Archive: June ’09 on The Fresh Daily

We’ve talked before on the blog about the challenges of keeping the creative juices flowing (see my posts about beating creative block and being a night owl or an early riser). Everyone has a strategy, but one thing’s for sure: creativity is tough to come by when you’re tired, hungry, sluggish, or buried in the busyness of life. I’ve never been a big breakfast guy, but I’m experimenting with some morning meals to see what cooks up the best balance for my day.

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One week ago today, we launched The Design Gallery. Matt, Steve, and Ali worked hard on it for about a month because a lot of people had been asking for a feature to share designs. We finished it up, Steve put up a blog post called The Design Gallery is here! and we crossed our fingers that: 1. it would work and 2. people would like it.

Corpse Bride by Wickwire Jewelry

Well, that was a week ago and so far, the gallery has functioned properly (for the most part) and there are already 270 designs uploaded, so I think we know the answer to #2 as well I can’t believe the awesome designs that have been shared so far. I knew that we had some talented customers, but to see the actual photos makes us really happy. So far we’ve seen cool combinations of stones, incredible wire work, custom made beads, symmetrical designs, asymmetrical designs, large focals, small focals, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, sets, and more!

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Top 9 Fresh Picks (June 1-22):

1. *Laurel* by Valentine Chick
2. 精衛 by D D Mystic Chick
3. A Mermaid’s Necklace by Cuban Queen Crazy Chick
4. Walk on the Beach by Smoky Rose
5. The Clouds in the Sky by Elaine aka Belly Chick
6. Summer Dreams by Fashion Chick aka SC
7. Droplets by Sandy S
8. Waiting for a sunny day by Wemai Coffee Chick
9. Beautiful Summer Evening by Allure of Gems by Julia
10. Starry Midnight by Southern Chick

What stands out with this set of favorites is how much blue, green and brown are being used.

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It’s been a couple of exciting weeks at Lima Beads. Last week, we launched The Garden, a community for beaders to collaborate and share ideas. This week, we’re launching the Design Gallery! The Design Gallery is a collection of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and other pieces that are created by YOU! Everyone’s pieces can be included in the gallery, and you can check them out here.

The Design Gallery has photos and descriptions of the pieces, along with a listing of components that the designer used. Some designs will even include step-by-step directions on how to create the piece yourself. And of course, anyone with a Lima Beads account can comment on the designs and share their thoughts, ideas, and compliments.

Adding your own designs is easy…

• Log into your account
• Head on over to The Design Gallery
• Click “Add Yours Now!” to start your submission!

We’re excited to see what all of our beading customers create! And we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments.

It was almost 3 long months ago when I wrote about how Lima was Shopping for Space. After a long search and looking at what felt like every office/warehouse space in Ann Arbor, we have found the perfect space!

On the About Lima page, we talk a little bit about the kind of work environment we like. We definitely don’t want to be out in a boring warehouse in the middle of some industrial park, but we’re also getting a little too big to be in our downtown loft. For the past 5 years we’ve managed to grow every year with no elevator, cramped spaces, and bathrooms that are showing their 70 year old age. We set out 6 months ago to find an office space that would give us the convenience of a warehouse environment (large open space with an overhead door) and the “coolness” of a loft/downtown that we have in our current space.

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Yesterday we released an update to our web site that we’re very excited about: we launched The Garden, a section dedicated to meeting new beaders, sharing ideas, asking questions, and more. I’d like to give you an overview of some of the things you can do in The Garden…

Your Profile

A profile page

In The Garden, everyone has a profile page. It’s an overview of what you’ve been up to, along with your bio (if you choose to write one), your picture, and a link to your web site. Your profile page also has a “comment wire”, which is a place for your friends to leave you a short message, or for you to post a status update (more on that below). So check out your profile to begin!

Finding Other Beaders’ Profiles

To see what everyone else is up to (and drop them a note if you want), you can look at their profile pages. To find other beaders like this, just click on their name or picture when you see it appear somewhere (a good place is the “Who’s Online?” section on the main page). We also have a directory of the members–check it out!

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Our New Home!

I briefly mentioned this in my “Matt Needs Help Beading” post, but my wife and I have been house hunting for awhile. After 2 realtors, 50 viewings, and 4 offers, we’ve finally found our house! We close this Wednesday at 10 a.m.

We’re obviously really excited about it. It’s a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1447 square foot colonial with a full basement. It’s nestled in a quiet cul-de-sac and the neighborhood seems really nice. It comes with all of the appliances and a gas fireplace. It’s way more of house than I ever would’ve imagined for being our first.

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Back in March, I announced that we would be doing Fresh Daily Deals from time to time. We’re ready for round 3 and this time we have a large coral nugget! If you’re not familiar with Fresh Daily Deals, check out my original blog post.

We’re starting to dig through the many boxes in our office in preparation for our big move (more on this later) and we’re finding all sorts of good stuff! I found these nuggets buried in our receiving room. Tons of people have been asking or coral lately, so I thought they’d be a perfect fresh daily deal. We don’t want to offer them as a regular item on our web site because we probably can’t get them from the factory now.  I only found 73 strands, so get them quickly if you want ‘em!

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