Wow, nice job! I tried once using the mesh tool but it was very hard, I have been using illustrator for 8 months now and couldn't master it yet.
Its very intuitive. This involved other tools and techniques as well such as Symbol Sprayer Tool to get the beads etc.
I know it's really cool, I will try it again sometime. I only use illustrator to build an infographic or icons for a blog I work on, and mesh tool is going to help me alot if I master it.