Liebster Award Acceptance and Slight Modification

I was nominated for the Liebster Award by D7ana of A Philly Collector of Playscale Dolls.  

The rules of acceptance are as follows:

• Post the award on your blog. 
• Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.  Thank you D7Ana.  I appreciate the nomination.  (See the link to her blog above.)
• Write 11 random facts about yourself.

1.  I have worn glasses since 3rd grade due to a severe astigmatism.  I own several pairs, but actively wear four for different occasions/reasons.  

Computer glasses for near vision only

The glasses in the second photo are are progressive lenses for watching TV in bed and falling asleep (top); outside/inside away from home glasses (middle) and sunglasses (bottom).  The middle and bottom pairs share the same frame style.

2.  I was an honor graduate and made the dean's list in college.

Me at 17, in a head shot inserted under the graduation cap graphics in my memory book

3.  I have worked in the same profession for the past 43 years.  

4.  Thirty-three (33) of the 43 years in the same profession have been enjoyed from the comforts of my home offices.  The current home office also serves as my doll room.

The back of  my small work table is filled with dolls.  Dolls are also on my left, right, and behind me.

5.  I cannot type for an extended period on a flat keyboard.

A one-of-a-kind church doll and framed history; this one was made for my mother for Mother's Day 2014

6.  I make church dolls.  Each one is a handmade, one of a kind.

7.  The first 11 church dolls made were gifts for special people.  I began selling the dolls in 2014.  

8.  This is my second Liebster Award.  

9.  I am one of five children and the older of the two girls born to my parents.  

10.  I love Dreyer's Slow Churned French Silk ice cream, eaten from a tea cup immediately after arriving home with the purchase because the ice cream has softened and I am able to scoop some from the top.  Once it has hardened in the freezer, I can take it or leave it, but there's nothing like eating the almost melted consistency.  Yum!

11.  I dress casually 99.9% of the time.  

The rules continued:

• Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and who have less than 200 followers.  I will only nominate five*.  They are:  1) Dark Room Dolls; 2) Brenova's Blog; 3) Clicking Dolls; 4) Smoking Needles; and  5) Best to Keep It Simple.
• Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 11 questions. 

My questions and answers from D7ana are:  

1. How did you become a blogger? I have always loved to write.  Creating a blog was inspired by my desire to promote my published works. 
2. What was your favorite subject in school and why?  English was my favorite school subject.  I love words, particularly the English language. 
3. You can be any doll you want, brought to life. Which doll are you and why?  This is a great question.  Because I would like to be both beautiful and fierce (not taken for granted because of my exterior appearance) my choice is Ajuma by Paul Pham.
4. What is the coolest story ever connected to your blog?  I am not sure if this post would be considered "cool," but I could almost experience Oprah's surprise as she received a portrait doll from Marie Osmond on the November 9, 2007, Oprah Show.  I published the post some 2-1/2 years after the show aired after stumbling upon the images I captured while watching the 2007 show.  Another post that could possibly be placed in the “cool” category is the final one written about the process of using dark T-shirt transfer paper to transform the face of Big Beautiful Doll Dasia into the likeness of the late Maya Angelou. 
5. What is your all time favorite movie? The 1959 release of Imitation of Life remains my favorite movie.
6. What do you do when you are not blogging?  When not blogging, I work a full-time job that requires listening to sound files while reading associated text. These are individual audits which are scored for accuracy with feedback offered to the editors.  I enjoy visits from my grandsons.  Even if I am not in the same room with them, just their presence and doing things for them brings me joy.  In my solitude I read books on my Kindle and/or iPad.  I watch DVR’d recordings of previously televised shows I have missed.  I enjoy networking with fellow collectors.  Of late, my mother has been recuperating at my home from two back-to-back hospital admissions.  This has kept me quite busy and cooking more than I desire. 
7. What are your Grail dolls/action figures?  An authentic Leo Moss doll remains my sole Holy Grail doll.
8. What three countries or cities would you like to visit?  My sister has lived in Roanoke, Virginia for two decades and unless she comes home (which she rarely does), I am unable to see her in the flesh.  I no longer take extended trips anywhere, so my chances of going to VA or anywhere else anytime soon are slim to none.  Therefore, I won't bother naming two other cities or countries.   
9. Is there a project you dream of accomplishing?  I would love to have the free time to complete another book that is not necessarily doll related that will be well supported and read by the masses.  I would also like to overcome my paralyzing fear of flight and other forms of long-distance travel.  This remains a work in progress.
10. What are your favorite foods?  Pastries are my favorite foods but I do not indulge much.  Every now and then I will give in to the craving for an early morning cinnamon roll or blueberry doughnut.  When made with the right combination of cinnamon and nutmeg I love tea cakes.  Cuisine-wise, I love guacamole and most non-spicy Mexican foods.
11. Any tips you would give future bloggers?   Tips to future bloggers include:  write about your passion or about anything in which you are well versed.  Make your blog both entertaining and informative.  Always consider your audience and create ways to keep readers captivated; be concise; always proofread, do not publish until you have checked for spelling and grammar errors (Blogspot has a built-in spellcheck feature), add at least one or two quality images to each post that are related to the subject, and preview each post prior to publishing. 

I would like for the five bloggers I nominated to answer the same questions I was asked by D7ana.  *If for any reason any of my nominees have been nominated for this award by someone else recently, please do not feel obligated to follow through.  

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Liebster Blog Award Nominee

April, author of Of Dolls, has nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award.

I am to answer April's questions, nominate 11 other bloggers for the Liebster Blog Award, notify them of their nominations, and ask them the same set of questions or develop my own.  I added the above image on my own.  (A link to a website that explains the Liebster Blog Award is provided at the end of this post.)

My Questions From April

1. Which doll in your collection have you owned the longest?  My childhood Barbies are the oldest dolls in my collection.  

2. Do you have a specific style/type of doll that you enjoy collecting most?  I collect vintage-to-modern black dolls.  There is not one specific black-doll category that I enjoy the most, but the bulk of my current doll purchases are playscale dolls because of their smaller size and their ease of redressing, if that is desired.  I collect for historical purposes as well as for my own personal enjoyment (doll play).

3. If you could have any doll ever made, cost not an option, what would it be?  If cost were not an option, I would purchase a doll made by early nineteenth century doll maker, Leo Moss, who made dolls in the likeness of family and friends and on commission from members of his Macon, Georgia community.  To own an authentic doll that the hands of Leo Moss created would be the ultimate doll for me. 

4. What is your favorite doll or toy that you have ever had?  As a child, I owned Thumbelina by Ideal.  Based on my memory, she was my favorite childhood doll because she felt and looked like a real baby.  Her mechanical "wiggle like a baby" movement provided just enough realism for me to imagine that I was actually caring for a real baby.  

5. Your favorite TV show (doesn't have to be currently on)?  Admittedly, I am a Gladiator.  Weekly, I either watch Scandal live or a recording. 

6. What are your hobbies, outside of dolls?  I love to read and write.

7. Where would you love to visit for your next vacation?  My home is my favorite retreat, but leaving it temporarily for a 24/7 spa-like atmosphere where I am totally pampered from head to toe would be wonderful.

8. Do you speak any languages besides English?  No.

9. What is your favorite food?  Mexican.

10. Who would you want to play you in a movie about you?  Sanaa Lathan.

11. Who is your favorite author?  Because of her wisdom, my favorite author is Maya Angelou. 

My Nominees in Alphabetical Order Are:
 1. A Philly Collector of Playscale Dolls and Action Figures
 2. AtelierniSHASHA
 3. Chynadoll Creations
 4. ??????
 5. Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures
 6. Hey It's Muff
 7. Little Bitty Damn Houze!
 8. Male Doll World
 9. Roxanne's Dolls
10. Sipping From the Source
11. Son of Ellis

Questions for My Nominees
 1. What prompted you to begin blogging?
 2. When do you usually write your blogs?
 3.  What inspires or otherwise motivates you to publish a blog?
 4.  What is your favorite pastime?
 5. If your favorite pastime involves collecting dolls, answer this question and the next two (otherwise skip to question 8): What dolls do you collect?
 6.  How long have you been collecting and what prompted you to begin?
 7.  Are your dolls confined to one room or are they in more than one room in your home?
 8. If questions 5-7 do not apply to you, but you are a former collector, why do you no longer collect?
 9. What was the last movie you saw either in a theater or on DVD?
10. What was the last book you read?
11. If you could live anywhere other than your current location, where would it be?

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For those interested, I found an explanation of the Liebster Blog Award and several variations of its rules here.

Thank you again, April, for nominating my blog.  Thank you in advance to the nominees for participating.

♥
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