Big 20% Off Sale This Weekend!

My birthday almost always falls during Memorial Day Weekend, so I figure, I've got twice the reason to have a big Etsy sale this weekend!

Everything in the MaeMaeMills Etsy shop will be 20% off through Monday in my great big Memorial Day (and Megan's Birthday) Weekend Sale!  Yay!  So be sure to take a break from the barbecue to shop for some unique handmade jewelry this weekend....especially if you're planning a wedding!  These prices on the sterling silver and gold filled bridesmaid jewelry sets are a steal!

New Custom Color Pearl Bridesmaid Jewelry Sets

I've just added a whole bunch of bridesmaid jewelry sets to my Etsy shop!  These earrings and necklaces are made with Swarovski crystal faux pearls and either sterling silver or gold filled and gold plated sterling silver components.  They're high quality and very elegant.  In fact, they're the same style that I made to wear on my own wedding day!  With 40 pearl colors to choose from, chances are we can get a perfect match for your wedding colors too.

Vote for my Design on ShopBevel!

I have a new design up for vote on www.shopbevel.com. If my design wins, it will be produced and sold on their website, which means 20,000+ people will be seeing my work!

To win, I need your support. All you have to do is click on this link, register (or sign in with Facebook to skip registration) and vote on my entry. The more votes I gather, the better chance I have at being produced.

Shopbevel is a really cool site that works with independent designers to bring to market the best in jewelry design. Designers submit designs, the community votes and Shopbevel produces selected winners. At Shopbevel, every jewelry designer has the opportunity to be discovered and Shopbevel works to create a community to make that possible.

Thank you for your support. It means so much to me!

Collection de Marie - Spring/Summer 2013

 I'm so proud to introduce the introductory collection for Megan Milliken Designs: Collection de Marie!  Here's a peek at the collection - visit MeganMillikenDesigns.com and more information on these pieces!

My First Bead Soup Blog Party - The Reveal!!

You may remember seeing this post a while back about the 7th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party.  This is an event (hosted by the amazing Lori Anderson) where beaders from all over the world swap beads and then create something using the items they've received.  I received this lovely bead soup from my partner Mary Govaars of MLH Jewelry Design:

There is a pretty howlite focal and matching beads, and then a string of fossilized coral beads and a silver plated toggle clasp.

This soup was quite an adventure for me.  It was nothing like the materials I would usually work with, so I was very excited to see what I could come up with!  Here's what I did:

Now, I did not put myself down as a seed beader, because I liked the idea of receiving a soup without seed beads.  I tend to gravitate towards intricate, tiny work full of weaving, so I was looking forward to a departure.  But of course, as soon as I got to thinking about my soup, I thought to myself, "I know, I'll add bead weaving!"  Typical.  Psh.  But in the end, it's still entirely different from my normal style, bead weaving and all, so I'm very happy with the results.

My partner Mary's going to be in the 3rd reveal group of the Bead Soup Blog Party, so be sure to check her blog on April 20th to see what she made out of the soup that I sent to her:

And while you're hopping around the internets, take a look at all of the other fun designs from the 2nd reveal group here.  There are some amazing artists participating, and I'm sure they've come up with stuff you won't want to miss!

Vote for my Design on ShopBevel!

I have a new design up for vote on www.shopbevel.com. If my design wins, it will be produced and sold on their website, which means 20,000+ people will be seeing my work! 

To win, I need your support. All you have to do is click on this link, register (or sign in with Facebook to skip registration) and vote on my entry. The more votes I gather, the better chance I have at being produced.

Shopbevel is a really cool site that works with independent designers to bring to market the best in jewelry design. Designers submit designs, the community votes and Shopbevel produces selected winners. At Shopbevel, every jewelry designer has the opportunity to be discovered and Shopbevel works to create a community to make that possible.

Thank you for your support. It means so much to me!

A Sneak Peek at My New Designer Line

Dauphine Earrings by Megan Milliken

Psst...guess what - I've been working on something pretty big.  Well, it's small, in actuality, but it's a big step for me personally.  I'm starting a new designer jewelry line.  Here's a personal look at what that means to me, with some pretty pictures to help you read through it all.

No cutesy brand names and buying materials just to play around and see what happens.  This time, I'm designing on purpose, with seasonal collections that have a clear color palette and concept, and I'm even taking current fashion trends into consideration.

Lady at Court Earrings by Megan Milliken

This is a big step for me, as I said.  I always love (well almost always love) my MaeMaeMills pieces.  And I loved my PinkSugarBakery pieces before that.  Shoot, I even loved my MyCatHatesYou pieces long before that.  But my jewelry has always been designed on the fly.  And it's almost always had a whimsical, cute, simple aesthetic.  I don't think that there's anything wrong with that either, but I decided it's time to try a new direction.

My cutesy little pieces have long been regarded as "adorable" and I've often have to talk people out of trying to gift them to little kids.  Even the pieces that took me hours to build have a relatively low perceived value.  Which is not helped by the pitiful state of the handmade marketplace today.  Too many people sell their wares for too little, lowering the perceived value of anything handmade.  On top of this, I wanted to make jewelry, and I wanted to sell it, but I didn't have a clear end goal in mind.

Tuileries Earrings by Megan Milliken

Several conversations with a PR friend, a designer friend, and my husband in the last year finally led me to two conclusions: firstly, I wasn't selling to my ideal target customer, and secondly, I wasn't designing for her either.

I need to look at fashion and plan out cohesive collections.  I've even - gasp - been sketching.  I need to design this way in order to jump from cute stuff to beautiful jewelry that wants to be treasured.  It's an aesthetic that I've pined after for ages, and I am finally working towards it in my jewelry.

Tuileries Bracelet by Megan Milliken

I also need to get out of the handmade marketplace.  Not completely, of course, and I will still make fun jewelry (the kind that I'd personally want to wear) for MaeMaeMills to be sold in all the regular avenues.  But my new line will be marketed to boutiques, not to craft fairs.  I will still bring my samples to my next show, because I have them done, so why not display them?  But the goal is wholesale, or possibly consignment, to nice little boutiques full of the customers that I've been wanting to reach.  And in that vein, I finally have a clear end goal.

To start with a bang, I've been working on one heck of a Spring/Summer 2013 collection.  I went extravagant and over the top with my concept, and I'm so pleased with the results so far.  I took some casual test photos last night, and I thought it might be fun to go ahead and share a sneak peek at this newest venture of mine.  I'm still working on the two statement necklaces and another bracelet, but here's a little preview of my Collection de Marie.  What do you think so far?

Petit Trianon Necklace by Megan Milliken

As I'm wrapping up the designs for this line, I'll quickly be off and running with the Fall/Winter 2013 collection on it's heels, trying to catch up with the designer lead time.  I've got my color palette all planned out and I'm feeling a little swinging 60s Mod may be in order.