Personalized gift-giving: Etsy's Alchemy

Often, when I'm looking for a special gift for a someone, I get a great idea but have no way of executing it.  It's either something I'm not able to make myself or can't find in a store.  For instance, for my step-sister Hannah's high school graduation, I wanted to get her a nice piece of personalized jewelry. 

 Etsy offers a service called Alchemy where people with ideas can post requests for custom made items.  You enter details about the product you are looking for.  You can also enter the amount of money you are looking to spend on the item.  Once you have posted your request, sellers will bid to win your business.  They'll give you further information about their design aesthetic, how they would create your item, payment, and shipping method. 

Here's a little about my Alchemy experience:

Hannah, who is now in college, has been studying Japanese for many years.  I wanted to get her a necklace with the Japanese kanji for 'Hana' (which means 'flower') on the pendant:


Image from whatismynameinjapanese.com



Once I posted my request, I was contacted by several sellers who were interested in making the necklace for me.  They had many different ideas about design and materials.  In the end, I chose Viviane of HebelDesign.  Viviane works mostly with metal and resin.  She asked a lot of great questions and brought new ideas to the table.  In the end, I had purchased a necklace that I was proud to give as a gift.  The craftsmanship was extraordinary.....the price was perfect.....and the necklace arrived right on time!

Image courtesy Viviane at HebelDesign

If you have an idea for an personalized gift, I highly recommend giving Etsy's Alchemy a try!