Interview a Blogger, Ellie Bee

Hello Again!!

Today's blogger is Ellie! I was chatting away with her the other day about her Lemon poppy seed scones - OMG they look so damn good! I also really like how she incorporates little people into her photos it's very original!! So, let's find out a little more about Ellie!

1. Tell us something about yourself and your blog?

Well, my name's Ellie and I'm 24 years old. I live in Leicester with my manfriend Peter (I call him that because he's 31 so it seems weird calling him my 'boyfriend'), and our two lovely guinea pigs. I work at one of the universities in the city as an administrator. I like to blog in my spare time, mostly baking, but I've got a whole plan for 2016 that will hopefully take me in some interesting directions.

2. How did you get into blogging? Did someone else inspire you?

I've had several blogs before, starting with a Tumblr page, but I didn't manage to stick with them. I'm determined to make this one work because I've found some many new friends through blogging. I mostly started this time because I was fed up of having recipes on three different bits of paper. I wanted somewhere solid to keep them. I've recently started using little Preiser/Noch figures in my photography, which was inspired by artists such as Joe Shymanski (he does some amazing work with lego minifigures) and Tatsuya Tanaka. I do things a bit differently though because I put the figures into my world, rather than creating a world for the figures to live in. I want it to feel like they're invading my baking space and I'm batting them away in an affectionate way!

3. What does blogging mean to you and why?

To me it's a very social thing. There's no point writing and posting things if you can't open a discussion about what you've done. I like to write posts that require some comment, such as writing about happiness and feminism. From blogging I've met some amazing like minded people and that's really cool.

4. I personally have almost stopped blogging so, What keeps you motivated?

The desire to improve myself and my skills. I have a very boring job so I like to plan my blog on my lunch break because it keeps me going through the day. It's so much more than just baking and taking pictures; it gives me something to think about during boring days!

5. Name some (one,two or three) of your favourite bloggers and tell us why they’re your favourite?

Going to give a shout out to my local Midlands ladies here:

Discovering Charlotte - the place to go for charity shop hauls and slimming world chat. She tells it how it is and is genuinely really caring and lovely!

Hannah Bakes Things - all the cake please, plus gin and a venture into Veganuary. One of the nicest people ever!

Sherry Scribbles - I recently met Sherry at a blogging meet up and she was so lovely and beautiful. I've really enjoyed reading her blog and it's fast become one of my favourites.

6. What do you do when you’re not blogging?

I like to read non-fiction books. I can't get on with fiction. You don't get much time of Earth and I want to know what happened. I read a lot of science and nature books, as well as watching a lot of David Attenborough programmes (well he is from my city after all). I have guinea pigs so I spend a lot of time playing with them, and there's the local park to go and play in :)

7. What are you most proud of when it comes to your blog?

I think just the fact that I've managed to set it up despite working 9-5. It's really hard to start something when you feel like you're working all the time, so I'm proud of that. Hopefully I'll have more to be proud of when it gets to my blogging 1 year anniversary.

8. Everyone has a favourite and a least favourite post, what are yours?

Oh gosh, favourite is probably the Lemon and Poppy Seed Scones post http://elliebee.co.uk/?p=577 I did recently because it just looks nice. The picture turned out how I wanted to and it managed to get across all the points I wanted to.

Least favourite is probably Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats http://elliebee.co.uk/?p=359 my guinea pig had just died and I didn't feel like taking a good picture so I ended up just using one from my phone.

9. As I’m mainly a beauty blogger I feel like I have to ask at least one beauty question so: If you could only use one kind of beauty product what would it be and why?

I don't know if this counts as beauty but I couldn't live without Ultrabland from Lush. It's so useful, from cleaning off make up to putting on burns (I burn myself on the oven a lot, occupational hazard!)

10. What would you say to someone who aspires to become a blogger?

Do it because you love it, not because you want to make a living from it. Simple as that :)