The charm of Ancient Egypt

My art charm group is currently running a swap with ancient Egypt as the theme.  I was intrigued by this idea as soon as I heard it was coming about.  I ran across similar cat beads late last year and immediately knew what I wanted to do for my charms. This idea has literally been rattling around in my brain for months. 

The Egyptian cat God Bast, is a symbol of protection, motherhood and fertility.  Cats were so revered in ancient Egypt, that they were often mummified.  I thought that the wings were a nice symbol for the transition to eternal life.  Plus, I think it just looks cute!  I also love the serious look on the cat's face.



The wings were silver and did not really go with the brass findings required for the project.  To attend to this, I altered them with a rusting product.  I also added an additional patina agent to one side of the wings.  You can see above that some of the charms are showing a bronze side and others have a bit more of an aged patina look.  Another cool aspect of these little guys is the movement.  The wings really spin if you flick them, fun. 



I hope the gals in the swap like them.  I always look forward to seeing the outcome of my art exchanges.  The past few I have participated in have assisted me in embellishing up a few great art projects.  I am grateful for the ability to share my work, while appreciating the work of others.  Stay tuned, I am sure someday I will have a cool project showing off all my ancient goodies.

Cheers!