Fire Choker

So, I've been trying something new with my wire jewelry, and I'm not sure how it's gonna turn out. I had this idea to make a choker that represents 'fire'... I was trying to make it look like flames came up out of a bonfire. I'm not done. I think it's working the way I want it to, but it's not anywhere near complete, and it looks pretty messy right now... I'm kind of stymied. I need a different kind of bead- I can see it in my mind, but I haven't found it yet. Smallish flat rectangles. Could be black or red. I'm really having to watch reds, cuz the blue balance makes them look too sweet, too purple quickly. A good solid red is a hard color to find in beads... There are about 5 places in town that sell beads- JoAnn's, Michael's, Pristine's, Marnie's place downtown, the native bead shop in the Co-op plaza- and I've only looked at two, so there's still hope...

What I've been doing looks more like this piece with the flowers, so the wrapping over and over thing is a very different way for me to be going with them. Plus I've never tried the spiky flame thing... I hope it turns out the way I'm envisioning it... :) Really, the only reason I'm nervous is that I've committed hours and hours to the stupid, silly thing... I hate the idea of committing all this time and having it look stupid at the end... oh, well.