As of January 28, 2008 (the last update), we are not taking on new commissions at the moment. Reasons: Tekkoshocon is coming up, and we have a few more in-progress commissions to do first. We will start taking commissions again after the convention.
Prices are subject to change depending on the complexity of the order and cost of materials. Our base price for commissioned bears is $20, with $6 shipping. This may change a bit depending on the complexity of the order and whether special materials have to be bought. We will quote you a price before making the order, so you always have a chance to cancel beforehand.
Prices for other pieces and for ready-made pieces vary; email us at ablesisters@gmail.com for a quote.
We prefer PayPal for payment, but other forms of payment can be discussed via email.
See something you like in the Gallery that isn't marked as available? We can probably make you one as a commission. Designs based on original characters and avatars are an exception; we won't remake those for anyone but the original requester. Another exception is plushies or accessories that are already officially licensed. (Beelzenef puppets, for instance, were retired when official ones surfaced.) An official one is likely to be better than ours anyway. Rare-but-official versions do count, sorry.
We will soon have photo swatches of available cuts and colors - by the time we start taking commissions again, it'll be up. So pick a type or color. If none of the available ones are what you want, then we can get something new; it'll cost a little more.
Include the character's name, the original series if it's fandom-based, and if you have a couple of representative images, include them too. (Front and back full-length shots are particularly helpful. Some series include them on the DVD extras or booklets.) Let us know of any particular preferences or requests, especially when there are variations in the art or costuming (I'd like this artbook version / the movie version / the one from episode 5...).
If you're requesting an original character, that's also fine - we'll just need thorough reference images / descriptions, since they can't be gathered from other sources. A full-body front view and back view are good; if there are a lot of details, a side view can be useful too.
If you're commissioning any other type of work that we do (purses, etc.), it's the same idea - give us an idea of what you'd like to have made, and we'll proceed in the same general way.
Note: Commissioned pieces that are based on preexisting designs - i.e. just about anything that isn't an original character or personal avatar - are not considered reserved. For example, if you commission a bear of Ed from Fullmetal Alchemist, another buyer later on can also commission another Ed. Otherwise, we would run out of ideas pretty fast, and we don't want to shut out other fans of the same characters. Original characters are exempt; we won't repeat those except for the original buyer. We will put photos of the finished piece in our gallery as examples of our work, unless you have a problem with it, but we won't make them for anyone else.
We will email you with a cost estimate, a time estimate, and let you know if we can take on this project (some things are just too scary, sorry). If we already have a full slate, we'll let you know how long the "line" is. If it's too long to wait or the price is too high, just let us know. No harm, no foul.
The estimated time is 6-8 weeks for starters. It can be shorter, but probably not. We've got a lot of stuff going on, and some of us are terrible procrastinators, so to be safe we'll start at 6-8 weeks. If a design is going to require chasing after unusual materials or any other aspect that will take longer, we'll let you know at the outset, along with the quoted price.
We will give you updates every now and then, and email photos when they're done for your approval. Feel free to ask about the progress if you like. Once you've gotten the photos and everything looks OK, payment is due at that point along with your mailing address. The finished product will then be shipped.