Fish heads, fish heads,

Fish heads fish heads,
Roly poly fish heads,
Fish heads fish heads,
Eat them up yum

Ya win some, ya lose some, and this design was a definite (IMHO) swing-and-a-miss.

We started carrying these Swarovski Rock Pendants back in October because I spied them in the Swarovski showroom and thought they were just awesome. I loved that they are asymmetrical, that part of them is matte, and just the tension between looking like an arrowhead and crystal - they really appealed to me. And I did go ahead and design this, IMHO, fairly awesome necklace with them!

However, one of the designs I had in mind when I first saw them was something like a talismanic necklace, maybe three items hung together, with strong contrasts, like an arrowhead, a feather, and ... wasn't sure what the third item would be. A pebble, or a claw or maybe something modern like a found item. Maybe a cog. An arrowhead, a feather and a rusty cog - there's a statement.

Anyhoo - I sat down to create, and I didn't have a feather, so I thought - maybe I can wire a feather? - it might come out more like a fern, but that would be ok too.

So I fiddled around with some wire, and made something, and put it together with the Swa. Crystal Rock, and ... ew. The only thing I can think of when I see it is a fish skeleton. A head and the backbone.



Now, I have shown it around to friends, and none of them hate it as much as I do - and, I'll tell you this, every single one of them has wandered away with it muttering something about "it needs crystals hanging from the loops." I keep having to retrieve it before they go and modify it.

So, in the spirit of that - perhaps you too see the potential in the wirework for something that you want to hang crystals off of - be my guest.

And, perhaps a skeletal fish appeals to you in a gothy sort-of Tim Burtony kind of way.

Anyway - I did take some pictures of the steps involved in making the skeleton, although, if I was doing it again, I think I would twist up each "rib" as I went along, instead of waiting till the end.

I did it all free hand and without measuring, bend an angle, bend the wire back on itself, bend an angle, yada, yada, yada. The bail making pliers were great for this.


Down one side, and starting back up the other side.

Okey dokey, now, did I get an match for each rib on each side?

Nah - and apparently, it didn't matter. It's wire, bend it to where you want it to be.
All the ribs twisted up. The final step was to put some twists to bring the two sides together and make the "spine" - and close the whole thing up. Sorry - didn't shoot that step. But if you look at the finished, er, item, at the top of this post - you'll see what I mean.


If I was doing it again, I would twist the "ribs" as I went - it was awkward to get into the spaces. To twist - grab the end of the loop with pliers and hold the base with your fingers, and just twist them up.

May you be happier with your creation than I was with mine. Or, as a friend of mine says - "Two heads are better than one, even if they are both fish heads."