Queen of the Abalone Forest

In keeping with my life-long obsession with all things ocean-related, I got my scuba diving certification while in my late 20's. I never got to do as much diving as I would have liked being that life (in the form of marriage and offspring) intervened, but that just makes the few dives I have done along the California coast that much more memorable.

Unlike a more tropical environment, California waters are surprisingly chilly. This means we don't have coral reefs. Instead, most of the underwater environment here consists of dense forests of kelp inhabited by rays, sharks, sea urchins, abalone and various fish - the most noticeable of which is the bright orange garibaldi (our state fish).

When I started pulling beads to go with this lovely green and brown ceramic mermaid pendant, I was reminded of the greens and browns of the underwater kelp forest. Then, I found these incredible abalone shell beads and off I went:

Abalone beads, Czech glass, tiger ebony wood slices and bronze Parawire made the perfect accents for this wonderful mermaid pendant.

While I mostly wanted the abalone shells to pick up the greens and chocolate browns in the rest of the palette, I couldn't resist adding a few small lavender seed beads to catch the purple opalescence in the shells.

The Czech glass beads have a Picasso finish on them that blends the greens and browns with some touches of dark blue (had to get the ocean in there somewhere).

A patinated brass hook and eye clasp add the finishing touch.

The "Queen of the Abalone Forest" invites you to come take a refreshingly chilly dip in California's coastal waters.

KJ