Lions & Tigers & Bears - Oh, My!

Actually, the title should probably read, "zebras & tigers & leopards" - oh my! I've finally tried my hand a making some animal fur-look canes. The reason for making these came from a totally unexpected phone call.
A couple of weeks ago, a woman called to say she had purchased one of my bangle bracelets at the Westerly Cooperative Gallery, and was enjoying it very much. She then went on to say she owned a gallery and would I be interested in putting some of my pieces in her gallery? Yes! So, we made an appointment to meet. She has a really wonderful shop with some amazing pieces. We discussed what types of pieces she'd like to have from me. One of her requests was for bracelets in animal prints, as well as some using the seed-beaded join covers which I often put on my all-polymer bangle bracelets. I have some samples of the beading on my blog posting of November 26, 2010 if you're curious. I set to work experimenting with animal prints. I've had fun, learned, and made a few bracelets that I'm sharing here. Now, to get going on the beading.....