Creating Success Around the World- Interview and Blog Hop

The worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe.

Every Wednesday our hosts on each continent will introduce you to someone new whose creativity is inspiring! Come take this worldwide tour with us!

You can visit each host below and read about a featured creative person on each continent! All interviews are posted simultaneously around the world, resulting in one big crafting party. And then, add your blog to the Blog Hop party below. You could be featured in the next Around the World Interview! Fame. Notoriety. Pure Awesomeness! It’s all in the touch of a keyboard button…

Our Guest this week is from Tennessee, USA

Today we are welcoming Hollie from The Seven Year Cottage.  Hollie is an amazing cook, baker, and crafter who has a beautiful website that you just can’t miss.  Her creations in the kitchen are just wonderful and we are thrilled to have her here.
And she is arriving just in time to see our freshly decorated Green Room! Personally, I had just wanted a few sprigs of holly and maybe a small Christmas tree in the corner, but my buddy Tom Selleck and his mustache had other ideas. Seems he feels that decorating for Christmas is an “all or nothing” kind of thing. He and his friends, William Shatner and Brad Pitt have been busy all week getting the place all spruced up for the holidays.
Of course, we all had to pile into Brad’s hummer and go out to the North Georgia mountains to find a live tree. I’m all for holiday spirit and everything, but driving two hours each way in a hummer with the three guys, the ‘stache, Brads collection of children, and assorted members of Bill’s Trekkie fan club didn’t make it the most pleasant trip. I tired quickly of having to interpret Klingon and I’m still finding hard candy stuck in my hair. Not to mention that Brad’s youngest had a fear of spock ears. A big fat screaming fear of them. Sigh.
Being manly-men and all, they had to choose the largest tree they could find. We had to cut off major limbs to get it in the door, and the poor tree is now looking a bit sparse as it sits in the corner, nearly doubled over as it scrapes the ceiling. And there is sap everywhere. And did I mention the bugs?
Apparently there was a praying mantis nest somewhere in the tree and now suddenly we have a whole room full of baby praying mantises. Thousands of them.

Everywhere.

Which panicked Brad’s kids as they all seem to have a screaming fear of praying mantises. And unfortunately so do the Trekkie fan club members who have all thrown down their phasers and run for the doors. I have to admit it is a little unnerving to walk through the room while a billion little mantis heads turn and eyeball you.

As for Tom, well it seems he has had a mustache emergency resulting from the over abundance of sap in the room.  He tried to comb it out and took out half the hair on one side.  The room went silent as everyone stood there staring at the missing ‘stache.

And then Bill went to get a sharpie.

Hmm…I think now is a good time to disappear into my bug-free office to interview Hollie.

Suzy: So, tell me a little about yourself, your family, your other hobbies…
Hollie: I’m a small-town, southern gal with the drawl to prove it. I’ve been married to my husband for sixteen years. We have two beautiful children, ages 13 and 10.
Hollie:  I like to eat, especially sweets, so experimenting in the kitchen is tops on my hobby list. I also enjoy playing around behind a camera lens, and though time rarely permits, I adore heirloom sewing for babies and children.
 
Suzy: When and why did you start blogging, and where would you like your blogging to lead?
Hollie: I began blogging nearly a year ago as a way to unleash some creative energy.  Also, in real life, I’ve come across very few people over the years who shared similar hobbies or interests, so the determination set in to connect with at least one person out there like me.  My expectations were quickly exceeded upon discovering an entire community of women like me… women with a genuine love for working with their hands to serve those around them!
 
Suzy: Can you tell us a few things that most folks don’t know about you?
Hollie:  I’m slightly awkward, painfully shy, melodramatic, overly sensitive, and messy beyond all comprehension.
 
Suzy: Can you give any new bloggers out there some pointers that you might have learned along the way?
Hollie:  Comparing yourself to other, more recognized bloggers will only leave you feeling discouraged. Your voice and story are unique for a reason, so be sure to write about your passions. When you do, you’ll never have to reach for topics to discuss and those who follow along will undoubtedly recognize the sincerity of your words.

Suzy:  Since I’m also kinda a sitcom blog, my buddy Tom wants to know if you have a favorite movie star. Other than him of course.
Hollie:  As a young girl growing up in the ’80’s, I fell hard for Mr. Thomas Magnum and never really got over my crush.  Actually, I’ve seen very few movies in the past thirteen years that weren’t a collaboration between Disney and Pixar. So if Buzz or Woody count, then I’m a pretty big fan.
 
Suzy:  This crafty blog community is full of wonderful folks. Can you tell me what blogs inspire you?
Hollie:  Choosing from so many wonderful forums is an impossible task for someone like me. Having acquired the indecision gene, a simple grocery store run can leave me stranded in the personal care aisle for hours deliberating between honey blossom and rainforest flowers as possible fragrances for my often unruly mane. You can see my dilemma, right?
 
Suzy:  Can you tell us a little about what you are promoting right now?
Hollie: Thanks to my wonderful husband and blog designer, The Seven Year Cottage recently unveiled a new and improved blog layout… I am thrilled to now be accepting sponsorship!Suzy:  Hollie, thank you so much for taking the time to be interviewed!  Please take a few moments to check out Hollie’s site, The Seven Year Cottage.  I’m betting that you bookmark it for future ideas.  There is so much there to inspire.

Well, we’d best get back out there.  You see, there is also the light thing. Tom’s favorite movie is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, so he is emulating the Griswolds by putting thousands of lights all over the studio. It does look nice, but already we’ve had two helicopters and a small plane land in our backyard thinking it was the runway to the airport.

And the electric company sent two representatives out here to introduce themselves and give us a nice meat and cheese tray as we apparently are now their second biggest customer, beat only by the Fulton County Stadium. I’m thinking I might need a little wine to go along with that cheese. Or maybe several gallons when that power bill comes in…

Seriously.

Tom, you look ridiculous with that sharpie mustache.  Just saying.
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Want a chance to be interviewed on the Sitcom?  Want to meet lots of wonderful international crafters?  Then link up your blog to the international blog hop!

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