Music to My Eyes Blog Hop: My Playful Pachyderm

A few of my best beady buddies decided to do a blog hop with the theme of "your favorite song".  I love the inspiration of a hop so I signed up, but when I tried to decide what my favorite song is, I hit a wall.  Apparently, I don't really have a favorite song.  It's more like a favorite song of the moment, depending on my mood and the situation. Mostly I like songs that make me feel happy and the song I chose is a perfect example of that.  Baby Elephant Walk:

Okay, so I realize this is probably not a typical choice for a favorite song, but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and never fails to bring a smile to my face (I mean, seriously, what kind of monster doesn't love baby elephants?) so that's my final answer.  For today, anyway.  

Baby Elephant Walk was written by Henry Mancini for the film Hatari.  I remember seeing the movie on television at my grandparents' house when I was a little kid and it takes me back to a kinder, gentler time.  I had such a good childhood.  My mom was always the best (she used to surprise me with little things like a new nightgown she made for me or a bag full of "groceries" for my play kitchen) and my grandparents were exactly what grandparents should be.  They also got cable television (hey, it's a big deal if you live outside of town and only get two channels, and that's if the weather is good and the rabbit ears are in the perfect position).  I remember watching Daktari at their house, too, probably around the same time.  Oh, and Born Free!  I'm not sure why these shows all appealed so much to my young self, but they sure did.  And The Baby Elephant Walk just seems to sum all that up perfectly.

One of my favorite lampwork artists, Mary Bush of Honey Bear Beads, recently made the perfect bead for a piece inspired by my chosen song - it's an elephant!  She added some floral accents to the bead so I pulled those colors in the micro macrame knotting.  I played around for a long time trying to frame out the bead without overpowering it.  I made three different versions of the petal pattern at the bottom before deciding on this overlapping one in raspberry with yellow gold accents.  I think it achieves a sort of exotic vibe.  Once I had that nailed down, I just repeated that motif at the top and added a coordinating knotwork strap with beads and Bob's your uncle! 

Since the elephant can turn within the circle, you can even catch a glimpse of his adorable little elephant tail.

This project was a lot of fun for me as I tried to step out of my comfort zone and I can't wait to see what the other participants made.  Here are their links - I hope you'll join me:

Kelly Rodgers

Verily Vexed

Lennis Carrier

Melissa Trudinger

Cory Tompkins

Sherri Hartman Stokey - that's me!

Vicky Sophon

Kayla Freeman