Another Lovely Liebster Blog Award

The lovely Rifka of Creative Confessions very kindly recently nominated me for a Liebster Blogger Award. Thank you very much, Rifka, I'm very flattered.

So as part of the Liebster Blogger Award I'm required to share 11 facts about myself and answer the 11 questions set to me. I will cheat a little and not nominate the 11 people, because I can't possibly choose between all the wonderful blogs I follow.

11 Facts About Me

1. The last song I listened to was Paloma Faith's cover of INXS's 'Never Tear Us Apart'.

2. I have a little backwards-C-shaped scar on my left palm which I've had since I was fourteen or fifteen. I cut my hand on a little piece of glass that I didn't see on my bedroom floor when tidying up.

3. I have another scar next to my navel from an argument with my Sister when I was sixteen. She lashed out with her nails, I bled. Thankfully only one of the cuts scarred.

4. I'm very shy. Always have been, probably always will be.

5. Tina Hobley, the actress from Holby City, was one of my regular customers at work. I assumes she's still a regular there. She's lovely in person.

6. I've read almost every Richard Laymon novel. I'm holding off on reading the last two or three because there'll never be any more of his books to read for the first time. (He passed away a few years ago).

7. When I was seventeen I spent six weeks carrying out work experience in two zoos away from home. I had to live on pot noodles and cup a soups for sustenance (six weeks in hotels wasn't cheap). It's been nine or ten years, but I still can't stomach those instant meals.

8. I've never been to Alton Towers.

9. I'm a big animal lover and would love a house and garden full of pets. Yep, I'm gonna be that crazy cat lady people run away from. Except it'll be big bunnies, not cats.

10. I'm currently reading Stephen King's Skeleton Crew short stories, and I've had it on the go for months. I think I've lost my reading mojo as I'm only about 40% through and struggling to get in to it- and anything else.

11. My favourite perfumes are the DKNY Delicious range. I currently own four of them. 

Rifka's Questions to Me

1. What is your style? How would you say you dress.

Wow, that's quite hard to put in to words. I'd say my style is quite unique. It's quirky and colourful; feminine with an edge; dress-heavy; a little bit kitsch; vintage-inspired; and not to be taken too seriously.

2. How often do you blog?

I try to post every day, but that's not always possible, so generally at least several times a week.

3. Who is your icon?

As in style icon? I'm really not one of those girls who worships a particular celebrity fashionista's every move, but I'm most often found admiring the outfits worn by Dita Von Teese and Zooey Deschanel. They're often seen wearing beautiful vintage or vintage-inspired dresses and skirts, and they always look so put together. I just love forties, fifties, and sixties looks. Would you judge me if I added the old cliche and said my fictional icon is Carrie Bradshaw?

4. Biggest pet peeves?

I hate noisy eaters; rude people; customers who talk on their mobile phones at tills and still expect service; parents who don't control their kids in shops; the phrase "amazeballs"; being ignored; people who talk over me when I speak; reading Facebook statuses etc that have no basic grammar, punctuation or spelling; bullies; fat haters ... 

I swear I'm not a horrible, miserable person!

5. If you could travel anywhere... who would you take?

I'm currently having major New York withdrawal symptoms, so I would pack my suitcase and get myself on the next flight there. I'd want to take my best friend because she's never been, and I can't wait to see her experience the city for the first time- plus we'd have a lot of fun holidaying together.

6. When it comes to food- safe or adventurous?

Safe. I'm quite the fussy eater, and I have to be careful due to my intolerances to certain foods.

7. How do you take photos for your blog?

I take all my own photographs myself on my little Canon digital camera. It's just a run of the mill compact camera; it's certainly not the best or most professionally little gadget out there. For photos of my outfits I set the timer. I occasionally use my ipod for photos, too.

8. Tribal or animal print?

I like both, but animal print, probably.

9. What captures your eye when you're shopping- colour, cut, or embellishments?

I'm drawn to colour and little details like patterns, texture, motifs, and embellishments more than anything else. I usually notice the cut and style of the garment last.

10. If given the chance would you go back to the past?

I might consider turning time back ten or twelve years to live the last decade or so a little differently. I've wasted my twenties, and although I don't wallow on that, I do wonder how differently my life could have been if I'd found direction and more confidence in myself in my late teens. 

If I could go back to another era, I'd choose to experience the fifties for the music, and style. Can you imagine dressing in those fabulous swing dresses all the time?! Heaven.

11. Where do you find the inspiration for your blog and your overall dressing?

For my blog, many of the ideas just come to me organically. Ideas just randomly pop in to my head. I may use a product I want to write about, or have some tips to share. Sometimes I get ideas from other blogger's posts, or from a feature in a magazine, and I do my own interpretation, but generally, I just think up ideas when I least expect to.

For my overall dressing, again it often just happens. I'm often drawn to particular pieces or colours when dressing or shopping and give them a try together. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but I never know unless I experiment with a look. I get inspiration from other blogger's outfits and posts. I get inspiration from magazines, media, TV shows and films, out on the street, friends and family, from displays in shops, seeing particular colour schemes together on anything at all, ... but mostly I just go with whatever my eyes are drawn to.