Sparkly and complete

At last, it's done! I finished my 2011 Layne's Legacy -- Beading For A Cure necklace in the nick of time. I put the finishing touches on Sunday night, and it needed to be photographed and postmarked by today. Wow, was that cutting it close!

I decided to finish it out with a spiral rope, broken up by a few simple strung sections to use more of the larger beads (I actually hadn't used any of the pearls yet, after all). And I found the perfect button to use as a clasp, a pretty Czech glass one that almost matches the Crystal Golden Shadow rivolis.

As I neared completion of this necklace, I realized it didn't have a name. The wavy lines of the rivoli section reminded me of all the undulations we've been doing in belly dance class lately, so I felt it needed a dance-inspired name. Undulation doesn't sound very pretty, and naming it after one of my favorite Tribal Fusion dancers wouldn't work, since it is definitely not tribal. So instead I took my inspiration from a book I was reading with lots of vintage belly dance photographs, and named it Salome's Dance. Not that I think the original Salome wore anything like this, and not that I'm certain that she performed something akin to belly dance -- but a lot of early 20th century belly dancers and actresses portrayed Salome draped in gorgeous beads and pearls and chiffon, and this certainly fits that image. So there you have it.

Now to bead something GREEN!