Blogs I love: summer edition

Today is the first day of summer! And I say this, knowing that outside the temperature is barely rising above the 15 degrees and there's a lot of rain coming my way sometime today. Yes. We call this a "Dutch summer". It's as good as it's going to get.

So why not stay indoors and read up on some awesome blogs?!


- I have posted about her before, but Andy is such a rockstar when it comes to craft-blogging, it bares repeating. Over at Untangling Knots, she has started her new mini-series, "Summer of the Blog"! I'm a big fan of her mini-series, as they are very informative and well-written. This one focuses on the art of craft-blogging, and will contain a ton of advice as well as discussion on what makes a good craft-blog.




- For a splash of colour in your day-to-day life, which everyone would need if the summer will be this grey and dull, hop on over to Creature Comforts for her Color Inspiration Daily! Graphic designs, prints, pictures, these posts are bound to make you happy. I know they make me happy!

- The same thing goes for the entire blog Oh the Lovely Things. The name says it all really. This is one heck of a lovely blog full of colour-inspiration, gorgeous prints, lots of DIY-goodness...

- Crea in the City is a lovely blog for many reasons. 1: She's Dutch. Yay! 2: She makes adorable things. Yay! 3: She has the cutest dog ever who doesn't mind being used as the occasional photo-prop. Yay! 4: I really enjoy reading her blog just for the cozy-factor. And we all know that when you're freezing in your optimistic pair of shorts or summer skirt, cozy is what you need. Lots of cozy.





What blogs do you love to read during the summer? I love to add more to the list!

Happy reading!

Blogs I'm enjoying: the food edition!

It's been a while, and since last time I made a Blogs I'm enjoying-post it only contained crafty blogs, it seems time to make a food-related one!

Just a Taste

(screenshot taken from justataste)

Just a Taste looks gorgeous, and so does the food! I am very partial to blogs looking crisp and clean so that all the attention can go to the actual content, and this one hits the spot with the bright green font on white background. The photography makes me hungry, the recipes want to make me run to the kitchen immediately. Lovely blog!

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Zoom Yummy

(screenshot taken from zoom yummy)

I read Zoom Yummy for the laughs. No really, I do. Love the blog, tasty recipes (I used her recipe for Tea cookies to make the chocolate concoctions in this post and I used her post on Mini apple pies as inspiration for my farewell treat on my last day at the bookshop), but most of all, I love the light-hearted, funny way Petra blogs, whether it is about food, photography or crochet (see, there's more reasons to like her!)!


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Honey & Jam

(screenshot taken from honey&jam)

Oh, food photography.. It's such an art, isn't it? Good food photography makes you want to plant your face in the computer screen to see if you can smell the food in front of you. Good food photography is difficult, and to get a good shot of your food you need to go through a lot of effort. Trust me, I tried, and failed, many times. And I still suck! But Hannah from Honey&Jam knows how to work her camera and her plate to get those pictures looking delicious. Aren't they pretty?! It totally makes up for the fact that she doesn't blog too often.

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I am Baker

(screenshot taken from I am baker)

Another one of those blogs where it all just comes together. Great blog design, great recipes, great photography, and a great blogger with a great sense of humour. Her recipes are mostly (if not all) of the sweet variety, and her cake and cookie decoration skills are absolutely enviable.

That's my list for this time! But I always love to see more blogs so if you are a food blogger, leave a comment! I love reading new blogs!

I received a blogging award!

How about that, huh? I come back from my holiday and find this in my inbox!


My first real award! Aww, thank you Tanya of My Grandmotherly Ways! Love your blog as well, so it's great to receive it from you! (which, however, does mean that I can't give it to your blog now. Booh.)

What's a blogging award without some rules, right? It's very simple.
- Thank the person who gave you this award.
- Include a link to their blog.
- Next, select 15 bloggers that you follow regularly or have recently discovered.
- Nominate those bloggers for the Versatile blogger-award.
- Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

First two points: check.

Now, I need to tell you lot 7 things about myself... And since there was no explanation, it's going to be the randomest of random lists.

1. I used to collect rubber ducks. I had about 50 of them at one point, even a fair few 'designer' ones that came with a fancy box and everything.
2. My favourite flavour of crisps is salt and pepper. Crushed black, if you really want to know.
3. When I was young, my go-to film for when I was sick was Aladdin. We used to have it on video tape and I watched it so often, the tape sort of faded and broke in places.
4. The BF is my first real BF and we're celebrating our 10th anniversary this year.
5. I had my ears pierced when I was a little girl, let the holes close up, and got them pierced again when I was 15. I got the second set pierced when I was 19. I still want at least one more set of holes.
6. I also still want a tattoo. Of what, I don't know. Where, I don't know. And if I'll ever do it... I don't know.
7. I have an enormous stack of half-used notebooks and college blocks lying around the house because I never use one up before I feel the need to buy a new one.

And last, but certainly not least, here are my nominees for the Versatile blogger-award, in no particular order. These are blogs that I enjoy, that I love to read or look at, that make me laugh, or simply love to see get more viewers! Because you all deserve it. Yeah, you do, you modest blogger you, you really do!

- Bunnies and Bettas
- Clicky Needles
- Squirrels Knitting Conquests
- Just-Do
- Cherry Heart
- Good Enough
- The Adventures of the Gingerbread Lady
- Stitch, Brinn, stitch!
- A Playful Day
- Do you mind if I knit
- According to Matt
- Wires and yarns
- Buttons and Beeswax
- Crochet with Cris
- Theonlynikki

Enjoy your blogging award, ladies and gents! (and just so you know, I felt like a right spambot sending out all those earburns!)

Blogs I'm enjoying right now

You probably know, judging by the long, long list of blogs in the sidebar, that I really enjoy reading blogs as well as writing them. I thought I'd give you guys a peek into what I've been reading lately!

LoveElycia



I'm absolutely smitten with this blog and this lovely lady! And that's partially because of her awesome, awesome hair. The other part of the reason is the fact that she writes great little posts about a number of topics and takes adorable pictures and videos. It's a cheerful, lovely blog!


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One Sheepish Girl



Another lovely blogging lady! Another blog that is all about gorgeous pictures, posts about what inspires her, and posts dedicated to blogging for confidence, an ongoing project about boosting self-esteem through her blog posts. And of course, the This & That posts that have inspired me to start my own series of This & That posts.

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A Playful Day



A Playful Day is a blog that I love for a completely different reason than the above: I love A Playful Day for her podcast! I am a big fan of podcasts, but I'm a difficult audience that wants to be able to do things while listening without missing a lot of your podcast. There are few podcasts that allow this, but the A Playful Day podcast hits that nail right on the head: it's lovely knitting talk, filled with nice anecdotes and reviews and recommendations of patterns that make me want to knit.. well, anything! Give it a listen. And, of course, read the blog too!

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Untangling Knots



Untangling Knots is written by yet another lovely lady with gorgeous hair. (I think that a generous part of this list may have spawned from some serious hair-envy.) Not only does Andi write great posts about her knitting projects and her forays into crochet, she has written several mini-series about the technical side of knitting, such as stretchy bind-offs and button holes. For someone who is not as apt a knitter as she would like to be, this mini-series taught me a lot!

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Goodknits



And last but not least, Goodknits! This young mom with 2 adorable kids talks life, knitting and crochet, other crafts and photography, and once again it is a gorgeous blog to look at.

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And that's my list for today! What blogs have you been enjoying lately? Let me know!