Very inspiring blogger award

I have been nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! That makes me so happy, it was a really lovely surprise! Sweet Candace N'Diaye, whom I (virtually) met in the business course from Leonie Dawson, has nominated me (thanks Candace!).  Candace makes beautiful soul art, a blend of nature and spirituality. You should go check her work out.

Now what does this mean? I have to tell you 7 things about myself, AND I get to nominate 15 other blogs for this award! I like that! Although it's gonna be hard to choose between the many lovely blogs that I follow. So I think I'm going to concentrate on those blogs that inspire me most, meaning blogs with a lot of information.

These are the rules:

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 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

Okay, here are the 7 things about myself, in case you're interested:

1. I love reading! When I read, the world around me doesn't exist anymore. Very much to the annoyance of my family. Since I always seem to be short in time, I tend to combine reading with my everyday activitities. I read on the toilet, in bath, while I'm doing my exercises, when the potatoes are cooking, while I'm brushing my teeth, and for a perfect ending of the day: with a flashlight under the covers so I don't wake up my husband ...
2. who isn't really my husband by the way, since we never got married. We are living in sin ;-) in a "de facto" relationship, as they so nicely put it here in Australia ;-). It's just hard to know how to call him. "Partner" sounds so lame, and he's more than just "boyfriend". So I cheat sometimes and call him my husband  ...
3. I hate cold. When we were still living in Belgium I got in a kind of winterdepression every time October came around. Those long wintermonths ahead, how I hated it. As soon as spring came in sight I started to feel alive again. Just a pity that summer in Belgium doesn't necessarily mean good weather. Since we're living in sunny Queensland, I feel alive every single day, even when it's raining. I adore the sun!
4. I am forever on a diet. When I'm not on a diet I am under the impression that I can eat whatever I want. Which I can't. But I do. Until I don't fit in my clothes anymore, and then I have to start dieting again. It's a vicious circle .... 
5. I have a very vivid imagination. Which is an asset when I want to create something, but it can get quite annoying when I start reading the newspapers or start thinking about what can happen to my kids when they do this or that. It freaks me out sometimes. So I stopped reading grisly stories about the horrible things people do to eachother, because for days afterwards I picture the most awful scenes in my head.
6. I get very cranky when someone or something disturbs my sleep. Especially barking dogs. Or inconsiderate neighbours with loud music. But mostly barking dogs. Don't get me wrong: I like dogs. They just shouldn't bark.
7. I am the queen of the todo-lists. I have a gazillion things I want to do, aside from the never-ending tasks of everyday life, and I often feel out of control. So I make lists. Creative todo-lists, household-todo-lists, diet-todo-lists, chores-todo-lists, administrative-todo-lists and so on. I sometimes feel I spend more time trying to come up with the perfect synoptic list than I do actually carrying out all the things that are on the lists.... Procrastination is one of my flaws. I only jump into action at the very last moment. I need stress to get things done.

And now my favorite part: 15 bloggers that I find very inspiring (in no particular order):

1.  Sharon Tomlinson from All Norah's Art. Norah's blog is a wealth of information. When I first discovered her, years ago, I spent hours just looking through all her previous posts and getting the most brilliant ideas.
2. I wrote this for you: a blog with the most beautiful writing. I don't even know whether it is a man or a woman who writes this, but it often gives me shivers reading it. 
3. Jane Davies from Collage Journeys: I only discovered her blog recently, but she is so generous with sharing all kinds of techniques, that I became a follower right away.
4. Empty Easel: I'm not sure I can call this a blog, it's an online art magazine that is chock-ful of information. Really. I have spent hours on there and still didn't read even half of what's on there.
5. Kristen from Art Play Today: another artist who is really generous with sharing her knowledge. I love her art.
6. Dina Wakley from Ponderings: I had come across her name a few times since I started blogging, but it's only recently that I took a good look at her site and became an enthusiastic follower. Inspiration galore!
7. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer: she's one of the teachers of 21 secrets and I loved her workshop (I still didn't get to do all the workshops there). On her blog she recently put up a button with all her tutorials. Very informative!
8. Julie from On the Dot Creations: If you want to grow a small (online) business from your art then you don't want to miss this blog. There is so much information and tips on there, I think I'll need a few weeks just to get through it all. Very useful when you sell on Etsy!
9. SuziBlu: I think Suzi doesn't need an introduction. Most of you probably know her. She was one of the first artists I discovered online, through her YouTube videos. Also the very first online workshop I did was with her. She taught me a lot and has been a great inspiration all over.
10. ProBlogger: full of information and interesting ideas about blogging.
11. An'Angelia Thompson from Angelia's Art journals: I love her intuitive art and she is very generous with sharing her ideas and how-to's. Check it out!
12. Giggles from Happy Tiler: in between pictures of her art, she shares pearls of wisdom about everyday life. I love reading her posts!
13. Michelle Allen from Close2myart: Michelle's art is whimsical, fun and unique. She often shares in progress pics of her art, and there are some cool tutorials too. Her journalpages are awesome. She started a new blog in February, and I haven't been able to find a link to the old one. Which is a shame, because there was so much eye-candy on there...
14. Artodyssey: almost daily updates with pictures from different artists. I have found so many great artists there already. It's always exciting to find a new favorite one.
15.  And last but certainly not least: Christy Sobolewski from Gulfsprite: Christy in another artist who very generously shares all her tips and tricks with her readers. She's also a teacher on Art Geeks.

I would've liked to nominate everyone I'm following but I had to make a choice. I hope you take the time to check out these links. Take my word for it: they're worth it!

I finally finished all my miniature paintings. They had been waiting since forever to get the sides done. Now that's out of the way I can put some varnish on them tomorrow, and then I can scratch it off my creative todo-list ;-) Yesss!
No picture though, because it's nighttime here and I can't make a decent picture with or without flash. That'll be for next time.

Bye for now! Thanks for stopping by!