My ojime beads

In a previous post, I showed a pic of my dragon ojime bead so I tought it'd be nice to show my other two ojimes too. One thing I like so much about these east asian beads are -- apart from the beautiful, detailed carving -- that I can find my favourite animals in them: cats, dragons and bats. Dragons because they're symbols of power and on of the zodiak animals. Cats stand for luck and bats for happiness and longevity (unlike the europeans who associated them with witchcraft and dark magic, hence the american use of bats for Halloween).

Here's my sweet lucky cat, my maneki neko. I collect cat beads and a good portion of my stash are chinese porcelain lucky cats: there are so many variations of these, I can buy dozens and dozens without ending up with exact duplicates!

Here's my cute bat. We have bats in our barn so for me bats equal beautiful, warm summer nights when the sun barely sinks below the horizon. You know it's summer when the bats start flying in the twilight.

...and here's my dragon again. I love dragons, western and eastern. Can't say that too many times. This one seems almost to chasing his own tail like a cat (or dog).

Haven't used any of them in jewellery. They feel too precious for that. Not just because they weren't exactly my cheapest beads to buy, but because they are so pretty. They have personality and I want them to stay that way, not just become a cog in something bigger, a mere element in a design. Yes, I could string them on a simple necklace, but they'd still just feel purely decorative and diminished if I did that. Not independant (as in free from strings and pins to hold them up) as now. Hard to explain, but that's how it is.