So when I made some earrings in orange and blue as a going-away present, I had a bunch of the beads left over—I had a terrible time making matching pairs. I misunderstand that recipient's desire for something ‘yellow’ —to me, anything crayola orangey yellow counts as yellow, and, moreover, the glass reddened up in the flame besides (yellow-orange-red opaques all come from cadmium, just as they do in artists’ paints, and as you work the glass in the flame, the colour can shift towards red.)[1]
Dead mouse featuring an oriole: I made the bead 4apr, and strung the piece on the 6th. Lampwork, pressed czech and seed bead glass, primarily in yellow, orange, dark blue and black, with touches of white. I think the cube above the white bead might be lapis, or at least sodalite, but I can't be certain.
Since a significant other was being left behind, I thought that person might like a mouse with school colour beads incorporated as a representation of the beloved.[2] I didn't think either would want a big or long mouse, so these have—for me, at least—relatively short tails. Also, I used floral stringer for the bird's eyes, so as a result they have iris striations, a happy accident.
[1]Though in this case, I mostly couldn't decide, and picked a too-orange rod to begin.
[2]Actually, ze liked the bright yellow mouse I made on round 2, but is such a sensitive and understanding person, that, even given first pick, reverted to this one so as to let the beloved have their first choice.
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
