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.
LOVE these cabinets! Loved reading the interview, too :)
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