The Basics

For those of you just joining me, I am writing about the process of creating a made to order large neckpiece for an Australian bride. The dates at the top of each post show the time period covered.  

Nov. 30- Dec. 6, 2010

Oh, how do I start?  I decided I couldn't go much farther without determining if this was a serious order.  I have been excited many times by people inquiring about a custom piece,  never to hear from them again.  I didn't want to invest a lot of time into this until I knew she was serious. I also needed to know if her expectations of price were realistic- I knew this would be very involved and rather costly.

So I emailed Priscylla and we agreed on a price range that we both thought we could live with.  I asked for a $200 nonrefundable deposit- both to cover the cost of the beads and to show that she was serious.  I thought that if she backed out, at least I would not be out any money.

We decided the best way to get the money here quickly was through PayPal and it worked like a charm.  I had the money within a couple of days and I got serious about the project.

I needed to get ready for my last show of the year, which was on Dec. 4 and 5, and I had some special orders I needed to finish up.   I knew I couldn't devote any time to this project until after the show. But early Monday morning I got started.

Priscylla  (the bride) emailed me photos of some beads she loved.  This gave me a better idea of what she had in mind. She said she liked Inca, American Indian and African tribal work, and would like mainly greens and browns with ivory and lighter highlights.

She also sent a sketch of how she wanted the back.

 

I was getting a little bit of a handle on what beads to order.  I wanted Priscylla to be able to choose what beads she wanted, and to OK them before I ordered them.  But time was a concern.  The wedding was Feb.12 and I had to allow 2 weeks minimum for shipping.  The Christmas holidays and everything associated with them were fast approaching and I knew I would have limited time to work on the piece then.  I would be out of town for about a week in mid January, also cutting into my time.  After the order was placed, I would have to allow 1-2 weeks for the beads to arrive.  And just figuring out the bead order was bound to take quite a bit of time.  So I was getting a bit worried.  We needed to decide on beads fast and get them ordered. 

In my next post, I will show you how we managed the ordering.  Thank goodness for the internet- I could have never pulled this off without it!!