BEADED HERON

I don't have a photo of today's progress because I ran out of daylight.  I put another full days work into this jewelry set today.  I will add necklace progress sometime tomorrow afternoon. Here is the beginning of the necklace.  I cannot decide whether to make it a choker or make it longer.  I am working on the beaded portion and tomorrow i will also reveal the secret ingredient!  WHAT will I hang from that concho?

Edit 4-28-08 to update...

Please excuse the crummy photo but I ran out of daylight.  I promised to come today and tell you about the secret ingredient to this necklace so here I am!  Today I finished the embriodery around the loom beaded section.   Now I can tell you about the very special part of all of this set.  Inside the beadwork and inbetween that and the moose hide, I sewed  some of Bucko's and Grammie Crackers  mane hair and  I also included a bit of my own.  I Will be able to carry my beloved steeds with me whenever I wear this necklace.  If you are not familiar with who Bucko and Cracker are, they are my departed equine family. I lost Grammie Cracker 3 winters ago and Bucko left me last August and they will forever live on in my heart.  I had both of them with me for decades and they passed to old age. Bucko was the love of my life so this piece is very emotional for me.  This jewelry will last centuries and now I am together with Bucko & Cracker for that duration through this amulet. 

Now on to the significance of the work.  As you can see the pendant has 3 diamonds.  That was decided because Bucko, Cracker, and I are one in this work.  This is also why there are three rows of embriodery around the Amulet necklace and also on the bracelet.

I hope to have the whole set finished tomorrow and if I do I will certainly be here to show it off!

I haven't cut away the excess moose hide yet as I am still deciding on the necklace itself but this should give you an idea of the direction I am headed.  I will also use Bucko and Cracker hair to add to the concho on the necklace...

My beloved and terribly missed Bucko and Grammie Cracker.  Yes this set matches them...

Update 4-29-08

The necklace at this point might be finished.  I have to inquire about adding fringe.  I am afraid by adding fringe my entry won't be considered 75% recycled.  I will now start working on the simple earrings while I wait news.  

I am about to make the simple earrings.  I will use earring findings from old earrings I made about 25 years ago.  This is something I have never shown before...my first ever beadwork.  The quills in the earring on the left are from the same porcupine!  you might say that hitting that porcupine is what first started me to bead and I had never realized that before until I started working on this set.

It is only fitting that I now take the scissors to my first ever earrings for this set of jewelry since it contains just about everything else I have had for over 3 decades!