The Mane Event

The theme for the EBW October challenge was announced on August 29th - Animal Instincts.  My immediate thought was the obvious - some sort of animal print peyote cuff.  Then I thought about what it would mean to *use* my 'animal instincts' to create an entry.  Sarah (thebeadedlily) wrote a post about wanting shark teeth.  That reminded me that I have some shark teeth, maybe I should use those!  But no, I couldn't do that for this challenge, that was gonna be her thing (you can see her amazing piece here).  I'm sure I'll use them at some point, after all, it's been on the back of my mind ever since I collected them.  Just not for this challenge.

Eventually, I remembered that I have these little wooden animal beads - giraffes, zebras, lions, and leopards.  Along with these beads, I have several large bone and wood beads.  All of these were picked up in South Africa by my husband's aunt, and eventually made their way to me.  

Those beads, along with a melange of brown-themed seed beads, a couple of large glass beads, and some tiger's eye came together in this truly OOAK necklace, 'The Mane Event.'

Sorry, I just couldn't resist the bad pun. :)  As well as featuring lions (among other animals!) this necklace is reminiscent of a lion's mane.

Starting October 9th, visit the Etsy Beadweaver's team blog to vote for your favorite entry!  I (of course) hope you pick mine, but it's okay if you choose to vote for one of the other marvelous entries.  ;)

Question of the day: Besides something animal-themed, what other roads could you go down with the theme 'Animal Insticts?'