PUNCTILIOUS PRELUDE

 Before the ‘fun’ part of the creative design endeavor comes the acquisition of components. Well, actually choosing the elements - color, shape, size, material - that’s fun. Already thinking about how they can be combined and engineered; definitely fun. Paying at the end of a shopping spree, not so fun. Seeing if I feel the same when they arrive and I peruse them ‘up close and personal,’ also fun. 

Now for the ‘definitely not fun’ but at least I deem necessary tasks. I double check that everything I ordered has indeed arrived. Occasionally I receive a fun surprise. Several companies send a bit of candy in the order. My crystal source, Rainbows of Light, sometimes sends a thank-you of extra crystals or a pendant! That’s pretty cool and definitely better for me than the candy. Although I must admit the candy is rarely wasted.

Now the drudge task - cataloguing everything in my components spreadsheet. Each component gets a unique number. Since I began, I’ve catalogued a mere 3338 entries! After the entry number, I include the item name, size, shape, color, the company’s inventory code for that item, the number per package or string, the unit price, the number of units I purchased, a formula created entry for the extended price and another for the price of each individual pearl, bead, or whatever, the company from which it was purchased, the invoice number, and the date. Oh, and there’s also a column for the date when everything is used and I can move that entry to a different spreadsheet. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! There are also formula columns for how many how many I’ve used and how many are left. PLUS a column for how many I use on an individual piece of jewelry. THEN there are macros for sorting the materials once I’ve plugged in the number used in each piece, a copy/paste for moving just the used components to another sheet, an edit to put it in a format for figuring my cost and up cost for selling, and then returning the component list to usability for the next piece’s input. Is your head spinning yet?

Time to start creating. Oh, wait, not quite yet. I still have to move to the project room and store everything so it’s easy to locate. I have multiple two tier plastic cases that each contain a color group. Crystals in that color group go in the top and beads and pearls in the bottom. And several for the various types of findings. For the uninitiated, findings are things like clasps, head pins, chain, the part of an earring that actually goes in the ear, etc.

By now I should need to rest, BUT since I can finally get to the most favored part - designing and creating, I'll pass on the nap and dig in. More on THAT another time.

See, a rather punctilious prelude!