An Interview with Johnnie from Saved by Love Creations

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 Our guest this week is from Indiana, USA!

Today we are welcoming Johnnie from Saved by Love Creations.   Johnnie is traveling to us all the way from Indiana.  Since we are having such beautiful weather here, my buddy Tom Selleck, his mustache, and his friend, Brad Pitt, decided to meet her at the airport and take her on a grand tour of Atlanta.  It was a sweet idea, and I’m betting she’s having lots of fun, but unfortunately that left me with Brad’s kids to babysit.

You see, Brad never goes anywhere without them.  But when presented with the opportunity of spending a few hours in the sunshine touring the city with Johnnie, Brad flashed his baby-blues at me and asked if I would watch the kids.  I don’t remember what happened after that, things got blurry and I seemed to have lost all motor control, but somehow here I am divvying out cheetos and prying sticky little hands off of my National Enquirer collection.  Fun.

I have to say babysitting is not my forte.  Fortunately, I discovered that the kids like to play dress-up, so I introduced them to the vast closets downstairs of Lady Gaga’s costume collection.  I’ve been asking her for months now to come get her stuff, but she’s off on a world tour or something silly like that.  So I have various little kidlets running around in weird pointy hats and gargantuan platform shoes, and playing cowboys and Indians using the mobile egg as their fort.

And finally, here comes Tom and Brad with Johnnie.  She looks like she had a blast.  Apparently they took her to The Varsity.  Hmmmf.  They had better have brought me a chili dog and a frosted orange since I’ve been stuck here all day with no adult conversation.  I was going to tell Brad off when he came in the door, but he looked at me and smiled and well…sigh…I guess we will go do that interview, won’t we?

Suzy: So, tell me a little about yourself, your family, your other hobbies…
Johnnie: I am the crafty mind behind the scenes at Saved By Love Creations,  I live in Indiana with my husband of 5 years, my insane jack russell and my  “big boned” beagle.  When I am not creating or writing about what I just created, you will likely find me running (completely addicted to it), junkin’ with my friends (yet another addiction), or hanging out with my grandparents.  I am blessed to have landed near the town where I grew up, and have a lot of family nearby.

Suzy: Your specialties include polymer clay and resin jewelry.  Tell us a bit about how you got into those particular crafts.
Johnnie: I will never forget the first time I made something from polymer clay.  There was an old jewelry box I found at Goodwill and revamped with some paint and paper.  I wanted knobs of a certain size to finish it off, and I just couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for in the craft store.  As fate would have it, just as I was about to settle for some wooden beads that were not what I had in mind at all, my eyes landed on the polymer clay shelf.  I picked it up and read the instructions.  Seemed easy enough.  275 degrees for 20 minutes in the oven, and I could have the exact size and color knobs I desired for a couple of bucks.  Although it seemed too good to be true, it wasn’t!

Johnnie: Polymer clay is such a forgiving medium.  If you mess up, just wad it up and start over!  I was hooked immediately, and jumped right into 100 days of polymer clay on my blog.  I dug into polymer clay, devouring every tutorial I could find on the stuff.  It is my favorite medium still.

Johnnie:  I think resin kinda came naturally with the clay work, since I wound up creating lots of jewelry pieces.  I am a huge fan of Lisa Pavelka, a well known polymer clay artist who is the maker of Magic Glos resin.  Her clay/resin pieces have inspired me endlessly.  I will jump into a project from one of her books, learn the technique, then let my brain take off with it and add my own unique twist.

Suzy: Can you tell us a few things that most folks don’t know about you?
Johnnie: I have been through a lot in this life, and today I can say I wouldn’t change a single thing.  In my 20’s, I graduated from medical school and began living a dream that was never my own.  Things came to a screeching halt as I was forced to face an addiction that seemed to creep in and take over in no time flat.  Through recovery, I have found myself, and artful blogging has been a huge part of that process.

Suzy: Your site is getting very popular.  Can you give any new bloggers out there a few helpful hints?
Johnnie: Be you!  I know, it is trite, but there is a reason it is repeated so often.  Your readers want to know who you really are, and when you write from that space, it shines through in a way that is unique to you.  My most popular posts are those in which I don’t worry about what I think people want to see, and just put what is inside out there.  Someone will connect with that.

Johnnie: The best piece of advice I was ever given, second to “Just be yourself”, is that “You can’t blog alone.”  To be successful, link arms with bloggers that speak to you.  Start a group of 4 or 10 or whatever, with the sole purpose of supporting one another via comments, social media promoting, guest posting and what not.  This is seriously key.  I have made some great friends by doing this, and I am positive my blog would not be near where it is today without my cheerleaders.  Blood, sweat and tears only go so far.  You need peeps.

Suzy: Can you tell us a bit about your other website, Printable Decor?
Johnnie: Printable Decor is the site I launched in December of 2011, with the goal of having a one-stop place for all things printable.  I try to update at least twice a day with the newest free printables out there in categories ranging from parties, holidays, cards and everything in between.

Johnnie: As a self taught graphic designer, and lover of the recent printable craze, I wished there was a place to have all of these wonderful designs, tidy and organized by category.  That is where the idea for Printable Decor was born.  I scour the web and bring what I find to my readers.  I also provide my own designs as free printables from time to time, with the occasional Photoshop tutorial to boot.  The site is set up to take your submissions, so bring the printables!

Suzy: Can you tell us a little about what you are promoting right now?
Johnnie: I am open to product promotions and giveaways that come along if they are a good fit for my readers.  Some opportunities arise here and there, but Saved By Love Creations is not a blog known for frequent giveaways or product reviews.  I try to focus on sharing ideas, techniques and inspiration.  I always promote Thriifty Thursday, the weekly DIY/craft project link up at Saved By Love Creations that has been going for over a year now.

I will be hosting the Creating Success Worldwide project in June, with which you are familiar, so be on the look out for that!

I love to have guest bloggers share at SBLC, so if you want to be seen there, don’t be shy!

Suzy: Johnnie thank you so much for taking the time to be interviewed!  Please take a few moments to check out Johnnie’s sites, Saved by Love Creations and Printable Decor.  There are tons of detailed tutorials offered on her site, and lots of interesting craftiness to catch your eye.

Well, it seems that Tom wants to take us all out for a nice dinner on the town.  Somewhere kinda formal, you know with the linen napkins, the waiter with the towel over his arm, and the dude whose only job is to squish your baked potato for you.  How exciting!  Let me go wash all the cheeto crumbs off of me and change into something a little fancy and I’ll be ready to go!

And then Brad turned around in slow motion, his blonde hair waving in the breeze, his blue eyes as deep and clear as a tropical ocean, his lips parting in a beautiful smile.  The clouds parted, the angels sang, the earth’s rotational balance shifted at the poles, and suddenly here I am in my cookie monster slippers with a kid on each hip, cooking up a pot of macaroni and cheese and looking for a favorite stuffed animal that apparently got kicked under the couch.

How does he do that?
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