Some blog fun...

734658_10151330095201969_1854924589_n{Me in the snow last weekend, it was pretty deep}

I haven't done a blog award/tag post in a looooong time... (just over 2 years to be exact) and I decided that as I managed to get two in the past week, now was the time to pass them on. I'm going to try not to repeat myself from my previous facts, so if you want to read more about me, you can see previous random facts here.

First up is the My Favourite Things of 2012 tag from the lovely Belen, who I have been blog friends with for what feels like forever. You should head over and say hi!!

So, here goes... Favourite Makeup - My favourite makeup is actually two things, the new They're Real  mascara from Benefit (though is it that new now?). It's a bit pricey but it is worth it, I've tried a lot of mascaras and this is honestly the best I've ever used. My second new favourite is the Rimmel Just Bitten Lipstain, specifically in Crush. It looks so pretty and lasts ages. I totally blame Ashley for this, I had to get one after seeing her video on it.

Favourite Book - Hmm, I'm trying to think if I read anything new. I started Life of Pi in December, and I'm enjoying that so far but I mostly spent 2012 rereading my old favourites, pretty much every book series by David Eddings and also the 'In Death' series by J.D. Robb.

Favourite Album - I suck at picking one favourite, so instead my top 3 albums of last year Magic Hour by the Scissor Sisters (my all time fave band ever) In our Heads by Hot Chip (My all time 2nd fave) Haunted Man by Bat for Lashes. 2012 was a good year for music.

One thing that I'm grateful for - The people that I love. 2012 was a very weird year... and so many people were supportive of me and there when I needed them. I have a lot of amazing people in my life and I will forever be blown away and so grateful for them.

Greatest Challenge - Accepting myself. 2012 really was a good year to pick the word 'considerate' and I learnt that although you may be who you are because of the people around you -  you are also who you are in-spite of them and that's pretty awesome.

What are you looking forward to in 2013? - Oh gosh, what am I not looking forward to! 2013 is exciting, birthday's, hen parties, holiday's, crochet projects... but mostly, I can't wait for the Summer and to take lots of photos. Oh also, I should have my e-course ready sometime this year, I finally realised what it is I actually want it to be, so now I just need to crack on with it. Woop! This year should be good.

So, for My Favourite Things of 2012, I tag... Antonella, Clio, Jenny and Michelle. (Go say hi!)

liebster

Next up is the Liebster blog award which I received from Nancy at Little Pink Cakes who lives in Berlin.

"Liebster" is German for something like "dearest" or "favourite" and the award aims to feature small, great blogs and help them to be discovered by more people. In fact, it is no "real" award. If you receive it, you can accept it and then pass it on - a simple concept.  Means, there is no competition or application or jury or any such things.

So here are the few rules of the award:

When you receive the award, you post 11 ran­dom facts about your­self and ans­wer 11 ques­ti­ons from the person who nomi­na­ted you:

  • pass the award onto at least 3–5 other blogs and ask them 11 ques­ti­ons. Make sure you tell them you nomi­na­ted them!
  • you are not allo­wed to nomi­nate the blog who nomi­na­ted you...

11 Facts about Me

1. I absolutely love making crochet gifts, I'm currently making an awesome blanket. 2. I keep saying that I'll get a dog before I'm 30, but 30 is really creeping up now... 3. I love pickled food, pickled chilli is my new and current favourite. 4. I have a small scar on my forehead where I fell over as a toddler. 5. I know 5 people who have got engaged in the last 2 months, honestly, I'm a little freaked out by it. 6. I'm totally addicted to games on my phone and tablet. Current favourites are Temple Run 2 and Monsters Ate My Condo... they're so fun! 7. I love running. That feeling of being 'in the zone' is amazing. 8. I am always excited about something. There is so much to look forward to. 9. I still haven't found the perfect weekday breakfast... 10. I am a total sucker for a happy ending. 11. I always listen to music at work.

My answers to 11 questions...

1. Where are you right now?

At work... oops. I write most of my blog spots in my lunch and then schedule them for the next day though, so its fine.

2. If you could beam yourself, where would you go in exactly this moment?

To the beach. Always.

3. What is the thing you never forget to take with you? Except your keys. And except your mobile. And except your camera. :)
My purse. haha, perhaps that should be on the except list too. Actually though I always have my USB stick of photos with me and my passport.

4. Take the book you are reading at the moment and quote the third sentence from page 42. "You won't tell?" Jo to Laurie in Little Women. I always have this book on my phone with me for emergencies, I love it.

5. Is there a film you could watch over and over again? Which one? I watch so many over and over, but the one would be The Incredibles. I just love it.

6. How does your usual Sunday look like? A little lay in, bacon and eggs for breakfast, cleaning, doing the washing, going for a nice walk, lots of nice food, I ring my parents and then we usually watch a film before bed.

7. How many pairs of shoes do you have?

Not as many as I used too haha, which is amazing. Perhaps 12 including boots and wellies.

8. Do you have any peculiar personal rituals (such as always hanging your washed socks in pairs)? Umm, I'm not sure to be honest

9. If an alien asked you which place to visit on earth what would you recommend? Ohhh tough... everywhere! That's where I'd want to go... how could you decide??

10.What's your favourite quote? "No one needs to tell you you're in love, you just know it, through and through." (yes, its from the Matrix, I don't care, I love it)

11. Popcorn salted or sweet? Salted! I love salt, it's a problem haha. Actually for years I thought I hated popcorn as I didn't realise there was another flavour other than sweet, but now I love it and always get a big box at the cinema, yum!

.

So I give the Leibster blog award to... Jasmine, DawnFiona and Natalie. (More amazing bloggers, check them out!)

And my questions are... (I've borrowed a couple from Nancy as I like them)

1. If you could play any instrument, what would it be? 2. If you could beam yourself, where would you go in exactly this moment? 3. What is the thing you never forget to take with you? Except your keys. And except your mobile. And except your camera. :) 4. What is your favourite kind of cake? 5. Is there a film you could watch over and over again? Which one? 6. What word describes you best? 7. How many pairs of shoes do you have? 8. What is your favourite Pixar film? 9. If an alien asked you which place to visit on earth what would you recommend? 10.What's your favourite quote? 11. What really makes you laugh?

Ta da! That was a bit of fun for a Friday wasn't it. Have a great weekend!

p.s. Michelle from Mizhenka is giving away a 35mm Juice Box Camera - how fun!

Film vs digital quiz...

When I posted some of the photos that I took in Paris with my Yashica Samurai and the portra film, a few commenters were surprised by the quality of the photos that came from the SLR and professional film... so I thought I would have a little fun with you and put together a little quiz to see if people could really see the difference from quality film and digital photos..

So here goes, each set of photos has a digital photo Thomas and a film photo by Me from Paris but which side is the film and which side is the digital?

Set 1 - The Sacre Couer

Set 2 - Seine State along the river

Set 3 - Elephant outside the Musee D'Orsay

Set 4 - Arc de Triomphe detail 

 Set 5 - Inside the entrance of the Moulin Rouge.

If you click on the images it should show them bigger for more detail.

I would love to see your answers in the comments and I'm really intrigued to see how people will do, a couple of these look quite tough to me...

I'll post the answers next week, I want to try and get as many people to try this as possible so feel free to share the link with your friends :) and

good luck!!

p.s. Out of all our photos, these were the most similar that we took - 5 sets out of over 1500 photos. I still love seeing our photos next to each other, as even though they are the same subject they are still so different. (apart from maybe the elephant one lol. I'm not even sure how that happened haha)