Waiting waiting......

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.

Dec 12- Dec 16, 2010

The vast majority of the beads (hopefully!) have been ordered.  Now to find a focal bead.  After much searching on the internet, and many emails back and forth with the bride, we settled on this gorgeous porcelain owl by Laura Mears. Her work is so beautiful and Priscylla and I both think this little owl will look great in the piece.

Priscylla wrote, " The owl is a powerful symbol for me.  It represents facets of my relationship with my mother and also my fiance"  So it seemed perfect.  I was a bit concerned that because it was only a little over 1" tall,  it would be overwhelmed by the rest of the piece.  But after thinking about it, I felt that I could use it as the center of a larger central piece, and it would stand out but be subtle at the same time.  So it was ordered and I waited......

The next problem was making the piece to fit.  Since it would go over the shoulders and around the back, the measurements would have to be pretty close.  The best way I could figure out how to do this without a model, was with an adjustable dressmaker's dress form. (my other option was to go to Australia and fit it to the bride- an option I was in favor of, but wasn't terribly practical!) So I ordered one and waited....

Meanwhile, Priscylla called and we spoke briefly for the first time on the phone. It was nice to speak with her personally.

I decided to experiment with some "flower" designs from beads in my own beads while I waited for the mail.  So I made a few pieces from my bead stash, mostly to get a feel for what size I would need to make. Of course I would be using different beads for the real components.  These are 2 of my first experiments.  As you can see, they did not go to waste- I later made one into a necklace, and one into a pin.

 So there I was, waiting for beads, waiting for the owl, waiting for the dress form.  And the clock is ticking.  And Christmas is coming.  And the house needs cleaning. And I need to get Xmas shopping done. And...well, you get the idea!! Next post- the bead arrive, how to start??