Pearls Pearls and more Pearls.....

I love pearls. I always liked them-- I bought pearls the first year I started making jewelry.. way back in 1996, just a few strands of rice shaped white pearls. I thought they were pretty, but at the time good colored pearls ( and yes that means dyed, possibly irradiated, and otherwise treated ) were very expensive, and therefore not in Kitty-Kat's budget. The few that I could afford were poor quality, the color would rub off or "flake" and generally I didn't really want to deal with pearls much.. I've always been into color, and when I started making jewelry I was mostly about glass and crystals... because of the colors!!
Well, things have change quite a bunch since then. Pearls, especially colored pearls have gone though a revolution, and give me drum man, cause I wanna sing and march in the parade!! Even inexpensive colored pearls are fantastic!! The vast majority of colored pearls are color safe, they don't smear on your clothes or flake off, and the luster is just short of glorious. And if you buy expensive color pearls? woooo mamma! About the worst I could say about this next generation of fresh water ( mostly Chinese) pearls is they sometimes fade in strong prolonged sunlight.. I mean, leave on the dashboard for a month type fading. And there is just something about pearls... the weight of them, the luster, the history... pearls are just wicked kewl no matter how you look at them! I'm so gosh down grateful that I leave in this age of pearls.. colorful, affordable gorgeous pearls!!!

OK, enough gushing... this gush was brought to you by the Treasures bead show in Des Moines, IA. Last weekend I absolutely went nuts buying pearls at the show. I bought a few other treasure but pearls are what I spend the bulk of my time and money on. I went to this show specifically looking for pearls. I've been on major pearl kick all summer, and I wanted to resupply. I love pearls, but I've also been thinking a great deal about what jewelry to make on this break... I'm shifting more and more to wire and metal work, and for the most part that means a higher price point. To keep my booth balanced, (and frankly well stocked.. the wire and metal work takes longer) I'm planning on a line of more affordable jewelry. What could be better than a pearl line? Besides I love pearls and playing with them! The first couple of pics show the stash I got at the show. The third pictures shows several piles of pearls, and 4 of crystals. When I make pearl jewelry I like to make piles like that, so I can see what I am working with. The last 2 pictures are the finish product... a necklace that ended up featuring 9 different colors of pearls, and 4 of crystals. I love the dragonfly clasp! Anyway, I believe you will be seeing lots of pearls this year on this blog...