Embracing Emerald

Woo hoo!  I am actually posting on a day that is NOT Monday.  Made it by the skin of my  teeth.Posting this was slightly delayed by a quintessentially Australian experience-the attempted eradication of a red back spider (a big one too) who has taken up residence in my creative cave!  As a rule, I come from the live and let live approach to spiders, at most, gently transporting them to a better location using the glass and paper technique modelled in my childhood by my nature loving father.  Red backs and funnel webs are the exception to this approach and I had been suspiciously watching a very red backy looking web that was growing on my window sill.   Earlier attempts to usher this beastie to spider Nirvana failed (spray and the vacuuming the whole thing) and today we've had another go (a direct hit, according to my husband.  Mind you he said that last time).  It is a little unnerving that the supposed corpse seems to have moved but time will tell I guess.  We seemed to have got the one in the bedroom. Ah the joys of outback life....As you can see, I have embraced emerald (once again, thanks for the recipe Carolyn!)!  This is the way I work...immersing myself in a range of  colours until I know it is time to move on, or time to complete something I have may have been putting off as the case may be.  I spent days and days making up canes and then a huge variety of beads using emerald, black, white, greys and some gold leaf and then more days assembling them into necklaces in various styles.  Some experimental emerald and gold pods and round discs remain unassembled, as well as some more petal slices a la Lindly Haunani but more beads need to be made to complete these and other projects call so they may have to wait.  Suffice it to say, domestic activities weren't/ aren't a priority.I submitted one of two of my versions of a lariat for the FlickR 12 Polymer Project in 2013 group.  I set myself the challenge of creating at least one piece a month that incorporates one of the Pantone colours for 2013 and for January and February ( I was late coming on board!), this is Emerald.  I've enjoyed creating a diverse collection-some obviously rather subcontinental in nature and others more tribal looking.  I love the gold leaf with the colour combo and am learning more about using that as time goes on.  I used a layer of Kato Liquid Polymer to protect the gold leaf which I sanded the long tube bead.The lariat style has been popular even though I have only made a few and to my delight, my dear friend Robin has ordered one in red for a customer at Breathing Colours, her gallery in Sydney.  I'm onto it Robin!Another necklace has a really textured feel and I used some designs that the ladies of Samunnat and I have been working on for their Kazuri beads. They will be selling some Emerald toned beads on Paulette Walther's Many Hands Marketplace website and it goes without saying that YOU COULD BUY SOME BEADS FROM HERE.  Sorry, was I shouting?  All in a good cause though!