Awards

Copy of Copy of Copy of Untitled

The Sunshine Blogger award is given by bloggers to bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in the blogging community.

I was gifted this award by Ami of Undercover Superhero, Ami is a truly amazing blogger with an equally amazing recovery story. If you haven’t visited Ami’s blog then pop over and say hi! Thank you, Ami, for this award, I love that you have gifted me with this, not only for what the award stands for but also for taking the time to share it with me and posing really interesting, thought-provoking questions!

The rules of the Sunshine Blogger Award are as follows:

Thank the person who nominated you and links back to their site.
Answer the 11 questions asked by your nominator.
Nominate at least 11 more bloggers for the award and write 11 new, creative questions for your nominees to answer.
Notify your nominees via social media or by commenting on their blog.
List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your site or in your post.

Ami’s Questions

What movie title best describes your life? The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
If you were to create a single item of stationery, what would it be called and what would it include? Hmm…some kind of storage device that could hold all my stationery and make it easy to transport it all by shrinking it all down into a small little box that could fit into your pocket. It would be called the “Statio-shrink”.
What are you most likely to become famous for? Doing or saying something completely ridiculous!
What is the most heartwarming thing you’ve ever seen? Any act of kindness, especially the small things that go unnoticed in day to day life.
Where would you spend all your time if you could? At home with Roxy! But Id move my home to the coast so I could spend time on the beach too!
What amazing thing did you do that no-one was around to see? I did a handstand once because my friend dared me, via text…I’d had a few gin and tonics at the time and I didn’t even remember to video it.
What was your favourite board game growing up? I had a game called “Beatrix Potter Race Game” which had figures of the animals (Jemima Puddle-Duck, Peter Rabbit and others) that you had to race around the board but there were cards you had to take if you landed on certain squares which could either help you along your way or scupper your progression.
What is the best thing about you? That I can listen, offer advice, and am loyal.
What is your favourite smell? Anything rose. I’m currently loving Yardley English Rose. I also love perfume from Lush called Lust.
What was the best compliment you ever received? Hmmm… that’s a hard one… probably, on days when I am not feeling too good about myself, what I’m wearing or how I look then the best compliments are people saying that I look nice, they seem to be the most memorable ones.
Who are the most important people in your life? My parents, brothers, their families and my friends. And Roxy!

My Questions

Where is the best place you have visited?
If you could re-live any age, what age would you pick and why?
What was your favourite subject in school?
If you had to choose one outfit to wear for the rest of your life what would it be?
What is the best piece of advice you could give to younger you?
What is your favourite colour?
What pets have you had?
How would you spend a perfect summer day?
What is your favourite film?
Do you have a skincare routine? What are your favourite products?
Would you take part in my “Saturday Shout Out“? (Sorry, shameless self-promotion there)

My Nominees

The Bloggers Bash

I was going to write this post as a run through of the day but have decided to tell you all about my favourite parts of the day instead.

On Saturday morning my brother accompanied me to the Annual Bloggers Bash which took place in the Grange Wellington Hotel in Westminster in London. We got the train from Lewisham to Victoria and walked the last part of the journey to the hotel which wasn’t too far away. The weather was warm but overcast and there were dark rainclouds on the horison but the day remained dry and warm.

2 guest speakers had been invited to speak with us, Laura of Full To The Brum, a food blog based in Birmingham, and G X Todd, an author. Both speakers were really interesting. Laura spoke about how she has evolved from writing about food and drink on her blog to writing features for magazines and newspapers, her love of newsletters and about the struggles related to social media. G X Todd, (also know as Gemma) took us through her journet to becoming an author, her inspirations and how things have changed for authors in the modern, internet and social media age. I found both speakers to be really interesting and have given me food for thought. From Laura, I left thinking about my personal brand and making my blog my own and from Gemma it was that we should all take what we do seriously.

There was a question and answer session with Esther Chiltern – a writer, tutor and blog tutor, Shelley Wilson a self help, motivation, holistic health and personal development blogger, and Laura (from above.). Questions posed to the panel were varied and the answers given were really interesting. There was a question about blog awards, such as the Liebster and Sunshine blog awards that are given by bloggers to other bloggers, and the panel gave answers that they found the awards to be motivational, fun, encouraging, a way to network and find new content. Another interesting question was with regards to newlsetters and what they were. I was a bit unsure about what a newsletter was so the answers were really useful to me – they are a way to share interesting things, content that has not been blogged about, a bit like a parish newsletter. Newsletters can be more personal and contain things that are important or personal to you, they can take the form of a letter and be written in a chatty, informal way. Newsletters can also provide a way to provide extra content and add value to your blog.

A Flat Lay Workshop had been organised for us, hosted by Sacha Black and Suzie. We were talked through the basic concept of the flat lay, Suzie and Sacha both created an example to show us before we were challenged to create our own.

Once we had the basics down, it was just a case of tweaking the layout and moving things around slightly, taking photos along the way to check how everything looked through the lens. We spoke about lighting and filters to improve our layouts and really make them pop.

bb7d0215-e2a2-424d-9705-49a43e266451

This was my favourite image which I then lightened using Instagram (you can view the image here). The workshop was really useful and even my brother enjoyed it!

I also got to meet some bloggers, some that I follow and others that are new to me! I do struggle with meeting people and get super anxious due to my aspergers but the people that I met were really lovely! I met Simon from Planet Simon, my blog friend since I started this blog and now a real life friend! he was lovely, and it was so nice to be able to meet the face behind the blog. I also met Adam Dixon of AdamDixonFiction, Marje of MJMallon, Marian Wood of JustMuddlingThroughLife, Willow Willers of Willowdot21, and Jemima Pett of JemimaPett.com. All were really welcoming and friendly and lovely to speak with!

I had a really brilliant day and I can’t wait for the next one to roll around!!!!