Creating Success Around the World- Interview and Blog Hop

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… 

Australasia- Jill from Creating My Way to Success
Europe- Yaga from The Shiny Bubble

Asia- Janelle from Of Pinks and Fairy Tales

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Our Guest this week is from Texas, USA!

Today we are welcoming Allison from House of Hepworths!  Allison’s blog was one of the first blogs that caught my eye when I first started reading craft and designing blogs.  She has an amazing eye for color and style, and can turn any old piece of furniture into something amazing.  My buddy Tom Selleck, his mustache and I are thrilled to finally have her in our Green Room! 

And she has lots of company too!  Tom threw together a Dancing with the Stars party for his closest friends.  After all, the show is live and what better way to support your fellow stars!  Anyway, he invited over his friends Brad Pitt, William Shatner and Charlie Sheen, thinking it would just be a small get-together with the guys where they can watch the big screen TV, eat popcorn, cheer on the stars and roll their eyes at Tom Bergeron’s corny jokes. 

Unfortunately, Brad showed up with all his kids and Bill arrived with his Trekkie fan club including eight guys with Spock ears, and a large group of Klingons.  Charlie arrived with a batch of goddesses and goddess wanna-bees.  I was a bit worried at first about this group being a bad influence on the impressionable young minds, but after some thought, I think that the Trekkies will be just fine.  They have phasers and invisible force fields, after all.  And if things get bad, they can always “beam themselves up”. 

So let’s take Allison into my office for the interview where it is much quieter.  Seems that between food fight in the kitchen and the phaser fight in the living room, that the office is the only safe place in the galaxy right now…

Suzy: So tell me a little about yourself, your family, your other hobbies…

Allison:  I’m 31 and I live in Austin, Texas.  (Hook ‘Em!)  I’m married to Ben and we have 2 adorable children – a 9 year old boy and a 7 year old girl.  Besides having my blog take up all my free time, I’m also a stay at home mom which I love.  I’m really fortunate that I can stay home with my children and that I have time to work on lots of projects around my home.

Allison:  In addition to blogging and doing DIY projects around my house, I love anything crafty.  I have a few hobbies in addition to that though.  I’m pretty much the typical girl – I love to shop, hang out with my girlfriends, talk on the phone, and more shopping.  My favorite store is Target because they always have home decor on clearance.  🙂

Suzy:  When and why did you start blogging and where would you like your blogging to lead?
Allison: I started blogging because I was temporarily living in Los Angeles for 6 months, knew no one, and was BORED.  I loved reading craft blogs, and I loved doing crafts even more than reading about them, so I figured “What the heck!  I might as well try my hand at this thing called Blogging.”  

Allison: Where would I like my blogging to lead?  Honestly, I’d love for it to continue to grow and attract new readers.  I’d love to have content good enough to have my blog grow wildly popular.  I like making a little money from blogging (that I invest in projects for my home), but even more than that, I just love meeting so many people!  And lets face it, I like being popular.  I’ve always wanted to be a celebrity…. haha!

Suzy: Can you tell us a few things that most folks don’t know about you?

Allison: I tend to just put myself out there on my blog so I’ve pretty much spilled the beans on most of my life.   Hmmm…  I’m left handed which I think is really awesome.  Both my kids were delivered via C-section.  My favorite nail polish color is really dark purple.  I LOVE Coach purses.  I’ve been to Costa Rica twice.  I’m secretly pretty geeky and write all the HTML for every one of my blog posts.

Suzy: Your blog is a wonderful mix of crafty things, awesome photography and great decorating tips.  Can you tell me what inspires your posts?
Allison: What inspires me?  The moulding isle at Home Depot.  IKEA, Ballard Design, Pottery Barn, and West Elm catalogs.  Other decorating, home decor, and craft blogs. 

Suzy: Since I’m kinda a crafty blog, I have to ask.  Are there any particular crafts that you enjoy the most?
Allison: I love crafts that involve a can of spray paint.  Maybe it’s the fumes, but I LOVE spray painting.  😉  I also really like making stuff with vinyl on it.  I’m kind of a vinyl whore.  Can I say whore on your blog?
Suzy: I believe it’s been done before.  Ha!

Suzy: Since I’m also kinda a sitcom blog, my buddy Tom wants to know if you’ve ever met a celebrity in real life.  Other than him of course.

Allison: Does Crystal Bowersox from American Idol count?  I met her at Blissdom. ::squeal:: I’ve also met Dr. Ray from Dr 90210, all the top 12 Idols from last years American Idol, Paula Abdul (and hugged her!), David Archuleta, a world-record hot dog eating champion (I forgot his name), and I use to work out in the same gym as Bruce Springsteen but I never actually talked to him.  I’ve also met Sarah of Thrifty Decor Chick and Sherry and John of Young House Love.  Do bloggers count as celebrities?

Suzy: You betcha!

Suzy: Please take a few moments and check out Allison’s site, House of Hepworths.  She always has lots of fabulous decorating ideas, great furniture “before and afters” and some wonderful crafty tutorials.  Every Thursday, she hosts a very popular linky party that you really don’t want to miss.  

Well, we had best get back to the Green Room, where it is suddenly, suspiciously quiet. 

Oh.

Seems that Nancy Grace’s top had a wardrobe misfunction on live TV and everyone is just a bit horrified.  Brad apparently tried to cover as many young eyes as he could, but he simply didn’t have enough hands.  Everyone is standing there staring at the screen, the silence broken only by the sound of a lone plastic spock ear falling to the linoleum. 

Fortunately for Allison and I, we missed it.  As for everybody else, I’m guessing they might need therapy.  Brad gathered up his now silent little crew and piled them into his Hummer, promising them McDonalds if they don’t tell Angie.  Hopefully, when they regain their voices, they don’t throw him under the bus.  He doesn’t get out that often. 

Bill and his Trekkie fan club heard the word “McDonalds” and quickly followed.  Seems that Brad’s usually pretty generous with those Happy Meals. 

As for Charlie, well he gathered up as many of his goddesses as he could find and grabbed a taxi headed for rehab, muttering something about the worst hallucination he had ever had.   

And who says Reality TV is a waste of time?

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Want to meet a whole bunch of International bloggers and have a chance to be interviewed on the Sitcom?  Well, link up to the blog hop and meet some really great folks!
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