight.

“Every aspiring blogger dreams of being ‘freshly pressed’. Freshly Pressed, for those unfamiliar faces, is a section where WordPress admins select and publish blogs that are entertaining, enlightening or inspiring. Not only does it increase the traffic to your blog by thousands, but also that the mass public will actually read and enjoy your blog. It’s much like getting a ‘certified’ stamp over your work. Being freshly pressed means you have reached the standard of being a semi-pro or professional blogger. But to be selected out of over half a million blogs is an accomplishment that many people, including myself, have yet to achieve.”

When I first started my blog in Nov 2011 I was pretty apprehensive about it. I am not much of a writer and I didn’t know much about blogging. I had never read more than 30 blogs in my life (intentionally) much less follow one. Ohh well, I thought, I’ll give it a shot… And here I am 4 months later. I can’t thank my viewers and followers enough for giving me confidence through your likes and comments. I greatly appreciate each and every one of them and I hope that you continue to enjoy my own work as well as other artists’ work that I post.

WordPress admins: THANKS A TON! 

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To my nominators:

*I want to begin with a humble thank you to icklekins for nominating me for this award. I’m flattered.  Her blog is worth checking out; there a little bit of everything so everyone can find something to enjoy   I would also like to thank the Versatile Blog for creating and maintaining the award!

*I was also nominated for this award by somedaysoonart. This blog is full art art, photography, and poetry. It is just a bevy of creativity!!!

*And by Maria. Her blog is the discovery of herself. It is really an interesting read. Check it out.

These are the rules of the award, as listed on the VBA Rules page:

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

• Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy. Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly, and nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award. Include a link!
• Finally, say 7 things about yourself.

Seven Things About Me

1. My favorite author is Stephen King but Jodi Picoult comes in as a close second.

2. I am the only person in my family with any creative ability… so they say.

3. I hate cooking. I only do it when I absolutely have to.

4. I don’t like to quit. Even if I know the result isn’t going to be good I still need to finish it for my own sanity.

5. I won a Volunteer Service Award my senior year of high school for completing over 2,000 hours of community service.

6. I would like to live outside of the USA at some point in my life. I want to explore a different culture.

7. When I retire, I would like to to travel by RV without a care in the world.

And the nominations go to…

– http://elenacaravela.wordpress.com/ for creativity and inspiration

– http://mydailycreativity.wordpress.com/ for the creative abilities and challenges

–  http://vikramroyblog.wordpress.com/ for art, science and literature

–  http://deidraalexander.com/ A great fiction writer

– http://haphazardlinkages.wordpress.com/ For the satires. Good stuff

– http://artboy68project.wordpress.com/ Amazing art here

– http://jacktweeter.wordpress.com/ Awesome news

– http://dirtylittlewhispers.com/ Unique and entertaining

– http://leonidasvillegas.wordpress.com/ Graphic design and photography

–  http://designsbydom.wordpress.com/ This girl has some neat jewelry

– http://annahergert.wordpress.com/ another creative outlet

– http://nickexposed.com/ ohh yes, the photography

– http://barbaraelka.com/ More awesome photography

– http://cokarabbit.wordpress.com/ food and fashion queen!

– http://bestintentionsmom.wordpress.com/ an awesome mom!

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First, thank you to elenacaravela for passing this award on to me. This blogger is an amazing artist and her blog always keeps me entertained. She always keeps it fresh and interesting. Thank you for helping to make my WordPress experience a positive one.

Here are the rules for the “7×7 Link Award.”
1. Reveal 7 things about myself that you guys don’t already know.
2. Place up 7 of my favorite links, and
3. Pass the award on, to 7 or more bloggers.

7 Things you don’t know about me:

1.  I played video games religiously until college. Then I got rid of my N64 because I wanted to focus in college.

2. I played basketball, volleyball, soccer, and took dance in high school.

3. I, not my parents, bought my first car when I was 16.

4. I was a waitress for 8 years.

5. I don’t like the color green

6. I took 3 years of french in high school

7. My favorite book is Kiss The Girls by James Patterson

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7 of my favorite links from my blog:

Dear Me: A Letter to Myself

Holidays Around the World

The Street Work of Banksy

Baby Its Cold Outside

Hoop Dancing?

Inspire Me, Inspire You

How Did You Get to be So Creative?

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My Nominations:

http://claytontalkspolitics.wordpress.com/

http://kaleidoview.wordpress.com/

http://theeclaire.wordpress.com/

http://myexposition.wordpress.com/

http://shouri19.wordpress.com/

http://brainsnorts.wordpress.com/

http://notyethere.wordpress.com/

Thank you to cricketmuse for awarding me the ABC: Awesome Blog Content. That is quite an honor!  I very much enjoy her book blog as well. She has some great reads on there and I love hearing her thoughts on each book. She reads like a fiend!

The Rules:

1. Add the ABC logo to your new blog post.
2. ABC about yourself using one word or phrase.
3. Nominate however many blogs you wish.
4. Let the recipient know via a link in their comments.

My ABC’s:

A. Athletic.
B. Blunt.
C. Creative.
D. Dark.
E. English.
F. Friendly.
G. Generous.
H. Happy
I. Intellectual.
J. Jovial.
K. Kempt.
L. Loving.
M. Mature.
N. Nifty.
O. Observant.
P. Pleasant.
Q. Quirky.
R. Reader.
S. Selective
T. Thankful.
U. Unusual.
V. Valuable.
W. Wanderer.
X. Xcited.
Y. Youthful.
Z. Zesty.

The winners are…

1. http://bcommanderinchic.com/
2. http://jquattlebaum.wordpress.com/
3. http://knittednotes.wordpress.com/