Despite appearances, Pyrria is actually quite shy.  She opens up and becomes the life of the party when she's comfortable, but until then she is more than content to explore on her own or find a nice little quiet spot to roost and sing to herself.

Pyre birds are often mistaken for phoenixes by (hopefully) well-meaning but generally easily-distracted or just plain inattentive mages, magicians and alchemists.  They're more closely related to dragons than they are to phoenixes, legs designed for running at high speeds and leaping.  That's not to say they don't fly, of course; they rely more on self-made heated air (in part thanks to the heartstone) to stay afloat than their wings.  There was some, shall we say, "unpleasantness" a while back regarding humans and their inability to keep their hands off sparklies that they proclaimed as their own, hence why pyre birds are rarely seen these days.

Things that I had planned: using "flower" beads for the wings and tail, trying a polymer clay beak, and giving her roadrunner feet.  (Roadrunners are cool, be quiet.)  Things I did not plan: EVERYTHING ELSE.  That said, I'm really quite happy with how she turned out.  My days of chocobo making paying off, eh?

The "heartstone" is a great big lovely goldstone cabochon, and her eyes are green aventurine.  There are many, many beads, both glass and acrylic.  And by some strange miracle, I've only managed to include six Swarovski crystals.  Six!  But I did manage to use ALL of the gold-colored wire I had.  Every last inch.  And quite a lot of silver, too, though that's part of the internal structure.  I had planned to give her a hinged/moveable jaw, but ultimately decided that the initial design would probably wear out far too fast and it was a little too late for a redesign, so... it's set this time.  We'll see if there's a "next time" at some point.  ...I don't want to think about that right now.

Side note: she's also very good with dogs.

(For Sale)

Dark rainbow beads are most definitely awesome. Making a spider out of them, in my opinion, is more awesome.

(Sold)

I was just starting out in beads and someone offered me the chance to take a relatively simple commission.  I think it worked out quite well.

This one's a real ladies spider, what can I say. The problem is, he likes big collars and still uses the word "discotheque" frequently. Well... can't win 'em all.

I just really liked the colors. Bought the beads with the specific purpose of making this guy, actually. Weird how it all worked out that way. *grin*

(For Sale)

A friend, one of my former voice actors and my former "boss" at a gaming web site liked my little shiny tree. And so I was commissioned for a little sculpture/tree combination to decorate his workspace. This would be the result--and, as usual, it was impossible to photograph well. I did what I could.

This sculpture represents many moments of "argh", and yet turned out beautifully. The larger Swarovski crystals, for instance. When I bought them, I thought they'd be a bit more red than orange, and didn't think they would work--but somehow with the smaller, dark red crystals and the paint job on the little beastie, it all just worked nicely. The tiny crystals were a whole other spontaneous and insane moment of "what if I did this..." that worked out for no reason at all. And then we have the layered paint job on the creature itself, which is actually composed of black, brown, earthy red, copper, bronze and gold in varying degrees. It looks so much better in person. As for that extreme close-up shot of the sleeping creature itself, you can see that it's kind of part of the roots of the tree. I got to the point where I was cleaning pant off and... it just looked good. So I left it. Maybe he's curled around the tree, maybe he's part of the tree. Maybe he's a little... draconic dryad. I don't know, he's just awesome.

The more important point, though, is that the little critter is enjoyed. I hope it's a nice little companion to shiny up the workspace, and also to make people wonder. Even more than usual.

She was going to be another choker. But she insisted otherwise, so... clearly she's got some personality to her.

Perfecting my technique with various materials. And, well, shiny spiders make me happy, obviously. The extremely bright pink beads have a bit of a gold sheen to them, and the black beads are a bit faceted for an extra little sparkle. All in all, this... still took a lot longer than I think it should have, but I'm getting there.

(Sold)

The blue. I just really love this shade of blue. And the clear, faceted blue glass with the silver inside gives it all kinds of interesting hues.

(Sold)

Okay, up front. "DFWM" stands for Don't F*** With Me. Because it seemed... fitting. It's more of a guard mask than a warrior mask... and it sure isn't a maiden mask.

I suppose you could consider it more of a "headband with a mask", really. I hadn't quite... planned on this one. It was going to be a necklace. What happened? I'd still like to know. It took weeks to complete, possibly because the band is real leather and I was trying not to screw it up. No sewing machine means sewing leather by hand... which means it takes a while.

It's creepy, it's fun, it makes enjoyable clacking noises, and it's easy to see out of, but not so easy for people to see your eyes. It's just a fun little fantasy piece.