I am Julie Sweetman, of Julie's Jewelry, in Lincoln, NE. I have been designing lampwork jewelry since October of 2002, and making my own beads since April 2003. Prior to that, I spent 10 years making seed bead jewelry and other craft items, which I sold at several local craft shows each year. I discovered lampwork beads on Ebay, and now I am hooked!!

In addition to making jewelry and other crafts, I enjoy fitness (especially running), traveling (a monthlong trek around Asia was my latest exotic destination - although now most of my vacation time is spent flying home to Michigan!), cats (see Mouse and Patches above!), koalas, cross-stitch, reading, volunteering with Michigan Youth Leadership, and spending time with my family and friends.

In addition to my jewelry business, I work full-time as a marketing data analyst at Experian. I received my Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 2001, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Economics. In the spring of 2006, I finished my Master's degree in Survey Methodology at UM (a fun mix of sociology, psychology, and statistics!) My husband David and I relocated from Ann Arbor to Lincoln, Nebraska in the summer of 2007, as he started a PhD program at the University of Nebraska in fall 2007. So we'll be here for about 4 years, and then we'll see where life takes us next!