Tails’ Blography

I’ve been in two minds about posting this, but after much thought I decided that this blog is essentially about documenting my life experiences, so one day perhaps I can look back on them and hopefully smile.

So, with that thought in mind, here is my blog about my visit to the “Wizard of Oz”. Aka, our ring designer! (I’m not telling my friends yet until I’m actually engaged, so when I FB about it, I refer to her as “The Wizard of Oz”)

It was last Monday, when the bf and I were driving to work (we work at the same company now) together, when I mentioned about seeing a designer. We’ve been having these discussions for a while now, and during that 20 min drive to work, he agreed that we should visit a designer together, and we could do so on the upcoming public holiday (last Thursday).

So we arrived at work, and excitedly I began Googling for ring designers in our area when a website that caught my eye came up in the top search results. She described herself as inpired by organics and nature, and explained that she does custom designs. Pleased by this, I looked through her portfolio and found a few designs I liked, as well as the craftmanship. So during the day, I showed the bf her site, he approved and set up an appointment for that Thursday. I grinned like a loon.

Thursday came (not soon enough!) and we ventured out to her studio and arrived at 3pm. Now apart from her being inspired by nature (me!), and being the first site I found online (fate!), she also drove a Getz (like me!). Surely this is everything lining up?

Her building was nice and rustic, which really appealled to me, with a gravelled front area where we parked, and had teracotta pot plants filled with herbs like basil and thyme out on the balcony. She let us in and we made our way up the concrete stairway. She led us through the heavy doors which opened up on the main room, which had a rustic looking table that reminded me of a trestle table, a display cabinet which held some of her jewellery, and some rustic framed photos on the wall.

I apologise for describing everything as “rustic”, but it all was!

We sat down and we started chatting about our ideas for the ring. Then she asked me to sketch the design I had in mind…talk about being thrown in the deep end! I sketched a rather unproportioned design of the ring I had in mind, and we chatted about various settings we could use for the diamond.

Oooh! Diamonds!

We chatted some more, and while I was drawing, I apologised for the shakiness of it (I explained I was hungry as I hadnt eaten all day) and after a few more minutes of discussing settings, she asked me, “Do you eat nuts?”. I answered with a yes, thinking she was barmy and whatthehelldidthishavetodowithmyengagementringdesign? she promptly got up and returned with a bag of trail mix.

It was such a thoughtful gesture, as she neednt have brought out anything (it was a free consultation after all), but she saw I was peckish and brought it out for me to nibble on. A thoughtful designer. Another indication of Our Chosen One, perhaps?

So I nibbled, we chatted, I nibbled some more, we looked at photos of her previous works, I paused in my nibbling (didnt want to look greedy), and we listened to her professional opinions and suggestions about the design, and I finally nibbled a little more while her and the bf discussed budget.

Yup, you read correctly, I’m involved with (part of) the budget. Some might think this is something I should not be a part of, and while I agree to an extent, I’m happy to be involved with the initial budget as I would feel uncomfortable if the ring were to be too much money.

After two hours of chatting, we discussed diamonds again, and she said she’d source some diamonds from her, well, sources and get back to us. Well on Tues morning we got an email saying that she had a selection to show us, which she would be getting hold of in the new year. She explained costings and sizings and so far so good! Everything is lining up perfectly!

What has almost clinched the deal for me using her services is that she’s willing to send photos of the stages of the ring’s creation for us to see! There will also be one fitting before everything is finalised and then I’m out of the picture until the bf proposes!

I wont know when the ring is finished, I wont know the final cost, I wont know when he’s collected it, and hopefully I wont know when he’s proposing hehe.

I’ll update as we go along, but I’m keeping mum on the design until I cant hold it in anymore (presumably when the photos come in!).

Disclaimer: this blog is probably about to get very wedding-related. It will be an outlet of my bride-to-be excitement so I hopefully dont drive my bf and my family nuts! Apologies if wedding blogs make you gag, I’m sure it’ll resume to normal in a year or two haha!

PS: no that isnt my design at the top, just a random image I found on the net

Gizmo

So, I’m feeling rather excited today – I’ve been working on my business cards! As I might or might not have mentioned, I offer a photography service: Weddings, and now Pets.

Pet photography has always been a great love of mine, and what better way to spend a day, than gamboling with various pets! I simply love capturing them in their element, capturing the quizzical expressions, and seeing the look of the owner when he/she views the images. I simply love it! So, I’ve decided to focus more on promoting myself in this regard, and have finally stepped up to the plate to design a business card! About bloody time, if I do say so myself! I do get people asking me for cards when I tell them about my small passion, so the time is right!

Now, as I said, I also do wedding photography. This is a rather difficult area to break into, as although the market is saturated with “wedding photographers” (I use quotation marks because these days, anyone with a camera is a wedding photographer), its difficult to actually get people to book you. Without people booking you, you dont have a portfolio, and without a portfolio, people dont want to book you. Its a catch-22 situation. Sigh. But, nevertheless, I will prevail!

I am designing two main business cards, one for wedding clients, and one for pet clients. Its simply not possible for me to put all my details on one card, and appeal to both brides and pet owners, without compromising one or the other. Although, and this only came to me right now, I could have each “card” on each side. Wedding on one side, pets on the other…hmmm……

But for now, I’ve designed a pet card I’m proud of! Every time I look at it, I smile and feel happy and confident. And best of all, its got my Gizmo on the card (see photo above)! She’s so gorgeous! Will post examples of them when I’ve had them printed!

Still need to blog about a carriage ride I had on Sunday (was fantastic!) and post a photo of my bonsai haha its still alive – yay!

Title chosen from CSI’s theme song, “Baba O’Riley”, performed by The Who, from the album Who’s Next.