Lack of time and award time...

There simply isn't enough time. Finally, after nearly a month of suffering from Sewer's Block, I am full of ideas: I have a burning desire to sit in front of my sewing machine for hours on end, I have beautiful fabrics stacked in a pile wanting to be given a purpose in life (thank you, Mama, they are wonderful!), but somehow my time to do these things has shrunk! Over the last couple of months I have been forcing myself to drive to try and build up my confidence...but then I realised that a small amount of confidence was gained with many sacrifices: lack of walking left me feeling rather flumpy and untoned; one of the children made a comment that suggested that they felt their skin wasn't adequate protection against the elements (an idea which appalls me); all the lovely changes in front-gardens are missed when speeding past them at 25 miles per hour (mmm, I didn't get that confident then); and in the afternoons my little Dinosaur-boy would be bad-tempered and crabby because he hadn't had a chance to race down the road pretending to be a coal-tender. And then there's our carbon footprint to think about... So we are back to pavement-pounding again, but in doing this I lose an hour from the time that I would normally have at home to do my sewing - by the time I'm home it leaves just over two hours before I need to leave to go and collect him...barely enough time to thread up one's machine, let alone enjoy procrastinating over fabric combinations, no?

Anyway, enough of my transport dilemmas. I have been very kindly nominated for two awards!

A 'You Make My Day Award' from the Lovely Louise of Lulu Lolly Legs - Louise regularly makes my day too; her blog is funny, inspiring and full of beautiful pictures and her wonderful tendency for occasional 'sticky-beaking', as she calls it, has meant that I've got to know her better...making me think that curiosity should be much encouraged.

Annie B from Over Milkwood...had awarded me the ArteyPico award for being creative and inspiring! What a huge compliment - thank you. I love reading Annie's blog, which itself is creative and inspiring...not least because it is the home of this wonderful hat that I can't get out of my head! If my hair had looked so flicky and wonderful under such a divine woolen creation, had I been able to find a way, I would have had large pictures of it projected onto London monuments...yet instead Annie chose to put the hat over a dinner plate. I love this lunacy, and yes, if you didn't see it the first time the hat still looked good even after its spell in the crockery cupboard.

So now I have some award-giving to do, which is always a delight. I am limiting myself to three nominations per category, but allowing myself long speeches to accompany the award giving.

The Making My Day Award goes to:

Alice of Raspberry goodness - her posts so often have me howling with laughter, while wanting to give her a large hug...as well as regularly leaving me drooling over her lovely linen-work...eugh, sorry Alice, you really don't want a hug from one who is slobbering, do you?!

Lisa of U-handblog loveliness - the wonderful bag-making alone would be enough to make my day, but she is also an inspiring non-shoulder-padded ethical businesswoman and her Craft Boom posts are full to bursting with the most wonderful tips to help others succeed in setting up their own small businesses...if only they can find the courage! And she's lovely, which is the most important bit.

And Jo from Today We Are....Delightful (my own variation on her blog title), because I'm always so happy to see one of her posts waiting in my bloglines. And because I feel we worry, procrastinate and delight over similar things...which is a great comfort. And she makes me laugh a lot.

On the ArteyPico front (award pictured left) - which is given for creativity and inspiration:

Jo from French Knots for the wonderfully English feel that she has to her blog, the lovely things that she makes and because so often her posts inspire me and make me think.

Lina of Linaloo because I love hearing about her days, looking at her fabrics and seeing the lovely things that she makes with them.

Bec from The Small Stuff because she makes the most fantastic clothes and bags and uses fabric combinations that I adore...and has a very eccentric method of naming her wonderful bags, that I don't understand, but that makes me laugh (the most recent was called Saucepan Man Bag).

I'd also like to award Blogger the You Make My Day award because after an entire month, spellcheck is finally working again and I can't tell you how much it had been troubling me to be posting up potentially mis-spelt thoughts!