Orange and Turquoise Bib Necklace

My Orange and Turquoise Bib Necklace is finally finished. I took some time off to work on the contest piece. 

I started with a heavy weight interfacing and added the stones.

then the pattern of filling in the background. 
Then I added a tan leather backing and trimmed the edge with a tiny orange bead whip stitch.

Then I added 18 inches of orange ribbon on both sides.

Follow my Quest to Win the Beading Contest

My favorite bead store has a contest every year for their Anniversary. It is always great fun to see the different things people make.
They always give us something to struggle with "How do I put this into the project?" Usually it is something to surround. There were quite a few of those this time. They can be quite slippery and I am one of those beaders that doesn't believe in glue. Lately they have been adding a fiber or a fabric. This time they added the flossy threads. I haven't used something like that before.So I started right away with the hard parts of the project and had quite a collection.
   
I decided on a Beach theme. The idea came to me as soon as I saw the beads.
You can only use the beads provided and you are judged by how well you use all of them.
I really enjoy working with items I have never used. It opens my eyes to new avenues that I would not have gone down.  

I made a Lobster and a Crab they are a bit large for the piece but if Grandma Moses can get away with "artistic proscriptive" I guess I can too.

I had to come up with a way of bringing all the pieces together. I have always been intrigued by Paper Quilting. So I gave that a try. It took two tries to get something I liked. Now to add all the components.

Let me know what you think so far.