My name is Jamie Miller. I live in north central West Virginia with my husband (Brad) and our little one (Logan), along with our parrot and cat (and fishies!). I work part time as director of health and life sciences for a non-profit research firm located in West Virginia called MATRIC and hold an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Medicine at West Virginia University. I hold a doctorate degree in microbiology and immunology and focus most of my research endeavors on autoimmunity, infectious disease, and cancer research. I began making jewelry in graduate school as an "escape" from all the "hooplah" associated with such a degree and decided early on that I would donate all the proceeds from items I sold to our local breast care center. So far I have donated over $7,000 to a non-profit charity I founded called echo: Endeavor to Contribute to the Health of Others.
Why you love what you do?
I love what I do because it gives me a creative outlet that allows me to help other people in the process.
What inspires you?
There are so many things that inspire me. My mom is probably one of my biggest inspirations, though. She always taught me that every little bit counts and that if you shoot for the moon you'll land among the stars.
Favorite item in your shop
That is a tough one. Can I have three????? I would have to say:
the vintage sapphire glass bracelet
the creamy cocoa pearl earrings
and the prasiolite necklace
What items are you promoting for the holidays?
I haven't really started focusing on holiday specific items yet this year. The way the economy has been I have tried to create pieces that reflect the season maybe in their colors but can be worn throughout the year so that they 0offer more practicality.
Any specials deals customers should know about?
Look for seasonal sales. In October I will have a sale in celebration of breast cancer awareness month where pink items will be on sale. I will likely have a snowflake or winter sale after that. Maybe blue and silver items featured??????
I do have a web site for "echo". You can learn more about the me, the fund, see pictures of my work and custom orders, and learn more about breast cancer by going to: http://www.orgsites.com/wv/echo
I will offer free U.S. shipping from October 20th through October 24th for anyone who makes a purchase from my shop and puts "jacaranda blog free shipping" in the message to seller. I will refund shipping through PayPal.
