While attempting one of my many erratic and ultimately unfinished (i.e. failed) efforts to organize my studio, I happened upon a stash of floral trailed beads, one of which happened to match a green and blue tail I'd recently made to tidy up odds and ends on my stringing desk.

dead mouse with green jade ‘love’ finial: 10.5 inches, not including key ring. 2018. No, the image isn't flipped, the pendant is; but since I read and write backwards, it seems appropriate...

The swirls in the focal suggest that it too was a sort of end-of-the-day type bead: at least two types of glass (petrol opaque green and transparent grass green at a minimum) were mashed together, which made the stripes as I wound (coiled) the mass to make the bead. A bit of frit, a dusting of thompson enamel & then some blue-green vine-y trailing on top, aaaand done.

I actually quite like this particular set of tails: the hollow blue-dotted green dottie is well made, as is the blue layered dot bead strung just below it. The colour shifting in the seed beads came out well, I think. So, to celebrate, I used the fancy carved jade ‘love’ —dorky and tacky in an expensive necklace or bracelet, but cute and humourous in a mouse. The hollow bead on that same strand has similar frit to the focal, which no doubt added to my pleasure in discovering how well the focal went with the tails. (Usually, I match the tails to the focal, unless I have a lot of stuff I want to ‘use up’ in tails. But then sometimes I actually have to make focals to match, quel horreur! So finding a good match is always nice;)

N.b.: page created 28apr2018, posted 31oct2019

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.