Pearls, pearls, pearls

The trip to the bead show over the weekend netted an impressive catch of freshwater pearls. The oysters must have been working overtime to produce the gorgeous stuff that glows from the inside. Lots of colors and shapes....soft peaches, vivid greens, deep reds...potato pearls, stick pearls, rice pearls large and small. These should all be available to the public by the weekend at the latest, in both strands and singly. String them up by themselves for simple elegance, or combine them with any of the other beads in the store, from the seed beads that mimic knotting, to the crystals and Czech glass that set them off so well--or the sea shells that harken back to their beginnings.