Yo ho ho and all that

I was going to load up the pirate lexicon page and write this whole post in pirate lingo, but then I realized that my enthusiasm for Talk Like A Pirate Day has really waned. I'm much more interested in Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day. Maybe it's because pirates don't wear goggles (unless they're airship pirates!).

Regardless, it is somewhat fitting that I made a necklace with a skull today! Of course, he's more of a Dia de los Muertos skull than a pirate skull, but that's OK. This was a really fun necklace to work on. Most of the length is spiral tubular herringbone with black Japanese seed beads and green satin Czech (I think?) cut seed beads. Then it turns into four strung strands of those same beads, gathered at short intervals by vintage pressed glass flower beads... all topped off by a skull bead from Earthenwood Studios. Oh yes, and a green satin glass button with a floral design. Gotta have a cute button clasp on a Ndebele spiral.

I have to take more pictures tomorrow, and then I'll list him on Etsy. I sort of decided on a whim to take a bunch of BFAC photos today, so that pushed back my photography time for Mr. Skully-Man here. Now I just need to decide if I like these BFAC pictures.

Medusa Turning to Stone

Despite being afraid of snakes, I have a real fascination with Medusa and naga. I really love this three-dimensional Medusa head pendant, I've had it for years, and I finally decided to work it into a necklace. Of course, I chose Ndebele stitch, to mimic the slinky, scaly nature of her snake-hair. If you'd like to view the additional images on Etsy, please click here!

This was a fun piece to work on. The green section is Delicas in two-drop Ndebele in green iris Delicas. Very fluid. Then when it transitions to "stone" I've used matte grey Japanese seed beads in a single-drop Ndebele. Much stiffer and a little more nubbly, like an aged statue.

I'm not quite sure what I'll do next. Probably something inspired by the snake Loa Damballah for the Etsy Bead Weavers' "Animal Instinct" challenge. That's another one I've had planned for a while.