New Lampwork Beads

Wow, I finally made some time last night to get to my torch! Seems like it's been forever since I've made any beads. Felt a little rusty, too! I'm pretty happy with how they came out. Some are a little different for me, so I'll be interested to see any feedback.

These are for sale in my Etsy shop - plus, I'm offering FREE US shipping now thru Dec. 31st!

Have a great week!

Sale!

In order to make room for new designs for 2009, I have marked down a bunch of my lampwork beads. Just got some new glass in today and can't wait to use it this weekend! If you get a chance, please stop by and say hi!

www.milminedesign.etsy.com

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Need a Good Laugh?

Ever have one of the experiences that you wish you could just take back and pretend that it never happened? Had one of those today. Here's the deal: I'm very fortunate to have my hubby drop me off and pick me up at work each day. We work for the same company, but in different buildings. Comes in very handy on these blustery winter days! Anyway, as I head out the door at the end of the day, I see our red F-150 truck waiting for me in the in front of the building. As I get closer, I notice the large build-up of snow/ice on the undercarriage. Doug calls them "fenderburgs":0) So, I think to myself, "gosh, I should probably kick those off before I get in". But, realizing I have high-heeled boots on, I think better of it. I get to the truck door, open in and start to open the back door to put my bag in when I realize that the guy in the driver's seat is not my husband! I totally just opened up someone else's truck and tried to get in! I was in shock and all I could manage to say was "Oh, I'm so sorry!" to which he laughed and said "That's ok!". I was SOOOO embarrassed! I closed the door and walked back to the building to wait for Doug who showed up a few minutes earlier. Of course I told him what had happened and he mentioned he passed that truck on his way in. We laughed most of the way home! Can you imagine if I had started to kick the snow off his truck?! Anyway, just thought I'd share! :0)

2 Posts in One Day? Can You Believe It?????

Doug has been creating some really cool banners for etsy shops lately and it's been awhile since I plugged him on the blog, so thought I'd do that today! He's not one to crank out tons of banners each day as he spends quite a bit of time on each and every one of them to make sure that they are absolutely perfect. He's also not one to make "cookie-cutter" banners either. He'd prefer to make all different kinds instead of one style which I've seen so many banner designers do. Anyway, if you need a banner, avatar, blog banner, business cards, etc., please feel free to send him a convo. He'd be happy to help!

You can find his shop on Etsy:

DBM Graphics Factory

New Lampwork Beads!

I decided to take a break from making jewelry for my show in November and make a few beads. Seems like there's just never enough time to do everything I want/need to do! I'm pleased with how these came out and hope to be back at my torch very soon!

Here's the link to my etsy shops:

Milmine Design

Milmine Design Annex

Partners In Crime

Don't they look sweet and innocent? Hmmm.....it's all an act, let me tell ya! So yesterday I cooked a roast, potatoes, carrots, etc. in the crock pot. Cooked it all day. Had some for dinner and then put the leftovers in a dish and covered it with plastic wrap. I set it on the stove to cool. Well, imagine my surprise when I went back into the kitchen a little later to find Dezi on the stove with an assortment of carrot and potato morsels around him. Even more surprising was the half eaten carrot and potato placed ever so perfect next to Marla's (our great dane) food dishe. Hmmmmm....So, I pulled the rest of the plastic off the dish and found that the entire 1/2 roast was gone! My theory is that Dezi opened the plastic wrap with his sticky fingers (that's what we call claws!) and then Marla helped herself 'cause her head is much taller than the stove, ya know! Well, needless to say, I'm glad we at least got one meal out of it! I don't cook very often, so it was a little disappointing. But how can you stay mad at those faces! :0)

New Lampwork Beads

I took some time off from my supplies shop and made a few lampwork beads yesterday. Having two shops has been so much fun, but, it does take a lot out of you! Hope you like them!

Karen :0)

New Stuff at the Annex!

I've been busy adding lots of new rough crystal gemstones and semi-precious stone beads to my new shop! There's a couple of watermelon tourmalines, several fluorite, aquamarines and some other gorgeous (and sometimes rare!) stones currently listed. I'm always on the lookout for interesting stones, so I'll be listing new items almost daily. Hope you'll stop by!

Milmine Design Annex

BIG NEWS!

Well, maybe not that big! I just opened up a new shop on Etsy for rough cut crystal gemstones and semi-precious gemstone and stone beads. I've been listing them in my main shop, but the idea of opening up a new shop has been bouncing around in my head for a while. So, I took the plunge yesterday and opened up Milmine Design Annex! I've already had a few sales and am enjoying searching the universe (hee hee!) for unique and pretty beads and stones. I just posted some awesome rhodochrosite crystals tonight that I think are gorgeous! Please feel free to stop by and browse!

Here's the link to my new shop!

Milmine Design Annex

New Tab Beads

Amanda from Chloe Boutique suggested that I make some tabular earring beads yesterday. So, I went off to do so last night. Here's my results (thanks Amanda for the suggestion & for purchasing them!). It's funny, that used to be the only kind of earring beads I made. But, since I got the lentil press, I've been hooked ever since. As I explained to Amanda, it's much more time-consuming to make tabs because they are shaped by hand and not by a press. Getting 2 to be the same size is much more difficult. I do like them, though, and will most likely make more very soon! Oh, by the way, there's another pair just like them listed in my Etsy shop! :0)

Website Overhaul!

I've been putting this off for months now and finally decided to take the time to work on it. Since selling my beads pretty much exclusively on Etsy since the beginning of this year, I've been very lax in updating my website. So, I decided to streamline it and use it basically for information and a link to my Etsy shop. I'm very happy with how it turned out! Plus I got to use my favorite bead of all time! :0)

Doug's First Sale on Etsy!

So I'm so excited that Doug had his first sale on Etsy this weekend! Amanda from Chloe Boutique had him design a custom banner & avatar package to coordinate with her jewelry cards. He was having so much fun designing that we were up until after 2 am last night!

He's busy working on another semi-custom banner for another etsian tonight! I'm so happy for him! If you ever need a banner, avatar, logo or any other graphic design service, please don't hesitate to contact him!
DBM Graphics Factory

Amanda creates gorgeous jewelry and is one of the sweetest people I've met on Etsy & Flickr. Be sure to stop by her shop!
Chloe Boutique

My First Etsy Treasury!!!

I'm so excited - I snagged my first Etsy treasury today! Special thanks to my awesome friend, Sharon, from ManaMoon for her guidance and scientific calculations of when it would be available! Hope you check it out if you get a chance!

The Handbook to Handmade Volume 7

Can I tell you how excited I am to be a part of this wonderful book!? It is a fabulous concept from Timothy Adam Designs to promote Etsy artists. For a small fee you can be included in this gorgeous full color book with other talented Etsians!! When I saw the thread in the promotions section of the forums, I was intrigued. I contacted my great friend, Sharon, of ManaMoon Studios and said we should give it a shot!

For more information, here is the official blog link:

Handbook to Handmade Blog

Have a great Sunday!
Karen

Happy 4th!

Been pretty busy the last week with bead orders and keeping the lawn growing! It's coming along nicely, but we'll have to re-seed some areas for sure! Marla's looking forward to running and playing in her new yard. She's used to having 5 acres to romp through! Hope everyone had a safe & fun holiday!

Keepin' Cool!

Our newest kitty, Dezi, has quite the personality! He's one of those guys that likes to jump up on your shoulders (sometimes from quite a ways away!) and loves to be petted (on his terms, of course!). Well, today after we got home from work (Dezi and Marla (our Great Dane) usually join us while we change our clothes. Dezi decided that the sink was a perfect fit and was quite the ham! I got a few great shots of him and am posting one here. My Flickr site has a ton of Dezi & Marla pictures if you would like to see more!

Karen

Praying for Rain!

Our new house came without a yard and we have the daunting task of putting one in ourselves! Well, seeding and putting straw down on 1 1/4 acres is no walk in the park - just ask Doug! For 2 1/2 days straight he slaved away on this enormous job and when it came time to set up the sprinklers, well, we found out that we don't have enough water pressure to run more than one at a time! One of the drawbacks of being outside the city and having a well - one of the benefits is that you don't have to pay for the water, just the electricity to pump it! So, last night (since we didn't get any rain), we tag teamed hand spraying the entire property - I was done at 9:30 pm, but Doug kept on going (somehow!) until 10:30 pm! We were so excited that it rained quite hard at work today (about 12 miles from home), but were soooo disappointed when we got home and realized that it had stopped raining about 1/2 mile from our house! We never got anything! Keeping our eyes on the weather, and it looks like we may finally get something tonight - here's to hoping! It will look so nice when it's done, but, it certainly isn't something that either of us ever want to do again!

Pssst...Need a Banner?

I have the perfect banner designer for you! DBM Graphics Factory (new to Etsy) has posted some amazing pre-fab banners for your Etsy shop! Doug has 20 years experience as a graphic designer and loves to create. If you are looking for logos, brochures, catalogs, etc., he's worked for a wide variety of clients and has extensive printing knowledge. Of course, for those of you who know me, Doug is my husband! If you get a second, please stop by his new shop and say hi! You can find Doug at his Etsy shop: www.dbmgraphicsfactory.etsy.com

Newbie!

So, this is all new to me as I've never had a blog before.  Please bear with me as I will be learning as I go along!  My friend Sharon has the BEST blog!  As I sat here and read through it, I felt like she was right here speaking to me.  She is so expressive with her words - a trait that I so admire!  By the way, Sharon also happens to create incredible, one-of-a-kind jools!  I highly recommend you stop by her shop and take a peek!  She can be found at her Etsy shop: www.manamoon.etsy.com