Blog of the Year 2013 – Twice more

Hi everyone

I know I said I would most likely not be making any more award nominations until February next year, but since this is a 2013 award, I feel I must do this post.

I have been nominated twice by Al from http://kattermonran.com for Blog of the Year 2013. Taking my total up to 3 stars. Thanks Al.

The blogs that I have nominated for the first Blog of the Year Award are:

The blogs I have nominated for the second Blog of the Year Award are:

The instructions for this award are simple:

1-Select the blog(s) you think deserve the Blog Of The Year 2013 Award.

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

3-Let the blog(s) that you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the instructions with them- (please don’t alter the instructions or the badges!)

4-Come over and say hello to the originator of the Blog Of The Year 2013 Award via this link: http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/blog-awards-2-/blog-of-the-year-2013-award/

5-You can now also join the Blog Of The Year Award Facebook Page.Click the link here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlogoftheYear

Share your blog posts with an even wider audience.

6-And as a winner of the award- please add a link back to the blog that presented you with this award-and then proudly display the award on your blog- and start collecting stars!

Yes-That’s right-There are stars to collect!

Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once-this award is different!

When you begin you will receive the ’1 star’ award- and every time you are given the award by another blog- you can add another star!

There are a total of 6 stars to collect.

Which means that you can check out your favorite blogs- and even if they have already been given the award by someone else- you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum of 6 stars! You can either ‘swop’ your badge for the next one each time you are given the award- or even proudly display all six badges if you are lucky enough to be presented with the award 6 times!

You can find all the badges and banners and information you need via this link: ‘Blog of The Year 2013′ Award Badges.

Congratulations to all the nominees. Enjoy your award.

Please note, that any other type of awards I may gratefully receive, I will not be able to make my nominations for, until February next year, due to having to finish my book.

Write as soon as I am able to.

Sandra

The Versatile Blogger Award – Final nominations for this year

Hi everyone

I am pleased to announce that on the 3rd of December 2013, I received The Versatile Blogger award from http://playfulkitty.wordpress.com. Check out her blog, especially if you love cats.

After this award, I am up-to-date with my blog nominations.

Unfortunately, although I can accept awards, any new awards I may get nominated for after today, I will most likely not be able to make my nominations for, until February next year. I realise that this may seem a bit strange but my illustrator needs me to finish work on my “Break through the Barriers of Redundancy” book by no later than 20th of January. This is to get the correct sizing for the printed version of the book to put on Amazon. If I don’t meet this deadline, I will have to look for another illustrator and I don’t want to do that as she has done a great job of the e-Book cover and I need consistency.

I still haven’t finished typing the book up and I need to re-work it and re-edit it. Therefore, this is going to take a lot of my time up from now until then.

In the meantime, I may be posting less posts and not commenting as much as I would like to. I am not at this point, going to take a complete break from blogging because I love it too much. I will apologise in advance, if I do not visit your blog as much or make as many comments, if my posts are very short and not necessarily about writing. I hope you understand.

The Rules

This award actually has its own site with the official rules listed (The Versatile Blogger Award). The rules are:

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their site.
I did this above the award. Just in case you missed it, thank you to Simplyilka.
Nominate 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
List 7 things about yourself.

My 15 Nominees

7 Facts About Me

I have multiple food allergies, my worst is sugar. I can only have natural sugar in juice and fruit.
My guilty pleasure in terms of a song, used to be The Chicken Song from Spitting Image. Now, it is probably the Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I used to have a budgie called Bertie.
I like sparkly things.
I have a big bag made of silver sequins.
I enjoy eating at Nandos but have to ask for plain chicken.
I prefer to receive a birthday greeting in a card, rather than a text or Facebook message. Although any greeting is welcomed.

Enjoy your award and thanks to everyone who follows my blog. You are all superstars.

Write as soon as I am able to

Sandra

Shauny Award – For Blogging Excellence

Hi everyone

Another award I am so thankful for.

I have been nominated by http://transcendingbordersblog.wordpress.com for this new award! Thank you so much.

I am thrilled to be nominated for this award! This is s newly created award. There are no rules yet. Shaun is ‘paying it forward’ and creating.

THE RULES:

1-Show humanity, show love, be yourself, don’t be others, don’t gossip and share the award with 10 others.

My award nominations are:

Congratulations to all of my nominees for excelling in the blogosphere.

Write soon

Sandra

Grab a little Sunshine and Shine On!

Hi everyone

I am still wading through the wonderful amount of awards I have been fortunate enough to receive.

These next two awards were given to me by Sharla Shults on 5th July 2013, from http://catnipoflife.wordpress.com. Check out her amazing blog.

The RULES that apply here are the usual question/answer typical questions.

I have answered some of these questions before.

Favourite colour? In clothes, Black and white or blue.

Favourite animal? My 4 guineapigs and Peaches who I sadly lost this year.

Favourite number? 6 but lucky number is 8.

Favourite non-alcoholic drink? In terms of tea, peppermint is my favourite.

My passion? Writing, writing and more writing.

Prefer getting or giving presents? I like both equally.

Favourite days of the week? Any days that I have off from my day job so I can spend more time writing.

Favourite flower? A rose – Red is my favourite colour.

The Shine On Award.

THE RULES ARE:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you.

3. State 7 things about yourself

4. Nominate 15 (more or less) other bloggers for this award and link to them.

5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award requirements.

7 Things About Me

When I look back at photos of when I was a little girl, my hair appeared to be almost white in colour.
My mum would not let me grow my hair long when I was young.
I love having long hair now.
I enjoy writing poems in greetings cards for my family and friends.
I have two identical glittery santa decorations that hand on my Christmas Tree.
I love hanging tinsel around each room in my flat at Christmas time.
I have a Winnie the Pooh and Piglet bedside table lamp.

Blogs I Am Nominating for both awards are as follows:

I hope you embrace your awards with open arms because you deserve them both. I look forward to reading more about you.

Write soon

Sandra

Sunshine and Versatile Blog Awards

Hi everyone

Well, it isn’t Snuggles this time, but me, that has been a naughty little girl.

Fortunately I have received a number of blog awards in the last week but unfortunately I haven’t made my nominations for other blog awards I received a long time ago.

Please don’t laugh. When I say a long time ago, I mean a long time ago. Okay – June 2013. ( Well, at least I said 2013.)

I am going to start with the Sunshine and Versatile Blog awards that I received from Gabriel Lucatero on 2nd of June 2013. His blog is inspirational so check it out.

The Rules:

Post the logo above
Accept the nomination and link back to the blog that nominated you
Answer the questions
Nominate blogs and inform them of the nomination

I accept these nominations and would also like to pass both of them on to the list of bloggers below:

Congratulations to all of you and don’t forget to put both awards on your blog, you deserve them.

Favorite color: Orange, although not in clothes.

Favorite animal: Guineapig – I have four.

Favorite number(s): 6 – Lucky number is 8.

Favorite (non-alcoholic drink): Pineapple Juice.

Favorite (alcoholic drink): I don’t drink any alcohol. If I am in a pub I have orange or pineapple juice or Appletiser.

Facebook or Twitter: I use both but have more followers on Twitter.

My passions: Writing, helping people, guineapigs, family, friends and films. I love visiting aquariums and zoos.

Giving or receiving gifts: I enjoy both equally.

Favorite city: London and Exeter.

Favorite TV show: I don’t watch much TV but like watching soaps. Neighbours, Emmerdale and Coronation Street. I watch Eastenders sometimes too. I like the X-Factor.

For the second award, apart from making my nominations, I need to share seven things about myself.

Seven facts about me:

1. I believe people can achieve their dreams, if they take action.

2. I teach Blogging as an aid to recovery – How to start a WordPress.com blog for the Recovery Learning Community on a self-employed basis.

3. I work full-time as the Fitted Bedroom Specialist in John Lewis.

4. I have visited London 4 times this year.

5. I met HM the Queen at St James’s Palace In July this year.

6. I am a night owl and prefer to write at night as I can focus more.

7. I love going on courses to improve myself.

Enjoy your awards and I look forward to reading more about you.

Write soon

Sandra

Double Recognition – Two Liebster Awards

Hi Everyone

I have been thrilled to receive a number of awards over the last couple of months, including these two Liebster Awards . I have already been given a pink Liebster Award and now I have a blue one and a white one to add to my collection. Although I have noticed that the white Liebster award is not the same as my previous pink award or the blue one because it states Liebster Blog and then a heart to symbolise love. So I guess with the third award I am getting some serious blog loving.

The Blue Liebster Award is from Rohan rohan7things.wordpress.com

I received this Liebster Blog (Love) award from mikesfilmtalk.com on March 26th 2013.

Thanks to Rohan and Mike for these two beautiful blog awards. I am very grateful for each and every award that I receive and I feel honoured that people have taken the time to read my blog and are enjoying the content.

As there appears to be some discrepancies between the rules for theses awards I am going to use the rules that I used for my first pink Liebster Award on the 10th of November 2012 quirkybooks.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/the-liebster-award-thanks-and-nominations for both of these awards.

For this award I need to:

Answer 11 questions from the nominator. As Rohan hasn’t asked me any questions, I will answer the ones from Mike.
Nominate 11 other people to receive this award (It is meant to be for people who have less than 200 followers but I don’t mind who you nominate. It’s the thought that counts.)
Create 11 questions for the new nominees to answer
Place the blog award on my blog
Link back to the people who nominated me for this award
Inform my nominees of their award from me

My 11 questions to answer are:

Are you a cat or dog person, and why? Although I like cats, I am a dog person. My best friend when I was young was my cocker spaniel called Purdy. Nowadays my guineapigs are the love of my life. They are so cute, loveable and gorgeous. (Smaller poos to clean up too.)
If you were stranded on a desert island, which three celebrities would you choose to be with you? Kylie Minogue, Fred Savage (If you remember him from The Wonder Years) and Bruno Mars.
What’s your favourite film of all time? I have 3, You got Served, Grease, Dirty Dancing. All dance and music films. You Got Served is hip hop and has a great story line.
Is there anything that you collect, and if so what? Erasers. (Some may like to call them rubbers but to avoid confusion with condoms, I like to use the word eraser.) I tend to buy them from the places that I visit and any I find that are unusual. I also collect eeyore things , from Winnie the Pooh. If you click on the link you will see a short video of eeyore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMDAY8H5yIw
What is the strangest or most inventive thing you’ve ever dressed up as for a fancy dress party? I haven’t been to a fancy dress party as such but I have hired a witches costume and been in the audience of a Deal or No Deal Halloween special. I wore the costume on the train to go to the studios on my own from Exeter to Bristol. A couple commented that I was brave to do that.
Are you a Windows or Mac user? I am definitely a Mac user. Although I do use Windows for Mac.
What is your favourite place to go? To go on holiday I like Disneyland Paris or London. I love being busy and going to fun places. I especially like going to theme parks, zoos and aquariums.
If you could keep any animal in the world as a pet, what would you choose and why? My 4 beautiful guineapigs. They are the best thing ever.
What is your proudest moment, like, ever? I have a lot. My latest one is being singled out for an official Special Recognition Award for my http://www.beatredundancyblues.com website prior to its launch. It is signed by Womens Development Unlimited and Devon County Council. (There is no apostrophe in their spelling of womens)
Do you have any weird nicknames? No. My strangest one when I was at secondary school was “Sange”.
If you could be anyone for a day (dead or alive, real person or a character, animated or real) , who would you choose and what would you do? If I had a previous life, I always used to think I was a tortoise, don’t ask me why, I have no idea. It may be because I had one for a pet. I guess I wouldn’t mind being a bird, so I could try out flying for the day but I would need to have a different mind because I don’t like heights and would spend all day on the ground. I like my mind so think I will stick to being me.

My 11 questions are:

Do you prefer black or white and why?
What do you like most about rain?
If you could publish any one book that you are currently writing, which one would it be and why?
If you weren’t a writer, what other job would you be doing and why?
Do you prefer poetry or prose?
What is your greatest writing moment to date and why?
What is your favourite genre to read and why?
What is you favourite animated film?
Do you prefer How to or self-help books and why?
How would you like people to remember you?
What are your three most positive words.

I nominate the following bloggers for the blue Liebster Award:

I nominate the following bloggers for the white Liebster Blog (Heart) award:

Some of you may have over 200 followers but like I said, it’s the thought that counts.

Happy Easter to all of my fellow bloggers. Thanks for your support.

Have a fantastic Easter weekend.

Write soon

Sandra

Creating Fireworks – 2012 In Review

Hi Everyone

I’m pleased and proud to announce that the quirkybooks 2012 annual blog report is now available and I would like to share it with you.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I am thrilled that I have been nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award for a second time and the Super Sweet Award for the first time – Details and thanks to the people who nominated me will be given soon in a future post.

Write soon

Sandra

beatredundancyblues is awarded the Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Hi Everyone

If you don’t already know, I have another blog called beatredundancyblues.wordpress.com that is designed to help people who are redundant to get back into work. It has been awarded it’s first award, the Very Inspiring Blogger Award and I have now posted my award nominations on the link below: http://beatredundancyblues.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/beatredundancyblues-won-the-very-inspiring-blogger-award

Thanks to everyone who follows me on both blogs and to those of you who didn’t know about my other blog, I do hope you enjoy it and please leave comments to let me know what you think and how I can improve the help and advice that I post.

I have just been awarded Blog Of The Year 2012 for the second time and so now have two stars. I will be posting my nominations for the first and second stars in a future post, so watch this space.

Write soon

Sandra