FIONA Northe-Graham always knew she wanted to be her own boss but couldn’t put her hands on exactly what type of business she should start up.
It was when she did a surgery and couldn’t do much physically that she went over to help a

friend, Amanda, to make costume jewellery.
“Watching her, I fell in love with costume jewellery. But I wanted to do more. I like the African bead work and the designs on the jewellery worn by East Indians. So I thought to myself that I needed to move up from doing one and two-string jewellery,” recalled Fiona during an interview with Chronicle recently.

Because of her newfound love, she started taking classes in costume jewellery online and this helped her improve in the quality of her work. “That’s why I can do so many designs and different stitches. In order to create a design, you have to stitch with thread; have to use a needle and thread. So it’s not only about running through beads in a string. It’s much more technical to get certain designs done.”

Furthermore, in order to help her customers find the right jewellery, Fiona would meet with them to observe their neck size and length, the shape of their face and so forth. “Sometimes what the customers choose is not always best for them. Of course, the customer choices come first

but I would still advise them what I think is best for them.”
Fiona said many sleepless nights are involved in getting some designs done. Who’d think that some of them would take as much as three weeks to a month to complete! “But I always want to make customers happy and satisfied and when you are finished, you feel so satisfied.”

Fiona’s husband, Troy Graham, is always very supportive when things get rough.
Explaining what is involved in creating an intricate design, Fiona said: “The beads have to be sown one at a time in order to get the design. The length of it, the turns…when you are finished, you still have to knit it together. But all in all I do

enjoy my work and I love it to the bone.”

Since beads are not sold in Guyana, Fiona usually buys costume jewellery, loose them up and then have them redecorated. She is working on a few options to deal with the difficulty of obtaining her beads.

Fiona is grateful for the help that popular designer Sonia Noel has been giving to her. Noel loved Fiona’s work from day one and has even had some of her models use Fiona’s jewellery.
Apart from costume jewellery, Fiona is also into designing curtains. Once an appointment is made, she visits the customer’s home to help them choose designs that would match their

décor.

“My customers have gotten so accustomed to me now that they would say, ‘Fiona, you do your thing. You know what you have to do.’”
Fiona can be reached on telephone number 216 1103 and by her Facebook Page “Beads of Elegance.