When Crafty Cat Ladies Collaborate...

I was quite excited a few months ago when Cat Lady and Bead Artist Chris Maj asked if she could buy a pendant or two from me, but without the bail attached. She wanted to try to use one as a "cabochon" in one of her intricately beaded necklaces. Just the fact that she referred to my glass pieces as cabochons won me over (I just love that word), so of course I said yes.

Here is one of the cabochons that she picked out:And... [insert drumroll here]
here is what she did with it:

I am quite confident that you are saying "WOW" inside your head right now, because that was exactly what I said inside my head when I saw it. Except I think I said it out loud too, and with an exclamation point. Chris estimates that there are between 1,500 - 2,000 tiny beads in this necklace. WOW!

Here is her description: "I've surrounded this sweet 'Fanciful Garden Cat' cabochon [there's that word again!] with seed beads in the coordinating colors of fuchsia, purple and green and then accented it with a cute little czech glass purple kitty dangle. The pendant is suspended from a beadwoven spiral rope necklace with coordinating seed beads... I made this necklace as a weekly challenge for a color combo group I 'play' with. It matched perfectly with this week's color combo. "


If you love this pendant as much as I do, you are in luck. It is currently for sale in Chris' Etsy shop Beadn4fun, where you can see more of her exquisite beadwork. And it gets better -- Chris does custom work and will make a made-to-order pendant or brooch using any of the glass cabochons that you'll find in my Etsy shop. Here are a few that are available:

(click on the image to see more available designs in my Picasa photo albums)

Chris says: "I would be happy to make this type of necklace or brooch to order with beads that coordinate with whatever picture you choose". You can contact her through her Etsy shop to find out more about prices, time frame, and to make arrangements.

Chris is cat mom to two gray tabbies who are rescue kitties: Harry (7 years old) and Amelie (8). "Harry keeps my husband and I entertained all day long. Harry thinks he's a dog and loves to 'fetch' foil balls (made from the wrappers of Dove chocolates, my addiction). Amelie keeps a running conversation with me throughout the day and critically observes my beading... I love wearing my beaded jewelry around the house and when I bead, just as much as I love putting on a special piece before I go out. I think it just makes you feel better about everything...and don't we all deserve that?!"

Yes, I think we do!