Liebster!

The Geeky Seamstress nominated me for a Liebster Award!

It seems to be one of those things of which the origins have been lost in the mists of Internet, but the general principle is that it’s a way of prompting bloggers you like to talk about themselves a bit, introducing one’s readers to other blogs they might not know about and generally spreading the love.

You answer five questions about yourself, nominate five blogs with <500 followers to be the next generation, and post five questions for them to answer. And on it goes.

The Questions

• Why/how did you choose the name of your blog?

It’s a Dungeons & Dragons joke. The Craft skill in D&D is the one you check against if you want your character to try and make something – from simple household items up to complicated magical McGuffins. One of its sub-skills is Craft (Alchemy), which is for making potions, explosives, that kind of thing. I picked it for the figurative usage of ‘alchemy’ – one of the things I love best about sewing is being able to turn a flat piece of fabric and a pile of notions into a 3D, wearable garment. It still feels a bit like magic sometimes.

• What is your go-to stress release?

At the moment? Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag multiplayer mode. Pirate-era murder tag, in remarkably addictive ten-minute bursts. Also the AC series has increasingly detailed attention to backgrounds and ambiance as they’ve gone on, and the character costumes in Black Flag are gorgeous.

• What inspires you?

Being in the shower or otherwise being out of reach of a piece of paper. (Without. Fail.) A good joke or witty line will get filed away for use on a future RP character. I’m a LARPer too, and a sucker for creative use of space in games – it doesn’t have to be just two teams fighting one another on flat ground – so interesting places will sometimes provoke the “You could script an amazing fight scene in here …” reaction.

Songs with a story to them, cool science facts, instrumental music that sounds like it should have something epic and cinematic happening alongside. Lego. No, really.

• What is your all-time favorite TV show?

I don’t own a TV these days and have never watched all that much of it, so, um. BBC quiz shows. Tennant-era Doctor Who. I adored Thunderbirds as a kid but went off it when my youngest brother went through that phase small children have of watching one episode of a thing 47 times in a row. Also men’s figure skating and the Eurovision Song Contest.

• You’re on a deserted island. What do you HAVE to have with you?

The boring/cynical answer is that I’m not going to last long without my contact lenses and a supply of saline. If we’re talking a metaphorical deserted island/remote Scottish holiday cottage sort of thing, then a stack of notebooks and something to write with will keep me occupied for a long time.

The Nominees

Now to nominate the next link in the chain. These are all relatively recent discoveries on my part:

The Fabric Alchemist, who’s done some amazing Assassin’s Creed costumes among many other things;

English Girl at Home, whose recent makes include a fox-shaped draught excluder and Star Trek mini skirt;

Lady Sewalot, who recently did an amazing Yvaine (Stardust) costume for her birthday;

Twirl Designs, whose motto is “Twirl-worthy clothing!” – words to live by;

and Squishy Lab, who has a chicken called T-Rex.

And the questions for them:

• Why/how did you choose the name of your blog?
• What do you like most about where you live?
• Is there a book/movie you read/watch again and again?
• How much space does your fabric stash take up?
• What’s your favourite colour?

Happy reading and happy blogging, all!

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