New Zealand Paua Shells...

These are what started it all. These exact shells you see before you.

I found them at The Bead Shop in Victoria BC. These were the first pieces of jewelry that I ever sold, all the way back in 2003. Unfortunately when your materials start at $22 a set it is hard (read: Impossible) to turn a profit - especially after the shopkeeper takes their commission, And you pay yourself for parts and labour - so after a few sales I hung up my hat, thinking that was that.
Fast forward 6 years to 2009 (what!?!) and the wonders of the interweb can now more easily connect me directly to suppliers in New Zealand where these beautiful shells are found, thereby cutting out the middle man and making me very happy indeed.

During a recent troll on ebay I found a great seller with a huge selection of paua at a GREAT price. Rather than spending $7-$11 a piece, he sells LOTS of 10 - 100 for $9-$15. I am a happy woman.
My project this weekend was to set up a photo studio in my apartment and take some photos of the types of shells I'm looking for. I'll be sending these to the seller in the hopes that he will create custom orders for me so that I don't end up with a bunch of mismatched shell pieces that I really don't need.
These are all from my collection. Aren't they pretty? It was verrrry difficult to get these to photograph well and show their true colors. I ended up getting frustrated with the camera set up after a while and dejectedly retired to bed before getting the shots I was looking for. Lucky I did, because when I opened these pics up in Jack's new version of iPhoto the ext morning, I was able to boost the colors and reduce the highlights... giving me what you see here.

These are the first two lots I've bought from said ebay seller. I always work with large pieces because that's what I like wearing, but I thought I would branch out into medium and smaller pieces. At first I was just thinking of turning these into small drops as is my usual route, but now that I'm sitting here looking at all these pieces, I'm wondering about layering. Combining color and sizes... They make a great little twinkling sound as they bounce against each other...

Too bad. I'll have to play with them when they get here... ; )

Don't worry, I'll show you what I'm up to.