Memory Keepers

Apologies in advance for the Very Bad Picture Quality. . .

A year or so ago, my friend Cilla gave me a big plastic bag filled with jewelry in varying stages of repair and including many different styles of beads. The jewelry had been her mother's, who passed away in the last few years. Cilla's request: Custom-make a piece of jewelry for each of eight women in her family, plus one toddler.

Have you ever been rarin' to go on a project, yet overwhelmed by the choices at the same time? What direction to take?? Which beads to favor over others?? How to accommodate the different ladies' preferences for styles, colors and actual piece of jewelry (necklace vs. bracelet, earrings only, hippy vs. uptown girl, one request for a Gothic Lolita style)? And what to make for a toddler that I would consider safe from swallowing or breaking??

I dug in, starting with the piece of my dreams--a knobbly necklace made of round beads for one of the adult women in her family.

As I finished each piece, I emailed a photo to Cilla to make sure I was on track.

Despite the blurry photos (my ace photographer, aka teenaged son, wasn't available at the drop of a hat), Cilla sent back encouraging replies.

I was still flummoxed over what to make for the little girl. Finally, I took a wire snowflake ornament form and filled it with blue and crystal-clear beads from her grandmother and lots of smaller beads from my supplies, then added a pretty ribbon.

I sent off the finished collection and heard back that the recipients were delighted. After listening carefully to each of Cilla's requests, it seemed that I had nailed this very important commission.

Try, Try Again

I was jazzed a few months ago when a Facebook acquaintance saw a picture of a necklace I'd made for a mutual friend and asked me to make one for her, too. Yes! Word-of-mouth in action!

I asked a few questions to make sure we were on the same page. The necklace I'd made for our mutual friend included steampunk elements and was about 52" long so the wearer could double or triple it. I'd used lots of upcycled materials in it, including chains from older necklaces and in various metal finishes.

From our Internet discussion, it sounded like she wanted a similar necklace but with turquoise and coral accents.

I made one over the next few days and mailed it to her.

I was pretty excited to hear about her reaction.

Well. . . We hadn't been on the same page. She didn't want steampunk. She wanted sterling silver. She's petite and wanted a much shorter, smaller necklace. She was sending me money (along with the returned necklace) to pay for my time and materials and asked me to make her something else.

After wiping my ego off the floor, I rallied and made a trip to a store one hour away for sterling chain, nicer turquoise chips and other special touches. In another couple of days, I mailed off a second necklace. THIS one was a winner. She thanked me profusely and told others about how much she loved her necklace.

Win/win!