Fluttering into spring

Ever since my friend Michelle opened her Spoonflower shop, I have been thinking about using one of her fabric designs in one of my jewelry designs.
If you don't know Spoonflower, the platform offers "premium fabric, wallpaper and home decor that's printed on demand with unique designs from independent artists worldwide".
This was my first personal experience with Spoonflower although I first heard of it years ago.
All I knew was that I wanted to use my favorite of Michelle's designs, the "Whimsical Watercolor Wildflowers on Turquoise", but obviously only a very small part of it as it is not a miniature pattern. Not knowing what to expect, I ordered just a swatch to see what I could be doing with it and chose a sturdy cotton which would make a solid backing for embroidering on it. At that point, it was just a vague plan, I hadn't worked out any details at all.

By the time the swatch arrived, I had thought about it some more. For a wire wrapped octopus piece (that I haven't shown here, it's a component for a friend's basket weaving project) I had got a number of large flat copper rings (how is it I can never order just one thing?) ... ah, you remember my last post with the curtain ring? Yes, this time I would be using a different kind of "frame".
The rings are large enough to pick a nice part of the pattern and to add something of my own - I still hadn't determined what -  and they are lighter in weight if someone doesn't like heavier pendants.

Step 1 - prepare the "canvas".
I didn't cover the copper ring completely with the beaded bezel to achieve the look of a passepartout.

Step 2 - embroider small dew drops on the plants. That was easy.

Step 3 ... step 3 ... step 3 ... something to sit in the empty space above the plant. A dragonfly. A fairy. A butterfly!
That was the right choice for more than one reason (but that will be a different story).
For a second I thought about embroidering it directly on the fabric, but then I knew I wanted it to be 3D (which also has to do with that other story).

So I bead embroidered a pair of wings in colors that would complement the background using silver lined beads for some sparkle and added them to a small beaded body.
Lastly, I gave my butterfly two little winged buddies.

A simple bail and my pendant was finished :-)