Featured Seller: Luckygirltrading

Who are you?
I'm Peggy Kilchenman, and my shop is Lucky Girl Trading.

Where are you located?
Durham, NC

What is your favorite place to visit in the Triangle? The theaters at Duke--it's not the theaters themselves, but I've seen so many amazing world-class performances in them, including Evelyn Glenny, Paco de Lucia, John Astin, and dozens of well-known authors.

What do you create and how long have you done so?
I learned to create fused glass jewelry a less than 2 years ago, and I was hooked from te first minute. I learned to do some needlework as a teen, and have revived that by learning to stitch temari balls a year ago. It's an ancient Japanese craft, and I love making something that feels so contemporary but has such a long history. And somewhere in there I learned to braid kumihimo, another ancient Japanese craft.

Why did you choose your medium?
Because it/they fascinate me. I love the colors, textures, and the effects I can achieve when I make even a tiny change. During my first set of glass fusing classes I told the instructor that I could sit and play with a box of glass scraps for hours, trying out different color and pattern combinations, and be perfectly content even if I didn't produce anything. That still holds true for me today, and it applies to threads as well.

What is you most popular item that you create?
Around the holidays, my temari are pretty popular. The rest of the year it's my glass pendants. Both are very striking visually, and I tend to create in a wide variety of patterns and colors, so there's something to fit most everyone's taste.

What online activities have brought you the most noticeable success?
My blogs have brought a lot of traffic to my shop. I have two that I update almost daily (Lucky Girl Trading and The Peanut Butter Blog) and I also use MySpace, and I've had a decent sales response there. I have a standing offer for my MySpace friends on their birthdays: a free fused glass pendant with any order from my Etsy or eBay shops. I love making friends!

What are your goals?
I want to make larger fused glass items like game boards and vases, and develop my metal working skills. We recently moved into a house with an attached garage, and are in the (long and slow!) process of turning the garage into a workshop with a jeweler's bench, work tables, and a large kiln.

What do you do when you are not creating?
I wish I was creating, and more often than not I create in my head. Sometimes I manage to make notes or sketches, but there are probably thousands of designs lost up there between the brain cells.