So, remember my post on unfinished projects?  Well, I get to cross one off of the list!

My Noblesse Largesse project went to a lady out in Atlantia, who stated in her dossier that she liked paternosters and the colours green and red.  So, going through my beads, I decided to stretch my carving muscles and also make it a stealth medallion.  (This is not the first time I’ve created a stealth medallion as a paternoster, either.)  So, I got out my ever-faithful Dremel and did some carving into some leftover bone from my Queen’s Prize entry.  I knew I’d have problems painting the bone due to the additional calcium added to stabilize the bone, but I knew that I wouldn’t with ink.

So, I carved out a Pelican from a piece of beef shank bone, as my recipient is a member of that Order, with my Dremel.  I used a coloured pencil to make my marks, and then went a little bananas.  Once I was done with that, I added a bit of India ink, and then wiped it away, thus adding some definition and contrast between the carved and the smooth portions.  I also took a bit of acrylic ink and dropped a bit in the part where the blood-drop for the pelican had pierced her breast.

Once I had finished carving it out and had made a little hole for the silk threads to go, I made an 18 bead paternoster.  It’s not as period as I’d like, but for the amber beads that I had on hand, it would just have to work.

I am pretty happy with this particular piece, and I hope my recipient likes it.  Every time I work with bone, it surprises me, and I’m excited to see what else I can make from it.