The Catfish Are Jumpin'

Summer time and the living's easy, catfish jumpin and the river is high...  I just love that song.  If you would care to listen while you blog hop, here are two good choices:  Ella or Charlotte Church

Karen Williams of Baublicious began showing off her fish quite some time ago.  When she finally published a tutorial I knew I wanted it.  Then she announced a Fish and Friends blog hop; and because I had a fish almost complete I joined. 

Small fish with kiss lips

 When I started this first fish, I had no idea of what I was doing or what would come next.

An error in Vision

 

Surprisingly enough, the Scheherezade Pendant was next.  I featured that last week.  My plan was to create a variation on a charm holder or chatelaine from the Scheherezade Pendant and the fish.  My original concept did not quite work.  Honestly, it was not awful, but I did not like that the red and yellow rings covered up so much of the Scheherezade Pendant. 





Next was what I call the Big Fish, but Karen identifies in her tutorial as Fat Fish:

Big Fish

Filler fish

Then I pulled some fish out of my stash- honestly I have had these fish since the mid-1990's it was time to use them.






Putting it all together for the chatelaine:

Full Line of Fish

Almost done

In case you have not noticed, I love to make necklaces.  Having said that, I always struggle with the neck strap.  This time was no different. I tried several options and settled on St. Petersburg Chain. 






Finally, connect it all:

A colorful catch

A few words about the tutorial.  I did not diligently follow Karen's excellent directions.  I substituted saran wrap for the bead she uses.  I did not quite execute the increases correctly.  I scanned the directions for the dorsal fins and the kiss lips and then did not refer back to the directions to complete the work.  In other words, any errors are my own and not the fault of the designer.  This is a wonderful tutorial and covers more than just the fish pattern. You can purchase the tutorial at Karen's Etsy shop.  She also sells kits.

Now, without further ado, go visit the rest of the participants:
Francie Broadie - FAB Custom Jewelry
Shirley Moore - Beads and Bread
Bobbie Rafferty - Beadsong Jewelry
Tanya Goodwin - A Work in Progress
Cynthia Machata - Antiquity Travelers
Kathy Jo - KJ's Beadacious Beads You are here
Therese Frank - Therese's Treasures
Nancy Sopp - AlaskanNancy
Alison Oman
Dolores Dwight (Sorry, no link yet.)
Amy Severino - Amybeads
Eleanor Pigman - Eleanor Pigman

and our hostess, once again:
Baublicious


Have fun at the hop.