Today's posting in the Art Chain is a necklace that was began right back in 2001 when I first started beading but was finished in 2007: 2-8-1 (Collar For A Rangoli Girl).

Rangoli is an art form that uses materials such as flower petals, coloured sand or flour or even rice to create patterns on floors. I was inspired by the colours and patterns I saw when researching them and that translated into this necklace.

This necklace means a lot to me as it was the first time people saw my beaded stars, mainly as it was the first full piece I made with them and also it winning 2nd place in the necklace category of the sadly no longer around Bead Art Awards and reaching the finals of both the Fire Mountain gems contest and also 2008 Bead Dreams brought it to greater attention.

The stars originally began partly as an accident and partly through laziness so it's amazing how that turned out!