Many customers like to know about the designer of their jewels. Here I will tell you about myself, my family and my background.
My Business Philosophy
The objective of my business is to provide a high quality product that is individually hand crafted for my customers. I hope you will enjoy visiting the web site and wearing your jewelry purchases as much as I enjoyed creating them for you.
My biography:
From early childhood I have had an obsession with jewelry, always "collecting" all I could get my hands on. As a result, I learned to do repairs.
In 1975, while in a craft store, I was drawn to some beads and my first design was born. For twenty years I created jewelry for myself, family and friends.
As a result of owning an antique and collectibles store, I realized that other people shared my obsession with costume jewelry. The shop
carried a wide array of vintages and collectible jewelry. I soon had customers trying to buy the jewelry that I was wearing (my own designs). I began taking orders and making custom pieces for customers, then slowly I added a case of my own designs to the store inventory.
I expanded into full-fledged production, taking over the dining room with case after case of beads and findings and drawers full of tools. I sold my designs through the store until the fall of 1997, when it was closed, due to the illness of my business partner.
Always a computer buff, I quickly discovered the internet and online auctions as a new way to sell my designs as well as my inventory of collectibles. I sell on eBay and ePier under the seller name millwdantq and on Yahoo and Amazon auctions as millwdent. You can follow this link to view my eBay feedback.
I also took up web design as a part time endeavor and designed a website for my collectibles business: Millwood Enterprises.
I now do my jewelry designing in a small studio that is connected to my bedroom, so that I can work whenever the muse strikes. I live in rural California -- in the heart of the agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley. Preferring a country setting, I live on a hillside where doves and pheasants are regular visitors.
My other passions include my husband of 16 years and our son. My husband has even developed a knack for collage jewelry design and construction. He occasionally has a few pieces available on the website.
My family has a deep love of animals, dogs in particular. We breed and show AKC/UKC registered American Staffordshire Terriers. The dogs have their own website: Eurythmic Canines.
I am also a senior UKC licensed conformation judge.
One of my main interests is serving as the adoptions/intake coordinator for K9 Rescue Ltd. A rescue group for purebred dogs, specializing in American Staffordshire Terriers/American Pit Bull Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Our website showcases all of the wonderful dogs that are available for adoption, as well as listing other resources for dog lovers. Our family shares our home with our own dogs (ASTs/APBT, a Standard Poodle and a Staffy Bull), a moluccan cockatoo, hermit crabs, a russian tortoise, a black bear hamster and various foster dogs awaiting adoption. We have a full house!
I am a member of Jewel Collect, Jewelry Talk, Jool Crafting and the Inernational Jewelry Designers Guild. I try to pass on my passion for life to you through my jewelry designs and this web site.
Contact Info:
Designs by Darla
(a Division of Millwood Enterprises)
PO Box 175 ~ Woodlake, CA 93286-0175
Phone: (559) 564-0907
Fax: (559) 564-0908
designsbydarla@lycos.com
