Liebster Blog Award

Katie Drane from Fun Home Things has nominated Chickadee's Big Ideas for a Liebster Blog Award!  

Thanks Katie! You can check out her Liebster blog post by clicking here.

The Liebster Blog Award is an award given by bloggers to up and coming bloggers, most of whom have less than 200 followers (or have been blogging for less than 6 months). It is to show newer bloggers that they are appreciated, and to help spread the word about new blogs. It was created to promote appreciation and recognition among the blog world. Liebster translates to “dearest” (or favorite/best) in German. It is also known as the Love Blog Award.

What an awesome honor!

The Rules:

1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.

3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.

4. Choose 11 new blogs you love and link them in your post.

5. Please leave me a comment on this post with the URL to your Liebster post so I can learn more about you!

11 Random things about me:

1. I have a dimple in the middle of my forehead.

2. By nature, I'm a terrible photographer but I'm working really hard to take better photos.

Taken Christmas 2011 (My kiddos and husband)

Taken Christmas 2012 (Three of my sisters and niece)

3. I was raised in a very strict, super religious household (you'd never know it now).

4. I am a giant nerd (and not ashamed).  I love technology, sci-fi and fantasy.

5. I love matryoshka dolls (Russian stacking dolls)

6. I keep things that my Granny and Grandmother made near to me because it makes me feel safe and loved.

7. I am a good cook but I don't enjoy it. At my house, its a labor of love.

8. I look forward to the Puyallup (Pew-all-up) Sewing Expo every year like a kid waits for Christmas. It's huge and fun!

9. I went to the Urban Craft Uprising (an indie craft show in Seattle) for the first time this year.  I waited in line for 3 hours in the rain and cold for a swag bag.

10. I'm the oldest of 6 children, with 4 younger sisters and 1 younger brother.

11. I've been wearing glasses since I was 11.  My nephews think I look really weird without them.

My questions from Katie:

1. When and why did you start blogging?

I started blogging in October of this year (2012) as a creative outlet. I'm always doing something crafty and what better way to connect with other crafters than a blog!

2. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

In my 5th grade yearbook I wrote that I wanted to be a teacher or a singer. I really enjoy singing but it's definitely never going to turn into a profession for me. Teaching in a traditional school also wasn't in the cards but I taught adult learners, the differently abled, my own kids (during summers) and now my blog readers. There are many roads to get where you want to go. I've just learned to expand my horizons.

3. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas! It always feels so magical.

4. Do you work outside of the home or are you a stay at home mom?

I'm lucky to stay at home with my 4 year old daughter and 8 year old son. I worked full-time when my son was little and he was in daycare. Being a single mom was one of the hardest things I've ever done! When my husband and I married I quit working outside of the home.

5. If you could meet a famous person, alive or dead, who would it be?

JK Rowling. Not only am I an avid Harry Potter fan (nerd alert!) but her story is inspiring.

6. How old were you when you went on your first date?

19. I was a late bloomer.

7. What is your favorite book?

Reading is my other hobby. I like to read what my son is reading because it gives us something meaningful to talk about. We read tons of series including: Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Fablehaven, The Tapestry series, 100 cupboards - really anything fantasy. If I had to pick a favorite book, right now, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood would top the list. It's technically juvenile fiction but a bit too tedious and wordy for my son.

8. What is your favorite song and why?

Right this minute, in the spirit of the season, Auld Lang Syne by Andrew Bird. Hands down, the best version of this song I've ever heard.

9. Do you have a blogging schedule or do you blog when you feel like it?

My creative mind that is all over the place, so I'm finding it difficult to get myself into a blogging schedule. My #1 New Years resolution is to set a blogging schedule and stick to it.

10. Are you a city girl or a country girl?

City girl! I grew up rurally and the city always excited me. I like the hustle and bustle and the availability of everything.

11. What do you love most about your family?

We are a blended, bi-cultural family and we pull it off pretty well (for the most part).  We are lucky to live in Seattle where having a blended family is normal and accepted.

My kiddos and husband, Aaron at the Seattle Aquarium.

11 questions for the people I nominate:

1. Why do you blog?

2. What are your top 3 must read blogs?

3. What is your favorite day of the week?

4. What is your guilty pleasure?

5. What is the best costume you have worn?

6. What room in the house do you most like to spend time in?

7. What job have you been procrastinating?

8. What song do you love to dance to?

9. If money were no object, where would you live?

10. Do you have any special talents?

11. If you had one wish, what would it be?

11 blogs I love and nominate:

1. Fun Home Things

2. Frances Suzanne

3. Siestas and Sewing

4. Bursting the Seams

5. S is for Sewing

6. Caila made

7. Twilltape

8. Very Homemade

9. The Sweet Spot

10. Accidentally by Design

11. Toot Sweet 4 Two

Nominees: Please leave me a comment with your Liebster post, so I can read up on you! Also, please leave a link back to this post on your blog.