Before I went to Australia I was lucky enough to get two You Make My Day awards. The first was from the lovely Cally, who's been mentioned here several times in the past. The second was from Australian artist, Feed The Dog (check out her gorgeous cushions on Etsy).

Thank you both, I appreciate it and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond.

"You make my day-Award" works like this:
1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day.
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3. Display the "You Make my Day Award" logo. (Optional)
4. Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

So I now need to pass on the favour and give them out to five other people. Not all of these are blogs but they are all sites that I regularly visit and get excited about.

You Make My Day Awards

I've written about Suzi Blu before and I'm still a big fan. Her videos make me laugh but they also inspire me to get off my butt and into the studio. I admire her sense of fun, her utter passion about art and creativity and the way she just gets on and does things.

I love Elsa Mora's quirky style. Elsa is a prolific and dedicated blogger and I admire the commitment and honesty she brings to writing about both her art and her life.

Eliza from Back Yard is to blame for getting me into the 101 Things meme and for that she certainly deserves an award! She's been quite unwell lately but before appendicitis struck (ow, get better soon Eliza), she was blogging up a storm about her creative process.

Goblins are traditionally the low level bad guys in role playing and video games - just there to be killed for points. Goblins is a wonderful web comic that turns that convention on its head and explores life from their point of view. I once had a dream where I was Queen Of The Goblins, so it makes me happy to see my little guys getting the love they deserve. Funny, poignant, hard hitting and beautifully drawn and written, this comic continually amazes me with its quality. Although it's far from daily, it always makes my day when a new episode appears and it's well worth your time to start at the beginning of the archives and catch up with the story so far.

If you're a knitter, crocheter or otherwise interested in fibre arts and you haven't signed up for Ravelry yet, you absolutely must. I love it there and spend far too much time on the forums when I should be in my studio (bad, naughty artist!)

So there you go, 5 great places to check out on this lovely Sunday afternoon. I'm suitably inspired: I'm going upstairs to my studio to get cracking with some work - or at least some tidying!

Wow, Dan at Empty Easel has included this blog in his 8 Must-read Art Blogs for 2008.

I'm hugely and immensely flattered to have been selected, especially since I'm in such illustrious company (please do head over to the link and check out the other blogs mentioned, they're all worth a look).

Here's what Dan wrote about me:

"Up all Night Again - This elegantly designed blog is authored by Kirsty Hall, an artist and art curator from the UK. Not only will you find frequent updates about her life and art but also some excellent articles for artists just starting out online."

OK, I'm blushing now...

Of course, I am not responsible for the elegant design - the credit for that goes to my talented web designer, Steve Taylor. If you're in the market for an art website, he does fantastic work and is very easy to work with: I highly recommend him. In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that Steve is a personal friend whom I've known for many years but he is also superb at what he does.

.......

Dan also encourages us all to make our own lists of Must Read Art Blogs, so here are mine. Of course, there are loads of other wonderful art blogs that I read as well but these 8 very different blogs are the ones that I absolutely wouldn't be without. My criteria: blogs that are updated on a regular basis and inspire me either visually, intellectually or preferably both.

My 8 Must Read Art Blogs for 2008

Dear Ada is one of my daily reads, she always has links to great artists and she's genuinely enthusiastic and insightful about the art she promotes. Since we seem to have quite similar tastes, the artists I link to on this blog are often ones I've seen first on her blog (so thanks for that, Ada!).

Cally Creates - I know that Cally thinks she hasn't been a very good blogger recently because she's been so ill but she's still one of my absolute favourite art reads. I love her photos and the way she writes about her own and other people's art is always real, honest and engaging.

Suzi Blu - I just love her funny, quirky videos on life, art and journalling: I find her 'just do it' attitude very refreshing and inspirational.

Making A Mark - I'm with Dan on this one, Katherine Tyrrell is a definite must-read for the depth of her knowledge and her considered articles on the art world and her own and other artists' work. Sit down with a cup of tea and a biscuit and enjoy her posts, which are often longer than the average blogger but well worth your time.

ArtBizBlog - Alyson Stanfield writes and podcasts about all aspects of the business side of art. I know many of us groan when we hear the words 'business' but Alyson consistently makes it seem both interesting and achievable.

Gaping Void is a consistently high quality blog from successful cartoonist, Hugh MacLeod. He's made a career out of drawing cartoons on the back of business cards but I like his writing too. His posts always makes me think and I like that he's coming at the world of art from such a different direction to me.

Ursula Vernon never fails to make me laugh. I've been following her blog on Livejournal for several years now and it's great to see her becoming more successful with every passing year. As talented a writer as she is in visual art, she makes very different art to me but I love her stuff because it's funny, well done and she's never embarrassed by the fact that her muse drives her to paint peculiar vegetables, cute but perplexed animals and wombats.

Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien - This is in French and sadly I don't speak more than a couple of words but it's never marred my enjoyment of this gloriously illustrated blog.

So that's my 8, anyone else fancy posting their lists? If you do, then Dan would like to hear from you.