Stepping Back from Custom Orders

I have been making costume wings for over 16 years now and have been taking custom orders for almost 15 years.

Custom orders can be wonderful in many ways. It's an opportunity to work with a customer to design one of a kind piece that is exactly what they envisioned, or at least close to perfect. It is a great way to offer unique costume items that you can't find otherwise. And it can result in some really exciting new designs that the artist may not have come up with on their own. 

But there are downsides too. The biggest being that custom orders are very stressful. In order to have the customers commit to the orders, most artists need to ask for the payment upfront. And when the customer pays ahead, the pressure to create a product that lives up to their vision is so much greater, creating more stress. 

Because of this stress, I am no longer taking custom orders for the time being. I have a few custom orders from last season to finish, which I am prioritizing and hoping to finish very soon. But after that, I am no longer taking custom orders. 

I've realized that custom orders take so much more energy and the energy I have is so limited in recent years. I'm wanting to channel the energy that I do have into producing wings to sell in our MN Renaissance Festival shop. Especially because I have still not made enough to last an entire festival season. Every year we run out of wings before for final weekend of the festival. 

When I make wings that aren't custom, I have the freedom to create without worrying if they are perfect for a specific customer. That takes so much pressure off and allows me to just produce and focus on the process. It also allows for flexibility and creativity during the process, because there is not a specific end product in mind. 

I hope going forward everyone understands my decision to step back from custom orders. But I'm hoping that by focusing my energy on products to sell in person, I will have so much more to sell while also lessening my stress.