First is a Czech necklace from the 1920's/1930's. Egyptian revival style, with some type of Arabic writing on the round beads. The elephant is some type of plastic. I have only seen one other with such a plastic pendant, and I got it from Thomas last year in Tucson. This one came from a flea market in LA (for $10, lucky me)

Second is a beadwork piece I just finished. The pattern has been going around for a few months among beadwork enthousiasts, and I wanted to try it to. It consists of 24 triangles, and is called a 'kaleidocycle'. You can rotate it inwards to reveal the different colored sides.