APRIL BJP PIECE

This month's piece is all about self-indulgence. Being saddled with the month as a name, it had to be all about me!

There were some comments about animal totems which set my imagination going. I found illustrations of spirit shields and totems and decided to have a go at creating one for myself. My spirit animal has to be the fox so I started with a little portrait of the vixen who visited us regularly. The backing material has a design which suggests the spiral of life and was given to me by a friend. Another friend parted with some clear golden stones, which took on the shape of a fox's paw print. The portrait is edged with amethyst chips which were a gift from my younger son and his wife. Amethyst is my favourite stone and I love all shades of purple. The 3 little stars are 3 very special people in my life, including all their loved ones. The piece of tiger eye is from a visit to Cape Town at a difficult time for me. The gold ladybird represents some unexpected successes and an awakening of my fascination with insects. I included the gingko leaf  as it was one of my first efforts at bead weaving. The rest of the decoration took care of itself.

Apologies to everyone for not being very active in commenting recently. I bust a rib - taking a photo would you believe!!?? - and have been feeling very sorry for myself. I've not been able to drive or sit comfortably for a couple of weeks. Posting this has been a small achievement on the road to recovery.