January 23th 2006:bellajolie.com

1what's youre name? Tricia Miller

2 whats' the cool thing about working with beads and wire? It is amazing that 2 seemingly dissimilar materials- wire and gems- can be combined to make miniature pieces of art. From selecting materials to completing a piece of jewelry- I love every bit. I am inspired by beautiful gems and stones. I hand select them much like most people would a diamond: in my case for richness of color, the cut, and quality. By the time I get these treasures home, I am already excited to begin creating. I love putting different shapes and colors into my hand admiring the beauty of them.

3 How did you come up with the name ? Being unique and having the ability to create name recognition was an important factor. With that in mind, I wanted to find an available .com name that was original. I took the italian and french names for "pretty" combined them to create Bella Jolie, and voila that domain name was available.

4 have you done any craft show/faires? I have done shows, but I usually let stores do the sales work. That leaves me more time to create!

5 what's the coolest item you have right now up for sale? Perhaps the pieces getting the most recognition are the "twigs" twigsand twigs

6 Do you spend more money on supplies then say shoes? I spend more money on supplies than anything else I purchase. My husband and I did a chart for what I spent last year, and the number was pretty shocking.

7 what do you like making more earrings or necklaces? Depends upon my mood, but what I do find interesting is that earrings often take much longer to make than necklaces. Especially if the focal point is intriciate- earrings require double the work and gems that necklaces require, and are thusly more expensive to create as well.

8 when did you start youre shop? I started my website last year, but have been selling jewelry for 2 1/2 years.

9 What's the coolest thing a customer has said to you about youre stuff? At a recent trunk show, a women told me that she would "die a thousand deaths" for one of my necklaces. I thought that was pretty funny.

10 Is there anything you want to do better in 2006? I would love to be more productive. I am a perfectionist, so each piece takes twice the time to create as it should.

11 What do you think of the diy movement ? I really love that so many people- especially women, are creating a livelyhood out of following their passion for art. I believe that we are in a time where individuals really cherish quality and design that they cant always get in mass production. Also, I think for those who DIY as a hobby, there are so many ideas and options available now. Kits, books, websites etc.

You can find bellajoliehere.bellajolie.com Item to check out .Plum twig earrings