Another day's work

There comes a time, in every project, when irrevocable decisions have to be made.  Sometimes ideas need to percolate for awhile.  I did know that hand made beads were going to be part of it, so, even though they won't be used until later in the process, they have been put together.

First plastic drinking straws are cut to the appropriate length.  

 Then, using a glue stick, pieces of gold silk were used to cover the length of straw.  These had to dry.

Then metal leaf adhesive was brushed onto the silk, and allowed to dry.

And finally, gold leaf was rubbed onto each bead

But other decisions needed to be made.  Traditionally, reliquaries are very colourful.  There was no such thing as "over the top" when they were first created!  lol  But my personal palette tends toward monochromatic.  Still, this piece needs colour and value or it will be very "blah".   Bright scarlet and deep burgundy were both considered,  White was thought to be to stark, so a light cream was selected, as well as black, gold, and cherry red, as an accent.  But I know I will have to fight with myself to use the colours and not keep reverting to the mono-chromatic colour scheme my heart prefers.