Today we are welcoming Jen from I Can’t Stop Crafting. I have to say I love her website name. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve uttered those very words at 1:00 in the morning as I sit all glassy-eyed, concentrating on putting the final detail on the latest project or two, knowing that I have to get up in three hours to commute to my day job. It’s an addiction, I tell you.
Anyway, Jen comes to us all the way from Canada. My buddy Tom Selleck, his mustache and I want to make her feel at home as she visits our humble abode here in the deep south. But with temperatures averaging in the high nineties and humidity at 150%, I’m betting it will be a bit of a culture shock. So, in order to ease the transition, we set the air conditioner at 50 degrees and are offering hot toddies and ear muffs at the door. I stocked the Green Room with Canadian geese, maple syrup, Canadian bacon, Canada Dry Ginger Ale and assorted hockey players. And Tom and I have both been practicing saying the word “aboot”.
“How aboot some slaw with them there chittlin’s?”
Impressed aren’t you? We totally fooled all the hockey players.
And the atmosphere was so Canadian-like that even Celine Dion showed up. She looked around for a microphone, found Tom’s karaoke machine that he tried unsuccessfully to hide at the last minute, and started belting out “My Heart will go on“, the theme song from Titanic.
Well, you can’t get more Canadian than that.
So, lets grab a Canada Dry and go sit down with Jen in my office. (It’s a little noisy in the Green Room with all that honking going on. Oh, and the geese are pretty loud too).
Suzy: Tell me a little about yourself, your family, your other hobbies…
Jen: Well, my name is Jen. I married my highschool crush, and he’s turned out to be so much more than just a crush! After six years of marriage we’ve made three gorgeous kiddo’s, Boden, Adalee, and Judson. My hobbies are obviously, pretty much anything crafty. I love getting creative and coming up with something great without spending a ton of cash. I really enjoy cooking and baking, going for bike rides, and playing around with my camera.
Suzy: When and why did you start blogging, and where would you like your blogging to lead?
Jen: I started blogging in January of this year. Almost a year ago my husband started a new job, and with his new job came many long hours. When winter hit I found myself bored and a little lonely, too. I’d wanted to start blogging for some time already, but finally all the pieces fell into place, I took the plunge. It turned out to be such a wonderful creative outlet for me, it has filled many lonely evenings, and has given me great goals to work towards. Blogging really helped me get through the long winter months. Right now, I’m just enjoying all the projects and ideas that I see coming together and watching my little blog grow.
Suzy: Can you tell us a few things that most folks don’t know about you?
Jen: A few things most people don’t know about me? I am a nail biter – have been for as long as I can remember. Gross, I know. I H-A-T-E potty training, honestly I would have hired someone to potty train my older two if I wasn’t such a cheap-o. I used to despise my red hair and dyed it every chance I got throughout junior high and high school, now I love my hair color, and haven’t died it in 7 or 8 years.
Suzy: Can you give any new bloggers out there some pointers that you might have learned along the way?
Jen: I feel like quite the newby blogger myself, so I don’t know if my tips are really all that useful! Two things I’ve really tried to stick to are: get your name out there, link up to parties, comment on peoples blogs, tell your friends, if you want your blog to grow, people need to know it’s there! And, try to post on a regular basis. You don’t have to post everyday, but set up some kind of schedule for yourself and do your best to stick to it. I find it so annoying when I find a great blog only to realize the blogger only updates their blog once every few weeks and is really unpredictable about it. I try my best to blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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.
Jen: My favorite movie star? That’s tough! I really don’t think I could choose a favorite. I do love a good crime/mystery movie. Ocean’s Eleven, The Bourne Identity, The Italian Job, all favorites for me!
Suzy: What about Titanic? 🙂
Suzy: This crafty blog community is full of wonderful folks. Can you tell me what blogs inspire you?
Jen: One of the first blogs I came across was Make it and Love it and I was blown away! I had no idea that there were blogs like this, I was so excited. I also love checking in on I Am Momma – Hear Me Roar , Made, Enjoying the Small Things and Bower Power, and a slew of others!
Suzy: Can you tell us a little about what you are promoting right now?
Jen: I don’t have any sponsors at this point, though that might be something I’d like to pursue in the future. I’m always open to welcoming some new followers to the pack, so feel free to follow along! I’d really like to start up my own link party, but I’d like to collect a few more followers first…wink-wink!
Jen, thank you so much for taking the time to come all the way down here for an interview!! Please take a moment to go check out Jen’s site, I Can’t Stop Crafting. It is full of great ideas, wonderful photos, recipes and so much more. It is totally worth the visit. I’m betting you come away inspired.
Well, we have to get back to the Green Room. Apparently, Celine is on her 10th rendition of “My Heart will go on” and even the hockey players’ eyes are glazing over. Tom tried unsuccessfully to offer her a Canadian Bacon sandwich, hoping it would quiet her for a bit, but she waved him off. They are all looking at me expectantly, hoping that I’ll somehow shut her up.
But frankly, I only have one question for her.
Why in the heck didn’t Rose scoot her big ass over and let poor Jack perch on that piece of wood too?
It’s always bothered me…
![\"\"](\"https://d5nxst8fruw4z.cloudfront.net/atrk.gif?account=tEcgg1awAe00y0\")