Large Beaded Leopard Brooch

Dear friends, I have been busy working on yet another custom order! Here is my latest - a large beaded Leopard brooch.. This is my first wild cat pin!

After working on a sketch, I transferred the image to a piece of stiff beading foundation and cut it out. Then, I cut out several more pieces of felt which would make the body of the cat appear to be in relief. After stitching these felt pieces together, I began beading the cat's face. This piece is larger than usual, so it was a bit easier to get some detail in the cat's face and nose. I used at least 8 different color seed beads as well as tiny glass eyes for the face.

By the time I started the body, I was using just 5 colors of seed beads. Two different shades of gold, black, transparent black, and a transparent cream color. When the Leopard's body was beaded, I layered some matte brown beads to mimic the spots on the animal's back.

I stitched wire to the back of the Leopard to stiffen his legs and tail, then I stitched Ultrasuede and a pin back to reverse side of the piece..

This piece is oversized. It measures approx. 3.5" wide x 2.25" tall... What do you think? :D