The basis for this mouse is a nautilus bead I made after the style of Joy Munshower. As it is a second attempt, and thus not made under her supervision or following as carefully her directions, it's not as successful (though more ambitious). I didn't really need two moderately (un)successful examples of this bead, so I made this one into a mouse; and as part of my ongoing studio tidy-up used a sample piece of 49 stranded cable that's been lying around forever.^[1]

Dead mouse, lampwork, basemetal, tubular peyote link on forged sterling wire; focal 1.5". Strung & photographed dec 2017. If some of those scrolled ivory beads look familar from yesterday, they should.

This mouse includes an assortment of beads made by me and others (the long tubular bead with the highly reactive trailing is probably one of Cindi B's, frex, and the ivory and turquoise is either hers or Frances’, I'm guessing. Certainly the little rootbeer spacer with silver pixie dust just to the right of the two ivory scrolled beads, below, is Frances’.) There are some sample beads, most notably the DH386 —that large ivory bead with brown trailing between the barrel and the ivory with blackish-blue trailing on the end of the strand almost to the right.

In addition to mixed blue-green spacers, and these reactive-glass beads, the mouse also features goldstone and picture jasper; some sort of pale quartz (the off-white rectangle), freshwater pearls; part of a knot earring from my mother-in-law's sister; and a rather pretty & slightly reactive pale amber shard on light purple (sort of ametrine rendered in glass...) that unfortunately didn't photograph well, as well a peyote tube of blue iris beads stitched by my friend (& teacher of this technique) Posy.

Had I more discipline, I simply would've cut off the excess stringing material, but being in a slightly odd mood I decided to roll with it. And I used up some blurry turquoise bugles and bunch of tiny silver-grey lined seed beads that are sitting around. As well as finally breaking down and using one of the figure 8 halves from a bunch of sterling clasps long since otherwise used.

Though the shard bead failed to photograph well, and the highlights on the nautilus shell burnt out, I'm actually relatively happy with the photography, a combo of mostly flash with just a touch of halogen for warmth.

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