At first when I saw the theme of the February 2012 EBW challenge I thought there was no way I could bead a nest. For me a nest is softness, feather-like, gentle, comforting - all the things beads are not. Then I got the idea of knotting fibers on a beaded frame. So under all those white and natural strings is a peyote-stitched basis of frosted white size 6 beads.
For the straps to go around the neck I worked with the idea of making a beaded branch that supported the nest. Here I used size 13 silver lined brown beads. I could have made the 'straps' smooth and even but was going for a branch look. on the left side the branch has a crystal sewed into a knothole. As clasp I used a twig piece in a buttonhole.
The longest part of the creative journey in making this went into the finding of the creature who was the First Out of the Nest. Days of trying this and that passed until I finally discovered the two sparkley wheels I had made with Swarovski rivoli last summer. Suddenly there was a crystal and pearly owl. He really became an owl when I took apart two earrings and made them into his wings.

forming eggs
the roundness of a breast
in a nest

Please visit our team blog, www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com, between the 9th and 15th of February and vote for your favorite entry!

Member of the Etsy Beadweavers Team.
Please visit my bead blog at: http://beadsnjane.blogspot.com/

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