Friday Spotlight: Milling in Line

Welcome to our next Friday Spotlight! Every other week, we feature a new interview from one of our TeamBPAL members.

This week, we interviewed Chris and Claudia of Milling in Line. Most of the answers below are from Chris, with little tidbits from Claudia. Let's go!




Tell us a little about the items in your shop. What do you make?
I produce unique table top cabinets of my own design, for Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab clients to hold their perfume oil collections.

What is your creative process?
The original box, designed as a birthday present for my wife, was meant to solve the storage problem of a large collection BPAL bottles. I wanted an original design that was reminiscent of an apothecary’s portable store. The paint and hardware scheme I chose for my wife was that of an old and well worn box; at present I ask clients to describe thematic elements and color preferences so that the product they receive is unique for them. I converse and sometimes send sketches to the client till we are both clear on what they want then I commence to build and paint.

Which Etsy Teams do you belong to?
TeamBPAL.





When you are not creating things, what do you do?
I spend time with my wife and daughter, and I work for the local college performing arts theatre as the scenic arts/ prop master.

Tell us two random, interesting things about you.
I have a home grown, large curly “Snidely Whiplash” Mustache, and an embarrassingly large amount of LEGO building toys. Seriously, like my weight in LEGO. (He does! We've got a little city in our garage- Claudia)

What has been your proudest moment since opening your Etsy shop?
One of our clients took some very nice photos of the box I made for her and posted them to her blog, and then my wife and partner asked if we could post one on our sale page. When shown the pic I didn’t realize at first that I was looking at the box I had built just weeks before, but something more professional than I believed myself capable of.






What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
Ask others for advice, compare and contrast products in your field, play nice and be happy someone else likes what you do enough to buy it.

What handmade possession do you cherish?
Starting at age five my daughter developed a fancy for pottery and we have a number of objects thrown on a wheel by her and other ceramics hand built and glazed by her, including Father’s day gifts.

If you could have any item on Etsy regardless of price, what would it be?
Very small bookbinding is a popular but nonetheless unique talent, I like things that are useful but don’t take up a lot of space. Like this.

From Claudia: I see so much on Etsy that I love- something that jumped out at me recently was this. It's whimsical and creative- although there is little need for a warm coat in California, I'm quite enamored of it.

What other skill or talent do you wish you could possess, if you had not taken this creative path?
I would like to have developed more musical talent including the ability to write and arrange music. (I wish I was as creative as Chris and our daughter, but I'm very happy to be surrounded by their art and the art that our friends make and share with us.- Claudia)



Where can we find you on the web?
I'm best reached at the Etsy page- Claudia is all over the web- on the BPAL forum of course (Lunakitten) and her Twitter is twitter.com/Lunakitten or Facebook at facebook.com/Lunakitten.

Thanks for the interview, Chris and Claudia! We'll return once again in two weeks.

TeamBPAL Charity Sale

TeamBPAL is happy to announce our first-ever team sale, and this one is for a good cause: every item currently at teambpal.etsy.com will benefit the Sea Turtle Restoration Project which is providing aid to the sea turtles affected by the BP oil spill in the Gulf.







The Sea Turtle Restoration Project fights to protect endangered sea turtles in ways that make cultural and economic sense to the communities that share the beaches and waters with these gentle creatures. With offices in California, Texas, Costa Rica, and Papua New Guinea, STRP is leading international efforts to protect sea turtle populations worldwide. STRP is a project of Turtle Island Restoration Network, a 501c3 organization.

Sea turtles are a window into how we treat our oceans and our environment. The same factors that are causing declines of sea turtles - unsustainable fishing, coastal habitat destruction, pollution, and overconsumption of natural resources - are the same ones contributing to the decline of our oceans.

Protecting sea turtles is more than just about protecting these gentle creatures, it is also about returning to balance with the natural world.

Please help TeamBPAL support this cause while treating yourself to some lovely handmade items!

Friday Spotlight: Otter's Daughter Designs

Welcome to our next Friday Spotlight! Every other week, we feature a new interview from one of our TeamBPAL members.

This week, we interviewed Coral of Otter's Daughter Designs.




Tell us a little about the items in your shop. What do you make?
I make jewelry from stone, wire, metals and sometimes stray things (like watch part vials) that catch my eye. I’m just beginning to branch out into more complex wire work.

What is your creative process?
My creative process is a bit all over the map. Off the top of my head I can name three main methods I use. The simplest is that I sit down with my tools and see what speaks to me. Some days it’s a certain shape, some days it’s a certain combination of colors, some days nothing is feeling talkative but those are pretty rare.

The second way is new; I only started using it when I started working more with wireframes. It starts with me just doodling in my idea book – I don’t call it a sketchbook, I doubt anyone but me would be able to recognize anything in it! I doodle freeform shapes until one of them catches my fancy and then I work with and refine it until I have an actual design. It usually goes through another refining process once I actually get my hands on the wire so the final piece rarely looks like much like the original sketch.

The third way is when I see something (or read something, or have a conversation about something) that sparks off an idea. Occasionally, when I am very lucky, it sparks off a cascade of ideas and that’s when I end up with a series of conceptually related pieces. I’m working on one now that I’m very excited about – it’s centered around the Firefly/Serenity universe.


Which Etsy Teams do you belong to?
TeamBPAL is my first and thus far only.



Mechanical Temporal Displacement Device Crash Kit: Series E


When you are not creating things, what do you do?
Mostly I’m a soon-to-be more than full time student. I’m entering a compressed program this July that gets me through my Master’s of Education, student teaching, and licensing all in a single year. I’ve the distinct feeling it’s going to eat my life but when it’s over I’ll be done - more importantly I’ll be employable!

I’m also an avid amateur gardener (testing the waters of permaculture this summer), a weekend pirate (somewhat similar to the SCA), a fire spinner, a computer gamer and in what little time I have left after all that I write Sci-Fi.


Tell us two random, interesting things about you.
When I was five I was on the Bozo the Clown show. Proof that before I read Stephen King’s “It” I actually liked clowns.

I have two cats – Siddhartha, who hates nearly everyone but me and Vishnu, who is submissive to everyone and just wants to be loved. Both are female. Obviously I fail at names.


What has been your proudest moment since opening your Etsy shop?
My proudest moment was being asked by a friend to make the jewelry for her wedding. It’s a huge honor to be asked to take part in creating someone’s wedding day. It was also more than a little intimidating but luckily she loved what I made her.



Sylph of the Summer Evening


What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
Make things because you love doing it, not to get rich. While you might eventually make some money, maybe even a good living, it’s going to take time. If you love what you’re doing then the process itself is satisfying and anything else becomes a welcome bonus.

What handmade possession do you cherish?
There are a lot of handmade things that are dear to me but I would have to say the one I most cherish is a wooden talisman carved by a close friend.

If you could have any item on Etsy regardless of price, what would it be?
I’m absolutely in love with this jacket, though I want it in dark brown. *makes grabby hands*

What other skill or talent do you wish you could possess, if you had not taken this creative path?
I wish like mad that I had some talent for drawing – I have none at all. I try to share the pictures in my head in other ways and I think I do pretty well; but I still think it would be easier if I could just draw!



Where can we find you on the web?
On Facebook I’m Coral Ann Gilbert
On Live Journal I’m Dragon_Mintz
On Twitter I'm Ottersdaugther

Thanks for the interview, Coral! Have a great holiday weekend, for those of you in the U.S.! We'll return once again in two weeks.