Tackle that stash - The Leopard

Usually I make a pendant first and then put a bail on it. In this case it was the other way round.
When I took some shorter wires out of my leftovers baggie the other day to turn them into a pair of earrings - in the end they became sparkly butterflies - I found a wire woven bail, so now I had to find something to put on there. I don't even remember putting it in there. Had I cut it off a different piece or was it one of those leftover wire projects I did in the hope of finding the right piece for it eventually? No idea.

I went to my stash drawers and tried a lampwork tree bead first, but it was too long. Then I thought a bigger mookaite bead would be nice, but the bead holes were too small on all of them.
Then I found the leopard. The leopard was another of those beads that I thought would never make their way out for lack of a good idea. I got it from Babs Beads & Design many years ago. I remember falling in love a whole group of "animal print" beads. I used one of them in a wire knit pendant in combination with some jasper, but the others patiently waited for their turn.

Sometimes things can suddenly be real easy. The wires on the bail had the perfect length, so why not let this little beauty shine on its own?
The funny part is that I had thought the exact same thing a few years ago. I used the bead in a ring with a wire woven band then which I had completely forgotten about. When I happened to see the picture in one of my folders just now, I remembered that I hadn't been all around happy in the end with the way the ring sat on my finger.
I like the bead much better in a pendant and think this could even be unisex, maybe on a leather cord. Now I just have to decide if I'll oxidize the copper to an even darker color although it is not as light as it comes out in this picture.
What do you think?