Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Mills.
Lindsay, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started Made By Mills in 2010 as a hobby and solution to the stress of my day-job (I was an Art Dealer from 2006-2018. Now, I manage Vendor Marketing for Guitar Center Corporate).
I’ve always loved being ‘crafty’ and had inherited a deep appreciation/fascination for jewelry from my Grandmother. Over the years, I had seen beautiful jewelry in magazines and online and thought to myself, “I can do that” or “that’s cool but I’d like to change it [in this way]…” So, from there, I set off and started making myself fun jewelry at night as a way to fulfill my inner creative desires and calm my stressed-out mind.
Once I started wearing my jewelry out-and-about, I’d get compliments from folks on it and then started to get requests from family & friends. I remember at one point my mom had said to me that she needed a baby shower gift for a co-worker and asked if I had any ideas. I remembered I had seen someone stamp a name into a metal necklace and thought that was super cool, so the next day I went out and bought a set of metal-stamping letters and taught myself how to metal stamp! From there, it was like opening Pandora’s box! A whole new world of custom jewelry had opened up and I could express myself even further with jewelry. Not only could I stamp custom names, but I could now show off my quirky personality by stamping snarky sayings into jewelry (i.e., my “fuck off” bracelet or “bitch, don’t steal my wine” cuff).
At this point, I was creating so much jewelry that I started an ETSY store just to display it all. I even moved into stamping cutlery (i.e., my “fork off” forks & custom Mr. & Mrs. wedding cake forks & servers). After I opened my ETSY store, I started to go to estate sales and antique shops looking for vintage silver-plate cutlery to stamp; as well as going to jewelry shows to find unique stones and pendants to build statement necklaces around (a gorgeous statement-piece gets me every time LOL).
Once my collection really started to amass, that’s when I created madebymills.com!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has definitely NOT been a smooth road while owning a small business. As my shop grew, I sometimes struggled to keep up with order demand while still having a ‘day job.’ I put a lot of pressure on myself to burn the candle at both ends by working all day and trying to fulfill orders until all hours of the night.
Overtime (and as I’ve gotten older) I was able to figure out a better work/life balance… I still treat many of my items as “made-to-order” but now keep stock of my more popular pieces.
As the sole web designer, manufacturer, curator, photographer, packer and shipper I wear many hats (which is not always glamourous), but because I started this from nothing, I take so much pride in each step of the process. Every time someone receives my jewelry and tells me how much they love it my heart beams and I do a little (literal) happy dance.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
What I say on my website: “Made By Mills offers truly unique, handmade jewelry at affordable prices. We will help you customize your jewelry to create a masterpiece that you can treasure for years to come! Give as a gift or keep for yourself… we just want you to love what you wear!”
I specialize in quirky-custom (is that a thing? LOL) jewelry and gifts. I make everything from one-of-a-kind stone statement necklaces and custom metal stamped jewelry/gifts to wood-burned jewelry and signs.
When making jewelry, I only curate stones & trinkets that “speak to me.” A lot of thought, emotion and love go into all of my designs. I am constantly on the hunt for interesting beads and baubles… Every time I travel, I am ALWAYS searching local markets for treasures. I want to say that my biggest haul of handcrafted beads came from a trip I was on in the Philippines and Hong Kong many years ago!
My biggest mantra is that I never want to stop creating (even when I’m in a funk), so I’m always trying to push the envelope and find other ways to share what makes me happy with others! Since quartine, I’ve been getting back to my painting roots and have started experimenting and making 3D paper sculptures with alcohol ink on yupo paper. I frame them in little shadow boxes and they have been turning out pretty cool! Those will be coming to my ETSY shop and website soon!
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was your typical fun-loving kid in the suburbs of Southern California. I enjoyed the beach, combat sports (karate, boxing, kickboxing, etc.), my dogs, history, science, and most importantly ART! As I got older, I grew into my humor and sassiness (which would sometimes get me in trouble) and, to this day, I don’t think I’ve grown out of that.
Looking back, I am so grateful that I had parents/family who nurtured my artistic side and would take me to museums, art classes and opened my eyes to other cultures and history. Not only did I feel free to express myself artistically but I always felt safe to embrace my independence as a strong-willed girl and looked up to female trailblazers (i.e., my favorite childhood t.v. shows were Murphy Brown and Murder She Wrote- ha!). I hope that my art and jewelry inspires people to express themselves and put a smile on their face every time they wear it!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.madebymills.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/madebymills
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/madebymills
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MadeByMills
Image Credit:
All photographed by me (except the pic of me as a kid was taken by one of my parents)
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