Trying to get down and dirty

I've had very little incentive to post lately, as my sole known reader has been in Costa Rica. (Welcome back, Patti! [waves]).

But I did spend the weekend working on the Year of Jewelry Project challenge for the week, the theme of which was Down and Dirty. I was trying really hard to get it done, but I have an inch or so more to go, and the last episode of Downton Abbey calls at 9 p.m. I'll take better pics of this gorgeous thing when I get it done--I think it's the most beautiful piece I've made to date. The pattern was created by Alicia Shems and appears in Creative Beading vol. 5