Every Wednesday our hosts on each continent will introduce you to someone new whose creativity is inspiring! Come take this worldwide tour with us!
Australasia- Jill from Creating My Way to Success
Europe- Yaga from The Shiny Bubble
Asia- Janelle from Of Pinks and Fairy Tales
Our Guest Star this week is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Today we are welcoming Bethany from Sweet Bee Buzzings! Bethany comes to us from the great state of Pennsylvania and her specialties include sewing, quilting and making beautiful purses. My buddy Tom Selleck, his mustache and I are thrilled to have her over. And to make her feel at home, we’ve asked our cook, Rastus from the Waffle House, to whip up some Philly Cheese Steaks to go along with the hashbrowns, smothered, covered, topped and chunked. That along with the pork rinds and turnip greens is a feast for the kings. Wouldn’t you agree?
Anyway, we are also hosting a few drop-in guests. Dr. Phil asked us if he could use our Green Room to sit down and counsel Kate Gosselin from Kate Plus 8. Seems that her show was cancelled this week and Kate is having a difficult time with it. Tom and I are both happy to help out Dr. Phil as he has been a bit depressed himself since the end of the Oprah show. Just last week I found him sitting cross-legged with his laptop in the secret passageway between my Green Room and Oprah’s, eating jumbo marshmallows, “friending” total strangers on Facebook and posting mean anonymous comments on I Can Has Cheezburger. Even in the depths of despair, he’s an amazing multi-tasker.
Kate is in a sour mood, so we are all keeping a wide berth. Nobody wants to get within smack-down range. Of course, she brought all her kids, so we did our best to find things for them to play with. Rastus put them to work breading okra for the fryer. Because he is pretty awesome that way.
Fortunately, Tom was quick witted enough to put my National Enquirer collection out of the reach of little breading covered hands. Hey, don’t judge. Twenty-five years worth of the Enquirer has got to be valuable. Besides that, many of them have Kate’s face on the cover, and usually they use the photos where she just smelled something bad. Because I’m sure that isn’t the way she normally looks…
So while there is peace, tranquility, therapy and breading of oddly shaped vegetables going on in the Green Room, let’s take a few moments to interview Bethany.
Suzy: Tell me a little about yourself, your family, your other hobbies…
Bethany: I’m 33 years young. Sometimes people think I look 19. Sometimes I like this…sometimes not. I still WANT to be carded, and I don’t like being called “ma’am.” But it’s great for winning cheesy prizes at “Guess my age” at carnivals and such (Ok, that’s only happened once). Ahem…anyway….I’m one of four – I have an older brother and two younger sisters. I have a nephew that I adore so much sometimes I think my heart might explode. I have a dog named Charlie that is the cutest in the world.
Bethany: I’m 33 years young. Sometimes people think I look 19. Sometimes I like this…sometimes not. I still WANT to be carded, and I don’t like being called “ma’am.” But it’s great for winning cheesy prizes at “Guess my age” at carnivals and such (Ok, that’s only happened once). Ahem…anyway….I’m one of four – I have an older brother and two younger sisters. I have a nephew that I adore so much sometimes I think my heart might explode. I have a dog named Charlie that is the cutest in the world.
Bethany: My parents are pretty awesome too. They’re supportive of my craft “obsession” but aren’t afraid to say “What IS that?” when it’s a fail. Currently I’m not married and I have no kids, which is why I have “all that time to craft” that I get asked about. In addition to sewing, I like to knit and crochet, read, go shopping, try to learn a thing or two about web design, spend time with my family, and take day trips (because I like sleeping in my own bed).
Bethany: My day job is for a global manufacturing company–I work in the safety department. It’s not as much fun as it sounds. People say to me when I tell them about it “That sounds fun!” and I reply “What would ever make you think that?” I like my job but I like my life outside of my job much more.
Suzy: When and why did you start blogging, and where would you like your blogging to lead?
Bethany: I started blogging almost 2 years ago. I had been sewing for about a year and decided to make things for a craft fair. I had some leftovers so decided to open an online shop to sell some of it. I had read somewhere that if you have a shop you should have a blog, so I split-second started one.
Bethany: I’d love it if blogging could make me rich, but right now I’m happy every time I get a new follower or if someone leaves a cheery comment. I really have come to love the sense of community and support that blogging gives. Plus I adore the friends I’ve made that I wouldn’t have made otherwise. I’d love for it to just continue growing the way it has been in the past year. I’ll be honest – I do get a little turned off when some blogs become popular and then are all about sponsors and sponsored giveaways – it really takes away from the blog I fell in love with in the first place, so I’d like to keep my blog my own, so to speak.
Suzy: Can you tell us a few things that most folks don’t know about you?
Bethany: I’m a pretty shy person. When I’m with people I know, however, I’m not really shy at all. I’ve just never been good at the whole small talk thing…Conversely, I have a big mouth and things probably come out of it sometimes that shouldnn’t. I have a secret desire to pack up and move to England. London sounds huge and intimidating but I want to go to there 🙂 … I am maybe the worst singer alive. No joke. I don’t even sing in my car unless the music is cranked really high – I offend my own ears, hahaha…. I have a bad habit of saying “Of course I can do that!” and then find myself having to figure it all out from scratch….I’m sure my sisters could provide you with some fabulous insight for this question….
Suzy: Can you give any new bloggers out there some pointers that you might have learned along the way?
Bethany: Don’t be a copycat blogger. Find your own voice and hone it to perfection. People can tell when it’s the real you and when you’re trying to be like someone else (I’m guilty of this as well–then I started seeing it on other blogs and realized how obvious it was). Also–get out there and “market” yourself.
Bethany: When I started I thought people would just come along and think “This is great!” and follow along. It was my family and a few friends reading along for the longest time. Then I discovered linky parties – what a great way to get your name and ideas out there for others to see! My readership has increased exponentially since I started showing people what I’ve made instead of expecting them to just stumble upon it on their own.
Bethany: Also – take good pictures. I am NOT a great photographer (but I try so hard!). There are tons of free photo-editing options out there (Picnik, Picasa, etc.) – learn to use them. If your pictures are dark and blurry and out of focus it just doesn’t make your blog a fun read. They don’t have to be professional quality (as mine very clearly are NOT) – but it’s nice to know what I’m looking at.
Bethany: One of my all-time favorite blogs is u-handblog (the companion blog to u-handbag). Lisa is so warm and genuine and accessible. I’ve asked her questions and she gets right back to you with her answer and then asks to see your finished project. She was my inspiration to start making handbags, which then led to my blog….
Bethany: I honestly have so many that are such a joy to see popping up in my reader (Mademoiselle Poirot, Bored and Crafty, Projects by Jane, Simplify, Kandipandi’s Pad, Hoosier at Heart, Flossie Teacakes, Stitched in Color, to name a handful). I have a link love page on my blog where you can find them and more. I love the Sitcom – I seriously want to try pysanki, and am trying to think of how I can bribe you to make a set of handpainted nesting dolls so I can copy your design…
Suzy: Hmmm…I love nesting dolls…
Suzy: Hmmm…I love nesting dolls…
Suzy: Can you tell us a little about what you are promoting right now?
Bethany: Hmmmm…. I get a LOT of custom orders from friends/co-workers-etc., so my shop has gotten a little sad in stock as I ran low on time. But I’m hoping to start stocking it with affordable adorable items, and to use up my ever-growing fabric and craft stash.I think purses and little accessories and all that fun stuff can be a great way to bring some uniqueness to your life without maybe committing to something big. Until I get these changes made to my shop I would just love to promote handmade in general – if you see something you love and it’s in the budget go for it. Most of those items are made with much love and care, and shipped the same way–you can’t say that for store bought!
Well, we had best get back to the Green Room. Seems that Bernice, the wedding planner for Kim Kardashian, heard that Dr. Phil was here and showed up for some impromptu therapy. Poor Bernice doesn’t look like she has brushed her hair in days and she has the wild eyed look of somebody who just recently had to deal with a $10 Million Dollar wedding, a pampered bridezilla, drama, three $20 Thousand Dollar wedding dresses, 400 demanding celebrity guests, lots more drama, a six foot tall wedding cake, an eight foot tall groom, a momzilla from hell and Lindsay Lohan. I’m thinking Dr. Phil may need to bring in reinforcements.
Kate was not thrilled with giving up her couch, so Tom and his mustache lured her out on the patio with promises of a guest appearance on his new show. Apparently, the writers are coming up with a script where a woman is murdered using a pair of stinky sweat socks. Kate has the perfect face for the part.
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