The Creation of a Carrie Elspeth Collectionback to Carrie Elspeth section page  Your favourite piece of Carrie Elspeth jewellery has been on quite a journey, and it all begins with the beads. Carrie sources new beads from all over the world, looking for ones which ignite her creative spark and say something to her, as well as ones which tell their own story. Beads sourced in an ethical fashion are always imbued with such a positive story about the people who have made them by hand, or created them from raw and  recycled materials. Carrie surrounds herself with sample-boards of beautiful beads, and once she has chosen her favourites, small quantities of each are ordered so she can start designing. The design-room is filled with boxes of beads, in all shapes, sizes, materials and colours, and it is here where Carrie draws her inspiration. 
The design process sometimes starts with sketches, and sometimes Carrie designs her own beads to achieve exactly the right effect, and then she gets straight to work, picking different colours and materials which feel good together.  Carrie's designs are led primarily by the season that the new collection will be launched in. Inspired by colours and textures she thinks will embody the feel of the new season, Carrie also keeps a close eye on what is happening in High Fashion, and the trends that retailers will be looking out for. Carrie's creative instincts have always led her, but she also understands the lure of the mainstream fashion industry and tries to keep that in mind with some of the colours and shapes she chooses. 
Each collection is traditionally comprised of a selection of styles. Carrie always caters for both day and evening wear, while bearing in mind seasonal tendencies for either weddings or parties, prompting an increase in glamorous or sophisticated designs. 
It can take 6-8 weeks to complete the design process, as Carrie needs to work closely with other members of her team to make sure that the ranges she designs will be affordable when completed. 
When a full collection has been designed, usually comprising of 10-12 ranges, the beads that Carrie has chosen to use are ordered in bulk. In the meantime samples of the new ranges are made up In-House, professionally photographed, named and descriptions are written for the catalogue. When the beads finally arrive and a new collection launch is imminent, extra training is arranged for the Outworkers, all of whom are locally based. Currently there are 25 Outworkers who come to the studio every week to collect their boxes of beads and instructions for the week's making, and to return the items they have made. Two people on Carrie's team are employed solely to ensure the Outworkers get all the supplies and support that they need. Each week 60,000 beads are carefully weighed out, given to the outworkers and returned as finished jewellery items: it is a huge organisational operation!  When the boxes of jewellery are returned by the Outworkers, they then need to be carefully checked to ensure they reach the high quality standard which Carrie expects and her customers rely on. The items that pass the quality control are bagged, coded and hung onto pegs in the warehouse. The jewellery is now ready to be pulled off the pegs and packed into orders: after 4-5 months of designing, training and preparing! 
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